a disgrace."

"I object to our centering all our efforts upon that particular boat and
crew," snapped Hester.

"So do I," declared Lily, her chum.

"The canoes and the single and double oars have better chances to win
than the eight," pursued Hester. "We are centering on the eight because
the bulk of the present crew are members of this committee."

"That is not so, Hessie," declared Mary O'Rourke, another senior who
rowed in the eight.

"The whole school is interested," said a junior member of the executive
board. "The girls talk more about the eight than about anything else."

"And that talk is all very skilfully worked up by Laura, here, and her
friends," declared Hester. "Oh! some of us have eyes and ears, I hope."

"And a tongue that is hung in the middle and wags both ways!" whispered
Jess.

"We are wrangling without coming to any conclusion," said Laura,
sighing. "What shall we do about the shell? Can we get a new one----"

"Who'll buy it for us?" demanded Lily.

"That's just it," agreed Laura.

"Let's ask our folks to all chip in a quarter," said Jess.

"If the parents of every girl at school did that we'd scarcely be able
to buy a new shell," returned the chairman.

"I know that my father will never give a penny toward a new shell--not
while the crew remains as inefficient as it is at present," said Hester,
tossing her head.

"But if you were in Celia's place, at stroke," snapped Jess, who was
rather peppery in temper, "I suppose he would go right down into his
pocket and purchase a boat for us himself?"

"Perhaps he would, Miss Smartie!" returned the butcher's daughter.

"Any change in the crew is up to Mrs. Case and the girls of the
association--you know that, Hessie," Laura said, gravely. "We all got
our positions because the instructor thought we were the better
rowers----"

"Oh, bah!" ejaculated the angry Hester. "We all know how _you_ are
favored in everything, Miss! As for the new shell--I sha'n't do a thing
toward helping get one; make up your mind to that."

"That certainly is a terrible stroke of bad news, Hester," drawled one
of the older girls. "Now, you would better keep still and let some of
the rest of us talk a while. For a sophomore, you have a lot to say that
is inconsequential."

Some of the younger girls chuckled at this. But the occasion and the
dispute itself were too serious to engender much hilarity. The question
of the new shell was exhaustively discussed, and it