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The Putnam Hall Champions
The Putnam Hall Champions / or, Bound to Win Out
INTRODUCTION
My Dear Boys:
This tale is complete in itself, but forms volume three in a line issued under the general title of “Putnam Hall Series.”
This series was started at the request of many boys and girls who had read some volumes of the “Rover Boys’ Series,” and who wanted to know what had taken place at Putnam Hall previous to the arrival there of the three Rover brothers. When the Rovers came on the scene Putnam Hall had been flourishing for some time and was filled with bright, go-ahead cadets, who had been mixed up in innumerable scrapes, and who had gone through quite a few adventures. My young friends wanted to hear all about these wideawake lads, and for their benefit I started this series.
In the first volume, called “The Putnam Hall Cadets,” I told just how the school came to be founded, and related many of the adventures of Jack Ruddy, Pepper Ditmore, and their chums. In the second volume, entitled “The Putnam Hall Rivals,” the doings of these cadets were again followed, and I also told the particulars of a queer balloon ride and of a remarkable discovery in the woods.
In the present story I have endeavored to show something of what the Putnam Hall boys could do when it came to contests on the lake, in the gymnasium, and elsewhere. A large portion of the cadets’ “off time” was devoted to sports, and the rivalry, both in the academy and against other schools, was of the keenest. Mixed in with the rivalry was a generous share of fun, and what some of this hilarity led to I leave the pages which follow to tell.
Once again I thank my young friends for the interest they have shown in my stories. I trust the reading of this volume will please you all.
Affectionately and sincerely yours,
Arthur M. Winfield.
CHAPTER I
A RACE ON THE LAKE
“Talk about a life on the ocean wave, Pep; isn’t this good enough for anybody?”
“It certainly is, Jack,” answered Pepper Ditmore. “And I think the Alice is going to prove a dandy.”
“The Alice a dandy?” came from a third youth aboard the sloop. “How can you make that out? Girls aren’t dandies.”
“But this girl is a boat,” put in a fourth youth. “Say, has anybody got an apple he doesn’t want?” he went on, looking from one to another of his companions.
“What, Stuffer, aren’t you filled up yet?” demanded Jack Ruddy, who had hold of the tiller of the craft that was speeding up the lake. “To my certain knowledge you have eaten ten apples already.”
“Ten?” snorted Paul Singleton, who was often called Stuffer because of his love of eating. “Not a bit of it! I’ve only had four – and two were very small.”
“Here’s another – my last,” cried Pepper, and threw the apple to his chum.
“By the way, Jack, I want to ask a question,” said Dale Blackmore. “Why did you call the new sloop the Alice?”
“Name of his best girl,” answered Pepper, promptly. “Why do you ask foolish questions?”
“I haven’t any best girl and you know it,” retorted Jack Ruddy. “I named the sloop after my cousin, Alice Smith. Her father, my uncle, gave me the boat. He – ”