"So he was," replied Bill. "Walked away with most of the prizes. I wish I were as good a scholar as he was. Used to love his books. But now that he's got in with that gang he's neglecting his work and has fallen 'way behind in his studies. The folks have talked to him about it, but it doesn't seem to do any good. As for me, he treats me like a kid." "It's too bad," said Nick sympathetically. "Take the time you fellows have been up here, for instance," continued Bill. "How many times have you seen Frank at the bungalow?" "Just once," replied Garry thoughtfully. "And then he seemed in an all-fired hurry to get back to town," he added. "Where does he stay at night in Lenox?" Booster asked. "Oh, at the house of one or other of the gang. Usually he pals with Jerry Cox," Bill explained. "Do you wonder," he added, with another vicious twist of the wheel, "that I could barely bring myself to be decent to the fellow?" "It's enough to make any one sore," admitted Garry, who felt that he knew now why Mr. and Mrs. Sherwood had often seemed so sad and abstracted during the visit of the boys to the bungalow. They were entering Bass Lake now, almost at the place where Lent Stewart's motorboat had met with disaster. They stared at the fatal rock reminiscently. "It's a wonder that Lent Stewart wouldn't learn to pilot a motorboat before he took it out for a spin," commented Ted. "The end sure came fast and furious." "Shouldn't wonder if he had been drinking," remarked Nick. "I caught sight of a bottle in the bottom of the boat." "Of course you can't blame him for feeling pretty sore," conceded Garry. "It must be pretty tough to lose a new boat like that. It must have cost a lot of money." "You can blame him for showing that he was sore, though," declared Bill disgustedly. "The ungrateful goof never even thanked you for saving his life, Garry." "I was thankful enough for saving my own life," returned Garry, and then told them of the panic-stricken way in which Stewart had clutched him and drawn them both under water. "Sounds just like him," Bill said contemptuously. "That whole poolroom gang is rotten. That's why it makes me mad enough to bite nails to think of Frank being in with them." All his friends sympathized heartily with Bill. Having come in contact with that fast, dissipated crowd through Sandy Podder, who was one of the bunch, they knew how worthless it was. They knew, too, that Bill had always looked up to his older brother as a model of everything that was intelligent and fine. There had been a strong bond between the two lads. Small wonder that Bill had found it hard to be polite to Jerry Cox! "Guess we'd better get over to the house and jump into our clothes," remarked Bill after a silence. "Supper will be just about ready when we get there." The boys agreed, and after making the motorboat fast to the dock hurried to the house.