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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/11062-0.txt b/11062-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..9afa1a4 --- /dev/null +++ b/11062-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,5570 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 11062 *** + +THE DOZEN FROM LAKERIM + +By RUPERT HUGHES + +Author of "The Lakerim Athletic Club" + +WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY C.M. RELYEA + +1899. + + + + + + + + TO THE BEST + *Father* + A BOY EVER HAD + (EXCEPT POSSIBLY YOURS) +BELONGS THE DEDICATION OF THIS STORY + OF LIFE AT AN ACADEMY, + SINCE HIS GOODNESS ENABLED ME + TO KNOW IT AND WRITE IT + + + + +NOTE + + +About half of this book was published serially in "St. Nicholas." The +rest of it is here printed for the first time. If in this story of +life at a preparatory school I have neglected to say very much about +books and studies, and have stuck to far less interesting matters, +such as the games and gambols that while away the dull hours between +classes, I hope my readers will graciously forgive the omission. + + + + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS + + +IT WAS EVIDENT THAT A SEVERE STRUGGLE HAD TAKEN PLACE + +"STOP THE TRAIN AND WAIT FOR ME. I'M GOING TO KINGSTON, TOO!" + +TUG IS TREATED TO A LITTLE SURPRISE-PARTY + +QUIZ LEARNED TO SHOOT THE HILLS AT A BREATHLESS RATE + +JUMBO SAW A PAIR OF FLASHING EYES GLARING AT HIM OVER THE COVERLET + +PRETTY AND ENID + +THE CROSS-COUNTRY RUN + +THE BOXING-MATCH + +TIED UP LIKE DUMMIES IN SACKS + +"STRIKER--OUT!" + +BURNING THE BOOKS + + + + +THE DOZEN FROM LAKERIM + + + + +I + + +Some people think it great fun to build a house of cards slowly and +anxiously, and then knock it to pieces with one little snip of the +finger. Or to fix up a snow man in fine style and watch a sudden thaw +melt him out of sight. Or to write a name carefully, like a copy-book, +and with many curlicues, in the wet sand, and then scamper off and let +the first high wave smooth it away as a boy's sponge wipes from his +slate some such marvelous statement as, 12 × 12 = 120, or 384 ÷ 16 +gives a "koshunt" of 25. When such things are erased it doesn't much +matter; but there are occasions when it hurts to have Father Time come +along and blot out the work you have taken great pains with and have +put your heart into. Twelve young gentlemen in the town of Lakerim +were feeling decidedly blue over just such an occasion. + +You may not find the town of Lakerim on the map in your geography. And +yet it was very well known to the people that lived in it. And the +Lakerim Athletic Club was very well known to those same people. And +the Lakerim Athletic Club, or, at least the twelve founders of the +club, were as blue as the June sky, because it seemed to them that +Father Time--old Granddaddy Longlegs that he is--was playing a mean +trick on them. + +For hadn't they given all their brain and muscle to building up an +athletic club that should be a credit to the town and a terror to +outsiders! And hadn't they given up every free hour for two years to +working like Trojans? though, for that matter, who ever heard of +any work the Trojans ever did that amounted to anything--except the +spending of ten years in getting themselves badly defeated by a big +wooden hobby-horse? + +But while all of the Dozen were deep in the dumps, and had their brows +tied up like a neglected fish-line, the loudest complaint was made, +of course, by the one who had done the least work in building up the +club--a lazybones who had been born tired, and had spent most of his +young life in industriously earning for himself the name of "Sleepy." + +"It's a dad-ratted shame," growled he, "for you fellows to go and +leave the club in the lurch this way, after all the trouble we have +had organizing it." + +"Yes," assented another, who was called "B.J." because he had jumped +from a high bridge once too often, and who read wild Western romances +more than was good for his peace of mind or his conversation; "it kind +of looks as if you fellows were renegades to the cause." + +None of the Twelve knew exactly what a renegade was, but it sounded +unpleasant, and the men to whom the term was applied lost their +tempers, and volunteered to clean out the club-room where they all sat +for two cents. + +But the offenders either thought they could have more fun for less +money, or hadn't the money, for they changed their tune, and the +debate went on in a more peaceful manner. + +The trouble was this: Some of you who are up on the important works of +history may have heard how these twelve youth of the High School at +Lakerim organized themselves into an athletic club that won many +victories, and how they begged, borrowed, and earned enough money to +build themselves a club-house after a year of hard work and harder +play. + +Well, now, after they had gone to all this trouble and all this +expense, and had enjoyed the fruits of their labors barely a year, lo +and behold, one third of the Dozen were planning to desert the club, +leave the town, and take their good muscles to another town, where +there was an academy! The worst of it was that this academy was the +very one that had worked hardest to keep the Lakerim Athletic +Club from being admitted into the league known as the Tri-State +Interscholastic. + +And now that the Lakerim Club had forced its way into the League, and +had won the pennant the very first year, it seemed hard that some of +the most valuable of the Lakerimmers should even consider joining +forces with a rival. The president of the club himself was one of +the deserters; and the rest of the Dozen grew very bitter, and the +arguments often reached a point where it needed only one word more to +bring on a scrimmage--a scrimmage that would make a lively football +game seem tame by comparison. + +And now the president, or "Tug," as he was always called, had been +baited long enough. He rose to his feet and proceeded to deliver an +oration with all the fervor of a Fourth-of-July orator making the +eagle scream. + +"I want you fellows to understand once for all," he cried, "that +no one loves the Lakerim Athletic Club more than I do, or is more +patriotic toward it. But now that I have graduated from the High +School, I can't consider that I know everything that is to be known. +There are one or two things to learn yet, and I intend to go to a +preparatory school, and then through college; and the best thing you +follows can do is to make your plans to do the same thing. Well, now, +seeing that my mind is made up to go to college, and seeing that +I've got to go to some preparatory school, and seeing there is no +preparatory school in Lakerim, and seeing that I have therefore got +to go to some other town, and seeing that at Kingston there is a fine +preparatory school, and seeing that I want to have some sort of a show +in athletics, and seeing that the Athletic Association of the Kingston +Academy has been kind enough to specially invite three of us fellows +to go there--why, seeing all this, I don't see that there is any +kick coming to you fellows if we three fellows take advantage of our +opportunities like sensible people; and the best advice I can give +you is to make up your minds, and make up your fathers' and mothers' +minds, to come along to Kingston Academy with us. Then there won't be +any talk about our being traitors to the Dozen, for we'll just pick +the Dozen up bodily and carry it over to Kingston! The new members +we've elected can take care of the club and the club-house." + +Tug sat down amid a silence that was more complimentary than the +wildest applause; for he had done what few orators do: he had set his +audience to thinking. Only one of the Twelve had a remark to make for +some time, and that was a small-framed, big-spectacled gnome called +"History." He leaned over and said to his elbow-companion, "Bobbles": + +"Tug is a regular Demoskenes!" + +"Who's Demoskenes?" whispered Bobbles. + +"Why, don't you remember him?" said History, proudly. "He was the +fellow that used to fill his mouth full of pebbles before he talked." + +"I'll bet he would have choked on some of your big words, though, +History," growled a little fellow called "Jumbo." + +But the man at his side, known to fame as "Punk," broke in with a +crushing: + +"Aw, let up on that old Dutchman of a Demoskenes, and let's talk +business." + +So they all got their heads together again and discussed their affairs +with the solemnity due to their importance. They talked till the +janitor went round lighting up the club-house, which reminded them +that they were keeping dinner waiting at their various homes. Then +they strolled along home. They met again and again; for the fate of +the club was a serious matter to them, and the fate of the Dozen was +a still more serious matter, because the Dozen had existed before the +club or the club-house, and their hearts ached at the mere thought of +breaking up the old and dear associations that had grown up around +their partnership in many an hour of victory and defeat. + +But where there are many souls there are many minds, and it seemed +impossible to keep the Twelve together for another year. It was +settled that Tug and Jumbo and Punk should accept the flattering +invitation of the Kingston Athletic Association, and their parents +were glad enough to have them go, seeing that Kingston was an academy +of excellent standing. + +History was also to be there, for his learning had won him a free +scholarship in a competitive examination. B.J., "Quiz," and Bobbles +were to be sent to other academies--to Charleston, to Troy, and to +Greenville; but they made life miserable for their fathers and mothers +with their pleadings, until they, too, were permitted to join their +fellows at Kingston. + +Sleepy was the only one that did not want to go, and he insisted that +he had learned all that was necessary for his purpose in life; that he +simply could not endure the thought of laboring over books any +longer. But just as the Dozen had resigned themselves to losing the +companionship of Sleepy (he was a good man to crack jokes about, if +for no other reason), Sleepy's parents announced to him that his +decision was not final, and that, whether or not he wanted to go, go +he should. And then there were eight. + +The handsome and fashionable young Dozener, known to his friends +as Edward Parker, and to fame as "Pretty," was won over with much +difficulty. He had completely made up his mind to attend the Troy +Latin School--not because he loved Latin, but because Troy was the +seat of much social gaiety, and because there was a large seminary for +girls in that town. He was, however, at length cajoled into consenting +to pitch his tent at Kingston by the diplomatic Jumbo, who told him +that the girls at Kingston were the prettiest in three States. And +then there were nine. + +The Phillips twins, "Reddy" and "Heady," were the next source of +trouble, for they had recently indulged in an unusually violent +squabble, even for them, and each had vowed that he would never +speak to the other again, and would sooner die than go to the same +boarding-school. The father of this fiery couple knew that the boys +really loved each other dearly at the bottom of their hearts, and +decided to teach them how much they truly cared for each other; so +he yielded to their prayer that they be allowed to go to different +academies. The boys, in high glee, tossed up a penny to decide which +should go with the Dozen to Kingston, and which should go to the +Brownsville School for Boys. Reddy won Kingston, and rejoiced greatly. +But though Heady was so blue that his brick-colored hair was almost +dyed, nothing could persuade him to "tag along after his brother," as +he phrased it. And so there were ten. + +The deepest grief of the Dozen was the plight of the beloved giant, +"Sawed-Off." There seemed to be no possible way of getting him to +Kingston, much as they thought of his big muscles, and more us they +thought of his big heart. His sworn pal, the tiny Jumbo, was well nigh +distracted at the thought of severing their two knitted hearts; but +Sawed-Off's father was dead, and his mother was too poor to pay for +his schooling, so they gave him up for lost, not without aching at the +heart, and even a little dampness at the eyelids. + +Heady was the first to leave town. He slipped away on an early morning +train without telling any one, for he felt very much ashamed of his +stubbornness; and he and his brother shook hands with each other as +nervously as two prize-fighters. + +A few days later the five sixths of the Dozen that were booked +for Kingston stood on the crowded platform of the Lakerim +railroad-station, bidding good-by to all the parents they had, and all +the friends. All of them had paid long calls on their best girls +the evening before, and exchanged photographs and locks of hair and +various keepsakes more or less sentimental and altogether useless. So, +now that they were in public, they all shook hands very formally: Tug +with a girl several years older than he; Pretty with the beautiful +Enid; Quiz with the fickle Cecily Brown; bashful Bobbles with the +bouncing Betsy; B.J. with a girl who had as many freckles as B.J. had +had imaginary encounters with the bandits who had tried to steal her; +the unwilling Sleepy with a lively young woman who broke his heart by +congratulating him on being able to go to Kingston; tiny Jumbo with +plump Carrie Shields, whom he had once fished out of the water; +and Reddy with the girl over whom he and his brother had had their +bitterest quarrels, and who could not for the life of her tell which +one she liked the better. + +[Illustration: STOP THE TRAIN AND WAIT FOR ME, I'M GOING TO KINGSTON, +TOO!] + +But there was one very little girl in the crowd whose greatest sorrow, +strangely enough, was the fact that she had no one to bid good-by +to, since her dearest friend, the huge Sawed-Off, was not to go to +Kingston. + +Just as the engine began to ring its warning bell, and the conductor +to wave the people aboard, there was a loud clatter of hoofs, and the +rickety old Lakerim carryall came dashing up, drawn by the lively +horses Sawed-Off had once saved from destroying themselves and the +Dozen in one fell swoop down a steep hill. The carryall lurched up to +the station came to a sudden stop, and out bounced--who but Sawed-Off +himself, loaded down with bundles, and yelling at the top of his +voice: + +"Stop the train and wait for me. I'm going to Kingston, too!" + + + + +II + + +There was just time to dump his trunk into the baggage-car, and bundle +him and his bundles on to the platform, before the train steamed away; +and the eleven Lakerimmers were so busy waving farewell to the waving +and farewelling crowd at the station that it was some minutes before +they could find time to learn how Sawed-Off came to be among them. +When he explained that he had made arrangements to work his way +through the Academy, they took no thought for the hard struggle in +front of him, they were so glad to have him along. Jumbo and he sat +with their arms around each other all the way to Kingston, their +hearts too full for anything but an occasional "Hooray!" + +The journey to Kingston brought no adventures with it--except that +History, of course, had lost his spectacles and his ticket, and had to +borrow money of Pretty to keep from being put off the train, and that +when they reached Kingston they came near forgetting Sleepy entirely, +for he had curled up in a seat, and was reeling off slumber at a +faster rate than the train reeled off miles. + +The first few days at Kingston were so busily filled with entrance +examinations and selection of rooms and the harder selection of +room-mates and other furniture that the Dozen saw little of each +other, except as they crunched by along the gravel walks of the campus +or met for a hasty meal in the dining-hall. This dining-hall, by the +way, was managed by an estimable widow named Mrs. Slaughter, and of +course the boys called it the "Slaughter-house," a name not so far +from the truth, when one considers the way large, tough roasts of beef +and tons of soggy corned beef were massacred by the students. + +It might be a good idea to insert here a little snap shot of Kingston +Academy. The town itself was a moth-eaten old village that claimed +a thousand inhabitants, but could never have mustered that number +without counting in all the sleepy horses, mules, cows, and pet dogs +that roamed the streets like the rest of the inhabitants. The chief +industry of the people of Kingston seemed to be that of selling +school-books, mince-pies, and other necessaries of life to the boys at +the Academy. The grown young men of the town spent their lives trying +to get away to some other cities. The younger youth of the town spent +their lives trying to interfere with the pleasures of the Kingston +academicians. So there were many of the old-time "town-and-gown" +squabbles; and it was well for the health of the Kingston Academy boys +that they rarely went around town except in groups of two or three; +and it was very bad for the health of any of the town fellows if they +happened to be caught within the Academy grounds. + +The result of being situated in a half-dead village, which was neither +loved nor loving, did not make life at the Academy tame, but quite the +opposite; for the boys were forced to find their whole entertainment +in the Academy life, and in one another, and the campus was therefore +a little republic in itself--a Utopia. Like every other republic, it +had its cliques and its struggles, its victories and its defeats, its +friendships and its enmities, and everything else that makes life +lively and lifelike. + +The campus was beautiful enough and large enough to accommodate its +citizens handsomely. Its trees were many and tall, venerable old +monarchs with foliage like tents for shade and comfort to any little +groups that cared to lounge upon the mossy divans beneath. The grounds +were spacious enough to furnish not only football and baseball fields +and tennis-courts, but meadows where wild flowers grew in the spring, +and a little lake where the ice grew in the winter. Miles away--just +enough to make a good "Sabbath day's journey"--was a wonderful region +called the "Ledges," where glaciers had once resided, and left huge +boulders, scratched and scarred. As Jumbo put it, it seemed, from +the chasms and caves and curious distortions of stone and soil, that +"nature must have once had a fit there.". + +Most of the buildings of the Academy looked nearly old enough to have +been also deposited there by the primeval glaciers, but they were huge +and comfortable, and so many colonies of boys had romped and ruminated +there, and so much laughter and so much lore had soaked into the old +walls, that they were pleasanter than any newer and more gorgeous +architecture could possibly be. They were homely in the better as well +as the worse sense. + +But this is more than enough description, and you must imagine for +yourselves how the Lakerim eleven, often as they thought of home, and +homesick as they were in spite of themselves now and then, rejoiced +in being thrown on their own resources, and made somewhat independent +citizens in a little country of their own. Unwilling to make +selections among themselves, more unwilling to select room-mates from +the other students (the "foreigners," as the Lakerimmers called them), +they drew lots for one another, and the lots decided that they should +room together thus: Tug and Punk were on the ground floor of the +building known as South College, in room No. 2; in the room just over +them were Quiz and Pretty; and on the same floor, at the back of +the building, were Bobbles and Reddy (Reddy insisted upon this room +because it had a third bedroom off its study-room; while, of course, +he never expected to see Heady there, and didn't much care, of course, +whether he came or not, still, a fellow never can tell, you know); on +the same floor were B.J. and Jumbo. Jumbo did not stoop to flatter +B.J. by pretending that he would not have preferred Sawed-Off for +his room-mate; but Sawed-Off was working his way through, and the +principal of the Academy had offered to help him out, not only with a +free scholarship, but with a free room, as well, in Middle College, an +old building which had the gymnasium on the first floor, the chapel on +the second, and in the loft a single store-room fixed up as a bedroom. + +The lots the fellows drew seemed to be in a joking mood when they +selected History and Sleepy for room-mates--the hardest student and +the softest, not only of the Dozen, but of the whole Academy. Sleepy +had been too lazy to pay much heed when the diplomatic History had +suggested their choosing room No. 13 for theirs, and he assented +languidly. History had said that it was the brightest and sunniest +room in the building, and if there was one thing that Sleepy loved +almost better than baseball, it was a good snooze in the sun after he +had worked hard stowing away any of the three meals. His heart was +broken, however, when he learned that the room chosen by the wily +History was on the top floor, with three long flights to climb. After +that you could never convince him that thirteen was not an unlucky +number. + +The Lakerimmers had thus managed quietly to ensconce themselves, all +except Sawed-Off, in one building; and it was just as well, perhaps, +that they did so establish themselves in a stronghold of their own, +for they clung together so steadfastly that there was soon a deal of +jealousy among the other students toward them, and all the factions +combined together to try to keep the Lakerimmers from cabbaging any of +the good things of academy life. + +There was a craze of skylarking the first few weeks after the school +opened. Almost every day one of the Lakerimmers would come back from +his classes to find his room "stacked"--a word that exactly expresses +its meaning. There is something particularly discouraging in going to +your room late in the evening, your mind made up to a comfortable hour +of reading on a divan covered with cushions made by your best girls, +only to find the divan placed in the middle of the bed, with a bureau +and a bookcase stuck on top of it, a few chairs and a pet bulldog tied +in the middle of the mix-up, and a mirror and a well-filled bowl of +water so fixed on the top of the heap that it is well-nigh impossible +to move any one of the articles without cracking the looking-glass or +dousing yourself with the water. The Lakerimmers tried retaliation for +a time; but the pleasure of stacking another man's room was not half +so great as the misery of unstacking one's own room, and they finally +decided to keep two or three of the men always on guard in the +building. + +There was a rage for hazing, too, the first few weeks; and as the +Lakerimmers were all new men in the Academy, they were considered +particularly good candidates for various degrees of torment. Hazing +was strictly against the rules of the Academy, but the teachers could +not be everywhere at once, and had something to do besides prowl +around the dark corners of the campus at all hours of the night. Some +of the men furiously resisted the efforts to haze them; but when they +once learned that their efforts were vain, and had perforce to submit, +none of them were mean enough to peach on their tormentors after the +damage was done. The Lakerimmers, however, decided to resist force +with force, and stuck by each other so closely, and barricaded their +doors so firmly at night, when they must necessarily separate, +that time went on without any of them being subjected to any other +indignities than the guying of the other Kingstonians. + +Sawed-Off had so much and such hard work to do after school hours +that the whole Academy respected him too much to attempt to haze him, +though he roomed alone in the old Middle College. Besides, his size +was such that nobody cared to be the first one to lay hand on him. + + * * * * * + +There was just one blot on the happiness of the Dozen at Kingston. +Tug and Punk and Jumbo had started the whole migration from Lakerim +because they had been invited by the Kingston Athletic Association to +join forces with the Academy. The magnificent game of football these +three men had played in the last two years had been the cause of this +invitation, and they had come with glowing dreams of new worlds to +conquer. What was their pain and disgust to find that the captain of +the Kingston team, elected before they came, had decided that he had +good cause for jealousy of Tug, and had decided that, since Tug would +probably win all his old laurels away from him if he once admitted him +to the eleven, the only way to retain those laurels was to keep Tug +off the team. When the Lakerim three, therefore, appeared on the field +as candidates for the eleven, they were assigned to the second or +scrub team. (The first team was generally called the "varsity," though +of course it only represented an academy.) + +The Lakerim three, though disappointed at first, determined to show +their respect for discipline, and to earn their way; so they submitted +meekly, and played the best game they could on the scrub. When the +varsity captain, Clayton by name, criticized their playing in a +way that was brutal,--not because it was frank, but because it was +unjust,--they swallowed the poison as quietly as they could, and went +back into the game determined not to repeat the slip that had brought +upon them such a deluge of abuse. + +It soon became evident, however, from the way Clayton neglected the +mistakes of the pets of his own eleven, and his constant and petty +fault-finding with the three Lakerimmers, that he was determined to +keep them from the varsity, even if he had to keep second-rate players +on the team, and even if he imperiled the Academy's chances against +rival elevens. + +When this unpleasant truth had finally soaked into their minds, the +Lakerimmers grew very solemn; and one evening, when the whole eleven +happened to be in room No. 2, and when the hosts, Tug and Punk, were +particularly sore from the outrageous language used against them +in the practice of the afternoon, Punk, who was rather easily +discouraged, spoke up: + +"I guess the only thing for us to do, fellows, is to pack up our duds +and go back home. There's no chance for us here." + +Tug, who was feeling rather muggy, only growled: + +"Not on your life! I had rather be a yellow dog than a quitter." + +Then he relapsed into a silence that reminded History of Achilles in +his tent, though he was ungently told to keep still when he tried to +suggest the similarity. Reddy was fairly sizzling with rage at the +Clayton faction, and sang out: + +"I move that we go round and throw a few rocks through Clayton's +windows, and then if he says anything, punch his head for him." + +This idea seemed to please the majority of the men, and they were +instantly on their feet and rushing out of the door to execute their +vengeance on the tyrant, when Tug thundered out for them to come back. + +"I've got a better idea," he said, "and one that will do us more +credit. I'll tell you what I am going to do: I am going to take this +matter into my own hands, and drill that scrub team myself, and see +if we can't teach the varsity a thing or two. I believe that, with +a little practice and a little good sense, we can shove 'em off the +earth." + +This struck the fellows as the proper and the Lakerim method of doing +things, and they responded with a cheer. + + + + +III + + +Tug persuaded Reddy, B.J., Pretty, and Bobbles, who had not been +trying for the team, to come out on the field. He even coaxed the busy +Sawed-Off into postponing some of his work for a few days to help them +out. He thus had almost the old Lakerim eleven at his command; and +that very night, in that very room, they concocted and practised a few +secret tricks and a few surprises for Clayton, who was neither very +fertile in invention nor very quick to understand the schemes of +others. + +Clayton was too sure of his own position and power to pay any heed to +the storm that was brewing for him, and was only too glad to see more +Lakerim men on the scrub team for him to abuse. + +The next day Tug persuaded some of the others of the scrub eleven to +"lay off" for a few days, and he also persuaded the captain of the +scrub team to give him command for a week. Then he took his new +eleven, seven of them old Lakerim veterans, out on the field, and +worked with them early and late. + +To instil into the heads of his men the necessity of being in just the +right place at the right time, Tug drew a map of the field on a large +sheet of paper, and spread it on his center-table; then he took +twenty-two checkers and set them in array like two football teams. He +gathered his eleven into his room at night, told each man Jack of them +which checker was his, and set them problems to work out. + +"Suppose I give the signal for the left-guard to take the ball around +the right-end," he would say, and ask each man in turn, "Where would +you go?" + +Then the backs drew their checkers up to position as interference, and +the tackles and guards showed what particular enemies they were to +bowl over. Many ridiculous mistakes were made at first, and each man +had a good laugh at the folly of each of the others for some play that +left a big hole in the flying protection. But they could practise at +night and worry it out in theory, while their legs rested till the +next day's practice. + +When he could find an empty recitation-room at an idle hour, +"Professor Tug," as they soon called him, would gather his class about +him and work out the same problems on the blackboards, each man being +compelled to draw an arrow from his position at the time of the signal +to his proper place when the ball was in play. + +The game now became a true science, and the scrub took it up with +a new zest. This indoor drill made it easy also to revive a trick +popular at Yale in the 'Eighties--the giving of one signal to prepare +for a series of plays. Then Tug would call out some eloquent gibberish +like "Seventy-'leven-three-teen," and that meant that on the first +down the full-back was to come in on the run, and take the ball +through the enemy's left-guard and tackle; on the second down the +right half-back was to crisscross with the left half-back; and on the +third down the right-guard was to scoot round the left-end. + +The beauty of this old scheme was that it caught the enemy napping: +while he was lounging and waiting for the loud signal, the ball was +silently put in play before he was ready. On the fatal day Tug found +that the scheme was well worth the trouble it took. It has its +disadvantages in the long run, but on its first appearance at Kingston +it fairly made the varsity team's eyes pop with amazement. + +Tug did not put into play the whole strength of his eleven, but +practised cautiously, and instructed his team in the few ruses Clayton +seemed to be fond of. He was looking forward to the occasion when a +complete game was to be played before the townspeople between the +varsity and the scrub; and Clayton was looking forward to this same +day, and promising himself a great triumph when the Academy and the +town should see what a rattling eleven he had made up. + +The day came. The whole Academy and most of the town turned out and +filled the grand stand and the space along the side lines. It was to +be the first full game of the season on the Academy grounds, and every +one was eager to renew acquaintance with the excitements of the fall +before. You have doubtless seen and read about more football games +than enough, and you will be glad to skip the details of this contest. + +It will be unnecessary to do more than suggest how Clayton was simply +dumfounded when he saw his first long kick-off caught by the veteran +full-back Punk, and carried forward with express speed under the +protection of Tug's men, who were not satisfied with merely running in +front of Clayton's tacklers, but bunted into them and dumped them over +with a spine-jolting vigor, and covered Punk from attack on the rear, +and carried him across the center line and well on into Clayton's +territory before Clayton realized that several of his pets were mere +straw men, and dashed violently and madly into and through Punk's +interference, and downed him on the 15-yard line; how the spectators +looked on in silent amazement at this unexpected beginning; how +promptly Tug's men were lined up, a broad swath completely opened with +one quick gash in Clayton's line, and the ball shoved through and +within five yards of the goal-posts, almost before Clayton knew it was +in play; how Clayton called his men to one side, and rebuked them, and +told them just what to do, and found, to his disgust, that when they +had done it, it was just the wrong thing to do; how they could not +hold the line against the fury of the scrub team; how the ball was +jammed across the line right under the goal-posts, and Clayton's head +well whacked against one of those same posts as he was swept off his +feet; how Tug's men on the line were taught to avoid foolish attempts +to worry their opponents, and taught to reserve their strength for the +supreme moment when the call came to split the line; how Sawed-Off, +though lighter than Clayton's huge 200 pound center, had more than +mere bulk to commend him, and tipped the huge baby over at just +the right moment; how Tug now and then followed a series of honest +football maneuvers with some unexpected trick that carried the ball +far down the field around one end, when Clayton was scrambling after +it in the wrong place; how Tug had perfected his interference until +the man carrying the ball seemed almost as safe as if Clayton's men +were Spaniards, and he were in the turret of the U.S.S. _Oregon_; how +little time Tug's men lost in getting away after the ball had been +passed to them; how little they depended on "grand stand" plays by +the individual, and how much on team-work; how Tug's men went through +Clayton's interference as neatly as a fox through a hedge; how they +resisted Clayton's mass plays as firmly as harveyized steel; how +Clayton fumed and fretted and slugged and fouled, and threatened his +men, and called them off to hold conferences that only served to give +Tug's men a chance to get their wind after some violent play; how +Tug was everywhere at once, and played for more than the pleasure of +winning this one game--played as if he were a pair of twins, and only +smiled back when Clayton glared at him; how Punk guarded the goal from +the longest punts the varsity full-back could make, and how he kicked +the goal after all but one of the many touch-downs the scrub team +made; how little Jumbo, as quarter-back, passed the ball with never a +fumble and never a bad throw; how, when it came back to his hands, +he skimmed almost as closely and as silently and as swiftly over the +ground as the shadow of a flying bird, and made long run after long +run that won the cheers of the crowd; how B.J., Sawed-Off, and Pretty, +as right-end, center, and left-end, responded at just the right +moment, and how Pretty dodged and ran with the alertness he had +learned in many a championship tennis tournament; and how Reddy, as +left half-back, flew across the field like a firebrand, or hurled +himself into the line with a fury that seemed to have no regard for +the bones or flesh of himself or the Claytonians; how-- + + + + +IV + + +But did any one ever read such a string of "hows"? Why, that sentence +was getting to be longer and more complicated than the game it was +pretending not to describe; so here's an end on't, with the plain +statement that the game (like that sentence) came finally to an end. +But the effects of the contest did not end with the dying out of the +cheers with which the victory of the scrub was greeted. And Tug's +elevation did not cease when he had been caught up on the shoulders of +the crowd and carried all over the field, amid the wild cheers of the +whole Academy. No more did Captain Clayton's chagrin end with +his awakening from the stupor into which he had been sent by the +surprisingly good form of the scrub. + +Clayton felt bitter enough at the exposure of his bad captaincy, but +a still greater bitterness awaited him, and a still greater triumph +awaited Tug, for the Athletic Association put their heads together +and decided to have their little say. The result was published in +the Kingston weekly, and Tug, after the overwhelming honor of being +interviewed by a live reporter, read there the following screaming +head-lines: + + + SCRUB WIPES THE EARTH + WITH VARSITY! + + * * * * * + + Kingston Football Team Meets with a + Crushing Defeat at the Hands of + the Second Eleven. + + * * * * * + + SCORE, 28 to 4. + + * * * * * + + VARSITY OUTPLAYED AT + EVERY POINT. + + * * * * * + + Popular Opinion Forces Captain Clayton + to Resign in Favor of + "Tug" Robinson. + + * * * * * + + KINGSTON TEAM TO BE + COMPLETELY REORGANIZED. + + * * * * * + + Mr. Robinson Declares that Favoritism + will Have no Part in the Make-up of + the New Team, and Magnanimously + Offers Ex-Captain + Clayton a Position on + the New Eleven. + + +There is no need telling here the wild emotions in the hearts of +Clayton and his faction at the end of the game, and no need of even +hinting the wilder delight of the Lakerimmers at the vindication of +their cause. The whole eleven of them strolled home in one grand +embrace, and used their jaws more for talking than for eating when +they reached the long-delayed meal at the "Slaughter-house"; and +after supper they met again at the fence, and sang Lakerim songs of +rejoicing, and told and retold to each other the different features of +the game, which they all knew without the telling. So much praise was +heaped upon Tug by the rest of the Academy, and he was so fêted by the +Lakerimmers, that he finally slipped away and went to his room. And +little History also bade them good night, on his old excuse of having +to study. + +It was very dark before the Lakerimmers had talked themselves tired. +Then they voted to go around and congratulate Tug once more upon his +victory, and give him three cheers for the sake of auld lang syne. +When they went to his room, they were amazed to see the door swinging +open and shut in the breeze; they noted that the lock was torn off. +They hurried in, and found one of the windows broken, and books and +chairs scattered about in confusion; the mantel and cloth and the +photographs on it were all awry. It was evident that a fierce struggle +had taken place in the room. The nine Lakerimmers stood aghast, +staring at each other in stupefaction. Reddy was the first to find +tongue, and he cried out: + +"I know what's up, fellows: that blamed gang of hazers has got him!" + +Now there was an excitement indeed. Punk suggested that perhaps he +might be in History's room, and Bobbles scaled the three flights, +three steps at a time, only to return with a wild look, and declare +that History's room was empty, his lock broken, and his student lamp +smoking. Plainly the hazing committee had lost no time in seizing +its first opportunity. Plainly the Lakerimmers must lose no time in +hurrying to the rescue. + +"Up and after 'em, men!" cried B.J.; and, trying to remember what +was the proper thing for an old Indian scout to do under the +circumstances, he started off on a dead run. And the others followed +him into the night. + + + + +V + + +Tug had stood the praise and applause of his fellow-students, and +especially the wild flattery of the Dozen, who were almost insanely +joyful over his success in captaining the scrub football team and +wiping the earth up with the varsity, until he was as sick as a boy +that has overfed on candy. Finally he had slunk away, rather like a +guilty man than a hero, and started for his room. Once he had left the +crowd and was alone under the great trees, darkly beautiful with the +moonlight, he felt again the delicious pride of his victory against +the heavy odds, and the conspiracy of his deadly rival in football. +He planned, in his imagination, the various steps he would take to +reorganize the varsity eleven, to which it was evident that he would +be elected captain; and he smacked his lips over the prospects of +glorious battles and hard-won victories in the games in which he +and his team would represent the Kingston Academy against the other +academies of the Tri-State Interscholastic League. + +His waking dreams came true, in good season, too; for, under his +inspiring leadership, the Kingston men took up the game with a new +zest, gave up the idea that individual grand-stand plays won games, +and learned to sink their ambitions for themselves into a stronger +ambition for the success of the whole team. And they played so +brilliantly and so faithfully that academy after academy went down +before them, and they were not even scored against until they met the +most formidable rivals of all, the Greenville Academy. Greenville was +an old athletic enemy of the Lakerim Club, and Tug looked forward to +meeting it with particular delight, especially as the championship of +the League football series lay between Greenville and Kingston. I have +only time and room enough to tell you that when the final contest +came, Tug sent his men round the ends so scientifically, and led them +into the scrimmages so furiously, that they won a glorious victory of +18 to 6. + +But this is getting a long way into the future, and away from Tug on +his walk to his room that beautiful evening, when all these triumphs +were still in the clouds, and he had only one victory to look back +upon. + +Tug's responsibility had been great that afternoon, and the strain of +coaxing and commanding his scrub players to assault and defeat the +heavier eleven opposed to them had worn hard on his muscles and +nerves. When he got to his room he was too tired to remember that he +had forgotten to take the usual precautions of locking his door and +windows, or even of drawing the curtains. He did not stop to think +that hazing had been flourishing about the Academy grounds for some +time, and that threats had been made against any of the Lakerim Dozen +if they were ever caught alone. He could just keep awake long enough +to light his student lamp; then he dropped on his divan, and buried +his head in a red-white-and-blue cushion his best Lakerim girl had +embroidered for him in a fearful and wonderful manner, and was soon +dozing away into a dreamland where the whole world was one great +football, and he was kicking it along the Milky Way, scoring a +touch-down every fifty years. + +A little later History poked his head in at the door. He also had left +the crowd seated on the fence, and had started for his room to study. +He saw Tug fast asleep, and let him lie undisturbed, though he was +tempted to wake him up and say that Tug reminded him of the Sleeping +Beauty before taking the magic kiss; but he thought it might not be +safe, and went on up to his room whistling, very much off the key. + +Tug slept on as soundly as the mummy of Rameses. But suddenly he +woke with a start. He had a confused idea that he had heard some one +fumbling at his window. His sleepy eyes seemed to make out a face just +disappearing from sight outside. He dismissed his suspicions as +the manufactures of sleep, and was about to fall back again on the +comfortable divan when he heard footsteps outside, and the creak of +his door-knob. He rose quickly to his feet. + +A masked face was thrust in at the door, and the lips smiled +maliciously under the black mask, and a pair of blacker eyes gleamed +through it. + +Tug made a leap for the door to shut the intruder out, realizing in a +flash that the hazers had truly caught him napping. + +But he was too late. The masked face was followed swiftly into the +room by the body that belonged to it, and by other faces and other +bodies--all the faces masked, and all the bodies hidden in long black +robes. + +Tug fell back a step, and said, with all the calmness he could muster: + +"I guess you fellows are in the wrong room." + +"Nope; we've come for you," was the answer of the first masker, who +spoke in a disguised voice. + +Tug looked as resolutely as he could into the eyes behind the mask, +and asked rather nervously a question whose answer he could have as +easily given himself: + +"Well, now that you're here, what do you want?" + +Again the disguised voice came deeply from the somber-robed leader: + +"Oh, we just want to have a little fun with you." + +"Well, I don't want to have any fun with you," parleyed Tug, trying to +gain time. + +"Oh, it doesn't make any difference whether you want to come or not; +this isn't your picnic--it's ours," was the cheery response of the +first ghost; and the other black Crows fairly cawed with delight. + +Still Tug argued: "What right have you men got to come into my room +without being invited?" + +"It's just a little surprise-party we've planned." + +"Well, I'm not feeling like entertaining any surprise-party to-night." + +"Oh, that doesn't make any difference to us." Again the black flock +flapped its wings and cawed. + +And now Tug, as usual, lost his temper when he saw they were making a +guy of him, and he blurted fiercely: + +"Get out of here, all of you!" + +Then the crowd laughed uproariously at him. + +And this made him still more furious, and though they were ten to one, +Tug flung himself at them without fear or hesitation. When five of +them fell on him at once, he dragged them round the room as if they +were football-players trying to down him; but the odds were too great, +and before long they overpowered him and tied his wrists behind him; +not without difficulty, for Tug had the slipperiness of an eel, along +with the strength of a young shark. When they had him well bound, and +his legs tethered so that he could take only very short steps, they +lifted him to his feet. + +"I think we'd better gag him," said the leader of the Crows; and he, +produced a stout handkerchief. But Tug gave him one contemptuous look, +and remarked: + +"Do you suppose I'm a cry-baby? I'm not going to call for help." + +There was something in his tone that convinced the captain of the +Crows. + + + + +VI + + +A detachment was now sent to scurry through the dormitory and see if +it could find any other Lakerimmers. This squad finally came down the +stairs, the biggest one of the Crows carrying little History under +his arm. History was waving his arms and legs about as if he were a +tarantula, but the big black Crow held him tight and kept one hand +over the boy's mouth so that he could not scream. + +Then Tug began to struggle furiously again, and to resist their +efforts to drag him out of the room. He could easily have raised a cry +that would have brought a professor to his rescue and scattered his +persecutors like sparrows; but his boyish idea of honor put that +rescue out of his reach, and he fought like a dumb man, with only such +occasional grunts as his struggle tore from him. + +He might have been fighting them yet, for all I know, had not History +twisted his mouth from under the hand of his captor and threatened--he +had not breath enough left to call for help: + +"If--you--don't let me go--I'll--_tell_ on you." + +The very thought of this smallness horrified Tug so much that he +stopped struggling, and turned his head to implore History not to +disgrace Lakerim by being a tattler. The Crows saw their chance, and +while Tug's attention was occupied one of them threw a loosely woven +sack over his head and drew it down about his neck. Then they started +once more on the march, History scratching and kicking in all +directions and doing very little harm, while Tug, with his hands tied +behind him and his head first in a noose, used his only weapons, his +shoulders, with the fury of a Spanish bull. And before they got him +through the door he had nearly disabled three of his assailants, +making one of them bite his tongue in a manner most uncomfortable. And +the room looked as if a young cyclone had been testing its muscles +there! + +The Crows hustled the Lakerimmers out without any unnecessary +tenderness, forgetting to close the door after them. Out of the hall +and across the board walk, on to the soft, frosty grass where the +sound of their scuffling feet would not betray them, they jostled +their way. Tug soon decided that the best thing for him to do was to +reserve his strength; so he ceased to resist, and followed meekly +where they led. They whirled him round on his heel several times to +confuse him as to the direction they took, then they hurried him +through the dark woods of a neglected corner of the campus. History +simply refused to go on his own feet, and they had to carry him most +of the way, and found only partial revenge in pinching his spidery +legs and bumping his head into occasional trees. + +The two boys knew when they left the campus by the fact that they were +bundled and boosted over a stone wall and across a road. + +History, as he stumbled along at. Tug's side, at length came to +himself enough to be reminded of the way the ancient Romans used to +treat such captives as were brought back in triumph by their generals. +But Tug did not care to hear about the troubles of the Gauls--he had +troubles of his own. + +Once they paused and heard a mysterious whispering among the Crows, +who left them standing alone and withdrew a little distance. History +was afraid to move in the dark, for fear that he might step out of the +frying-pan into the fire; but Tug, always ready to take even the most +desperate chance, thought, he would make a bolt for it. He put one +foot forward as a starter, but found no ground in front of him. +He felt about cautiously with his toe, and discovered that he was +standing at the brink of a ledge. How deep the ravine in front of him +was, he could only imagine, and in spite of his courage he shivered +at the thought of what he might have done had he followed his first +impulse and made a dash. There are pleasanter things on a dark night +than standing with eyes blindfolded and hands bound on the edge of an +unknown embankment. As he waited, the weakening effect of the struggle +and the mysterious terrors of the darkness told on his nerves, and he +shivered a bit in spite of his clenched teeth. Then he overheard the +voices of the Crows, and one of them was saying: + +"Aw, go on, shove him over." + +Another protested: "But it might break his neck, and it's sure to +fracture a bone or two." + +"Well, what of it? He nearly broke my jaw." + +Then Tug heard more excited whispering and what sounded like a +struggle, and suddenly he heard some one rushing toward him; he felt a +sharp blow and a shove from behind, and was launched over the brink of +the ledge. I'll not pretend that he wasn't about as badly scared as +time would allow. + +But there was barely space for one lightning stroke of wild regret +that his glad athletic days were over and he was to be at least a +cripple, if he lived at all, when the ground rose up and smote him +much quicker even than he had expected. As he sprawled awkwardly and +realized that he had hardly been even bruised, he felt a sense of rage +at himself for having been taken in by the old hazing joke, and a +greater rage at the men who had brought on him what was to him the +greatest disgrace of all--a feeling of fear. He had just time to +make up his mind to take this joke out of the hides of some of his +tormentors, if it took him all winter, when he heard above him the +sound of a short, sharp scuffle with History, who was pleading for +dear life, and who came flying over the ledge with a shrill scream of +terror, and plumped on the ground half an inch from Tug's head. It +took History only half a second to realize that he was not dead yet, +and he was so glad to be alive again--as he thought of it--that he +began to sniffle from pure joy. + +The Crows were not long in leaping over the ledge and getting Tug and +History to their feet. Then they took up the march again, staggering +under their laughter and howling with barbarous glee. + +After half a mile more of hard travel, the prisoners were brought +through a dense woods into a clearing, where their party was greeted +by the voices of others. The sack over Tug's head was unbound and +snatched away, and he looked about him to see a dozen more black +Crows, with two other hapless prisoners, seated like an Indian +war-council about a blazing lire, and, like an Indian war-council, +pondering tortures for their unlucky captives. + +In the fire were two or three iron pokers glowing red-hot. The sight +of this gave the final blow to any hope that might have remained of +History's conducting himself with dignity. When he and Tug were led +in, there was such an hilarious celebration over the two Lakerim +captives as the Indian powwow indulged in on seeing a scouting party +bring in Daniel Boone a prisoner. + +As Tug was the most important spoil of war, they took counsel, and +decided that he should be given the position of honor--and tortured +last. Then they went, enthusiastically to work making life miserable +for the two captives brought in previously. + +The first was compelled to climb a tree, which he did with some little +difficulty, seeing that, while half of them pretended to boost him, +the other half amused themselves by grabbing his legs and pulling him +back three inches for every one inch he climbed (like the frog and the +well in the mathematical problem). He finally gained a point above +their reach, however, and seated himself in the branches, looking +about as happy as a lone wayfarer treed by a pack of wolves. Then, +they commanded him to bark at the moon, and threatened him with all +sorts of penalties if he disobeyed. So he yelped and gnarled and +bow-wowed till there was nothing left of his voice but a sickly +wheeze. + +Then they told him that the first course was over, and invited him to +return to earth and rest up for the second. So he came sliddering down +the rough bark with the speed of greased lightning. + +The second captive was a great fat boy who had been a promising +candidate for center rush on the football team until Sawed-Off +appeared on the scene. This behemoth was compelled to seat himself +on a small inverted saucer and row for dear life with a pair of +toothpicks. The Crows howled with glee over the ludicrous antics +of the fellow, and set him such a pace that he was soon a perfect +waterfall of perspiration, and was crying for mercy. At length he +caught a crab and went heels over head backward on the ground, and +they left him to recover his breath and his temper. + +History had watched these proceedings with much amusement, but when +he saw the hazers coming for him he lost sight of the fun of the +situation immediately. + +The head Crow now towered over the shivering little History, and said +in his deepest chest-tones: "These Lakerim cattle are too fresh. They +must be branded and salted a little." + +Then he fastened a handkerchief over History's eyes, and growled: "Are +those irons hot yet?" + +"Red-hot, your Majesty," came the answer from one of the other ravens, +and History heard the clanking of the pokers as they were drawn from +the fire. He had seen before that they were red-hot, and now they were +brandished before his very nose, so close that he could see the red +glow through the cloth over his eyes and could feel the heat in the +air close to his cheek. + +"Where shall we brand the wretch, your Honor?" was the next question +History heard. + +The poor pygmy was too much frightened to move, and he almost fainted +when he heard the first Crow answer gruffly: "Thrust the branding-iron +right down the back of his neck, and give him a good long mark that +shall last him the rest of his life." + +Instantly History felt a bitter, stinging pain at the back of his +neck, a pain that ran like fire down along his spine, and he gave a +great shriek of terror and almost swooned away. + +Tug's eyes were not blindfolded, and he had seen that, though the +Crows had waved a red-hot poker before History's nose, they had +quickly substituted a very cold rod to thrust down his back. The +effect on the nerves of the blindfolded boy, however, was the same as +if it had been red-hot, and he had dropped to earth like a flash. + +Tug, though he knew it would heighten his own tortures, could not +avoid expressing his opinion of such treatment of the sensitive +History. He did not know whether he was more disgusted and enraged +at the actual pain the Crows had given their captives or at the +ridiculous plights they had put them in, but he did know that he +regarded the whole proceeding as a terrible outrage, a disgrace to +the Academy; and ever after he used all his influence against the +barbarous idea of hazing. + +But now he commanded as though he were master of the situation: "Throw +some of that water on the boy's face and bring him to," and while they +hastened to follow out his suggestion he poured out the rage in his +soul: + +"Shame on you, you big cowards, for torturing that poor little kid! +You're a nice pack of heroes, you are! Only twenty to one! But I'll +pay you back for this some day, and don't you forget it! And if you'll +untie my hands I'll take you one at a time now. I guess I could just +about do up _two_ of you at a time, you big bullies, you!" + +And now one of the larger Crows rushed up to Tug, and drew off to +strike him in the face. But Tug only stared back into the fellow's +eyes with a fiercer glare in his own, and cried: + +"Hit me! My hands are tied now! It's a good chance for you, and you'll +never get another, for I'll remember the cut of that jaw and the mole +on your cheek in spite of your mask, and you'll wish you had never +been born before I get through with you!" + +Tug's rash bravado infuriated the Crows until they were ready for any +violence, but the head Crow interposed and pushed aside the one who +still threatened Tug. He said laughingly: + +"Let him alone, boys; we want him in prime condition for the grand +final torture ceremonies. Let's finish up the others." + +Then they laughed and went back to the first two wretches, and made +life miserable for them to the end of their short wits. They were +afraid to try any more experiments on History, and left him lying by +the fire, slowly recovering his nerves. + +All the while Tug had remained so very quiet that the Crows detailed +to watch him had slightly relaxed their vigilance. He had been +silently working at the cords with which his hands were tied behind +his back, and by much straining and turning and torment of flesh he +had at length worked his right hand almost out of the rope. + +Soon he saw that the Crows were about to begin on him. He thought the +whole performance an outrage on the dignity of an American citizen, +and he gave the cords one last fierce jerk that wrung his right hand +loose, though it left not a little of the skin on the cords; and the +first Crow to lay a hand on his shoulder thought he must have touched +a live wire, for Tug's hand came flashing from behind his back, and +struck home on the fellow's nose. + +Then Tug warmed up to the scrimmage, and his right and left arms flew +about like Don Quixote's windmill for a few minutes, until two of the +two dozen Crows lighted on his back and pinioned his arms down and +bore him gradually to his knees. + +Just as the rest were closing in to crush Tug,--into mincemeat, +perhaps,--History, who had been lying neglected on the ground near the +fire, rose to the occasion for once. It seemed as if he had, as it +were, sat down suddenly upon the spur of the moment. He rolled over +swiftly, caught up the two pokers which had been restored to the fire +after they had been used to frighten him, and, before he could be +prevented, thrust the handle of one of them into Tug's grasp, and rose +to his feet, brandishing the other like a sword. + +Tug lost no time in adapting himself to the new weapon. He simply +waved it gently about and described a bright circle in the air over +his head. And his enemies fell off his back and scattered like +grasshoppers. + +Tug now got quickly to his feet, and he and History shook hands with +their left hands very majestically. Then they faced about and stood +back to back, asking the Crows why they had lost interest so suddenly, +and cordially inviting them to return and finish the game. + +They stood thus, monarchs of all they surveyed, for a few moments. But +dismay replaced their joy as they heard the words of the first Crow: + +"They can't get back to their rooms before their pokers grow cold, and +it is only a matter of a few minutes until they chill, anyway, so all +that we have to do is to wait here a little while, and then go back +and finish up our work--and perhaps add a little extra on account of +this last piece of rambunctiousness." + +Tug saw that they were prisoners indeed, but intended to hold the fort +until the last possible moment. He told History to put his poker back +in the fire and to heat it up again, while he stood guard with his +own. + +To this stratagem the first Crow responded with another,--he trumped +Tug's ace, as it were,--for though he saw that the fire was going out +and would not heat the pokers much longer, he decided not to wait for +this, but set his men to gathering stones and sticks to pelt the two +luckless Lakerimmers with. + +And now Tug saw that the chances of escape were indeed small. He felt +that he could make a dash for liberty and outrun any one in the crowd, +or outfight any one who might overtake him; but he would sooner have +died than leave History, who could neither run well nor fight well, to +the mercies of the merciless gang that surrounded them. + +"Let's give the Lakerim yell together, History," he said; "perhaps the +fellows have missed us and are out looking for us, and will come to +our rescue." + +So he and History filled their lungs and hurled forth into the air the +old Lakerim yell, or as much of it as two could manage: + + + + {ray! + {ri! + {ro! + "L`¨¡y-krim! L`¨¡y-krim! L`¨¡y-krim! Hoo-{row! + {roo! + {rah!" + +The Crows listened in amazement to the war-whoop of the two +Lakerimmers. Then the first Crow, who had Irish blood in his veins, +smiled and said: + +"Oho! I see what they are up to; they're calling for help. Well, now, +we'll just drown out their yell with a little noise of our own." + +And so, when Tug and History had regained breath enough to begin their +club cry again, the whole two dozen of the Crows broke forth into a +horrible hullabaloo of shrieks and howls that drowned out Tug's and +History's voices completely, but raised far more noise than they could +ever have hoped to make. + +After a few moments of thus caterwauling night hideous, like a pack of +coyotes, the Crows began to close in on the Lakerim stronghold, and +stones and sticks flew around the two in a shower that kept them busy +dodging. + +"We've got to make a break for it, Hist'ry," said Tug, under his +breath. "Now, you hang on to me and I'll hang on to you, and don't +mind how your lungs ache or whether you have any breath or not, but +just leg it for home." + +He had locked his arm through History's, and made a leap toward the +circle of Crows just as a heavy stone lighted on the spot where they +had made their stand so long. + +Before the Crows knew what was up, Tug and History were upon them +and had cut a path through the ring by merely brandishing their +incandescent pokers, and had disappeared into the dark of the woods. + +There was dire confusion among the Crows, and some of them ran every +which way and lost the crowd entirely as History and Tug vanished into +the thick night. + +The glowing pokers, however, that were their only weapons of defense, +were also their chiefest danger, and a pack of about a dozen Crows +soon discovered that they could follow the runaways by the gleam of +the rods. Tug realized this, too, very shortly, and he and History +threw the pokers away. + +Tug and History, however, had come pretty well to the edge of the +wood, and were just rushing down a little glade that would lead them +into the open, when the first Crow yelled for some of his men to take +a short cut and head them off. + +The Lakerimmers, then, their breath all spent and their hearts +burning with the flight, which Tug would not let History give up, saw +themselves headed off and escape no longer possible. Tug knew that +History would be useless in a scrimmage, so, in a low tone, he bade +him drop under a deep bush they were just passing. History was too +exhausted to object even to being left alone, and managed to sink into +the friendly cover of the bush without being observed. And Tug went +right into a mob of them, crying with a fine defiance the old yell of +the Athletic Club: + +"L`¨¡y-krim! L`¨¡y-krim! L`¨¡y-krim! Hoo-ray!" + + + + +VII + + +The nine Lakerimmers who had set forth to the rescue of Tug and +History had no more clue as to the whereabouts of the kidnapped twain +than some broken furniture and an open door; and even one who was so +well versed in detective stories as B.J., had to admit that this was +very little for what he called a "slouch-hound" to begin work on. +There had been no snow, and the frost had hardened the ground, so that +there were no footprints to tell the way the crowd of hazers had gone. + +As Jumbo said: + +"It's like looking for a needle in a haystack after dark; and it +wouldn't do you any good to sit down in this haystack, either." + +The only thing to do, then, was to scour the campus in all its nooks +and crannies, pausing now and then to look and listen hard for any +sign or sound of the captives. But each man heard nothing except the +pounding of his own heart and the wheezing of his own lungs. Then they +must up and away again into the dark. + +They had scurried hither and yon, and yonder and thither, until they +were well-nigh discouraged, when, just as they were crashing through +some thick underbrush, B.J. stopped suddenly short. Sawed-Off bumped +into him, and Jumbo tripped over Sawed-Off; but B.J. commanded them +to be silent so sharply that they paused where they had fallen and +listened violently. + +Then they heard far and faint in the distance to the right of their +course a little murmur of voices just barely audible. + +B.J.'s quick ear made out the difference between this far-off hubbub +and the other quiet sounds of the night. + +That dim little noise his breathless fellows could just hear was the +wild hullabaloo the foolish Crows had set up to drown out the voices +of Tug and History, as they gave the Lakerim yell. + +B.J.'s ear was correct enough not only to understand the noise but to +decide the direction it came from, though to the other Lakerimmers it +came from nowhere in particular and everywhere in general. Before they +had made up their minds just how puzzled they were, B.J. was striking +off in a new direction at the top of his speed, and was well over the +stone wall before they could get up steam to follow him. Across the +road and through the barbed-wire fence he led them pell-mell. There +was a little pause while Jumbo helped the lubberly Sawed-Off through +the strands that had laid hold of his big frame like fish-hooks. +B.J. took this chance to vouchsafe his followers just one bit of +information. + +"They're at Roden's Knoll," he puffed. + +Roden's Knoll was a little clearing in the woods that marked the +highest point of land in the State, though it was approached very +gradually, and nothing but a barometer could have told its elevation. + +It was a long run through the night, over many a treacherous bog +and through many a cluster of bushes, which, as Jumbo said, had +finger-nails; and there was many a stumble and jolt, and many a short +stop at the edge of a sudden embankment. One of these pauses that +brought the whole nine up into a knot was the little step-off where +Tug and History had thought they were being shoved over the precipice +of a Grand Cañon. + +At length Roden's Knoll was reached, but there the weary Lakerimmers +were discouraged to find nothing but a smoldering fire and the signs +of a hard straggle. + +"We're too late; it's all over," sighed Pretty, thinking sadly of the +mud and the rips and tears that disfigured his usually perfect toilet. + +"I move we rest a bit," groaned Sleepy, seconding his own motion by +dropping to the ground. + +"Shh!" commanded B.J.; "d'you hear that?" + +Instantly they were all in motion again, for they heard the noise of +many runners crashing through the thicket. + +Soon they saw a shadowy form ahead of them and overtook it, and +recognized one of the Crows. They gave him a glance, and then shoved +him to one side with little gentleness, and ran on. Two or three of +the Crows they overtook in this manner, but spent little time upon +them. + +They were bent upon a rescue, not upon the taking of prisoners. Then, +just as they were approaching the edge of the woods, they heard a cry +that made their weary blood gallop. It was the "L`¨¡y-krim! L`¨¡y-krim!" +of Tug making his last charge on the flock of Crows. + +In a moment they had reached the mass of humanity that was writhing +over him, and they began to tear them off and fling them back upon the +ground with fierce rudeness. Man after man they peeled off and flung +back till they got down to one fellow with his knee on somebody's +nose. + +That nose was Tug's, and they soon had the boy on his feet, and turned +to continue the argument with the Crows. But there were no Crows to +argue with. The Dozen had made up in impetus and vim what it lacked in +numbers, and the Crows had fled as if from an army. A few black ghosts +flying for their lives were all they could see of the band that had +been so courageous with only History and Tug to take care of. + +So the ten from Lakerim gathered together, and while B.J. beat time +they spent what little breath was left in them on the club yell. It +sounded more like a chorus of bullfrogs than of young men, but it was +gladsome enough to atone for its lack of music, and it was loud enough +to convince History that it was safe to come out, of the bushes where +he had been crouching in ghostly terror. + +The Lakerimmers were inclined to laugh at History for his fears, but +Tug told them that if it had not been for his seizing the red-hot +pokers there would have been a different story to tell; so they hugged +him instead of laughing at him, and Sawed-Off clapped him on the back +such a vigorous thump that History thought the hazers had hold of him +again. + +Now they took up their way back to the Academy, and B.J. began to plot +a dire revenge on the cowardly Crows. But Tug said: + +"I move we let the matter drop. They're the ones to talk now of +getting even, for they have certainly had the worst of it. It'll be +just as well to keep a sharp eye on them, though, and it is very +important for us to stand together." + +When they had reached the dormitory they all joined in straightening +up and rearranging Tug's room before they went to their well-earned +sleep. + + * * * * * + +I am afraid the Lakerim eleven had the bad taste to do a little +gloating over the Crows. Their wit was not always of the finest, but +they enjoyed it themselves, though little the Crows liked it, and it +kept them all unusually happy for many days-- + +All except Reddy. He showed a strange inclination to "mulp"--a +portmanteau word that Jumbo coined out of "mope" and "sulk." + + + + +VIII + + +To see the hilarious Reddy mulping was very odd. About the only +subject in or out of books that seemed to interest him in the +slightest degree was the mention of the name of his twin brother, +Heady; and that, too, in spite of the fact that the two of them had +quarreled and bickered so much that their despairing parents had +finally sent them to different schools. But now Reddy seemed to be +inconsolable, grieving for the other half of his twin heart. + +Finally the boy's blues grew so blue that no one was much surprised +when he announced his desperate determination to journey to the town +where Heady was at school, and visit him. Reddy got permission from +the Principal to leave on Friday night and return on Monday. He had +been saving up his spending-money for many a dismal week, and now he +went about borrowing the spending-money of all his friends. + +One Friday evening, then, after class hours, all the Lakerimmers went +in a body down to the railroad-station to bid Reddy a short good-by. + +Jumbo felt inclined to crack a few jokes upon Reddy's inconsistency in +struggling so hard to get away from his brother, and then struggling +so hard to go back to him, but Tug told Jumbo that the subject was too +tender for any of his flippancy. + +On reaching the depot they found that Reddy's train was half an hour +late, and that a train from the opposite direction would get in first. +So they all stood solemnly around and waited. When this train pulled +into the station you can imagine the feelings of all when the first +one to descend was-- + +Was-- + +Heady! + +The Twins stood and stared at each other like tailors' dummies for a +moment, while the strangers on the platform and on the train wondered +if they were seeing double. + +Then Reddy and Heady dropped each his valise, and made a spring. And +each landed on the other's neck. + +Now Sawed-Off seized Heady's valise, and Jumbo seized Reddy's, and +then they all set off together--the reunited Twins, the completed +Dozen--for the campus. The whole Twelve felt a new delight in the +reunion, and realized for the first time how dear the Dozen was. + +The Twins, of course, were blissfulest of all, and marched at the head +of the column with their arms about each other, exchanging news and +olds, both talking at once, and each understanding perfectly what the +other was trying to say. + +Thus they proceeded, glowing with mutual affection, till they reached +the edge of the campus, when the others saw the Twins suddenly loose +their hold on each other, and fall to, hammer and tongs, over some +quarrel whose beginning the rest had not heard. + +Jumbo grinned and murmured to Sawed-Off: "The Twins are themselves +again." + +But Sawed-Off hastened to separate and pacify them, and they set off +again for Reddy's room, arm in arm. Later Heady arranged with his +parents to let him stay at Kingston for the rest of the school-year. + + * * * * * + +Heady had not been back among his old cronies long before they had him +up in a corner in Reddy's room, and were all trying at the same time +to tell him of the atrocious behavior of the Crows, their harsh +treatment of Tug and History, the magnificent resistance, and the +glorious rescue. + +"It reminds me," said History, "of one of Sir William Scott's novels, +with moats and castles, and swords and shields, and all sorts of +beautiful things." + +But B.J. broke in scornfully: + +"Aw, that old Scott, he's a deader! It reminds me of one of those new +detective stories with clues and hair-breadth escapes. And Tug is like +'Iron-armed Ike,' who took four villyuns, two in each hand, and swung +them around his head till they got so dizzy that they swounded away, +and then he threw one of 'em through a winder, and used the other +three like baseball bats to knock down a gang of desperate ruffians +that was comin' to the rescue. Oh, but I tell you, it was great!" + +"'Strikes me," Bobbles interrupted, "it's more like one of Funnimore +Hooper's Indian stories, with the captives tied to the stake and bein' +tortured and scalluped, and all sorts of horrible things, when along +comes old Leather-boots and picks 'em all off with his trusty rifle." + +Two or three others were evidently reminded of something else they +were anxious to describe; but Heady was growing impatient and very +wrathful, and he broke in: + +"Well, while you fellows are all being reminded of so many things, +I'd like to ask just one thing, and that is, what are you going to do +about it?" + +"Nothing at all," said History. And thinking of his unexpected escape +from his terrible adventure, he added quickly: "I think we did mighty +well to get out of it alive." + +"Pooh!" sniffed Heady, getting madder every moment. + +"Well, Tug says the same thing," drawled Sleepy. "He says that we got +the best of it all around, and that if anybody's after revenge it +ought to be the Crows, because we wiped 'em off the earth." + +"Bah!" snapped Heady. "It isn't enough for the Lakerim Athletic Club +to get out of a thing even, and call quits. Leastways, that wasn't the +pollersy when I used to be with you." + +This spirit of revolt from the calm advice of Tug seemed to be +catching, and the other Lakerimmers were becoming much excited. Tug +made a speech, trying to calm the growing rage, and he was supported +by History, who tried to bring up some historical parallels, but was +ordered off the floor by the others. Tug's plan, which was seconded by +History from motives of timidity, was thirded by Sleepy from motives +of laziness. + +But Heady leaped to his foot and delivered a wild plea for war, such +another harangue as he had delivered during the famous snow-battle at +the Hawk's Nest. He favored a sharp and speedy retaliation. + +"Well, how are you going to retaliate?" said Tug, who saw his +let-her-go policy losing all its force, and who began to grow just a +bit eager himself to give the Crows a good lesson. Still, he repeated, +when Heady only looked puzzled and gave no answer: + +"How are you going to retaliate, I say?" + +"A chance will come," said Heady, solemnly. + +And Reddy, who had been burning up with patriotic zeal for the glory +of Lakerim, was so proud of his brother's success in stirring up a +warlike spirit that he moved over, and sat down beside him on the +window-seat, and put his arms around him, and they never quarreled +again--till after supper. + +But the chance came--sooner than any of them expected. + + + + +IX + + +For Quiz, whose curiosity threatened to be the death of him some day, +and who was always snooping around, learned, not many days later, that +the Crows were planning to give a great banquet in a room over the +only restaurant in the village. This feast had been intended as a +grand finale to the season of hazing, and it was to be paid for by +the poor wretches who had been given the pleasure of being hazed, +and taxed a dollar apiece for the privilege. Strange to say, the two +Lakerim men whom the Crows had tried to haze were neither invited to +pay the tax nor to be present at the banquet. In fact, the unkind +behavior of the Lakerimmers had hurt the feelings of the Crows very +badly, and cast a gloom over the whole idea of the banquet. + +As soon as Quiz learned, in a roundabout way, where and when the feast +was to be held, he came rushing into Tug's room, where the Dozen had +gathered Saturday evening after a long day spent in skating on the +first heavy ice of the winter. + +Quiz crashed through the door, and smashed it shut behind him, and +yelled: "I've got it! I've got it!" with such zeal that Sleepy, who +was taking a little doze in a tilted chair, went over backward into a +corner, and had to be pulled out by the heels. + +History spoke up, as usual, with one of his eternal school-book +memories, and piped out: + +"You remind me, Quiz, of the day when Archimeter jumped out of his +bath-tub and ran around yelling, 'Euraker! Euraker!" + +But Heady shouted: + +"Somebody stuff a sofa-cushion down History's mouth until we learn +what it is that Quiz has got." + +"Or what it is that's got Quiz," added Jumbo. + +When History had been upset, and Sleepy set up, Quiz, who had run +several blocks with his news, found breath to gasp: + +"The Crows are going to have a banquet!" + +Then he flopped over on the couch and proceeded to pant like a +steam-roller. + +The rest of the Dozen stared at Quiz a moment, then passed a look +around as if they thought that either Quiz was out of his head or they +were. Then they all exclaimed in chorus: + +"Well, what of it?" + +And Jumbo added sarcastically: + +"It'll be a nice day to-morrow if it doesn't rain." + +Quiz was a long time getting his breath and opening his eyes; then it +was his turn to look around in amazement and to exclaim: + +"What of it? What of it? Why, you numskulls, don't you see it's just +the chance you wanted for revenge?" + +"What do you mean?" exclaimed the others. "Do you mean that we should +go down and eat the banquet for 'em?" queried Sleepy, whose first +thought was always either for a round sleep or a square meal. + +"I hadn't thought of that," said Quiz. "That would be a good idea, +too. What I had in my mind was doing what they do in the big colleges +sometimes: kidnap the president of the crowd so that he can't go to +the dinner." + +"Great head! Great scheme!" the others exclaimed; and they jumped to +their feet and indulged in a war-dance that shook the whole building. + +When they had done with this jollification, Tug, who objected to doing +things by halves, asked: + +"Why not kidnap the whole kit and boodle of them?" + +Then there was another merry-go-round. But they all stopped suddenly, +and Quiz expressed the sentiment of all of them when he said: + +"But how are we going to do it?" + +Then they all put their heads together for a long and serious debate, +the result of which was a plan that seemed to promise success. + +The banquet was to be held on the next Friday night at night o'clock, +and the Dozen had nearly a week for perfecting their plot. + +Sawed-Off suggested the first plan that looked feasible for taking +care of the whole crowd of the Crows, about two dozen in number. The +chapel, over which Sawed-Off had his room, had a large bell-tower--as +Sawed-Off well knew, since it was one of his duties to ring the bell +on all the many occasions when it was to be rung. In this cupola there +was a loft of good size; it was reached by a heavy ladder, which could +be removed with some difficulty. Under the chapel there was a large +cellar, which seemed never to have been used for any particular +purpose, though it was divided into a number of compartments separated +by the stone walls of the foundation or by heavy boarding. A few +hundred old books from the library were about its only contents. The +only occupant of the chapel, except at morning prayers and on Sundays, +was Sawed-Off. The gymnasium on the ground floor was not lighted up +after dark, and so the building was completely deserted every evening. + +Some unusual scheme must be devised to enable twelve men to take care +of twenty-four. Fortunately it happened that half a dozen of the +twenty-four took the six-o'clock train for their homes in neighboring +towns, where they went to spend Saturday and Sunday with their +parents. This reduced the number to eighteen. Friday evening a number +of the Crows appeared at the "Slaughterhouse," though there was to be +a banquet at eight o'clock. With true boyhood appetite, they felt, +that a bun in the hand is worth two in the future; and besides, what +self-respecting boy would refuse to take care of two meals where he +had been in the habit of only one? It would be flying in the face of +Providence. + +Now, Sawed-Off, who, as you know, was paying his way through the +Academy, earned his board by waiting on the table. He had an excellent +chance, therefore, for tucking under the plates of all the Crows a +note which read: + + The Crows will meet at the Gymnasium after dark and go to + Moore's resteront in a body. + + N.B. Keep this conphedential. + +To half a dozen of the notes these words were added: + + You are wanted at the Gymnasium at a 1/4 to 7 to serve on a cummitty. + Be there sharp. + +The Crows naturally did not know the handwriting of every one of +their number, and did not recognize that the notes were of History's +manufacture. They were a little mystified, but suspected nothing. + +The Dozen gathered in full force at the gymnasium as soon after supper +as they could without attracting attention. Sawed-Off, who had the +keys of the building, then posted a strong guard at the heavy door, +and explained and rehearsed his plan in detail. + +At a quarter of seven the six who had been requested to serve on the +"cummitty" came in a body, and finding the door of the gymnasium +fastened, knocked gently. They heard a low voice from the inside ask: + +"Who's there?" + +And they gave their names. + +"Do you all belong to the Crows?" + +Of course they answered: "Yes." + +They were then admitted in single file into the vestibule, which was +absolutely dark. As each one stepped in, a hand was laid on each arm +and he was requested in a whisper to "Come this way." Between his two +escorts he stumbled along through the dark, until suddenly the door +was heard to close, and the key to snap in the lock; then immediately +his mouth was covered with a boxing-glove (borrowed from the +gymnasium), his feet were kicked out from under him, and before he +knew it his two courteous escorts had their knees in the small of his +back and were tying him hand and foot. + +One or two of the Crows put up a good fight, and managed to squirm +away from the gagging boxing-gloves and let out a yelp; but the heavy +door of the gymnasium kept the secret mum, and there was something so +surprising about the ambuscade in the dark that the Dozen soon had the +half-dozen securely gagged and fettered. Then they were toted like +meal-bags up the stairs of the chapel, and on up and up into the loft, +and into the bell-tower. There they were laid out on the floor, and +their angry eyes discovered that they were left to the tender mercies +of Reddy and Heady. The only light was a lantern, and Reddy and Heady +each carried an Indian club (also borrowed from the gymnasium), and +with this they promised to tap any of the Crows on the head if he made +the slightest disturbance. + +The ten other Lakerimmers hastened down to the ground floor again just +in time to welcome the earliest of the Crows to arrive. This was a +fellow who had always believed up to this time in being punctual; but +he was very much discouraged in this excellent habit by the reception +he got at the gymnasium. For, on saying, in answer to the voice behind +the door, that he had the honor of being a Crow, he was ushered in and +treated to the same knock-down hospitality that had been meted out to +the Committee of Six. + +The wisdom of using the words "after dark" on the forged invitation +was soon made evident, because the Crows did not come all at once, +but gradually, by ones and twos, every few minutes between seven and +half-past. In this way eleven more of the Crows were taken in. These +were bundled down into the dark cellar, and stowed away in groups of +three or four in three of the compartments of the cellar, each with a +guard armed with a lantern and an Indian club. + +By a quarter to eight the Lakerimmers believed that they had accounted +for all of the twenty-four Crows except the president, MacManus. Six +had left town, six were stowed aloft in the cupola, and eleven were, +as B.J., the sailor, expressed it, "below hatches." Five of the Dozen +were posted as guards, and that left seven to go out upon the war-path +and bring in the chief of the Ravens. + +He had felt his dignity too great to permit him to take two meals in +one evening; besides, he was very solemnly engaged in preparing a +speech to deliver at the banquet; and his task was very difficult, +since he had to make a great splurge about the glories of the +campaign, without reminding every one of the inglorious result of the +attempt to haze the Dozen. + +No note had been sent to him, and it seemed necessary to concoct some +scheme to decoy him from his room, because any attempt to drag him out +would probably bring one of the professors down upon the scene. + +Tug had an idea; and leaving three of the seven to guard the door, +he took the other three and hurried to the dormitory where MacManus +roomed, and threw pebbles against his window. The chief Crow soon +stuck his head out and peered down into the dark, asking what was the +matter. A voice that he did not recognize--or suspect--came out of the +blackness to inform him that some of the Crows were in trouble at the +gymnasium, and he must come at once. + +After waiting a moment they saw his light go out and heard his feet +upon the stairs, for he had lost no time in stuffing into his pocket +the notes for his address at the banquet, and flying to the rescue of +the captive banqueters. As soon as he stepped out of the door of the +dormitory, History's knit muffler was wrapped around his mouth, and he +was seized and hustled along toward the gymnasium. + +Tug felt a strong desire to inflict punishment then and there upon +the man who had tortured him when he was helpless, but that was not +according to the Lakerim code. Another idea, however, which was quite +as cruel, but had the saving grace of fun, suggested itself to him, +and he said to the others, when they had reached the gymnasium: + +"I'll tell you what, fellows--" + +"What?" said the reunited seven, in one breath. + +"Instead of putting MacManus with the rest of 'em, let's take him +along and make him look on while we eat the Crows' banquet." + +"Make him 'eat crow' himself, you mean," suggested Jumbo. + +The idea appealed strongly to the Lakerimmers, who, after all, were +human, and couldn't help, now and then, enjoying the misery of those +who had made them miserable. While MacManus was securely held by two +of the Dozen, Sawed-Off and Tug went to the cupola to summon the +Twins. The knots with which the "cummitty" were tied were carefully +looked to and strengthened, and then the Lakerimmers withdrew from the +cupola, taking the lantern with them, dragging a heavy trap-door over +their heads as they descended the ladder, and then taking the ladder +away and laying it on the floor. They hurried down the stairs then, +and went to the cellar, looking alive again to the fetters of the +Crows, and closing and barring the heavy wooden doors between the +compartments as securely as they could. + +They came up the stairs, and put down and bolted the cellar door, and +moved upon it with great difficulty the parallel bars with their iron +supports, from the gymnasium, and several 25-pound dumb-bells, as well +as the heavy vaulting-horse. Reddy and Heady were in favor also of +blocking up the narrow little windows set high in the walls of the +cellar, well over the head of the tallest of the Crows; but Tug said +that these windows were necessary for ventilation, and History was +reminded of the Black Hole of Calcutta, so it was decided to leave the +windows open for the sake of the air, even if it did give the Crows a +loophole of possible escape. + +"There's no fun in an affair of this kind if the other side hasn't +even a chance," said Tug; and this appealed to the Lakerim theory of +sport. + + + + +X + + +So they all left the gymnasium with its prisoners, and Sawed-Off +locked the door firmly behind him. Then they went at a double-quick +for Moore's restaurant and the waiting banquet, which, they suspected, +was by this time growing cold. + +When MacManus left his room he had thrown on a long ulster overcoat +with a very high collar. When this was turned up about his ears it +completely hid the gag around his mouth, and Tug and Sawed-Off locked +arms with him and hurried him along the poorly lighted streets of +Kingston without fear of detection from any passer-by. MacManus +dragged his feet and refused to go for a time, till Tug and Sawed-Off +hauled him over such rough spots that he preferred to walk. Then, +without warning, when they were crossing a slippery place he pushed +his feet in opposite directions and knocked Sawed-Off's and Tug's feet +out from under them. But inasmuch as all three of them fell in a heap, +with him at the bottom, he decided that this was a poor policy. + +The Dozen were soon at Moore's restaurant; and there, at the door, +they found waiting one of the Crows whom they had forgotten to take +into account. He was the fat boy whom Tug and History had seen hazed +just before their turn came, on the eventful night at Roden's Knoll. + +Having been hazed, and having been taxed, this boy who was known as +"Fatty" Warner, was entitled to banquet with the Crows; but he +had been invited out to a bigger supper than he could get at the +"Slaughter-house," and so he did not receive his note, and escaped the +fate of the Crows who had been put in cold storage in the gymnasium. + +B.J. and Bobbles, however, took him to one side and told him that they +were afraid they would have to tie him up and put him in a corner with +MacManus. But the tears came into his eyes at the thought of sitting +and looking at a feast in which he could not take part, and he +reminded the Lakerimmers that he had had no share in the attack on Tug +and History, and had done nothing to interfere with their escape from +Roden's Knoll, and besides, he had been compelled to pay out his +last cent of spending-money to the Crows for this banquet: So the +Lakerimmers decided to invite him to join them in eating the feast of +the enemy. + +Mr. Moore, the proprietor of the village restaurant, had a very bad +memory for faces, and when the Lakerimmers came into the room where +the table was spread, and told him to hurry up with the banquet, it +never occurred to him to ask for a certificate of character from the +guests. He was surprised, however, that there were only twelve men +where he had provided for eighteen or more; but Jumbo said, with a +twinkle in his eye: + +"The rest of them couldn't come; so we'll eat their share." + +The Lakerimmers grinned at this. Mr. Moore suspected that there was +some joke which he could not understand; but the ways of the Academy +boys were always past his comprehension, so he and the waiters came +bustling in with the first course of just such a banquet as would +please a crowd of academicians, and would give an older person a +stomach-ache for six weeks. + +Besides, the wise Mr. Moore knew the little habit students have of +postponing the payment of their bills, and he had insisted upon being +paid in advance. Poor MacManus suddenly remembered how he had doled +out the funds of the Crows for this very spread, and he almost sobbed +as he thought of the hard time he had spent in collecting the money +and preparing the menu--and all for the enjoyment of the hated +Lakerimmers, who had already spoiled the final hazing of the year, and +were now giggling and gobbling the precious banquet provided at such +expense! Mr. Moore wondered at the presence of such a sad-looking +guest at the feast, and wondered why he insisted on abstaining from +the monstrous delicacies that made the tables groan; but he reasoned +that it was none of his affair, and asked no questions. + +Before they had eaten much the Lakerimmers grew as uncomfortable over +the torment they were inflicting on poor MacManus as the poor MacManus +was himself. And Tug explained to him in a low voice that if he would +promise on his solemn honor not to make any disturbance they would be +glad to have him as a guest instead of a prisoner. MacManus objected +bitterly for a long time, but the enticing odor drove him almost +crazy, and the sight of the renegade fat boy, who was fairly making +a cupboard of himself, finally convinced the president that it was +better to take his ill fortune with a good grace. So he nodded assent +to the promises Tug exacted of him, his muffler and overcoat were +removed, and he was invited to make himself at home; and his misery +was promptly forgotten in the rattle of dishes and the clatter of +laughter and song with which the Dozen reveled in the feast of its +ancient enemies. + +The delight of the Lakerimmers in the banquet was no greater than the +misery of the Crows whose wings had been clipped, and who had been +left to flop about in the dark nooks of the chapel. The feast of the +Dozen had just begun when two of the Crows in the cupola and two +others in the cellar bethought themselves to roll close to each other, +back to back, and untie the knots around each other's wrists. They +were soon free, and quickly had their fellows liberated and the gags +all removed. But the liberty of hands and feet and tongues, though it +left them free to express their rage, still left them as far as ever +from the banquet which, as they soon suspected, was disappearing +rapidly under the teeth of the Lakerimmers. They groped around in the +pitch-black darkness, and finally one of the men in the cupola found a +little round window through which he could put his head and yell for +help. His cry was soon answered by another that seemed to come faintly +from the depths of the earth. + + + + +XI + + +The far-off cry which the six Crows in the cupola heard coming from +the depths of the earth was raised by the eleven Crows in the cellar. +By dint of much yelling the two flocks made their misery known to each +other. The trouble with the cellar party was that it could not get up. +The trouble with the cupola crowd was that it could not get down. And +they seemed to be too far apart to be of much help to each other, for +the cupola Crows had lost little time in lifting the trap-door of the +belfry and finding that the ladder was gone, and none of them was +hardy--or foolhardy--enough to risk the drop into the uncertain dark. +So there they waited in mid-air. + +The cellar Crows, when they had released each other's bonds, and +groped around the jagged walls, and stumbled foolishly over each other +and all the other tripping things in their dungeons, had succeeded in +forcing apart the wooden doors between their three cells and joining +forces--or joining weaknesses, rather, because, when they finally +found the cellar stairs, they also found that, for all the strength +they could throw into their backs and shoulders, they could not lift +the door, with all the heavy weights put on it by the Dozen. There +were a few matches in the crowd, and they sufficed to reveal the +little cellar windows. These they reached by forming a human ladder, +as the Gauls scaled the walls of Rome (only to find that a flock +of silly geese had foiled their plans). But there were no geese to +disturb the Crows, and the first of their number managed to worm +through to the outer air and help up his fellows in misery. + +It seemed for a time, though, as if even this escape were to be cut +off; for a very fat Crow got himself stuck in a little window, and the +Crows outside could not pull him through, tug as they would. Then the +Crows inside began to pull at his feet and to hang their whole weight +on his legs. + +But still he stuck. + +Then they all grew excited, and both the outsiders and the insiders +pulled at once, until the luckless fat boy thought they were trying to +make twins of him, and howled for mercy. + +He might have been there to this day had he not managed, by some +mysterious and painful wriggle, to crawl through unaided. + +Before long, then, the whole crowd of cellar Crows was standing out in +the cold air and asking the cupola Crows why they didn't come down. + +One of the Crows (Irish by descent) suddenly started off on the run; +the others called him back and asked what he was going for. + +"For a clothes-line," he said. + +"What are you going to do with it?" they asked. + +And he answered: + +"Going to throw 'em a rope and pull 'em down." + +Then he wondered why they all groaned. + +The word "rope," however, suggested an idea to the cupola prisoners, +and after much groping they found the bell-rope, and one of them cut +off a good length of it. They fastened it securely then, and slid down +to the next floor, whence they made their way without much difficulty +down the stairs to the ground. There they found the outer door firmly +locked. Then they felt sadder than over. + +But by this time the hubbub they had raised had brought on the scene +several of the instructors, one of whom had a duplicate key of the +gymnasium. And they suffered the terrible humiliation of being +released by one of the Faculty! + +On being questioned as to the cause of such a breach of the peace +of the Academy, all the seventeen Crows attempted to explain the +high-handed and inexcusable conduct of the wicked Dozen which had +picked on eighteen defenseless men and made them prisoners. The +instructor had been a boy himself once, and he could not entirely +conceal a little smile at the thought of the cruelty of the Lakerim +Twelve. Just then MacManus came by, and with one accord the Crows +exclaimed: + +"Where did they tie you up?" + +"Down at Moore's restaurant," said MacManus, sheepishly. + +"Well, what has happened to the banquet?" they exclaimed. + +"It's all eaten!" groaned MacManus. + +"Who ate it?" cawed the Crows. + +"The Dozen!" moaned MacManus. + +And that was the last straw that broke the Crows' backs. + +They threatened all sorts of revenge, and some of the smaller-minded +of them went to the Faculty and suggested that the best thing that +could be done was to expel the Lakerim men in a body. But, by a little +questioning, the Faculty learned of the attempted hazing that had been +at the bottom of the whole matter, and decided that the best thing to +do was to reprimand and warn both the Crows and the Dozen, and make +them solemnly promise to bury the hatchet. + +Which they did. + +And thus ended one of the bitterest feuds of modern times. + + + + +XII + + +Now, Heady, who had set the whole kidnapping scheme on foot as soon +as he joined the Dozen at Kingston, had brought to the Academy no +particular love for study; but he had brought a great enthusiasm for +basket-ball. + +And this enthusiasm was catching, and he soon had many of the +Kingstonians working hard in the gymnasium, and organizing scrub teams +to play this most bewilderingly rapid of games. + +Most of the Lakerimmers went in for pure love of excitement; but when +Heady said that it was especially good as an indoor winter exercise to +keep men in trim for football and baseball, Tug and Punk immediately +went at it with great enthusiasm. + +But Tug was so mixed up in the slight differences between this game +and his beloved football, and so insisted upon running (which is +against the rules of basket-ball), and upon tackling (which is against +the rules), and upon kicking (which is against the rules), that +he finally gave up in despair, and said that if he became a good +basket-ball player he would be a poor football-player. And football +was his earlier love. + +Sleepy, however, who was the great baseball sharp, made this +complaint, in his drawling fashion: + +"The rules say you can only hold the ball five seconds, and it takes +me at least ten seconds to decide what to do with it; so I guess the +blamed game isn't for me." + +Out of the many candidates for the team the following regular five +were chosen: For center, Sawed-Off, who was tall enough to do the +"face-off" in excellent style, and who could, by spreading out his +great arms, present in front of an ambitious enemy a surface as big +as a windmill--almost. The right-forward was Heady, and of course the +left-forward had to be his other half, Reddy. Pretty managed by his +skill in lawn-tennis to make the position of right-guard, and the +left-guard was the chief of the Crows, MacManus. The Dozen treated +him, if not as an equal, at least as one who had a right to be alive +and move about upon the same earth with them. + +The Kingston basket-ball team played many games, and grew in speed and +team-play till they were looked upon as a terror by the rest of the +Interscholastic League. + +Finally, indeed, they landed the championship of the various +basket-ball teams of the academies. But just before they played their +last triumphant game in the League, and when they were feeling their +oats and acting as rambunctious and as bumptious as a crowd of almost +undefeated boys sometimes chooses to be, they received a challenge +that caused them to laugh long and loud. At first it looked like a +huge joke for the high-and-mighty Kingston basket-ball team to be +challenged by a team from the Palatine Deaf-and-Dumb Institute; then +it began to look like an insult, and they were angry at such treatment +of such great men as they admitted themselves to be. + +It occurred to Sawed-Off, however, that before they sent back an +indignant refusal to play, they might as well look up the record of +the deaf-and-dumb basket-ball men. After a little investigation, to +their surprise, they found that these men were astoundingly clever +players, and had won game after game from the best teams. So they +accepted the challenge in lordly manner, and in due time the +Palatiners appeared upon the floor of the Kingston gymnasium. A +large audience had gathered and was seated in the gallery where the +running-track ran. + +Among the spectators was that girl to whom both Reddy and Heady were +devoted, the girl who could not decide between them, she liked both +of them so immensely, especially as she herself was the champion +basket-ball player among the girls at her seminary. Each of the Twins +resolved that he would not only outdo all the rest of the players upon +the gymnasium floor, but also his bitter rival, his brother. + +There was something uncanny, at first, in the playing of the +Palatines, all of whom were deaf-mutes, except the captain, who was +neither deaf nor dumb, but understood and talked the sign language. + +The game opened with the usual face-off. The referee called the two +centers to the middle of the floor, and then tossed the ball high +in the air between them. They leaped as far as they could; but +Sawed-Off's enormous height carried him far beyond the other man, and, +giving the ball a smart slap, he sent it directly into the clutch of +Reddy, who had run on and was waiting to receive it half over his +shoulder. Finding himself "covered" by the opposing forward, he passed +the ball quickly under the other man's arm across to Heady, who had +run down the other side of the floor. Heady received the ball without +obstruction, and by a quick overhead fling landed it in the high +basket, and scored the first point, while applause and wonderment were +loud in the gallery. + +The Kingstonians played like one man--if you can imagine one man with +twenty arms and legs. Sawed-Off made such high leaps, and covered so +well, and sent the ball so well through the forwards, and supported +them so well; the twin forwards dodged and ran and passed and +dribbled the ball with such dash; and the guards were so alert in the +protection of their goal and in obstructing the throwing of the other +forwards, that three goals and the score of six were rolled up in an +amazingly short time. + +Sawed-Off was in so many places at once, and kept all four limbs going +so violently, that the spectators began to cheer him on as "Granddaddy +Longlegs." A loud laugh was raised on one occasion, when the Palatine +captain got the ball, and, holding it high in the air to make a +try for goal from the field, found himself covered by the towering +Sawed-Off; he curved the ball downward, where one of the Twins leaped +for it in front; then he wriggled and writhed with it till it was +between his legs. But there the other Twin was, and with a quick, +wringing clutch that nearly tied the opposing captain into a bow-knot, +he had the ball away from him. + +At the end of the three goals the Kingstonians began to whisper to +themselves that they had what they were pleased to call a "cinch"; +they alluded to the Palatines as "easy fruit," and began to make a +number of fresh and grand-stand plays. The inevitable and proper +result of this funny business was that they began to grow careless. +The deaf-mutes, unusually alert in other ways on account of the loss +of hearing and speech, were quick to see the opportunity, and to play +with unexpected carefulness and dash. + +The swelled heads of the Kingstonians were reduced to normal size when +the Palatines quickly scored two goals. It began to look as if they +would add a third score when the desperate Reddy, seeing one of the +Palatine forwards about to make a try for goal, made a leaping tackle +that destroyed the man's aim and almost upset him. + +Reddy was just secretly congratulating himself upon his breach of +etiquette when the shrill whistle of the referee brought dismay to his +heart. His act was declared a foul, and the Palatines were given a +"free throw." Their left-forward was allowed to take his stand fifteen +feet from the basket and have an unobstructed try at it. The throw was +successful, and the score now stood 6 to 5 in favor of Kingston. + +The game went rapidly on, and at one stage the ball was declared +"held" by the referee, and it was faced off well toward the Palatine +goal. Sawed-Off made a particularly high leap in the air and an +unusually fierce whack at the ball. + +To his chagrin, it went up into the gallery and struck the girl to +whom the Twins were so devoted, smack upon her pretty snub nose. +Though the blow was hard enough to bring tears to her bright eyes, she +smiled, and with a laugh and a blush picked up the ball and dropped it +over the rail. + +The Twins both made a dash to receive this gift from her pretty hands, +and in consequence bumped into each other and fell apart. + +The ball which they had robbed each other of fell into the clutch of +Pretty, who made the girl a graceful bow that quite won her heart. +Pretty was, by the way, always cutting the other fellows out. This was +the only grudge they ever had against him. + +The Twins were now more rattled than ever; and Heady determined to +do or die. He saw one of the Palatines running forward and looking +backward to receive the ball on a long pass, and he gave him a vicious +body-check. He knew it was a foul at the time, but he thought the +referee was not looking. His punishment was fittingly double, for not +only did the referee see and declare the foul, but the big Palatine +came with such impetus that he knocked Heady galley-west. Heady went +scraping along a row of single sticks and wooden dumb-bells, making a +noise like the rattle of a board along a picket fence. + +Then he tumbled in a heap, with the Palatine man on top of him. As +the Palatine man got up, he dislodged a number of Indian clubs, which +fairly pelted the prostrate Heady. This foul gave the Palatines +another free throw, and made the score a tie. + + + + +XIII + + +The Twins were now so angry and ashamed of themselves that they played +worse than ever. + +Everything seemed to go wrong with them. Their passes were blocked; +their tries for goal failed; the Palatines would not even help them +out with a foul. In their general disorder of plan, they could do +nothing to prevent the Palatines from making goal after goal till, +when the referee's whistle announced that the first twenty-minute half +was over, the score stood 12 to 6 against Kingston. + +The Twins were feeling sore enough as it was, but when they went to +the dressing-room dripping with sweat and gasping for breath from +their hard exertions, Tug appeared to rub salt into their wounds by a +little lecture upon their shortcomings and fargoings. + +"Heady," he said, "I guess you have been away from us a little too +long. The Lakerim Athletic Club never approved of foul playing on the +part of itself or any one else, and you got just what you deserved for +forgetting your dignity. I suppose Reddy got the disease from you. But +I want to say right here that you have got to play like Lakerim men or +there is going to be trouble." + +The Twins realized the depths of their disgrace before Tug spoke, and +they were too much humiliated in their own hearts to resent his lofty +tone. They determined to wipe the disgrace out in the only way it +could be effaced: by brilliant, clean playing in the second half of +the game. + +When the intermission was over, they went in with such vim that they +broke up all the plans of the Palatines for gaining goal, and put them +to a very fierce defensive game. Heady soon scored a goal by passing +the ball back to Reddy and then running forward well into Palatine +territory, and receiving it on a long pass, and tossing it into the +basket before he could be obstructed. + +But this ray of hope was immediately dimmed by the curious action of +MacManus, who, forgetting that he was not on the football field, and +receiving the ball unexpectedly, made a brilliant run down the field +with it, carrying it firmly against his body. He was brought back with +a hang-dog expression and the realization that he had unconsciously +played foul and given the Palatines another free throw, which made +their score 13 to 8. + +A little later Reddy, finding himself with his back to the Palatine +goal, and all chance of passing the ball to his brother foiled by the +large overshadowing form of the Palatine captain, determined to make a +long shot at luck, and threw the ball backward over his head. + +A loud yell and a burst of applause announced that fortune had favored +him: he had landed the ball exactly in the basket. + +But Heady went him one better, for he made a similarly marvelous goal +with a smaller element of luck. Finding himself in a good position for +a try, he was about to send the ball with the overhead throw that is +usual, when he was confronted by a Palatine guard, who completely +covered all the space in front of the diminutive Heady. Like a flash +Heady dropped to the floor in a frog-like attitude, and gave the ball +a quick upward throw between the man's outspread legs and up into the +basket. + +And now the audience went wild indeed at seeing two such plays as have +been seen only once or twice in the history of the game. + +With the score of 13 to 12 in their favor, the Palatines made a strong +rally, and prevented the Kingstonians from scoring. They were tired, +and evidently thought that their safety lay in sparring for time. And +the referee seemed willing to aid them, for his watch was in his hand, +and the game had only the life of a few seconds to live, when the ball +fell into the hands of Heady. The desperate boy realized that now +he had the final chance to retrieve the day and wrest victory from +defeat. He was far, far from the basket, but he did not dare to risk +the precious moment in dribbling or passing the ball. The only hope +lay in one perfect throw. He held the ball in his hands high over his +head, and bent far back. He straightened himself like a bow when the +arrow of the Indian leaves its side. He gave a spring into the air, +and launched the ball at the little basket. It soared on an arc as +beautiful as a rainbow's. It landed full in the basket. + +But the force of the blow was so great that the ball choggled about +and bounded out upon the rim. There it halted tantalizingly, rolled +around the edge of the basket, trembled as if hesitating whether to +give victory to the Palatines or the Kingstons. + +After what seemed an age of this dallying, it slowly dropped-- + +To the floor. + +A deep, deep sigh came from the lips of all, even the Palatines. And +down into the hearts of the Twins there went a solemn pain. They had +lost the game--that was bad enough; but they knew that they deserved +to lose it, that their own misplays had brought their own punishment. +But they bore their ordeal pluckily, and when, the next week, they met +another team, they played a clean, swift game that won them stainless +laurels. + + + + +XIV + + +Snow-time set Quiz to wondering what he could do to occupy his spare +moments; for the drifts were too deep for him to continue his beloved +pastime of bicycling, and he had to put his wheel out of commission. +So he went nosing about, trying a little of everything, and being +satisfied with nothing. + +The Academy hockey team, of which Jumbo was the leader, was working +out a fine game and making its prowess felt among the rival teams of +the Tri-State Interscholastic League. But hockey did not interest +Quiz; for though he could almost sleep on a bicycle without falling +over, when he put on a pair of skates you might have thought that he +was trying to turn somersaults or describe interrogation-points in the +air. + +It was a little cold for rowing,--though Quiz pulled a very decent +oar,--and the shell would hardly go through the ice at an interesting +speed. Indoor work in the gymnasium was also too slow for Quiz, and he +was asking every one what pastime there was to interest a young man +who required speed in anything that was to hold his attention. + +At length he bethought him of a sport he had seen practised during +a visit he paid once to some relatives in Minnesota, where the many +Norwegian immigrants practised the art of running upon the skies. At +first sight this statement looks as if it might have come out of the +adventures of that trustworthy historian, Baron Münchhäusen. But the +skies you are thinking of are not the skies I mean. + +The Scandinavian skies are not blue, and they are not overhead, but +underfoot. Of course you know all about the Norwegian ski, but perhaps +your younger brother does not, so I will say for his benefit that the +ski is a sort of Norwegian snow-shoe, only it is almost as swift as +the seven-league boots. When you put it on you look as if you had a +toboggan on each foot; for it is a strip of ash half an inch thick, +half a dozen inches wide, and some ten feet long; the front end of it +pointed and turned up like that of a toboggan. + +When you first get the things on, or, rather, get on them, you learn +that, however pleasant they may grow to be as servants, they are +certainly pretty bad masters; and you will find that the groove which +is run in the bottom of the skies to prevent their spreading is of +very little assistance, for they seem to have a will of their own, and +also a bitter grudge against each other: they step on each other one +moment, and make a wild bolt in opposite directions the next, and +behave generally like a pair of unbroken colts. + +Quiz had once learned to walk on snow-shoes. He grew to be quite +an adept, indeed, and could take a two-foot hurdle with little +difficulty. But he soon found that so far from being a help, his +familiarity with the snow-shoe was a great hindrance. + +The mode of walking on a Canadian snow-shoe, which he had learned with +such difficulty, had to be completely unlearned before he could begin +to make progress with the Scandinavian footgear. For in snow-shoe +walking the feet must be lifted straight up and then carried forward +before they are planted, and any attempt to slide them forward makes a +woeful tangle; to try to lift the ski off the ground, however, is to +invite ridiculous distress, and the whole art of scooting on the ski +is in the long, sliding motion. It is a sort of skating on incredibly +long skates that must not be lifted from the snow. + +Quiz had the skies made by a Kingston carpenter; and he was so proud +of them that, when a crowd gathered to see what he was going to do +with the mysterious slats, he proceeded to make his first attempt in +an open space in the Academy campus. He put the skies down on the +snow, slipped his toes into the straps, and, sweeping a proud glance +around among the wondering Kingstonians, dashed forward in his old +snow-shoe fashion. + +It took the Kingstonians some seconds to decide which was Quiz and +which was ski. For the skittish skies skewed and skedaddled and +skulked and skipped and scrubbed and screwed and screamed and scrawled +and scooped and scrabbled and scrambled and scambled and scumbled +and scraped and scrunched and scudded and scuttled and scuffled +and skimped and scattered in such scandalous scampishness that the +scornful scholars scoffed. + +Quiz quit. + +The poor boy was so laughed at for days by the whole Academy that his +spunk was finally aroused. He got out again the skies he had hidden +away in disgust, and practised upon them in the fields, at a distance +from the campus, until he had finally broken the broncos and made a +swift and delightful team of them. He soon grew strong enough to glide +for hours at a high rate of speed without weariness, and the ski +became a serious rival to the bicycle in his affections. + +He learned to shoot the hills at a breathless rate, climbing up +swiftly to the top; then, with feet apart, but even, zipping like an +express-train down the steep incline and far along the level below. + +He even risked his bones by attempting the rash deeds of old +ski-runners. Reaching an embankment, he would retire a little +distance, and then rush forward to the brink and leap over into the +air, lighting on the ground below far out, steadying himself quickly, +and shooting on at terrific pace. + +But this rashness brought its own punishment--as fool-hardiness +usually does. + +[Illustration: "QUIZ LEARNED TO SHOOT THE HILLS AT A BREATHLESS +RATE."] + + + + +XV + +At dinner, one Saturday, Quiz had broken out in exclamations of +delight over his pet skies, and had begun to complain about the time +when spring should drive away the blessed winter. + +"I can't get enough of the snow," he exclaimed. + +"Oh, can't you?" said Jumbo, ominously. + +Quiz could hardly finish his dinner, so impatient was he to be up and +off again, over the hills and far away. When he had gone, Jumbo asked +the other Lakerimmers if they had not noticed how exclusive Quiz was +becoming, and how little they saw of him. He said, also, that he did +not approve of Quiz' rushing all over the country alone and taking +foolish risks for the sake of a little solitary fun. + +The Lakerimmers agreed that something should be done; and Jumbo +reminded them of Quiz' remark that he could not get enough snow, and +suggested a plan that, he thought, might work as a good medicine on +him. + +That afternoon Quiz seemed to have quite lost his head over his +ski-running. He felt that there were signs of a thaw in the air, and +he proposed that this snow should not fade away before he had indulged +in one grand, farewell voyage. He struck off into the country by a +new road, and at such a speed that he was soon among unfamiliar +surroundings. + +As the day began to droop toward twilight he decided that it was high +time to be turning back toward Kingston. He looked about for one last +embankment to shoot before he retraced his course. + +Far in the distance he thought he saw a fine, high bluff, and he +hurried toward it with delicious expectation. When he had reached the +brink he looked down and saw that the bluff ended in a little body of +water hardly big enough to be called a lake. After measuring the drop +with his eye, and deciding that while it was higher than anything he +had ever shot before, it was just risky enough to be exciting, he went +back several steps, came forward with a good impetus, and launched +himself fearlessly into the air like the aëronaughty Darius Green. + +He launched himself fearlessly enough, but he was no sooner in mid-air +than he began to regret his rashness. It was rather late now, though, +to be thinking of that, and he realized that nothing could save him +from having a sudden meeting with the bottom of the hill. + +He lost his nerve in his excitement, and crossed his skies, so that +when he struck, instead of sailing forward like the wind, he stuck and +went headforemost. Fortunately, one of his skies broke--instead of +most of his bones; and a very kind-hearted snow-bank appeared like a +feather-bed, and somewhat checked the force of his fall. But, for all +that, he was soon rolling over and over down the hill, and he landed +finally on a thin spot in the ice of the lake, and crashed through +into the water up to his waist. + +Now he was so panic-stricken that he scrambled frantically out. He +cast one sorry glance up the hill, and saw there the pieces into which +his ski had cracked, as well as the pathway he himself had cleared in +the snow as he came tumbling down. Then he looked for the other ski, +and realised that it was far away under the ice. + +He was now so cold, that, dripping as he was, he would not have waded +into the lake again to grope around for the other ski if that ski had +been solid gold studded with diamonds. + +Plainly, the only thing to do was to make for home, and that right +quickly, before night came on and he lost his way, and the pneumonia +got him. + +It was a very different story, trudging back through the snow-drifts +in the twilight, from flitting like a butterfly on the ski. He +realized now that his legs were tired from the long run he had enjoyed +so much. He lost his way, too, time and again; and when he came to a +cross-roads and had to guess for himself which path to take, somehow +or other he seemed always to take the wrong one, and to plod along it +until he met some farmer to put him on the right path to Kingston. But +though he met many a farmer, he seemed to find never a wagon going his +way, or even a hospitable-looking farm-house. + +He was still miles away from Kingston when lamp-lighting time came. A +little gleam came cheerfully toward him out of the dark. He hurried +to it, thinking of the fine supper the kind-hearted farmers would +doubtless give him, when, just as he reached the gate of the +door-yard, there was a most blood-curdling uproar, and two or three +furious dogs came bounding shadowily toward him. + +He lost no time in deciding that supper, after all, was a rather +useless invention, and Kingston much preferable. + +Previously to this, Quiz had always understood that the dog was the +most kind-hearted of animals, but it was months after that night +before he could hear the mere name of a canine without shuddering. + +Well, a boy can cover any distance imaginable,--even the path to the +moon,--if he only has the strength and the time. So Quiz finally +reached the outskirts of Kingston. + +His long walk had dried and warmed him somewhat; but he was miserably +tired, and he felt that his stomach was as empty as the Desert of +Sahara. At last, though, he reached the campus, and dragged heavily +along the path to his dormitory. + +He stopped at Tug's to see if Tug had any remains left of the latest +box of good things from home; but no answer came to his knock, and he +went sadly up to the next Lakerim room. But that was empty too, and +all of the others of the Dozen were away. + +For they had become alarmed at Quiz' absence, and started out in +search of him, as they had once before set forth on the trail of Tug +and History. + +[Illustration: "Jumbo saw a pair of flashing eyes glaring at him over +the coverlet."] + +By the time Quiz reached his room he was too tired to be very hungry, +and he decided that his bed would be Paradise enough. So, all cold and +weary as he was, he hastily peeled off his clothes, and blew out the +light. He shivered at the very thought of the coldness of the sheets, +but he fairly flung himself between them. + +Just one-tenth of a second he spent in his downy couch, and then +leaped out on the floor with a howl. He remembered suddenly the look +Jumbo had given him at dinner when he had said he could not get snow +enough. + +Jumbo and the other fiends from Lakerim had filled the lower half of +his bed with it! + + * * * * * + +Late that night, when the eleven Lakerimmers came back, weary from +their long search, and frightened at not finding Quiz, Jumbo went +to his room with a sad heart. When he lighted his lamp and looked +longingly toward his downy bed, he saw a pair of flashing eyes glaring +at him over the coverlet. They were the eyes of Quiz; and within easy +reach lay a baseball bat and several large lumps of coal. But all Quiz +said was: + +"Excuse me for getting into your bed, Jumbo. You are perfectly welcome +to mine." + + + + +XVI + + +But, speaking of cold, you ought to hear about the great fire company +that was organized at the Academy. + +The town of Kingston was not large enough or rich enough to support a +full-fledged fire department with paid firemen and trained horses. +It had nothing but an old-fashioned engine, a hose-cart, and a +ladder-truck, all of which had to be drawn by two-footed steeds, the +volunteer firemen of the village. + +The Lakerimmers had not been in Kingston many weeks before they heard +the fire-bell lift its voice. It was not more than twenty minutes +before the Kingston fire department appeared galloping along the rough +road in front of the campus at a fearsome speed of about six miles an +hour. + +Several of the horses wore long white beards, and others of them were +so fat that they added more weight than power to the team. + +Such of the academicians as had no classes at that hour followed these +champing chargers to the scene of the fire. + +It turned out to be a woodshed, which was as black and useless as a +burnt biscuit by the time the fire department arrived. + +But the Volunteers had the pleasure of dropping a hose down the well +of the owner of the late lamented woodshed, and pumping the well dry. +The Volunteers thus bravely extinguished three fence-posts that had +caught fire from the woodshed, and then turned for home, proud in the +consciousness of duty performed. They felt sure that they had saved +the village from a second Chicago fire. + +Jumbo said that the department ought not to be called the Volunteers, +but the Crawfishes. B.J., who had a scientific turn of mind, said that +he had an idea for a great invention. + +"The world revolves from west to east at the rate of a thousand miles +an hour," he said. + +"I've heard so," broke in Jumbo, "but you can't believe everything you +see in print." + +B.J. brushed him aside, and went on: + +"Now, all you've got to do is to invent a scheme for raising your +fire-engine and your firemen up in the air a few feet, and holding +them still while the earth revolves under them. Then you turn a kind +of a wheel, or something, when the place you want to get to comes +around, and there you are in a jiffy. It would beat the Empire State +Express all hollow. Why, it would be faster even than an ice-boat!" +he exclaimed enthusiastically. "I guess I'll have to get that idea +patented." + +"But say, B.J.," said Bobbles, in a puzzled manner, "suppose your fire +was in the other direction? You'd have to go clear around the world to +get to the place." + +"I didn't think of that," said B.J., dejectedly. + +And thus one of the greatest inventions of the age was left +uninvented. + + * * * * * + +But Tug had also been set to thinking by the snail-like Kingston +firemen. + +"What this place really needs," he said, "is some firemen that can +run. They want more speed and less rheumatism. Now, if we fellows +could only join the department we'd show 'em a few things." + +"Why can't we?" said Punk, always ready to carry out another's +suggestion. + +"George Washington was a volunteer fireman," was History's +ever-present reminder from the books. + +The scheme took like wild-fire with the Dozen, and after a conference +in which the twelve heads got as close together as twenty-four large +feet would permit, it was decided to ask permission of the Academy +Faculty and of the town trustees. + +The Kingston Faculty was of the general opinion that it is +ordinarily--though by no means always--the best plan to allow restless +boys to carry out their own schemes. If the scheme is a bad one they +will be more likely to be convinced of it by putting it into practice +than by being told that it is bad, and forbidden to attempt it. So, +after long deliberation, they consented to permit half a dozen of the +larger Lakerim fellows to join the volunteer department. + +Fires were not frequent, and most of the buildings of the village were +so small that little risk was to be feared. + +The trustees of the village saw little harm in allowing the +academicians to drag their heavy trucks for them, and promised that +they would not permit the boys to rush into any dangerous places. + +In a short while, then, the half-dozen were full-fledged firemen, with +red flannel shirts, rubber boots, and regulation hats. The Lakerimmers +were so proud of their new honor that they wanted to wear their +gorgeous uniforms in the class-rooms. But the heartless Faculty put +its foot down hard on this. + +The very minute the six--Tug, Punk, Sleepy, B.J., and the Twins--were +safely installed as Volunteers, it seemed that the whole town had +suddenly become fire-proof. + +The boys could neither study their lessons nor recite them with more +than half a mind, for they had always one ear raised for the sound of +the delightful fire-bell. They always hoped that when the fire would +come it would be in the midst of a recitation; and Sleepy constantly +failed to prepare himself at all, in the hope that at the critical +moment he would be rescued from flunking by a call to higher +duties. But fate was ironical, and after two or three weeks of this +nerve-wearing existence the Volunteers began to lose hope. + +One Saturday afternoon, when the roads were frozen into ruts as hard +and sharp as iron, and when the Dozen had just started forth to take a +number of pretty girls to see a promising hockey game, the villainous +old fire-bell began to call for help. + +The half-dozen regretted for a moment that they had ever volunteered +to be Volunteers; but they would not shirk their duty, and instantly +dashed toward the shed where the fire department was stored. They +were there long before any of the older Volunteers, and had a long, +impatient wait. Then there were all manner of delays; breakages had to +be repaired and axles greased before a start could be properly made. +But at last they were off, tearing down the rough roads at a speed +that made the older firemen plead for mercy. + +The alarm had come from a man who had been painting a church steeple, +and had seen a cloud of smoke in the direction of the "Mitchell +place," a large farm-house some little distance out of the village +limits. + +There was a fine exhilaration about the run until they reached the +edge of the town, and began to drag the bouncing, jouncing cart over +the miserable country road. Still they tugged on, going slower and +slower, and the older Volunteers letting go of the rope and falling by +the wayside like the wounded at the hill of San Juan. + +Finally even the half-dozen had to slacken speed, too, and walk, for +fear of losing the whole fire department--the chief had already given +out in exhaustion, and insisted upon climbing on one of the trucks +and riding the rest of the way. But at length, somehow or other, the +Kingston Volunteers reached the farm-house at a slow walk, their +tongues almost hanging out of their mouths, and their breath coming in +gasps. + +Strange to say, there were no signs of excitement at the Mitchell +place, though a great cloud of black smoke poured from a huge hollow +sycamore-tree that had been cut off about ten feet from the ground, +and was used as a primitive smoke-house. + +The Volunteers looked at this tree, and then at one another, without a +word. Then Mr. Mitchell came slowly toward his gate, and asked why he +had been honored with such a visit. + +The only one that had breath enough to say a word was the fire chief, +who had ridden the latter part of the way. He explained the alarm, and +asked the cause of the smoke. + +Mr. Mitchell drawled: "Wawl, I'm jest a-curin' some hams." + +As they all pegged dismally homeward, the half-dozen thought that +Mr. Mitchell had also just about cured six Volunteers. And when the +half-dozen took off their red flannel shirts that day, they no longer +looked upon them as red badges of courage, but rather as a sort of +penitentiary uniform. + +The fire department of Kingston had such another long snooze that the +half-dozen began now to rejoice in the hope that there would not be +another fire before vacation-time. They had almost forgotten that they +were Volunteers, and went about their studies and pastimes with the +fine care-freedom of glorious boyhood. + + * * * * * + +Then came a cold wave suddenly out of the West--a tidal wave of bitter +winds and blizzardy snow-storms, that sent the mercury down into the +shoes of the thermometer. + +Things froze up with a snap that you could almost hear. + +It seemed that it would be impossible even to put a nose out of the +warm rooms without hearing a sudden crackle, and seeing it drop to the +ground, and the ears after it. The very stoves had to be coaxed and +coddled to keep warm. + +Jumbo said: "Why, I have to button my overcoat around my stove, and +feed it with coal in a teaspoon, to keep it from freezing to death!" + +The academicians went to and from their classes on the dead run, and +even the staid professors scampered along the slippery paths with more +thought of speed than of dignity. + +That night was the coldest that the oldest inhabitant of Kingston +could remember. The very winds seemed to be tearing madly about, +trying to keep warm, and screaming with pain, they were so cold! Ugh! +my ears tingle to think of it. The Lakerimmers piled the coal high in +their stoves, and piled their overcoats, and even the rugs from the +floor, over their beds. + +Sleepy, whose blood was so slow that he was never warm enough in +winter and never very warm in summer, even spread all the newspapers +he could find inside his bed, and crawled in between them, having +heard that paper is one of the warmest of coverings. The journals +crackled like, popcorn every time he moved; but he moved very little +and it would have been a loud noise indeed that could have kept him +awake. + +At a very early hour, then, the Volunteers and the rest of the Dozen +were as snug as bugs in rugs. + +And then,--oh, merciless fate!--at the coldest and dismalest hour of +the whole twenty-four, when the night is about over and the day is not +begun, at about 3 A.M., what, oh, what! should sound, even above the +howls of the wind and the rattlings of the windows and doors, but that +fiend of a fire-bell! + +It clanged and banged and clamored and boomed and pounded its way even +through the harveyized armor-plate of the Lakerim ship of sleep. + +Tug was the first to wake, and his heart almost stopped with horror of +the time the old bell had chosen for making itself heard. Tug was a +brave boy, and he had a high sense of responsibility; but he had also +a high sense of the comfort of a good warm bed on a bitter cold night, +and he lay there, his heart torn up like a battle-field, where the two +angels of duty and evil fought bitterly. And he was perfectly willing +to give them plenty of time to fight it out to a finish. + + * * * * * + +In another room of the dormitory there was another struggle going on, +though it would be rather flattering to say that they were angels who +were struggling. The Twins had wakened at the same moment, and each +had pretended to be asleep at first. Then each had remembered that +misery loves company, and each had jabbed the other in the ribs, at +the same time. + +"What bell is that?" Reddy had asked Heady, and Heady had asked Reddy, +at the same instant. + +"It's that all-fired fire-bell!" both exclaimed, each answering the +other's question and his own. + +"Jee-minetly! but this is a pretty time for that old thing to break +out!" wailed Reddy. + +"It ought to be ashamed of itself," moaned Heady. + +"It's too bad," said Reddy; "but a fireman mustn't mind the wind or +the weather." + +"That's so," sighed Heady, "but I'm sorry for you." + +"What!" cried Reddy, "you're sorry for _me_! What's the matter with +yourself?" + +"Why, I couldn't possibly think of going out such a night as this," +explained Heady; "you know I haven't been at all well for the last few +days." + +"Oh, haven't you!" complained Reddy. "Well, you're twice as well as I +am, and you ought to be ashamed of yourself to shirk your duty this +way." + +"Duty! Humph! There's nothing the matter with you! It would be +criminal for me, though, to go out a night like this, feeling as I do. +Mother would never forgive me. But you had better hurry, or you'll be +late," urged Heady. + +"Hurry nothing!" said Reddy. "I'm surprised, though, to see you trying +to pretend that you're sick, and trying to send me out on a terrible +night like this when you _know_ I'm really sick." + +Then the quarrel waxed fiercer and fiercer, until they quit using +words and began to apply hands and feet. It was not many minutes +before each had kicked the other out of bed, and each had carried half +of the bedclothing with him. + +Neither of them remained any longer than was necessary on the cold +floor, but each grabbed up his half of the bedding, and rolled himself +up in it, and lay down with great dignity as far away from the other +as he could get, even though he hung far over the edge. + +But the covers had been none too warm all together, and now, divided +into half, the Twins were soon shivering in misery. They stood it +as long as they could, and then, as if by a silent agreement, they +decided to declare a peace, and each remarked: + +"I guess we're both too sick to go out such a night as this." And they +were soon asleep again. + +* * * * * + +When Punk heard the fire-bell, his heart grew bitter at the thought of +the still bitterer night. He did not think it proper for one of +his conservative nature to violate all the rules of health and +self-respect by going out in such rowdy weather. + +He peeked over the edge of his coverlet, and saw that his stove was +still glowing, and that his own room was not on fire. + +Then he reached out one quick arm and pulled his slippers into bed +with him, and when they were warm enough put them on his feet, wrapped +himself up well, and, running to the window, raised it quickly, thrust +his head out, and looked up and down the campus. This quick glance +satisfied him of two things: first, that none of the beloved Academy +buildings were on fire; and second, that he was never much interested +in the old village, anyway. + +So he toddled back to his cozy bed. + +B.J. was sleeping so soundly that the fire-bell could not wake him; it +simply rang in his ears and mingled with his dreams. In the land of +dreams he went to all sorts of fires, and saved thirty or forty lives, +mainly of beautiful maidens in top stories of blazing palaces. His +dreamland rescues were as heroic as any one could desire, but that was +as near as he came to answering the call of the Kingston alarm. + + * * * * * + +As for Sleepy, it is doubtful if the bell would have awakened him if +it had been suspended from his bed-post; but from where it was it +never reached even to his dreams, if, indeed, even dreams could have +wormed their way into his solid slumbers. + + * * * * * + +Tug's conscience, however, was giving him a sharper pain than he +suffered at the thought of the night outside. At length he could stand +the thought of being found wanting in his duty, no longer. + +He flung himself out of bed and into his clothes, his teeth beating a +tattoo, his knees fighting a boxing-match, and his hands all thumbs +with the cold. Then he put on two pairs of trousers, three coats, and +an overcoat, two caps, several mufflers, and a pair of heavy mittens +over a pair of gloves, and flew down the stairs and dived out into the +storm like a Russian taking a plunge-bath in an icy stream. Fairly +plowing through the freezing winds, along the cinder paths he hurried, +and down the clattering board walks of the village to the building of +the fire department. + +He met never a soul upon the arctic streets, and he found never a soul +at the meeting-place of the all-faithful Volunteers. What amazed him +most was that he found not even a man there to ring the bell. The +rope, however, was flouncing about in the wind, and the bell itself +was still thundering alarums over the town. + +Tug's first thought at this discovery was--spooks! As is usual with +people who do not believe in ghosts, they were the first things he +thought of as an explanation of a mysterious performance. + +His second thought was the right one. The hurricane had ripped off the +boarding about the bell, and the wind itself was the bell-ringer. + +With a sigh of the utmost tragedy, Tug turned back toward his room. He +was colder now than ever, and by the time he reached the dormitory he +was too nearly frozen to stop and upbraid Punk and the other derelicts +who had proved false at a crisis that also proved false. + +The next morning, however, he gathered them all in his room and read +them a severe lecture. They had been a disgrace to the Lakerim ideal, +he insisted, and they had only luck, and not themselves, to credit for +the fact that they were not made the laughing-stock of the town and +the Academy. + +And that day the half-dozen sent in its resignation from the volunteer +fire department of the village of Kingston. + + + + +XVII + + +It was not long after this that the Christmas vacation hove in sight, +and the Dozen forgot the blot upon its escutcheon in the thought of +the delight that awaited it in renewing acquaintance with its mothers +and other best girls at Lakerim, not to mention the cronies in the +club-house. Each had his plans for making fourteen red-letter days out +of the two weeks they were to spend at home. Peaceful thoughts filled +the hearts of most of them, but B.J. dreamed chiefly of the furious +conflicts that awaited him on the lake, which had been the scene of +many an adventure in his mettlesome ice-boat. + +The last days crawled painfully by for all of them, and the Dozen grew +more and more meek as they became more and more homesick for their +mothers. They were boys indeed now, and until they reached the old +town; but there there was such a cordial reception for them from +the whole village--fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, best girls, +cronies, and even dogs--that by the time they had reached the +club-house which had been built by their own efforts, and in which +they were recorded on a beautiful panel as the charter members, they +felt that they were aged, white-haired veterans returning to some +battle-field where they were indeed famous. + +A reception was given in their honor at the club-house, and Tug made +a speech, and the others gave various more or less ridiculous and +impressive exhibitions of their grandeur. + +After a day or two of this glory, however, they became fellow-citizens +with the rest of the villagers, and were content to sit around the +club-room and tell stories of the grand old days when the Lakerim +Athletic Club had no club-house to cover its head--the days when they +fought so hard for admission to the Tri-State Interscholastic League +of Academies. They were, to tell the truth, though, just a little +disappointed, in the inside of their hearts, that the successors left +behind to carry on the club were doing prosperously, winning athletic +victories, and paying off the debt in fine style--quite as well as if +they themselves had been there. + +The most popular of the story-tellers was B.J., whose favorite and +most successful yarn was the account of the great ice-boat adventure, +when the hockey team was wrecked upon Buzzard's Rock, and spent the +night in the snow-drifts, with the blizzard howling outside. The +memory of that terrible escape made the blood run cold in the veins of +the other members of the club; but it aroused in B.J. only a new and +irresistible desire to be off again upon the same adventure-hunt. + +Now, B.J.'s father was an enthusiastic sailor--fortunately, not so +rash a sailor as his son, but quite as great a lover of a "flowing +sail." Wind-lover as he was, he could not spend a winter idly, and +turned his attention to ice-boating. + +He owned a beautiful modern vessel made of basswood, butternut, and +pine, with rigging all of steel, and a runner-plank as springy as an +umbrella frame. She carried no more than four hundred square feet of +sail; but when he gave her the whip, and let her take to her heels, +she outran the fleetest wind that ever swept the lake. + +And she skipped and sported along near the railroad track, where the +express-train raced in vain with her; for she could make her sixty +miles an hour or more without gasping for breath. + +She was named _Greased Lightning_. + +Now, B.J.'s father had ample cause to be suspicious of that young +man's discretion, and he never permitted him to take the boat out +alone, good sailor as he knew his son to be; so B.J. had to content +himself with parties of boys and girls hilarious with the cold and +speed, and wrapped up tamely in great blankets, under the charge of +his father, who was a more than cautious sailor, being as wise as he +was old, and seeing the foolishness of those pleasures which depend +only on risking bone and body. + +But B.J. was wretched, and chafed under the restraint of such +respectable amusement--with girls, too! + +And when, in the midst of the holidays, his father was called out +of town, B.J. went to bed, and could hardly fall asleep under the +conspiracies he began to form for eloping on one last escapade with +the ice-boat. + +He woke soon after daybreak, the next morning, and hurried to his +window. There he found a gale of wind blowing and lashing the earth +with a furious rain. The wind he received with welcoming heart, but +the rain sent terror there; for it told him that the ice would soon +disappear, and he would be sent back to Kingston Academy, with never a +chance to let loose the _Greased Lightning_. + +"It is now or never!" mumbled B.J., clenching his teeth after the +manner of all well-regulated desperados. + + + + +XVIII + + +He sneaked into his clothes, and descended the cold, creaking +staircase in his stocking-feet. Then he put on his rubber boots, and +stole out of the house like a burglar. + +The wind would have wrecked any umbrella alive; but he cared naught +for the rain, and hurried down the street where the Twins were +sleeping the sleep of the righteous. He threw pebbles at their windows +till they were awakened; and after a proper amount of deliberation in +which each requested the other to go to the window, both went hand in +hand on their shivering toes. + +When they had leaned out and learned what B.J. invited them to, they +reminded him that he was either crazy or walking in his sleep. + +But B.J. answered back that they were either talking in their sleep or +were "cowardy calves." + +The worst of all fools is the one that is afraid to take a dare; and +the Twins were--well, let us say they were not yet wide enough awake +to know what they were doing. At any rate, they could not stand the +banter of B.J., and had soon joined him in the soaking storm outside. + +When the lake was reached the Twins were more than ever convinced that +B.J. was more than ever out of his head; for, instead of the smooth +mirror they had been accustomed to gliding over in the boat, they +found that the ice was covered with an inch of slush and water. + +The sky above was not promising and blue, nor did the wind have a +merry whizz; but it laughed like a maniac, and shrieked and threatened +them, warning them to go back home or take most dreadful consequences. + +B.J., however, would not listen to the advice they tendered him, but +went busily about getting the sails up and preparing the boat for the +voyage. + +The Twins were still pleading with B.J. to have some regard for the +dictates of common sense, when he began to haul in the sheet-rope and +put the helm down; and they had barely time to leap aboard before the +boat was away. + +They felt, indeed, that they were sailing in a regular sloop, and +that, too, going "with lee rail awash"; for instead of the soft +crooning sound the runners made usually, there was a slash and a +swish of ripples cloven apart; and instead of the little fountains of +ice-dust which rise from the heels of the sharp shoes when the boat is +skimming the frozen surface, there rose long spurting sprays of water. + +The Twins reproached each other bitterly for coming on such a wild +venture. But they did not know how really sorry they were till they +got well out on the lake, where the wind caught them with full force +and proved to be a very gale of fury. The mast writhed and squealed, +and the sails groaned and wrenched, as if they would fairly rip the +boat apart. + +The world seemed one vast vortex of hurricane; and yet, for all the +wind that was frightening them to death, the Twins seemed to find it +impossible to get enough to breathe. It was bitter, bitter cold, too, +and Reddy's hands and feet reminded him only of the bags of cracked +ice they put on his forehead once when he had a severe fever. + +B.J., however, was as happy as the Twins were miserable, and he yelled +and shouted in ecstatic glee. Now he was a gang of cow-boys at a +round-up; now he was a band of Apache Indians circling fiendishly +around a crew of those inland sailors who used to steer their +prairie-schooners across the West. + +Before the Twins could imagine it, the boat had reached the opposite +side of the lake, and it was necessary to come about. Suddenly the +skipper had thrown her head into, the wind, the jib and mainsail were +clattering thunderously, and the boom went slashing over like a club +in the hands of a giant. Before the Twins had dared to lift their +heads again, there was a silence, and the sails began to fill and the +boat to resume her speed quickly in a new direction. In a moment the +_Greased Lightning_ was well under way along a new leg, and sailing as +close as B.J. could hold her. + +And now, as the Twins glared with icy eyeballs into the mist ahead, +suddenly they both made out a thin black line drawn as if by a great +pencil across the lake in front of them. + +"Watch out, B.J.," they cried; "we are coming to an enormous crack." + +"Hooray for the crack!" was all the answer they got from the intrepid +B.J. + +And now, instead of their rushing toward the crack, it seemed to be +flying at them, widening like the jaws of a terrible dragon. But the +ice-boat was as fearless and as gaily jaunty as Siegfried. Straight at +the black maw with bits of floating ice like the crunching white teeth +of a monster, the boat held its way. + +Neatly as the boy Pretty ever skimmed a hurdle in a hurdle-race, +the boat skimmed the gulf of water. The ice bent and cracked +treacherously, and the water flew up in little jets where it broke; +but _Greased Lightning_ was off and away before there was ever a +chance to engulf her. And then the heart of the Twins could beat +again. + +The boat was just well over the crack when she struck a patch of rough +ice and yawed suddenly. There was a severe wrench. B.J. and Reddy were +prepared for it; but Heady, before he knew what was the matter, had +slid off the boat on to the ice and on a long tangent into the crack +they had just passed. + +He let out a yell, I can tell you, and clung to the edge of the +brittle ice with desperate hands. + +He thought he had been cold before; but as he clung there now in the +bitter water, and watched B.J. trying to bring the obstinate boat +about and come alongside, he thought that the passengers on the +ice-boat were warm as in any Turkish bath. + +After what seemed to him at least a century of foolish zigzagging, +B.J. finally got the boat somewhere near the miserable Heady, brought +the _Greased Lightning_ to a standstill, and threw the dripping Twin +the sheet-rope. Then he hauled him out upon the strong ice. + +B.J. begged Heady to get aboard and resume the journey, or at least +ride back home; but Heady vowed he would never even look at an +ice-boat again, and could not be dissuaded from starting off at a +dog-trot across the lake toward home. + +Reddy wanted to get out and follow him; but B.J. insisted that he +could not sail the boat without some ballast, and before Reddy could +step out upon the ice B.J. had flung the sail into the wind again, and +was off with his kidnapped prisoner. Reddy looked disconsolately after +the wretched Heady plowing through the slush homeward until his twin +brother disappeared in the distance. Then he began to implore B.J. to +put back to Lakerim. + +Finally he began to threaten him with physical force if he did not. + +B.J. fairly giggled at the thought of at last seeing one of those +mutinies he had read so much about. But he contented himself with +having a great deal to say about tacking on this leg and on that, and +about how many points he could sail into the wind, and a lot of other +gibberish that kept Reddy guessing, until the boat had gone far up the +lake. + +At last, to Reddy's infinite delight, B.J. announced that he was going +to turn round and tack home. As they came about they gave the wind +full sweep. The sail filled with a roar, and the boat leaped away like +an athlete at a pistol-shot. + +And now their speed was so bird-like that Reddy would have been +reminded of the boy Ganymede, whom Jupiter's eagle stole and flew off +to heaven with; but he had never heard of that unfortunate youth. He +had the sense of flight plainly enough, though, and it terrified him +beyond all the previous terrors of the morning. + +As I have said before, different persons have their different +specialties in courage, as in everything else; and while Reddy and +Heady were brave as lads could well be in some ways, their courage +lay in other lines than in running dead before the wind in a madcap +ice-boat on uncertain ice. + +The wind had increased, too, since they first started out, and now it +was a young and hilarious gale. It began to wrench the windward runner +clear of the ice and bang it down again with a stomach-turning thud. + +In fact, the wind began to batter the boat about so much that B.J. +decided he must have some weight upon the windward runner, or it would +be unmanageable. He told Reddy that he must make his way out to the +end of the see-saw. + +Reddy gave B.J. one suspicious look, and then yelled at the top of his +voice: + +"No, thank you!" + +The calm and joyful B.J. now proceeded to grow very much excited, +and to insist. He told Reddy that he must go out upon the end of +the runner, or the boat would be wrecked, and both of them possibly +killed. After many blood-curdling warnings of this sort, the disgusted +Reddy set forth upon his most unpleasant voyage. + +He crept tremblingly along the narrow backbone until he reached the +crossing-point of the runner; there he grasped a hand-rope, and made +his way, step by step, along the jouncing plank to the end, where he +wrapped his legs around the wire stay, and held on for dear life. + +Reddy's weight gave the runner steadiness enough to reassure B.J., +though poor Reddy thought it was the most unstable platform he had +stood upon, as it flung and bucked and shook him hither and yon with +a violence that knew no rest or regularity. But, uncomfortable as he +was, and much as he felt like a seasick balloonist, he did not know in +what a lucky position he was, nor how happy he should have been that +it was not even riskier. + +There is some comfort, or there ought to be, in the fact that a +situation is never so bad that it might not be worse. + +B.J. was now so well satisfied with his live ballast that he began +once more to sing and make a mad hullabaloo of pure enjoyment. He +finally grew careless, and forgot himself and the eternal alertness +that is necessary for a good skipper. Just one moment he let his mind +wander, and that moment was enough. The boat, without warning to +either B.J. or Reddy, jibed! + +Reddy, now more than ever astounded, suddenly found himself pitching +forward in the air and slamming on the ice. He slid along it for a +hundred feet or more on his stomach, like a rocket with a wake of +spray and slush for a tail. Reddy was soaked as completely as if +he had fallen into a bath-tub, and his face and hands were cut and +bruised in the bargain. + +But his feelings, his mental feelings, were hurt even worse than his +flesh. + +As for the reckless B.J., though he was not so badly bruised as his +unfortunate and unwilling guest, he was to suffer a still greater +torment. He, too, was thrown from the boat into the slush; and by the +time he had recovered himself the yacht was well away from the hope +of capture. But that wilful boat, the _Greased Lightning_, seemed +unwilling to let off her tormentor so easily. + +For the astounded B.J., glaring at her as she ran on riderless, saw +her come upon some rough ice, and jolt and ditch her runner, and veer +until she had actually made a half-circle, and was heading straight +for him! + +All this remarkable change took place in a very short space of time; +but a large part of that small time was spent by B.J. in absolute +amazement at the curious and vicious action of his boat. Then, as the +yacht began to bear down on him with increasing speed, he made a dash +to get out of its path; but his feet slipped on the wet ice, and he +could make no headway. + +B.J. saw immediately that one of two things was very sure to happen; +and he could not see how either of them would result in anything but +terrible disaster to him. + +For if he should stand still the runner-plank would strike him below +the knee and break both his legs like straws; besides, when he was +knocked over he was likely to be struck by the tiller-runner, which +would finish him completely. + +If, on the other hand, he tried to jump into the air and escape the +runner, he stood a fine chance of being hit on the head by the boom, +which would deal a blow like the guard of an express-engine. Before +these two sickening probabilities the boy paused motionless, helpless. + +It was the choice of frying-pan or fire. + + + + +XIX + + +B.J. decided to take the chances of a battered skull rather than let +both the windward runner and the tiller-runner have a slash at him. + +He gathered himself for a dive into the air. + +But, just as he was about to leap, a sudden gust of wind lifted the +windward runner off the ice at least two feet. + +Like lightning B.J. dropped face down on the ice, and the boat passed +harmlessly over him, the runner just grazing his coat-sleeve. + +Having inflicted what seemed to it to be punishment enough, the +_Greased Lightning_ sailed coquettishly on down the lake, and finally +banged into a dock at home, and stopped. B.J. and Reddy made off after +it as fast as they could on the slippery ice with the help of the wind +at their backs; but they never overtook it, and the run served them +only the good turn of warming them somewhat, and thus saving them from +all the dire consequences they deserved for their foolhardiness. + +When Reddy reached home, he found that Heady had preceded him. Both +were put to bed and dosed with such bitter medicine that they almost +forgot the miseries they had had upon the lake. But it was many a day +before they would consent to speak to B.J. + +When they saw him coming they crossed the street with great dignity, +and if he spoke to them they seemed stricken with a sudden deafness. + +B.J.'s troubles did not end with his return home; for, somehow or +other, the escapade with the ice-boat reached his father's ears. And +it is reported that B.J.'s father forgot for a few minutes the fact +that his son was now a dignified academician. At any rate, B.J. took +his meals standing for a day or two, and he could not explain this +strange whim to the satisfaction of his friends. + + * * * * * + +Every member of the Dozen realized the necessity of keeping the body +clean if he would be a successful athlete, and of keeping his linen +and clothes comely if he would be a successful gentleman. Taken +altogether, the Twelve were exactly what could be called "neat but not +gaudy." But presentable as all of them were, there was none that took +so much pains and pride in the elegances of dress as the boy Pretty, +who won his title from his fondness for being what the others +sometimes called a dude. But he was such a whole-hearted, vigorous, +athletic young fellow, with so little foolishness about his make-up, +that the name did not carry with it the insult it usually conveys. + +The chief offense Pretty gave to the less careful of the Dozen was his +fondness for carrying a cane, a practice which the rest of the boys, +being boys, did not affect. But Pretty was not to be dissuaded from +this, nor from any of his other foibles, by ridicule, and the others +finally gave him up in despair. + +When he went to Kingston there was a new audience for his devotion to +matters of dress. But at the Academy it was considered a breach of +respect to the upper-classmen for the lower-classmen to carry canes. +Pretty, however, simply sniffed at the tradition, and said it didn't +interest him at all. + +Finally a large Senior vowed he would crack the cane in pieces over +Pretty's head, if necessary. + +Pretty heard these threats, and was prepared for the man. When the +fatal moment of their meeting arrived, though the Senior was much +bigger than Pretty, the Lakerim youth did not run--at least, he ran +no farther than was necessary to clear a good space for the use of a +little single-stick exercise. + +Pretty was no boxer, but he was a firm believer in the value of a good +stout cane. Imagine his humiliation, then, when he found, in the first +place, that the crook of his stick had caught in his coat-pocket and +spoiled one good blow, and, in the second place, that the fine strong +slash he meant to deliver overhead like a broad-sword stroke merely +landed upon the upraised arm of the Senior, and had its whole force +broken. Pretty then had the bitter misery of seeing his good sword +wrenched from his hand and broken across the knee of the Senior, who +very magnificently told him that he must never appear on the campus +again with a walking-stick. + +Pretty was overcome with embarrassment at the outcome of his innocent +foppery, and of his short, vain battle, and he was the laughing-stock +of the Seniors for a whole day. But, being of Lakerim mettle and +metal, he did not mean to let one defeat mean a final overthrow. He +told the rest of the Lakerimmers that he would carry a cane anyway, +and carry it anywhere he pleased, and that the next man who attempted +to take it from him would be likely to get "mussed up." + +About this time he found a magazine article that told the proper sort +of cane to carry, and the proper way to use it in case of attack; and +he proceeded to read and profit. + +Now, inasmuch as Sawed-Off was working his way through the Academy, +and paying his own expenses, without assistance except from what small +earnings he could make himself, it was only natural that he should +always be the one who always had a little money to lend to the other +fellows, though they had their funds from home. It was now Pretty who +came to him for the advance of cash enough to buy a walking-stick of +the following superb description: a thoroughly even, straight-grained +bit of hickory-wood, tapered like a billiard-cue, an inch and a half +thick at the butt and three fourths of an inch thick at the point, the +butt carrying a knob of silver, and the point heavily ferruled. + +Pretty had managed to find such a stick in the small stores of +Lakerim. He bought it with Sawed-Off's money, and he practised his +exercises with it so vigorously and so secretly that when he next +appeared upon the campus and carried it, the Senior who had attacked +him before, let him go by without any hindrance. He was fairly +stupefied at the impudence of this Lakerimmer whom he thought he had +thrashed so soundly. He did not know that the main characteristic of +the Lakerimmer is this: he does not know when he is whipped, or, if he +does know it, he will not stay whipped. + +But once he had recovered his senses, the haughty Senior did not lose +much time in making another onslaught on Pretty. + +When some of his friends were pouring cold water on this Senior's +bruised head a few minutes later, he poured cold water on their scheme +to attempt to carry out what he had failed in, for he said: + +"Don't you ever go up against that Lakerim fellow; his cane works like +a Gatling gun." + +So Pretty was permitted to carry his cane; and though he swaggered a +little, perhaps, no further attempt was made by the Seniors to take +the stick away from him. They had to content themselves with trying to +throw water on him from upper windows; but their aim was bad. + + + + +XX + + +Pretty had not been home long on his Christmas vacation before he +called at the home of the beautiful girl Enid, who had helped him win +so many tennis games, and who was the best of all the best girls he +devoted himself to, either in Kingston, Lakerim, or any other of the +towns he blessed with his smiling presence. + +Enid and Pretty, being great lovers of fresh air, took many a long +walk on the country roads about Lakerim. + +One day, when the air was as exhilarating and as electric as the +bubbles in a glass of ice-cream soda, they took a much longer stroll +than usual. + +Then they made a sudden decision to turn homeward; for, rounding +a sharp bend in the road, they saw coming toward them three burly +tramps. + +At the sight of these Three Graces both Pretty and Enid stopped short +in some little uneasiness. The tramps also stopped short, and seemed +to engage in a conversation about the two young people ahead of them +on the road. + +Pretty, on account of the extreme neatness of his costume, often got +credit for being a much richer lad than he was. And Enid also was as +careful and as successful in her costumery as Pretty. So the three +tramps probably thought they had before them two children of wealth, +who would be amply provided with pocket-money. But if they had only +known how little the two really had in their possession, the adventure +you are about to hear would never have happened. + +But while Pretty was flicking the dirt at the end of his toe with his +walking-stick, and wondering if he really cared to go any farther, the +tramps moved toward him quickly. + +Enid, being a girl, was frightened, and did not try to conceal it, but +said: + +"Oh, Pretty, let's go home at once!" + +Pretty, being a boy, thought he must make a display of courage, even +if he didn't feel it; so, while his heart clattered away in his +breast, and he could hardly find breath to speak, he said with some +show of composure: + +"Yes, Enid; I think we have walked far enough for to-day." + +Then they whirled about and started for home at a good gait. They had +not gone far when Enid, glancing back over her shoulder, noticed that +the tramps were coming up at a still more rapid walk. + +One of them, indeed, called out in a suspiciously friendly tone: + +"Hey, young feller, hold up a minute and tell us what time it is, will +ye?" + +Enid gasped: + +"Let's run, Pretty; come on." + +But Pretty answered with much dignity: + +"Run? What for?" And he turned and called back to the tramp: "I don't +know what time it is." + +Then the tramps insisted again that Pretty wait for them to come up. +But when he continued to walk without answering them, they began to +hurl oaths and rocks, and to run toward him. Now Pretty thought that +discretion was the better half of valor, and he seized Enid's wrist +and started off on a run, an act in which she was willing enough to +follow his lead. But he had to explain, just to preserve his dignity: + +"They're three to one, you know." + +But while Enid understood well enough the necessity for speed, she had +no breath to expend expressing her appreciation of Pretty's delicate +position. She was too frightened to run even as well as she knew +how, and she was going at a gait that was neither very fast nor very +economical of muscle and breath. Pretty, however, ran scientifically: +on the balls of his feet, with his head erect, his chest out, and his +lips tightly locked. + +But before long he was doing all the work for two, and laboring like +a ship that drags its anchor in a storm. They came to a hill now, and +here Enid leaned her whole weight upon him. He barely managed, with +the most tremendous determination and exertion, to get her to the top +of this long incline. As they labored up he decided in his own mind, +and told her, that she must leave him and run on for help. + +Just one tenth of a second his terrified mind had been occupied with +the thought that he might run on alone and leave her. The tempting +idea of self-preservation had whispered to him that if he stayed +behind, it would only result in disaster to two, while if he ran on +alone, at least one would be saved. + +But this cowardly selfishness he put away after the tenth of a second +of thought, and now he was insisting, even against Enid's gasping +objection, that she must run on alone and leave him to take care of +the footpads. He did not know how he was going to do this, but he felt +that upon him devolved the duty of being the zealous rear-guard to +cover the retreat of a vanquished army. + +Enid, however, was stubborn, and proposed to stay and fight with him, +even drawing out a very sharp and very dangerous hat-pin to emphasize +her courage. But Pretty, while he blessed her for her bravery and +her full-heartedness, still commanded her to run on and bring help, +promising her that he would keep out of harm's way till help could +come. With this assurance, the poor girl staggered on, gaining +strength from the necessity of speed to save her beloved Pretty. + +At the brow of the hill Pretty found himself alone, and turned and +looked at the on-coming trio with defiant sternness. After a moment, +which gave him some much-needed rest and a chance to gain new breath, +he realized that one half a battle is with the warrior that is wise +enough to make the first onslaught. So, after a tremor of very natural +hesitation, the boy dashed full at the three hulkish tramps. + + + + +XXI + + +The overgrown brutes were so much taken aback at the change of front +on the part of the young fellow whom they had hoped to run down like a +scared rabbit, that they stopped short in sheer surprise. + +But this was only for a moment. Then the leader of the three rushed +forward, with a large club. He carried it high in the air in the same +indiscreet manner in which Pretty had once attacked the Senior. + +Just before the tramp and the boy came to close quarters Pretty made +a diving sidelong dodge, and as the tramp's club whisked idly through +the air past him, he dealt the fellow a furious blow across the left +shin. Now, as any one who was ever struck there knows, a man's shin is +as tender as a bear's nose; and the surprised tramp was soon dancing +about in the air, hugging his bruised leg and yowling like a wildcat. +But Pretty had run on past, leaving him to his misery. + +Now he came up to the other two, who moved in single file toward +him. The first man Pretty received right upon the point of his cane, +driving the hard metal ferrule straight at the man's solar plexus. The +combination of the man's rush and Pretty's powerful thrust was enough +to lay the wretch upon the ground, writhing and almost unconscious. + +For the last thug Pretty had prepared a beautiful back-handed slash +across the face; but the villain, seeing what was in store for him, +dropped down, and rushed at the boy low enough to evade the stick. +Pretty, however, had a check for this move also, and a quick step to +one side saved him from the man's clutch. + +Now he recovered himself quickly enough to deliver a vicious whack +straight at the back of the man's head--a blow that would have settled +the tramp's mind for some time to come, but the fellow was running so +fast that Pretty missed his aim, and his stout weapon only dealt a +stinging blow upon the man's left shoulder. + +The thug ran on far enough to gain a good vantage-ground, and then, +whirling, came at Pretty again. Now his uplifted hand held an ugly +knife. + +The look of this was not pleasant to Pretty's eyes; but the excitement +of the situation was much increased when a glance out of the side of +his eye showed him that the first thug had regained enough nerve to +come limping forward in the endeavor to throttle him. + +The men were not coming at him in such a way that he could use the +"point-and-butt thrust" that he had learned for such occasions, so he +decided instantly to repeat upon the first thug the shin-shattering +blow that had been so successful before. + +As the man came on, then, Pretty gave a terrific backward slash that +caught the tramp's uninjured shin. It was a beauteous shot, and sent +the fellow to his hunkers, actually boohooing with agony. + +And now, with another fine long sweep, this time upward, Pretty sent +a smashing blow at the third tramp's upraised arm. The force of the +stroke was alone strong enough to send the knife flying; but, by the +addition of a bit of good luck, Pretty caught the wretch on his crazy +bone, and set him to such a caterwauling as cats sing of midnights on +a back-yard fence. + +Leaving the battered Three Graces to their different dances, Pretty +picked up the knife he had knocked from the hand of the third, and +sauntered homeward, adjusting his somewhat ruffled collar and tie as +he went, with magnificent self-possession. + +On his way he met the party of rescuers sent to him by Enid, who had +managed to reach town in rapid time. Pretty calmly sent them back to +pick up the three tramps he had left; and these gentlemen were stowed +away in the Lakerim jail, where they cracked rock and thought of their +cracked bones till long after Pretty's Christmas vacation was over. + +As for Enid, I will leave you to guess whether or no she thought +Pretty the greatest hero of his age,--or any age,--and whether or no +she gossiped his bravery all around Lakerim long after the Dozen were +away again in Kingston. + + + + +XXII + + +The night before the Lakerim contingent went back to the Kingston +Academy, another grand reception was given in their honor at the +club-house; and the Dozen made more speeches and assumed an air of +greater magnificence than ever. + +But, nevertheless, they were just a trifle sorry that they had to +leave their old happy hunting-ground. But there was some consolation +in the thought that the life at the Academy would not be one +glittering revel of studies and classes. For the Dozen believed, as +it believed nothing else, that all play and no work makes Jack a dull +boy. + +The general average of the Dozen in the matter of studies was +satisfactory enough; for, while Sleepy was always at the bottom of his +classes, and probably the laziest and stupidest of all the students +at Kingston, History was certainly at the head of his classes, and +probably the most brilliant of all the students at Kingston. + +With these two at the opposite poles, the rest of the Dozen worked +more or less hard and faithfully, and kept a very decent pace. + +But the average attainment of the Dozen in the field of athletics was +far more than satisfactory. + +It was brilliant. + +For, while there was one man (History) who was not quite the all-round +athlete of the universe, and was not good at anything more muscular +than chess and golf, the eleven others had each his specialty and his +numerous interests. + +They believed, athletically, in knowing everything about something, +and something about everything. + + * * * * * + +The winter went blustering along, piling up snows and melting them +again, only to pile up more again. And the wind raved in very +uncertain humors. But, snow or thaw, the Dozen was never at a loss to +know what to do. + +Finally January was gone, and February, that sawed-off month, was +dawdling along its way toward that great occasion which gives it its +chief excuse for being on the calendar--Washington's Birthday. + +From time immemorial it had been the custom at Kingston to celebrate +the natal anniversary of the Father of his Country with all sorts of +disgraceful rioting and un-Washingtonian cavorting. The Lakerim Twelve +were not the ones to throw the weight of their influence against any +traditions that might add dignity to the excitements of school-book +life. + +Of the part they took in raising the flag on the tower of the chapel, +and in defending that flag, and in tearing down a dummy raised in +their colors by the Crows in the public square of the village--of this +and many other delightfully improper pranks there is no room to tell +here; and you must rest content with hearing of the important athletic +affair--the affair which more truly and fittingly celebrated the +anniversary of the birth of this great man, who was himself one of the +finest specimens of manhood and one of the best athletes our country +has ever known. + +The athletic association from a neighboring school, known as the +Brownsville School for Boys, had sent the Kingstonians an offer to +bring along a team of cross-country runners to scour the regions +around Kingston in competition with any team Kingston would put forth. + +The challenge was cordially accepted at once, and the Brownsville +people sent over John Orton, the best of their cross-country runners, +to look over a course two days in advance, and decide upon the path +along which he should lead his team. It was agreed that the course +should be between six and eight miles long. The runners should start +from the Kingston gymnasium, and report successively at the Macomb +farm-house, which was some distance out of Kingston, and was cut off +by numerous ditches and gullies; then at the railway junction two +miles out of Kingston; then at a certain little red school-house, and +then at the finish in front of the campus. It was agreed that the two +teams should start in different directions and touch at these points +in the reverse order. Each captain was allowed to choose his own +course, and take such short cuts as he would, the three points being +especially chosen with a view to keeping the men off the road +and giving them plenty of fence-jumping, ditch-taking, and +obstacle-leaping of all sorts. + +The race was to have been run off in the afternoon; but the train was +late, and the Brownsvillers did not arrive until just before supper. +It was decided, after a solemn conference, that the race should be run +in spite of the delay, and as soon as the supper had had a ghost of +a chance to digest. The rising of a full and resplendent moon was a +promise that the runners should not be entirely in the dark. + +Tug and the Brownsville chief, Orton, had made careful surveys of +the course they were to run over. It was as new to Tug as to the +Brownsville man. Each of the two had planned his own short cuts, and +even if they had been running over the course in the same direction +they would have separated almost immediately. But when the signal-shot +that sent them off in different directions rang out, they were +standing back to back, and did not know anything of each other's +whereabouts until they met again, face to face, at the end of the +course. + +The teams consisted of five men each. The only Lakerim men on the +Kingston team were Tug, the chief, who had been a great runner of +440-yard races, and Sawed-Off, who had won the half-mile event on +various field-days. The other three were Stage, Bloss, and MacManus. +All of them were stocky runners and inured to hardship. + +They had come out of the gymnasium in their bathrobes; and when the +signal to start was given, the spectators in their warm overcoats felt +chills scampering up and down their ribs as they noticed that all the +men of both teams, when they had thrown off their bath-robes, stood +clad only in running-shoes, short gymnasium-trunks, and jerseys. + +But their heat was to come from within, and once they were started, +cold was the least of their trials. + +The two teams broke away from each other at the gymnasium, and bolted +at a wide angle straight across the campus. They all took the first +fence in perfect form, as if they were thoroughbred hunters racing +after a fox. + +Quiz and one or two other of the bicycle enthusiasts attempted to +follow one or the other of the two packs; but they avoided the road so +completely that the bicyclists soon lost them from sight, and returned +to watch the finish. + +The method of awarding the victory was this: the different runners +were to be checked off as they passed the different stages of the +course, and crossed off as they came across the finish-line. Each man +was thus given the number of his place in the finish, and the total of +the numbers earned by each team decided the match, the team having the +smaller number winning. Thus the first man in added the number 1 to +the total score of his side, while the last man in added 10 to his. + +Tug had explained to his runners, before they started out, that +team-work was what would count--that he wished his men to keep +together, and that they were to take their orders all from him. + +After the first enthusiasm of a good brisk start to get steam and +interest up, Tug slowed his pace down to such a gait as he thought +could be comfortably maintained through the course. + +The Brownsville leader, Orton, however, being a brilliant +cross-country runner himself, set his men too fierce a pace, and soon +had upon his hands a pack of breathless stragglers. + +Tug vigorously silenced any attempt at conversation among his men, and +advised them to save their breath for a time soon to come when they +would need it badly. + +His path led into a heavy woods, very gloomy under the dim moonlight; +and he had many an occasion to yell with pain and surprise as a low +branch stung him across the head. But all he permitted himself to +exclaim was a warning cry to the others: + +"Low bridge!" + +The grove was so blind (save for the little clearing at Roden's Knoll, +which Tug and Sawed-Off recognized with a groan of pride) that the +men's shins were barked and their ankles turned at almost every other +step, it seemed. But Tug would not permit any of them the luxury of +complaint. + +In time they were out of the wood and into the open. But here it +seemed that their troubles only increased; for, where the main +difficulty in the forest was to avoid obstacles, the chief trouble in +the plain was to conquer them. There were many barbed-wire fences +to crawl through, the points clutching the bare skin and tearing it +painfully at various spots. The huge Sawed-Off suffered most from +these barbs, but he only gasped: + +"I'm punctured." + +There were long, steep hills to scramble up and to jolt down. There +were little gullies to leap over, and brooks to cross on watery +stepping-stones that frequently betrayed the feet into icy water. + +After vaulting gaily over one rail fence, and scooting jauntily along +across a wide pasture, the Kingstonians were surprised to hear the +sound of other footsteps than theirs, and they turned and found a +large and enthusiastic bull endeavoring to join their select circle. + +Perhaps this bovine gentleman was, after all, their very best friend, +for nowhere along the whole course did they attain such a burst of +speed as then. Indeed, none of the five could remember a time in his +life when he made such a spurt. + +They reached and scaled a stone wall, however, in time to shake off +the company of this inhospitable host. In the next field there were +two or three skittish colts, which they scared into all manner of +hysterical behavior as they sped across. + +Down a country lane they turned for a short distance; and a farmer and +his wife, returning home from a church sociable, on seeing these five +white figures flit past in a minimum of clothing, thereafter always +vowed that they had seen ghosts. + +As the runners trailed past a farm-house with never a light to show +upon its front, there was a ferocious hullabaloo, something between +the angry snorting of a buffalo and the puffing of a railroad engine +going up a steep grade. It was the wolfish welcome of three canine +brigands, the bloodthirsty watch-dogs that surrounded and guarded this +lonely and poverty-stricken little farm-house from the approach of any +one evil- or well-intentioned. + +Those dogs must have been very sorry they spoke; for when they came +rushing forward cordially to take a few souvenir bites out of the +Lakerim team, Tug and the others stopped short and turned toward them. + +"Load!" cried Tug. + +And every mother's son of the five picked up three or four large rocks +from the road. + +"Aim!" cried Tug. + +And every father's son of the five drew back a strong and willing arm. + +"Fire!" cried Tug. + +And every grandfather's and grandmother's grandson of the five let fly +with a will the rocks his hands had found upon the road. + +Those dogs must have felt that they were caught out in the heaviest +hail-storm of their whole experience. Their blustering mood +disappeared in an instant, and they turned for home, yelping like +frightened puppies; nor did they forget, like Bo-peep's sheep, to take +their tails with them, neatly tucked between their legs. + +Past as the cross-country dogs ran in one direction, the cross-country +humans ran in the opposite. + +Now that they were on a good pike road, some of them were disposed to +sprint, particularly the fleet-footed Stage, who could far outrun Tug +or any of the team. + +But Tug thought that wisdom lay in keeping his team well in hand, and +he did not approve of running on in advance any more than he approved +of straggling. Thus the enthusiastic Stage, rejoicing in his airy +heels, suddenly found himself deserted, Tug having seen fit to leave +the road for a short cut across the fields; and Stage had to run back +fifty yards or more and spend most of his surplus energy in catching +up with the team. + +It was a merry chase Tug led his weary crew: through one rough ravine +where the hillside flowed out from under their feet and followed them +down, and where they must climb the other side on slippery earth, +grasping at a rock here and a root there; then through one little +strip of forest that offered him an advantageous-short cut. Here again +he silenced the protests of his men at the thick underbrush and the +frequent brambles they encountered. Just at the edge of this little +grove Tug put on an extra burst of speed, and was running like the +wind. The others, following to the best of their ability, saw him +about to pass between two harmless posts. + +Suddenly they also saw him throw up his hands and fall over backward. +When they reached him they saw that he had run into a barbed-wire +fence in the dark. + + + + +XXIII + + +They were doubly dismayed now, because they not only had lost their +leader, but were themselves lost in some part of the country where +they knew neither the landmarks nor the points of the compass. They +helped Tug cautiously to his feet, and, for lack of a better medicine, +rubbed snow upon the ugly slashes in his breast and legs. + +"This ends the race, as far as we are concerned," moaned Bloss. + +But Tug had recovered enough from his dizziness to shake his head and +mane lion-like, and cry: + +"Not much! Come on, boys!" + +And before the restraining hand of Sawed-Off could stop him, Tug had +somehow wormed himself through the barbed-wire fence and was off +across the open; and they were sore put to it to catch up with him +again. + +Suddenly, as the devoted four followed their leader, the first +station, the farm-house at which they were to report, loomed +unexpectedly upon the horizon, approached in some unknown way by Tug, +who was threading his way through the wilderness with more regard for +straight lines than for progress. They were named off, as they flew +past, by a watcher stationed there, and without pause they made +off toward the railroad junction. Once they thought they saw a few +fleeting forms in the distance, and they guessed that they must be +Orton and his Brownsville team; but they could not feel sure, and no +closer sight of their rivals was vouchsafed to them. + +When the last station, the little red school-house, had been passed, +they began to feel that there was some hope of their reaching home. +They began also to feel the effect of their long, hard journey. Their +sides hurt them sorely, their legs ached, and their breath came faster +than they wished. + +MacManus now showed more serious signs of weakening than any of the +rest. He straggled along the way with feet that seemed to get into +each other's path, and with a head that wabbled uncertainly on his +drooping shoulders. + +Tug fell back and ran alongside him, trying to console and encourage +him to better speed. MacManus responded to this plea with a spurt, and +suddenly broke away from the four and ran wildly ahead with the speed +of desperation. + +He came upon a little brook frozen across with a thin sheet of +ice. Here he found a log that seemed to have been placed, either +providentially or by some human being, to serve as a foot-bridge. +MacManus leaped gaily on it to cross the stream ahead of the rest. + +To his breathless dismay, the log turned under his foot; and wildly as +he tried to get a good grip on the atmosphere, nothing could save him, +and he went ker-smash and ker-splash through the thin ice into the +water. + +Now he was indeed willing to run without any more coaxing than the +bitter air upon his wet skin. His only hope of getting warm was in +his heels. And he ran like a maniac till Tug and the rest must put on +extra force also, or leave him completely. + +Almost before they knew it, now, they were on the outskirts of +Kingston village. Their arrival at the beginning of the home stretch +was signaled in a very startling manner; for Tug, who had regained the +lead, saw ahead of him a bright, shining strip that looked for all the +world like a little frozen stream under the moonlight. He did not care +to risk stepping on any more thin ice, so he gave the quick command: + +"Jump!" + +And he jumped, followed almost immediately by his devoted attendants. +The next thing they all knew, they were in half-frozen mud up to +their knees. The bright patch they had supposed to be a brook was a +frost-covered sidewalk! + +And they had carefully jumped over the sidewalk into the mire beyond! + +Tug was disgusted but not disheartened, and he had his crew under way +again instantly. He kept up his system of short cuts even now that +they were in town. He led them over back fences, through orchards and +kitchen-gardens, scattering a noisy flock of low-roosting hens in one +place, and stirring up a half-dozen more dogs in another. + +The true home stretch was a long downhill run straight to the goal. + +By the time they reached this MacManus was once more in bad shape, and +going very unsteadily. + +As they cleared the brow of the hill, Tug's anxious heart was pierced +with the fear that he had lost the long, racking race, after all; for, +just crossing the stake at the finish, he caught a sight of Orton. + +The rest of the team saw the same disheartening spectacle. And +MacManus, eager for any excuse to stop running, gasped: + +"They've beaten us. There's no use running any farther." + +But Tug, having Lakerim ideals in mind, would never say die. He +squandered just breath enough to exclaim: + +"We're not beaten till the last man crosses the line!" And he added: +"Stage, run for your life." + +And Stage ran. Oh, but it was fine to see that lad run! He fled +forward like a stag with the hounds in full cry after him. He wasted +not an ounce of energy, but ran cleanly and straightly and splendidly. +He had the high-stepping knee-action of a thoroughbred trotter, and +his running was as beautiful as it was swift. + +"Run, all of you, for your lives!" cried Tug; and at that the +weary little band sprang forward with a new lease on strength and +determination. Tug had no ambition, like Orton, to leave his men to +find their own way. Rather, he herded them up and urged them on, as a +Scotch collie drives home the sheep at a canter. + +Orton's runners were "tailed out" for more than half a mile behind +him. He himself was easily the first man home; but Stage beat his +second man in, and Bloss was a good third. Orton ran back frantically, +now, to coax his last three men. He hurried in his third runner at a +fairly good gait, but before he could get him to the line, Tug had +brought forward his last three men, Sawed-Off well up, MacManus going +doggedly and leaning mentally, if not physically, on Tug, who ran at +his side. + +By thus hurling in three men at once, Tug made an enormous inroad upon +the score of the single-man Brownsvillers. Besides, though Orton got +his next-to-the-last man in soon after Tug, the last Brownsviller did +not come along for a minute afterward. He had been left to make his +way along unaided and unguided, and he hardly deserved the laughter +that greeted him as he came over the line. + +Thus Orton, too ambitious, had brought his team in with this score: 1, +3, 8, 9, 10--total, 31; while Tug's men, well bunched at the finish, +came in with this score: 2,4, 5, 6, 7-total, 24. + +Tug richly deserved the cheers and enthusiasm that greeted his +management; for, in spite of a team of individual inferiority to +the crack Brownsvillers; he had won by strict discipline and clever +generalship. + + + + +XXIV + + +The victorious outcome of the cross-country run, as well as many other +victories and defeats, had pretty well instilled it in the Lakerim +minds that team-play is an all-important factor of success. But the +time came when there was no opportunity to use the hard-learned, +easily forgot lesson of team-work, and it was each man for himself, +and all for Lakerim and Kingston. + +When the ground was soggy and mushy with the first footsteps of +spring, and it was not yet possible to practise to any extent out of +doors, the Kingston Athletic Association received from the athletic +association of the Troy Latin School a letter that was a curious +combination of blood-warming hospitality and blood-curdling challenge. +The Latin School, in other words, opened its heart and its gymnasium, +and warmly invited the Kingston athletes to come over and be eaten up +in a grand indoor carnival. Troy was not so far away that only a small +delegation could go. Almost every one from Kingston, particularly +those athletically inclined, took the train to Troy. + +Most surprising of all it was to see the diminutive and bespectacled +History proudly joining the ranks of the strong ones. He was going to +Troy to display his microscopical muscles in that most wearing and +violent of all exercises--chess. + +The Tri-State Interscholastic League, which encouraged the practice +of all imaginable digressions from school-books, had arranged for +a series of chess games between teams selected from the different +academies. The winners of these preliminary heats, if one can use so +calm a word for so exciting a game, were to meet at Troy and play for +the championship of the League. + +If I should describe the hair-raising excitement of that chess +tournament, I am afraid that this book would be put down as entirely +too lively for young readers. So I will simply say once for all that, +owing to History's ability to look wiser than any one could possibly +be, and to spend so much time thinking of each move that his +deliberation affected his opponents' nerves, and owing to the fact +that he could so thoroughly map out future moves on the inside of his +large skull, and that there was something awe-inspiring about +his general look of being a wizard in boys' clothes, he won the +tournament--almost more by his looks than by his skill as a tactician. +The whole Academy, and especially the Lakerimmers, overwhelmed this +second Paul Morphy with congratulations, and felt proud of him; but +when he attempted to explain how he had won his magnificent battle, +and started off with such words as these: "You will observe that I +used the Zukertort opening"; and when he began to tell of his moves +from VX to QZ, or some such place, even his best friends took to tall +timber. + +The Kingston visitors found that the Troy Latin School was in +possession of a finer and much larger gymnasium than their own. But, +much as they envied their luckier neighbors, they determined that they +would prove that fine feathers do not make fine birds, nor a fine +gymnasium fine athletes. A large crowd had gathered, and was put in a +good humor with a beautiful exhibition of team-work by the Troy men +on the triple and horizontal bars and the double trapeze. The Trojans +also gave a kaleidoscopic exhibition of tumbling and pyramid-building, +none of which sports had been practised much by the Kingstonians. +After this the regular athletic contests of the evening began. + +In almost every event at least one of the Lakerim men represented +Kingston. Some of the Dozen made a poor showing; but the majority, +owing to their long devotion to the theory and the practice of +athletics, stood out strongly, and were recognized by the strange +audience, in their Lakerim sweaters, as distinguished heroes of the +occasion. + +The first event was a contest in horse-vaulting, in which no Lakerim +men were entered. Kingston suffered a defeat. + +"Ill begun is half done up," sighed Jumbo. + +But in the next event the old reliable Tug was entered, among others; +and in the Rope-Climb he ran up the cord like a monkey on a stick, and +touched the tambourine that hung twenty-five feet in the air before +any of his rivals reached their goal, and in better form than any of +them. + +The third event was the Standing High Jump; and B.J. and the other +Kingstonians were badly outclassed here. Their efforts to clear the +bar compared with that of the Trojans as the soaring of an elephant +compares with the flight of a butterfly. + +Punk was the only Lakerimmer on the team that attempted to win glory +on the flying-rings, but he and his brother Kingstonians suffered a +like humiliation with the standing high-jumpers. + +The clerk of the course and the referees were now seen to be running +hither and yon in great excitement. A long delay and much putting of +heads together ensued, to the great mystification of the audience. At +length, just as a number of small boys in the gallery had begun to +stamp their feet in military time and whistle their indignation, the +official announcer officially announced that there had been a slight +hitch in the proceedings. + +"I have to explain," he yelled in his gentlest manner, "that two of +the boxers have failed to turn up. Both have excellent excuses and +doctors' certificates to account for their absence, but we have +unfortunately to confess that the Kingston heavy-weight and the Troy +feather-weight are incapacitated for the present. The feather-weight +from Kingston, however, is a good enough sport to express a +willingness to box, for points, with the heavy-weight from Troy. While +this match will look a little unusual owing to the difference in size +of the two opponents, it will be scientific enough, we have no doubt, +to make it interesting as well as picturesque." + +As usual, the audience, not knowing what else to say, applauded very +cordially. + +And now the heavy-weight from Troy, one Jaynes, appeared upon the +scene with his second. There was no roped-off space, but only an +imaginary "ring," which was, as usual, a square--of about twenty-four +feet each way. + +Jaynes was just barely qualified as a heavy-weight, being only a +trifle over one hundred and fifty-eight pounds. But he overshadowed +little Bobbles as the giants overshadowed Jack the Giant-killer. + +Bobbles, while he was diminutive compared with Jaynes, was yet rather +tall and wiry for his light weight, and had an unusually long reach +for one of his size. He regretted now the great pains he had taken to +train down to feather-weight weight. For when he had stepped on the +scales in the gymnasium, the day before he had started for Troy, he +found that he was three pounds over the necessary hundred and fifteen. +So he had put on three sweaters, two pairs of trousers, and his +football knickers, and run around the track for fully four miles, +until he was in doubt as to whether he was a liquid or a solid body. +Then he had fallen into a hot bath, and jumped from that into a cold +shower, and had then been rubbed down by some of his faithful Lakerim +friends with a pail of rock-salt to harden his muscles. At Troy, too, +he had continued these tactics, and found, to his delight, when he +weighed in, that he just tipped the scales at one hundred and fifteen. +And now he was matched to fight with a heavy-weight, and every pound +he had sweat off would have been an advantage to him! Yet, at any +rate, it was not a fight to a finish, but only for points, and he +counted upon his agility to save him from the rushes and the major +tactics of the larger man. + +In order to make the scoring of points more vivid and visible to the +audience, it was decided, after some hesitation, that the gloves +should be coated with shoe-blacking. + +Bobbles realized that his salvation lay in quick attack and the +seizure of every possible opportunity, as well as in his ability to +escape the onslaughts of the heavy-weight. He did not purpose turning +it into a sprinting-match, but he felt that he was justified in making +as much use of the art of evasion as possible. + +He began the series by what was almost sharp practice, but was +justified by the rules. + +The referee sang out: + +"Gentlemen, shake hands." + +Then the long and the short of it quickly clasped boxing-gloves in the +middle of the ring. + +"Time!" cried the referee. + +[Illustration: THE BOXING MATCH.] + +Immediately on the break-away, before Jaynes had got his hands into +position, Bobbles had landed on him with a fine left upper cut that +put a black mark on Jaynes' jaw. Jaynes looked surprised, and the +audience laughed. Bobbles also laughed, for he knew he would have few +chances to place black spots on the upper works of the tall Jaynes, +and that he must make his scores mainly upon the zone just above +Jaynes' belt. + +Jaynes was as much angered as surprised at receiving the first blow, +and sailed in with a vengeance to pepper Bobbles; but he began to +think that he was boxing with a grasshopper before long, for, wherever +he struck, there Bobbles was not. In fact, most of his straight-arm +blows were not only dodged by Bobbles with the smallest necessary +effort, but were effectively countered. + +Bobbles proved himself an adept at that best of boxing tactics, +the ability to dodge. He rarely moved more than would take him +sufficiently out of harm's way. A little bending of the head from one +side to the other, a quick side-step or an adroit duck, saved him from +being the bull's-eye of most of Jaynes' attacks. + +There were to be three rounds of three minutes each, with one minute's +intermission between rounds. The first round was over before either +of the men was much more than well warmed up to the work, and before +either had scored any impressive amount of points. Jaynes, however, +realized that Bobbles had landed oftener than he, and that the +sympathy of the audience was with the little fellow. When time was +called for the next round, therefore, he decided to rush things; +and he charged on Bobbles with such fury that side-stepping and +back-stepping were of little avail, and there was nothing for Bobbles +to do but go into the mix-up and try to give as much as he received. + +Before they knew just how, they were clinched, and the referee was +cutting them apart like a cheese-knife. And now the big man realized +that on the swift interchange of blows Bobbles was quicker than he, +and that he must keep him at a little distance. Relying, then, on +his greater reach, he went at Bobbles in a most exasperating manner, +holding one long arm out straight, and fanning Bobbles with the other. +Bobbles ran into the outstretched fist with great enthusiasm at first, +but after a moment's daze he dodged round and under that arm and +devoted himself to playing a tattoo on Jaynes' solar plexus. Since his +glove left a black mark wherever it struck, it was tattooing in two +senses. + +Both men welcomed the gong that announced a chance to breathe. + +The grateful rubbing down, fanning, and sponging of the lightning-like +seconds between the rounds restored both men somewhat to their +enthusiasm, though the furious rate at which they had taken the two +previous rounds left them bodily weak. + +Jaynes' second told him, during the pause, that Bobbles had decidedly +the best of it thus far on form, and Jaynes' temper was aroused. +Bobbles, having been told by his second that he had the better of +it, had grown a trifle rash and impudent, and dared to take the +aggressive. He went straight into Jaynes' zone of fire, and managed to +plant several good hooks and upper cuts. + +While Bobbles was playing in the upper regions for Jaynes, Jaynes made +a reach for Bobbles' body, several times; but Bobbles was not there. +When Jaynes made a careless lead, Bobbles countered and dodged with +remarkable skill. + +All these things, while they increased Bobbles' score and standing +with the judges, increased Jaynes' temper; and finally he gave a +vicious right swing, which Bobbles avoided unintentionally by slipping +and falling. So he found himself on the floor, with Jaynes standing +over him in expectant anticipation of landing him another ebonizing +blow. He heard, also, the referee beginning to count slowly the +seconds. His first impulse was to rise to his feet and assail Jaynes +with all his might; then he realized that he had nine seconds for +refreshment, and there he waited on one hand and one knee, while the +seconds were slowly intoned, until the referee sang out: + +"Nine!" + +Then he made a sidelong scramble to his feet, and succeeded in dodging +the blow with which Jaynes welcomed him back. + +Jaynes charged now after Bobbles like a Spanish bull; but the wiry +Lakerimmer dodged him, and smote back at him while he dodged; while +Jaynes, losing his head completely, wasted his strength in futile +rushes and wild blows that bruised nothing except the atmosphere. +Before the end of the round both men were decidedly tired, because the +pace had been very rapid. The blows they dealt at each other were now +hardly more than velvety shoves, and the air seemed to be the chief +obstacle in their way. When by some chance they clinched, they leaned +lovingly upon each other till the referee had to pry them apart. There +was a little revival of interest just before the gong sounded to end +the third and last round; for Bobbles, having regained some of his +wind, began to pommel Jaynes with surprising rapidity and accuracy. +The end of the bout found them in a happy-go-lucky mix-up, each +striking blindly. + +The judges now met to discuss the verdict they were to render; and, +there being some dispute as to the number of blows landed by each, the +two men were brought forward for inspection. Bobbles' face and neck +were as black as a piccaninny's, but there were few dark spots upon +his chest. Jaynes, however, was like a leopard, for the blacking on +Bobbles' gloves had mottled him all up and down and around. + +As Jumbo remarked to Sawed-Off: "Bobbles certainly had designs on that +big fellow!" + +The judges had been agreed that on the points of defense, guarding, +ducking, getting away, and counter-hitting, Bobbles, considering his +size, was plainly the more brainy and speedy of the two. They were +also inclined to grant him the greater number of points on his form in +general, and especially on account of the disparity in size and reach; +and when they counted the tattoo-marks on each, they found that here +also Bobbles had made the highest score, and they did not hesitate to +award him the prize. + +The next event was the High Kick, which was won by a Kingston +hitch-and-kicker, who was a rank outsider from the Dozen. Quiz managed +to be third and add one point to the Academy's score. + +Then came an exhibition of Indian-club swinging. Jumbo had formerly +been the great Indian-club swinger of the Dozen, but he had recently +gone in so enthusiastically for wrestling that he had given up his +other interest. Sleepy had taken up this discarded amusement with as +much enthusiasm as was possible to him. There was something about it +that appealed to Sleepy. It was different from weight-lifting and +dumb bell exercising in that when you once got the clubs started they +seemed to do all the work themselves. But Sleepy was too lazy to learn +many of the new wrinkles, and the Troy club-swingers set him some +tasks that he could not repeat. In form, too, he was not their equal; +and this event went to the Kingston opponents. + +A novelty was introduced here in place of the usual parallel-bar +exhibition. From the horizontal bar a light gate was hung, and the +various contestants gave exhibitions of Vaulting. The gate prevented +the use of the kippie swing. There was no method of twisting and +writhing up to the bar; it had to be clean vaulting; and Kingston +gradually raised the mark till the Troy men could not go over it. +At its last notch only one man made it, and that was a Kingston +athlete--but unfortunately not a Lakerimmer, as Punk remained behind +with the others, and divided second place with a rival. + +A Sack Race was introduced to furnish a little diversion for the +audience, which, in view of the length of the program, was beginning +to believe that, after all, it is possible to have too much of a good +thing. The Kingstonians had put their hope in this event upon the +Twins. None but the Dozen could tell them apart, but the Kingstonians +felt confident that one of the red-headed brotherhood would win out. +And so it looked to the audience when the long row of men were tied +up like dummies in sacks that reached to their necks; for, after the +first muddle at the start, two small brick-top figures went bouncing +along in the lead, like hot-water bags with red stoppers in them. +The Kingstonians, not knowing which of the Twins was in the lead, if +indeed either of them actually led, yelled violently: + +"The Twins! The Twins!" + +It was Reddy that had got the first start and cleared the multitude, +but Heady, by a careful system of jumping, was soon alongside his +brother. He made a kind-hearted effort to cut Reddy off, with the +result that they wabbled together and fell in a heap. They did not +mind the fact that two or three other sack-runners were falling all +over them; nor did they care what became of the race: the desire of +each was to tear off that sack and get at the wretched brother that +had caused the fall. Not being able to work their hands loose, they +rolled toward each other, and began violently to bunt heads. Finding +that this banner of battle hurt the giver of the blow as much as it +did the receiver of it, they rolled apart again, and began to kick at +each other in a most ludicrous and undignified manner. The Lakerimmers +were finally compelled to rush in on the track and separate the loving +brothers. Strange to say, the Twins got no consolation for the loss of +the race from the fact that the audience had laughed till the tears +ran down its face. + +[Illustration: "TIED UP LIKE DUMMIES IN SACKS."] + +When the Running High Jump went to Troy on account of the inability +of B.J. to reach even his own record, the Kingstonians began to feel +anxious of results. Troy had won six events, and they had won only +four. The points, too, had fallen in such a way that there was a bad +discrepancy. + +Sawed-Off appeared upon the horizon as a temporary rescuer; and while +he could not put the sixteen-pound bag of shot so far as he had in +better days sent the sixteen-pound solid shot, still he threw it +farther than any of the Trojans could, and brought the Kingston score +up to within one of the events gone to Troy. Pretty added one more by +a display of grace and skill in the fencing-match with foils, that +surprised even his best friends from Lakerim, and won the unanimous +vote of the three judges, themselves skilful fencers. + +A wet blanket was thrown on the encouragement of the Kingstonians by +their inferiority at weight-lifting. Sawed-Off was many pounds from +the power of a certain powerful Trojan, who was a smaller man with +bigger muscles. + +Then all the members of the Dozen had a special parlay with Jumbo, +imploring him to save the day and the honor of both Kingston and +Lakerim by winning the wrestling-match. + + + + +XXV + + +When Jumbo glanced across the floor and saw the man that was to be his +opponent striding toward the mat in the center of the floor, he wished +that some one else had been placed as the keystone in the Kingston +arch of success. For Jumbo knew well the man's record as a wrestler. +But Jumbo himself, while small, was well put together; and though +built, as he said, "close to the ground," he was built for business. + +Since he had gone in for wrestling he had made it the specialty of +all his athletic exercises. He had practised everything that had any +bearing on the strengthening of particular muscles or general agility. +He had practised cart-wheels, hand-springs, back and front flips. He +had worked with his neck at the chest-weight machine. He would walk on +his hands to strengthen his throat, and his collars had grown in a few +weeks from thirteen and a half to fifteen, and he could no longer +wear his old shirts without splitting them. He made the mats in the +Kingston gymnasium almost his home. + +His special studies were bridging and spinning. He spent hours on his +back, rising to his two feet and his head and then rolling from one +shoulder to the other and spinning to his front. When he had his +bridge-building abilities fairly well started, he compelled his heavy +chum Sawed-Off to act as a living meal-bag, and rolled around upon +the top of his head and bridged, with Sawed-Off laying all his weight +across his chest. When he went to bed he bridged there until the best +of wrestlers, sleep, had downed him. When he woke in the morning, he +fell out of bed to the floor, turning his head under him and rolling +so as not to break his neck or any bones, and bridging rigidly upon +his head and bare feet. + +Jumbo knew that, whatever might be the ability of his rival, the +Trojan Ware, at least he, Jumbo, could have his conscience easy with +the thought that he had made the most profitable use of the short time +he had spent on wrestling, and that he would put up as good a fight as +was in him. + +More than that no athlete can do. + +Jumbo and Ware met upon the mattress with their close-shaven heads +looking like bulldogs' jowls; and they shook hands--if one can imagine +bulldogs shaking hands. + +Jumbo had two cardinal principles, but he could put neither of them +into practice in the first maneuvers: the first was always to try to +get out of one difficulty by dumping the opponent into another; the +second was always to try for straight-arm leverages. + +Ware being the larger of the two, Jumbo was content to play a waiting +game and find out something of the methods of his burly opponent. He +dodged here and there, avoiding the reaching lobster-claws of Ware by +quick wriggles or by slapping his hands away as they thrust. Suddenly +Ware made a quick rush, and, breaking through Jumbo's interference, +seized him around the body to bend him backward. But while the man was +straining his hardest, Jumbo brought his hands around and placed them +together in front of the pit of his stomach, so that the harder Ware +squeezed the harder he pressed Jumbo's fists into his abdomen. + +Ware looked foolish at being foiled so neatly, and broke away, only to +come at Jumbo again, and clasp him so close that there was no room for +his fists to press against Ware's diaphragm. But now Jumbo suddenly +clasped his left arm back of Ware's neck, and with his right hand bent +the man's forehead back until he was glad enough to let go and spring +away. Ware continued to run around Jumbo as a dog runs around a treed +cat. But Jumbo always evaded his quick rushes till Ware, after many +false moves, finally made a sudden and unforeseen dash, seized Jumbo's +right hand with both of his, whirled in close, and, with his back +against Jumbo's chest, carried the Lakerimmer's right arm straight and +stiff across his shoulder. Bearing down with all his weight on this +lever, and at the same time dropping to his knees, he shot Jumbo over +his shoulders, heels over head. + +"That Flying Mere was certainly a bird!" said Bobbles. + +Ware went down with Jumbo, to land on his chest and break any bridge +the boy might form. And the Flying Mere had been such a surprise, +and the fall was so far and the floor so hard, that, while Jumbo +instinctively tried to bridge, his effort collapsed. His two shoulders +touched. The bout was over. + +The first fall had been so quickly accomplished, and Jumbo had offered +so feeble a resistance, that the Troy faction at once accepted the +wrestling-match as theirs, and the Kingstonians gave up the evening as +hopelessly lost. + +Jumbo was especially covered with chagrin, since he had practised so +long, and had builded so many hopes on this victory; worst of all, the +whole success of the contest between the two academies depended on his +victory. + +When, then, after a rest, the referee called "Time!" Ware came +stalking up jauntily and confidently; but Jumbo, instead of skulking, +was up, and at, and on him like a wildcat. Ware had expected that the +Lakerim youngster would pursue the same elusive tactics as before, and +he was all amaze while Jumbo was seizing his left hand with his own +left hand, and, darting round behind him, was bending Ware's arm +backward and upward into the Hammerlock. + +The pain of this twist sent Ware's body forward, so that Jumbo could +reach up under his right armpit and, placing the palm of his right +hand on the back of Ware's head, make use of that crowbar known as the +right Half-Nelson. This pressure was gradually forcing Ware forward on +the top of his head; but he knew the proper break for the Hammerlock, +and simply threw himself face forward on the mat. + +As he rose to his knees again Jumbo pounced on him like a hawk, and +while Ware waited patiently the little Lakerimmer was reaching under +Ware's armpit again for another Half-Nelson; but Ware simply dodged +the grasping of Jumbo's right hand, or, bringing his right arm +vigorously back and down, so checked Jumbo's arm that the boy could +not reach his neck. Jumbo now tried, by leaning his left forearm and +all his weight upon Ware's head, to bring it into reach; but Ware's +neck was too strong, and when he stiffened it Jumbo could not force it +down. + +Ware waited in amused patience to learn just how much Jumbo knew about +wrestling. Jumbo wandered around on his knees, feinting for another +Half-Nelson, and making many false plays to throw Ware off his guard. + +Suddenly, while Ware seemed to be all neck against a Half-Nelson, +Jumbo dropped to his knees near Ware's right arm, and, shooting his +left arm under Ware's body and his right arm across beneath Ware's +chin, laid violent hold on the man's left arm near the shoulder with +what is known as the Farther-Arm Hold. Jumbo's movement was so quick +and unexpected that Ware could not parry it by throwing his left leg +out and forward for a brake. He realized at once that he would have to +go, and when Jumbo gave a quick yank he rolled over and bridged. But +Jumbo followed him quickly over, and clasping Ware's left arm between +his legs, he forced the right arm out straight also with both his +hands so that Ware could not roll. Then he simply pressed with all his +force upon Ware's chest. And waited. + +Also weighted. + +Ware squirmed and wriggled and grunted and writhed, but there was no +escape for him, and while he stuck it out manfully, with Jumbo heavy +upon him, he knew that he was a goner. + +And finally, with a sickly groan, London Bridge came a-falling down. + +The bout was Jumbo's, and he retired to his corner with a heart much +lighter. The applause of the audience, the rip-roaring enthusiasm +of the Kingston Academy yell, followed by the beloved club cry of +Lakerim, rejoiced him mightily. He had put down a man far heavier +than he; and he felt that possibly, perchance, maybe, there was a +probability of a contingency in which he might be able to have a +chance of downing him once more--perhaps. + +It was a very cool and cautious young man that came forward to +represent Kingston when the referee exclaimed: + +"Shake hands for the third and last bout!" + +Jumbo, as soon as he had released Ware's fingers, dropped to his +hands and knees on the mat, squatting far back on his haunches, and +manifested a cheerful willingness to go almost anywhere except on the +back of his two shoulders. + +It was Ware's turn to be aggressive now, for he had been laughed at +not a little for being downed by so small an opponent. He spent some +time and more strength in picking Jumbo up bodily from the mat and +dropping him all over the place. Jumbo's practice at bridging stood +him in excellent stead now, and he got out of many a tight corner by a +quick, firm bridge or a sudden spin. + +Ware time after time forced one of the boy's shoulders to the mat, +and strove with all his vim to force the other shoulder down. And +he generally succeeded; but the first always came up. Jumbo went +willingly from one shoulder to the other, but never from one to both. +He frequently showed a most obliging disposition, and did what Ware +wanted him to, or, rather, he did just that and a little more--he +always went too far; and Ware was becoming convinced that he never +could get those two obstinate shoulder-blades to the mat at the same +time. + +After much puttering, he reached the goal of his ambition, and got +the deadly Full-Nelson on Jumbo's head, and forced it slowly and +irresistibly down. Just as he was congratulating himself that he had +his fish landed, Jumbo suddenly whirled his legs forward and assumed a +sitting position. The whole problem was reversed. Ware rose wearily to +his feet, and Jumbo returned to his hands and knees. + +Once more Ware strove for the Nelson. He was jabbing Jumbo's head and +trying to shove it down within reach of his right hand. Suddenly, with +a surprising abruptness, Jumbo's head was not there,--he had jerked it +quickly to one side,--and Ware's hand slipped down and almost touched +the floor. But the watchful Jumbo had seized Ware's wrist with +both hands, and returned to the big fellow the compliment of the +Straight-Ann Leverage and the Flying Mere which had been so fatal +to himself in the first bout. Ware's fall was not nearly so far as +Jumbo's had been, and he managed to bridge and save himself. + +Before Jumbo could settle on his chest, Ware was out of danger. But he +went to his hands and knees in a defensive attitude that showed he was +nearly worn out. + +Jumbo did not see just what right Ware had to imitate his own +position, and the two of them sprawled like frogs, eying each other +jealously. + +Jumbo soon saw that he was expected to take the aggressive or go +to sleep; so, with a lazy sigh, he began snooping around for those +nuggets of wrestling, the Nelsons. After foiling many efforts, the +Trojan noted all at once that Jumbo's head was not above Ware's +shoulders, but back of the right armpit. In a flash a thought of pity +went through Ware's brain. + +"Poor fool!" he almost groaned aloud; and reaching back, he gathered +Jumbo's head into chancery. + +A sigh went up from all Kingston, and Sawed-Off gasped: + +"Poor Jumbo 's gone!" + +But just as Ware, chuckling with glee, started to roll Jumbo over, the +boy swung at right angles across Ware's back, and brought the Trojan's +arm helplessly to the Hammerlock. + +This was a new trick to Ware, one he had never heard of, but one that +he understood and respected immediately. He yielded to it judiciously, +and managed to spin on his head before Jumbo could land on his chest. + +Ware had more respect now for Jumbo, and decided to keep him on the +defensive, especially as a bystander announced that the time was +almost up. + +Ware rushed the contest, and, after many failures, managed to secure a +perfect Full-Nelson. Jumbo's position was such that there was no way +for him to squirm out. He resisted until it seemed that his neck would +break. In vain. His head was slowly forced under. + +And now his shoulders began to follow, and he was rolling over on his +back. + +One shoulder is down. + +The referee is on all fours, his cheek almost to the ground. He is +watching for the meeting of those two shoulders upon the mat. + +The Kingstonians have given up, and the Trojans have their cheers all +ready. + +And now the despairing Jumbo feels that his last minute has come. But +just for the fraction of a second he sees that the cautious Ware is +slightly changing his hold. + +With a sudden, a terrific effort, he throws all his soul into his +muscles--closes his arms like a vise on Ware's arms. The Nelson is +broken, or weakened into uselessness. He draws his head into his +shoulders as a turtle's head is drawn into its shell, whirls like +lightning on the top of his head to his other shoulder, and on over, +carrying the horrified Ware with him, plouncing the Trojan flat on his +back, and plumping down on top of him. + +And the excited referee went over on his back also, and kicked his +heels foolishly in the air as he cried: + +"Down!" + +Jumbo had won the match. + +This brought the score of contests back to a tie, and the result of +these Olympic games now rested entirely on the victors of the Tug of +War. + + + + +XXVI + + +Curiously enough, the Trojans and the Kingstonians had each won a +series of firsts, seconds, and thirds that totaled up the same. So the +Tug of War, which had been intended only for an exhibition, became in +a sense the deciding event of the whole contest. + +The captain of the Kingston four was the large Sawed-Off, who was also +the anchor of his team. He came out upon the floor, wearing around his +waist a belt that was almost as graceful as a horse-collar, and quite +as heavy, made, as it was, of padded leather. It was suspended from +his shoulders like a life-belt, and carried a deep groove around the +middle of it. + +The Troy captain had a similar contrivance about him, and he looked +somewhat contemptuously upon the Kingstonians, who had not the beefy, +brawny look of his own big four. + +The eight took their places on the long board, each man with his feet +against a cleat. The rope was marked in its exact center with a white +cord, and held there by a lever, which the umpire pressed down with +his foot. + +The Troy tuggers took a stout hold on the rope and faced the +Kingstonians gloweringly. The Kingston men, however, faced to the rear +and straddled the rope--all except Sawed-Off, who had wrapped it round +his belt, and taken a hitch in it for security. He faced the Trojans, +and hoped that science would defeat beef once more in the history of +athletics. + +When all were ready the umpire shouted "Go!" and at the same instant +released the lever and the cable. + +The Trojans threw all their muscle into one terrific jerk; but each of +Sawed-Off's men, gripping the cable in front of him at arm's-length, +fell forward, face down. + +By the impact of their full weight, and by relying not merely upon +their arms, but on the whole pull of back and legs, the Kingstonians +gave the rope a yank that would have annoyed an oak-tree, and +certainly left the Trojans no chance. + +After this first assault the teams found themselves thus: The +Kingstonians were stretched prone upon the board with their legs +straight against the cleats; Sawed-Off was braced against his cleat +and seated, facing Troy. The rival team was seated, but with knees +bent; and their captain glared amazed at Sawed-Off, who was busily +taking in over a foot of captured cable. + +The Trojan captain, Winthrop by name, gave a signal grunt, to which +his men responded with a fury, regaining about two of the lost inches. +This lifted Sawed-Off slightly off the board, and in response to three +or four bitter wrenches from Troy, he was forced to let them have six +inches more cable, lest they cut him in two like a cake of soap. + +But Kingston had learned, by painful experience, the signals of the +Troy captain; and just as the Trojans were reaching confidently +forward for a new hold, the alert Sawed-Off murmured a quick hint, and +his men gave a sudden hunch that took the enemy unawares, and brought +back home three inches of beautiful rope. The same watchfulness won +another three; and there they held the white string, a foot to their +side, when the time was up and the lever was clamped down. + +After a short rest, the men resined their hands anew and prepared for +the second pull. The Trojan captain had been wise enough to see the +advantage of the Kingston forward fall, and he was not too modest to +adopt it. + +When the lever was supped the second time both teams fell face +downward. But now Troy's greater bulk told to her advantage, and she +carried the white cord six inches to her side. + +The Kingstons lay with their knees bent. + +Now Sawed-Off tried a preconcerted trick signal. With ominous tone he +cried: + +"Now, boys--all together--heave!" + +At the word "heave" the Trojans braced like oxen against the expected +jerk; but none came, and they relaxed a little, feeling that they had +been fooled. But Sawed-Off's men were slowly and silently counting +five, and then, with a mighty heave, they yearned forward, and +catching the Winthrop team unprepared, got back four inches. They +tried it again, and made only about an inch. A third time Sawed-Off +gave the signal, and the Trojans, recognizing it, waited a bit before +bracing for the shock. But for the third time Sawed-Off had arranged +that the pull should immediately follow the command. Again the Trojans +were fooled, and the white went two inches into Kingston territory. + +The Trojans now grew angry and panicky, and began to wrench and twist +without regard for one another. The result of this was that Kingston +gradually gained three inches more before Winthrop could coax his men +back to reason and team-work. + +The time was almost gone now, and he got his men into a series of +well-concerted, steady, deadly efforts, that threatened to bring the +whole Kingston four over with the snail-like white cord. But Sawed-Off +pleaded with his men, and they buried their faces in the board and +worked like mad. To the spectators they seemed hardly to move, but +under their skins their muscles were crowding and shoving like a gang +of slaves, and fairly squeezing streams of sweat out of them as if +their gleaming hides were sponges. + +And then, after what seemed a whole night of agony, the white cord +budged no more, though the Trojans pulled themselves almost inside +out; and suddenly the lever nipped the rope, and the contest was over. +The Trojans were all faint, and the head of Winthrop fell forward +limply. Even Sawed-Off was so dizzy that he had to be helped across +the floor by his friends. But they were glad enough to pay him this +aid. + +All Kingston had learned to love the sturdy giant, and the Lakerimmers +were prouder of him than ever, for it was through him that the fatal +balance had been pulled down to Kingston's side, so that the team +could take another victory home with them to the Academy. + + + + +XXVII + + +As the school year rolled on toward its finish in June, times became +busier and busier for the students, especially for the Lakerimmers, +who felt a great responsibility upon their shoulders, the +responsibility of keeping the Lakerim Athletic Club pennant flying +to the fore in all the different businesses of academic life--in the +classroom, at the prize speaking, in the debating society, and, most +of all, in the different athletic affairs. + +It was no longer necessary, as it had been at home in Lakerim, for the +same twelve men to play all the games known to humanity--to make a +specialty of everything, so to speak. At Kingston, while they were +still one body and soul, and kept up their union with constant powwows +in one another's rooms, but most often in Tug's, they were divided +variously among the athletic teams, where each one felt that his own +honor was Lakerim's. + +Their motto was the motto of the Three Musketeers: "All for one, and +one for all." + +The springtime athletics found the best of them choosing between the +boat crew and the ball team. It was a hard choice for some of them +who loved to be Jacks-at-all-trades, but a choice was necessary. The +Kingston Academy possessed so many good fellows that not all of the +Dozen found a place on the eight or the nine; still, there were +enough of them successful to keep Lakerim material still strongly in +evidence. + +Of the men that tried for the crew, all were sifted out, gradually, +except B.J., Quiz, and Punk. The training was a severe one, under a +coach who had graduated some years before from Kingston, and had come +back to bring his beloved Academy first across the line, as it had +gone the year he had captained the crew. + +As the training went on, the man who had been elected captain of the +eight worked so faithfully--or overworked so faithfully--that he was +trained up to the finest point some two or three weeks before the +great regatta of academies. Every day after that he lost in form, in +spite of himself, and the coach had finally to make him abdicate the +throne; and Punk, who had worked in his usual slow and conservative +fashion, seemed the fittest man to succeed him. So Punk became captain +of the crew, and found himself at the old post of stroke-oar. + +On the day of the great Henley of the Interscholastic League, when all +the crews had got away in their best style, after two vexatious false +starts, Punk slowly, and without any impatience, urged his crew past +all the others, till Kingston led them all. + +From this place he could study his rivals well, and after some +shifting of positions, he saw the Troy Latin School eight coming +cleanly out of the parade and making swiftly after him. Suddenly a +great nervousness seized him, because he remembered the time, the year +before, when the Lakerim crew rowed Troy, and when his oar had broken +just before the finish, so that he had been compelled to jump out into +the water, and had missed the joy of riding over the line with his +winning Lakerimmers. He wondered now if this oar would also play him +false. + +But he had selected it with experienced care, and hard as he strained +it, and pathetically as it groaned, it stood him in good stead, +and carried him, and the seven who rowed with him, safely into the +paradise of victory. + + + + +XXVIII + + +Of the Lakerimmers who tried for the baseball team, four men were +elevated to the glory of positions on the regular nine. + +Sleepy had somehow proved that left-field was safer when he was +seeming to take a nap there than it was under the guard of any of the +more restless players. + +Tug was a second baseman, whose cool head made him a good man at that +pivot of the field; he was an able assistant to the right-field, a +ready back-stop to the short-stop, and a perfect spider for taking +into his web all the wild throws that came slashing from the home +plate to cut off those who dared to try to steal his base. + +Sawed-Off was the nearest of all the Kingstonians to resembling a +telegraph-pole, so he had no real competitors for first base. He +declined to play, however, unless Jumbo were given the position of +short-stop; and Jumbo soon proved that he had some other rights to the +position besides a powerful pull. + +Reddy and Heady had worked like beavers to be accepted as the battery, +but the pitcher and catcher of the year before were so satisfactory +that the Twins could get no nearer to their ambitions than the +substitute-list, and there it seemed they were pretty sure to remain +upon the shelf, in spite of all the practice they had kept up, even +through the winter. + +The Kingston ball-team had found its only rival to the championship of +the Interscholastic League in the nine from the Charleston Preparatory +School. The Kingstonians all plucked up hope, however, when they found +themselves at the end of the season one game ahead of Charleston; or, +at least, they called it one game ahead, for Charleston had played off +its schedule, and Kingston had only one more nine to defeat, and that +was the Brownsville School for Boys, the poorest team in the whole +League, a pack of good-for-nothings with butter on their fingers and +holes in their bats. So Kingston counted the pennant as good as won. + +Down the team went to Brownsville, then, just to see how big a score +they could roll up. Back they came from Brownsville so dazed they +almost rode past the Kingston station. For when they had reached the +ballground, one of those curious moods that attacks a team as it +attacks a single person seized them and took away the whole knack that +had won them so many games. The Brownsvillers, on the other hand, +seemed to have been inspired by something in the air. They simply +could not muff the ball or strike out. They found and pounded the +curves of the Kingston pitcher so badly that the substitute battery +would have been put in had they not been left behind because it was +not thought worth while to pay their fare down to Brownsville. + +The upshot of the horrible afternoon was that Brownsville sent +Kingston home with its feelings bruised black and blue, and its record +done up in cotton. It was a good thing that Kingston had prepared no +bonfire for the victory they had thought would be so easy, because if +the defeated nine had been met with such a mockery they would surely +have perished of mortification. + +The loss of this game--think of it, the score was 14 to 2!--tied the +Kingstonians with the Charlestonians, and another game was necessary +to decide the contest for the pennant. That game was immediately +arranged for commencement week on the Kingston grounds. + +And now the Twins, who had resigned themselves to having never a +chance on the nine, found themselves suddenly called upon to pitch and +catch in _the_ game of the year; for the drubbing the regular pitcher +had received had destroyed the confidence of the team in his ability +to pitch a second time successfully against the Charlestonians. + +To make matters worse, the game was to come almost in the very midst +of the final examinations of the year, and the Twins became so mixed +up in their efforts to cram into their heads all the knowledge in the +world, and to pull out of their fingers all of the curves known to +science, that one day Reddy said to Heady: + +"I half believe that when I get up for oral examination I'll be so +rattled that, instead of answering the question, I'll try to throw the +ink-bottle on an upshoot at the professor's head." + +And Heady answered, even more glumly: + +"I wouldn't mind that so much; what I'm afraid of is that when you +really need to use that out-curve you'll throw only a few dates at the +batter. I will signal for an out-curve, and you'll stand in the box +and tie yourself in a bow-knot, and throw at me something about +Columbus discovering America in 1776; or you'll reel off some problem +about plastering the inside of a room, leaving room for four doors and +six windows." + +When the day of the game arrived, however, Reddy and Heady took their +positions with the proud satisfaction of knowing that they had passed +all their school-book examinations. Now they wondered what percentage +they would make in their baseball examination. + +Sleepy, however, went out to left-field not knowing where he stood. +He knew so little about his books, indeed, that even after the +examination was over he could tell none of the fellows what answers he +had made to what questions, and so they could not tell him whether or +no he had failed ignominiously or passed accidentally. This worry, +however, sat very lightly on Sleepy's nerves. + +The largest crowd of the year was gathered to witness the greatest +game of the year, and Charleston and Kingston were tuned up to the +highest pitch they could reach without breaking. The day was perfect, +and in the preliminary practice the Kingstonians showed that they were +determined to wipe out the disgrace of the Brownsville game, or at +least to cover it up with the scalps of the Charlestonians. + +At length the Charlestonians were called in by their captain, for they +were first at bat. The Kingstonians dispread themselves over the field +in their various positions. The umpire tossed to the nervous Reddy +what seemed to be a snowball, whose whiteness he immediately covered +with dust from the box. The Charlestonian batter came to the plate and +tapped it smartly three or four times. The umpire sang out: + +"Play-ball!" + +Reddy cast a nervous look around the field, then went into a spasm +in which he seemed to be trying to "skin the cat" on an invisible +turning-pole. Out of the mix-up he suddenly straightened himself. The +first baseman saw a dusty white cannon-ball shoot past him, and heard +the umpire's dulcet voice growl: + +"Strike!" + +Which pleased the Kingston audience so mightily that they broke forth +into cheers and applause that upset Reddy so completely that the next +ball slipped from his hand and came toward the first baseman so gently +that he could hardly have missed it had he tried. + +The Kingstonian cheer disappeared in a groan as everybody heard that +unmistakable whack that resounds whenever the bat and the ball meet +face to face. But the very sureness of the hit was its ruination, for +it went soaring like a carrier-pigeon straight home to the hands of +Sleepy, who, without moving from his place, reached up and took it in. + +The Kingston groan was now changed back again to a cheer, and the +first batter of the first half of the first inning had scored the +first "out." + +The Charleston third baseman now came to the bat. Three times in +succession Reddy failed to get the ball over the plate, and the man +evidently had made up his mind that he was to get his base on balls, +for at the fourth pitch he dropped his bat and started for first base, +only to be called back by the umpire's voice declaring a strike. To +his immense disgust, two other strikes followed it, and he went to the +bench instead of to the base. + +The third Charlestonian caught the first ball pitched by Reddy, and +sent it bounding toward Jumbo, who ripped it off the ground and had +it in the hands of his chum Sawed-Off before the Charlestonian was +half-way to first base. + +This retired the side, and the Kingstonians came in to bat amid a +pleasant April shower of applause. + +Sawed-Off was the first Kingston man to take a club to the +Charlestonians. He waved his bat violently up and down, and stared +fiercely at the Charleston pitcher. His ferocity disappeared, however, +when he saw the ball coming at a frightful speed straight at him, and +threatening to take a large scoop out of his stomach. He stretched up +and back and away from it with a ridiculous wiggle, that was the more +ridiculous when he saw the ball curve harmlessly over the plate and +heard the umpire cry: + +"Strike--one!" + +He upbraided himself for his fear, and when the next ball was pitched, +though he felt sure that it was going to strike him on the shoulder, +he did not budge. But here he made mistake number two; for the ball +did not curve as the pitcher had intended, but gave the batter a sharp +nip just where it said it would. The only apology the pitcher made was +the rueful look with which he watched Sawed-Off going down to first +base. + +The Kingston center-fielder was the next at the bat, and he sent a +little Roman candle of a fly that fell cozily into the third baseman's +hands. + +Jumbo now came to the plate, and swinged at the ball so violently that +one might have thought he was trying to lift Sawed-Off bodily from +first base to second. But he managed only to send a slow coach of a +liner, that raced him to first base and beat him there. Sawed-Off, +however, had managed to make second before the Charleston first +baseman could throw him out, and there he pined away, for the Kingston +third baseman struck out, possibly in compliment to the Charleston +third baseman, who had done the same thing. + +This complimentary spirit seemed to fill the short-stop also, for he +sent down to his rival Jumbo a considerately easy little fly, which +stuck to Jumbo's palms as firmly as if there had been fly-paper on +them. + +The Charleston catcher now found Reddy for a clean base-hit between +left and center field. He tried to stretch it into a two-base hit, and +the Kingston center fielded the ball in so slowly that he succeeded in +his grasping attempt. + +The Charlestonian second baseman made a sacrifice hit that advanced +the catcher to third. And now the pitcher came to the bat, eager to +bring home the wretch at whom he had hurled his swiftest curves. His +anxiety led him into making two foolish jabs at curves that were out +of his reach, and finally he caught one just on the tip of his bat, +and it went neatly into Tug's hand, leaving the catcher to perish on +third base. + +Sleepy now came to the bat for Kingston, and, without making any +undue exertion, deftly placed a fly between the short-stop and the +left-fielder, and reached first base on a canter. He made no rash +attempts to steal second, but waited to be assisted there. The +Kingston right-fielder, however, struck out and made way for Reddy. + +Reddy, though a pitcher, was, like most pitchers, unable to solve the +mystery of a rival's curves for more than a little grounder, that lost +him first base, and forced Sleepy to a most uncomfortable exertion to +keep from being headed off at second. + +Tug now came to the bat; but, unfortunately, while the hit he knocked +was a sturdy one, it went toward third base, and Sleepy did not dare +venture off second, though he made a feint at third which engaged the +baseman's attention until Tug reached first. + +Heady now came to the bat, and some of the Charlestonians insisted +that he had batted before; but they were soon convinced of their error +when the Twins were placed side by side. + +Heady puzzled them even more, however, by scratching off just such +another measly bunt as his brother had failed with, and when he was +put out at first Sleepy and Tug realized that their running had been +in vain. Sleepy thought of the terrific inconvenience the struggle for +the three bases had caused him, and was almost sorry that he had not +struck out in the first place. + +The Charleston right-fielder opened the third inning with a graceful +fly just this side the right-fielder's reach, in that field where +base-hits seem to grow most plentifully. The Kingston center-fielder +was presented with a base on balls, which forced the right-fielder to +second base. Now Reddy recovered sufficiently to strike out the next +Charleston batter, though the one after him sent into right field a +long, low fly, which the Kingston right-fielder caught on the first +bound, and hurled furiously to third base to head off the Charleston +runner. The throw was wild, and a sickening sensation went through the +hearts of all as they saw it hurtle past the third baseman. + +The Charleston runner rejoiced, and giving the bag a mere touch with +his foot, started gaily for home. A warning cry from his coach, +however, checked him in full speed, and he whirled about to see that +Sleepy, foreseeing the throw from right-field as soon as the ball left +the bat, had sauntered over behind the third baseman, had stopped the +wild throw, and now stood waiting for the base-runner to declare his +intention before he threw the ball. The Charlestonian made a quick +dash to get back to third; but Sleepy had the ball in the third +baseman's hands before him. + +Now the third baseman saw that the second Kingston runner had also +been wavering uncertainly between second and third, ready to reach +third if Sleepy threw for home, and to return to second if he threw +to third. The third baseman started toward the runner, making many +pretenses of throwing the ball, and keeping the poor base-runner on +such a razor-edge of uncertainty that he actually allowed himself to +be touched out with barely a wriggle. This double play retired the +side. It was credited to the third baseman; but the real glory +belonged to Sleepy, and the crowd gave him the applause. + +Once more Sawed-Off towered at the bat. He was willing to take another +bruise if he could be assured of getting to first base; but the +pitcher was so wary of striking him this time that he gave him his +base on balls, and Sawed-Off lifted his hat to him in gratitude for +this second gift. + +The center-fielder knocked a fly into the hands of the first baseman, +who stood on the bag. Sawed-Off barely escaped falling victim to a +double play by beating the fly to first. + +Again Jumbo labored mightily to advance Sawed-Off, and did indeed +get him to second on a well-situated base-hit. The next Kingstonian, +however, the third baseman, knocked to the second baseman a bee-liner +that was so straight and hot that the second baseman could neither +have dodged nor missed it had he tried; so he just held on to it, and +set his foot on the bag, and caught Sawed-Off before he could get back +to the base. + +The fourth inning was opened by a Charlestonian, who sent a singing +fly right over Sawed-Off's head. He seemed to double his length like +a jack-knife. When he shut up again, however, the ball was not in his +hand, but down in the right-field. It was a master stroke, but, worth +only one base to Charleston. + +The second man at the bat fell prey to Reddy's bewildering curves, and +Reddy heard again that sweetest sound a pitcher can hear, the umpire's +voice crying: + +"Striker--out!" + +The Charlestonian who had lined out the beautiful base-hit proved +himself the possessor of a pair of heels as good as his pair of eyes, +and just as Reddy had declared by his motions such a readiness to +pitch the ball that he could not have changed his mind without being +declared guilty of a balk--just at that instant the Charlestonian +dashed madly for second base. Heady snatched off his mask and threw +the ball to second with all the speed and correctness he was master +of; but the throw went just so far to the right that Tug, leaning far +out, could not recover himself in time to touch the runner. + +[Illustration: "'STRIKER--OUT!'"] + +These two now began to play a game of hide-and-seek about second base, +much to Reddy's discomfort. There is nothing so annoying to a pitcher +as the presence of a courageous and speedy base-runner on the second +base; for the pitcher has always the threefold terror that in whirling +suddenly he may be found guilty of balking, or in facing about quickly +he may make a wild throw; and yet if he does not keep a sharp eye in +the back of his head, the base-runner can play off far enough to stand +a good chance of stealing third safely. + +Reddy engaged in this three-cornered duel so ardently that before he +knew it he had given the man at the bat a base on balls. This added to +his confusion, and seeing at the bat the Charleston catcher who had in +the second inning knocked out a perfect base-hit and made two bases +on it, Reddy left the wily fox at second base to his own devices, and +paid no heed to Tug's efforts to beat the man back to second. Suddenly +the fellow made a dart for third; though Heady's throw was straight +and swift, the fellow dived for the base, and slid into safety under +the ball. In the shadow of this dash the other Charleston base-runner +took second base without protest. + +The Charleston catcher was evidently determined to bring in at least +one run, or die trying. He smashed at every ball that Reddy pitched. +He only succeeded, however, in making a number of fouls. But Reddy +shuddered for the score when he realized how well the Charleston +catcher was studying his best curves. Suddenly the man struck up a +sky-scraping foul. Everybody yelled at once: "Over your head!" + +And Heady, ripping away his mask again, whirled round and round, +trying to find the little globule in the dazzling sky. He gimleted all +over the space back of the plate before he finally made out the ball +coming to earth many feet in front of him. He made a desperate lunge +for it and caught it. And Reddy's groan of relief could be heard clear +from the pitcher's box. + +The Charleston catcher, in a great huff, threw his bat to the ground +with such violence that it broke, and he gave way to the second +baseman, who had made a sacrifice hit in the second inning--which +advanced the catcher one base. The man realized, however, that a +sacrifice in this inning, with two men already out, would not be so +advantageous as before. He made an heroic attempt, resulting in a +clean drive that hummed past Reddy like a Mauser bullet, and chose a +path exactly between Jumbo and Tug. It was evident that no Kingston +man could stop it in time to throw either to first base or home ahead +of a Charleston man; but since Kingston could not put the side out +before a run was scored, the Charlestonians cheerfully consented to +put themselves out; that is, the base-runner on second, making a +furious dash for third, ran ker-plunk into the ball, which recorded +itself on his funny-bone. + +When he fell to the ground yelping with torment, I am afraid that +the Kingstonians showed little of the Good Samaritan spirit, for the +ball-nine and the Kingston sympathizers in the crowd indulged in +a jubilation such as a Roman throng gave vent to when a favorite +gladiator had floored some new savage. + +The Kingston men came in from the field arm in arm, but it was not +long before they were once more sauntering out into the field, for not +one of them reached first base. + +A game without runs is not usually half so interesting to the crowd as +one in which there is free batting and a generous sprinkling of runs. +The average spectator is not sport enough to feel sorry for the +pitcher when a home run has been knocked over the fence, or to feel +sorry for a fielder who lets a ball through his fingers and sends the +base-runners on their way rejoicing. To your thorough sport, though, +a scientific, well-balanced game is the most interesting. He likes to +see runs earned, if scored at all, and has sympathy but no interest +for a pitcher who permits himself to be knocked out of the box. + +A more nicely balanced game than this between Kingston and Charleston +could hardly be imagined, and there was something in the air or in +the game that made the young teams play like veterans. Each worked +together like a clock of nine cog-wheels. + +Though the next four innings were altogether different from one +another in batting and fielding, they were exactly alike in that they +were all totaled at the bottom of the column, with a large blank +goose-egg. + +At the opening of the ninth inning even the uncultured members of the +crowd--those unscientific ingoramuses that had voted the game a dull +one because no one had made the circuit of the bases--even these sat +up and breathed fast, and wondered what was going to happen. They had +not drawn many breaths before the Kingston catcher rapped on the plate +and threw back his bat to knock the stuffing out of any ball that +Reddy might hurl at him; and, indeed, his intentions were nearly +realized, for the very first throw that Reddy made hit the bull's-eye +on the Charleston bat, and then leaped away with a thwack. + +Reddy leaped for it first, but it went far from his fingers. + +Next after him Tug went up into the air and fell back beautifully. + +And after him--just as if they had been jumping-jacks--the +center-fielder bounded high and clutched at the ball, but past his +finger-tips, too, it went, and he turned ignominiously after it. If he +was running the Charlestonian was flying. He shot across first base, +and on, just grazing second base--unseen by Tug, who had turned his +back and was yelling vainly to the center-fielder to throw him the +ball he had not yet caught up with. On the Charlestonian sped in a +blind hurry. He very much resembled a young man decidedly anxious to +get home as soon as possible. He flew past third base and on down like +an antelope to the plate. This he spurned with his toe as he ran on, +unable to check his furious impetus, until he fell in the arms of the +other Charleston players on the bench. + +And then the Charleston faction in the crowd raised crawled in at the +back door and been ousted unceremoniously! + +The Kingstonians had certainly played a beautiful game, but +the Charlestonians had played one quite as good. All that the +Kingston-lovers could do when they saw their nine come to the bat for +the ninth time was to look uncomfortable, mop their brows, and remark: + +"Whew!" + +The Kingstonian center-fielder was the first to the bat, and he struck +out. + +Then Jumbo appeared, and played a waiting game he was very fond of: +while pretending to be willing to hit anything that was pitched, he +almost always let the ball go by him; and since he was so short and +stocky,--"built so close to the ground," as he expressed it,--the +pitcher usually threw too high, and Jumbo got his base on balls +a dozen times where he earned it with a base-hit or lost it on a +strike-out. + +And now he reached first base in his old pet way, and made ardent +preparations to steal second; but his enterprise was short-lived, for +the Kingston third baseman knocked an easy grounder to the short-stop, +who picked it from the ground and tossed it into the second baseman's +hands almost with one motion; and the second baseman, just touching +the base with his toe to put Jumbo out on a forced run, made a clean +throw to first that put out the batsman also, and with him the side. + +The scientists marked down upon the calendars of their memory the fact +that they had seen two preparatory school teams play a nine-inning +game without scoring a run. The others in the crowd only felt sick +with hope deferred, and wondered if that home plate were going to be +as difficult to reach as the north pole. + +The Charleston third baseman came to the bat first for his side in the +tenth inning, and he struck out. The left-fielder followed him, and +by knocking a little bunt that buzzed like a top just in front of the +plate, managed to agonize his way to first base before Reddy and Heady +could field the ball, both of them having jumped for it and reached it +at the same time. But this man, making a rash and foolish effort to +steal second, was given the eighteenth-century punishment of death for +theft, Heady having made a perfect throw from the plate. + +The Charleston short-stop reached second on a fly muffed by the +Kingston right-fielder--the first error made by this excellent player. + +And now once more the redoubtable Charleston catcher appeared at the +bat. Once more he showed his understanding of Reddy's science. This +time he was evidently determined to wipe out the mistake he had made +of too great haste on his previous home runs. After warming up with +two strikes, and letting three balls pass, he found the ball where he +wanted it, and drove out into left-field a magnificent fly. + +Pretty saw it coming, and turning, ran to the best of his ability for +the uttermost edge of his field, hoping only to delay the course of +the ball. At length it overtook him, and even as he ran he sprang into +the air and clutched upward for it, and struck it as if he would bat +it back to the home plate. + +It did not stick to his fingers, but none of the scorers counted it as +an error on the clean square beside his name under the letter E. He +had not achieved the impossible of catching it, but he had done the +next best thing: he had knocked it to the ground and run it down in +two or three steps, and turned, and drawing backward till the ball +almost touched the ground behind him, had strained every muscle with a +furious lunge, and sent the ball flying for home in a desperate race +with the Charleston short-stop, who had passed third base and was +sprinting for dear life homeward. + +At the plate stood Heady, beckoning the carrier-pigeon home with +frantic hope, Sawed-Off and Reddy both rushing to get behind him and +back him up, so that at least not more than one run should be scored. + +With a gasp of resolve the Charleston runner, seeing by Heady's eyes +that the ball was just at hand, flung himself to the ground, hoping to +lay at least a finger-tip on the plate; but there was a quick thwack +as the ball struck Heady's gloves, there was a stinging blow at the +Charlestonian's right shoulder-blade, and the shrill cry of the +umpire: + +"Out!" + +Once more the spectators shifted in their seats and knit their brows, +and observed: + +"Whew!" + +And now Sleepy opened the second half of the tenth inning. He had a +little splutter of applause for his magnificent throw when he came to +the plate; but he either was dreaming of base-hits and did not +hear it, or was too lazy to lift his cap, for he made no sign of +recognition. He made a sign of recognition of the Charleston's +pitcher's first upshoot, however, for he sent it spinning leisurely +down into right-field--so leisurely that even he beat it to first +base. The Kingston right-fielder now atoned for his previous error by +a ringing hit that took Sleepy on a comfortable jog to second base and +placed himself safely on first. + +Then Reddy came to the bat. He was saved the chagrin of striking out +to his deadly rival, but the hit he knocked was only a little fly that +the pitcher caught. The two base-runners, however, had not had great +expectations of Reddy's batting prowess, so they did not stray far +from their bases, and were not caught napping. + +Now Tug came to the bat; and while he was gathering his strength for +a death-dealing blow at the ball, the two base-runners made ready to +take advantage of anything he should hit. The right-fielder played off +too far, and, to Tug's despair, was caught by a quick throw from the +pitcher to the first baseman. + +Tug's heart turned sick within him, for there were two men out, and +the only man on base was Sleepy, who could never be counted on to make +a two-base run on a one-base hit. + +As Tug stood bewailing his fate, the ball shot past him, and the +umpire cried: + +"Strike--one!" + +Tug shook himself together with a jolt, and struck furiously at the +next ball. + +"Strike--two!" sang the umpire. + +And now the umpire had upon his lips the fatal words: + +"Strike--three!" + +For as he looked down the line traced in the air by the ball, he saw +that Tug had misjudged it. But for once science meant suicide; for +though Tug struck wildly, the ball condescendingly curved down and +fell full and fair upon the bat, and danced off again over the first +baseman's head and toward the feet of the right-fielder. This worthy +player ran swiftly for it and bent forward, but he could not reach it. +It struck him a smarting whack on the instep, and bounded off outside +the foul-line; and while he limped painfully after it, there was time +even for the sleepy Sleepy to reach the plate and score a run. + +And then the right-fielder, half blinded with pain, threw the ball at +nobody in particular, and it went into the crowd back of third base, +and Tug came in unopposed. + +And since the game was now Kingston's, no one waited to see whether +Heady would have knocked a home run or struck out. He was not given a +chance to bat. + + + + +CONCLUSION + + +There was great rejoicing in Kingston that night, much croaking of +tin horns, and much building of bonfires. The athletic year had been +remarkably successful, and every one realized the vital part played +in that success by the men from Lakerim--the Dozen, who had made some +enemies, as all active people must, and had made many more friends, as +all active people may. + +The rejoicing of the Lakerimmers themselves had a faint tang of +regret, for while they were all to go back to the same town together +for their vacation, yet they knew that this would be the last year of +school life they could ever spend together. Next year History, Punk, +Sawed-Off, and Jumbo were to go to college. The others had at least +one more year of preparatory work. + +And they thought, too, that this first separation into two parts was +only the beginning of many separations that should finally scatter +them perhaps over the four quarters of the globe. + +There was Bobbles, for instance, who had an uncle that was a great +sugar magnate in the Hawaiian Islands, and had offered him a position +there whenever he was ready for it. + +B.J. had been promised an appointment to Annapolis, for he would be a +sailor and an officer of Uncle Sam's navy. + +And Tug had been offered a chance to try for West Point, and there +were no dangers for him in either the rigid mental or the physical +examinations. + +Pretty, who had shown a wonderful gift for modeling in clay, was going +some day to Paris to study sculpture. + +And Quiz looked forward to being a lawyer. + +The Twins would go into business, since their father's busy sawmill +property would descend to both of them, and, as they thought it out, +could not very well be divided. Plainly they must make the best of +life together. It promised to be a lively existence, but a pleasant +one withal. + +History hoped to be a great writer some day, and Punk would be a +professor of something staid and quiet, Latin most probably. + +Sawed-Off and Jumbo had not made up their minds as to just what +the future was to hold for them, but they agreed, that it must be +something in partnership. + +Sleepy had never a fancy of what coming years should bring him to do; +he preferred to postpone the unpleasant task of making up his mind, +and only took the trouble to hope that the future would give him +something that offered plenty of time for sleeping and eating. + +Late into the night the Twelve sat around a waving bonfire, their eyes +twinkling at the memory of old victories and defeats, of struggles +that were pleasant, whatever their outcome, just because they were +struggles. + +At length Sleepy got himself to his feet with much difficulty. + +"Going to bed?" Jumbo sang out. + +"Nope," drawled Sleepy, and disappeared into the darkness. + +They all smiled at the thought of him, whom none of them respected and +all of them loved. + +In a space of time quite short for him, Sleepy returned with an +arm-load of books--the text-books that had given him so much trouble, +and would have given him more had they had the chance offered them. + +"Fire's getting low," was all he said, and he dumped the school-books, +every one, into the blaze. + +The other Lakerimmers knew that they had passed every examination, +either brilliantly or, at the worst, well enough to scrape through. +Sleepy did not even know whether he had failed or not; but the next +morning he found out that he should sadly need next year those books +that were charred ashes in a corner of the campus, and should have to +replace them out of his spending-money. + +That night, however, he was blissful with ignorance, and having made +a pyre of his bookish tormentors, he fell in with the jollity of the +others. + +When it grew very late silence gradually fell on the gossipy Twelve. +The beauty of the night and the union of souls seemed to be speech +enough. + +Finally the fire fell asleep, and with one mind they all rose and, +standing in a circle about glimmering ashes, clasped hands in eternal +friendship, and said: + +"Good night!" + + +THE HOME PLATE + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 11062 *** diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..4ec1e8c --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #11062 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/11062) diff --git a/old/11062-8.txt b/old/11062-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..7757771 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/11062-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,5995 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Dozen from Lakerim, by Rupert Hughes + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: The Dozen from Lakerim + +Author: Rupert Hughes + +Release Date: February 12, 2004 [eBook #11062] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE DOZEN FROM LAKERIM*** + + +E-text prepared by Rick Niles, John Hagerson, and the Project Gutenberg +Online Distributed Proofreading Team + + + +THE DOZEN FROM LAKERIM + +By RUPERT HUGHES + +Author of "The Lakerim Athletic Club" + +WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY C.M. RELYEA + +1899. + + + + + + + + TO THE BEST + *Father* + A BOY EVER HAD + (EXCEPT POSSIBLY YOURS) +BELONGS THE DEDICATION OF THIS STORY + OF LIFE AT AN ACADEMY, + SINCE HIS GOODNESS ENABLED ME + TO KNOW IT AND WRITE IT + + + + +NOTE + + +About half of this book was published serially in "St. Nicholas." The +rest of it is here printed for the first time. If in this story of +life at a preparatory school I have neglected to say very much about +books and studies, and have stuck to far less interesting matters, +such as the games and gambols that while away the dull hours between +classes, I hope my readers will graciously forgive the omission. + + + + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS + + +IT WAS EVIDENT THAT A SEVERE STRUGGLE HAD TAKEN PLACE + +"STOP THE TRAIN AND WAIT FOR ME. I'M GOING TO KINGSTON, TOO!" + +TUG IS TREATED TO A LITTLE SURPRISE-PARTY + +QUIZ LEARNED TO SHOOT THE HILLS AT A BREATHLESS RATE + +JUMBO SAW A PAIR OF FLASHING EYES GLARING AT HIM OVER THE COVERLET + +PRETTY AND ENID + +THE CROSS-COUNTRY RUN + +THE BOXING-MATCH + +TIED UP LIKE DUMMIES IN SACKS + +"STRIKER--OUT!" + +BURNING THE BOOKS + + + + +THE DOZEN FROM LAKERIM + + + + +I + + +Some people think it great fun to build a house of cards slowly and +anxiously, and then knock it to pieces with one little snip of the +finger. Or to fix up a snow man in fine style and watch a sudden thaw +melt him out of sight. Or to write a name carefully, like a copy-book, +and with many curlicues, in the wet sand, and then scamper off and let +the first high wave smooth it away as a boy's sponge wipes from his +slate some such marvelous statement as, 12 × 12 = 120, or 384 ÷ 16 +gives a "koshunt" of 25. When such things are erased it doesn't much +matter; but there are occasions when it hurts to have Father Time come +along and blot out the work you have taken great pains with and have +put your heart into. Twelve young gentlemen in the town of Lakerim +were feeling decidedly blue over just such an occasion. + +You may not find the town of Lakerim on the map in your geography. And +yet it was very well known to the people that lived in it. And the +Lakerim Athletic Club was very well known to those same people. And +the Lakerim Athletic Club, or, at least the twelve founders of the +club, were as blue as the June sky, because it seemed to them that +Father Time--old Granddaddy Longlegs that he is--was playing a mean +trick on them. + +For hadn't they given all their brain and muscle to building up an +athletic club that should be a credit to the town and a terror to +outsiders! And hadn't they given up every free hour for two years to +working like Trojans? though, for that matter, who ever heard of +any work the Trojans ever did that amounted to anything--except the +spending of ten years in getting themselves badly defeated by a big +wooden hobby-horse? + +But while all of the Dozen were deep in the dumps, and had their brows +tied up like a neglected fish-line, the loudest complaint was made, +of course, by the one who had done the least work in building up the +club--a lazybones who had been born tired, and had spent most of his +young life in industriously earning for himself the name of "Sleepy." + +"It's a dad-ratted shame," growled he, "for you fellows to go and +leave the club in the lurch this way, after all the trouble we have +had organizing it." + +"Yes," assented another, who was called "B.J." because he had jumped +from a high bridge once too often, and who read wild Western romances +more than was good for his peace of mind or his conversation; "it kind +of looks as if you fellows were renegades to the cause." + +None of the Twelve knew exactly what a renegade was, but it sounded +unpleasant, and the men to whom the term was applied lost their +tempers, and volunteered to clean out the club-room where they all sat +for two cents. + +But the offenders either thought they could have more fun for less +money, or hadn't the money, for they changed their tune, and the +debate went on in a more peaceful manner. + +The trouble was this: Some of you who are up on the important works of +history may have heard how these twelve youth of the High School at +Lakerim organized themselves into an athletic club that won many +victories, and how they begged, borrowed, and earned enough money to +build themselves a club-house after a year of hard work and harder +play. + +Well, now, after they had gone to all this trouble and all this +expense, and had enjoyed the fruits of their labors barely a year, lo +and behold, one third of the Dozen were planning to desert the club, +leave the town, and take their good muscles to another town, where +there was an academy! The worst of it was that this academy was the +very one that had worked hardest to keep the Lakerim Athletic +Club from being admitted into the league known as the Tri-State +Interscholastic. + +And now that the Lakerim Club had forced its way into the League, and +had won the pennant the very first year, it seemed hard that some of +the most valuable of the Lakerimmers should even consider joining +forces with a rival. The president of the club himself was one of +the deserters; and the rest of the Dozen grew very bitter, and the +arguments often reached a point where it needed only one word more to +bring on a scrimmage--a scrimmage that would make a lively football +game seem tame by comparison. + +And now the president, or "Tug," as he was always called, had been +baited long enough. He rose to his feet and proceeded to deliver an +oration with all the fervor of a Fourth-of-July orator making the +eagle scream. + +"I want you fellows to understand once for all," he cried, "that +no one loves the Lakerim Athletic Club more than I do, or is more +patriotic toward it. But now that I have graduated from the High +School, I can't consider that I know everything that is to be known. +There are one or two things to learn yet, and I intend to go to a +preparatory school, and then through college; and the best thing you +follows can do is to make your plans to do the same thing. Well, now, +seeing that my mind is made up to go to college, and seeing that +I've got to go to some preparatory school, and seeing there is no +preparatory school in Lakerim, and seeing that I have therefore got +to go to some other town, and seeing that at Kingston there is a fine +preparatory school, and seeing that I want to have some sort of a show +in athletics, and seeing that the Athletic Association of the Kingston +Academy has been kind enough to specially invite three of us fellows +to go there--why, seeing all this, I don't see that there is any +kick coming to you fellows if we three fellows take advantage of our +opportunities like sensible people; and the best advice I can give +you is to make up your minds, and make up your fathers' and mothers' +minds, to come along to Kingston Academy with us. Then there won't be +any talk about our being traitors to the Dozen, for we'll just pick +the Dozen up bodily and carry it over to Kingston! The new members +we've elected can take care of the club and the club-house." + +Tug sat down amid a silence that was more complimentary than the +wildest applause; for he had done what few orators do: he had set his +audience to thinking. Only one of the Twelve had a remark to make for +some time, and that was a small-framed, big-spectacled gnome called +"History." He leaned over and said to his elbow-companion, "Bobbles": + +"Tug is a regular Demoskenes!" + +"Who's Demoskenes?" whispered Bobbles. + +"Why, don't you remember him?" said History, proudly. "He was the +fellow that used to fill his mouth full of pebbles before he talked." + +"I'll bet he would have choked on some of your big words, though, +History," growled a little fellow called "Jumbo." + +But the man at his side, known to fame as "Punk," broke in with a +crushing: + +"Aw, let up on that old Dutchman of a Demoskenes, and let's talk +business." + +So they all got their heads together again and discussed their affairs +with the solemnity due to their importance. They talked till the +janitor went round lighting up the club-house, which reminded them +that they were keeping dinner waiting at their various homes. Then +they strolled along home. They met again and again; for the fate of +the club was a serious matter to them, and the fate of the Dozen was +a still more serious matter, because the Dozen had existed before the +club or the club-house, and their hearts ached at the mere thought of +breaking up the old and dear associations that had grown up around +their partnership in many an hour of victory and defeat. + +But where there are many souls there are many minds, and it seemed +impossible to keep the Twelve together for another year. It was +settled that Tug and Jumbo and Punk should accept the flattering +invitation of the Kingston Athletic Association, and their parents +were glad enough to have them go, seeing that Kingston was an academy +of excellent standing. + +History was also to be there, for his learning had won him a free +scholarship in a competitive examination. B.J., "Quiz," and Bobbles +were to be sent to other academies--to Charleston, to Troy, and to +Greenville; but they made life miserable for their fathers and mothers +with their pleadings, until they, too, were permitted to join their +fellows at Kingston. + +Sleepy was the only one that did not want to go, and he insisted that +he had learned all that was necessary for his purpose in life; that he +simply could not endure the thought of laboring over books any +longer. But just as the Dozen had resigned themselves to losing the +companionship of Sleepy (he was a good man to crack jokes about, if +for no other reason), Sleepy's parents announced to him that his +decision was not final, and that, whether or not he wanted to go, go +he should. And then there were eight. + +The handsome and fashionable young Dozener, known to his friends +as Edward Parker, and to fame as "Pretty," was won over with much +difficulty. He had completely made up his mind to attend the Troy +Latin School--not because he loved Latin, but because Troy was the +seat of much social gaiety, and because there was a large seminary for +girls in that town. He was, however, at length cajoled into consenting +to pitch his tent at Kingston by the diplomatic Jumbo, who told him +that the girls at Kingston were the prettiest in three States. And +then there were nine. + +The Phillips twins, "Reddy" and "Heady," were the next source of +trouble, for they had recently indulged in an unusually violent +squabble, even for them, and each had vowed that he would never +speak to the other again, and would sooner die than go to the same +boarding-school. The father of this fiery couple knew that the boys +really loved each other dearly at the bottom of their hearts, and +decided to teach them how much they truly cared for each other; so +he yielded to their prayer that they be allowed to go to different +academies. The boys, in high glee, tossed up a penny to decide which +should go with the Dozen to Kingston, and which should go to the +Brownsville School for Boys. Reddy won Kingston, and rejoiced greatly. +But though Heady was so blue that his brick-colored hair was almost +dyed, nothing could persuade him to "tag along after his brother," as +he phrased it. And so there were ten. + +The deepest grief of the Dozen was the plight of the beloved giant, +"Sawed-Off." There seemed to be no possible way of getting him to +Kingston, much as they thought of his big muscles, and more us they +thought of his big heart. His sworn pal, the tiny Jumbo, was well nigh +distracted at the thought of severing their two knitted hearts; but +Sawed-Off's father was dead, and his mother was too poor to pay for +his schooling, so they gave him up for lost, not without aching at the +heart, and even a little dampness at the eyelids. + +Heady was the first to leave town. He slipped away on an early morning +train without telling any one, for he felt very much ashamed of his +stubbornness; and he and his brother shook hands with each other as +nervously as two prize-fighters. + +A few days later the five sixths of the Dozen that were booked +for Kingston stood on the crowded platform of the Lakerim +railroad-station, bidding good-by to all the parents they had, and all +the friends. All of them had paid long calls on their best girls +the evening before, and exchanged photographs and locks of hair and +various keepsakes more or less sentimental and altogether useless. So, +now that they were in public, they all shook hands very formally: Tug +with a girl several years older than he; Pretty with the beautiful +Enid; Quiz with the fickle Cecily Brown; bashful Bobbles with the +bouncing Betsy; B.J. with a girl who had as many freckles as B.J. had +had imaginary encounters with the bandits who had tried to steal her; +the unwilling Sleepy with a lively young woman who broke his heart by +congratulating him on being able to go to Kingston; tiny Jumbo with +plump Carrie Shields, whom he had once fished out of the water; +and Reddy with the girl over whom he and his brother had had their +bitterest quarrels, and who could not for the life of her tell which +one she liked the better. + +[Illustration: STOP THE TRAIN AND WAIT FOR ME, I'M GOING TO KINGSTON, +TOO!] + +But there was one very little girl in the crowd whose greatest sorrow, +strangely enough, was the fact that she had no one to bid good-by +to, since her dearest friend, the huge Sawed-Off, was not to go to +Kingston. + +Just as the engine began to ring its warning bell, and the conductor +to wave the people aboard, there was a loud clatter of hoofs, and the +rickety old Lakerim carryall came dashing up, drawn by the lively +horses Sawed-Off had once saved from destroying themselves and the +Dozen in one fell swoop down a steep hill. The carryall lurched up to +the station came to a sudden stop, and out bounced--who but Sawed-Off +himself, loaded down with bundles, and yelling at the top of his +voice: + +"Stop the train and wait for me. I'm going to Kingston, too!" + + + + +II + + +There was just time to dump his trunk into the baggage-car, and bundle +him and his bundles on to the platform, before the train steamed away; +and the eleven Lakerimmers were so busy waving farewell to the waving +and farewelling crowd at the station that it was some minutes before +they could find time to learn how Sawed-Off came to be among them. +When he explained that he had made arrangements to work his way +through the Academy, they took no thought for the hard struggle in +front of him, they were so glad to have him along. Jumbo and he sat +with their arms around each other all the way to Kingston, their +hearts too full for anything but an occasional "Hooray!" + +The journey to Kingston brought no adventures with it--except that +History, of course, had lost his spectacles and his ticket, and had to +borrow money of Pretty to keep from being put off the train, and that +when they reached Kingston they came near forgetting Sleepy entirely, +for he had curled up in a seat, and was reeling off slumber at a +faster rate than the train reeled off miles. + +The first few days at Kingston were so busily filled with entrance +examinations and selection of rooms and the harder selection of +room-mates and other furniture that the Dozen saw little of each +other, except as they crunched by along the gravel walks of the campus +or met for a hasty meal in the dining-hall. This dining-hall, by the +way, was managed by an estimable widow named Mrs. Slaughter, and of +course the boys called it the "Slaughter-house," a name not so far +from the truth, when one considers the way large, tough roasts of beef +and tons of soggy corned beef were massacred by the students. + +It might be a good idea to insert here a little snap shot of Kingston +Academy. The town itself was a moth-eaten old village that claimed +a thousand inhabitants, but could never have mustered that number +without counting in all the sleepy horses, mules, cows, and pet dogs +that roamed the streets like the rest of the inhabitants. The chief +industry of the people of Kingston seemed to be that of selling +school-books, mince-pies, and other necessaries of life to the boys at +the Academy. The grown young men of the town spent their lives trying +to get away to some other cities. The younger youth of the town spent +their lives trying to interfere with the pleasures of the Kingston +academicians. So there were many of the old-time "town-and-gown" +squabbles; and it was well for the health of the Kingston Academy boys +that they rarely went around town except in groups of two or three; +and it was very bad for the health of any of the town fellows if they +happened to be caught within the Academy grounds. + +The result of being situated in a half-dead village, which was neither +loved nor loving, did not make life at the Academy tame, but quite the +opposite; for the boys were forced to find their whole entertainment +in the Academy life, and in one another, and the campus was therefore +a little republic in itself--a Utopia. Like every other republic, it +had its cliques and its struggles, its victories and its defeats, its +friendships and its enmities, and everything else that makes life +lively and lifelike. + +The campus was beautiful enough and large enough to accommodate its +citizens handsomely. Its trees were many and tall, venerable old +monarchs with foliage like tents for shade and comfort to any little +groups that cared to lounge upon the mossy divans beneath. The grounds +were spacious enough to furnish not only football and baseball fields +and tennis-courts, but meadows where wild flowers grew in the spring, +and a little lake where the ice grew in the winter. Miles away--just +enough to make a good "Sabbath day's journey"--was a wonderful region +called the "Ledges," where glaciers had once resided, and left huge +boulders, scratched and scarred. As Jumbo put it, it seemed, from +the chasms and caves and curious distortions of stone and soil, that +"nature must have once had a fit there.". + +Most of the buildings of the Academy looked nearly old enough to have +been also deposited there by the primeval glaciers, but they were huge +and comfortable, and so many colonies of boys had romped and ruminated +there, and so much laughter and so much lore had soaked into the old +walls, that they were pleasanter than any newer and more gorgeous +architecture could possibly be. They were homely in the better as well +as the worse sense. + +But this is more than enough description, and you must imagine for +yourselves how the Lakerim eleven, often as they thought of home, and +homesick as they were in spite of themselves now and then, rejoiced +in being thrown on their own resources, and made somewhat independent +citizens in a little country of their own. Unwilling to make +selections among themselves, more unwilling to select room-mates from +the other students (the "foreigners," as the Lakerimmers called them), +they drew lots for one another, and the lots decided that they should +room together thus: Tug and Punk were on the ground floor of the +building known as South College, in room No. 2; in the room just over +them were Quiz and Pretty; and on the same floor, at the back of +the building, were Bobbles and Reddy (Reddy insisted upon this room +because it had a third bedroom off its study-room; while, of course, +he never expected to see Heady there, and didn't much care, of course, +whether he came or not, still, a fellow never can tell, you know); on +the same floor were B.J. and Jumbo. Jumbo did not stoop to flatter +B.J. by pretending that he would not have preferred Sawed-Off for +his room-mate; but Sawed-Off was working his way through, and the +principal of the Academy had offered to help him out, not only with a +free scholarship, but with a free room, as well, in Middle College, an +old building which had the gymnasium on the first floor, the chapel on +the second, and in the loft a single store-room fixed up as a bedroom. + +The lots the fellows drew seemed to be in a joking mood when they +selected History and Sleepy for room-mates--the hardest student and +the softest, not only of the Dozen, but of the whole Academy. Sleepy +had been too lazy to pay much heed when the diplomatic History had +suggested their choosing room No. 13 for theirs, and he assented +languidly. History had said that it was the brightest and sunniest +room in the building, and if there was one thing that Sleepy loved +almost better than baseball, it was a good snooze in the sun after he +had worked hard stowing away any of the three meals. His heart was +broken, however, when he learned that the room chosen by the wily +History was on the top floor, with three long flights to climb. After +that you could never convince him that thirteen was not an unlucky +number. + +The Lakerimmers had thus managed quietly to ensconce themselves, all +except Sawed-Off, in one building; and it was just as well, perhaps, +that they did so establish themselves in a stronghold of their own, +for they clung together so steadfastly that there was soon a deal of +jealousy among the other students toward them, and all the factions +combined together to try to keep the Lakerimmers from cabbaging any of +the good things of academy life. + +There was a craze of skylarking the first few weeks after the school +opened. Almost every day one of the Lakerimmers would come back from +his classes to find his room "stacked"--a word that exactly expresses +its meaning. There is something particularly discouraging in going to +your room late in the evening, your mind made up to a comfortable hour +of reading on a divan covered with cushions made by your best girls, +only to find the divan placed in the middle of the bed, with a bureau +and a bookcase stuck on top of it, a few chairs and a pet bulldog tied +in the middle of the mix-up, and a mirror and a well-filled bowl of +water so fixed on the top of the heap that it is well-nigh impossible +to move any one of the articles without cracking the looking-glass or +dousing yourself with the water. The Lakerimmers tried retaliation for +a time; but the pleasure of stacking another man's room was not half +so great as the misery of unstacking one's own room, and they finally +decided to keep two or three of the men always on guard in the +building. + +There was a rage for hazing, too, the first few weeks; and as the +Lakerimmers were all new men in the Academy, they were considered +particularly good candidates for various degrees of torment. Hazing +was strictly against the rules of the Academy, but the teachers could +not be everywhere at once, and had something to do besides prowl +around the dark corners of the campus at all hours of the night. Some +of the men furiously resisted the efforts to haze them; but when they +once learned that their efforts were vain, and had perforce to submit, +none of them were mean enough to peach on their tormentors after the +damage was done. The Lakerimmers, however, decided to resist force +with force, and stuck by each other so closely, and barricaded their +doors so firmly at night, when they must necessarily separate, +that time went on without any of them being subjected to any other +indignities than the guying of the other Kingstonians. + +Sawed-Off had so much and such hard work to do after school hours +that the whole Academy respected him too much to attempt to haze him, +though he roomed alone in the old Middle College. Besides, his size +was such that nobody cared to be the first one to lay hand on him. + + * * * * * + +There was just one blot on the happiness of the Dozen at Kingston. +Tug and Punk and Jumbo had started the whole migration from Lakerim +because they had been invited by the Kingston Athletic Association to +join forces with the Academy. The magnificent game of football these +three men had played in the last two years had been the cause of this +invitation, and they had come with glowing dreams of new worlds to +conquer. What was their pain and disgust to find that the captain of +the Kingston team, elected before they came, had decided that he had +good cause for jealousy of Tug, and had decided that, since Tug would +probably win all his old laurels away from him if he once admitted him +to the eleven, the only way to retain those laurels was to keep Tug +off the team. When the Lakerim three, therefore, appeared on the field +as candidates for the eleven, they were assigned to the second or +scrub team. (The first team was generally called the "varsity," though +of course it only represented an academy.) + +The Lakerim three, though disappointed at first, determined to show +their respect for discipline, and to earn their way; so they submitted +meekly, and played the best game they could on the scrub. When the +varsity captain, Clayton by name, criticized their playing in a +way that was brutal,--not because it was frank, but because it was +unjust,--they swallowed the poison as quietly as they could, and went +back into the game determined not to repeat the slip that had brought +upon them such a deluge of abuse. + +It soon became evident, however, from the way Clayton neglected the +mistakes of the pets of his own eleven, and his constant and petty +fault-finding with the three Lakerimmers, that he was determined to +keep them from the varsity, even if he had to keep second-rate players +on the team, and even if he imperiled the Academy's chances against +rival elevens. + +When this unpleasant truth had finally soaked into their minds, the +Lakerimmers grew very solemn; and one evening, when the whole eleven +happened to be in room No. 2, and when the hosts, Tug and Punk, were +particularly sore from the outrageous language used against them +in the practice of the afternoon, Punk, who was rather easily +discouraged, spoke up: + +"I guess the only thing for us to do, fellows, is to pack up our duds +and go back home. There's no chance for us here." + +Tug, who was feeling rather muggy, only growled: + +"Not on your life! I had rather be a yellow dog than a quitter." + +Then he relapsed into a silence that reminded History of Achilles in +his tent, though he was ungently told to keep still when he tried to +suggest the similarity. Reddy was fairly sizzling with rage at the +Clayton faction, and sang out: + +"I move that we go round and throw a few rocks through Clayton's +windows, and then if he says anything, punch his head for him." + +This idea seemed to please the majority of the men, and they were +instantly on their feet and rushing out of the door to execute their +vengeance on the tyrant, when Tug thundered out for them to come back. + +"I've got a better idea," he said, "and one that will do us more +credit. I'll tell you what I am going to do: I am going to take this +matter into my own hands, and drill that scrub team myself, and see +if we can't teach the varsity a thing or two. I believe that, with +a little practice and a little good sense, we can shove 'em off the +earth." + +This struck the fellows as the proper and the Lakerim method of doing +things, and they responded with a cheer. + + + + +III + + +Tug persuaded Reddy, B.J., Pretty, and Bobbles, who had not been +trying for the team, to come out on the field. He even coaxed the busy +Sawed-Off into postponing some of his work for a few days to help them +out. He thus had almost the old Lakerim eleven at his command; and +that very night, in that very room, they concocted and practised a few +secret tricks and a few surprises for Clayton, who was neither very +fertile in invention nor very quick to understand the schemes of +others. + +Clayton was too sure of his own position and power to pay any heed to +the storm that was brewing for him, and was only too glad to see more +Lakerim men on the scrub team for him to abuse. + +The next day Tug persuaded some of the others of the scrub eleven to +"lay off" for a few days, and he also persuaded the captain of the +scrub team to give him command for a week. Then he took his new +eleven, seven of them old Lakerim veterans, out on the field, and +worked with them early and late. + +To instil into the heads of his men the necessity of being in just the +right place at the right time, Tug drew a map of the field on a large +sheet of paper, and spread it on his center-table; then he took +twenty-two checkers and set them in array like two football teams. He +gathered his eleven into his room at night, told each man Jack of them +which checker was his, and set them problems to work out. + +"Suppose I give the signal for the left-guard to take the ball around +the right-end," he would say, and ask each man in turn, "Where would +you go?" + +Then the backs drew their checkers up to position as interference, and +the tackles and guards showed what particular enemies they were to +bowl over. Many ridiculous mistakes were made at first, and each man +had a good laugh at the folly of each of the others for some play that +left a big hole in the flying protection. But they could practise at +night and worry it out in theory, while their legs rested till the +next day's practice. + +When he could find an empty recitation-room at an idle hour, +"Professor Tug," as they soon called him, would gather his class about +him and work out the same problems on the blackboards, each man being +compelled to draw an arrow from his position at the time of the signal +to his proper place when the ball was in play. + +The game now became a true science, and the scrub took it up with +a new zest. This indoor drill made it easy also to revive a trick +popular at Yale in the 'Eighties--the giving of one signal to prepare +for a series of plays. Then Tug would call out some eloquent gibberish +like "Seventy-'leven-three-teen," and that meant that on the first +down the full-back was to come in on the run, and take the ball +through the enemy's left-guard and tackle; on the second down the +right half-back was to crisscross with the left half-back; and on the +third down the right-guard was to scoot round the left-end. + +The beauty of this old scheme was that it caught the enemy napping: +while he was lounging and waiting for the loud signal, the ball was +silently put in play before he was ready. On the fatal day Tug found +that the scheme was well worth the trouble it took. It has its +disadvantages in the long run, but on its first appearance at Kingston +it fairly made the varsity team's eyes pop with amazement. + +Tug did not put into play the whole strength of his eleven, but +practised cautiously, and instructed his team in the few ruses Clayton +seemed to be fond of. He was looking forward to the occasion when a +complete game was to be played before the townspeople between the +varsity and the scrub; and Clayton was looking forward to this same +day, and promising himself a great triumph when the Academy and the +town should see what a rattling eleven he had made up. + +The day came. The whole Academy and most of the town turned out and +filled the grand stand and the space along the side lines. It was to +be the first full game of the season on the Academy grounds, and every +one was eager to renew acquaintance with the excitements of the fall +before. You have doubtless seen and read about more football games +than enough, and you will be glad to skip the details of this contest. + +It will be unnecessary to do more than suggest how Clayton was simply +dumfounded when he saw his first long kick-off caught by the veteran +full-back Punk, and carried forward with express speed under the +protection of Tug's men, who were not satisfied with merely running in +front of Clayton's tacklers, but bunted into them and dumped them over +with a spine-jolting vigor, and covered Punk from attack on the rear, +and carried him across the center line and well on into Clayton's +territory before Clayton realized that several of his pets were mere +straw men, and dashed violently and madly into and through Punk's +interference, and downed him on the 15-yard line; how the spectators +looked on in silent amazement at this unexpected beginning; how +promptly Tug's men were lined up, a broad swath completely opened with +one quick gash in Clayton's line, and the ball shoved through and +within five yards of the goal-posts, almost before Clayton knew it was +in play; how Clayton called his men to one side, and rebuked them, and +told them just what to do, and found, to his disgust, that when they +had done it, it was just the wrong thing to do; how they could not +hold the line against the fury of the scrub team; how the ball was +jammed across the line right under the goal-posts, and Clayton's head +well whacked against one of those same posts as he was swept off his +feet; how Tug's men on the line were taught to avoid foolish attempts +to worry their opponents, and taught to reserve their strength for the +supreme moment when the call came to split the line; how Sawed-Off, +though lighter than Clayton's huge 200 pound center, had more than +mere bulk to commend him, and tipped the huge baby over at just +the right moment; how Tug now and then followed a series of honest +football maneuvers with some unexpected trick that carried the ball +far down the field around one end, when Clayton was scrambling after +it in the wrong place; how Tug had perfected his interference until +the man carrying the ball seemed almost as safe as if Clayton's men +were Spaniards, and he were in the turret of the U.S.S. _Oregon_; how +little time Tug's men lost in getting away after the ball had been +passed to them; how little they depended on "grand stand" plays by +the individual, and how much on team-work; how Tug's men went through +Clayton's interference as neatly as a fox through a hedge; how they +resisted Clayton's mass plays as firmly as harveyized steel; how +Clayton fumed and fretted and slugged and fouled, and threatened his +men, and called them off to hold conferences that only served to give +Tug's men a chance to get their wind after some violent play; how +Tug was everywhere at once, and played for more than the pleasure of +winning this one game--played as if he were a pair of twins, and only +smiled back when Clayton glared at him; how Punk guarded the goal from +the longest punts the varsity full-back could make, and how he kicked +the goal after all but one of the many touch-downs the scrub team +made; how little Jumbo, as quarter-back, passed the ball with never a +fumble and never a bad throw; how, when it came back to his hands, +he skimmed almost as closely and as silently and as swiftly over the +ground as the shadow of a flying bird, and made long run after long +run that won the cheers of the crowd; how B.J., Sawed-Off, and Pretty, +as right-end, center, and left-end, responded at just the right +moment, and how Pretty dodged and ran with the alertness he had +learned in many a championship tennis tournament; and how Reddy, as +left half-back, flew across the field like a firebrand, or hurled +himself into the line with a fury that seemed to have no regard for +the bones or flesh of himself or the Claytonians; how-- + + + + +IV + + +But did any one ever read such a string of "hows"? Why, that sentence +was getting to be longer and more complicated than the game it was +pretending not to describe; so here's an end on't, with the plain +statement that the game (like that sentence) came finally to an end. +But the effects of the contest did not end with the dying out of the +cheers with which the victory of the scrub was greeted. And Tug's +elevation did not cease when he had been caught up on the shoulders of +the crowd and carried all over the field, amid the wild cheers of the +whole Academy. No more did Captain Clayton's chagrin end with +his awakening from the stupor into which he had been sent by the +surprisingly good form of the scrub. + +Clayton felt bitter enough at the exposure of his bad captaincy, but +a still greater bitterness awaited him, and a still greater triumph +awaited Tug, for the Athletic Association put their heads together +and decided to have their little say. The result was published in +the Kingston weekly, and Tug, after the overwhelming honor of being +interviewed by a live reporter, read there the following screaming +head-lines: + + + SCRUB WIPES THE EARTH + WITH VARSITY! + + * * * * * + + Kingston Football Team Meets with a + Crushing Defeat at the Hands of + the Second Eleven. + + * * * * * + + SCORE, 28 to 4. + + * * * * * + + VARSITY OUTPLAYED AT + EVERY POINT. + + * * * * * + + Popular Opinion Forces Captain Clayton + to Resign in Favor of + "Tug" Robinson. + + * * * * * + + KINGSTON TEAM TO BE + COMPLETELY REORGANIZED. + + * * * * * + + Mr. Robinson Declares that Favoritism + will Have no Part in the Make-up of + the New Team, and Magnanimously + Offers Ex-Captain + Clayton a Position on + the New Eleven. + + +There is no need telling here the wild emotions in the hearts of +Clayton and his faction at the end of the game, and no need of even +hinting the wilder delight of the Lakerimmers at the vindication of +their cause. The whole eleven of them strolled home in one grand +embrace, and used their jaws more for talking than for eating when +they reached the long-delayed meal at the "Slaughter-house"; and +after supper they met again at the fence, and sang Lakerim songs of +rejoicing, and told and retold to each other the different features of +the game, which they all knew without the telling. So much praise was +heaped upon Tug by the rest of the Academy, and he was so fêted by the +Lakerimmers, that he finally slipped away and went to his room. And +little History also bade them good night, on his old excuse of having +to study. + +It was very dark before the Lakerimmers had talked themselves tired. +Then they voted to go around and congratulate Tug once more upon his +victory, and give him three cheers for the sake of auld lang syne. +When they went to his room, they were amazed to see the door swinging +open and shut in the breeze; they noted that the lock was torn off. +They hurried in, and found one of the windows broken, and books and +chairs scattered about in confusion; the mantel and cloth and the +photographs on it were all awry. It was evident that a fierce struggle +had taken place in the room. The nine Lakerimmers stood aghast, +staring at each other in stupefaction. Reddy was the first to find +tongue, and he cried out: + +"I know what's up, fellows: that blamed gang of hazers has got him!" + +Now there was an excitement indeed. Punk suggested that perhaps he +might be in History's room, and Bobbles scaled the three flights, +three steps at a time, only to return with a wild look, and declare +that History's room was empty, his lock broken, and his student lamp +smoking. Plainly the hazing committee had lost no time in seizing +its first opportunity. Plainly the Lakerimmers must lose no time in +hurrying to the rescue. + +"Up and after 'em, men!" cried B.J.; and, trying to remember what +was the proper thing for an old Indian scout to do under the +circumstances, he started off on a dead run. And the others followed +him into the night. + + + + +V + + +Tug had stood the praise and applause of his fellow-students, and +especially the wild flattery of the Dozen, who were almost insanely +joyful over his success in captaining the scrub football team and +wiping the earth up with the varsity, until he was as sick as a boy +that has overfed on candy. Finally he had slunk away, rather like a +guilty man than a hero, and started for his room. Once he had left the +crowd and was alone under the great trees, darkly beautiful with the +moonlight, he felt again the delicious pride of his victory against +the heavy odds, and the conspiracy of his deadly rival in football. +He planned, in his imagination, the various steps he would take to +reorganize the varsity eleven, to which it was evident that he would +be elected captain; and he smacked his lips over the prospects of +glorious battles and hard-won victories in the games in which he +and his team would represent the Kingston Academy against the other +academies of the Tri-State Interscholastic League. + +His waking dreams came true, in good season, too; for, under his +inspiring leadership, the Kingston men took up the game with a new +zest, gave up the idea that individual grand-stand plays won games, +and learned to sink their ambitions for themselves into a stronger +ambition for the success of the whole team. And they played so +brilliantly and so faithfully that academy after academy went down +before them, and they were not even scored against until they met the +most formidable rivals of all, the Greenville Academy. Greenville was +an old athletic enemy of the Lakerim Club, and Tug looked forward to +meeting it with particular delight, especially as the championship of +the League football series lay between Greenville and Kingston. I have +only time and room enough to tell you that when the final contest +came, Tug sent his men round the ends so scientifically, and led them +into the scrimmages so furiously, that they won a glorious victory of +18 to 6. + +But this is getting a long way into the future, and away from Tug on +his walk to his room that beautiful evening, when all these triumphs +were still in the clouds, and he had only one victory to look back +upon. + +Tug's responsibility had been great that afternoon, and the strain of +coaxing and commanding his scrub players to assault and defeat the +heavier eleven opposed to them had worn hard on his muscles and +nerves. When he got to his room he was too tired to remember that he +had forgotten to take the usual precautions of locking his door and +windows, or even of drawing the curtains. He did not stop to think +that hazing had been flourishing about the Academy grounds for some +time, and that threats had been made against any of the Lakerim Dozen +if they were ever caught alone. He could just keep awake long enough +to light his student lamp; then he dropped on his divan, and buried +his head in a red-white-and-blue cushion his best Lakerim girl had +embroidered for him in a fearful and wonderful manner, and was soon +dozing away into a dreamland where the whole world was one great +football, and he was kicking it along the Milky Way, scoring a +touch-down every fifty years. + +A little later History poked his head in at the door. He also had left +the crowd seated on the fence, and had started for his room to study. +He saw Tug fast asleep, and let him lie undisturbed, though he was +tempted to wake him up and say that Tug reminded him of the Sleeping +Beauty before taking the magic kiss; but he thought it might not be +safe, and went on up to his room whistling, very much off the key. + +Tug slept on as soundly as the mummy of Rameses. But suddenly he +woke with a start. He had a confused idea that he had heard some one +fumbling at his window. His sleepy eyes seemed to make out a face just +disappearing from sight outside. He dismissed his suspicions as +the manufactures of sleep, and was about to fall back again on the +comfortable divan when he heard footsteps outside, and the creak of +his door-knob. He rose quickly to his feet. + +A masked face was thrust in at the door, and the lips smiled +maliciously under the black mask, and a pair of blacker eyes gleamed +through it. + +Tug made a leap for the door to shut the intruder out, realizing in a +flash that the hazers had truly caught him napping. + +But he was too late. The masked face was followed swiftly into the +room by the body that belonged to it, and by other faces and other +bodies--all the faces masked, and all the bodies hidden in long black +robes. + +Tug fell back a step, and said, with all the calmness he could muster: + +"I guess you fellows are in the wrong room." + +"Nope; we've come for you," was the answer of the first masker, who +spoke in a disguised voice. + +Tug looked as resolutely as he could into the eyes behind the mask, +and asked rather nervously a question whose answer he could have as +easily given himself: + +"Well, now that you're here, what do you want?" + +Again the disguised voice came deeply from the somber-robed leader: + +"Oh, we just want to have a little fun with you." + +"Well, I don't want to have any fun with you," parleyed Tug, trying to +gain time. + +"Oh, it doesn't make any difference whether you want to come or not; +this isn't your picnic--it's ours," was the cheery response of the +first ghost; and the other black Crows fairly cawed with delight. + +Still Tug argued: "What right have you men got to come into my room +without being invited?" + +"It's just a little surprise-party we've planned." + +"Well, I'm not feeling like entertaining any surprise-party to-night." + +"Oh, that doesn't make any difference to us." Again the black flock +flapped its wings and cawed. + +And now Tug, as usual, lost his temper when he saw they were making a +guy of him, and he blurted fiercely: + +"Get out of here, all of you!" + +Then the crowd laughed uproariously at him. + +And this made him still more furious, and though they were ten to one, +Tug flung himself at them without fear or hesitation. When five of +them fell on him at once, he dragged them round the room as if they +were football-players trying to down him; but the odds were too great, +and before long they overpowered him and tied his wrists behind him; +not without difficulty, for Tug had the slipperiness of an eel, along +with the strength of a young shark. When they had him well bound, and +his legs tethered so that he could take only very short steps, they +lifted him to his feet. + +"I think we'd better gag him," said the leader of the Crows; and he, +produced a stout handkerchief. But Tug gave him one contemptuous look, +and remarked: + +"Do you suppose I'm a cry-baby? I'm not going to call for help." + +There was something in his tone that convinced the captain of the +Crows. + + + + +VI + + +A detachment was now sent to scurry through the dormitory and see if +it could find any other Lakerimmers. This squad finally came down the +stairs, the biggest one of the Crows carrying little History under +his arm. History was waving his arms and legs about as if he were a +tarantula, but the big black Crow held him tight and kept one hand +over the boy's mouth so that he could not scream. + +Then Tug began to struggle furiously again, and to resist their +efforts to drag him out of the room. He could easily have raised a cry +that would have brought a professor to his rescue and scattered his +persecutors like sparrows; but his boyish idea of honor put that +rescue out of his reach, and he fought like a dumb man, with only such +occasional grunts as his struggle tore from him. + +He might have been fighting them yet, for all I know, had not History +twisted his mouth from under the hand of his captor and threatened--he +had not breath enough left to call for help: + +"If--you--don't let me go--I'll--_tell_ on you." + +The very thought of this smallness horrified Tug so much that he +stopped struggling, and turned his head to implore History not to +disgrace Lakerim by being a tattler. The Crows saw their chance, and +while Tug's attention was occupied one of them threw a loosely woven +sack over his head and drew it down about his neck. Then they started +once more on the march, History scratching and kicking in all +directions and doing very little harm, while Tug, with his hands tied +behind him and his head first in a noose, used his only weapons, his +shoulders, with the fury of a Spanish bull. And before they got him +through the door he had nearly disabled three of his assailants, +making one of them bite his tongue in a manner most uncomfortable. And +the room looked as if a young cyclone had been testing its muscles +there! + +The Crows hustled the Lakerimmers out without any unnecessary +tenderness, forgetting to close the door after them. Out of the hall +and across the board walk, on to the soft, frosty grass where the +sound of their scuffling feet would not betray them, they jostled +their way. Tug soon decided that the best thing for him to do was to +reserve his strength; so he ceased to resist, and followed meekly +where they led. They whirled him round on his heel several times to +confuse him as to the direction they took, then they hurried him +through the dark woods of a neglected corner of the campus. History +simply refused to go on his own feet, and they had to carry him most +of the way, and found only partial revenge in pinching his spidery +legs and bumping his head into occasional trees. + +The two boys knew when they left the campus by the fact that they were +bundled and boosted over a stone wall and across a road. + +History, as he stumbled along at. Tug's side, at length came to +himself enough to be reminded of the way the ancient Romans used to +treat such captives as were brought back in triumph by their generals. +But Tug did not care to hear about the troubles of the Gauls--he had +troubles of his own. + +Once they paused and heard a mysterious whispering among the Crows, +who left them standing alone and withdrew a little distance. History +was afraid to move in the dark, for fear that he might step out of the +frying-pan into the fire; but Tug, always ready to take even the most +desperate chance, thought, he would make a bolt for it. He put one +foot forward as a starter, but found no ground in front of him. +He felt about cautiously with his toe, and discovered that he was +standing at the brink of a ledge. How deep the ravine in front of him +was, he could only imagine, and in spite of his courage he shivered +at the thought of what he might have done had he followed his first +impulse and made a dash. There are pleasanter things on a dark night +than standing with eyes blindfolded and hands bound on the edge of an +unknown embankment. As he waited, the weakening effect of the struggle +and the mysterious terrors of the darkness told on his nerves, and he +shivered a bit in spite of his clenched teeth. Then he overheard the +voices of the Crows, and one of them was saying: + +"Aw, go on, shove him over." + +Another protested: "But it might break his neck, and it's sure to +fracture a bone or two." + +"Well, what of it? He nearly broke my jaw." + +Then Tug heard more excited whispering and what sounded like a +struggle, and suddenly he heard some one rushing toward him; he felt a +sharp blow and a shove from behind, and was launched over the brink of +the ledge. I'll not pretend that he wasn't about as badly scared as +time would allow. + +But there was barely space for one lightning stroke of wild regret +that his glad athletic days were over and he was to be at least a +cripple, if he lived at all, when the ground rose up and smote him +much quicker even than he had expected. As he sprawled awkwardly and +realized that he had hardly been even bruised, he felt a sense of rage +at himself for having been taken in by the old hazing joke, and a +greater rage at the men who had brought on him what was to him the +greatest disgrace of all--a feeling of fear. He had just time to +make up his mind to take this joke out of the hides of some of his +tormentors, if it took him all winter, when he heard above him the +sound of a short, sharp scuffle with History, who was pleading for +dear life, and who came flying over the ledge with a shrill scream of +terror, and plumped on the ground half an inch from Tug's head. It +took History only half a second to realize that he was not dead yet, +and he was so glad to be alive again--as he thought of it--that he +began to sniffle from pure joy. + +The Crows were not long in leaping over the ledge and getting Tug and +History to their feet. Then they took up the march again, staggering +under their laughter and howling with barbarous glee. + +After half a mile more of hard travel, the prisoners were brought +through a dense woods into a clearing, where their party was greeted +by the voices of others. The sack over Tug's head was unbound and +snatched away, and he looked about him to see a dozen more black +Crows, with two other hapless prisoners, seated like an Indian +war-council about a blazing lire, and, like an Indian war-council, +pondering tortures for their unlucky captives. + +In the fire were two or three iron pokers glowing red-hot. The sight +of this gave the final blow to any hope that might have remained of +History's conducting himself with dignity. When he and Tug were led +in, there was such an hilarious celebration over the two Lakerim +captives as the Indian powwow indulged in on seeing a scouting party +bring in Daniel Boone a prisoner. + +As Tug was the most important spoil of war, they took counsel, and +decided that he should be given the position of honor--and tortured +last. Then they went, enthusiastically to work making life miserable +for the two captives brought in previously. + +The first was compelled to climb a tree, which he did with some little +difficulty, seeing that, while half of them pretended to boost him, +the other half amused themselves by grabbing his legs and pulling him +back three inches for every one inch he climbed (like the frog and the +well in the mathematical problem). He finally gained a point above +their reach, however, and seated himself in the branches, looking +about as happy as a lone wayfarer treed by a pack of wolves. Then, +they commanded him to bark at the moon, and threatened him with all +sorts of penalties if he disobeyed. So he yelped and gnarled and +bow-wowed till there was nothing left of his voice but a sickly +wheeze. + +Then they told him that the first course was over, and invited him to +return to earth and rest up for the second. So he came sliddering down +the rough bark with the speed of greased lightning. + +The second captive was a great fat boy who had been a promising +candidate for center rush on the football team until Sawed-Off +appeared on the scene. This behemoth was compelled to seat himself +on a small inverted saucer and row for dear life with a pair of +toothpicks. The Crows howled with glee over the ludicrous antics +of the fellow, and set him such a pace that he was soon a perfect +waterfall of perspiration, and was crying for mercy. At length he +caught a crab and went heels over head backward on the ground, and +they left him to recover his breath and his temper. + +History had watched these proceedings with much amusement, but when +he saw the hazers coming for him he lost sight of the fun of the +situation immediately. + +The head Crow now towered over the shivering little History, and said +in his deepest chest-tones: "These Lakerim cattle are too fresh. They +must be branded and salted a little." + +Then he fastened a handkerchief over History's eyes, and growled: "Are +those irons hot yet?" + +"Red-hot, your Majesty," came the answer from one of the other ravens, +and History heard the clanking of the pokers as they were drawn from +the fire. He had seen before that they were red-hot, and now they were +brandished before his very nose, so close that he could see the red +glow through the cloth over his eyes and could feel the heat in the +air close to his cheek. + +"Where shall we brand the wretch, your Honor?" was the next question +History heard. + +The poor pygmy was too much frightened to move, and he almost fainted +when he heard the first Crow answer gruffly: "Thrust the branding-iron +right down the back of his neck, and give him a good long mark that +shall last him the rest of his life." + +Instantly History felt a bitter, stinging pain at the back of his +neck, a pain that ran like fire down along his spine, and he gave a +great shriek of terror and almost swooned away. + +Tug's eyes were not blindfolded, and he had seen that, though the +Crows had waved a red-hot poker before History's nose, they had +quickly substituted a very cold rod to thrust down his back. The +effect on the nerves of the blindfolded boy, however, was the same as +if it had been red-hot, and he had dropped to earth like a flash. + +Tug, though he knew it would heighten his own tortures, could not +avoid expressing his opinion of such treatment of the sensitive +History. He did not know whether he was more disgusted and enraged +at the actual pain the Crows had given their captives or at the +ridiculous plights they had put them in, but he did know that he +regarded the whole proceeding as a terrible outrage, a disgrace to +the Academy; and ever after he used all his influence against the +barbarous idea of hazing. + +But now he commanded as though he were master of the situation: "Throw +some of that water on the boy's face and bring him to," and while they +hastened to follow out his suggestion he poured out the rage in his +soul: + +"Shame on you, you big cowards, for torturing that poor little kid! +You're a nice pack of heroes, you are! Only twenty to one! But I'll +pay you back for this some day, and don't you forget it! And if you'll +untie my hands I'll take you one at a time now. I guess I could just +about do up _two_ of you at a time, you big bullies, you!" + +And now one of the larger Crows rushed up to Tug, and drew off to +strike him in the face. But Tug only stared back into the fellow's +eyes with a fiercer glare in his own, and cried: + +"Hit me! My hands are tied now! It's a good chance for you, and you'll +never get another, for I'll remember the cut of that jaw and the mole +on your cheek in spite of your mask, and you'll wish you had never +been born before I get through with you!" + +Tug's rash bravado infuriated the Crows until they were ready for any +violence, but the head Crow interposed and pushed aside the one who +still threatened Tug. He said laughingly: + +"Let him alone, boys; we want him in prime condition for the grand +final torture ceremonies. Let's finish up the others." + +Then they laughed and went back to the first two wretches, and made +life miserable for them to the end of their short wits. They were +afraid to try any more experiments on History, and left him lying by +the fire, slowly recovering his nerves. + +All the while Tug had remained so very quiet that the Crows detailed +to watch him had slightly relaxed their vigilance. He had been +silently working at the cords with which his hands were tied behind +his back, and by much straining and turning and torment of flesh he +had at length worked his right hand almost out of the rope. + +Soon he saw that the Crows were about to begin on him. He thought the +whole performance an outrage on the dignity of an American citizen, +and he gave the cords one last fierce jerk that wrung his right hand +loose, though it left not a little of the skin on the cords; and the +first Crow to lay a hand on his shoulder thought he must have touched +a live wire, for Tug's hand came flashing from behind his back, and +struck home on the fellow's nose. + +Then Tug warmed up to the scrimmage, and his right and left arms flew +about like Don Quixote's windmill for a few minutes, until two of the +two dozen Crows lighted on his back and pinioned his arms down and +bore him gradually to his knees. + +Just as the rest were closing in to crush Tug,--into mincemeat, +perhaps,--History, who had been lying neglected on the ground near the +fire, rose to the occasion for once. It seemed as if he had, as it +were, sat down suddenly upon the spur of the moment. He rolled over +swiftly, caught up the two pokers which had been restored to the fire +after they had been used to frighten him, and, before he could be +prevented, thrust the handle of one of them into Tug's grasp, and rose +to his feet, brandishing the other like a sword. + +Tug lost no time in adapting himself to the new weapon. He simply +waved it gently about and described a bright circle in the air over +his head. And his enemies fell off his back and scattered like +grasshoppers. + +Tug now got quickly to his feet, and he and History shook hands with +their left hands very majestically. Then they faced about and stood +back to back, asking the Crows why they had lost interest so suddenly, +and cordially inviting them to return and finish the game. + +They stood thus, monarchs of all they surveyed, for a few moments. But +dismay replaced their joy as they heard the words of the first Crow: + +"They can't get back to their rooms before their pokers grow cold, and +it is only a matter of a few minutes until they chill, anyway, so all +that we have to do is to wait here a little while, and then go back +and finish up our work--and perhaps add a little extra on account of +this last piece of rambunctiousness." + +Tug saw that they were prisoners indeed, but intended to hold the fort +until the last possible moment. He told History to put his poker back +in the fire and to heat it up again, while he stood guard with his +own. + +To this stratagem the first Crow responded with another,--he trumped +Tug's ace, as it were,--for though he saw that the fire was going out +and would not heat the pokers much longer, he decided not to wait for +this, but set his men to gathering stones and sticks to pelt the two +luckless Lakerimmers with. + +And now Tug saw that the chances of escape were indeed small. He felt +that he could make a dash for liberty and outrun any one in the crowd, +or outfight any one who might overtake him; but he would sooner have +died than leave History, who could neither run well nor fight well, to +the mercies of the merciless gang that surrounded them. + +"Let's give the Lakerim yell together, History," he said; "perhaps the +fellows have missed us and are out looking for us, and will come to +our rescue." + +So he and History filled their lungs and hurled forth into the air the +old Lakerim yell, or as much of it as two could manage: + + + + {ray! + {ri! + {ro! + "L`¨¡y-krim! L`¨¡y-krim! L`¨¡y-krim! Hoo-{row! + {roo! + {rah!" + +The Crows listened in amazement to the war-whoop of the two +Lakerimmers. Then the first Crow, who had Irish blood in his veins, +smiled and said: + +"Oho! I see what they are up to; they're calling for help. Well, now, +we'll just drown out their yell with a little noise of our own." + +And so, when Tug and History had regained breath enough to begin their +club cry again, the whole two dozen of the Crows broke forth into a +horrible hullabaloo of shrieks and howls that drowned out Tug's and +History's voices completely, but raised far more noise than they could +ever have hoped to make. + +After a few moments of thus caterwauling night hideous, like a pack of +coyotes, the Crows began to close in on the Lakerim stronghold, and +stones and sticks flew around the two in a shower that kept them busy +dodging. + +"We've got to make a break for it, Hist'ry," said Tug, under his +breath. "Now, you hang on to me and I'll hang on to you, and don't +mind how your lungs ache or whether you have any breath or not, but +just leg it for home." + +He had locked his arm through History's, and made a leap toward the +circle of Crows just as a heavy stone lighted on the spot where they +had made their stand so long. + +Before the Crows knew what was up, Tug and History were upon them +and had cut a path through the ring by merely brandishing their +incandescent pokers, and had disappeared into the dark of the woods. + +There was dire confusion among the Crows, and some of them ran every +which way and lost the crowd entirely as History and Tug vanished into +the thick night. + +The glowing pokers, however, that were their only weapons of defense, +were also their chiefest danger, and a pack of about a dozen Crows +soon discovered that they could follow the runaways by the gleam of +the rods. Tug realized this, too, very shortly, and he and History +threw the pokers away. + +Tug and History, however, had come pretty well to the edge of the +wood, and were just rushing down a little glade that would lead them +into the open, when the first Crow yelled for some of his men to take +a short cut and head them off. + +The Lakerimmers, then, their breath all spent and their hearts +burning with the flight, which Tug would not let History give up, saw +themselves headed off and escape no longer possible. Tug knew that +History would be useless in a scrimmage, so, in a low tone, he bade +him drop under a deep bush they were just passing. History was too +exhausted to object even to being left alone, and managed to sink into +the friendly cover of the bush without being observed. And Tug went +right into a mob of them, crying with a fine defiance the old yell of +the Athletic Club: + +"L`¨¡y-krim! L`¨¡y-krim! L`¨¡y-krim! Hoo-ray!" + + + + +VII + + +The nine Lakerimmers who had set forth to the rescue of Tug and +History had no more clue as to the whereabouts of the kidnapped twain +than some broken furniture and an open door; and even one who was so +well versed in detective stories as B.J., had to admit that this was +very little for what he called a "slouch-hound" to begin work on. +There had been no snow, and the frost had hardened the ground, so that +there were no footprints to tell the way the crowd of hazers had gone. + +As Jumbo said: + +"It's like looking for a needle in a haystack after dark; and it +wouldn't do you any good to sit down in this haystack, either." + +The only thing to do, then, was to scour the campus in all its nooks +and crannies, pausing now and then to look and listen hard for any +sign or sound of the captives. But each man heard nothing except the +pounding of his own heart and the wheezing of his own lungs. Then they +must up and away again into the dark. + +They had scurried hither and yon, and yonder and thither, until they +were well-nigh discouraged, when, just as they were crashing through +some thick underbrush, B.J. stopped suddenly short. Sawed-Off bumped +into him, and Jumbo tripped over Sawed-Off; but B.J. commanded them +to be silent so sharply that they paused where they had fallen and +listened violently. + +Then they heard far and faint in the distance to the right of their +course a little murmur of voices just barely audible. + +B.J.'s quick ear made out the difference between this far-off hubbub +and the other quiet sounds of the night. + +That dim little noise his breathless fellows could just hear was the +wild hullabaloo the foolish Crows had set up to drown out the voices +of Tug and History, as they gave the Lakerim yell. + +B.J.'s ear was correct enough not only to understand the noise but to +decide the direction it came from, though to the other Lakerimmers it +came from nowhere in particular and everywhere in general. Before they +had made up their minds just how puzzled they were, B.J. was striking +off in a new direction at the top of his speed, and was well over the +stone wall before they could get up steam to follow him. Across the +road and through the barbed-wire fence he led them pell-mell. There +was a little pause while Jumbo helped the lubberly Sawed-Off through +the strands that had laid hold of his big frame like fish-hooks. +B.J. took this chance to vouchsafe his followers just one bit of +information. + +"They're at Roden's Knoll," he puffed. + +Roden's Knoll was a little clearing in the woods that marked the +highest point of land in the State, though it was approached very +gradually, and nothing but a barometer could have told its elevation. + +It was a long run through the night, over many a treacherous bog +and through many a cluster of bushes, which, as Jumbo said, had +finger-nails; and there was many a stumble and jolt, and many a short +stop at the edge of a sudden embankment. One of these pauses that +brought the whole nine up into a knot was the little step-off where +Tug and History had thought they were being shoved over the precipice +of a Grand Cañon. + +At length Roden's Knoll was reached, but there the weary Lakerimmers +were discouraged to find nothing but a smoldering fire and the signs +of a hard straggle. + +"We're too late; it's all over," sighed Pretty, thinking sadly of the +mud and the rips and tears that disfigured his usually perfect toilet. + +"I move we rest a bit," groaned Sleepy, seconding his own motion by +dropping to the ground. + +"Shh!" commanded B.J.; "d'you hear that?" + +Instantly they were all in motion again, for they heard the noise of +many runners crashing through the thicket. + +Soon they saw a shadowy form ahead of them and overtook it, and +recognized one of the Crows. They gave him a glance, and then shoved +him to one side with little gentleness, and ran on. Two or three of +the Crows they overtook in this manner, but spent little time upon +them. + +They were bent upon a rescue, not upon the taking of prisoners. Then, +just as they were approaching the edge of the woods, they heard a cry +that made their weary blood gallop. It was the "L`¨¡y-krim! L`¨¡y-krim!" +of Tug making his last charge on the flock of Crows. + +In a moment they had reached the mass of humanity that was writhing +over him, and they began to tear them off and fling them back upon the +ground with fierce rudeness. Man after man they peeled off and flung +back till they got down to one fellow with his knee on somebody's +nose. + +That nose was Tug's, and they soon had the boy on his feet, and turned +to continue the argument with the Crows. But there were no Crows to +argue with. The Dozen had made up in impetus and vim what it lacked in +numbers, and the Crows had fled as if from an army. A few black ghosts +flying for their lives were all they could see of the band that had +been so courageous with only History and Tug to take care of. + +So the ten from Lakerim gathered together, and while B.J. beat time +they spent what little breath was left in them on the club yell. It +sounded more like a chorus of bullfrogs than of young men, but it was +gladsome enough to atone for its lack of music, and it was loud enough +to convince History that it was safe to come out, of the bushes where +he had been crouching in ghostly terror. + +The Lakerimmers were inclined to laugh at History for his fears, but +Tug told them that if it had not been for his seizing the red-hot +pokers there would have been a different story to tell; so they hugged +him instead of laughing at him, and Sawed-Off clapped him on the back +such a vigorous thump that History thought the hazers had hold of him +again. + +Now they took up their way back to the Academy, and B.J. began to plot +a dire revenge on the cowardly Crows. But Tug said: + +"I move we let the matter drop. They're the ones to talk now of +getting even, for they have certainly had the worst of it. It'll be +just as well to keep a sharp eye on them, though, and it is very +important for us to stand together." + +When they had reached the dormitory they all joined in straightening +up and rearranging Tug's room before they went to their well-earned +sleep. + + * * * * * + +I am afraid the Lakerim eleven had the bad taste to do a little +gloating over the Crows. Their wit was not always of the finest, but +they enjoyed it themselves, though little the Crows liked it, and it +kept them all unusually happy for many days-- + +All except Reddy. He showed a strange inclination to "mulp"--a +portmanteau word that Jumbo coined out of "mope" and "sulk." + + + + +VIII + + +To see the hilarious Reddy mulping was very odd. About the only +subject in or out of books that seemed to interest him in the +slightest degree was the mention of the name of his twin brother, +Heady; and that, too, in spite of the fact that the two of them had +quarreled and bickered so much that their despairing parents had +finally sent them to different schools. But now Reddy seemed to be +inconsolable, grieving for the other half of his twin heart. + +Finally the boy's blues grew so blue that no one was much surprised +when he announced his desperate determination to journey to the town +where Heady was at school, and visit him. Reddy got permission from +the Principal to leave on Friday night and return on Monday. He had +been saving up his spending-money for many a dismal week, and now he +went about borrowing the spending-money of all his friends. + +One Friday evening, then, after class hours, all the Lakerimmers went +in a body down to the railroad-station to bid Reddy a short good-by. + +Jumbo felt inclined to crack a few jokes upon Reddy's inconsistency in +struggling so hard to get away from his brother, and then struggling +so hard to go back to him, but Tug told Jumbo that the subject was too +tender for any of his flippancy. + +On reaching the depot they found that Reddy's train was half an hour +late, and that a train from the opposite direction would get in first. +So they all stood solemnly around and waited. When this train pulled +into the station you can imagine the feelings of all when the first +one to descend was-- + +Was-- + +Heady! + +The Twins stood and stared at each other like tailors' dummies for a +moment, while the strangers on the platform and on the train wondered +if they were seeing double. + +Then Reddy and Heady dropped each his valise, and made a spring. And +each landed on the other's neck. + +Now Sawed-Off seized Heady's valise, and Jumbo seized Reddy's, and +then they all set off together--the reunited Twins, the completed +Dozen--for the campus. The whole Twelve felt a new delight in the +reunion, and realized for the first time how dear the Dozen was. + +The Twins, of course, were blissfulest of all, and marched at the head +of the column with their arms about each other, exchanging news and +olds, both talking at once, and each understanding perfectly what the +other was trying to say. + +Thus they proceeded, glowing with mutual affection, till they reached +the edge of the campus, when the others saw the Twins suddenly loose +their hold on each other, and fall to, hammer and tongs, over some +quarrel whose beginning the rest had not heard. + +Jumbo grinned and murmured to Sawed-Off: "The Twins are themselves +again." + +But Sawed-Off hastened to separate and pacify them, and they set off +again for Reddy's room, arm in arm. Later Heady arranged with his +parents to let him stay at Kingston for the rest of the school-year. + + * * * * * + +Heady had not been back among his old cronies long before they had him +up in a corner in Reddy's room, and were all trying at the same time +to tell him of the atrocious behavior of the Crows, their harsh +treatment of Tug and History, the magnificent resistance, and the +glorious rescue. + +"It reminds me," said History, "of one of Sir William Scott's novels, +with moats and castles, and swords and shields, and all sorts of +beautiful things." + +But B.J. broke in scornfully: + +"Aw, that old Scott, he's a deader! It reminds me of one of those new +detective stories with clues and hair-breadth escapes. And Tug is like +'Iron-armed Ike,' who took four villyuns, two in each hand, and swung +them around his head till they got so dizzy that they swounded away, +and then he threw one of 'em through a winder, and used the other +three like baseball bats to knock down a gang of desperate ruffians +that was comin' to the rescue. Oh, but I tell you, it was great!" + +"'Strikes me," Bobbles interrupted, "it's more like one of Funnimore +Hooper's Indian stories, with the captives tied to the stake and bein' +tortured and scalluped, and all sorts of horrible things, when along +comes old Leather-boots and picks 'em all off with his trusty rifle." + +Two or three others were evidently reminded of something else they +were anxious to describe; but Heady was growing impatient and very +wrathful, and he broke in: + +"Well, while you fellows are all being reminded of so many things, +I'd like to ask just one thing, and that is, what are you going to do +about it?" + +"Nothing at all," said History. And thinking of his unexpected escape +from his terrible adventure, he added quickly: "I think we did mighty +well to get out of it alive." + +"Pooh!" sniffed Heady, getting madder every moment. + +"Well, Tug says the same thing," drawled Sleepy. "He says that we got +the best of it all around, and that if anybody's after revenge it +ought to be the Crows, because we wiped 'em off the earth." + +"Bah!" snapped Heady. "It isn't enough for the Lakerim Athletic Club +to get out of a thing even, and call quits. Leastways, that wasn't the +pollersy when I used to be with you." + +This spirit of revolt from the calm advice of Tug seemed to be +catching, and the other Lakerimmers were becoming much excited. Tug +made a speech, trying to calm the growing rage, and he was supported +by History, who tried to bring up some historical parallels, but was +ordered off the floor by the others. Tug's plan, which was seconded by +History from motives of timidity, was thirded by Sleepy from motives +of laziness. + +But Heady leaped to his foot and delivered a wild plea for war, such +another harangue as he had delivered during the famous snow-battle at +the Hawk's Nest. He favored a sharp and speedy retaliation. + +"Well, how are you going to retaliate?" said Tug, who saw his +let-her-go policy losing all its force, and who began to grow just a +bit eager himself to give the Crows a good lesson. Still, he repeated, +when Heady only looked puzzled and gave no answer: + +"How are you going to retaliate, I say?" + +"A chance will come," said Heady, solemnly. + +And Reddy, who had been burning up with patriotic zeal for the glory +of Lakerim, was so proud of his brother's success in stirring up a +warlike spirit that he moved over, and sat down beside him on the +window-seat, and put his arms around him, and they never quarreled +again--till after supper. + +But the chance came--sooner than any of them expected. + + + + +IX + + +For Quiz, whose curiosity threatened to be the death of him some day, +and who was always snooping around, learned, not many days later, that +the Crows were planning to give a great banquet in a room over the +only restaurant in the village. This feast had been intended as a +grand finale to the season of hazing, and it was to be paid for by +the poor wretches who had been given the pleasure of being hazed, +and taxed a dollar apiece for the privilege. Strange to say, the two +Lakerim men whom the Crows had tried to haze were neither invited to +pay the tax nor to be present at the banquet. In fact, the unkind +behavior of the Lakerimmers had hurt the feelings of the Crows very +badly, and cast a gloom over the whole idea of the banquet. + +As soon as Quiz learned, in a roundabout way, where and when the feast +was to be held, he came rushing into Tug's room, where the Dozen had +gathered Saturday evening after a long day spent in skating on the +first heavy ice of the winter. + +Quiz crashed through the door, and smashed it shut behind him, and +yelled: "I've got it! I've got it!" with such zeal that Sleepy, who +was taking a little doze in a tilted chair, went over backward into a +corner, and had to be pulled out by the heels. + +History spoke up, as usual, with one of his eternal school-book +memories, and piped out: + +"You remind me, Quiz, of the day when Archimeter jumped out of his +bath-tub and ran around yelling, 'Euraker! Euraker!" + +But Heady shouted: + +"Somebody stuff a sofa-cushion down History's mouth until we learn +what it is that Quiz has got." + +"Or what it is that's got Quiz," added Jumbo. + +When History had been upset, and Sleepy set up, Quiz, who had run +several blocks with his news, found breath to gasp: + +"The Crows are going to have a banquet!" + +Then he flopped over on the couch and proceeded to pant like a +steam-roller. + +The rest of the Dozen stared at Quiz a moment, then passed a look +around as if they thought that either Quiz was out of his head or they +were. Then they all exclaimed in chorus: + +"Well, what of it?" + +And Jumbo added sarcastically: + +"It'll be a nice day to-morrow if it doesn't rain." + +Quiz was a long time getting his breath and opening his eyes; then it +was his turn to look around in amazement and to exclaim: + +"What of it? What of it? Why, you numskulls, don't you see it's just +the chance you wanted for revenge?" + +"What do you mean?" exclaimed the others. "Do you mean that we should +go down and eat the banquet for 'em?" queried Sleepy, whose first +thought was always either for a round sleep or a square meal. + +"I hadn't thought of that," said Quiz. "That would be a good idea, +too. What I had in my mind was doing what they do in the big colleges +sometimes: kidnap the president of the crowd so that he can't go to +the dinner." + +"Great head! Great scheme!" the others exclaimed; and they jumped to +their feet and indulged in a war-dance that shook the whole building. + +When they had done with this jollification, Tug, who objected to doing +things by halves, asked: + +"Why not kidnap the whole kit and boodle of them?" + +Then there was another merry-go-round. But they all stopped suddenly, +and Quiz expressed the sentiment of all of them when he said: + +"But how are we going to do it?" + +Then they all put their heads together for a long and serious debate, +the result of which was a plan that seemed to promise success. + +The banquet was to be held on the next Friday night at night o'clock, +and the Dozen had nearly a week for perfecting their plot. + +Sawed-Off suggested the first plan that looked feasible for taking +care of the whole crowd of the Crows, about two dozen in number. The +chapel, over which Sawed-Off had his room, had a large bell-tower--as +Sawed-Off well knew, since it was one of his duties to ring the bell +on all the many occasions when it was to be rung. In this cupola there +was a loft of good size; it was reached by a heavy ladder, which could +be removed with some difficulty. Under the chapel there was a large +cellar, which seemed never to have been used for any particular +purpose, though it was divided into a number of compartments separated +by the stone walls of the foundation or by heavy boarding. A few +hundred old books from the library were about its only contents. The +only occupant of the chapel, except at morning prayers and on Sundays, +was Sawed-Off. The gymnasium on the ground floor was not lighted up +after dark, and so the building was completely deserted every evening. + +Some unusual scheme must be devised to enable twelve men to take care +of twenty-four. Fortunately it happened that half a dozen of the +twenty-four took the six-o'clock train for their homes in neighboring +towns, where they went to spend Saturday and Sunday with their +parents. This reduced the number to eighteen. Friday evening a number +of the Crows appeared at the "Slaughterhouse," though there was to be +a banquet at eight o'clock. With true boyhood appetite, they felt, +that a bun in the hand is worth two in the future; and besides, what +self-respecting boy would refuse to take care of two meals where he +had been in the habit of only one? It would be flying in the face of +Providence. + +Now, Sawed-Off, who, as you know, was paying his way through the +Academy, earned his board by waiting on the table. He had an excellent +chance, therefore, for tucking under the plates of all the Crows a +note which read: + + The Crows will meet at the Gymnasium after dark and go to + Moore's resteront in a body. + + N.B. Keep this conphedential. + +To half a dozen of the notes these words were added: + + You are wanted at the Gymnasium at a 1/4 to 7 to serve on a cummitty. + Be there sharp. + +The Crows naturally did not know the handwriting of every one of +their number, and did not recognize that the notes were of History's +manufacture. They were a little mystified, but suspected nothing. + +The Dozen gathered in full force at the gymnasium as soon after supper +as they could without attracting attention. Sawed-Off, who had the +keys of the building, then posted a strong guard at the heavy door, +and explained and rehearsed his plan in detail. + +At a quarter of seven the six who had been requested to serve on the +"cummitty" came in a body, and finding the door of the gymnasium +fastened, knocked gently. They heard a low voice from the inside ask: + +"Who's there?" + +And they gave their names. + +"Do you all belong to the Crows?" + +Of course they answered: "Yes." + +They were then admitted in single file into the vestibule, which was +absolutely dark. As each one stepped in, a hand was laid on each arm +and he was requested in a whisper to "Come this way." Between his two +escorts he stumbled along through the dark, until suddenly the door +was heard to close, and the key to snap in the lock; then immediately +his mouth was covered with a boxing-glove (borrowed from the +gymnasium), his feet were kicked out from under him, and before he +knew it his two courteous escorts had their knees in the small of his +back and were tying him hand and foot. + +One or two of the Crows put up a good fight, and managed to squirm +away from the gagging boxing-gloves and let out a yelp; but the heavy +door of the gymnasium kept the secret mum, and there was something so +surprising about the ambuscade in the dark that the Dozen soon had the +half-dozen securely gagged and fettered. Then they were toted like +meal-bags up the stairs of the chapel, and on up and up into the loft, +and into the bell-tower. There they were laid out on the floor, and +their angry eyes discovered that they were left to the tender mercies +of Reddy and Heady. The only light was a lantern, and Reddy and Heady +each carried an Indian club (also borrowed from the gymnasium), and +with this they promised to tap any of the Crows on the head if he made +the slightest disturbance. + +The ten other Lakerimmers hastened down to the ground floor again just +in time to welcome the earliest of the Crows to arrive. This was a +fellow who had always believed up to this time in being punctual; but +he was very much discouraged in this excellent habit by the reception +he got at the gymnasium. For, on saying, in answer to the voice behind +the door, that he had the honor of being a Crow, he was ushered in and +treated to the same knock-down hospitality that had been meted out to +the Committee of Six. + +The wisdom of using the words "after dark" on the forged invitation +was soon made evident, because the Crows did not come all at once, +but gradually, by ones and twos, every few minutes between seven and +half-past. In this way eleven more of the Crows were taken in. These +were bundled down into the dark cellar, and stowed away in groups of +three or four in three of the compartments of the cellar, each with a +guard armed with a lantern and an Indian club. + +By a quarter to eight the Lakerimmers believed that they had accounted +for all of the twenty-four Crows except the president, MacManus. Six +had left town, six were stowed aloft in the cupola, and eleven were, +as B.J., the sailor, expressed it, "below hatches." Five of the Dozen +were posted as guards, and that left seven to go out upon the war-path +and bring in the chief of the Ravens. + +He had felt his dignity too great to permit him to take two meals in +one evening; besides, he was very solemnly engaged in preparing a +speech to deliver at the banquet; and his task was very difficult, +since he had to make a great splurge about the glories of the +campaign, without reminding every one of the inglorious result of the +attempt to haze the Dozen. + +No note had been sent to him, and it seemed necessary to concoct some +scheme to decoy him from his room, because any attempt to drag him out +would probably bring one of the professors down upon the scene. + +Tug had an idea; and leaving three of the seven to guard the door, +he took the other three and hurried to the dormitory where MacManus +roomed, and threw pebbles against his window. The chief Crow soon +stuck his head out and peered down into the dark, asking what was the +matter. A voice that he did not recognize--or suspect--came out of the +blackness to inform him that some of the Crows were in trouble at the +gymnasium, and he must come at once. + +After waiting a moment they saw his light go out and heard his feet +upon the stairs, for he had lost no time in stuffing into his pocket +the notes for his address at the banquet, and flying to the rescue of +the captive banqueters. As soon as he stepped out of the door of the +dormitory, History's knit muffler was wrapped around his mouth, and he +was seized and hustled along toward the gymnasium. + +Tug felt a strong desire to inflict punishment then and there upon +the man who had tortured him when he was helpless, but that was not +according to the Lakerim code. Another idea, however, which was quite +as cruel, but had the saving grace of fun, suggested itself to him, +and he said to the others, when they had reached the gymnasium: + +"I'll tell you what, fellows--" + +"What?" said the reunited seven, in one breath. + +"Instead of putting MacManus with the rest of 'em, let's take him +along and make him look on while we eat the Crows' banquet." + +"Make him 'eat crow' himself, you mean," suggested Jumbo. + +The idea appealed strongly to the Lakerimmers, who, after all, were +human, and couldn't help, now and then, enjoying the misery of those +who had made them miserable. While MacManus was securely held by two +of the Dozen, Sawed-Off and Tug went to the cupola to summon the +Twins. The knots with which the "cummitty" were tied were carefully +looked to and strengthened, and then the Lakerimmers withdrew from the +cupola, taking the lantern with them, dragging a heavy trap-door over +their heads as they descended the ladder, and then taking the ladder +away and laying it on the floor. They hurried down the stairs then, +and went to the cellar, looking alive again to the fetters of the +Crows, and closing and barring the heavy wooden doors between the +compartments as securely as they could. + +They came up the stairs, and put down and bolted the cellar door, and +moved upon it with great difficulty the parallel bars with their iron +supports, from the gymnasium, and several 25-pound dumb-bells, as well +as the heavy vaulting-horse. Reddy and Heady were in favor also of +blocking up the narrow little windows set high in the walls of the +cellar, well over the head of the tallest of the Crows; but Tug said +that these windows were necessary for ventilation, and History was +reminded of the Black Hole of Calcutta, so it was decided to leave the +windows open for the sake of the air, even if it did give the Crows a +loophole of possible escape. + +"There's no fun in an affair of this kind if the other side hasn't +even a chance," said Tug; and this appealed to the Lakerim theory of +sport. + + + + +X + + +So they all left the gymnasium with its prisoners, and Sawed-Off +locked the door firmly behind him. Then they went at a double-quick +for Moore's restaurant and the waiting banquet, which, they suspected, +was by this time growing cold. + +When MacManus left his room he had thrown on a long ulster overcoat +with a very high collar. When this was turned up about his ears it +completely hid the gag around his mouth, and Tug and Sawed-Off locked +arms with him and hurried him along the poorly lighted streets of +Kingston without fear of detection from any passer-by. MacManus +dragged his feet and refused to go for a time, till Tug and Sawed-Off +hauled him over such rough spots that he preferred to walk. Then, +without warning, when they were crossing a slippery place he pushed +his feet in opposite directions and knocked Sawed-Off's and Tug's feet +out from under them. But inasmuch as all three of them fell in a heap, +with him at the bottom, he decided that this was a poor policy. + +The Dozen were soon at Moore's restaurant; and there, at the door, +they found waiting one of the Crows whom they had forgotten to take +into account. He was the fat boy whom Tug and History had seen hazed +just before their turn came, on the eventful night at Roden's Knoll. + +Having been hazed, and having been taxed, this boy who was known as +"Fatty" Warner, was entitled to banquet with the Crows; but he +had been invited out to a bigger supper than he could get at the +"Slaughter-house," and so he did not receive his note, and escaped the +fate of the Crows who had been put in cold storage in the gymnasium. + +B.J. and Bobbles, however, took him to one side and told him that they +were afraid they would have to tie him up and put him in a corner with +MacManus. But the tears came into his eyes at the thought of sitting +and looking at a feast in which he could not take part, and he +reminded the Lakerimmers that he had had no share in the attack on Tug +and History, and had done nothing to interfere with their escape from +Roden's Knoll, and besides, he had been compelled to pay out his +last cent of spending-money to the Crows for this banquet: So the +Lakerimmers decided to invite him to join them in eating the feast of +the enemy. + +Mr. Moore, the proprietor of the village restaurant, had a very bad +memory for faces, and when the Lakerimmers came into the room where +the table was spread, and told him to hurry up with the banquet, it +never occurred to him to ask for a certificate of character from the +guests. He was surprised, however, that there were only twelve men +where he had provided for eighteen or more; but Jumbo said, with a +twinkle in his eye: + +"The rest of them couldn't come; so we'll eat their share." + +The Lakerimmers grinned at this. Mr. Moore suspected that there was +some joke which he could not understand; but the ways of the Academy +boys were always past his comprehension, so he and the waiters came +bustling in with the first course of just such a banquet as would +please a crowd of academicians, and would give an older person a +stomach-ache for six weeks. + +Besides, the wise Mr. Moore knew the little habit students have of +postponing the payment of their bills, and he had insisted upon being +paid in advance. Poor MacManus suddenly remembered how he had doled +out the funds of the Crows for this very spread, and he almost sobbed +as he thought of the hard time he had spent in collecting the money +and preparing the menu--and all for the enjoyment of the hated +Lakerimmers, who had already spoiled the final hazing of the year, and +were now giggling and gobbling the precious banquet provided at such +expense! Mr. Moore wondered at the presence of such a sad-looking +guest at the feast, and wondered why he insisted on abstaining from +the monstrous delicacies that made the tables groan; but he reasoned +that it was none of his affair, and asked no questions. + +Before they had eaten much the Lakerimmers grew as uncomfortable over +the torment they were inflicting on poor MacManus as the poor MacManus +was himself. And Tug explained to him in a low voice that if he would +promise on his solemn honor not to make any disturbance they would be +glad to have him as a guest instead of a prisoner. MacManus objected +bitterly for a long time, but the enticing odor drove him almost +crazy, and the sight of the renegade fat boy, who was fairly making +a cupboard of himself, finally convinced the president that it was +better to take his ill fortune with a good grace. So he nodded assent +to the promises Tug exacted of him, his muffler and overcoat were +removed, and he was invited to make himself at home; and his misery +was promptly forgotten in the rattle of dishes and the clatter of +laughter and song with which the Dozen reveled in the feast of its +ancient enemies. + +The delight of the Lakerimmers in the banquet was no greater than the +misery of the Crows whose wings had been clipped, and who had been +left to flop about in the dark nooks of the chapel. The feast of the +Dozen had just begun when two of the Crows in the cupola and two +others in the cellar bethought themselves to roll close to each other, +back to back, and untie the knots around each other's wrists. They +were soon free, and quickly had their fellows liberated and the gags +all removed. But the liberty of hands and feet and tongues, though it +left them free to express their rage, still left them as far as ever +from the banquet which, as they soon suspected, was disappearing +rapidly under the teeth of the Lakerimmers. They groped around in the +pitch-black darkness, and finally one of the men in the cupola found a +little round window through which he could put his head and yell for +help. His cry was soon answered by another that seemed to come faintly +from the depths of the earth. + + + + +XI + + +The far-off cry which the six Crows in the cupola heard coming from +the depths of the earth was raised by the eleven Crows in the cellar. +By dint of much yelling the two flocks made their misery known to each +other. The trouble with the cellar party was that it could not get up. +The trouble with the cupola crowd was that it could not get down. And +they seemed to be too far apart to be of much help to each other, for +the cupola Crows had lost little time in lifting the trap-door of the +belfry and finding that the ladder was gone, and none of them was +hardy--or foolhardy--enough to risk the drop into the uncertain dark. +So there they waited in mid-air. + +The cellar Crows, when they had released each other's bonds, and +groped around the jagged walls, and stumbled foolishly over each other +and all the other tripping things in their dungeons, had succeeded in +forcing apart the wooden doors between their three cells and joining +forces--or joining weaknesses, rather, because, when they finally +found the cellar stairs, they also found that, for all the strength +they could throw into their backs and shoulders, they could not lift +the door, with all the heavy weights put on it by the Dozen. There +were a few matches in the crowd, and they sufficed to reveal the +little cellar windows. These they reached by forming a human ladder, +as the Gauls scaled the walls of Rome (only to find that a flock +of silly geese had foiled their plans). But there were no geese to +disturb the Crows, and the first of their number managed to worm +through to the outer air and help up his fellows in misery. + +It seemed for a time, though, as if even this escape were to be cut +off; for a very fat Crow got himself stuck in a little window, and the +Crows outside could not pull him through, tug as they would. Then the +Crows inside began to pull at his feet and to hang their whole weight +on his legs. + +But still he stuck. + +Then they all grew excited, and both the outsiders and the insiders +pulled at once, until the luckless fat boy thought they were trying to +make twins of him, and howled for mercy. + +He might have been there to this day had he not managed, by some +mysterious and painful wriggle, to crawl through unaided. + +Before long, then, the whole crowd of cellar Crows was standing out in +the cold air and asking the cupola Crows why they didn't come down. + +One of the Crows (Irish by descent) suddenly started off on the run; +the others called him back and asked what he was going for. + +"For a clothes-line," he said. + +"What are you going to do with it?" they asked. + +And he answered: + +"Going to throw 'em a rope and pull 'em down." + +Then he wondered why they all groaned. + +The word "rope," however, suggested an idea to the cupola prisoners, +and after much groping they found the bell-rope, and one of them cut +off a good length of it. They fastened it securely then, and slid down +to the next floor, whence they made their way without much difficulty +down the stairs to the ground. There they found the outer door firmly +locked. Then they felt sadder than over. + +But by this time the hubbub they had raised had brought on the scene +several of the instructors, one of whom had a duplicate key of the +gymnasium. And they suffered the terrible humiliation of being +released by one of the Faculty! + +On being questioned as to the cause of such a breach of the peace +of the Academy, all the seventeen Crows attempted to explain the +high-handed and inexcusable conduct of the wicked Dozen which had +picked on eighteen defenseless men and made them prisoners. The +instructor had been a boy himself once, and he could not entirely +conceal a little smile at the thought of the cruelty of the Lakerim +Twelve. Just then MacManus came by, and with one accord the Crows +exclaimed: + +"Where did they tie you up?" + +"Down at Moore's restaurant," said MacManus, sheepishly. + +"Well, what has happened to the banquet?" they exclaimed. + +"It's all eaten!" groaned MacManus. + +"Who ate it?" cawed the Crows. + +"The Dozen!" moaned MacManus. + +And that was the last straw that broke the Crows' backs. + +They threatened all sorts of revenge, and some of the smaller-minded +of them went to the Faculty and suggested that the best thing that +could be done was to expel the Lakerim men in a body. But, by a little +questioning, the Faculty learned of the attempted hazing that had been +at the bottom of the whole matter, and decided that the best thing to +do was to reprimand and warn both the Crows and the Dozen, and make +them solemnly promise to bury the hatchet. + +Which they did. + +And thus ended one of the bitterest feuds of modern times. + + + + +XII + + +Now, Heady, who had set the whole kidnapping scheme on foot as soon +as he joined the Dozen at Kingston, had brought to the Academy no +particular love for study; but he had brought a great enthusiasm for +basket-ball. + +And this enthusiasm was catching, and he soon had many of the +Kingstonians working hard in the gymnasium, and organizing scrub teams +to play this most bewilderingly rapid of games. + +Most of the Lakerimmers went in for pure love of excitement; but when +Heady said that it was especially good as an indoor winter exercise to +keep men in trim for football and baseball, Tug and Punk immediately +went at it with great enthusiasm. + +But Tug was so mixed up in the slight differences between this game +and his beloved football, and so insisted upon running (which is +against the rules of basket-ball), and upon tackling (which is against +the rules), and upon kicking (which is against the rules), that +he finally gave up in despair, and said that if he became a good +basket-ball player he would be a poor football-player. And football +was his earlier love. + +Sleepy, however, who was the great baseball sharp, made this +complaint, in his drawling fashion: + +"The rules say you can only hold the ball five seconds, and it takes +me at least ten seconds to decide what to do with it; so I guess the +blamed game isn't for me." + +Out of the many candidates for the team the following regular five +were chosen: For center, Sawed-Off, who was tall enough to do the +"face-off" in excellent style, and who could, by spreading out his +great arms, present in front of an ambitious enemy a surface as big +as a windmill--almost. The right-forward was Heady, and of course the +left-forward had to be his other half, Reddy. Pretty managed by his +skill in lawn-tennis to make the position of right-guard, and the +left-guard was the chief of the Crows, MacManus. The Dozen treated +him, if not as an equal, at least as one who had a right to be alive +and move about upon the same earth with them. + +The Kingston basket-ball team played many games, and grew in speed and +team-play till they were looked upon as a terror by the rest of the +Interscholastic League. + +Finally, indeed, they landed the championship of the various +basket-ball teams of the academies. But just before they played their +last triumphant game in the League, and when they were feeling their +oats and acting as rambunctious and as bumptious as a crowd of almost +undefeated boys sometimes chooses to be, they received a challenge +that caused them to laugh long and loud. At first it looked like a +huge joke for the high-and-mighty Kingston basket-ball team to be +challenged by a team from the Palatine Deaf-and-Dumb Institute; then +it began to look like an insult, and they were angry at such treatment +of such great men as they admitted themselves to be. + +It occurred to Sawed-Off, however, that before they sent back an +indignant refusal to play, they might as well look up the record of +the deaf-and-dumb basket-ball men. After a little investigation, to +their surprise, they found that these men were astoundingly clever +players, and had won game after game from the best teams. So they +accepted the challenge in lordly manner, and in due time the +Palatiners appeared upon the floor of the Kingston gymnasium. A +large audience had gathered and was seated in the gallery where the +running-track ran. + +Among the spectators was that girl to whom both Reddy and Heady were +devoted, the girl who could not decide between them, she liked both +of them so immensely, especially as she herself was the champion +basket-ball player among the girls at her seminary. Each of the Twins +resolved that he would not only outdo all the rest of the players upon +the gymnasium floor, but also his bitter rival, his brother. + +There was something uncanny, at first, in the playing of the +Palatines, all of whom were deaf-mutes, except the captain, who was +neither deaf nor dumb, but understood and talked the sign language. + +The game opened with the usual face-off. The referee called the two +centers to the middle of the floor, and then tossed the ball high +in the air between them. They leaped as far as they could; but +Sawed-Off's enormous height carried him far beyond the other man, and, +giving the ball a smart slap, he sent it directly into the clutch of +Reddy, who had run on and was waiting to receive it half over his +shoulder. Finding himself "covered" by the opposing forward, he passed +the ball quickly under the other man's arm across to Heady, who had +run down the other side of the floor. Heady received the ball without +obstruction, and by a quick overhead fling landed it in the high +basket, and scored the first point, while applause and wonderment were +loud in the gallery. + +The Kingstonians played like one man--if you can imagine one man with +twenty arms and legs. Sawed-Off made such high leaps, and covered so +well, and sent the ball so well through the forwards, and supported +them so well; the twin forwards dodged and ran and passed and +dribbled the ball with such dash; and the guards were so alert in the +protection of their goal and in obstructing the throwing of the other +forwards, that three goals and the score of six were rolled up in an +amazingly short time. + +Sawed-Off was in so many places at once, and kept all four limbs going +so violently, that the spectators began to cheer him on as "Granddaddy +Longlegs." A loud laugh was raised on one occasion, when the Palatine +captain got the ball, and, holding it high in the air to make a +try for goal from the field, found himself covered by the towering +Sawed-Off; he curved the ball downward, where one of the Twins leaped +for it in front; then he wriggled and writhed with it till it was +between his legs. But there the other Twin was, and with a quick, +wringing clutch that nearly tied the opposing captain into a bow-knot, +he had the ball away from him. + +At the end of the three goals the Kingstonians began to whisper to +themselves that they had what they were pleased to call a "cinch"; +they alluded to the Palatines as "easy fruit," and began to make a +number of fresh and grand-stand plays. The inevitable and proper +result of this funny business was that they began to grow careless. +The deaf-mutes, unusually alert in other ways on account of the loss +of hearing and speech, were quick to see the opportunity, and to play +with unexpected carefulness and dash. + +The swelled heads of the Kingstonians were reduced to normal size when +the Palatines quickly scored two goals. It began to look as if they +would add a third score when the desperate Reddy, seeing one of the +Palatine forwards about to make a try for goal, made a leaping tackle +that destroyed the man's aim and almost upset him. + +Reddy was just secretly congratulating himself upon his breach of +etiquette when the shrill whistle of the referee brought dismay to his +heart. His act was declared a foul, and the Palatines were given a +"free throw." Their left-forward was allowed to take his stand fifteen +feet from the basket and have an unobstructed try at it. The throw was +successful, and the score now stood 6 to 5 in favor of Kingston. + +The game went rapidly on, and at one stage the ball was declared +"held" by the referee, and it was faced off well toward the Palatine +goal. Sawed-Off made a particularly high leap in the air and an +unusually fierce whack at the ball. + +To his chagrin, it went up into the gallery and struck the girl to +whom the Twins were so devoted, smack upon her pretty snub nose. +Though the blow was hard enough to bring tears to her bright eyes, she +smiled, and with a laugh and a blush picked up the ball and dropped it +over the rail. + +The Twins both made a dash to receive this gift from her pretty hands, +and in consequence bumped into each other and fell apart. + +The ball which they had robbed each other of fell into the clutch of +Pretty, who made the girl a graceful bow that quite won her heart. +Pretty was, by the way, always cutting the other fellows out. This was +the only grudge they ever had against him. + +The Twins were now more rattled than ever; and Heady determined to +do or die. He saw one of the Palatines running forward and looking +backward to receive the ball on a long pass, and he gave him a vicious +body-check. He knew it was a foul at the time, but he thought the +referee was not looking. His punishment was fittingly double, for not +only did the referee see and declare the foul, but the big Palatine +came with such impetus that he knocked Heady galley-west. Heady went +scraping along a row of single sticks and wooden dumb-bells, making a +noise like the rattle of a board along a picket fence. + +Then he tumbled in a heap, with the Palatine man on top of him. As +the Palatine man got up, he dislodged a number of Indian clubs, which +fairly pelted the prostrate Heady. This foul gave the Palatines +another free throw, and made the score a tie. + + + + +XIII + + +The Twins were now so angry and ashamed of themselves that they played +worse than ever. + +Everything seemed to go wrong with them. Their passes were blocked; +their tries for goal failed; the Palatines would not even help them +out with a foul. In their general disorder of plan, they could do +nothing to prevent the Palatines from making goal after goal till, +when the referee's whistle announced that the first twenty-minute half +was over, the score stood 12 to 6 against Kingston. + +The Twins were feeling sore enough as it was, but when they went to +the dressing-room dripping with sweat and gasping for breath from +their hard exertions, Tug appeared to rub salt into their wounds by a +little lecture upon their shortcomings and fargoings. + +"Heady," he said, "I guess you have been away from us a little too +long. The Lakerim Athletic Club never approved of foul playing on the +part of itself or any one else, and you got just what you deserved for +forgetting your dignity. I suppose Reddy got the disease from you. But +I want to say right here that you have got to play like Lakerim men or +there is going to be trouble." + +The Twins realized the depths of their disgrace before Tug spoke, and +they were too much humiliated in their own hearts to resent his lofty +tone. They determined to wipe the disgrace out in the only way it +could be effaced: by brilliant, clean playing in the second half of +the game. + +When the intermission was over, they went in with such vim that they +broke up all the plans of the Palatines for gaining goal, and put them +to a very fierce defensive game. Heady soon scored a goal by passing +the ball back to Reddy and then running forward well into Palatine +territory, and receiving it on a long pass, and tossing it into the +basket before he could be obstructed. + +But this ray of hope was immediately dimmed by the curious action of +MacManus, who, forgetting that he was not on the football field, and +receiving the ball unexpectedly, made a brilliant run down the field +with it, carrying it firmly against his body. He was brought back with +a hang-dog expression and the realization that he had unconsciously +played foul and given the Palatines another free throw, which made +their score 13 to 8. + +A little later Reddy, finding himself with his back to the Palatine +goal, and all chance of passing the ball to his brother foiled by the +large overshadowing form of the Palatine captain, determined to make a +long shot at luck, and threw the ball backward over his head. + +A loud yell and a burst of applause announced that fortune had favored +him: he had landed the ball exactly in the basket. + +But Heady went him one better, for he made a similarly marvelous goal +with a smaller element of luck. Finding himself in a good position for +a try, he was about to send the ball with the overhead throw that is +usual, when he was confronted by a Palatine guard, who completely +covered all the space in front of the diminutive Heady. Like a flash +Heady dropped to the floor in a frog-like attitude, and gave the ball +a quick upward throw between the man's outspread legs and up into the +basket. + +And now the audience went wild indeed at seeing two such plays as have +been seen only once or twice in the history of the game. + +With the score of 13 to 12 in their favor, the Palatines made a strong +rally, and prevented the Kingstonians from scoring. They were tired, +and evidently thought that their safety lay in sparring for time. And +the referee seemed willing to aid them, for his watch was in his hand, +and the game had only the life of a few seconds to live, when the ball +fell into the hands of Heady. The desperate boy realized that now +he had the final chance to retrieve the day and wrest victory from +defeat. He was far, far from the basket, but he did not dare to risk +the precious moment in dribbling or passing the ball. The only hope +lay in one perfect throw. He held the ball in his hands high over his +head, and bent far back. He straightened himself like a bow when the +arrow of the Indian leaves its side. He gave a spring into the air, +and launched the ball at the little basket. It soared on an arc as +beautiful as a rainbow's. It landed full in the basket. + +But the force of the blow was so great that the ball choggled about +and bounded out upon the rim. There it halted tantalizingly, rolled +around the edge of the basket, trembled as if hesitating whether to +give victory to the Palatines or the Kingstons. + +After what seemed an age of this dallying, it slowly dropped-- + +To the floor. + +A deep, deep sigh came from the lips of all, even the Palatines. And +down into the hearts of the Twins there went a solemn pain. They had +lost the game--that was bad enough; but they knew that they deserved +to lose it, that their own misplays had brought their own punishment. +But they bore their ordeal pluckily, and when, the next week, they met +another team, they played a clean, swift game that won them stainless +laurels. + + + + +XIV + + +Snow-time set Quiz to wondering what he could do to occupy his spare +moments; for the drifts were too deep for him to continue his beloved +pastime of bicycling, and he had to put his wheel out of commission. +So he went nosing about, trying a little of everything, and being +satisfied with nothing. + +The Academy hockey team, of which Jumbo was the leader, was working +out a fine game and making its prowess felt among the rival teams of +the Tri-State Interscholastic League. But hockey did not interest +Quiz; for though he could almost sleep on a bicycle without falling +over, when he put on a pair of skates you might have thought that he +was trying to turn somersaults or describe interrogation-points in the +air. + +It was a little cold for rowing,--though Quiz pulled a very decent +oar,--and the shell would hardly go through the ice at an interesting +speed. Indoor work in the gymnasium was also too slow for Quiz, and he +was asking every one what pastime there was to interest a young man +who required speed in anything that was to hold his attention. + +At length he bethought him of a sport he had seen practised during +a visit he paid once to some relatives in Minnesota, where the many +Norwegian immigrants practised the art of running upon the skies. At +first sight this statement looks as if it might have come out of the +adventures of that trustworthy historian, Baron Münchhäusen. But the +skies you are thinking of are not the skies I mean. + +The Scandinavian skies are not blue, and they are not overhead, but +underfoot. Of course you know all about the Norwegian ski, but perhaps +your younger brother does not, so I will say for his benefit that the +ski is a sort of Norwegian snow-shoe, only it is almost as swift as +the seven-league boots. When you put it on you look as if you had a +toboggan on each foot; for it is a strip of ash half an inch thick, +half a dozen inches wide, and some ten feet long; the front end of it +pointed and turned up like that of a toboggan. + +When you first get the things on, or, rather, get on them, you learn +that, however pleasant they may grow to be as servants, they are +certainly pretty bad masters; and you will find that the groove which +is run in the bottom of the skies to prevent their spreading is of +very little assistance, for they seem to have a will of their own, and +also a bitter grudge against each other: they step on each other one +moment, and make a wild bolt in opposite directions the next, and +behave generally like a pair of unbroken colts. + +Quiz had once learned to walk on snow-shoes. He grew to be quite +an adept, indeed, and could take a two-foot hurdle with little +difficulty. But he soon found that so far from being a help, his +familiarity with the snow-shoe was a great hindrance. + +The mode of walking on a Canadian snow-shoe, which he had learned with +such difficulty, had to be completely unlearned before he could begin +to make progress with the Scandinavian footgear. For in snow-shoe +walking the feet must be lifted straight up and then carried forward +before they are planted, and any attempt to slide them forward makes a +woeful tangle; to try to lift the ski off the ground, however, is to +invite ridiculous distress, and the whole art of scooting on the ski +is in the long, sliding motion. It is a sort of skating on incredibly +long skates that must not be lifted from the snow. + +Quiz had the skies made by a Kingston carpenter; and he was so proud +of them that, when a crowd gathered to see what he was going to do +with the mysterious slats, he proceeded to make his first attempt in +an open space in the Academy campus. He put the skies down on the +snow, slipped his toes into the straps, and, sweeping a proud glance +around among the wondering Kingstonians, dashed forward in his old +snow-shoe fashion. + +It took the Kingstonians some seconds to decide which was Quiz and +which was ski. For the skittish skies skewed and skedaddled and +skulked and skipped and scrubbed and screwed and screamed and scrawled +and scooped and scrabbled and scrambled and scambled and scumbled +and scraped and scrunched and scudded and scuttled and scuffled +and skimped and scattered in such scandalous scampishness that the +scornful scholars scoffed. + +Quiz quit. + +The poor boy was so laughed at for days by the whole Academy that his +spunk was finally aroused. He got out again the skies he had hidden +away in disgust, and practised upon them in the fields, at a distance +from the campus, until he had finally broken the broncos and made a +swift and delightful team of them. He soon grew strong enough to glide +for hours at a high rate of speed without weariness, and the ski +became a serious rival to the bicycle in his affections. + +He learned to shoot the hills at a breathless rate, climbing up +swiftly to the top; then, with feet apart, but even, zipping like an +express-train down the steep incline and far along the level below. + +He even risked his bones by attempting the rash deeds of old +ski-runners. Reaching an embankment, he would retire a little +distance, and then rush forward to the brink and leap over into the +air, lighting on the ground below far out, steadying himself quickly, +and shooting on at terrific pace. + +But this rashness brought its own punishment--as fool-hardiness +usually does. + +[Illustration: "QUIZ LEARNED TO SHOOT THE HILLS AT A BREATHLESS +RATE."] + + + + +XV + +At dinner, one Saturday, Quiz had broken out in exclamations of +delight over his pet skies, and had begun to complain about the time +when spring should drive away the blessed winter. + +"I can't get enough of the snow," he exclaimed. + +"Oh, can't you?" said Jumbo, ominously. + +Quiz could hardly finish his dinner, so impatient was he to be up and +off again, over the hills and far away. When he had gone, Jumbo asked +the other Lakerimmers if they had not noticed how exclusive Quiz was +becoming, and how little they saw of him. He said, also, that he did +not approve of Quiz' rushing all over the country alone and taking +foolish risks for the sake of a little solitary fun. + +The Lakerimmers agreed that something should be done; and Jumbo +reminded them of Quiz' remark that he could not get enough snow, and +suggested a plan that, he thought, might work as a good medicine on +him. + +That afternoon Quiz seemed to have quite lost his head over his +ski-running. He felt that there were signs of a thaw in the air, and +he proposed that this snow should not fade away before he had indulged +in one grand, farewell voyage. He struck off into the country by a +new road, and at such a speed that he was soon among unfamiliar +surroundings. + +As the day began to droop toward twilight he decided that it was high +time to be turning back toward Kingston. He looked about for one last +embankment to shoot before he retraced his course. + +Far in the distance he thought he saw a fine, high bluff, and he +hurried toward it with delicious expectation. When he had reached the +brink he looked down and saw that the bluff ended in a little body of +water hardly big enough to be called a lake. After measuring the drop +with his eye, and deciding that while it was higher than anything he +had ever shot before, it was just risky enough to be exciting, he went +back several steps, came forward with a good impetus, and launched +himself fearlessly into the air like the aëronaughty Darius Green. + +He launched himself fearlessly enough, but he was no sooner in mid-air +than he began to regret his rashness. It was rather late now, though, +to be thinking of that, and he realized that nothing could save him +from having a sudden meeting with the bottom of the hill. + +He lost his nerve in his excitement, and crossed his skies, so that +when he struck, instead of sailing forward like the wind, he stuck and +went headforemost. Fortunately, one of his skies broke--instead of +most of his bones; and a very kind-hearted snow-bank appeared like a +feather-bed, and somewhat checked the force of his fall. But, for all +that, he was soon rolling over and over down the hill, and he landed +finally on a thin spot in the ice of the lake, and crashed through +into the water up to his waist. + +Now he was so panic-stricken that he scrambled frantically out. He +cast one sorry glance up the hill, and saw there the pieces into which +his ski had cracked, as well as the pathway he himself had cleared in +the snow as he came tumbling down. Then he looked for the other ski, +and realised that it was far away under the ice. + +He was now so cold, that, dripping as he was, he would not have waded +into the lake again to grope around for the other ski if that ski had +been solid gold studded with diamonds. + +Plainly, the only thing to do was to make for home, and that right +quickly, before night came on and he lost his way, and the pneumonia +got him. + +It was a very different story, trudging back through the snow-drifts +in the twilight, from flitting like a butterfly on the ski. He +realized now that his legs were tired from the long run he had enjoyed +so much. He lost his way, too, time and again; and when he came to a +cross-roads and had to guess for himself which path to take, somehow +or other he seemed always to take the wrong one, and to plod along it +until he met some farmer to put him on the right path to Kingston. But +though he met many a farmer, he seemed to find never a wagon going his +way, or even a hospitable-looking farm-house. + +He was still miles away from Kingston when lamp-lighting time came. A +little gleam came cheerfully toward him out of the dark. He hurried +to it, thinking of the fine supper the kind-hearted farmers would +doubtless give him, when, just as he reached the gate of the +door-yard, there was a most blood-curdling uproar, and two or three +furious dogs came bounding shadowily toward him. + +He lost no time in deciding that supper, after all, was a rather +useless invention, and Kingston much preferable. + +Previously to this, Quiz had always understood that the dog was the +most kind-hearted of animals, but it was months after that night +before he could hear the mere name of a canine without shuddering. + +Well, a boy can cover any distance imaginable,--even the path to the +moon,--if he only has the strength and the time. So Quiz finally +reached the outskirts of Kingston. + +His long walk had dried and warmed him somewhat; but he was miserably +tired, and he felt that his stomach was as empty as the Desert of +Sahara. At last, though, he reached the campus, and dragged heavily +along the path to his dormitory. + +He stopped at Tug's to see if Tug had any remains left of the latest +box of good things from home; but no answer came to his knock, and he +went sadly up to the next Lakerim room. But that was empty too, and +all of the others of the Dozen were away. + +For they had become alarmed at Quiz' absence, and started out in +search of him, as they had once before set forth on the trail of Tug +and History. + +[Illustration: "Jumbo saw a pair of flashing eyes glaring at him over +the coverlet."] + +By the time Quiz reached his room he was too tired to be very hungry, +and he decided that his bed would be Paradise enough. So, all cold and +weary as he was, he hastily peeled off his clothes, and blew out the +light. He shivered at the very thought of the coldness of the sheets, +but he fairly flung himself between them. + +Just one-tenth of a second he spent in his downy couch, and then +leaped out on the floor with a howl. He remembered suddenly the look +Jumbo had given him at dinner when he had said he could not get snow +enough. + +Jumbo and the other fiends from Lakerim had filled the lower half of +his bed with it! + + * * * * * + +Late that night, when the eleven Lakerimmers came back, weary from +their long search, and frightened at not finding Quiz, Jumbo went +to his room with a sad heart. When he lighted his lamp and looked +longingly toward his downy bed, he saw a pair of flashing eyes glaring +at him over the coverlet. They were the eyes of Quiz; and within easy +reach lay a baseball bat and several large lumps of coal. But all Quiz +said was: + +"Excuse me for getting into your bed, Jumbo. You are perfectly welcome +to mine." + + + + +XVI + + +But, speaking of cold, you ought to hear about the great fire company +that was organized at the Academy. + +The town of Kingston was not large enough or rich enough to support a +full-fledged fire department with paid firemen and trained horses. +It had nothing but an old-fashioned engine, a hose-cart, and a +ladder-truck, all of which had to be drawn by two-footed steeds, the +volunteer firemen of the village. + +The Lakerimmers had not been in Kingston many weeks before they heard +the fire-bell lift its voice. It was not more than twenty minutes +before the Kingston fire department appeared galloping along the rough +road in front of the campus at a fearsome speed of about six miles an +hour. + +Several of the horses wore long white beards, and others of them were +so fat that they added more weight than power to the team. + +Such of the academicians as had no classes at that hour followed these +champing chargers to the scene of the fire. + +It turned out to be a woodshed, which was as black and useless as a +burnt biscuit by the time the fire department arrived. + +But the Volunteers had the pleasure of dropping a hose down the well +of the owner of the late lamented woodshed, and pumping the well dry. +The Volunteers thus bravely extinguished three fence-posts that had +caught fire from the woodshed, and then turned for home, proud in the +consciousness of duty performed. They felt sure that they had saved +the village from a second Chicago fire. + +Jumbo said that the department ought not to be called the Volunteers, +but the Crawfishes. B.J., who had a scientific turn of mind, said that +he had an idea for a great invention. + +"The world revolves from west to east at the rate of a thousand miles +an hour," he said. + +"I've heard so," broke in Jumbo, "but you can't believe everything you +see in print." + +B.J. brushed him aside, and went on: + +"Now, all you've got to do is to invent a scheme for raising your +fire-engine and your firemen up in the air a few feet, and holding +them still while the earth revolves under them. Then you turn a kind +of a wheel, or something, when the place you want to get to comes +around, and there you are in a jiffy. It would beat the Empire State +Express all hollow. Why, it would be faster even than an ice-boat!" +he exclaimed enthusiastically. "I guess I'll have to get that idea +patented." + +"But say, B.J.," said Bobbles, in a puzzled manner, "suppose your fire +was in the other direction? You'd have to go clear around the world to +get to the place." + +"I didn't think of that," said B.J., dejectedly. + +And thus one of the greatest inventions of the age was left +uninvented. + + * * * * * + +But Tug had also been set to thinking by the snail-like Kingston +firemen. + +"What this place really needs," he said, "is some firemen that can +run. They want more speed and less rheumatism. Now, if we fellows +could only join the department we'd show 'em a few things." + +"Why can't we?" said Punk, always ready to carry out another's +suggestion. + +"George Washington was a volunteer fireman," was History's +ever-present reminder from the books. + +The scheme took like wild-fire with the Dozen, and after a conference +in which the twelve heads got as close together as twenty-four large +feet would permit, it was decided to ask permission of the Academy +Faculty and of the town trustees. + +The Kingston Faculty was of the general opinion that it is +ordinarily--though by no means always--the best plan to allow restless +boys to carry out their own schemes. If the scheme is a bad one they +will be more likely to be convinced of it by putting it into practice +than by being told that it is bad, and forbidden to attempt it. So, +after long deliberation, they consented to permit half a dozen of the +larger Lakerim fellows to join the volunteer department. + +Fires were not frequent, and most of the buildings of the village were +so small that little risk was to be feared. + +The trustees of the village saw little harm in allowing the +academicians to drag their heavy trucks for them, and promised that +they would not permit the boys to rush into any dangerous places. + +In a short while, then, the half-dozen were full-fledged firemen, with +red flannel shirts, rubber boots, and regulation hats. The Lakerimmers +were so proud of their new honor that they wanted to wear their +gorgeous uniforms in the class-rooms. But the heartless Faculty put +its foot down hard on this. + +The very minute the six--Tug, Punk, Sleepy, B.J., and the Twins--were +safely installed as Volunteers, it seemed that the whole town had +suddenly become fire-proof. + +The boys could neither study their lessons nor recite them with more +than half a mind, for they had always one ear raised for the sound of +the delightful fire-bell. They always hoped that when the fire would +come it would be in the midst of a recitation; and Sleepy constantly +failed to prepare himself at all, in the hope that at the critical +moment he would be rescued from flunking by a call to higher +duties. But fate was ironical, and after two or three weeks of this +nerve-wearing existence the Volunteers began to lose hope. + +One Saturday afternoon, when the roads were frozen into ruts as hard +and sharp as iron, and when the Dozen had just started forth to take a +number of pretty girls to see a promising hockey game, the villainous +old fire-bell began to call for help. + +The half-dozen regretted for a moment that they had ever volunteered +to be Volunteers; but they would not shirk their duty, and instantly +dashed toward the shed where the fire department was stored. They +were there long before any of the older Volunteers, and had a long, +impatient wait. Then there were all manner of delays; breakages had to +be repaired and axles greased before a start could be properly made. +But at last they were off, tearing down the rough roads at a speed +that made the older firemen plead for mercy. + +The alarm had come from a man who had been painting a church steeple, +and had seen a cloud of smoke in the direction of the "Mitchell +place," a large farm-house some little distance out of the village +limits. + +There was a fine exhilaration about the run until they reached the +edge of the town, and began to drag the bouncing, jouncing cart over +the miserable country road. Still they tugged on, going slower and +slower, and the older Volunteers letting go of the rope and falling by +the wayside like the wounded at the hill of San Juan. + +Finally even the half-dozen had to slacken speed, too, and walk, for +fear of losing the whole fire department--the chief had already given +out in exhaustion, and insisted upon climbing on one of the trucks +and riding the rest of the way. But at length, somehow or other, the +Kingston Volunteers reached the farm-house at a slow walk, their +tongues almost hanging out of their mouths, and their breath coming in +gasps. + +Strange to say, there were no signs of excitement at the Mitchell +place, though a great cloud of black smoke poured from a huge hollow +sycamore-tree that had been cut off about ten feet from the ground, +and was used as a primitive smoke-house. + +The Volunteers looked at this tree, and then at one another, without a +word. Then Mr. Mitchell came slowly toward his gate, and asked why he +had been honored with such a visit. + +The only one that had breath enough to say a word was the fire chief, +who had ridden the latter part of the way. He explained the alarm, and +asked the cause of the smoke. + +Mr. Mitchell drawled: "Wawl, I'm jest a-curin' some hams." + +As they all pegged dismally homeward, the half-dozen thought that +Mr. Mitchell had also just about cured six Volunteers. And when the +half-dozen took off their red flannel shirts that day, they no longer +looked upon them as red badges of courage, but rather as a sort of +penitentiary uniform. + +The fire department of Kingston had such another long snooze that the +half-dozen began now to rejoice in the hope that there would not be +another fire before vacation-time. They had almost forgotten that they +were Volunteers, and went about their studies and pastimes with the +fine care-freedom of glorious boyhood. + + * * * * * + +Then came a cold wave suddenly out of the West--a tidal wave of bitter +winds and blizzardy snow-storms, that sent the mercury down into the +shoes of the thermometer. + +Things froze up with a snap that you could almost hear. + +It seemed that it would be impossible even to put a nose out of the +warm rooms without hearing a sudden crackle, and seeing it drop to the +ground, and the ears after it. The very stoves had to be coaxed and +coddled to keep warm. + +Jumbo said: "Why, I have to button my overcoat around my stove, and +feed it with coal in a teaspoon, to keep it from freezing to death!" + +The academicians went to and from their classes on the dead run, and +even the staid professors scampered along the slippery paths with more +thought of speed than of dignity. + +That night was the coldest that the oldest inhabitant of Kingston +could remember. The very winds seemed to be tearing madly about, +trying to keep warm, and screaming with pain, they were so cold! Ugh! +my ears tingle to think of it. The Lakerimmers piled the coal high in +their stoves, and piled their overcoats, and even the rugs from the +floor, over their beds. + +Sleepy, whose blood was so slow that he was never warm enough in +winter and never very warm in summer, even spread all the newspapers +he could find inside his bed, and crawled in between them, having +heard that paper is one of the warmest of coverings. The journals +crackled like, popcorn every time he moved; but he moved very little +and it would have been a loud noise indeed that could have kept him +awake. + +At a very early hour, then, the Volunteers and the rest of the Dozen +were as snug as bugs in rugs. + +And then,--oh, merciless fate!--at the coldest and dismalest hour of +the whole twenty-four, when the night is about over and the day is not +begun, at about 3 A.M., what, oh, what! should sound, even above the +howls of the wind and the rattlings of the windows and doors, but that +fiend of a fire-bell! + +It clanged and banged and clamored and boomed and pounded its way even +through the harveyized armor-plate of the Lakerim ship of sleep. + +Tug was the first to wake, and his heart almost stopped with horror of +the time the old bell had chosen for making itself heard. Tug was a +brave boy, and he had a high sense of responsibility; but he had also +a high sense of the comfort of a good warm bed on a bitter cold night, +and he lay there, his heart torn up like a battle-field, where the two +angels of duty and evil fought bitterly. And he was perfectly willing +to give them plenty of time to fight it out to a finish. + + * * * * * + +In another room of the dormitory there was another struggle going on, +though it would be rather flattering to say that they were angels who +were struggling. The Twins had wakened at the same moment, and each +had pretended to be asleep at first. Then each had remembered that +misery loves company, and each had jabbed the other in the ribs, at +the same time. + +"What bell is that?" Reddy had asked Heady, and Heady had asked Reddy, +at the same instant. + +"It's that all-fired fire-bell!" both exclaimed, each answering the +other's question and his own. + +"Jee-minetly! but this is a pretty time for that old thing to break +out!" wailed Reddy. + +"It ought to be ashamed of itself," moaned Heady. + +"It's too bad," said Reddy; "but a fireman mustn't mind the wind or +the weather." + +"That's so," sighed Heady, "but I'm sorry for you." + +"What!" cried Reddy, "you're sorry for _me_! What's the matter with +yourself?" + +"Why, I couldn't possibly think of going out such a night as this," +explained Heady; "you know I haven't been at all well for the last few +days." + +"Oh, haven't you!" complained Reddy. "Well, you're twice as well as I +am, and you ought to be ashamed of yourself to shirk your duty this +way." + +"Duty! Humph! There's nothing the matter with you! It would be +criminal for me, though, to go out a night like this, feeling as I do. +Mother would never forgive me. But you had better hurry, or you'll be +late," urged Heady. + +"Hurry nothing!" said Reddy. "I'm surprised, though, to see you trying +to pretend that you're sick, and trying to send me out on a terrible +night like this when you _know_ I'm really sick." + +Then the quarrel waxed fiercer and fiercer, until they quit using +words and began to apply hands and feet. It was not many minutes +before each had kicked the other out of bed, and each had carried half +of the bedclothing with him. + +Neither of them remained any longer than was necessary on the cold +floor, but each grabbed up his half of the bedding, and rolled himself +up in it, and lay down with great dignity as far away from the other +as he could get, even though he hung far over the edge. + +But the covers had been none too warm all together, and now, divided +into half, the Twins were soon shivering in misery. They stood it +as long as they could, and then, as if by a silent agreement, they +decided to declare a peace, and each remarked: + +"I guess we're both too sick to go out such a night as this." And they +were soon asleep again. + +* * * * * + +When Punk heard the fire-bell, his heart grew bitter at the thought of +the still bitterer night. He did not think it proper for one of +his conservative nature to violate all the rules of health and +self-respect by going out in such rowdy weather. + +He peeked over the edge of his coverlet, and saw that his stove was +still glowing, and that his own room was not on fire. + +Then he reached out one quick arm and pulled his slippers into bed +with him, and when they were warm enough put them on his feet, wrapped +himself up well, and, running to the window, raised it quickly, thrust +his head out, and looked up and down the campus. This quick glance +satisfied him of two things: first, that none of the beloved Academy +buildings were on fire; and second, that he was never much interested +in the old village, anyway. + +So he toddled back to his cozy bed. + +B.J. was sleeping so soundly that the fire-bell could not wake him; it +simply rang in his ears and mingled with his dreams. In the land of +dreams he went to all sorts of fires, and saved thirty or forty lives, +mainly of beautiful maidens in top stories of blazing palaces. His +dreamland rescues were as heroic as any one could desire, but that was +as near as he came to answering the call of the Kingston alarm. + + * * * * * + +As for Sleepy, it is doubtful if the bell would have awakened him if +it had been suspended from his bed-post; but from where it was it +never reached even to his dreams, if, indeed, even dreams could have +wormed their way into his solid slumbers. + + * * * * * + +Tug's conscience, however, was giving him a sharper pain than he +suffered at the thought of the night outside. At length he could stand +the thought of being found wanting in his duty, no longer. + +He flung himself out of bed and into his clothes, his teeth beating a +tattoo, his knees fighting a boxing-match, and his hands all thumbs +with the cold. Then he put on two pairs of trousers, three coats, and +an overcoat, two caps, several mufflers, and a pair of heavy mittens +over a pair of gloves, and flew down the stairs and dived out into the +storm like a Russian taking a plunge-bath in an icy stream. Fairly +plowing through the freezing winds, along the cinder paths he hurried, +and down the clattering board walks of the village to the building of +the fire department. + +He met never a soul upon the arctic streets, and he found never a soul +at the meeting-place of the all-faithful Volunteers. What amazed him +most was that he found not even a man there to ring the bell. The +rope, however, was flouncing about in the wind, and the bell itself +was still thundering alarums over the town. + +Tug's first thought at this discovery was--spooks! As is usual with +people who do not believe in ghosts, they were the first things he +thought of as an explanation of a mysterious performance. + +His second thought was the right one. The hurricane had ripped off the +boarding about the bell, and the wind itself was the bell-ringer. + +With a sigh of the utmost tragedy, Tug turned back toward his room. He +was colder now than ever, and by the time he reached the dormitory he +was too nearly frozen to stop and upbraid Punk and the other derelicts +who had proved false at a crisis that also proved false. + +The next morning, however, he gathered them all in his room and read +them a severe lecture. They had been a disgrace to the Lakerim ideal, +he insisted, and they had only luck, and not themselves, to credit for +the fact that they were not made the laughing-stock of the town and +the Academy. + +And that day the half-dozen sent in its resignation from the volunteer +fire department of the village of Kingston. + + + + +XVII + + +It was not long after this that the Christmas vacation hove in sight, +and the Dozen forgot the blot upon its escutcheon in the thought of +the delight that awaited it in renewing acquaintance with its mothers +and other best girls at Lakerim, not to mention the cronies in the +club-house. Each had his plans for making fourteen red-letter days out +of the two weeks they were to spend at home. Peaceful thoughts filled +the hearts of most of them, but B.J. dreamed chiefly of the furious +conflicts that awaited him on the lake, which had been the scene of +many an adventure in his mettlesome ice-boat. + +The last days crawled painfully by for all of them, and the Dozen grew +more and more meek as they became more and more homesick for their +mothers. They were boys indeed now, and until they reached the old +town; but there there was such a cordial reception for them from +the whole village--fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, best girls, +cronies, and even dogs--that by the time they had reached the +club-house which had been built by their own efforts, and in which +they were recorded on a beautiful panel as the charter members, they +felt that they were aged, white-haired veterans returning to some +battle-field where they were indeed famous. + +A reception was given in their honor at the club-house, and Tug made +a speech, and the others gave various more or less ridiculous and +impressive exhibitions of their grandeur. + +After a day or two of this glory, however, they became fellow-citizens +with the rest of the villagers, and were content to sit around the +club-room and tell stories of the grand old days when the Lakerim +Athletic Club had no club-house to cover its head--the days when they +fought so hard for admission to the Tri-State Interscholastic League +of Academies. They were, to tell the truth, though, just a little +disappointed, in the inside of their hearts, that the successors left +behind to carry on the club were doing prosperously, winning athletic +victories, and paying off the debt in fine style--quite as well as if +they themselves had been there. + +The most popular of the story-tellers was B.J., whose favorite and +most successful yarn was the account of the great ice-boat adventure, +when the hockey team was wrecked upon Buzzard's Rock, and spent the +night in the snow-drifts, with the blizzard howling outside. The +memory of that terrible escape made the blood run cold in the veins of +the other members of the club; but it aroused in B.J. only a new and +irresistible desire to be off again upon the same adventure-hunt. + +Now, B.J.'s father was an enthusiastic sailor--fortunately, not so +rash a sailor as his son, but quite as great a lover of a "flowing +sail." Wind-lover as he was, he could not spend a winter idly, and +turned his attention to ice-boating. + +He owned a beautiful modern vessel made of basswood, butternut, and +pine, with rigging all of steel, and a runner-plank as springy as an +umbrella frame. She carried no more than four hundred square feet of +sail; but when he gave her the whip, and let her take to her heels, +she outran the fleetest wind that ever swept the lake. + +And she skipped and sported along near the railroad track, where the +express-train raced in vain with her; for she could make her sixty +miles an hour or more without gasping for breath. + +She was named _Greased Lightning_. + +Now, B.J.'s father had ample cause to be suspicious of that young +man's discretion, and he never permitted him to take the boat out +alone, good sailor as he knew his son to be; so B.J. had to content +himself with parties of boys and girls hilarious with the cold and +speed, and wrapped up tamely in great blankets, under the charge of +his father, who was a more than cautious sailor, being as wise as he +was old, and seeing the foolishness of those pleasures which depend +only on risking bone and body. + +But B.J. was wretched, and chafed under the restraint of such +respectable amusement--with girls, too! + +And when, in the midst of the holidays, his father was called out +of town, B.J. went to bed, and could hardly fall asleep under the +conspiracies he began to form for eloping on one last escapade with +the ice-boat. + +He woke soon after daybreak, the next morning, and hurried to his +window. There he found a gale of wind blowing and lashing the earth +with a furious rain. The wind he received with welcoming heart, but +the rain sent terror there; for it told him that the ice would soon +disappear, and he would be sent back to Kingston Academy, with never a +chance to let loose the _Greased Lightning_. + +"It is now or never!" mumbled B.J., clenching his teeth after the +manner of all well-regulated desperados. + + + + +XVIII + + +He sneaked into his clothes, and descended the cold, creaking +staircase in his stocking-feet. Then he put on his rubber boots, and +stole out of the house like a burglar. + +The wind would have wrecked any umbrella alive; but he cared naught +for the rain, and hurried down the street where the Twins were +sleeping the sleep of the righteous. He threw pebbles at their windows +till they were awakened; and after a proper amount of deliberation in +which each requested the other to go to the window, both went hand in +hand on their shivering toes. + +When they had leaned out and learned what B.J. invited them to, they +reminded him that he was either crazy or walking in his sleep. + +But B.J. answered back that they were either talking in their sleep or +were "cowardy calves." + +The worst of all fools is the one that is afraid to take a dare; and +the Twins were--well, let us say they were not yet wide enough awake +to know what they were doing. At any rate, they could not stand the +banter of B.J., and had soon joined him in the soaking storm outside. + +When the lake was reached the Twins were more than ever convinced that +B.J. was more than ever out of his head; for, instead of the smooth +mirror they had been accustomed to gliding over in the boat, they +found that the ice was covered with an inch of slush and water. + +The sky above was not promising and blue, nor did the wind have a +merry whizz; but it laughed like a maniac, and shrieked and threatened +them, warning them to go back home or take most dreadful consequences. + +B.J., however, would not listen to the advice they tendered him, but +went busily about getting the sails up and preparing the boat for the +voyage. + +The Twins were still pleading with B.J. to have some regard for the +dictates of common sense, when he began to haul in the sheet-rope and +put the helm down; and they had barely time to leap aboard before the +boat was away. + +They felt, indeed, that they were sailing in a regular sloop, and +that, too, going "with lee rail awash"; for instead of the soft +crooning sound the runners made usually, there was a slash and a +swish of ripples cloven apart; and instead of the little fountains of +ice-dust which rise from the heels of the sharp shoes when the boat is +skimming the frozen surface, there rose long spurting sprays of water. + +The Twins reproached each other bitterly for coming on such a wild +venture. But they did not know how really sorry they were till they +got well out on the lake, where the wind caught them with full force +and proved to be a very gale of fury. The mast writhed and squealed, +and the sails groaned and wrenched, as if they would fairly rip the +boat apart. + +The world seemed one vast vortex of hurricane; and yet, for all the +wind that was frightening them to death, the Twins seemed to find it +impossible to get enough to breathe. It was bitter, bitter cold, too, +and Reddy's hands and feet reminded him only of the bags of cracked +ice they put on his forehead once when he had a severe fever. + +B.J., however, was as happy as the Twins were miserable, and he yelled +and shouted in ecstatic glee. Now he was a gang of cow-boys at a +round-up; now he was a band of Apache Indians circling fiendishly +around a crew of those inland sailors who used to steer their +prairie-schooners across the West. + +Before the Twins could imagine it, the boat had reached the opposite +side of the lake, and it was necessary to come about. Suddenly the +skipper had thrown her head into, the wind, the jib and mainsail were +clattering thunderously, and the boom went slashing over like a club +in the hands of a giant. Before the Twins had dared to lift their +heads again, there was a silence, and the sails began to fill and the +boat to resume her speed quickly in a new direction. In a moment the +_Greased Lightning_ was well under way along a new leg, and sailing as +close as B.J. could hold her. + +And now, as the Twins glared with icy eyeballs into the mist ahead, +suddenly they both made out a thin black line drawn as if by a great +pencil across the lake in front of them. + +"Watch out, B.J.," they cried; "we are coming to an enormous crack." + +"Hooray for the crack!" was all the answer they got from the intrepid +B.J. + +And now, instead of their rushing toward the crack, it seemed to be +flying at them, widening like the jaws of a terrible dragon. But the +ice-boat was as fearless and as gaily jaunty as Siegfried. Straight at +the black maw with bits of floating ice like the crunching white teeth +of a monster, the boat held its way. + +Neatly as the boy Pretty ever skimmed a hurdle in a hurdle-race, +the boat skimmed the gulf of water. The ice bent and cracked +treacherously, and the water flew up in little jets where it broke; +but _Greased Lightning_ was off and away before there was ever a +chance to engulf her. And then the heart of the Twins could beat +again. + +The boat was just well over the crack when she struck a patch of rough +ice and yawed suddenly. There was a severe wrench. B.J. and Reddy were +prepared for it; but Heady, before he knew what was the matter, had +slid off the boat on to the ice and on a long tangent into the crack +they had just passed. + +He let out a yell, I can tell you, and clung to the edge of the +brittle ice with desperate hands. + +He thought he had been cold before; but as he clung there now in the +bitter water, and watched B.J. trying to bring the obstinate boat +about and come alongside, he thought that the passengers on the +ice-boat were warm as in any Turkish bath. + +After what seemed to him at least a century of foolish zigzagging, +B.J. finally got the boat somewhere near the miserable Heady, brought +the _Greased Lightning_ to a standstill, and threw the dripping Twin +the sheet-rope. Then he hauled him out upon the strong ice. + +B.J. begged Heady to get aboard and resume the journey, or at least +ride back home; but Heady vowed he would never even look at an +ice-boat again, and could not be dissuaded from starting off at a +dog-trot across the lake toward home. + +Reddy wanted to get out and follow him; but B.J. insisted that he +could not sail the boat without some ballast, and before Reddy could +step out upon the ice B.J. had flung the sail into the wind again, and +was off with his kidnapped prisoner. Reddy looked disconsolately after +the wretched Heady plowing through the slush homeward until his twin +brother disappeared in the distance. Then he began to implore B.J. to +put back to Lakerim. + +Finally he began to threaten him with physical force if he did not. + +B.J. fairly giggled at the thought of at last seeing one of those +mutinies he had read so much about. But he contented himself with +having a great deal to say about tacking on this leg and on that, and +about how many points he could sail into the wind, and a lot of other +gibberish that kept Reddy guessing, until the boat had gone far up the +lake. + +At last, to Reddy's infinite delight, B.J. announced that he was going +to turn round and tack home. As they came about they gave the wind +full sweep. The sail filled with a roar, and the boat leaped away like +an athlete at a pistol-shot. + +And now their speed was so bird-like that Reddy would have been +reminded of the boy Ganymede, whom Jupiter's eagle stole and flew off +to heaven with; but he had never heard of that unfortunate youth. He +had the sense of flight plainly enough, though, and it terrified him +beyond all the previous terrors of the morning. + +As I have said before, different persons have their different +specialties in courage, as in everything else; and while Reddy and +Heady were brave as lads could well be in some ways, their courage +lay in other lines than in running dead before the wind in a madcap +ice-boat on uncertain ice. + +The wind had increased, too, since they first started out, and now it +was a young and hilarious gale. It began to wrench the windward runner +clear of the ice and bang it down again with a stomach-turning thud. + +In fact, the wind began to batter the boat about so much that B.J. +decided he must have some weight upon the windward runner, or it would +be unmanageable. He told Reddy that he must make his way out to the +end of the see-saw. + +Reddy gave B.J. one suspicious look, and then yelled at the top of his +voice: + +"No, thank you!" + +The calm and joyful B.J. now proceeded to grow very much excited, +and to insist. He told Reddy that he must go out upon the end of +the runner, or the boat would be wrecked, and both of them possibly +killed. After many blood-curdling warnings of this sort, the disgusted +Reddy set forth upon his most unpleasant voyage. + +He crept tremblingly along the narrow backbone until he reached the +crossing-point of the runner; there he grasped a hand-rope, and made +his way, step by step, along the jouncing plank to the end, where he +wrapped his legs around the wire stay, and held on for dear life. + +Reddy's weight gave the runner steadiness enough to reassure B.J., +though poor Reddy thought it was the most unstable platform he had +stood upon, as it flung and bucked and shook him hither and yon with +a violence that knew no rest or regularity. But, uncomfortable as he +was, and much as he felt like a seasick balloonist, he did not know in +what a lucky position he was, nor how happy he should have been that +it was not even riskier. + +There is some comfort, or there ought to be, in the fact that a +situation is never so bad that it might not be worse. + +B.J. was now so well satisfied with his live ballast that he began +once more to sing and make a mad hullabaloo of pure enjoyment. He +finally grew careless, and forgot himself and the eternal alertness +that is necessary for a good skipper. Just one moment he let his mind +wander, and that moment was enough. The boat, without warning to +either B.J. or Reddy, jibed! + +Reddy, now more than ever astounded, suddenly found himself pitching +forward in the air and slamming on the ice. He slid along it for a +hundred feet or more on his stomach, like a rocket with a wake of +spray and slush for a tail. Reddy was soaked as completely as if +he had fallen into a bath-tub, and his face and hands were cut and +bruised in the bargain. + +But his feelings, his mental feelings, were hurt even worse than his +flesh. + +As for the reckless B.J., though he was not so badly bruised as his +unfortunate and unwilling guest, he was to suffer a still greater +torment. He, too, was thrown from the boat into the slush; and by the +time he had recovered himself the yacht was well away from the hope +of capture. But that wilful boat, the _Greased Lightning_, seemed +unwilling to let off her tormentor so easily. + +For the astounded B.J., glaring at her as she ran on riderless, saw +her come upon some rough ice, and jolt and ditch her runner, and veer +until she had actually made a half-circle, and was heading straight +for him! + +All this remarkable change took place in a very short space of time; +but a large part of that small time was spent by B.J. in absolute +amazement at the curious and vicious action of his boat. Then, as the +yacht began to bear down on him with increasing speed, he made a dash +to get out of its path; but his feet slipped on the wet ice, and he +could make no headway. + +B.J. saw immediately that one of two things was very sure to happen; +and he could not see how either of them would result in anything but +terrible disaster to him. + +For if he should stand still the runner-plank would strike him below +the knee and break both his legs like straws; besides, when he was +knocked over he was likely to be struck by the tiller-runner, which +would finish him completely. + +If, on the other hand, he tried to jump into the air and escape the +runner, he stood a fine chance of being hit on the head by the boom, +which would deal a blow like the guard of an express-engine. Before +these two sickening probabilities the boy paused motionless, helpless. + +It was the choice of frying-pan or fire. + + + + +XIX + + +B.J. decided to take the chances of a battered skull rather than let +both the windward runner and the tiller-runner have a slash at him. + +He gathered himself for a dive into the air. + +But, just as he was about to leap, a sudden gust of wind lifted the +windward runner off the ice at least two feet. + +Like lightning B.J. dropped face down on the ice, and the boat passed +harmlessly over him, the runner just grazing his coat-sleeve. + +Having inflicted what seemed to it to be punishment enough, the +_Greased Lightning_ sailed coquettishly on down the lake, and finally +banged into a dock at home, and stopped. B.J. and Reddy made off after +it as fast as they could on the slippery ice with the help of the wind +at their backs; but they never overtook it, and the run served them +only the good turn of warming them somewhat, and thus saving them from +all the dire consequences they deserved for their foolhardiness. + +When Reddy reached home, he found that Heady had preceded him. Both +were put to bed and dosed with such bitter medicine that they almost +forgot the miseries they had had upon the lake. But it was many a day +before they would consent to speak to B.J. + +When they saw him coming they crossed the street with great dignity, +and if he spoke to them they seemed stricken with a sudden deafness. + +B.J.'s troubles did not end with his return home; for, somehow or +other, the escapade with the ice-boat reached his father's ears. And +it is reported that B.J.'s father forgot for a few minutes the fact +that his son was now a dignified academician. At any rate, B.J. took +his meals standing for a day or two, and he could not explain this +strange whim to the satisfaction of his friends. + + * * * * * + +Every member of the Dozen realized the necessity of keeping the body +clean if he would be a successful athlete, and of keeping his linen +and clothes comely if he would be a successful gentleman. Taken +altogether, the Twelve were exactly what could be called "neat but not +gaudy." But presentable as all of them were, there was none that took +so much pains and pride in the elegances of dress as the boy Pretty, +who won his title from his fondness for being what the others +sometimes called a dude. But he was such a whole-hearted, vigorous, +athletic young fellow, with so little foolishness about his make-up, +that the name did not carry with it the insult it usually conveys. + +The chief offense Pretty gave to the less careful of the Dozen was his +fondness for carrying a cane, a practice which the rest of the boys, +being boys, did not affect. But Pretty was not to be dissuaded from +this, nor from any of his other foibles, by ridicule, and the others +finally gave him up in despair. + +When he went to Kingston there was a new audience for his devotion to +matters of dress. But at the Academy it was considered a breach of +respect to the upper-classmen for the lower-classmen to carry canes. +Pretty, however, simply sniffed at the tradition, and said it didn't +interest him at all. + +Finally a large Senior vowed he would crack the cane in pieces over +Pretty's head, if necessary. + +Pretty heard these threats, and was prepared for the man. When the +fatal moment of their meeting arrived, though the Senior was much +bigger than Pretty, the Lakerim youth did not run--at least, he ran +no farther than was necessary to clear a good space for the use of a +little single-stick exercise. + +Pretty was no boxer, but he was a firm believer in the value of a good +stout cane. Imagine his humiliation, then, when he found, in the first +place, that the crook of his stick had caught in his coat-pocket and +spoiled one good blow, and, in the second place, that the fine strong +slash he meant to deliver overhead like a broad-sword stroke merely +landed upon the upraised arm of the Senior, and had its whole force +broken. Pretty then had the bitter misery of seeing his good sword +wrenched from his hand and broken across the knee of the Senior, who +very magnificently told him that he must never appear on the campus +again with a walking-stick. + +Pretty was overcome with embarrassment at the outcome of his innocent +foppery, and of his short, vain battle, and he was the laughing-stock +of the Seniors for a whole day. But, being of Lakerim mettle and +metal, he did not mean to let one defeat mean a final overthrow. He +told the rest of the Lakerimmers that he would carry a cane anyway, +and carry it anywhere he pleased, and that the next man who attempted +to take it from him would be likely to get "mussed up." + +About this time he found a magazine article that told the proper sort +of cane to carry, and the proper way to use it in case of attack; and +he proceeded to read and profit. + +Now, inasmuch as Sawed-Off was working his way through the Academy, +and paying his own expenses, without assistance except from what small +earnings he could make himself, it was only natural that he should +always be the one who always had a little money to lend to the other +fellows, though they had their funds from home. It was now Pretty who +came to him for the advance of cash enough to buy a walking-stick of +the following superb description: a thoroughly even, straight-grained +bit of hickory-wood, tapered like a billiard-cue, an inch and a half +thick at the butt and three fourths of an inch thick at the point, the +butt carrying a knob of silver, and the point heavily ferruled. + +Pretty had managed to find such a stick in the small stores of +Lakerim. He bought it with Sawed-Off's money, and he practised his +exercises with it so vigorously and so secretly that when he next +appeared upon the campus and carried it, the Senior who had attacked +him before, let him go by without any hindrance. He was fairly +stupefied at the impudence of this Lakerimmer whom he thought he had +thrashed so soundly. He did not know that the main characteristic of +the Lakerimmer is this: he does not know when he is whipped, or, if he +does know it, he will not stay whipped. + +But once he had recovered his senses, the haughty Senior did not lose +much time in making another onslaught on Pretty. + +When some of his friends were pouring cold water on this Senior's +bruised head a few minutes later, he poured cold water on their scheme +to attempt to carry out what he had failed in, for he said: + +"Don't you ever go up against that Lakerim fellow; his cane works like +a Gatling gun." + +So Pretty was permitted to carry his cane; and though he swaggered a +little, perhaps, no further attempt was made by the Seniors to take +the stick away from him. They had to content themselves with trying to +throw water on him from upper windows; but their aim was bad. + + + + +XX + + +Pretty had not been home long on his Christmas vacation before he +called at the home of the beautiful girl Enid, who had helped him win +so many tennis games, and who was the best of all the best girls he +devoted himself to, either in Kingston, Lakerim, or any other of the +towns he blessed with his smiling presence. + +Enid and Pretty, being great lovers of fresh air, took many a long +walk on the country roads about Lakerim. + +One day, when the air was as exhilarating and as electric as the +bubbles in a glass of ice-cream soda, they took a much longer stroll +than usual. + +Then they made a sudden decision to turn homeward; for, rounding +a sharp bend in the road, they saw coming toward them three burly +tramps. + +At the sight of these Three Graces both Pretty and Enid stopped short +in some little uneasiness. The tramps also stopped short, and seemed +to engage in a conversation about the two young people ahead of them +on the road. + +Pretty, on account of the extreme neatness of his costume, often got +credit for being a much richer lad than he was. And Enid also was as +careful and as successful in her costumery as Pretty. So the three +tramps probably thought they had before them two children of wealth, +who would be amply provided with pocket-money. But if they had only +known how little the two really had in their possession, the adventure +you are about to hear would never have happened. + +But while Pretty was flicking the dirt at the end of his toe with his +walking-stick, and wondering if he really cared to go any farther, the +tramps moved toward him quickly. + +Enid, being a girl, was frightened, and did not try to conceal it, but +said: + +"Oh, Pretty, let's go home at once!" + +Pretty, being a boy, thought he must make a display of courage, even +if he didn't feel it; so, while his heart clattered away in his +breast, and he could hardly find breath to speak, he said with some +show of composure: + +"Yes, Enid; I think we have walked far enough for to-day." + +Then they whirled about and started for home at a good gait. They had +not gone far when Enid, glancing back over her shoulder, noticed that +the tramps were coming up at a still more rapid walk. + +One of them, indeed, called out in a suspiciously friendly tone: + +"Hey, young feller, hold up a minute and tell us what time it is, will +ye?" + +Enid gasped: + +"Let's run, Pretty; come on." + +But Pretty answered with much dignity: + +"Run? What for?" And he turned and called back to the tramp: "I don't +know what time it is." + +Then the tramps insisted again that Pretty wait for them to come up. +But when he continued to walk without answering them, they began to +hurl oaths and rocks, and to run toward him. Now Pretty thought that +discretion was the better half of valor, and he seized Enid's wrist +and started off on a run, an act in which she was willing enough to +follow his lead. But he had to explain, just to preserve his dignity: + +"They're three to one, you know." + +But while Enid understood well enough the necessity for speed, she had +no breath to expend expressing her appreciation of Pretty's delicate +position. She was too frightened to run even as well as she knew +how, and she was going at a gait that was neither very fast nor very +economical of muscle and breath. Pretty, however, ran scientifically: +on the balls of his feet, with his head erect, his chest out, and his +lips tightly locked. + +But before long he was doing all the work for two, and laboring like +a ship that drags its anchor in a storm. They came to a hill now, and +here Enid leaned her whole weight upon him. He barely managed, with +the most tremendous determination and exertion, to get her to the top +of this long incline. As they labored up he decided in his own mind, +and told her, that she must leave him and run on for help. + +Just one tenth of a second his terrified mind had been occupied with +the thought that he might run on alone and leave her. The tempting +idea of self-preservation had whispered to him that if he stayed +behind, it would only result in disaster to two, while if he ran on +alone, at least one would be saved. + +But this cowardly selfishness he put away after the tenth of a second +of thought, and now he was insisting, even against Enid's gasping +objection, that she must run on alone and leave him to take care of +the footpads. He did not know how he was going to do this, but he felt +that upon him devolved the duty of being the zealous rear-guard to +cover the retreat of a vanquished army. + +Enid, however, was stubborn, and proposed to stay and fight with him, +even drawing out a very sharp and very dangerous hat-pin to emphasize +her courage. But Pretty, while he blessed her for her bravery and +her full-heartedness, still commanded her to run on and bring help, +promising her that he would keep out of harm's way till help could +come. With this assurance, the poor girl staggered on, gaining +strength from the necessity of speed to save her beloved Pretty. + +At the brow of the hill Pretty found himself alone, and turned and +looked at the on-coming trio with defiant sternness. After a moment, +which gave him some much-needed rest and a chance to gain new breath, +he realized that one half a battle is with the warrior that is wise +enough to make the first onslaught. So, after a tremor of very natural +hesitation, the boy dashed full at the three hulkish tramps. + + + + +XXI + + +The overgrown brutes were so much taken aback at the change of front +on the part of the young fellow whom they had hoped to run down like a +scared rabbit, that they stopped short in sheer surprise. + +But this was only for a moment. Then the leader of the three rushed +forward, with a large club. He carried it high in the air in the same +indiscreet manner in which Pretty had once attacked the Senior. + +Just before the tramp and the boy came to close quarters Pretty made +a diving sidelong dodge, and as the tramp's club whisked idly through +the air past him, he dealt the fellow a furious blow across the left +shin. Now, as any one who was ever struck there knows, a man's shin is +as tender as a bear's nose; and the surprised tramp was soon dancing +about in the air, hugging his bruised leg and yowling like a wildcat. +But Pretty had run on past, leaving him to his misery. + +Now he came up to the other two, who moved in single file toward +him. The first man Pretty received right upon the point of his cane, +driving the hard metal ferrule straight at the man's solar plexus. The +combination of the man's rush and Pretty's powerful thrust was enough +to lay the wretch upon the ground, writhing and almost unconscious. + +For the last thug Pretty had prepared a beautiful back-handed slash +across the face; but the villain, seeing what was in store for him, +dropped down, and rushed at the boy low enough to evade the stick. +Pretty, however, had a check for this move also, and a quick step to +one side saved him from the man's clutch. + +Now he recovered himself quickly enough to deliver a vicious whack +straight at the back of the man's head--a blow that would have settled +the tramp's mind for some time to come, but the fellow was running so +fast that Pretty missed his aim, and his stout weapon only dealt a +stinging blow upon the man's left shoulder. + +The thug ran on far enough to gain a good vantage-ground, and then, +whirling, came at Pretty again. Now his uplifted hand held an ugly +knife. + +The look of this was not pleasant to Pretty's eyes; but the excitement +of the situation was much increased when a glance out of the side of +his eye showed him that the first thug had regained enough nerve to +come limping forward in the endeavor to throttle him. + +The men were not coming at him in such a way that he could use the +"point-and-butt thrust" that he had learned for such occasions, so he +decided instantly to repeat upon the first thug the shin-shattering +blow that had been so successful before. + +As the man came on, then, Pretty gave a terrific backward slash that +caught the tramp's uninjured shin. It was a beauteous shot, and sent +the fellow to his hunkers, actually boohooing with agony. + +And now, with another fine long sweep, this time upward, Pretty sent +a smashing blow at the third tramp's upraised arm. The force of the +stroke was alone strong enough to send the knife flying; but, by the +addition of a bit of good luck, Pretty caught the wretch on his crazy +bone, and set him to such a caterwauling as cats sing of midnights on +a back-yard fence. + +Leaving the battered Three Graces to their different dances, Pretty +picked up the knife he had knocked from the hand of the third, and +sauntered homeward, adjusting his somewhat ruffled collar and tie as +he went, with magnificent self-possession. + +On his way he met the party of rescuers sent to him by Enid, who had +managed to reach town in rapid time. Pretty calmly sent them back to +pick up the three tramps he had left; and these gentlemen were stowed +away in the Lakerim jail, where they cracked rock and thought of their +cracked bones till long after Pretty's Christmas vacation was over. + +As for Enid, I will leave you to guess whether or no she thought +Pretty the greatest hero of his age,--or any age,--and whether or no +she gossiped his bravery all around Lakerim long after the Dozen were +away again in Kingston. + + + + +XXII + + +The night before the Lakerim contingent went back to the Kingston +Academy, another grand reception was given in their honor at the +club-house; and the Dozen made more speeches and assumed an air of +greater magnificence than ever. + +But, nevertheless, they were just a trifle sorry that they had to +leave their old happy hunting-ground. But there was some consolation +in the thought that the life at the Academy would not be one +glittering revel of studies and classes. For the Dozen believed, as +it believed nothing else, that all play and no work makes Jack a dull +boy. + +The general average of the Dozen in the matter of studies was +satisfactory enough; for, while Sleepy was always at the bottom of his +classes, and probably the laziest and stupidest of all the students +at Kingston, History was certainly at the head of his classes, and +probably the most brilliant of all the students at Kingston. + +With these two at the opposite poles, the rest of the Dozen worked +more or less hard and faithfully, and kept a very decent pace. + +But the average attainment of the Dozen in the field of athletics was +far more than satisfactory. + +It was brilliant. + +For, while there was one man (History) who was not quite the all-round +athlete of the universe, and was not good at anything more muscular +than chess and golf, the eleven others had each his specialty and his +numerous interests. + +They believed, athletically, in knowing everything about something, +and something about everything. + + * * * * * + +The winter went blustering along, piling up snows and melting them +again, only to pile up more again. And the wind raved in very +uncertain humors. But, snow or thaw, the Dozen was never at a loss to +know what to do. + +Finally January was gone, and February, that sawed-off month, was +dawdling along its way toward that great occasion which gives it its +chief excuse for being on the calendar--Washington's Birthday. + +From time immemorial it had been the custom at Kingston to celebrate +the natal anniversary of the Father of his Country with all sorts of +disgraceful rioting and un-Washingtonian cavorting. The Lakerim Twelve +were not the ones to throw the weight of their influence against any +traditions that might add dignity to the excitements of school-book +life. + +Of the part they took in raising the flag on the tower of the chapel, +and in defending that flag, and in tearing down a dummy raised in +their colors by the Crows in the public square of the village--of this +and many other delightfully improper pranks there is no room to tell +here; and you must rest content with hearing of the important athletic +affair--the affair which more truly and fittingly celebrated the +anniversary of the birth of this great man, who was himself one of the +finest specimens of manhood and one of the best athletes our country +has ever known. + +The athletic association from a neighboring school, known as the +Brownsville School for Boys, had sent the Kingstonians an offer to +bring along a team of cross-country runners to scour the regions +around Kingston in competition with any team Kingston would put forth. + +The challenge was cordially accepted at once, and the Brownsville +people sent over John Orton, the best of their cross-country runners, +to look over a course two days in advance, and decide upon the path +along which he should lead his team. It was agreed that the course +should be between six and eight miles long. The runners should start +from the Kingston gymnasium, and report successively at the Macomb +farm-house, which was some distance out of Kingston, and was cut off +by numerous ditches and gullies; then at the railway junction two +miles out of Kingston; then at a certain little red school-house, and +then at the finish in front of the campus. It was agreed that the two +teams should start in different directions and touch at these points +in the reverse order. Each captain was allowed to choose his own +course, and take such short cuts as he would, the three points being +especially chosen with a view to keeping the men off the road +and giving them plenty of fence-jumping, ditch-taking, and +obstacle-leaping of all sorts. + +The race was to have been run off in the afternoon; but the train was +late, and the Brownsvillers did not arrive until just before supper. +It was decided, after a solemn conference, that the race should be run +in spite of the delay, and as soon as the supper had had a ghost of +a chance to digest. The rising of a full and resplendent moon was a +promise that the runners should not be entirely in the dark. + +Tug and the Brownsville chief, Orton, had made careful surveys of +the course they were to run over. It was as new to Tug as to the +Brownsville man. Each of the two had planned his own short cuts, and +even if they had been running over the course in the same direction +they would have separated almost immediately. But when the signal-shot +that sent them off in different directions rang out, they were +standing back to back, and did not know anything of each other's +whereabouts until they met again, face to face, at the end of the +course. + +The teams consisted of five men each. The only Lakerim men on the +Kingston team were Tug, the chief, who had been a great runner of +440-yard races, and Sawed-Off, who had won the half-mile event on +various field-days. The other three were Stage, Bloss, and MacManus. +All of them were stocky runners and inured to hardship. + +They had come out of the gymnasium in their bathrobes; and when the +signal to start was given, the spectators in their warm overcoats felt +chills scampering up and down their ribs as they noticed that all the +men of both teams, when they had thrown off their bath-robes, stood +clad only in running-shoes, short gymnasium-trunks, and jerseys. + +But their heat was to come from within, and once they were started, +cold was the least of their trials. + +The two teams broke away from each other at the gymnasium, and bolted +at a wide angle straight across the campus. They all took the first +fence in perfect form, as if they were thoroughbred hunters racing +after a fox. + +Quiz and one or two other of the bicycle enthusiasts attempted to +follow one or the other of the two packs; but they avoided the road so +completely that the bicyclists soon lost them from sight, and returned +to watch the finish. + +The method of awarding the victory was this: the different runners +were to be checked off as they passed the different stages of the +course, and crossed off as they came across the finish-line. Each man +was thus given the number of his place in the finish, and the total of +the numbers earned by each team decided the match, the team having the +smaller number winning. Thus the first man in added the number 1 to +the total score of his side, while the last man in added 10 to his. + +Tug had explained to his runners, before they started out, that +team-work was what would count--that he wished his men to keep +together, and that they were to take their orders all from him. + +After the first enthusiasm of a good brisk start to get steam and +interest up, Tug slowed his pace down to such a gait as he thought +could be comfortably maintained through the course. + +The Brownsville leader, Orton, however, being a brilliant +cross-country runner himself, set his men too fierce a pace, and soon +had upon his hands a pack of breathless stragglers. + +Tug vigorously silenced any attempt at conversation among his men, and +advised them to save their breath for a time soon to come when they +would need it badly. + +His path led into a heavy woods, very gloomy under the dim moonlight; +and he had many an occasion to yell with pain and surprise as a low +branch stung him across the head. But all he permitted himself to +exclaim was a warning cry to the others: + +"Low bridge!" + +The grove was so blind (save for the little clearing at Roden's Knoll, +which Tug and Sawed-Off recognized with a groan of pride) that the +men's shins were barked and their ankles turned at almost every other +step, it seemed. But Tug would not permit any of them the luxury of +complaint. + +In time they were out of the wood and into the open. But here it +seemed that their troubles only increased; for, where the main +difficulty in the forest was to avoid obstacles, the chief trouble in +the plain was to conquer them. There were many barbed-wire fences +to crawl through, the points clutching the bare skin and tearing it +painfully at various spots. The huge Sawed-Off suffered most from +these barbs, but he only gasped: + +"I'm punctured." + +There were long, steep hills to scramble up and to jolt down. There +were little gullies to leap over, and brooks to cross on watery +stepping-stones that frequently betrayed the feet into icy water. + +After vaulting gaily over one rail fence, and scooting jauntily along +across a wide pasture, the Kingstonians were surprised to hear the +sound of other footsteps than theirs, and they turned and found a +large and enthusiastic bull endeavoring to join their select circle. + +Perhaps this bovine gentleman was, after all, their very best friend, +for nowhere along the whole course did they attain such a burst of +speed as then. Indeed, none of the five could remember a time in his +life when he made such a spurt. + +They reached and scaled a stone wall, however, in time to shake off +the company of this inhospitable host. In the next field there were +two or three skittish colts, which they scared into all manner of +hysterical behavior as they sped across. + +Down a country lane they turned for a short distance; and a farmer and +his wife, returning home from a church sociable, on seeing these five +white figures flit past in a minimum of clothing, thereafter always +vowed that they had seen ghosts. + +As the runners trailed past a farm-house with never a light to show +upon its front, there was a ferocious hullabaloo, something between +the angry snorting of a buffalo and the puffing of a railroad engine +going up a steep grade. It was the wolfish welcome of three canine +brigands, the bloodthirsty watch-dogs that surrounded and guarded this +lonely and poverty-stricken little farm-house from the approach of any +one evil- or well-intentioned. + +Those dogs must have been very sorry they spoke; for when they came +rushing forward cordially to take a few souvenir bites out of the +Lakerim team, Tug and the others stopped short and turned toward them. + +"Load!" cried Tug. + +And every mother's son of the five picked up three or four large rocks +from the road. + +"Aim!" cried Tug. + +And every father's son of the five drew back a strong and willing arm. + +"Fire!" cried Tug. + +And every grandfather's and grandmother's grandson of the five let fly +with a will the rocks his hands had found upon the road. + +Those dogs must have felt that they were caught out in the heaviest +hail-storm of their whole experience. Their blustering mood +disappeared in an instant, and they turned for home, yelping like +frightened puppies; nor did they forget, like Bo-peep's sheep, to take +their tails with them, neatly tucked between their legs. + +Past as the cross-country dogs ran in one direction, the cross-country +humans ran in the opposite. + +Now that they were on a good pike road, some of them were disposed to +sprint, particularly the fleet-footed Stage, who could far outrun Tug +or any of the team. + +But Tug thought that wisdom lay in keeping his team well in hand, and +he did not approve of running on in advance any more than he approved +of straggling. Thus the enthusiastic Stage, rejoicing in his airy +heels, suddenly found himself deserted, Tug having seen fit to leave +the road for a short cut across the fields; and Stage had to run back +fifty yards or more and spend most of his surplus energy in catching +up with the team. + +It was a merry chase Tug led his weary crew: through one rough ravine +where the hillside flowed out from under their feet and followed them +down, and where they must climb the other side on slippery earth, +grasping at a rock here and a root there; then through one little +strip of forest that offered him an advantageous-short cut. Here again +he silenced the protests of his men at the thick underbrush and the +frequent brambles they encountered. Just at the edge of this little +grove Tug put on an extra burst of speed, and was running like the +wind. The others, following to the best of their ability, saw him +about to pass between two harmless posts. + +Suddenly they also saw him throw up his hands and fall over backward. +When they reached him they saw that he had run into a barbed-wire +fence in the dark. + + + + +XXIII + + +They were doubly dismayed now, because they not only had lost their +leader, but were themselves lost in some part of the country where +they knew neither the landmarks nor the points of the compass. They +helped Tug cautiously to his feet, and, for lack of a better medicine, +rubbed snow upon the ugly slashes in his breast and legs. + +"This ends the race, as far as we are concerned," moaned Bloss. + +But Tug had recovered enough from his dizziness to shake his head and +mane lion-like, and cry: + +"Not much! Come on, boys!" + +And before the restraining hand of Sawed-Off could stop him, Tug had +somehow wormed himself through the barbed-wire fence and was off +across the open; and they were sore put to it to catch up with him +again. + +Suddenly, as the devoted four followed their leader, the first +station, the farm-house at which they were to report, loomed +unexpectedly upon the horizon, approached in some unknown way by Tug, +who was threading his way through the wilderness with more regard for +straight lines than for progress. They were named off, as they flew +past, by a watcher stationed there, and without pause they made +off toward the railroad junction. Once they thought they saw a few +fleeting forms in the distance, and they guessed that they must be +Orton and his Brownsville team; but they could not feel sure, and no +closer sight of their rivals was vouchsafed to them. + +When the last station, the little red school-house, had been passed, +they began to feel that there was some hope of their reaching home. +They began also to feel the effect of their long, hard journey. Their +sides hurt them sorely, their legs ached, and their breath came faster +than they wished. + +MacManus now showed more serious signs of weakening than any of the +rest. He straggled along the way with feet that seemed to get into +each other's path, and with a head that wabbled uncertainly on his +drooping shoulders. + +Tug fell back and ran alongside him, trying to console and encourage +him to better speed. MacManus responded to this plea with a spurt, and +suddenly broke away from the four and ran wildly ahead with the speed +of desperation. + +He came upon a little brook frozen across with a thin sheet of +ice. Here he found a log that seemed to have been placed, either +providentially or by some human being, to serve as a foot-bridge. +MacManus leaped gaily on it to cross the stream ahead of the rest. + +To his breathless dismay, the log turned under his foot; and wildly as +he tried to get a good grip on the atmosphere, nothing could save him, +and he went ker-smash and ker-splash through the thin ice into the +water. + +Now he was indeed willing to run without any more coaxing than the +bitter air upon his wet skin. His only hope of getting warm was in +his heels. And he ran like a maniac till Tug and the rest must put on +extra force also, or leave him completely. + +Almost before they knew it, now, they were on the outskirts of +Kingston village. Their arrival at the beginning of the home stretch +was signaled in a very startling manner; for Tug, who had regained the +lead, saw ahead of him a bright, shining strip that looked for all the +world like a little frozen stream under the moonlight. He did not care +to risk stepping on any more thin ice, so he gave the quick command: + +"Jump!" + +And he jumped, followed almost immediately by his devoted attendants. +The next thing they all knew, they were in half-frozen mud up to +their knees. The bright patch they had supposed to be a brook was a +frost-covered sidewalk! + +And they had carefully jumped over the sidewalk into the mire beyond! + +Tug was disgusted but not disheartened, and he had his crew under way +again instantly. He kept up his system of short cuts even now that +they were in town. He led them over back fences, through orchards and +kitchen-gardens, scattering a noisy flock of low-roosting hens in one +place, and stirring up a half-dozen more dogs in another. + +The true home stretch was a long downhill run straight to the goal. + +By the time they reached this MacManus was once more in bad shape, and +going very unsteadily. + +As they cleared the brow of the hill, Tug's anxious heart was pierced +with the fear that he had lost the long, racking race, after all; for, +just crossing the stake at the finish, he caught a sight of Orton. + +The rest of the team saw the same disheartening spectacle. And +MacManus, eager for any excuse to stop running, gasped: + +"They've beaten us. There's no use running any farther." + +But Tug, having Lakerim ideals in mind, would never say die. He +squandered just breath enough to exclaim: + +"We're not beaten till the last man crosses the line!" And he added: +"Stage, run for your life." + +And Stage ran. Oh, but it was fine to see that lad run! He fled +forward like a stag with the hounds in full cry after him. He wasted +not an ounce of energy, but ran cleanly and straightly and splendidly. +He had the high-stepping knee-action of a thoroughbred trotter, and +his running was as beautiful as it was swift. + +"Run, all of you, for your lives!" cried Tug; and at that the +weary little band sprang forward with a new lease on strength and +determination. Tug had no ambition, like Orton, to leave his men to +find their own way. Rather, he herded them up and urged them on, as a +Scotch collie drives home the sheep at a canter. + +Orton's runners were "tailed out" for more than half a mile behind +him. He himself was easily the first man home; but Stage beat his +second man in, and Bloss was a good third. Orton ran back frantically, +now, to coax his last three men. He hurried in his third runner at a +fairly good gait, but before he could get him to the line, Tug had +brought forward his last three men, Sawed-Off well up, MacManus going +doggedly and leaning mentally, if not physically, on Tug, who ran at +his side. + +By thus hurling in three men at once, Tug made an enormous inroad upon +the score of the single-man Brownsvillers. Besides, though Orton got +his next-to-the-last man in soon after Tug, the last Brownsviller did +not come along for a minute afterward. He had been left to make his +way along unaided and unguided, and he hardly deserved the laughter +that greeted him as he came over the line. + +Thus Orton, too ambitious, had brought his team in with this score: 1, +3, 8, 9, 10--total, 31; while Tug's men, well bunched at the finish, +came in with this score: 2,4, 5, 6, 7-total, 24. + +Tug richly deserved the cheers and enthusiasm that greeted his +management; for, in spite of a team of individual inferiority to +the crack Brownsvillers; he had won by strict discipline and clever +generalship. + + + + +XXIV + + +The victorious outcome of the cross-country run, as well as many other +victories and defeats, had pretty well instilled it in the Lakerim +minds that team-play is an all-important factor of success. But the +time came when there was no opportunity to use the hard-learned, +easily forgot lesson of team-work, and it was each man for himself, +and all for Lakerim and Kingston. + +When the ground was soggy and mushy with the first footsteps of +spring, and it was not yet possible to practise to any extent out of +doors, the Kingston Athletic Association received from the athletic +association of the Troy Latin School a letter that was a curious +combination of blood-warming hospitality and blood-curdling challenge. +The Latin School, in other words, opened its heart and its gymnasium, +and warmly invited the Kingston athletes to come over and be eaten up +in a grand indoor carnival. Troy was not so far away that only a small +delegation could go. Almost every one from Kingston, particularly +those athletically inclined, took the train to Troy. + +Most surprising of all it was to see the diminutive and bespectacled +History proudly joining the ranks of the strong ones. He was going to +Troy to display his microscopical muscles in that most wearing and +violent of all exercises--chess. + +The Tri-State Interscholastic League, which encouraged the practice +of all imaginable digressions from school-books, had arranged for +a series of chess games between teams selected from the different +academies. The winners of these preliminary heats, if one can use so +calm a word for so exciting a game, were to meet at Troy and play for +the championship of the League. + +If I should describe the hair-raising excitement of that chess +tournament, I am afraid that this book would be put down as entirely +too lively for young readers. So I will simply say once for all that, +owing to History's ability to look wiser than any one could possibly +be, and to spend so much time thinking of each move that his +deliberation affected his opponents' nerves, and owing to the fact +that he could so thoroughly map out future moves on the inside of his +large skull, and that there was something awe-inspiring about +his general look of being a wizard in boys' clothes, he won the +tournament--almost more by his looks than by his skill as a tactician. +The whole Academy, and especially the Lakerimmers, overwhelmed this +second Paul Morphy with congratulations, and felt proud of him; but +when he attempted to explain how he had won his magnificent battle, +and started off with such words as these: "You will observe that I +used the Zukertort opening"; and when he began to tell of his moves +from VX to QZ, or some such place, even his best friends took to tall +timber. + +The Kingston visitors found that the Troy Latin School was in +possession of a finer and much larger gymnasium than their own. But, +much as they envied their luckier neighbors, they determined that they +would prove that fine feathers do not make fine birds, nor a fine +gymnasium fine athletes. A large crowd had gathered, and was put in a +good humor with a beautiful exhibition of team-work by the Troy men +on the triple and horizontal bars and the double trapeze. The Trojans +also gave a kaleidoscopic exhibition of tumbling and pyramid-building, +none of which sports had been practised much by the Kingstonians. +After this the regular athletic contests of the evening began. + +In almost every event at least one of the Lakerim men represented +Kingston. Some of the Dozen made a poor showing; but the majority, +owing to their long devotion to the theory and the practice of +athletics, stood out strongly, and were recognized by the strange +audience, in their Lakerim sweaters, as distinguished heroes of the +occasion. + +The first event was a contest in horse-vaulting, in which no Lakerim +men were entered. Kingston suffered a defeat. + +"Ill begun is half done up," sighed Jumbo. + +But in the next event the old reliable Tug was entered, among others; +and in the Rope-Climb he ran up the cord like a monkey on a stick, and +touched the tambourine that hung twenty-five feet in the air before +any of his rivals reached their goal, and in better form than any of +them. + +The third event was the Standing High Jump; and B.J. and the other +Kingstonians were badly outclassed here. Their efforts to clear the +bar compared with that of the Trojans as the soaring of an elephant +compares with the flight of a butterfly. + +Punk was the only Lakerimmer on the team that attempted to win glory +on the flying-rings, but he and his brother Kingstonians suffered a +like humiliation with the standing high-jumpers. + +The clerk of the course and the referees were now seen to be running +hither and yon in great excitement. A long delay and much putting of +heads together ensued, to the great mystification of the audience. At +length, just as a number of small boys in the gallery had begun to +stamp their feet in military time and whistle their indignation, the +official announcer officially announced that there had been a slight +hitch in the proceedings. + +"I have to explain," he yelled in his gentlest manner, "that two of +the boxers have failed to turn up. Both have excellent excuses and +doctors' certificates to account for their absence, but we have +unfortunately to confess that the Kingston heavy-weight and the Troy +feather-weight are incapacitated for the present. The feather-weight +from Kingston, however, is a good enough sport to express a +willingness to box, for points, with the heavy-weight from Troy. While +this match will look a little unusual owing to the difference in size +of the two opponents, it will be scientific enough, we have no doubt, +to make it interesting as well as picturesque." + +As usual, the audience, not knowing what else to say, applauded very +cordially. + +And now the heavy-weight from Troy, one Jaynes, appeared upon the +scene with his second. There was no roped-off space, but only an +imaginary "ring," which was, as usual, a square--of about twenty-four +feet each way. + +Jaynes was just barely qualified as a heavy-weight, being only a +trifle over one hundred and fifty-eight pounds. But he overshadowed +little Bobbles as the giants overshadowed Jack the Giant-killer. + +Bobbles, while he was diminutive compared with Jaynes, was yet rather +tall and wiry for his light weight, and had an unusually long reach +for one of his size. He regretted now the great pains he had taken to +train down to feather-weight weight. For when he had stepped on the +scales in the gymnasium, the day before he had started for Troy, he +found that he was three pounds over the necessary hundred and fifteen. +So he had put on three sweaters, two pairs of trousers, and his +football knickers, and run around the track for fully four miles, +until he was in doubt as to whether he was a liquid or a solid body. +Then he had fallen into a hot bath, and jumped from that into a cold +shower, and had then been rubbed down by some of his faithful Lakerim +friends with a pail of rock-salt to harden his muscles. At Troy, too, +he had continued these tactics, and found, to his delight, when he +weighed in, that he just tipped the scales at one hundred and fifteen. +And now he was matched to fight with a heavy-weight, and every pound +he had sweat off would have been an advantage to him! Yet, at any +rate, it was not a fight to a finish, but only for points, and he +counted upon his agility to save him from the rushes and the major +tactics of the larger man. + +In order to make the scoring of points more vivid and visible to the +audience, it was decided, after some hesitation, that the gloves +should be coated with shoe-blacking. + +Bobbles realized that his salvation lay in quick attack and the +seizure of every possible opportunity, as well as in his ability to +escape the onslaughts of the heavy-weight. He did not purpose turning +it into a sprinting-match, but he felt that he was justified in making +as much use of the art of evasion as possible. + +He began the series by what was almost sharp practice, but was +justified by the rules. + +The referee sang out: + +"Gentlemen, shake hands." + +Then the long and the short of it quickly clasped boxing-gloves in the +middle of the ring. + +"Time!" cried the referee. + +[Illustration: THE BOXING MATCH.] + +Immediately on the break-away, before Jaynes had got his hands into +position, Bobbles had landed on him with a fine left upper cut that +put a black mark on Jaynes' jaw. Jaynes looked surprised, and the +audience laughed. Bobbles also laughed, for he knew he would have few +chances to place black spots on the upper works of the tall Jaynes, +and that he must make his scores mainly upon the zone just above +Jaynes' belt. + +Jaynes was as much angered as surprised at receiving the first blow, +and sailed in with a vengeance to pepper Bobbles; but he began to +think that he was boxing with a grasshopper before long, for, wherever +he struck, there Bobbles was not. In fact, most of his straight-arm +blows were not only dodged by Bobbles with the smallest necessary +effort, but were effectively countered. + +Bobbles proved himself an adept at that best of boxing tactics, +the ability to dodge. He rarely moved more than would take him +sufficiently out of harm's way. A little bending of the head from one +side to the other, a quick side-step or an adroit duck, saved him from +being the bull's-eye of most of Jaynes' attacks. + +There were to be three rounds of three minutes each, with one minute's +intermission between rounds. The first round was over before either +of the men was much more than well warmed up to the work, and before +either had scored any impressive amount of points. Jaynes, however, +realized that Bobbles had landed oftener than he, and that the +sympathy of the audience was with the little fellow. When time was +called for the next round, therefore, he decided to rush things; +and he charged on Bobbles with such fury that side-stepping and +back-stepping were of little avail, and there was nothing for Bobbles +to do but go into the mix-up and try to give as much as he received. + +Before they knew just how, they were clinched, and the referee was +cutting them apart like a cheese-knife. And now the big man realized +that on the swift interchange of blows Bobbles was quicker than he, +and that he must keep him at a little distance. Relying, then, on +his greater reach, he went at Bobbles in a most exasperating manner, +holding one long arm out straight, and fanning Bobbles with the other. +Bobbles ran into the outstretched fist with great enthusiasm at first, +but after a moment's daze he dodged round and under that arm and +devoted himself to playing a tattoo on Jaynes' solar plexus. Since his +glove left a black mark wherever it struck, it was tattooing in two +senses. + +Both men welcomed the gong that announced a chance to breathe. + +The grateful rubbing down, fanning, and sponging of the lightning-like +seconds between the rounds restored both men somewhat to their +enthusiasm, though the furious rate at which they had taken the two +previous rounds left them bodily weak. + +Jaynes' second told him, during the pause, that Bobbles had decidedly +the best of it thus far on form, and Jaynes' temper was aroused. +Bobbles, having been told by his second that he had the better of +it, had grown a trifle rash and impudent, and dared to take the +aggressive. He went straight into Jaynes' zone of fire, and managed to +plant several good hooks and upper cuts. + +While Bobbles was playing in the upper regions for Jaynes, Jaynes made +a reach for Bobbles' body, several times; but Bobbles was not there. +When Jaynes made a careless lead, Bobbles countered and dodged with +remarkable skill. + +All these things, while they increased Bobbles' score and standing +with the judges, increased Jaynes' temper; and finally he gave a +vicious right swing, which Bobbles avoided unintentionally by slipping +and falling. So he found himself on the floor, with Jaynes standing +over him in expectant anticipation of landing him another ebonizing +blow. He heard, also, the referee beginning to count slowly the +seconds. His first impulse was to rise to his feet and assail Jaynes +with all his might; then he realized that he had nine seconds for +refreshment, and there he waited on one hand and one knee, while the +seconds were slowly intoned, until the referee sang out: + +"Nine!" + +Then he made a sidelong scramble to his feet, and succeeded in dodging +the blow with which Jaynes welcomed him back. + +Jaynes charged now after Bobbles like a Spanish bull; but the wiry +Lakerimmer dodged him, and smote back at him while he dodged; while +Jaynes, losing his head completely, wasted his strength in futile +rushes and wild blows that bruised nothing except the atmosphere. +Before the end of the round both men were decidedly tired, because the +pace had been very rapid. The blows they dealt at each other were now +hardly more than velvety shoves, and the air seemed to be the chief +obstacle in their way. When by some chance they clinched, they leaned +lovingly upon each other till the referee had to pry them apart. There +was a little revival of interest just before the gong sounded to end +the third and last round; for Bobbles, having regained some of his +wind, began to pommel Jaynes with surprising rapidity and accuracy. +The end of the bout found them in a happy-go-lucky mix-up, each +striking blindly. + +The judges now met to discuss the verdict they were to render; and, +there being some dispute as to the number of blows landed by each, the +two men were brought forward for inspection. Bobbles' face and neck +were as black as a piccaninny's, but there were few dark spots upon +his chest. Jaynes, however, was like a leopard, for the blacking on +Bobbles' gloves had mottled him all up and down and around. + +As Jumbo remarked to Sawed-Off: "Bobbles certainly had designs on that +big fellow!" + +The judges had been agreed that on the points of defense, guarding, +ducking, getting away, and counter-hitting, Bobbles, considering his +size, was plainly the more brainy and speedy of the two. They were +also inclined to grant him the greater number of points on his form in +general, and especially on account of the disparity in size and reach; +and when they counted the tattoo-marks on each, they found that here +also Bobbles had made the highest score, and they did not hesitate to +award him the prize. + +The next event was the High Kick, which was won by a Kingston +hitch-and-kicker, who was a rank outsider from the Dozen. Quiz managed +to be third and add one point to the Academy's score. + +Then came an exhibition of Indian-club swinging. Jumbo had formerly +been the great Indian-club swinger of the Dozen, but he had recently +gone in so enthusiastically for wrestling that he had given up his +other interest. Sleepy had taken up this discarded amusement with as +much enthusiasm as was possible to him. There was something about it +that appealed to Sleepy. It was different from weight-lifting and +dumb bell exercising in that when you once got the clubs started they +seemed to do all the work themselves. But Sleepy was too lazy to learn +many of the new wrinkles, and the Troy club-swingers set him some +tasks that he could not repeat. In form, too, he was not their equal; +and this event went to the Kingston opponents. + +A novelty was introduced here in place of the usual parallel-bar +exhibition. From the horizontal bar a light gate was hung, and the +various contestants gave exhibitions of Vaulting. The gate prevented +the use of the kippie swing. There was no method of twisting and +writhing up to the bar; it had to be clean vaulting; and Kingston +gradually raised the mark till the Troy men could not go over it. +At its last notch only one man made it, and that was a Kingston +athlete--but unfortunately not a Lakerimmer, as Punk remained behind +with the others, and divided second place with a rival. + +A Sack Race was introduced to furnish a little diversion for the +audience, which, in view of the length of the program, was beginning +to believe that, after all, it is possible to have too much of a good +thing. The Kingstonians had put their hope in this event upon the +Twins. None but the Dozen could tell them apart, but the Kingstonians +felt confident that one of the red-headed brotherhood would win out. +And so it looked to the audience when the long row of men were tied +up like dummies in sacks that reached to their necks; for, after the +first muddle at the start, two small brick-top figures went bouncing +along in the lead, like hot-water bags with red stoppers in them. +The Kingstonians, not knowing which of the Twins was in the lead, if +indeed either of them actually led, yelled violently: + +"The Twins! The Twins!" + +It was Reddy that had got the first start and cleared the multitude, +but Heady, by a careful system of jumping, was soon alongside his +brother. He made a kind-hearted effort to cut Reddy off, with the +result that they wabbled together and fell in a heap. They did not +mind the fact that two or three other sack-runners were falling all +over them; nor did they care what became of the race: the desire of +each was to tear off that sack and get at the wretched brother that +had caused the fall. Not being able to work their hands loose, they +rolled toward each other, and began violently to bunt heads. Finding +that this banner of battle hurt the giver of the blow as much as it +did the receiver of it, they rolled apart again, and began to kick at +each other in a most ludicrous and undignified manner. The Lakerimmers +were finally compelled to rush in on the track and separate the loving +brothers. Strange to say, the Twins got no consolation for the loss of +the race from the fact that the audience had laughed till the tears +ran down its face. + +[Illustration: "TIED UP LIKE DUMMIES IN SACKS."] + +When the Running High Jump went to Troy on account of the inability +of B.J. to reach even his own record, the Kingstonians began to feel +anxious of results. Troy had won six events, and they had won only +four. The points, too, had fallen in such a way that there was a bad +discrepancy. + +Sawed-Off appeared upon the horizon as a temporary rescuer; and while +he could not put the sixteen-pound bag of shot so far as he had in +better days sent the sixteen-pound solid shot, still he threw it +farther than any of the Trojans could, and brought the Kingston score +up to within one of the events gone to Troy. Pretty added one more by +a display of grace and skill in the fencing-match with foils, that +surprised even his best friends from Lakerim, and won the unanimous +vote of the three judges, themselves skilful fencers. + +A wet blanket was thrown on the encouragement of the Kingstonians by +their inferiority at weight-lifting. Sawed-Off was many pounds from +the power of a certain powerful Trojan, who was a smaller man with +bigger muscles. + +Then all the members of the Dozen had a special parlay with Jumbo, +imploring him to save the day and the honor of both Kingston and +Lakerim by winning the wrestling-match. + + + + +XXV + + +When Jumbo glanced across the floor and saw the man that was to be his +opponent striding toward the mat in the center of the floor, he wished +that some one else had been placed as the keystone in the Kingston +arch of success. For Jumbo knew well the man's record as a wrestler. +But Jumbo himself, while small, was well put together; and though +built, as he said, "close to the ground," he was built for business. + +Since he had gone in for wrestling he had made it the specialty of +all his athletic exercises. He had practised everything that had any +bearing on the strengthening of particular muscles or general agility. +He had practised cart-wheels, hand-springs, back and front flips. He +had worked with his neck at the chest-weight machine. He would walk on +his hands to strengthen his throat, and his collars had grown in a few +weeks from thirteen and a half to fifteen, and he could no longer +wear his old shirts without splitting them. He made the mats in the +Kingston gymnasium almost his home. + +His special studies were bridging and spinning. He spent hours on his +back, rising to his two feet and his head and then rolling from one +shoulder to the other and spinning to his front. When he had his +bridge-building abilities fairly well started, he compelled his heavy +chum Sawed-Off to act as a living meal-bag, and rolled around upon +the top of his head and bridged, with Sawed-Off laying all his weight +across his chest. When he went to bed he bridged there until the best +of wrestlers, sleep, had downed him. When he woke in the morning, he +fell out of bed to the floor, turning his head under him and rolling +so as not to break his neck or any bones, and bridging rigidly upon +his head and bare feet. + +Jumbo knew that, whatever might be the ability of his rival, the +Trojan Ware, at least he, Jumbo, could have his conscience easy with +the thought that he had made the most profitable use of the short time +he had spent on wrestling, and that he would put up as good a fight as +was in him. + +More than that no athlete can do. + +Jumbo and Ware met upon the mattress with their close-shaven heads +looking like bulldogs' jowls; and they shook hands--if one can imagine +bulldogs shaking hands. + +Jumbo had two cardinal principles, but he could put neither of them +into practice in the first maneuvers: the first was always to try to +get out of one difficulty by dumping the opponent into another; the +second was always to try for straight-arm leverages. + +Ware being the larger of the two, Jumbo was content to play a waiting +game and find out something of the methods of his burly opponent. He +dodged here and there, avoiding the reaching lobster-claws of Ware by +quick wriggles or by slapping his hands away as they thrust. Suddenly +Ware made a quick rush, and, breaking through Jumbo's interference, +seized him around the body to bend him backward. But while the man was +straining his hardest, Jumbo brought his hands around and placed them +together in front of the pit of his stomach, so that the harder Ware +squeezed the harder he pressed Jumbo's fists into his abdomen. + +Ware looked foolish at being foiled so neatly, and broke away, only to +come at Jumbo again, and clasp him so close that there was no room for +his fists to press against Ware's diaphragm. But now Jumbo suddenly +clasped his left arm back of Ware's neck, and with his right hand bent +the man's forehead back until he was glad enough to let go and spring +away. Ware continued to run around Jumbo as a dog runs around a treed +cat. But Jumbo always evaded his quick rushes till Ware, after many +false moves, finally made a sudden and unforeseen dash, seized Jumbo's +right hand with both of his, whirled in close, and, with his back +against Jumbo's chest, carried the Lakerimmer's right arm straight and +stiff across his shoulder. Bearing down with all his weight on this +lever, and at the same time dropping to his knees, he shot Jumbo over +his shoulders, heels over head. + +"That Flying Mere was certainly a bird!" said Bobbles. + +Ware went down with Jumbo, to land on his chest and break any bridge +the boy might form. And the Flying Mere had been such a surprise, +and the fall was so far and the floor so hard, that, while Jumbo +instinctively tried to bridge, his effort collapsed. His two shoulders +touched. The bout was over. + +The first fall had been so quickly accomplished, and Jumbo had offered +so feeble a resistance, that the Troy faction at once accepted the +wrestling-match as theirs, and the Kingstonians gave up the evening as +hopelessly lost. + +Jumbo was especially covered with chagrin, since he had practised so +long, and had builded so many hopes on this victory; worst of all, the +whole success of the contest between the two academies depended on his +victory. + +When, then, after a rest, the referee called "Time!" Ware came +stalking up jauntily and confidently; but Jumbo, instead of skulking, +was up, and at, and on him like a wildcat. Ware had expected that the +Lakerim youngster would pursue the same elusive tactics as before, and +he was all amaze while Jumbo was seizing his left hand with his own +left hand, and, darting round behind him, was bending Ware's arm +backward and upward into the Hammerlock. + +The pain of this twist sent Ware's body forward, so that Jumbo could +reach up under his right armpit and, placing the palm of his right +hand on the back of Ware's head, make use of that crowbar known as the +right Half-Nelson. This pressure was gradually forcing Ware forward on +the top of his head; but he knew the proper break for the Hammerlock, +and simply threw himself face forward on the mat. + +As he rose to his knees again Jumbo pounced on him like a hawk, and +while Ware waited patiently the little Lakerimmer was reaching under +Ware's armpit again for another Half-Nelson; but Ware simply dodged +the grasping of Jumbo's right hand, or, bringing his right arm +vigorously back and down, so checked Jumbo's arm that the boy could +not reach his neck. Jumbo now tried, by leaning his left forearm and +all his weight upon Ware's head, to bring it into reach; but Ware's +neck was too strong, and when he stiffened it Jumbo could not force it +down. + +Ware waited in amused patience to learn just how much Jumbo knew about +wrestling. Jumbo wandered around on his knees, feinting for another +Half-Nelson, and making many false plays to throw Ware off his guard. + +Suddenly, while Ware seemed to be all neck against a Half-Nelson, +Jumbo dropped to his knees near Ware's right arm, and, shooting his +left arm under Ware's body and his right arm across beneath Ware's +chin, laid violent hold on the man's left arm near the shoulder with +what is known as the Farther-Arm Hold. Jumbo's movement was so quick +and unexpected that Ware could not parry it by throwing his left leg +out and forward for a brake. He realized at once that he would have to +go, and when Jumbo gave a quick yank he rolled over and bridged. But +Jumbo followed him quickly over, and clasping Ware's left arm between +his legs, he forced the right arm out straight also with both his +hands so that Ware could not roll. Then he simply pressed with all his +force upon Ware's chest. And waited. + +Also weighted. + +Ware squirmed and wriggled and grunted and writhed, but there was no +escape for him, and while he stuck it out manfully, with Jumbo heavy +upon him, he knew that he was a goner. + +And finally, with a sickly groan, London Bridge came a-falling down. + +The bout was Jumbo's, and he retired to his corner with a heart much +lighter. The applause of the audience, the rip-roaring enthusiasm +of the Kingston Academy yell, followed by the beloved club cry of +Lakerim, rejoiced him mightily. He had put down a man far heavier +than he; and he felt that possibly, perchance, maybe, there was a +probability of a contingency in which he might be able to have a +chance of downing him once more--perhaps. + +It was a very cool and cautious young man that came forward to +represent Kingston when the referee exclaimed: + +"Shake hands for the third and last bout!" + +Jumbo, as soon as he had released Ware's fingers, dropped to his +hands and knees on the mat, squatting far back on his haunches, and +manifested a cheerful willingness to go almost anywhere except on the +back of his two shoulders. + +It was Ware's turn to be aggressive now, for he had been laughed at +not a little for being downed by so small an opponent. He spent some +time and more strength in picking Jumbo up bodily from the mat and +dropping him all over the place. Jumbo's practice at bridging stood +him in excellent stead now, and he got out of many a tight corner by a +quick, firm bridge or a sudden spin. + +Ware time after time forced one of the boy's shoulders to the mat, +and strove with all his vim to force the other shoulder down. And +he generally succeeded; but the first always came up. Jumbo went +willingly from one shoulder to the other, but never from one to both. +He frequently showed a most obliging disposition, and did what Ware +wanted him to, or, rather, he did just that and a little more--he +always went too far; and Ware was becoming convinced that he never +could get those two obstinate shoulder-blades to the mat at the same +time. + +After much puttering, he reached the goal of his ambition, and got +the deadly Full-Nelson on Jumbo's head, and forced it slowly and +irresistibly down. Just as he was congratulating himself that he had +his fish landed, Jumbo suddenly whirled his legs forward and assumed a +sitting position. The whole problem was reversed. Ware rose wearily to +his feet, and Jumbo returned to his hands and knees. + +Once more Ware strove for the Nelson. He was jabbing Jumbo's head and +trying to shove it down within reach of his right hand. Suddenly, with +a surprising abruptness, Jumbo's head was not there,--he had jerked it +quickly to one side,--and Ware's hand slipped down and almost touched +the floor. But the watchful Jumbo had seized Ware's wrist with +both hands, and returned to the big fellow the compliment of the +Straight-Ann Leverage and the Flying Mere which had been so fatal +to himself in the first bout. Ware's fall was not nearly so far as +Jumbo's had been, and he managed to bridge and save himself. + +Before Jumbo could settle on his chest, Ware was out of danger. But he +went to his hands and knees in a defensive attitude that showed he was +nearly worn out. + +Jumbo did not see just what right Ware had to imitate his own +position, and the two of them sprawled like frogs, eying each other +jealously. + +Jumbo soon saw that he was expected to take the aggressive or go +to sleep; so, with a lazy sigh, he began snooping around for those +nuggets of wrestling, the Nelsons. After foiling many efforts, the +Trojan noted all at once that Jumbo's head was not above Ware's +shoulders, but back of the right armpit. In a flash a thought of pity +went through Ware's brain. + +"Poor fool!" he almost groaned aloud; and reaching back, he gathered +Jumbo's head into chancery. + +A sigh went up from all Kingston, and Sawed-Off gasped: + +"Poor Jumbo 's gone!" + +But just as Ware, chuckling with glee, started to roll Jumbo over, the +boy swung at right angles across Ware's back, and brought the Trojan's +arm helplessly to the Hammerlock. + +This was a new trick to Ware, one he had never heard of, but one that +he understood and respected immediately. He yielded to it judiciously, +and managed to spin on his head before Jumbo could land on his chest. + +Ware had more respect now for Jumbo, and decided to keep him on the +defensive, especially as a bystander announced that the time was +almost up. + +Ware rushed the contest, and, after many failures, managed to secure a +perfect Full-Nelson. Jumbo's position was such that there was no way +for him to squirm out. He resisted until it seemed that his neck would +break. In vain. His head was slowly forced under. + +And now his shoulders began to follow, and he was rolling over on his +back. + +One shoulder is down. + +The referee is on all fours, his cheek almost to the ground. He is +watching for the meeting of those two shoulders upon the mat. + +The Kingstonians have given up, and the Trojans have their cheers all +ready. + +And now the despairing Jumbo feels that his last minute has come. But +just for the fraction of a second he sees that the cautious Ware is +slightly changing his hold. + +With a sudden, a terrific effort, he throws all his soul into his +muscles--closes his arms like a vise on Ware's arms. The Nelson is +broken, or weakened into uselessness. He draws his head into his +shoulders as a turtle's head is drawn into its shell, whirls like +lightning on the top of his head to his other shoulder, and on over, +carrying the horrified Ware with him, plouncing the Trojan flat on his +back, and plumping down on top of him. + +And the excited referee went over on his back also, and kicked his +heels foolishly in the air as he cried: + +"Down!" + +Jumbo had won the match. + +This brought the score of contests back to a tie, and the result of +these Olympic games now rested entirely on the victors of the Tug of +War. + + + + +XXVI + + +Curiously enough, the Trojans and the Kingstonians had each won a +series of firsts, seconds, and thirds that totaled up the same. So the +Tug of War, which had been intended only for an exhibition, became in +a sense the deciding event of the whole contest. + +The captain of the Kingston four was the large Sawed-Off, who was also +the anchor of his team. He came out upon the floor, wearing around his +waist a belt that was almost as graceful as a horse-collar, and quite +as heavy, made, as it was, of padded leather. It was suspended from +his shoulders like a life-belt, and carried a deep groove around the +middle of it. + +The Troy captain had a similar contrivance about him, and he looked +somewhat contemptuously upon the Kingstonians, who had not the beefy, +brawny look of his own big four. + +The eight took their places on the long board, each man with his feet +against a cleat. The rope was marked in its exact center with a white +cord, and held there by a lever, which the umpire pressed down with +his foot. + +The Troy tuggers took a stout hold on the rope and faced the +Kingstonians gloweringly. The Kingston men, however, faced to the rear +and straddled the rope--all except Sawed-Off, who had wrapped it round +his belt, and taken a hitch in it for security. He faced the Trojans, +and hoped that science would defeat beef once more in the history of +athletics. + +When all were ready the umpire shouted "Go!" and at the same instant +released the lever and the cable. + +The Trojans threw all their muscle into one terrific jerk; but each of +Sawed-Off's men, gripping the cable in front of him at arm's-length, +fell forward, face down. + +By the impact of their full weight, and by relying not merely upon +their arms, but on the whole pull of back and legs, the Kingstonians +gave the rope a yank that would have annoyed an oak-tree, and +certainly left the Trojans no chance. + +After this first assault the teams found themselves thus: The +Kingstonians were stretched prone upon the board with their legs +straight against the cleats; Sawed-Off was braced against his cleat +and seated, facing Troy. The rival team was seated, but with knees +bent; and their captain glared amazed at Sawed-Off, who was busily +taking in over a foot of captured cable. + +The Trojan captain, Winthrop by name, gave a signal grunt, to which +his men responded with a fury, regaining about two of the lost inches. +This lifted Sawed-Off slightly off the board, and in response to three +or four bitter wrenches from Troy, he was forced to let them have six +inches more cable, lest they cut him in two like a cake of soap. + +But Kingston had learned, by painful experience, the signals of the +Troy captain; and just as the Trojans were reaching confidently +forward for a new hold, the alert Sawed-Off murmured a quick hint, and +his men gave a sudden hunch that took the enemy unawares, and brought +back home three inches of beautiful rope. The same watchfulness won +another three; and there they held the white string, a foot to their +side, when the time was up and the lever was clamped down. + +After a short rest, the men resined their hands anew and prepared for +the second pull. The Trojan captain had been wise enough to see the +advantage of the Kingston forward fall, and he was not too modest to +adopt it. + +When the lever was supped the second time both teams fell face +downward. But now Troy's greater bulk told to her advantage, and she +carried the white cord six inches to her side. + +The Kingstons lay with their knees bent. + +Now Sawed-Off tried a preconcerted trick signal. With ominous tone he +cried: + +"Now, boys--all together--heave!" + +At the word "heave" the Trojans braced like oxen against the expected +jerk; but none came, and they relaxed a little, feeling that they had +been fooled. But Sawed-Off's men were slowly and silently counting +five, and then, with a mighty heave, they yearned forward, and +catching the Winthrop team unprepared, got back four inches. They +tried it again, and made only about an inch. A third time Sawed-Off +gave the signal, and the Trojans, recognizing it, waited a bit before +bracing for the shock. But for the third time Sawed-Off had arranged +that the pull should immediately follow the command. Again the Trojans +were fooled, and the white went two inches into Kingston territory. + +The Trojans now grew angry and panicky, and began to wrench and twist +without regard for one another. The result of this was that Kingston +gradually gained three inches more before Winthrop could coax his men +back to reason and team-work. + +The time was almost gone now, and he got his men into a series of +well-concerted, steady, deadly efforts, that threatened to bring the +whole Kingston four over with the snail-like white cord. But Sawed-Off +pleaded with his men, and they buried their faces in the board and +worked like mad. To the spectators they seemed hardly to move, but +under their skins their muscles were crowding and shoving like a gang +of slaves, and fairly squeezing streams of sweat out of them as if +their gleaming hides were sponges. + +And then, after what seemed a whole night of agony, the white cord +budged no more, though the Trojans pulled themselves almost inside +out; and suddenly the lever nipped the rope, and the contest was over. +The Trojans were all faint, and the head of Winthrop fell forward +limply. Even Sawed-Off was so dizzy that he had to be helped across +the floor by his friends. But they were glad enough to pay him this +aid. + +All Kingston had learned to love the sturdy giant, and the Lakerimmers +were prouder of him than ever, for it was through him that the fatal +balance had been pulled down to Kingston's side, so that the team +could take another victory home with them to the Academy. + + + + +XXVII + + +As the school year rolled on toward its finish in June, times became +busier and busier for the students, especially for the Lakerimmers, +who felt a great responsibility upon their shoulders, the +responsibility of keeping the Lakerim Athletic Club pennant flying +to the fore in all the different businesses of academic life--in the +classroom, at the prize speaking, in the debating society, and, most +of all, in the different athletic affairs. + +It was no longer necessary, as it had been at home in Lakerim, for the +same twelve men to play all the games known to humanity--to make a +specialty of everything, so to speak. At Kingston, while they were +still one body and soul, and kept up their union with constant powwows +in one another's rooms, but most often in Tug's, they were divided +variously among the athletic teams, where each one felt that his own +honor was Lakerim's. + +Their motto was the motto of the Three Musketeers: "All for one, and +one for all." + +The springtime athletics found the best of them choosing between the +boat crew and the ball team. It was a hard choice for some of them +who loved to be Jacks-at-all-trades, but a choice was necessary. The +Kingston Academy possessed so many good fellows that not all of the +Dozen found a place on the eight or the nine; still, there were +enough of them successful to keep Lakerim material still strongly in +evidence. + +Of the men that tried for the crew, all were sifted out, gradually, +except B.J., Quiz, and Punk. The training was a severe one, under a +coach who had graduated some years before from Kingston, and had come +back to bring his beloved Academy first across the line, as it had +gone the year he had captained the crew. + +As the training went on, the man who had been elected captain of the +eight worked so faithfully--or overworked so faithfully--that he was +trained up to the finest point some two or three weeks before the +great regatta of academies. Every day after that he lost in form, in +spite of himself, and the coach had finally to make him abdicate the +throne; and Punk, who had worked in his usual slow and conservative +fashion, seemed the fittest man to succeed him. So Punk became captain +of the crew, and found himself at the old post of stroke-oar. + +On the day of the great Henley of the Interscholastic League, when all +the crews had got away in their best style, after two vexatious false +starts, Punk slowly, and without any impatience, urged his crew past +all the others, till Kingston led them all. + +From this place he could study his rivals well, and after some +shifting of positions, he saw the Troy Latin School eight coming +cleanly out of the parade and making swiftly after him. Suddenly a +great nervousness seized him, because he remembered the time, the year +before, when the Lakerim crew rowed Troy, and when his oar had broken +just before the finish, so that he had been compelled to jump out into +the water, and had missed the joy of riding over the line with his +winning Lakerimmers. He wondered now if this oar would also play him +false. + +But he had selected it with experienced care, and hard as he strained +it, and pathetically as it groaned, it stood him in good stead, +and carried him, and the seven who rowed with him, safely into the +paradise of victory. + + + + +XXVIII + + +Of the Lakerimmers who tried for the baseball team, four men were +elevated to the glory of positions on the regular nine. + +Sleepy had somehow proved that left-field was safer when he was +seeming to take a nap there than it was under the guard of any of the +more restless players. + +Tug was a second baseman, whose cool head made him a good man at that +pivot of the field; he was an able assistant to the right-field, a +ready back-stop to the short-stop, and a perfect spider for taking +into his web all the wild throws that came slashing from the home +plate to cut off those who dared to try to steal his base. + +Sawed-Off was the nearest of all the Kingstonians to resembling a +telegraph-pole, so he had no real competitors for first base. He +declined to play, however, unless Jumbo were given the position of +short-stop; and Jumbo soon proved that he had some other rights to the +position besides a powerful pull. + +Reddy and Heady had worked like beavers to be accepted as the battery, +but the pitcher and catcher of the year before were so satisfactory +that the Twins could get no nearer to their ambitions than the +substitute-list, and there it seemed they were pretty sure to remain +upon the shelf, in spite of all the practice they had kept up, even +through the winter. + +The Kingston ball-team had found its only rival to the championship of +the Interscholastic League in the nine from the Charleston Preparatory +School. The Kingstonians all plucked up hope, however, when they found +themselves at the end of the season one game ahead of Charleston; or, +at least, they called it one game ahead, for Charleston had played off +its schedule, and Kingston had only one more nine to defeat, and that +was the Brownsville School for Boys, the poorest team in the whole +League, a pack of good-for-nothings with butter on their fingers and +holes in their bats. So Kingston counted the pennant as good as won. + +Down the team went to Brownsville, then, just to see how big a score +they could roll up. Back they came from Brownsville so dazed they +almost rode past the Kingston station. For when they had reached the +ballground, one of those curious moods that attacks a team as it +attacks a single person seized them and took away the whole knack that +had won them so many games. The Brownsvillers, on the other hand, +seemed to have been inspired by something in the air. They simply +could not muff the ball or strike out. They found and pounded the +curves of the Kingston pitcher so badly that the substitute battery +would have been put in had they not been left behind because it was +not thought worth while to pay their fare down to Brownsville. + +The upshot of the horrible afternoon was that Brownsville sent +Kingston home with its feelings bruised black and blue, and its record +done up in cotton. It was a good thing that Kingston had prepared no +bonfire for the victory they had thought would be so easy, because if +the defeated nine had been met with such a mockery they would surely +have perished of mortification. + +The loss of this game--think of it, the score was 14 to 2!--tied the +Kingstonians with the Charlestonians, and another game was necessary +to decide the contest for the pennant. That game was immediately +arranged for commencement week on the Kingston grounds. + +And now the Twins, who had resigned themselves to having never a +chance on the nine, found themselves suddenly called upon to pitch and +catch in _the_ game of the year; for the drubbing the regular pitcher +had received had destroyed the confidence of the team in his ability +to pitch a second time successfully against the Charlestonians. + +To make matters worse, the game was to come almost in the very midst +of the final examinations of the year, and the Twins became so mixed +up in their efforts to cram into their heads all the knowledge in the +world, and to pull out of their fingers all of the curves known to +science, that one day Reddy said to Heady: + +"I half believe that when I get up for oral examination I'll be so +rattled that, instead of answering the question, I'll try to throw the +ink-bottle on an upshoot at the professor's head." + +And Heady answered, even more glumly: + +"I wouldn't mind that so much; what I'm afraid of is that when you +really need to use that out-curve you'll throw only a few dates at the +batter. I will signal for an out-curve, and you'll stand in the box +and tie yourself in a bow-knot, and throw at me something about +Columbus discovering America in 1776; or you'll reel off some problem +about plastering the inside of a room, leaving room for four doors and +six windows." + +When the day of the game arrived, however, Reddy and Heady took their +positions with the proud satisfaction of knowing that they had passed +all their school-book examinations. Now they wondered what percentage +they would make in their baseball examination. + +Sleepy, however, went out to left-field not knowing where he stood. +He knew so little about his books, indeed, that even after the +examination was over he could tell none of the fellows what answers he +had made to what questions, and so they could not tell him whether or +no he had failed ignominiously or passed accidentally. This worry, +however, sat very lightly on Sleepy's nerves. + +The largest crowd of the year was gathered to witness the greatest +game of the year, and Charleston and Kingston were tuned up to the +highest pitch they could reach without breaking. The day was perfect, +and in the preliminary practice the Kingstonians showed that they were +determined to wipe out the disgrace of the Brownsville game, or at +least to cover it up with the scalps of the Charlestonians. + +At length the Charlestonians were called in by their captain, for they +were first at bat. The Kingstonians dispread themselves over the field +in their various positions. The umpire tossed to the nervous Reddy +what seemed to be a snowball, whose whiteness he immediately covered +with dust from the box. The Charlestonian batter came to the plate and +tapped it smartly three or four times. The umpire sang out: + +"Play-ball!" + +Reddy cast a nervous look around the field, then went into a spasm +in which he seemed to be trying to "skin the cat" on an invisible +turning-pole. Out of the mix-up he suddenly straightened himself. The +first baseman saw a dusty white cannon-ball shoot past him, and heard +the umpire's dulcet voice growl: + +"Strike!" + +Which pleased the Kingston audience so mightily that they broke forth +into cheers and applause that upset Reddy so completely that the next +ball slipped from his hand and came toward the first baseman so gently +that he could hardly have missed it had he tried. + +The Kingstonian cheer disappeared in a groan as everybody heard that +unmistakable whack that resounds whenever the bat and the ball meet +face to face. But the very sureness of the hit was its ruination, for +it went soaring like a carrier-pigeon straight home to the hands of +Sleepy, who, without moving from his place, reached up and took it in. + +The Kingston groan was now changed back again to a cheer, and the +first batter of the first half of the first inning had scored the +first "out." + +The Charleston third baseman now came to the bat. Three times in +succession Reddy failed to get the ball over the plate, and the man +evidently had made up his mind that he was to get his base on balls, +for at the fourth pitch he dropped his bat and started for first base, +only to be called back by the umpire's voice declaring a strike. To +his immense disgust, two other strikes followed it, and he went to the +bench instead of to the base. + +The third Charlestonian caught the first ball pitched by Reddy, and +sent it bounding toward Jumbo, who ripped it off the ground and had +it in the hands of his chum Sawed-Off before the Charlestonian was +half-way to first base. + +This retired the side, and the Kingstonians came in to bat amid a +pleasant April shower of applause. + +Sawed-Off was the first Kingston man to take a club to the +Charlestonians. He waved his bat violently up and down, and stared +fiercely at the Charleston pitcher. His ferocity disappeared, however, +when he saw the ball coming at a frightful speed straight at him, and +threatening to take a large scoop out of his stomach. He stretched up +and back and away from it with a ridiculous wiggle, that was the more +ridiculous when he saw the ball curve harmlessly over the plate and +heard the umpire cry: + +"Strike--one!" + +He upbraided himself for his fear, and when the next ball was pitched, +though he felt sure that it was going to strike him on the shoulder, +he did not budge. But here he made mistake number two; for the ball +did not curve as the pitcher had intended, but gave the batter a sharp +nip just where it said it would. The only apology the pitcher made was +the rueful look with which he watched Sawed-Off going down to first +base. + +The Kingston center-fielder was the next at the bat, and he sent a +little Roman candle of a fly that fell cozily into the third baseman's +hands. + +Jumbo now came to the plate, and swinged at the ball so violently that +one might have thought he was trying to lift Sawed-Off bodily from +first base to second. But he managed only to send a slow coach of a +liner, that raced him to first base and beat him there. Sawed-Off, +however, had managed to make second before the Charleston first +baseman could throw him out, and there he pined away, for the Kingston +third baseman struck out, possibly in compliment to the Charleston +third baseman, who had done the same thing. + +This complimentary spirit seemed to fill the short-stop also, for he +sent down to his rival Jumbo a considerately easy little fly, which +stuck to Jumbo's palms as firmly as if there had been fly-paper on +them. + +The Charleston catcher now found Reddy for a clean base-hit between +left and center field. He tried to stretch it into a two-base hit, and +the Kingston center fielded the ball in so slowly that he succeeded in +his grasping attempt. + +The Charlestonian second baseman made a sacrifice hit that advanced +the catcher to third. And now the pitcher came to the bat, eager to +bring home the wretch at whom he had hurled his swiftest curves. His +anxiety led him into making two foolish jabs at curves that were out +of his reach, and finally he caught one just on the tip of his bat, +and it went neatly into Tug's hand, leaving the catcher to perish on +third base. + +Sleepy now came to the bat for Kingston, and, without making any +undue exertion, deftly placed a fly between the short-stop and the +left-fielder, and reached first base on a canter. He made no rash +attempts to steal second, but waited to be assisted there. The +Kingston right-fielder, however, struck out and made way for Reddy. + +Reddy, though a pitcher, was, like most pitchers, unable to solve the +mystery of a rival's curves for more than a little grounder, that lost +him first base, and forced Sleepy to a most uncomfortable exertion to +keep from being headed off at second. + +Tug now came to the bat; but, unfortunately, while the hit he knocked +was a sturdy one, it went toward third base, and Sleepy did not dare +venture off second, though he made a feint at third which engaged the +baseman's attention until Tug reached first. + +Heady now came to the bat, and some of the Charlestonians insisted +that he had batted before; but they were soon convinced of their error +when the Twins were placed side by side. + +Heady puzzled them even more, however, by scratching off just such +another measly bunt as his brother had failed with, and when he was +put out at first Sleepy and Tug realized that their running had been +in vain. Sleepy thought of the terrific inconvenience the struggle for +the three bases had caused him, and was almost sorry that he had not +struck out in the first place. + +The Charleston right-fielder opened the third inning with a graceful +fly just this side the right-fielder's reach, in that field where +base-hits seem to grow most plentifully. The Kingston center-fielder +was presented with a base on balls, which forced the right-fielder to +second base. Now Reddy recovered sufficiently to strike out the next +Charleston batter, though the one after him sent into right field a +long, low fly, which the Kingston right-fielder caught on the first +bound, and hurled furiously to third base to head off the Charleston +runner. The throw was wild, and a sickening sensation went through the +hearts of all as they saw it hurtle past the third baseman. + +The Charleston runner rejoiced, and giving the bag a mere touch with +his foot, started gaily for home. A warning cry from his coach, +however, checked him in full speed, and he whirled about to see that +Sleepy, foreseeing the throw from right-field as soon as the ball left +the bat, had sauntered over behind the third baseman, had stopped the +wild throw, and now stood waiting for the base-runner to declare his +intention before he threw the ball. The Charlestonian made a quick +dash to get back to third; but Sleepy had the ball in the third +baseman's hands before him. + +Now the third baseman saw that the second Kingston runner had also +been wavering uncertainly between second and third, ready to reach +third if Sleepy threw for home, and to return to second if he threw +to third. The third baseman started toward the runner, making many +pretenses of throwing the ball, and keeping the poor base-runner on +such a razor-edge of uncertainty that he actually allowed himself to +be touched out with barely a wriggle. This double play retired the +side. It was credited to the third baseman; but the real glory +belonged to Sleepy, and the crowd gave him the applause. + +Once more Sawed-Off towered at the bat. He was willing to take another +bruise if he could be assured of getting to first base; but the +pitcher was so wary of striking him this time that he gave him his +base on balls, and Sawed-Off lifted his hat to him in gratitude for +this second gift. + +The center-fielder knocked a fly into the hands of the first baseman, +who stood on the bag. Sawed-Off barely escaped falling victim to a +double play by beating the fly to first. + +Again Jumbo labored mightily to advance Sawed-Off, and did indeed +get him to second on a well-situated base-hit. The next Kingstonian, +however, the third baseman, knocked to the second baseman a bee-liner +that was so straight and hot that the second baseman could neither +have dodged nor missed it had he tried; so he just held on to it, and +set his foot on the bag, and caught Sawed-Off before he could get back +to the base. + +The fourth inning was opened by a Charlestonian, who sent a singing +fly right over Sawed-Off's head. He seemed to double his length like +a jack-knife. When he shut up again, however, the ball was not in his +hand, but down in the right-field. It was a master stroke, but, worth +only one base to Charleston. + +The second man at the bat fell prey to Reddy's bewildering curves, and +Reddy heard again that sweetest sound a pitcher can hear, the umpire's +voice crying: + +"Striker--out!" + +The Charlestonian who had lined out the beautiful base-hit proved +himself the possessor of a pair of heels as good as his pair of eyes, +and just as Reddy had declared by his motions such a readiness to +pitch the ball that he could not have changed his mind without being +declared guilty of a balk--just at that instant the Charlestonian +dashed madly for second base. Heady snatched off his mask and threw +the ball to second with all the speed and correctness he was master +of; but the throw went just so far to the right that Tug, leaning far +out, could not recover himself in time to touch the runner. + +[Illustration: "'STRIKER--OUT!'"] + +These two now began to play a game of hide-and-seek about second base, +much to Reddy's discomfort. There is nothing so annoying to a pitcher +as the presence of a courageous and speedy base-runner on the second +base; for the pitcher has always the threefold terror that in whirling +suddenly he may be found guilty of balking, or in facing about quickly +he may make a wild throw; and yet if he does not keep a sharp eye in +the back of his head, the base-runner can play off far enough to stand +a good chance of stealing third safely. + +Reddy engaged in this three-cornered duel so ardently that before he +knew it he had given the man at the bat a base on balls. This added to +his confusion, and seeing at the bat the Charleston catcher who had in +the second inning knocked out a perfect base-hit and made two bases +on it, Reddy left the wily fox at second base to his own devices, and +paid no heed to Tug's efforts to beat the man back to second. Suddenly +the fellow made a dart for third; though Heady's throw was straight +and swift, the fellow dived for the base, and slid into safety under +the ball. In the shadow of this dash the other Charleston base-runner +took second base without protest. + +The Charleston catcher was evidently determined to bring in at least +one run, or die trying. He smashed at every ball that Reddy pitched. +He only succeeded, however, in making a number of fouls. But Reddy +shuddered for the score when he realized how well the Charleston +catcher was studying his best curves. Suddenly the man struck up a +sky-scraping foul. Everybody yelled at once: "Over your head!" + +And Heady, ripping away his mask again, whirled round and round, +trying to find the little globule in the dazzling sky. He gimleted all +over the space back of the plate before he finally made out the ball +coming to earth many feet in front of him. He made a desperate lunge +for it and caught it. And Reddy's groan of relief could be heard clear +from the pitcher's box. + +The Charleston catcher, in a great huff, threw his bat to the ground +with such violence that it broke, and he gave way to the second +baseman, who had made a sacrifice hit in the second inning--which +advanced the catcher one base. The man realized, however, that a +sacrifice in this inning, with two men already out, would not be so +advantageous as before. He made an heroic attempt, resulting in a +clean drive that hummed past Reddy like a Mauser bullet, and chose a +path exactly between Jumbo and Tug. It was evident that no Kingston +man could stop it in time to throw either to first base or home ahead +of a Charleston man; but since Kingston could not put the side out +before a run was scored, the Charlestonians cheerfully consented to +put themselves out; that is, the base-runner on second, making a +furious dash for third, ran ker-plunk into the ball, which recorded +itself on his funny-bone. + +When he fell to the ground yelping with torment, I am afraid that +the Kingstonians showed little of the Good Samaritan spirit, for the +ball-nine and the Kingston sympathizers in the crowd indulged in +a jubilation such as a Roman throng gave vent to when a favorite +gladiator had floored some new savage. + +The Kingston men came in from the field arm in arm, but it was not +long before they were once more sauntering out into the field, for not +one of them reached first base. + +A game without runs is not usually half so interesting to the crowd as +one in which there is free batting and a generous sprinkling of runs. +The average spectator is not sport enough to feel sorry for the +pitcher when a home run has been knocked over the fence, or to feel +sorry for a fielder who lets a ball through his fingers and sends the +base-runners on their way rejoicing. To your thorough sport, though, +a scientific, well-balanced game is the most interesting. He likes to +see runs earned, if scored at all, and has sympathy but no interest +for a pitcher who permits himself to be knocked out of the box. + +A more nicely balanced game than this between Kingston and Charleston +could hardly be imagined, and there was something in the air or in +the game that made the young teams play like veterans. Each worked +together like a clock of nine cog-wheels. + +Though the next four innings were altogether different from one +another in batting and fielding, they were exactly alike in that they +were all totaled at the bottom of the column, with a large blank +goose-egg. + +At the opening of the ninth inning even the uncultured members of the +crowd--those unscientific ingoramuses that had voted the game a dull +one because no one had made the circuit of the bases--even these sat +up and breathed fast, and wondered what was going to happen. They had +not drawn many breaths before the Kingston catcher rapped on the plate +and threw back his bat to knock the stuffing out of any ball that +Reddy might hurl at him; and, indeed, his intentions were nearly +realized, for the very first throw that Reddy made hit the bull's-eye +on the Charleston bat, and then leaped away with a thwack. + +Reddy leaped for it first, but it went far from his fingers. + +Next after him Tug went up into the air and fell back beautifully. + +And after him--just as if they had been jumping-jacks--the +center-fielder bounded high and clutched at the ball, but past his +finger-tips, too, it went, and he turned ignominiously after it. If he +was running the Charlestonian was flying. He shot across first base, +and on, just grazing second base--unseen by Tug, who had turned his +back and was yelling vainly to the center-fielder to throw him the +ball he had not yet caught up with. On the Charlestonian sped in a +blind hurry. He very much resembled a young man decidedly anxious to +get home as soon as possible. He flew past third base and on down like +an antelope to the plate. This he spurned with his toe as he ran on, +unable to check his furious impetus, until he fell in the arms of the +other Charleston players on the bench. + +And then the Charleston faction in the crowd raised crawled in at the +back door and been ousted unceremoniously! + +The Kingstonians had certainly played a beautiful game, but +the Charlestonians had played one quite as good. All that the +Kingston-lovers could do when they saw their nine come to the bat for +the ninth time was to look uncomfortable, mop their brows, and remark: + +"Whew!" + +The Kingstonian center-fielder was the first to the bat, and he struck +out. + +Then Jumbo appeared, and played a waiting game he was very fond of: +while pretending to be willing to hit anything that was pitched, he +almost always let the ball go by him; and since he was so short and +stocky,--"built so close to the ground," as he expressed it,--the +pitcher usually threw too high, and Jumbo got his base on balls +a dozen times where he earned it with a base-hit or lost it on a +strike-out. + +And now he reached first base in his old pet way, and made ardent +preparations to steal second; but his enterprise was short-lived, for +the Kingston third baseman knocked an easy grounder to the short-stop, +who picked it from the ground and tossed it into the second baseman's +hands almost with one motion; and the second baseman, just touching +the base with his toe to put Jumbo out on a forced run, made a clean +throw to first that put out the batsman also, and with him the side. + +The scientists marked down upon the calendars of their memory the fact +that they had seen two preparatory school teams play a nine-inning +game without scoring a run. The others in the crowd only felt sick +with hope deferred, and wondered if that home plate were going to be +as difficult to reach as the north pole. + +The Charleston third baseman came to the bat first for his side in the +tenth inning, and he struck out. The left-fielder followed him, and +by knocking a little bunt that buzzed like a top just in front of the +plate, managed to agonize his way to first base before Reddy and Heady +could field the ball, both of them having jumped for it and reached it +at the same time. But this man, making a rash and foolish effort to +steal second, was given the eighteenth-century punishment of death for +theft, Heady having made a perfect throw from the plate. + +The Charleston short-stop reached second on a fly muffed by the +Kingston right-fielder--the first error made by this excellent player. + +And now once more the redoubtable Charleston catcher appeared at the +bat. Once more he showed his understanding of Reddy's science. This +time he was evidently determined to wipe out the mistake he had made +of too great haste on his previous home runs. After warming up with +two strikes, and letting three balls pass, he found the ball where he +wanted it, and drove out into left-field a magnificent fly. + +Pretty saw it coming, and turning, ran to the best of his ability for +the uttermost edge of his field, hoping only to delay the course of +the ball. At length it overtook him, and even as he ran he sprang into +the air and clutched upward for it, and struck it as if he would bat +it back to the home plate. + +It did not stick to his fingers, but none of the scorers counted it as +an error on the clean square beside his name under the letter E. He +had not achieved the impossible of catching it, but he had done the +next best thing: he had knocked it to the ground and run it down in +two or three steps, and turned, and drawing backward till the ball +almost touched the ground behind him, had strained every muscle with a +furious lunge, and sent the ball flying for home in a desperate race +with the Charleston short-stop, who had passed third base and was +sprinting for dear life homeward. + +At the plate stood Heady, beckoning the carrier-pigeon home with +frantic hope, Sawed-Off and Reddy both rushing to get behind him and +back him up, so that at least not more than one run should be scored. + +With a gasp of resolve the Charleston runner, seeing by Heady's eyes +that the ball was just at hand, flung himself to the ground, hoping to +lay at least a finger-tip on the plate; but there was a quick thwack +as the ball struck Heady's gloves, there was a stinging blow at the +Charlestonian's right shoulder-blade, and the shrill cry of the +umpire: + +"Out!" + +Once more the spectators shifted in their seats and knit their brows, +and observed: + +"Whew!" + +And now Sleepy opened the second half of the tenth inning. He had a +little splutter of applause for his magnificent throw when he came to +the plate; but he either was dreaming of base-hits and did not +hear it, or was too lazy to lift his cap, for he made no sign of +recognition. He made a sign of recognition of the Charleston's +pitcher's first upshoot, however, for he sent it spinning leisurely +down into right-field--so leisurely that even he beat it to first +base. The Kingston right-fielder now atoned for his previous error by +a ringing hit that took Sleepy on a comfortable jog to second base and +placed himself safely on first. + +Then Reddy came to the bat. He was saved the chagrin of striking out +to his deadly rival, but the hit he knocked was only a little fly that +the pitcher caught. The two base-runners, however, had not had great +expectations of Reddy's batting prowess, so they did not stray far +from their bases, and were not caught napping. + +Now Tug came to the bat; and while he was gathering his strength for +a death-dealing blow at the ball, the two base-runners made ready to +take advantage of anything he should hit. The right-fielder played off +too far, and, to Tug's despair, was caught by a quick throw from the +pitcher to the first baseman. + +Tug's heart turned sick within him, for there were two men out, and +the only man on base was Sleepy, who could never be counted on to make +a two-base run on a one-base hit. + +As Tug stood bewailing his fate, the ball shot past him, and the +umpire cried: + +"Strike--one!" + +Tug shook himself together with a jolt, and struck furiously at the +next ball. + +"Strike--two!" sang the umpire. + +And now the umpire had upon his lips the fatal words: + +"Strike--three!" + +For as he looked down the line traced in the air by the ball, he saw +that Tug had misjudged it. But for once science meant suicide; for +though Tug struck wildly, the ball condescendingly curved down and +fell full and fair upon the bat, and danced off again over the first +baseman's head and toward the feet of the right-fielder. This worthy +player ran swiftly for it and bent forward, but he could not reach it. +It struck him a smarting whack on the instep, and bounded off outside +the foul-line; and while he limped painfully after it, there was time +even for the sleepy Sleepy to reach the plate and score a run. + +And then the right-fielder, half blinded with pain, threw the ball at +nobody in particular, and it went into the crowd back of third base, +and Tug came in unopposed. + +And since the game was now Kingston's, no one waited to see whether +Heady would have knocked a home run or struck out. He was not given a +chance to bat. + + + + +CONCLUSION + + +There was great rejoicing in Kingston that night, much croaking of +tin horns, and much building of bonfires. The athletic year had been +remarkably successful, and every one realized the vital part played +in that success by the men from Lakerim--the Dozen, who had made some +enemies, as all active people must, and had made many more friends, as +all active people may. + +The rejoicing of the Lakerimmers themselves had a faint tang of +regret, for while they were all to go back to the same town together +for their vacation, yet they knew that this would be the last year of +school life they could ever spend together. Next year History, Punk, +Sawed-Off, and Jumbo were to go to college. The others had at least +one more year of preparatory work. + +And they thought, too, that this first separation into two parts was +only the beginning of many separations that should finally scatter +them perhaps over the four quarters of the globe. + +There was Bobbles, for instance, who had an uncle that was a great +sugar magnate in the Hawaiian Islands, and had offered him a position +there whenever he was ready for it. + +B.J. had been promised an appointment to Annapolis, for he would be a +sailor and an officer of Uncle Sam's navy. + +And Tug had been offered a chance to try for West Point, and there +were no dangers for him in either the rigid mental or the physical +examinations. + +Pretty, who had shown a wonderful gift for modeling in clay, was going +some day to Paris to study sculpture. + +And Quiz looked forward to being a lawyer. + +The Twins would go into business, since their father's busy sawmill +property would descend to both of them, and, as they thought it out, +could not very well be divided. Plainly they must make the best of +life together. It promised to be a lively existence, but a pleasant +one withal. + +History hoped to be a great writer some day, and Punk would be a +professor of something staid and quiet, Latin most probably. + +Sawed-Off and Jumbo had not made up their minds as to just what +the future was to hold for them, but they agreed, that it must be +something in partnership. + +Sleepy had never a fancy of what coming years should bring him to do; +he preferred to postpone the unpleasant task of making up his mind, +and only took the trouble to hope that the future would give him +something that offered plenty of time for sleeping and eating. + +Late into the night the Twelve sat around a waving bonfire, their eyes +twinkling at the memory of old victories and defeats, of struggles +that were pleasant, whatever their outcome, just because they were +struggles. + +At length Sleepy got himself to his feet with much difficulty. + +"Going to bed?" Jumbo sang out. + +"Nope," drawled Sleepy, and disappeared into the darkness. + +They all smiled at the thought of him, whom none of them respected and +all of them loved. + +In a space of time quite short for him, Sleepy returned with an +arm-load of books--the text-books that had given him so much trouble, +and would have given him more had they had the chance offered them. + +"Fire's getting low," was all he said, and he dumped the school-books, +every one, into the blaze. + +The other Lakerimmers knew that they had passed every examination, +either brilliantly or, at the worst, well enough to scrape through. +Sleepy did not even know whether he had failed or not; but the next +morning he found out that he should sadly need next year those books +that were charred ashes in a corner of the campus, and should have to +replace them out of his spending-money. + +That night, however, he was blissful with ignorance, and having made +a pyre of his bookish tormentors, he fell in with the jollity of the +others. + +When it grew very late silence gradually fell on the gossipy Twelve. +The beauty of the night and the union of souls seemed to be speech +enough. + +Finally the fire fell asleep, and with one mind they all rose and, +standing in a circle about glimmering ashes, clasped hands in eternal +friendship, and said: + +"Good night!" + + +THE HOME PLATE + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE DOZEN FROM LAKERIM*** + + +******* This file should be named 11062-8.txt or 11062-8.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/1/1/0/6/11062 + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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For +example an eBook of filename 10234 would be found at: + +https://www.gutenberg.org/1/0/2/3/10234 + +or filename 24689 would be found at: +https://www.gutenberg.org/2/4/6/8/24689 + +An alternative method of locating eBooks: +https://www.gutenberg.org/GUTINDEX.ALL + +*** END: FULL LICENSE *** diff --git a/old/11062-8.zip b/old/11062-8.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..d27e8f1 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/11062-8.zip diff --git a/old/11062.txt b/old/11062.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..7294e23 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/11062.txt @@ -0,0 +1,5995 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Dozen from Lakerim, by Rupert Hughes + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: The Dozen from Lakerim + +Author: Rupert Hughes + +Release Date: February 12, 2004 [eBook #11062] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: US-ASCII + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE DOZEN FROM LAKERIM*** + + +E-text prepared by Rick Niles, John Hagerson, and the Project Gutenberg +Online Distributed Proofreading Team + + + +THE DOZEN FROM LAKERIM + +By RUPERT HUGHES + +Author of "The Lakerim Athletic Club" + +WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY C.M. RELYEA + +1899. + + + + + + + + TO THE BEST + *Father* + A BOY EVER HAD + (EXCEPT POSSIBLY YOURS) +BELONGS THE DEDICATION OF THIS STORY + OF LIFE AT AN ACADEMY, + SINCE HIS GOODNESS ENABLED ME + TO KNOW IT AND WRITE IT + + + + +NOTE + + +About half of this book was published serially in "St. Nicholas." The +rest of it is here printed for the first time. If in this story of +life at a preparatory school I have neglected to say very much about +books and studies, and have stuck to far less interesting matters, +such as the games and gambols that while away the dull hours between +classes, I hope my readers will graciously forgive the omission. + + + + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS + + +IT WAS EVIDENT THAT A SEVERE STRUGGLE HAD TAKEN PLACE + +"STOP THE TRAIN AND WAIT FOR ME. I'M GOING TO KINGSTON, TOO!" + +TUG IS TREATED TO A LITTLE SURPRISE-PARTY + +QUIZ LEARNED TO SHOOT THE HILLS AT A BREATHLESS RATE + +JUMBO SAW A PAIR OF FLASHING EYES GLARING AT HIM OVER THE COVERLET + +PRETTY AND ENID + +THE CROSS-COUNTRY RUN + +THE BOXING-MATCH + +TIED UP LIKE DUMMIES IN SACKS + +"STRIKER--OUT!" + +BURNING THE BOOKS + + + + +THE DOZEN FROM LAKERIM + + + + +I + + +Some people think it great fun to build a house of cards slowly and +anxiously, and then knock it to pieces with one little snip of the +finger. Or to fix up a snow man in fine style and watch a sudden thaw +melt him out of sight. Or to write a name carefully, like a copy-book, +and with many curlicues, in the wet sand, and then scamper off and let +the first high wave smooth it away as a boy's sponge wipes from his +slate some such marvelous statement as, 12 x 12 = 120, or 384 / 16 +gives a "koshunt" of 25. When such things are erased it doesn't much +matter; but there are occasions when it hurts to have Father Time come +along and blot out the work you have taken great pains with and have +put your heart into. Twelve young gentlemen in the town of Lakerim +were feeling decidedly blue over just such an occasion. + +You may not find the town of Lakerim on the map in your geography. And +yet it was very well known to the people that lived in it. And the +Lakerim Athletic Club was very well known to those same people. And +the Lakerim Athletic Club, or, at least the twelve founders of the +club, were as blue as the June sky, because it seemed to them that +Father Time--old Granddaddy Longlegs that he is--was playing a mean +trick on them. + +For hadn't they given all their brain and muscle to building up an +athletic club that should be a credit to the town and a terror to +outsiders! And hadn't they given up every free hour for two years to +working like Trojans? though, for that matter, who ever heard of +any work the Trojans ever did that amounted to anything--except the +spending of ten years in getting themselves badly defeated by a big +wooden hobby-horse? + +But while all of the Dozen were deep in the dumps, and had their brows +tied up like a neglected fish-line, the loudest complaint was made, +of course, by the one who had done the least work in building up the +club--a lazybones who had been born tired, and had spent most of his +young life in industriously earning for himself the name of "Sleepy." + +"It's a dad-ratted shame," growled he, "for you fellows to go and +leave the club in the lurch this way, after all the trouble we have +had organizing it." + +"Yes," assented another, who was called "B.J." because he had jumped +from a high bridge once too often, and who read wild Western romances +more than was good for his peace of mind or his conversation; "it kind +of looks as if you fellows were renegades to the cause." + +None of the Twelve knew exactly what a renegade was, but it sounded +unpleasant, and the men to whom the term was applied lost their +tempers, and volunteered to clean out the club-room where they all sat +for two cents. + +But the offenders either thought they could have more fun for less +money, or hadn't the money, for they changed their tune, and the +debate went on in a more peaceful manner. + +The trouble was this: Some of you who are up on the important works of +history may have heard how these twelve youth of the High School at +Lakerim organized themselves into an athletic club that won many +victories, and how they begged, borrowed, and earned enough money to +build themselves a club-house after a year of hard work and harder +play. + +Well, now, after they had gone to all this trouble and all this +expense, and had enjoyed the fruits of their labors barely a year, lo +and behold, one third of the Dozen were planning to desert the club, +leave the town, and take their good muscles to another town, where +there was an academy! The worst of it was that this academy was the +very one that had worked hardest to keep the Lakerim Athletic +Club from being admitted into the league known as the Tri-State +Interscholastic. + +And now that the Lakerim Club had forced its way into the League, and +had won the pennant the very first year, it seemed hard that some of +the most valuable of the Lakerimmers should even consider joining +forces with a rival. The president of the club himself was one of +the deserters; and the rest of the Dozen grew very bitter, and the +arguments often reached a point where it needed only one word more to +bring on a scrimmage--a scrimmage that would make a lively football +game seem tame by comparison. + +And now the president, or "Tug," as he was always called, had been +baited long enough. He rose to his feet and proceeded to deliver an +oration with all the fervor of a Fourth-of-July orator making the +eagle scream. + +"I want you fellows to understand once for all," he cried, "that +no one loves the Lakerim Athletic Club more than I do, or is more +patriotic toward it. But now that I have graduated from the High +School, I can't consider that I know everything that is to be known. +There are one or two things to learn yet, and I intend to go to a +preparatory school, and then through college; and the best thing you +follows can do is to make your plans to do the same thing. Well, now, +seeing that my mind is made up to go to college, and seeing that +I've got to go to some preparatory school, and seeing there is no +preparatory school in Lakerim, and seeing that I have therefore got +to go to some other town, and seeing that at Kingston there is a fine +preparatory school, and seeing that I want to have some sort of a show +in athletics, and seeing that the Athletic Association of the Kingston +Academy has been kind enough to specially invite three of us fellows +to go there--why, seeing all this, I don't see that there is any +kick coming to you fellows if we three fellows take advantage of our +opportunities like sensible people; and the best advice I can give +you is to make up your minds, and make up your fathers' and mothers' +minds, to come along to Kingston Academy with us. Then there won't be +any talk about our being traitors to the Dozen, for we'll just pick +the Dozen up bodily and carry it over to Kingston! The new members +we've elected can take care of the club and the club-house." + +Tug sat down amid a silence that was more complimentary than the +wildest applause; for he had done what few orators do: he had set his +audience to thinking. Only one of the Twelve had a remark to make for +some time, and that was a small-framed, big-spectacled gnome called +"History." He leaned over and said to his elbow-companion, "Bobbles": + +"Tug is a regular Demoskenes!" + +"Who's Demoskenes?" whispered Bobbles. + +"Why, don't you remember him?" said History, proudly. "He was the +fellow that used to fill his mouth full of pebbles before he talked." + +"I'll bet he would have choked on some of your big words, though, +History," growled a little fellow called "Jumbo." + +But the man at his side, known to fame as "Punk," broke in with a +crushing: + +"Aw, let up on that old Dutchman of a Demoskenes, and let's talk +business." + +So they all got their heads together again and discussed their affairs +with the solemnity due to their importance. They talked till the +janitor went round lighting up the club-house, which reminded them +that they were keeping dinner waiting at their various homes. Then +they strolled along home. They met again and again; for the fate of +the club was a serious matter to them, and the fate of the Dozen was +a still more serious matter, because the Dozen had existed before the +club or the club-house, and their hearts ached at the mere thought of +breaking up the old and dear associations that had grown up around +their partnership in many an hour of victory and defeat. + +But where there are many souls there are many minds, and it seemed +impossible to keep the Twelve together for another year. It was +settled that Tug and Jumbo and Punk should accept the flattering +invitation of the Kingston Athletic Association, and their parents +were glad enough to have them go, seeing that Kingston was an academy +of excellent standing. + +History was also to be there, for his learning had won him a free +scholarship in a competitive examination. B.J., "Quiz," and Bobbles +were to be sent to other academies--to Charleston, to Troy, and to +Greenville; but they made life miserable for their fathers and mothers +with their pleadings, until they, too, were permitted to join their +fellows at Kingston. + +Sleepy was the only one that did not want to go, and he insisted that +he had learned all that was necessary for his purpose in life; that he +simply could not endure the thought of laboring over books any +longer. But just as the Dozen had resigned themselves to losing the +companionship of Sleepy (he was a good man to crack jokes about, if +for no other reason), Sleepy's parents announced to him that his +decision was not final, and that, whether or not he wanted to go, go +he should. And then there were eight. + +The handsome and fashionable young Dozener, known to his friends +as Edward Parker, and to fame as "Pretty," was won over with much +difficulty. He had completely made up his mind to attend the Troy +Latin School--not because he loved Latin, but because Troy was the +seat of much social gaiety, and because there was a large seminary for +girls in that town. He was, however, at length cajoled into consenting +to pitch his tent at Kingston by the diplomatic Jumbo, who told him +that the girls at Kingston were the prettiest in three States. And +then there were nine. + +The Phillips twins, "Reddy" and "Heady," were the next source of +trouble, for they had recently indulged in an unusually violent +squabble, even for them, and each had vowed that he would never +speak to the other again, and would sooner die than go to the same +boarding-school. The father of this fiery couple knew that the boys +really loved each other dearly at the bottom of their hearts, and +decided to teach them how much they truly cared for each other; so +he yielded to their prayer that they be allowed to go to different +academies. The boys, in high glee, tossed up a penny to decide which +should go with the Dozen to Kingston, and which should go to the +Brownsville School for Boys. Reddy won Kingston, and rejoiced greatly. +But though Heady was so blue that his brick-colored hair was almost +dyed, nothing could persuade him to "tag along after his brother," as +he phrased it. And so there were ten. + +The deepest grief of the Dozen was the plight of the beloved giant, +"Sawed-Off." There seemed to be no possible way of getting him to +Kingston, much as they thought of his big muscles, and more us they +thought of his big heart. His sworn pal, the tiny Jumbo, was well nigh +distracted at the thought of severing their two knitted hearts; but +Sawed-Off's father was dead, and his mother was too poor to pay for +his schooling, so they gave him up for lost, not without aching at the +heart, and even a little dampness at the eyelids. + +Heady was the first to leave town. He slipped away on an early morning +train without telling any one, for he felt very much ashamed of his +stubbornness; and he and his brother shook hands with each other as +nervously as two prize-fighters. + +A few days later the five sixths of the Dozen that were booked +for Kingston stood on the crowded platform of the Lakerim +railroad-station, bidding good-by to all the parents they had, and all +the friends. All of them had paid long calls on their best girls +the evening before, and exchanged photographs and locks of hair and +various keepsakes more or less sentimental and altogether useless. So, +now that they were in public, they all shook hands very formally: Tug +with a girl several years older than he; Pretty with the beautiful +Enid; Quiz with the fickle Cecily Brown; bashful Bobbles with the +bouncing Betsy; B.J. with a girl who had as many freckles as B.J. had +had imaginary encounters with the bandits who had tried to steal her; +the unwilling Sleepy with a lively young woman who broke his heart by +congratulating him on being able to go to Kingston; tiny Jumbo with +plump Carrie Shields, whom he had once fished out of the water; +and Reddy with the girl over whom he and his brother had had their +bitterest quarrels, and who could not for the life of her tell which +one she liked the better. + +[Illustration: STOP THE TRAIN AND WAIT FOR ME, I'M GOING TO KINGSTON, +TOO!] + +But there was one very little girl in the crowd whose greatest sorrow, +strangely enough, was the fact that she had no one to bid good-by +to, since her dearest friend, the huge Sawed-Off, was not to go to +Kingston. + +Just as the engine began to ring its warning bell, and the conductor +to wave the people aboard, there was a loud clatter of hoofs, and the +rickety old Lakerim carryall came dashing up, drawn by the lively +horses Sawed-Off had once saved from destroying themselves and the +Dozen in one fell swoop down a steep hill. The carryall lurched up to +the station came to a sudden stop, and out bounced--who but Sawed-Off +himself, loaded down with bundles, and yelling at the top of his +voice: + +"Stop the train and wait for me. I'm going to Kingston, too!" + + + + +II + + +There was just time to dump his trunk into the baggage-car, and bundle +him and his bundles on to the platform, before the train steamed away; +and the eleven Lakerimmers were so busy waving farewell to the waving +and farewelling crowd at the station that it was some minutes before +they could find time to learn how Sawed-Off came to be among them. +When he explained that he had made arrangements to work his way +through the Academy, they took no thought for the hard struggle in +front of him, they were so glad to have him along. Jumbo and he sat +with their arms around each other all the way to Kingston, their +hearts too full for anything but an occasional "Hooray!" + +The journey to Kingston brought no adventures with it--except that +History, of course, had lost his spectacles and his ticket, and had to +borrow money of Pretty to keep from being put off the train, and that +when they reached Kingston they came near forgetting Sleepy entirely, +for he had curled up in a seat, and was reeling off slumber at a +faster rate than the train reeled off miles. + +The first few days at Kingston were so busily filled with entrance +examinations and selection of rooms and the harder selection of +room-mates and other furniture that the Dozen saw little of each +other, except as they crunched by along the gravel walks of the campus +or met for a hasty meal in the dining-hall. This dining-hall, by the +way, was managed by an estimable widow named Mrs. Slaughter, and of +course the boys called it the "Slaughter-house," a name not so far +from the truth, when one considers the way large, tough roasts of beef +and tons of soggy corned beef were massacred by the students. + +It might be a good idea to insert here a little snap shot of Kingston +Academy. The town itself was a moth-eaten old village that claimed +a thousand inhabitants, but could never have mustered that number +without counting in all the sleepy horses, mules, cows, and pet dogs +that roamed the streets like the rest of the inhabitants. The chief +industry of the people of Kingston seemed to be that of selling +school-books, mince-pies, and other necessaries of life to the boys at +the Academy. The grown young men of the town spent their lives trying +to get away to some other cities. The younger youth of the town spent +their lives trying to interfere with the pleasures of the Kingston +academicians. So there were many of the old-time "town-and-gown" +squabbles; and it was well for the health of the Kingston Academy boys +that they rarely went around town except in groups of two or three; +and it was very bad for the health of any of the town fellows if they +happened to be caught within the Academy grounds. + +The result of being situated in a half-dead village, which was neither +loved nor loving, did not make life at the Academy tame, but quite the +opposite; for the boys were forced to find their whole entertainment +in the Academy life, and in one another, and the campus was therefore +a little republic in itself--a Utopia. Like every other republic, it +had its cliques and its struggles, its victories and its defeats, its +friendships and its enmities, and everything else that makes life +lively and lifelike. + +The campus was beautiful enough and large enough to accommodate its +citizens handsomely. Its trees were many and tall, venerable old +monarchs with foliage like tents for shade and comfort to any little +groups that cared to lounge upon the mossy divans beneath. The grounds +were spacious enough to furnish not only football and baseball fields +and tennis-courts, but meadows where wild flowers grew in the spring, +and a little lake where the ice grew in the winter. Miles away--just +enough to make a good "Sabbath day's journey"--was a wonderful region +called the "Ledges," where glaciers had once resided, and left huge +boulders, scratched and scarred. As Jumbo put it, it seemed, from +the chasms and caves and curious distortions of stone and soil, that +"nature must have once had a fit there.". + +Most of the buildings of the Academy looked nearly old enough to have +been also deposited there by the primeval glaciers, but they were huge +and comfortable, and so many colonies of boys had romped and ruminated +there, and so much laughter and so much lore had soaked into the old +walls, that they were pleasanter than any newer and more gorgeous +architecture could possibly be. They were homely in the better as well +as the worse sense. + +But this is more than enough description, and you must imagine for +yourselves how the Lakerim eleven, often as they thought of home, and +homesick as they were in spite of themselves now and then, rejoiced +in being thrown on their own resources, and made somewhat independent +citizens in a little country of their own. Unwilling to make +selections among themselves, more unwilling to select room-mates from +the other students (the "foreigners," as the Lakerimmers called them), +they drew lots for one another, and the lots decided that they should +room together thus: Tug and Punk were on the ground floor of the +building known as South College, in room No. 2; in the room just over +them were Quiz and Pretty; and on the same floor, at the back of +the building, were Bobbles and Reddy (Reddy insisted upon this room +because it had a third bedroom off its study-room; while, of course, +he never expected to see Heady there, and didn't much care, of course, +whether he came or not, still, a fellow never can tell, you know); on +the same floor were B.J. and Jumbo. Jumbo did not stoop to flatter +B.J. by pretending that he would not have preferred Sawed-Off for +his room-mate; but Sawed-Off was working his way through, and the +principal of the Academy had offered to help him out, not only with a +free scholarship, but with a free room, as well, in Middle College, an +old building which had the gymnasium on the first floor, the chapel on +the second, and in the loft a single store-room fixed up as a bedroom. + +The lots the fellows drew seemed to be in a joking mood when they +selected History and Sleepy for room-mates--the hardest student and +the softest, not only of the Dozen, but of the whole Academy. Sleepy +had been too lazy to pay much heed when the diplomatic History had +suggested their choosing room No. 13 for theirs, and he assented +languidly. History had said that it was the brightest and sunniest +room in the building, and if there was one thing that Sleepy loved +almost better than baseball, it was a good snooze in the sun after he +had worked hard stowing away any of the three meals. His heart was +broken, however, when he learned that the room chosen by the wily +History was on the top floor, with three long flights to climb. After +that you could never convince him that thirteen was not an unlucky +number. + +The Lakerimmers had thus managed quietly to ensconce themselves, all +except Sawed-Off, in one building; and it was just as well, perhaps, +that they did so establish themselves in a stronghold of their own, +for they clung together so steadfastly that there was soon a deal of +jealousy among the other students toward them, and all the factions +combined together to try to keep the Lakerimmers from cabbaging any of +the good things of academy life. + +There was a craze of skylarking the first few weeks after the school +opened. Almost every day one of the Lakerimmers would come back from +his classes to find his room "stacked"--a word that exactly expresses +its meaning. There is something particularly discouraging in going to +your room late in the evening, your mind made up to a comfortable hour +of reading on a divan covered with cushions made by your best girls, +only to find the divan placed in the middle of the bed, with a bureau +and a bookcase stuck on top of it, a few chairs and a pet bulldog tied +in the middle of the mix-up, and a mirror and a well-filled bowl of +water so fixed on the top of the heap that it is well-nigh impossible +to move any one of the articles without cracking the looking-glass or +dousing yourself with the water. The Lakerimmers tried retaliation for +a time; but the pleasure of stacking another man's room was not half +so great as the misery of unstacking one's own room, and they finally +decided to keep two or three of the men always on guard in the +building. + +There was a rage for hazing, too, the first few weeks; and as the +Lakerimmers were all new men in the Academy, they were considered +particularly good candidates for various degrees of torment. Hazing +was strictly against the rules of the Academy, but the teachers could +not be everywhere at once, and had something to do besides prowl +around the dark corners of the campus at all hours of the night. Some +of the men furiously resisted the efforts to haze them; but when they +once learned that their efforts were vain, and had perforce to submit, +none of them were mean enough to peach on their tormentors after the +damage was done. The Lakerimmers, however, decided to resist force +with force, and stuck by each other so closely, and barricaded their +doors so firmly at night, when they must necessarily separate, +that time went on without any of them being subjected to any other +indignities than the guying of the other Kingstonians. + +Sawed-Off had so much and such hard work to do after school hours +that the whole Academy respected him too much to attempt to haze him, +though he roomed alone in the old Middle College. Besides, his size +was such that nobody cared to be the first one to lay hand on him. + + * * * * * + +There was just one blot on the happiness of the Dozen at Kingston. +Tug and Punk and Jumbo had started the whole migration from Lakerim +because they had been invited by the Kingston Athletic Association to +join forces with the Academy. The magnificent game of football these +three men had played in the last two years had been the cause of this +invitation, and they had come with glowing dreams of new worlds to +conquer. What was their pain and disgust to find that the captain of +the Kingston team, elected before they came, had decided that he had +good cause for jealousy of Tug, and had decided that, since Tug would +probably win all his old laurels away from him if he once admitted him +to the eleven, the only way to retain those laurels was to keep Tug +off the team. When the Lakerim three, therefore, appeared on the field +as candidates for the eleven, they were assigned to the second or +scrub team. (The first team was generally called the "varsity," though +of course it only represented an academy.) + +The Lakerim three, though disappointed at first, determined to show +their respect for discipline, and to earn their way; so they submitted +meekly, and played the best game they could on the scrub. When the +varsity captain, Clayton by name, criticized their playing in a +way that was brutal,--not because it was frank, but because it was +unjust,--they swallowed the poison as quietly as they could, and went +back into the game determined not to repeat the slip that had brought +upon them such a deluge of abuse. + +It soon became evident, however, from the way Clayton neglected the +mistakes of the pets of his own eleven, and his constant and petty +fault-finding with the three Lakerimmers, that he was determined to +keep them from the varsity, even if he had to keep second-rate players +on the team, and even if he imperiled the Academy's chances against +rival elevens. + +When this unpleasant truth had finally soaked into their minds, the +Lakerimmers grew very solemn; and one evening, when the whole eleven +happened to be in room No. 2, and when the hosts, Tug and Punk, were +particularly sore from the outrageous language used against them +in the practice of the afternoon, Punk, who was rather easily +discouraged, spoke up: + +"I guess the only thing for us to do, fellows, is to pack up our duds +and go back home. There's no chance for us here." + +Tug, who was feeling rather muggy, only growled: + +"Not on your life! I had rather be a yellow dog than a quitter." + +Then he relapsed into a silence that reminded History of Achilles in +his tent, though he was ungently told to keep still when he tried to +suggest the similarity. Reddy was fairly sizzling with rage at the +Clayton faction, and sang out: + +"I move that we go round and throw a few rocks through Clayton's +windows, and then if he says anything, punch his head for him." + +This idea seemed to please the majority of the men, and they were +instantly on their feet and rushing out of the door to execute their +vengeance on the tyrant, when Tug thundered out for them to come back. + +"I've got a better idea," he said, "and one that will do us more +credit. I'll tell you what I am going to do: I am going to take this +matter into my own hands, and drill that scrub team myself, and see +if we can't teach the varsity a thing or two. I believe that, with +a little practice and a little good sense, we can shove 'em off the +earth." + +This struck the fellows as the proper and the Lakerim method of doing +things, and they responded with a cheer. + + + + +III + + +Tug persuaded Reddy, B.J., Pretty, and Bobbles, who had not been +trying for the team, to come out on the field. He even coaxed the busy +Sawed-Off into postponing some of his work for a few days to help them +out. He thus had almost the old Lakerim eleven at his command; and +that very night, in that very room, they concocted and practised a few +secret tricks and a few surprises for Clayton, who was neither very +fertile in invention nor very quick to understand the schemes of +others. + +Clayton was too sure of his own position and power to pay any heed to +the storm that was brewing for him, and was only too glad to see more +Lakerim men on the scrub team for him to abuse. + +The next day Tug persuaded some of the others of the scrub eleven to +"lay off" for a few days, and he also persuaded the captain of the +scrub team to give him command for a week. Then he took his new +eleven, seven of them old Lakerim veterans, out on the field, and +worked with them early and late. + +To instil into the heads of his men the necessity of being in just the +right place at the right time, Tug drew a map of the field on a large +sheet of paper, and spread it on his center-table; then he took +twenty-two checkers and set them in array like two football teams. He +gathered his eleven into his room at night, told each man Jack of them +which checker was his, and set them problems to work out. + +"Suppose I give the signal for the left-guard to take the ball around +the right-end," he would say, and ask each man in turn, "Where would +you go?" + +Then the backs drew their checkers up to position as interference, and +the tackles and guards showed what particular enemies they were to +bowl over. Many ridiculous mistakes were made at first, and each man +had a good laugh at the folly of each of the others for some play that +left a big hole in the flying protection. But they could practise at +night and worry it out in theory, while their legs rested till the +next day's practice. + +When he could find an empty recitation-room at an idle hour, +"Professor Tug," as they soon called him, would gather his class about +him and work out the same problems on the blackboards, each man being +compelled to draw an arrow from his position at the time of the signal +to his proper place when the ball was in play. + +The game now became a true science, and the scrub took it up with +a new zest. This indoor drill made it easy also to revive a trick +popular at Yale in the 'Eighties--the giving of one signal to prepare +for a series of plays. Then Tug would call out some eloquent gibberish +like "Seventy-'leven-three-teen," and that meant that on the first +down the full-back was to come in on the run, and take the ball +through the enemy's left-guard and tackle; on the second down the +right half-back was to crisscross with the left half-back; and on the +third down the right-guard was to scoot round the left-end. + +The beauty of this old scheme was that it caught the enemy napping: +while he was lounging and waiting for the loud signal, the ball was +silently put in play before he was ready. On the fatal day Tug found +that the scheme was well worth the trouble it took. It has its +disadvantages in the long run, but on its first appearance at Kingston +it fairly made the varsity team's eyes pop with amazement. + +Tug did not put into play the whole strength of his eleven, but +practised cautiously, and instructed his team in the few ruses Clayton +seemed to be fond of. He was looking forward to the occasion when a +complete game was to be played before the townspeople between the +varsity and the scrub; and Clayton was looking forward to this same +day, and promising himself a great triumph when the Academy and the +town should see what a rattling eleven he had made up. + +The day came. The whole Academy and most of the town turned out and +filled the grand stand and the space along the side lines. It was to +be the first full game of the season on the Academy grounds, and every +one was eager to renew acquaintance with the excitements of the fall +before. You have doubtless seen and read about more football games +than enough, and you will be glad to skip the details of this contest. + +It will be unnecessary to do more than suggest how Clayton was simply +dumfounded when he saw his first long kick-off caught by the veteran +full-back Punk, and carried forward with express speed under the +protection of Tug's men, who were not satisfied with merely running in +front of Clayton's tacklers, but bunted into them and dumped them over +with a spine-jolting vigor, and covered Punk from attack on the rear, +and carried him across the center line and well on into Clayton's +territory before Clayton realized that several of his pets were mere +straw men, and dashed violently and madly into and through Punk's +interference, and downed him on the 15-yard line; how the spectators +looked on in silent amazement at this unexpected beginning; how +promptly Tug's men were lined up, a broad swath completely opened with +one quick gash in Clayton's line, and the ball shoved through and +within five yards of the goal-posts, almost before Clayton knew it was +in play; how Clayton called his men to one side, and rebuked them, and +told them just what to do, and found, to his disgust, that when they +had done it, it was just the wrong thing to do; how they could not +hold the line against the fury of the scrub team; how the ball was +jammed across the line right under the goal-posts, and Clayton's head +well whacked against one of those same posts as he was swept off his +feet; how Tug's men on the line were taught to avoid foolish attempts +to worry their opponents, and taught to reserve their strength for the +supreme moment when the call came to split the line; how Sawed-Off, +though lighter than Clayton's huge 200 pound center, had more than +mere bulk to commend him, and tipped the huge baby over at just +the right moment; how Tug now and then followed a series of honest +football maneuvers with some unexpected trick that carried the ball +far down the field around one end, when Clayton was scrambling after +it in the wrong place; how Tug had perfected his interference until +the man carrying the ball seemed almost as safe as if Clayton's men +were Spaniards, and he were in the turret of the U.S.S. _Oregon_; how +little time Tug's men lost in getting away after the ball had been +passed to them; how little they depended on "grand stand" plays by +the individual, and how much on team-work; how Tug's men went through +Clayton's interference as neatly as a fox through a hedge; how they +resisted Clayton's mass plays as firmly as harveyized steel; how +Clayton fumed and fretted and slugged and fouled, and threatened his +men, and called them off to hold conferences that only served to give +Tug's men a chance to get their wind after some violent play; how +Tug was everywhere at once, and played for more than the pleasure of +winning this one game--played as if he were a pair of twins, and only +smiled back when Clayton glared at him; how Punk guarded the goal from +the longest punts the varsity full-back could make, and how he kicked +the goal after all but one of the many touch-downs the scrub team +made; how little Jumbo, as quarter-back, passed the ball with never a +fumble and never a bad throw; how, when it came back to his hands, +he skimmed almost as closely and as silently and as swiftly over the +ground as the shadow of a flying bird, and made long run after long +run that won the cheers of the crowd; how B.J., Sawed-Off, and Pretty, +as right-end, center, and left-end, responded at just the right +moment, and how Pretty dodged and ran with the alertness he had +learned in many a championship tennis tournament; and how Reddy, as +left half-back, flew across the field like a firebrand, or hurled +himself into the line with a fury that seemed to have no regard for +the bones or flesh of himself or the Claytonians; how-- + + + + +IV + + +But did any one ever read such a string of "hows"? Why, that sentence +was getting to be longer and more complicated than the game it was +pretending not to describe; so here's an end on't, with the plain +statement that the game (like that sentence) came finally to an end. +But the effects of the contest did not end with the dying out of the +cheers with which the victory of the scrub was greeted. And Tug's +elevation did not cease when he had been caught up on the shoulders of +the crowd and carried all over the field, amid the wild cheers of the +whole Academy. No more did Captain Clayton's chagrin end with +his awakening from the stupor into which he had been sent by the +surprisingly good form of the scrub. + +Clayton felt bitter enough at the exposure of his bad captaincy, but +a still greater bitterness awaited him, and a still greater triumph +awaited Tug, for the Athletic Association put their heads together +and decided to have their little say. The result was published in +the Kingston weekly, and Tug, after the overwhelming honor of being +interviewed by a live reporter, read there the following screaming +head-lines: + + + SCRUB WIPES THE EARTH + WITH VARSITY! + + * * * * * + + Kingston Football Team Meets with a + Crushing Defeat at the Hands of + the Second Eleven. + + * * * * * + + SCORE, 28 to 4. + + * * * * * + + VARSITY OUTPLAYED AT + EVERY POINT. + + * * * * * + + Popular Opinion Forces Captain Clayton + to Resign in Favor of + "Tug" Robinson. + + * * * * * + + KINGSTON TEAM TO BE + COMPLETELY REORGANIZED. + + * * * * * + + Mr. Robinson Declares that Favoritism + will Have no Part in the Make-up of + the New Team, and Magnanimously + Offers Ex-Captain + Clayton a Position on + the New Eleven. + + +There is no need telling here the wild emotions in the hearts of +Clayton and his faction at the end of the game, and no need of even +hinting the wilder delight of the Lakerimmers at the vindication of +their cause. The whole eleven of them strolled home in one grand +embrace, and used their jaws more for talking than for eating when +they reached the long-delayed meal at the "Slaughter-house"; and +after supper they met again at the fence, and sang Lakerim songs of +rejoicing, and told and retold to each other the different features of +the game, which they all knew without the telling. So much praise was +heaped upon Tug by the rest of the Academy, and he was so feted by the +Lakerimmers, that he finally slipped away and went to his room. And +little History also bade them good night, on his old excuse of having +to study. + +It was very dark before the Lakerimmers had talked themselves tired. +Then they voted to go around and congratulate Tug once more upon his +victory, and give him three cheers for the sake of auld lang syne. +When they went to his room, they were amazed to see the door swinging +open and shut in the breeze; they noted that the lock was torn off. +They hurried in, and found one of the windows broken, and books and +chairs scattered about in confusion; the mantel and cloth and the +photographs on it were all awry. It was evident that a fierce struggle +had taken place in the room. The nine Lakerimmers stood aghast, +staring at each other in stupefaction. Reddy was the first to find +tongue, and he cried out: + +"I know what's up, fellows: that blamed gang of hazers has got him!" + +Now there was an excitement indeed. Punk suggested that perhaps he +might be in History's room, and Bobbles scaled the three flights, +three steps at a time, only to return with a wild look, and declare +that History's room was empty, his lock broken, and his student lamp +smoking. Plainly the hazing committee had lost no time in seizing +its first opportunity. Plainly the Lakerimmers must lose no time in +hurrying to the rescue. + +"Up and after 'em, men!" cried B.J.; and, trying to remember what +was the proper thing for an old Indian scout to do under the +circumstances, he started off on a dead run. And the others followed +him into the night. + + + + +V + + +Tug had stood the praise and applause of his fellow-students, and +especially the wild flattery of the Dozen, who were almost insanely +joyful over his success in captaining the scrub football team and +wiping the earth up with the varsity, until he was as sick as a boy +that has overfed on candy. Finally he had slunk away, rather like a +guilty man than a hero, and started for his room. Once he had left the +crowd and was alone under the great trees, darkly beautiful with the +moonlight, he felt again the delicious pride of his victory against +the heavy odds, and the conspiracy of his deadly rival in football. +He planned, in his imagination, the various steps he would take to +reorganize the varsity eleven, to which it was evident that he would +be elected captain; and he smacked his lips over the prospects of +glorious battles and hard-won victories in the games in which he +and his team would represent the Kingston Academy against the other +academies of the Tri-State Interscholastic League. + +His waking dreams came true, in good season, too; for, under his +inspiring leadership, the Kingston men took up the game with a new +zest, gave up the idea that individual grand-stand plays won games, +and learned to sink their ambitions for themselves into a stronger +ambition for the success of the whole team. And they played so +brilliantly and so faithfully that academy after academy went down +before them, and they were not even scored against until they met the +most formidable rivals of all, the Greenville Academy. Greenville was +an old athletic enemy of the Lakerim Club, and Tug looked forward to +meeting it with particular delight, especially as the championship of +the League football series lay between Greenville and Kingston. I have +only time and room enough to tell you that when the final contest +came, Tug sent his men round the ends so scientifically, and led them +into the scrimmages so furiously, that they won a glorious victory of +18 to 6. + +But this is getting a long way into the future, and away from Tug on +his walk to his room that beautiful evening, when all these triumphs +were still in the clouds, and he had only one victory to look back +upon. + +Tug's responsibility had been great that afternoon, and the strain of +coaxing and commanding his scrub players to assault and defeat the +heavier eleven opposed to them had worn hard on his muscles and +nerves. When he got to his room he was too tired to remember that he +had forgotten to take the usual precautions of locking his door and +windows, or even of drawing the curtains. He did not stop to think +that hazing had been flourishing about the Academy grounds for some +time, and that threats had been made against any of the Lakerim Dozen +if they were ever caught alone. He could just keep awake long enough +to light his student lamp; then he dropped on his divan, and buried +his head in a red-white-and-blue cushion his best Lakerim girl had +embroidered for him in a fearful and wonderful manner, and was soon +dozing away into a dreamland where the whole world was one great +football, and he was kicking it along the Milky Way, scoring a +touch-down every fifty years. + +A little later History poked his head in at the door. He also had left +the crowd seated on the fence, and had started for his room to study. +He saw Tug fast asleep, and let him lie undisturbed, though he was +tempted to wake him up and say that Tug reminded him of the Sleeping +Beauty before taking the magic kiss; but he thought it might not be +safe, and went on up to his room whistling, very much off the key. + +Tug slept on as soundly as the mummy of Rameses. But suddenly he +woke with a start. He had a confused idea that he had heard some one +fumbling at his window. His sleepy eyes seemed to make out a face just +disappearing from sight outside. He dismissed his suspicions as +the manufactures of sleep, and was about to fall back again on the +comfortable divan when he heard footsteps outside, and the creak of +his door-knob. He rose quickly to his feet. + +A masked face was thrust in at the door, and the lips smiled +maliciously under the black mask, and a pair of blacker eyes gleamed +through it. + +Tug made a leap for the door to shut the intruder out, realizing in a +flash that the hazers had truly caught him napping. + +But he was too late. The masked face was followed swiftly into the +room by the body that belonged to it, and by other faces and other +bodies--all the faces masked, and all the bodies hidden in long black +robes. + +Tug fell back a step, and said, with all the calmness he could muster: + +"I guess you fellows are in the wrong room." + +"Nope; we've come for you," was the answer of the first masker, who +spoke in a disguised voice. + +Tug looked as resolutely as he could into the eyes behind the mask, +and asked rather nervously a question whose answer he could have as +easily given himself: + +"Well, now that you're here, what do you want?" + +Again the disguised voice came deeply from the somber-robed leader: + +"Oh, we just want to have a little fun with you." + +"Well, I don't want to have any fun with you," parleyed Tug, trying to +gain time. + +"Oh, it doesn't make any difference whether you want to come or not; +this isn't your picnic--it's ours," was the cheery response of the +first ghost; and the other black Crows fairly cawed with delight. + +Still Tug argued: "What right have you men got to come into my room +without being invited?" + +"It's just a little surprise-party we've planned." + +"Well, I'm not feeling like entertaining any surprise-party to-night." + +"Oh, that doesn't make any difference to us." Again the black flock +flapped its wings and cawed. + +And now Tug, as usual, lost his temper when he saw they were making a +guy of him, and he blurted fiercely: + +"Get out of here, all of you!" + +Then the crowd laughed uproariously at him. + +And this made him still more furious, and though they were ten to one, +Tug flung himself at them without fear or hesitation. When five of +them fell on him at once, he dragged them round the room as if they +were football-players trying to down him; but the odds were too great, +and before long they overpowered him and tied his wrists behind him; +not without difficulty, for Tug had the slipperiness of an eel, along +with the strength of a young shark. When they had him well bound, and +his legs tethered so that he could take only very short steps, they +lifted him to his feet. + +"I think we'd better gag him," said the leader of the Crows; and he, +produced a stout handkerchief. But Tug gave him one contemptuous look, +and remarked: + +"Do you suppose I'm a cry-baby? I'm not going to call for help." + +There was something in his tone that convinced the captain of the +Crows. + + + + +VI + + +A detachment was now sent to scurry through the dormitory and see if +it could find any other Lakerimmers. This squad finally came down the +stairs, the biggest one of the Crows carrying little History under +his arm. History was waving his arms and legs about as if he were a +tarantula, but the big black Crow held him tight and kept one hand +over the boy's mouth so that he could not scream. + +Then Tug began to struggle furiously again, and to resist their +efforts to drag him out of the room. He could easily have raised a cry +that would have brought a professor to his rescue and scattered his +persecutors like sparrows; but his boyish idea of honor put that +rescue out of his reach, and he fought like a dumb man, with only such +occasional grunts as his struggle tore from him. + +He might have been fighting them yet, for all I know, had not History +twisted his mouth from under the hand of his captor and threatened--he +had not breath enough left to call for help: + +"If--you--don't let me go--I'll--_tell_ on you." + +The very thought of this smallness horrified Tug so much that he +stopped struggling, and turned his head to implore History not to +disgrace Lakerim by being a tattler. The Crows saw their chance, and +while Tug's attention was occupied one of them threw a loosely woven +sack over his head and drew it down about his neck. Then they started +once more on the march, History scratching and kicking in all +directions and doing very little harm, while Tug, with his hands tied +behind him and his head first in a noose, used his only weapons, his +shoulders, with the fury of a Spanish bull. And before they got him +through the door he had nearly disabled three of his assailants, +making one of them bite his tongue in a manner most uncomfortable. And +the room looked as if a young cyclone had been testing its muscles +there! + +The Crows hustled the Lakerimmers out without any unnecessary +tenderness, forgetting to close the door after them. Out of the hall +and across the board walk, on to the soft, frosty grass where the +sound of their scuffling feet would not betray them, they jostled +their way. Tug soon decided that the best thing for him to do was to +reserve his strength; so he ceased to resist, and followed meekly +where they led. They whirled him round on his heel several times to +confuse him as to the direction they took, then they hurried him +through the dark woods of a neglected corner of the campus. History +simply refused to go on his own feet, and they had to carry him most +of the way, and found only partial revenge in pinching his spidery +legs and bumping his head into occasional trees. + +The two boys knew when they left the campus by the fact that they were +bundled and boosted over a stone wall and across a road. + +History, as he stumbled along at. Tug's side, at length came to +himself enough to be reminded of the way the ancient Romans used to +treat such captives as were brought back in triumph by their generals. +But Tug did not care to hear about the troubles of the Gauls--he had +troubles of his own. + +Once they paused and heard a mysterious whispering among the Crows, +who left them standing alone and withdrew a little distance. History +was afraid to move in the dark, for fear that he might step out of the +frying-pan into the fire; but Tug, always ready to take even the most +desperate chance, thought, he would make a bolt for it. He put one +foot forward as a starter, but found no ground in front of him. +He felt about cautiously with his toe, and discovered that he was +standing at the brink of a ledge. How deep the ravine in front of him +was, he could only imagine, and in spite of his courage he shivered +at the thought of what he might have done had he followed his first +impulse and made a dash. There are pleasanter things on a dark night +than standing with eyes blindfolded and hands bound on the edge of an +unknown embankment. As he waited, the weakening effect of the struggle +and the mysterious terrors of the darkness told on his nerves, and he +shivered a bit in spite of his clenched teeth. Then he overheard the +voices of the Crows, and one of them was saying: + +"Aw, go on, shove him over." + +Another protested: "But it might break his neck, and it's sure to +fracture a bone or two." + +"Well, what of it? He nearly broke my jaw." + +Then Tug heard more excited whispering and what sounded like a +struggle, and suddenly he heard some one rushing toward him; he felt a +sharp blow and a shove from behind, and was launched over the brink of +the ledge. I'll not pretend that he wasn't about as badly scared as +time would allow. + +But there was barely space for one lightning stroke of wild regret +that his glad athletic days were over and he was to be at least a +cripple, if he lived at all, when the ground rose up and smote him +much quicker even than he had expected. As he sprawled awkwardly and +realized that he had hardly been even bruised, he felt a sense of rage +at himself for having been taken in by the old hazing joke, and a +greater rage at the men who had brought on him what was to him the +greatest disgrace of all--a feeling of fear. He had just time to +make up his mind to take this joke out of the hides of some of his +tormentors, if it took him all winter, when he heard above him the +sound of a short, sharp scuffle with History, who was pleading for +dear life, and who came flying over the ledge with a shrill scream of +terror, and plumped on the ground half an inch from Tug's head. It +took History only half a second to realize that he was not dead yet, +and he was so glad to be alive again--as he thought of it--that he +began to sniffle from pure joy. + +The Crows were not long in leaping over the ledge and getting Tug and +History to their feet. Then they took up the march again, staggering +under their laughter and howling with barbarous glee. + +After half a mile more of hard travel, the prisoners were brought +through a dense woods into a clearing, where their party was greeted +by the voices of others. The sack over Tug's head was unbound and +snatched away, and he looked about him to see a dozen more black +Crows, with two other hapless prisoners, seated like an Indian +war-council about a blazing lire, and, like an Indian war-council, +pondering tortures for their unlucky captives. + +In the fire were two or three iron pokers glowing red-hot. The sight +of this gave the final blow to any hope that might have remained of +History's conducting himself with dignity. When he and Tug were led +in, there was such an hilarious celebration over the two Lakerim +captives as the Indian powwow indulged in on seeing a scouting party +bring in Daniel Boone a prisoner. + +As Tug was the most important spoil of war, they took counsel, and +decided that he should be given the position of honor--and tortured +last. Then they went, enthusiastically to work making life miserable +for the two captives brought in previously. + +The first was compelled to climb a tree, which he did with some little +difficulty, seeing that, while half of them pretended to boost him, +the other half amused themselves by grabbing his legs and pulling him +back three inches for every one inch he climbed (like the frog and the +well in the mathematical problem). He finally gained a point above +their reach, however, and seated himself in the branches, looking +about as happy as a lone wayfarer treed by a pack of wolves. Then, +they commanded him to bark at the moon, and threatened him with all +sorts of penalties if he disobeyed. So he yelped and gnarled and +bow-wowed till there was nothing left of his voice but a sickly +wheeze. + +Then they told him that the first course was over, and invited him to +return to earth and rest up for the second. So he came sliddering down +the rough bark with the speed of greased lightning. + +The second captive was a great fat boy who had been a promising +candidate for center rush on the football team until Sawed-Off +appeared on the scene. This behemoth was compelled to seat himself +on a small inverted saucer and row for dear life with a pair of +toothpicks. The Crows howled with glee over the ludicrous antics +of the fellow, and set him such a pace that he was soon a perfect +waterfall of perspiration, and was crying for mercy. At length he +caught a crab and went heels over head backward on the ground, and +they left him to recover his breath and his temper. + +History had watched these proceedings with much amusement, but when +he saw the hazers coming for him he lost sight of the fun of the +situation immediately. + +The head Crow now towered over the shivering little History, and said +in his deepest chest-tones: "These Lakerim cattle are too fresh. They +must be branded and salted a little." + +Then he fastened a handkerchief over History's eyes, and growled: "Are +those irons hot yet?" + +"Red-hot, your Majesty," came the answer from one of the other ravens, +and History heard the clanking of the pokers as they were drawn from +the fire. He had seen before that they were red-hot, and now they were +brandished before his very nose, so close that he could see the red +glow through the cloth over his eyes and could feel the heat in the +air close to his cheek. + +"Where shall we brand the wretch, your Honor?" was the next question +History heard. + +The poor pygmy was too much frightened to move, and he almost fainted +when he heard the first Crow answer gruffly: "Thrust the branding-iron +right down the back of his neck, and give him a good long mark that +shall last him the rest of his life." + +Instantly History felt a bitter, stinging pain at the back of his +neck, a pain that ran like fire down along his spine, and he gave a +great shriek of terror and almost swooned away. + +Tug's eyes were not blindfolded, and he had seen that, though the +Crows had waved a red-hot poker before History's nose, they had +quickly substituted a very cold rod to thrust down his back. The +effect on the nerves of the blindfolded boy, however, was the same as +if it had been red-hot, and he had dropped to earth like a flash. + +Tug, though he knew it would heighten his own tortures, could not +avoid expressing his opinion of such treatment of the sensitive +History. He did not know whether he was more disgusted and enraged +at the actual pain the Crows had given their captives or at the +ridiculous plights they had put them in, but he did know that he +regarded the whole proceeding as a terrible outrage, a disgrace to +the Academy; and ever after he used all his influence against the +barbarous idea of hazing. + +But now he commanded as though he were master of the situation: "Throw +some of that water on the boy's face and bring him to," and while they +hastened to follow out his suggestion he poured out the rage in his +soul: + +"Shame on you, you big cowards, for torturing that poor little kid! +You're a nice pack of heroes, you are! Only twenty to one! But I'll +pay you back for this some day, and don't you forget it! And if you'll +untie my hands I'll take you one at a time now. I guess I could just +about do up _two_ of you at a time, you big bullies, you!" + +And now one of the larger Crows rushed up to Tug, and drew off to +strike him in the face. But Tug only stared back into the fellow's +eyes with a fiercer glare in his own, and cried: + +"Hit me! My hands are tied now! It's a good chance for you, and you'll +never get another, for I'll remember the cut of that jaw and the mole +on your cheek in spite of your mask, and you'll wish you had never +been born before I get through with you!" + +Tug's rash bravado infuriated the Crows until they were ready for any +violence, but the head Crow interposed and pushed aside the one who +still threatened Tug. He said laughingly: + +"Let him alone, boys; we want him in prime condition for the grand +final torture ceremonies. Let's finish up the others." + +Then they laughed and went back to the first two wretches, and made +life miserable for them to the end of their short wits. They were +afraid to try any more experiments on History, and left him lying by +the fire, slowly recovering his nerves. + +All the while Tug had remained so very quiet that the Crows detailed +to watch him had slightly relaxed their vigilance. He had been +silently working at the cords with which his hands were tied behind +his back, and by much straining and turning and torment of flesh he +had at length worked his right hand almost out of the rope. + +Soon he saw that the Crows were about to begin on him. He thought the +whole performance an outrage on the dignity of an American citizen, +and he gave the cords one last fierce jerk that wrung his right hand +loose, though it left not a little of the skin on the cords; and the +first Crow to lay a hand on his shoulder thought he must have touched +a live wire, for Tug's hand came flashing from behind his back, and +struck home on the fellow's nose. + +Then Tug warmed up to the scrimmage, and his right and left arms flew +about like Don Quixote's windmill for a few minutes, until two of the +two dozen Crows lighted on his back and pinioned his arms down and +bore him gradually to his knees. + +Just as the rest were closing in to crush Tug,--into mincemeat, +perhaps,--History, who had been lying neglected on the ground near the +fire, rose to the occasion for once. It seemed as if he had, as it +were, sat down suddenly upon the spur of the moment. He rolled over +swiftly, caught up the two pokers which had been restored to the fire +after they had been used to frighten him, and, before he could be +prevented, thrust the handle of one of them into Tug's grasp, and rose +to his feet, brandishing the other like a sword. + +Tug lost no time in adapting himself to the new weapon. He simply +waved it gently about and described a bright circle in the air over +his head. And his enemies fell off his back and scattered like +grasshoppers. + +Tug now got quickly to his feet, and he and History shook hands with +their left hands very majestically. Then they faced about and stood +back to back, asking the Crows why they had lost interest so suddenly, +and cordially inviting them to return and finish the game. + +They stood thus, monarchs of all they surveyed, for a few moments. But +dismay replaced their joy as they heard the words of the first Crow: + +"They can't get back to their rooms before their pokers grow cold, and +it is only a matter of a few minutes until they chill, anyway, so all +that we have to do is to wait here a little while, and then go back +and finish up our work--and perhaps add a little extra on account of +this last piece of rambunctiousness." + +Tug saw that they were prisoners indeed, but intended to hold the fort +until the last possible moment. He told History to put his poker back +in the fire and to heat it up again, while he stood guard with his +own. + +To this stratagem the first Crow responded with another,--he trumped +Tug's ace, as it were,--for though he saw that the fire was going out +and would not heat the pokers much longer, he decided not to wait for +this, but set his men to gathering stones and sticks to pelt the two +luckless Lakerimmers with. + +And now Tug saw that the chances of escape were indeed small. He felt +that he could make a dash for liberty and outrun any one in the crowd, +or outfight any one who might overtake him; but he would sooner have +died than leave History, who could neither run well nor fight well, to +the mercies of the merciless gang that surrounded them. + +"Let's give the Lakerim yell together, History," he said; "perhaps the +fellows have missed us and are out looking for us, and will come to +our rescue." + +So he and History filled their lungs and hurled forth into the air the +old Lakerim yell, or as much of it as two could manage: + + + + {ray! + {ri! + {ro! + "L`"iy-krim! L`"iy-krim! L`"iy-krim! Hoo-{row! + {roo! + {rah!" + +The Crows listened in amazement to the war-whoop of the two +Lakerimmers. Then the first Crow, who had Irish blood in his veins, +smiled and said: + +"Oho! I see what they are up to; they're calling for help. Well, now, +we'll just drown out their yell with a little noise of our own." + +And so, when Tug and History had regained breath enough to begin their +club cry again, the whole two dozen of the Crows broke forth into a +horrible hullabaloo of shrieks and howls that drowned out Tug's and +History's voices completely, but raised far more noise than they could +ever have hoped to make. + +After a few moments of thus caterwauling night hideous, like a pack of +coyotes, the Crows began to close in on the Lakerim stronghold, and +stones and sticks flew around the two in a shower that kept them busy +dodging. + +"We've got to make a break for it, Hist'ry," said Tug, under his +breath. "Now, you hang on to me and I'll hang on to you, and don't +mind how your lungs ache or whether you have any breath or not, but +just leg it for home." + +He had locked his arm through History's, and made a leap toward the +circle of Crows just as a heavy stone lighted on the spot where they +had made their stand so long. + +Before the Crows knew what was up, Tug and History were upon them +and had cut a path through the ring by merely brandishing their +incandescent pokers, and had disappeared into the dark of the woods. + +There was dire confusion among the Crows, and some of them ran every +which way and lost the crowd entirely as History and Tug vanished into +the thick night. + +The glowing pokers, however, that were their only weapons of defense, +were also their chiefest danger, and a pack of about a dozen Crows +soon discovered that they could follow the runaways by the gleam of +the rods. Tug realized this, too, very shortly, and he and History +threw the pokers away. + +Tug and History, however, had come pretty well to the edge of the +wood, and were just rushing down a little glade that would lead them +into the open, when the first Crow yelled for some of his men to take +a short cut and head them off. + +The Lakerimmers, then, their breath all spent and their hearts +burning with the flight, which Tug would not let History give up, saw +themselves headed off and escape no longer possible. Tug knew that +History would be useless in a scrimmage, so, in a low tone, he bade +him drop under a deep bush they were just passing. History was too +exhausted to object even to being left alone, and managed to sink into +the friendly cover of the bush without being observed. And Tug went +right into a mob of them, crying with a fine defiance the old yell of +the Athletic Club: + +"L`"iy-krim! L`"iy-krim! L`"iy-krim! Hoo-ray!" + + + + +VII + + +The nine Lakerimmers who had set forth to the rescue of Tug and +History had no more clue as to the whereabouts of the kidnapped twain +than some broken furniture and an open door; and even one who was so +well versed in detective stories as B.J., had to admit that this was +very little for what he called a "slouch-hound" to begin work on. +There had been no snow, and the frost had hardened the ground, so that +there were no footprints to tell the way the crowd of hazers had gone. + +As Jumbo said: + +"It's like looking for a needle in a haystack after dark; and it +wouldn't do you any good to sit down in this haystack, either." + +The only thing to do, then, was to scour the campus in all its nooks +and crannies, pausing now and then to look and listen hard for any +sign or sound of the captives. But each man heard nothing except the +pounding of his own heart and the wheezing of his own lungs. Then they +must up and away again into the dark. + +They had scurried hither and yon, and yonder and thither, until they +were well-nigh discouraged, when, just as they were crashing through +some thick underbrush, B.J. stopped suddenly short. Sawed-Off bumped +into him, and Jumbo tripped over Sawed-Off; but B.J. commanded them +to be silent so sharply that they paused where they had fallen and +listened violently. + +Then they heard far and faint in the distance to the right of their +course a little murmur of voices just barely audible. + +B.J.'s quick ear made out the difference between this far-off hubbub +and the other quiet sounds of the night. + +That dim little noise his breathless fellows could just hear was the +wild hullabaloo the foolish Crows had set up to drown out the voices +of Tug and History, as they gave the Lakerim yell. + +B.J.'s ear was correct enough not only to understand the noise but to +decide the direction it came from, though to the other Lakerimmers it +came from nowhere in particular and everywhere in general. Before they +had made up their minds just how puzzled they were, B.J. was striking +off in a new direction at the top of his speed, and was well over the +stone wall before they could get up steam to follow him. Across the +road and through the barbed-wire fence he led them pell-mell. There +was a little pause while Jumbo helped the lubberly Sawed-Off through +the strands that had laid hold of his big frame like fish-hooks. +B.J. took this chance to vouchsafe his followers just one bit of +information. + +"They're at Roden's Knoll," he puffed. + +Roden's Knoll was a little clearing in the woods that marked the +highest point of land in the State, though it was approached very +gradually, and nothing but a barometer could have told its elevation. + +It was a long run through the night, over many a treacherous bog +and through many a cluster of bushes, which, as Jumbo said, had +finger-nails; and there was many a stumble and jolt, and many a short +stop at the edge of a sudden embankment. One of these pauses that +brought the whole nine up into a knot was the little step-off where +Tug and History had thought they were being shoved over the precipice +of a Grand Canon. + +At length Roden's Knoll was reached, but there the weary Lakerimmers +were discouraged to find nothing but a smoldering fire and the signs +of a hard straggle. + +"We're too late; it's all over," sighed Pretty, thinking sadly of the +mud and the rips and tears that disfigured his usually perfect toilet. + +"I move we rest a bit," groaned Sleepy, seconding his own motion by +dropping to the ground. + +"Shh!" commanded B.J.; "d'you hear that?" + +Instantly they were all in motion again, for they heard the noise of +many runners crashing through the thicket. + +Soon they saw a shadowy form ahead of them and overtook it, and +recognized one of the Crows. They gave him a glance, and then shoved +him to one side with little gentleness, and ran on. Two or three of +the Crows they overtook in this manner, but spent little time upon +them. + +They were bent upon a rescue, not upon the taking of prisoners. Then, +just as they were approaching the edge of the woods, they heard a cry +that made their weary blood gallop. It was the "L`"iy-krim! L`"iy-krim!" +of Tug making his last charge on the flock of Crows. + +In a moment they had reached the mass of humanity that was writhing +over him, and they began to tear them off and fling them back upon the +ground with fierce rudeness. Man after man they peeled off and flung +back till they got down to one fellow with his knee on somebody's +nose. + +That nose was Tug's, and they soon had the boy on his feet, and turned +to continue the argument with the Crows. But there were no Crows to +argue with. The Dozen had made up in impetus and vim what it lacked in +numbers, and the Crows had fled as if from an army. A few black ghosts +flying for their lives were all they could see of the band that had +been so courageous with only History and Tug to take care of. + +So the ten from Lakerim gathered together, and while B.J. beat time +they spent what little breath was left in them on the club yell. It +sounded more like a chorus of bullfrogs than of young men, but it was +gladsome enough to atone for its lack of music, and it was loud enough +to convince History that it was safe to come out, of the bushes where +he had been crouching in ghostly terror. + +The Lakerimmers were inclined to laugh at History for his fears, but +Tug told them that if it had not been for his seizing the red-hot +pokers there would have been a different story to tell; so they hugged +him instead of laughing at him, and Sawed-Off clapped him on the back +such a vigorous thump that History thought the hazers had hold of him +again. + +Now they took up their way back to the Academy, and B.J. began to plot +a dire revenge on the cowardly Crows. But Tug said: + +"I move we let the matter drop. They're the ones to talk now of +getting even, for they have certainly had the worst of it. It'll be +just as well to keep a sharp eye on them, though, and it is very +important for us to stand together." + +When they had reached the dormitory they all joined in straightening +up and rearranging Tug's room before they went to their well-earned +sleep. + + * * * * * + +I am afraid the Lakerim eleven had the bad taste to do a little +gloating over the Crows. Their wit was not always of the finest, but +they enjoyed it themselves, though little the Crows liked it, and it +kept them all unusually happy for many days-- + +All except Reddy. He showed a strange inclination to "mulp"--a +portmanteau word that Jumbo coined out of "mope" and "sulk." + + + + +VIII + + +To see the hilarious Reddy mulping was very odd. About the only +subject in or out of books that seemed to interest him in the +slightest degree was the mention of the name of his twin brother, +Heady; and that, too, in spite of the fact that the two of them had +quarreled and bickered so much that their despairing parents had +finally sent them to different schools. But now Reddy seemed to be +inconsolable, grieving for the other half of his twin heart. + +Finally the boy's blues grew so blue that no one was much surprised +when he announced his desperate determination to journey to the town +where Heady was at school, and visit him. Reddy got permission from +the Principal to leave on Friday night and return on Monday. He had +been saving up his spending-money for many a dismal week, and now he +went about borrowing the spending-money of all his friends. + +One Friday evening, then, after class hours, all the Lakerimmers went +in a body down to the railroad-station to bid Reddy a short good-by. + +Jumbo felt inclined to crack a few jokes upon Reddy's inconsistency in +struggling so hard to get away from his brother, and then struggling +so hard to go back to him, but Tug told Jumbo that the subject was too +tender for any of his flippancy. + +On reaching the depot they found that Reddy's train was half an hour +late, and that a train from the opposite direction would get in first. +So they all stood solemnly around and waited. When this train pulled +into the station you can imagine the feelings of all when the first +one to descend was-- + +Was-- + +Heady! + +The Twins stood and stared at each other like tailors' dummies for a +moment, while the strangers on the platform and on the train wondered +if they were seeing double. + +Then Reddy and Heady dropped each his valise, and made a spring. And +each landed on the other's neck. + +Now Sawed-Off seized Heady's valise, and Jumbo seized Reddy's, and +then they all set off together--the reunited Twins, the completed +Dozen--for the campus. The whole Twelve felt a new delight in the +reunion, and realized for the first time how dear the Dozen was. + +The Twins, of course, were blissfulest of all, and marched at the head +of the column with their arms about each other, exchanging news and +olds, both talking at once, and each understanding perfectly what the +other was trying to say. + +Thus they proceeded, glowing with mutual affection, till they reached +the edge of the campus, when the others saw the Twins suddenly loose +their hold on each other, and fall to, hammer and tongs, over some +quarrel whose beginning the rest had not heard. + +Jumbo grinned and murmured to Sawed-Off: "The Twins are themselves +again." + +But Sawed-Off hastened to separate and pacify them, and they set off +again for Reddy's room, arm in arm. Later Heady arranged with his +parents to let him stay at Kingston for the rest of the school-year. + + * * * * * + +Heady had not been back among his old cronies long before they had him +up in a corner in Reddy's room, and were all trying at the same time +to tell him of the atrocious behavior of the Crows, their harsh +treatment of Tug and History, the magnificent resistance, and the +glorious rescue. + +"It reminds me," said History, "of one of Sir William Scott's novels, +with moats and castles, and swords and shields, and all sorts of +beautiful things." + +But B.J. broke in scornfully: + +"Aw, that old Scott, he's a deader! It reminds me of one of those new +detective stories with clues and hair-breadth escapes. And Tug is like +'Iron-armed Ike,' who took four villyuns, two in each hand, and swung +them around his head till they got so dizzy that they swounded away, +and then he threw one of 'em through a winder, and used the other +three like baseball bats to knock down a gang of desperate ruffians +that was comin' to the rescue. Oh, but I tell you, it was great!" + +"'Strikes me," Bobbles interrupted, "it's more like one of Funnimore +Hooper's Indian stories, with the captives tied to the stake and bein' +tortured and scalluped, and all sorts of horrible things, when along +comes old Leather-boots and picks 'em all off with his trusty rifle." + +Two or three others were evidently reminded of something else they +were anxious to describe; but Heady was growing impatient and very +wrathful, and he broke in: + +"Well, while you fellows are all being reminded of so many things, +I'd like to ask just one thing, and that is, what are you going to do +about it?" + +"Nothing at all," said History. And thinking of his unexpected escape +from his terrible adventure, he added quickly: "I think we did mighty +well to get out of it alive." + +"Pooh!" sniffed Heady, getting madder every moment. + +"Well, Tug says the same thing," drawled Sleepy. "He says that we got +the best of it all around, and that if anybody's after revenge it +ought to be the Crows, because we wiped 'em off the earth." + +"Bah!" snapped Heady. "It isn't enough for the Lakerim Athletic Club +to get out of a thing even, and call quits. Leastways, that wasn't the +pollersy when I used to be with you." + +This spirit of revolt from the calm advice of Tug seemed to be +catching, and the other Lakerimmers were becoming much excited. Tug +made a speech, trying to calm the growing rage, and he was supported +by History, who tried to bring up some historical parallels, but was +ordered off the floor by the others. Tug's plan, which was seconded by +History from motives of timidity, was thirded by Sleepy from motives +of laziness. + +But Heady leaped to his foot and delivered a wild plea for war, such +another harangue as he had delivered during the famous snow-battle at +the Hawk's Nest. He favored a sharp and speedy retaliation. + +"Well, how are you going to retaliate?" said Tug, who saw his +let-her-go policy losing all its force, and who began to grow just a +bit eager himself to give the Crows a good lesson. Still, he repeated, +when Heady only looked puzzled and gave no answer: + +"How are you going to retaliate, I say?" + +"A chance will come," said Heady, solemnly. + +And Reddy, who had been burning up with patriotic zeal for the glory +of Lakerim, was so proud of his brother's success in stirring up a +warlike spirit that he moved over, and sat down beside him on the +window-seat, and put his arms around him, and they never quarreled +again--till after supper. + +But the chance came--sooner than any of them expected. + + + + +IX + + +For Quiz, whose curiosity threatened to be the death of him some day, +and who was always snooping around, learned, not many days later, that +the Crows were planning to give a great banquet in a room over the +only restaurant in the village. This feast had been intended as a +grand finale to the season of hazing, and it was to be paid for by +the poor wretches who had been given the pleasure of being hazed, +and taxed a dollar apiece for the privilege. Strange to say, the two +Lakerim men whom the Crows had tried to haze were neither invited to +pay the tax nor to be present at the banquet. In fact, the unkind +behavior of the Lakerimmers had hurt the feelings of the Crows very +badly, and cast a gloom over the whole idea of the banquet. + +As soon as Quiz learned, in a roundabout way, where and when the feast +was to be held, he came rushing into Tug's room, where the Dozen had +gathered Saturday evening after a long day spent in skating on the +first heavy ice of the winter. + +Quiz crashed through the door, and smashed it shut behind him, and +yelled: "I've got it! I've got it!" with such zeal that Sleepy, who +was taking a little doze in a tilted chair, went over backward into a +corner, and had to be pulled out by the heels. + +History spoke up, as usual, with one of his eternal school-book +memories, and piped out: + +"You remind me, Quiz, of the day when Archimeter jumped out of his +bath-tub and ran around yelling, 'Euraker! Euraker!" + +But Heady shouted: + +"Somebody stuff a sofa-cushion down History's mouth until we learn +what it is that Quiz has got." + +"Or what it is that's got Quiz," added Jumbo. + +When History had been upset, and Sleepy set up, Quiz, who had run +several blocks with his news, found breath to gasp: + +"The Crows are going to have a banquet!" + +Then he flopped over on the couch and proceeded to pant like a +steam-roller. + +The rest of the Dozen stared at Quiz a moment, then passed a look +around as if they thought that either Quiz was out of his head or they +were. Then they all exclaimed in chorus: + +"Well, what of it?" + +And Jumbo added sarcastically: + +"It'll be a nice day to-morrow if it doesn't rain." + +Quiz was a long time getting his breath and opening his eyes; then it +was his turn to look around in amazement and to exclaim: + +"What of it? What of it? Why, you numskulls, don't you see it's just +the chance you wanted for revenge?" + +"What do you mean?" exclaimed the others. "Do you mean that we should +go down and eat the banquet for 'em?" queried Sleepy, whose first +thought was always either for a round sleep or a square meal. + +"I hadn't thought of that," said Quiz. "That would be a good idea, +too. What I had in my mind was doing what they do in the big colleges +sometimes: kidnap the president of the crowd so that he can't go to +the dinner." + +"Great head! Great scheme!" the others exclaimed; and they jumped to +their feet and indulged in a war-dance that shook the whole building. + +When they had done with this jollification, Tug, who objected to doing +things by halves, asked: + +"Why not kidnap the whole kit and boodle of them?" + +Then there was another merry-go-round. But they all stopped suddenly, +and Quiz expressed the sentiment of all of them when he said: + +"But how are we going to do it?" + +Then they all put their heads together for a long and serious debate, +the result of which was a plan that seemed to promise success. + +The banquet was to be held on the next Friday night at night o'clock, +and the Dozen had nearly a week for perfecting their plot. + +Sawed-Off suggested the first plan that looked feasible for taking +care of the whole crowd of the Crows, about two dozen in number. The +chapel, over which Sawed-Off had his room, had a large bell-tower--as +Sawed-Off well knew, since it was one of his duties to ring the bell +on all the many occasions when it was to be rung. In this cupola there +was a loft of good size; it was reached by a heavy ladder, which could +be removed with some difficulty. Under the chapel there was a large +cellar, which seemed never to have been used for any particular +purpose, though it was divided into a number of compartments separated +by the stone walls of the foundation or by heavy boarding. A few +hundred old books from the library were about its only contents. The +only occupant of the chapel, except at morning prayers and on Sundays, +was Sawed-Off. The gymnasium on the ground floor was not lighted up +after dark, and so the building was completely deserted every evening. + +Some unusual scheme must be devised to enable twelve men to take care +of twenty-four. Fortunately it happened that half a dozen of the +twenty-four took the six-o'clock train for their homes in neighboring +towns, where they went to spend Saturday and Sunday with their +parents. This reduced the number to eighteen. Friday evening a number +of the Crows appeared at the "Slaughterhouse," though there was to be +a banquet at eight o'clock. With true boyhood appetite, they felt, +that a bun in the hand is worth two in the future; and besides, what +self-respecting boy would refuse to take care of two meals where he +had been in the habit of only one? It would be flying in the face of +Providence. + +Now, Sawed-Off, who, as you know, was paying his way through the +Academy, earned his board by waiting on the table. He had an excellent +chance, therefore, for tucking under the plates of all the Crows a +note which read: + + The Crows will meet at the Gymnasium after dark and go to + Moore's resteront in a body. + + N.B. Keep this conphedential. + +To half a dozen of the notes these words were added: + + You are wanted at the Gymnasium at a 1/4 to 7 to serve on a cummitty. + Be there sharp. + +The Crows naturally did not know the handwriting of every one of +their number, and did not recognize that the notes were of History's +manufacture. They were a little mystified, but suspected nothing. + +The Dozen gathered in full force at the gymnasium as soon after supper +as they could without attracting attention. Sawed-Off, who had the +keys of the building, then posted a strong guard at the heavy door, +and explained and rehearsed his plan in detail. + +At a quarter of seven the six who had been requested to serve on the +"cummitty" came in a body, and finding the door of the gymnasium +fastened, knocked gently. They heard a low voice from the inside ask: + +"Who's there?" + +And they gave their names. + +"Do you all belong to the Crows?" + +Of course they answered: "Yes." + +They were then admitted in single file into the vestibule, which was +absolutely dark. As each one stepped in, a hand was laid on each arm +and he was requested in a whisper to "Come this way." Between his two +escorts he stumbled along through the dark, until suddenly the door +was heard to close, and the key to snap in the lock; then immediately +his mouth was covered with a boxing-glove (borrowed from the +gymnasium), his feet were kicked out from under him, and before he +knew it his two courteous escorts had their knees in the small of his +back and were tying him hand and foot. + +One or two of the Crows put up a good fight, and managed to squirm +away from the gagging boxing-gloves and let out a yelp; but the heavy +door of the gymnasium kept the secret mum, and there was something so +surprising about the ambuscade in the dark that the Dozen soon had the +half-dozen securely gagged and fettered. Then they were toted like +meal-bags up the stairs of the chapel, and on up and up into the loft, +and into the bell-tower. There they were laid out on the floor, and +their angry eyes discovered that they were left to the tender mercies +of Reddy and Heady. The only light was a lantern, and Reddy and Heady +each carried an Indian club (also borrowed from the gymnasium), and +with this they promised to tap any of the Crows on the head if he made +the slightest disturbance. + +The ten other Lakerimmers hastened down to the ground floor again just +in time to welcome the earliest of the Crows to arrive. This was a +fellow who had always believed up to this time in being punctual; but +he was very much discouraged in this excellent habit by the reception +he got at the gymnasium. For, on saying, in answer to the voice behind +the door, that he had the honor of being a Crow, he was ushered in and +treated to the same knock-down hospitality that had been meted out to +the Committee of Six. + +The wisdom of using the words "after dark" on the forged invitation +was soon made evident, because the Crows did not come all at once, +but gradually, by ones and twos, every few minutes between seven and +half-past. In this way eleven more of the Crows were taken in. These +were bundled down into the dark cellar, and stowed away in groups of +three or four in three of the compartments of the cellar, each with a +guard armed with a lantern and an Indian club. + +By a quarter to eight the Lakerimmers believed that they had accounted +for all of the twenty-four Crows except the president, MacManus. Six +had left town, six were stowed aloft in the cupola, and eleven were, +as B.J., the sailor, expressed it, "below hatches." Five of the Dozen +were posted as guards, and that left seven to go out upon the war-path +and bring in the chief of the Ravens. + +He had felt his dignity too great to permit him to take two meals in +one evening; besides, he was very solemnly engaged in preparing a +speech to deliver at the banquet; and his task was very difficult, +since he had to make a great splurge about the glories of the +campaign, without reminding every one of the inglorious result of the +attempt to haze the Dozen. + +No note had been sent to him, and it seemed necessary to concoct some +scheme to decoy him from his room, because any attempt to drag him out +would probably bring one of the professors down upon the scene. + +Tug had an idea; and leaving three of the seven to guard the door, +he took the other three and hurried to the dormitory where MacManus +roomed, and threw pebbles against his window. The chief Crow soon +stuck his head out and peered down into the dark, asking what was the +matter. A voice that he did not recognize--or suspect--came out of the +blackness to inform him that some of the Crows were in trouble at the +gymnasium, and he must come at once. + +After waiting a moment they saw his light go out and heard his feet +upon the stairs, for he had lost no time in stuffing into his pocket +the notes for his address at the banquet, and flying to the rescue of +the captive banqueters. As soon as he stepped out of the door of the +dormitory, History's knit muffler was wrapped around his mouth, and he +was seized and hustled along toward the gymnasium. + +Tug felt a strong desire to inflict punishment then and there upon +the man who had tortured him when he was helpless, but that was not +according to the Lakerim code. Another idea, however, which was quite +as cruel, but had the saving grace of fun, suggested itself to him, +and he said to the others, when they had reached the gymnasium: + +"I'll tell you what, fellows--" + +"What?" said the reunited seven, in one breath. + +"Instead of putting MacManus with the rest of 'em, let's take him +along and make him look on while we eat the Crows' banquet." + +"Make him 'eat crow' himself, you mean," suggested Jumbo. + +The idea appealed strongly to the Lakerimmers, who, after all, were +human, and couldn't help, now and then, enjoying the misery of those +who had made them miserable. While MacManus was securely held by two +of the Dozen, Sawed-Off and Tug went to the cupola to summon the +Twins. The knots with which the "cummitty" were tied were carefully +looked to and strengthened, and then the Lakerimmers withdrew from the +cupola, taking the lantern with them, dragging a heavy trap-door over +their heads as they descended the ladder, and then taking the ladder +away and laying it on the floor. They hurried down the stairs then, +and went to the cellar, looking alive again to the fetters of the +Crows, and closing and barring the heavy wooden doors between the +compartments as securely as they could. + +They came up the stairs, and put down and bolted the cellar door, and +moved upon it with great difficulty the parallel bars with their iron +supports, from the gymnasium, and several 25-pound dumb-bells, as well +as the heavy vaulting-horse. Reddy and Heady were in favor also of +blocking up the narrow little windows set high in the walls of the +cellar, well over the head of the tallest of the Crows; but Tug said +that these windows were necessary for ventilation, and History was +reminded of the Black Hole of Calcutta, so it was decided to leave the +windows open for the sake of the air, even if it did give the Crows a +loophole of possible escape. + +"There's no fun in an affair of this kind if the other side hasn't +even a chance," said Tug; and this appealed to the Lakerim theory of +sport. + + + + +X + + +So they all left the gymnasium with its prisoners, and Sawed-Off +locked the door firmly behind him. Then they went at a double-quick +for Moore's restaurant and the waiting banquet, which, they suspected, +was by this time growing cold. + +When MacManus left his room he had thrown on a long ulster overcoat +with a very high collar. When this was turned up about his ears it +completely hid the gag around his mouth, and Tug and Sawed-Off locked +arms with him and hurried him along the poorly lighted streets of +Kingston without fear of detection from any passer-by. MacManus +dragged his feet and refused to go for a time, till Tug and Sawed-Off +hauled him over such rough spots that he preferred to walk. Then, +without warning, when they were crossing a slippery place he pushed +his feet in opposite directions and knocked Sawed-Off's and Tug's feet +out from under them. But inasmuch as all three of them fell in a heap, +with him at the bottom, he decided that this was a poor policy. + +The Dozen were soon at Moore's restaurant; and there, at the door, +they found waiting one of the Crows whom they had forgotten to take +into account. He was the fat boy whom Tug and History had seen hazed +just before their turn came, on the eventful night at Roden's Knoll. + +Having been hazed, and having been taxed, this boy who was known as +"Fatty" Warner, was entitled to banquet with the Crows; but he +had been invited out to a bigger supper than he could get at the +"Slaughter-house," and so he did not receive his note, and escaped the +fate of the Crows who had been put in cold storage in the gymnasium. + +B.J. and Bobbles, however, took him to one side and told him that they +were afraid they would have to tie him up and put him in a corner with +MacManus. But the tears came into his eyes at the thought of sitting +and looking at a feast in which he could not take part, and he +reminded the Lakerimmers that he had had no share in the attack on Tug +and History, and had done nothing to interfere with their escape from +Roden's Knoll, and besides, he had been compelled to pay out his +last cent of spending-money to the Crows for this banquet: So the +Lakerimmers decided to invite him to join them in eating the feast of +the enemy. + +Mr. Moore, the proprietor of the village restaurant, had a very bad +memory for faces, and when the Lakerimmers came into the room where +the table was spread, and told him to hurry up with the banquet, it +never occurred to him to ask for a certificate of character from the +guests. He was surprised, however, that there were only twelve men +where he had provided for eighteen or more; but Jumbo said, with a +twinkle in his eye: + +"The rest of them couldn't come; so we'll eat their share." + +The Lakerimmers grinned at this. Mr. Moore suspected that there was +some joke which he could not understand; but the ways of the Academy +boys were always past his comprehension, so he and the waiters came +bustling in with the first course of just such a banquet as would +please a crowd of academicians, and would give an older person a +stomach-ache for six weeks. + +Besides, the wise Mr. Moore knew the little habit students have of +postponing the payment of their bills, and he had insisted upon being +paid in advance. Poor MacManus suddenly remembered how he had doled +out the funds of the Crows for this very spread, and he almost sobbed +as he thought of the hard time he had spent in collecting the money +and preparing the menu--and all for the enjoyment of the hated +Lakerimmers, who had already spoiled the final hazing of the year, and +were now giggling and gobbling the precious banquet provided at such +expense! Mr. Moore wondered at the presence of such a sad-looking +guest at the feast, and wondered why he insisted on abstaining from +the monstrous delicacies that made the tables groan; but he reasoned +that it was none of his affair, and asked no questions. + +Before they had eaten much the Lakerimmers grew as uncomfortable over +the torment they were inflicting on poor MacManus as the poor MacManus +was himself. And Tug explained to him in a low voice that if he would +promise on his solemn honor not to make any disturbance they would be +glad to have him as a guest instead of a prisoner. MacManus objected +bitterly for a long time, but the enticing odor drove him almost +crazy, and the sight of the renegade fat boy, who was fairly making +a cupboard of himself, finally convinced the president that it was +better to take his ill fortune with a good grace. So he nodded assent +to the promises Tug exacted of him, his muffler and overcoat were +removed, and he was invited to make himself at home; and his misery +was promptly forgotten in the rattle of dishes and the clatter of +laughter and song with which the Dozen reveled in the feast of its +ancient enemies. + +The delight of the Lakerimmers in the banquet was no greater than the +misery of the Crows whose wings had been clipped, and who had been +left to flop about in the dark nooks of the chapel. The feast of the +Dozen had just begun when two of the Crows in the cupola and two +others in the cellar bethought themselves to roll close to each other, +back to back, and untie the knots around each other's wrists. They +were soon free, and quickly had their fellows liberated and the gags +all removed. But the liberty of hands and feet and tongues, though it +left them free to express their rage, still left them as far as ever +from the banquet which, as they soon suspected, was disappearing +rapidly under the teeth of the Lakerimmers. They groped around in the +pitch-black darkness, and finally one of the men in the cupola found a +little round window through which he could put his head and yell for +help. His cry was soon answered by another that seemed to come faintly +from the depths of the earth. + + + + +XI + + +The far-off cry which the six Crows in the cupola heard coming from +the depths of the earth was raised by the eleven Crows in the cellar. +By dint of much yelling the two flocks made their misery known to each +other. The trouble with the cellar party was that it could not get up. +The trouble with the cupola crowd was that it could not get down. And +they seemed to be too far apart to be of much help to each other, for +the cupola Crows had lost little time in lifting the trap-door of the +belfry and finding that the ladder was gone, and none of them was +hardy--or foolhardy--enough to risk the drop into the uncertain dark. +So there they waited in mid-air. + +The cellar Crows, when they had released each other's bonds, and +groped around the jagged walls, and stumbled foolishly over each other +and all the other tripping things in their dungeons, had succeeded in +forcing apart the wooden doors between their three cells and joining +forces--or joining weaknesses, rather, because, when they finally +found the cellar stairs, they also found that, for all the strength +they could throw into their backs and shoulders, they could not lift +the door, with all the heavy weights put on it by the Dozen. There +were a few matches in the crowd, and they sufficed to reveal the +little cellar windows. These they reached by forming a human ladder, +as the Gauls scaled the walls of Rome (only to find that a flock +of silly geese had foiled their plans). But there were no geese to +disturb the Crows, and the first of their number managed to worm +through to the outer air and help up his fellows in misery. + +It seemed for a time, though, as if even this escape were to be cut +off; for a very fat Crow got himself stuck in a little window, and the +Crows outside could not pull him through, tug as they would. Then the +Crows inside began to pull at his feet and to hang their whole weight +on his legs. + +But still he stuck. + +Then they all grew excited, and both the outsiders and the insiders +pulled at once, until the luckless fat boy thought they were trying to +make twins of him, and howled for mercy. + +He might have been there to this day had he not managed, by some +mysterious and painful wriggle, to crawl through unaided. + +Before long, then, the whole crowd of cellar Crows was standing out in +the cold air and asking the cupola Crows why they didn't come down. + +One of the Crows (Irish by descent) suddenly started off on the run; +the others called him back and asked what he was going for. + +"For a clothes-line," he said. + +"What are you going to do with it?" they asked. + +And he answered: + +"Going to throw 'em a rope and pull 'em down." + +Then he wondered why they all groaned. + +The word "rope," however, suggested an idea to the cupola prisoners, +and after much groping they found the bell-rope, and one of them cut +off a good length of it. They fastened it securely then, and slid down +to the next floor, whence they made their way without much difficulty +down the stairs to the ground. There they found the outer door firmly +locked. Then they felt sadder than over. + +But by this time the hubbub they had raised had brought on the scene +several of the instructors, one of whom had a duplicate key of the +gymnasium. And they suffered the terrible humiliation of being +released by one of the Faculty! + +On being questioned as to the cause of such a breach of the peace +of the Academy, all the seventeen Crows attempted to explain the +high-handed and inexcusable conduct of the wicked Dozen which had +picked on eighteen defenseless men and made them prisoners. The +instructor had been a boy himself once, and he could not entirely +conceal a little smile at the thought of the cruelty of the Lakerim +Twelve. Just then MacManus came by, and with one accord the Crows +exclaimed: + +"Where did they tie you up?" + +"Down at Moore's restaurant," said MacManus, sheepishly. + +"Well, what has happened to the banquet?" they exclaimed. + +"It's all eaten!" groaned MacManus. + +"Who ate it?" cawed the Crows. + +"The Dozen!" moaned MacManus. + +And that was the last straw that broke the Crows' backs. + +They threatened all sorts of revenge, and some of the smaller-minded +of them went to the Faculty and suggested that the best thing that +could be done was to expel the Lakerim men in a body. But, by a little +questioning, the Faculty learned of the attempted hazing that had been +at the bottom of the whole matter, and decided that the best thing to +do was to reprimand and warn both the Crows and the Dozen, and make +them solemnly promise to bury the hatchet. + +Which they did. + +And thus ended one of the bitterest feuds of modern times. + + + + +XII + + +Now, Heady, who had set the whole kidnapping scheme on foot as soon +as he joined the Dozen at Kingston, had brought to the Academy no +particular love for study; but he had brought a great enthusiasm for +basket-ball. + +And this enthusiasm was catching, and he soon had many of the +Kingstonians working hard in the gymnasium, and organizing scrub teams +to play this most bewilderingly rapid of games. + +Most of the Lakerimmers went in for pure love of excitement; but when +Heady said that it was especially good as an indoor winter exercise to +keep men in trim for football and baseball, Tug and Punk immediately +went at it with great enthusiasm. + +But Tug was so mixed up in the slight differences between this game +and his beloved football, and so insisted upon running (which is +against the rules of basket-ball), and upon tackling (which is against +the rules), and upon kicking (which is against the rules), that +he finally gave up in despair, and said that if he became a good +basket-ball player he would be a poor football-player. And football +was his earlier love. + +Sleepy, however, who was the great baseball sharp, made this +complaint, in his drawling fashion: + +"The rules say you can only hold the ball five seconds, and it takes +me at least ten seconds to decide what to do with it; so I guess the +blamed game isn't for me." + +Out of the many candidates for the team the following regular five +were chosen: For center, Sawed-Off, who was tall enough to do the +"face-off" in excellent style, and who could, by spreading out his +great arms, present in front of an ambitious enemy a surface as big +as a windmill--almost. The right-forward was Heady, and of course the +left-forward had to be his other half, Reddy. Pretty managed by his +skill in lawn-tennis to make the position of right-guard, and the +left-guard was the chief of the Crows, MacManus. The Dozen treated +him, if not as an equal, at least as one who had a right to be alive +and move about upon the same earth with them. + +The Kingston basket-ball team played many games, and grew in speed and +team-play till they were looked upon as a terror by the rest of the +Interscholastic League. + +Finally, indeed, they landed the championship of the various +basket-ball teams of the academies. But just before they played their +last triumphant game in the League, and when they were feeling their +oats and acting as rambunctious and as bumptious as a crowd of almost +undefeated boys sometimes chooses to be, they received a challenge +that caused them to laugh long and loud. At first it looked like a +huge joke for the high-and-mighty Kingston basket-ball team to be +challenged by a team from the Palatine Deaf-and-Dumb Institute; then +it began to look like an insult, and they were angry at such treatment +of such great men as they admitted themselves to be. + +It occurred to Sawed-Off, however, that before they sent back an +indignant refusal to play, they might as well look up the record of +the deaf-and-dumb basket-ball men. After a little investigation, to +their surprise, they found that these men were astoundingly clever +players, and had won game after game from the best teams. So they +accepted the challenge in lordly manner, and in due time the +Palatiners appeared upon the floor of the Kingston gymnasium. A +large audience had gathered and was seated in the gallery where the +running-track ran. + +Among the spectators was that girl to whom both Reddy and Heady were +devoted, the girl who could not decide between them, she liked both +of them so immensely, especially as she herself was the champion +basket-ball player among the girls at her seminary. Each of the Twins +resolved that he would not only outdo all the rest of the players upon +the gymnasium floor, but also his bitter rival, his brother. + +There was something uncanny, at first, in the playing of the +Palatines, all of whom were deaf-mutes, except the captain, who was +neither deaf nor dumb, but understood and talked the sign language. + +The game opened with the usual face-off. The referee called the two +centers to the middle of the floor, and then tossed the ball high +in the air between them. They leaped as far as they could; but +Sawed-Off's enormous height carried him far beyond the other man, and, +giving the ball a smart slap, he sent it directly into the clutch of +Reddy, who had run on and was waiting to receive it half over his +shoulder. Finding himself "covered" by the opposing forward, he passed +the ball quickly under the other man's arm across to Heady, who had +run down the other side of the floor. Heady received the ball without +obstruction, and by a quick overhead fling landed it in the high +basket, and scored the first point, while applause and wonderment were +loud in the gallery. + +The Kingstonians played like one man--if you can imagine one man with +twenty arms and legs. Sawed-Off made such high leaps, and covered so +well, and sent the ball so well through the forwards, and supported +them so well; the twin forwards dodged and ran and passed and +dribbled the ball with such dash; and the guards were so alert in the +protection of their goal and in obstructing the throwing of the other +forwards, that three goals and the score of six were rolled up in an +amazingly short time. + +Sawed-Off was in so many places at once, and kept all four limbs going +so violently, that the spectators began to cheer him on as "Granddaddy +Longlegs." A loud laugh was raised on one occasion, when the Palatine +captain got the ball, and, holding it high in the air to make a +try for goal from the field, found himself covered by the towering +Sawed-Off; he curved the ball downward, where one of the Twins leaped +for it in front; then he wriggled and writhed with it till it was +between his legs. But there the other Twin was, and with a quick, +wringing clutch that nearly tied the opposing captain into a bow-knot, +he had the ball away from him. + +At the end of the three goals the Kingstonians began to whisper to +themselves that they had what they were pleased to call a "cinch"; +they alluded to the Palatines as "easy fruit," and began to make a +number of fresh and grand-stand plays. The inevitable and proper +result of this funny business was that they began to grow careless. +The deaf-mutes, unusually alert in other ways on account of the loss +of hearing and speech, were quick to see the opportunity, and to play +with unexpected carefulness and dash. + +The swelled heads of the Kingstonians were reduced to normal size when +the Palatines quickly scored two goals. It began to look as if they +would add a third score when the desperate Reddy, seeing one of the +Palatine forwards about to make a try for goal, made a leaping tackle +that destroyed the man's aim and almost upset him. + +Reddy was just secretly congratulating himself upon his breach of +etiquette when the shrill whistle of the referee brought dismay to his +heart. His act was declared a foul, and the Palatines were given a +"free throw." Their left-forward was allowed to take his stand fifteen +feet from the basket and have an unobstructed try at it. The throw was +successful, and the score now stood 6 to 5 in favor of Kingston. + +The game went rapidly on, and at one stage the ball was declared +"held" by the referee, and it was faced off well toward the Palatine +goal. Sawed-Off made a particularly high leap in the air and an +unusually fierce whack at the ball. + +To his chagrin, it went up into the gallery and struck the girl to +whom the Twins were so devoted, smack upon her pretty snub nose. +Though the blow was hard enough to bring tears to her bright eyes, she +smiled, and with a laugh and a blush picked up the ball and dropped it +over the rail. + +The Twins both made a dash to receive this gift from her pretty hands, +and in consequence bumped into each other and fell apart. + +The ball which they had robbed each other of fell into the clutch of +Pretty, who made the girl a graceful bow that quite won her heart. +Pretty was, by the way, always cutting the other fellows out. This was +the only grudge they ever had against him. + +The Twins were now more rattled than ever; and Heady determined to +do or die. He saw one of the Palatines running forward and looking +backward to receive the ball on a long pass, and he gave him a vicious +body-check. He knew it was a foul at the time, but he thought the +referee was not looking. His punishment was fittingly double, for not +only did the referee see and declare the foul, but the big Palatine +came with such impetus that he knocked Heady galley-west. Heady went +scraping along a row of single sticks and wooden dumb-bells, making a +noise like the rattle of a board along a picket fence. + +Then he tumbled in a heap, with the Palatine man on top of him. As +the Palatine man got up, he dislodged a number of Indian clubs, which +fairly pelted the prostrate Heady. This foul gave the Palatines +another free throw, and made the score a tie. + + + + +XIII + + +The Twins were now so angry and ashamed of themselves that they played +worse than ever. + +Everything seemed to go wrong with them. Their passes were blocked; +their tries for goal failed; the Palatines would not even help them +out with a foul. In their general disorder of plan, they could do +nothing to prevent the Palatines from making goal after goal till, +when the referee's whistle announced that the first twenty-minute half +was over, the score stood 12 to 6 against Kingston. + +The Twins were feeling sore enough as it was, but when they went to +the dressing-room dripping with sweat and gasping for breath from +their hard exertions, Tug appeared to rub salt into their wounds by a +little lecture upon their shortcomings and fargoings. + +"Heady," he said, "I guess you have been away from us a little too +long. The Lakerim Athletic Club never approved of foul playing on the +part of itself or any one else, and you got just what you deserved for +forgetting your dignity. I suppose Reddy got the disease from you. But +I want to say right here that you have got to play like Lakerim men or +there is going to be trouble." + +The Twins realized the depths of their disgrace before Tug spoke, and +they were too much humiliated in their own hearts to resent his lofty +tone. They determined to wipe the disgrace out in the only way it +could be effaced: by brilliant, clean playing in the second half of +the game. + +When the intermission was over, they went in with such vim that they +broke up all the plans of the Palatines for gaining goal, and put them +to a very fierce defensive game. Heady soon scored a goal by passing +the ball back to Reddy and then running forward well into Palatine +territory, and receiving it on a long pass, and tossing it into the +basket before he could be obstructed. + +But this ray of hope was immediately dimmed by the curious action of +MacManus, who, forgetting that he was not on the football field, and +receiving the ball unexpectedly, made a brilliant run down the field +with it, carrying it firmly against his body. He was brought back with +a hang-dog expression and the realization that he had unconsciously +played foul and given the Palatines another free throw, which made +their score 13 to 8. + +A little later Reddy, finding himself with his back to the Palatine +goal, and all chance of passing the ball to his brother foiled by the +large overshadowing form of the Palatine captain, determined to make a +long shot at luck, and threw the ball backward over his head. + +A loud yell and a burst of applause announced that fortune had favored +him: he had landed the ball exactly in the basket. + +But Heady went him one better, for he made a similarly marvelous goal +with a smaller element of luck. Finding himself in a good position for +a try, he was about to send the ball with the overhead throw that is +usual, when he was confronted by a Palatine guard, who completely +covered all the space in front of the diminutive Heady. Like a flash +Heady dropped to the floor in a frog-like attitude, and gave the ball +a quick upward throw between the man's outspread legs and up into the +basket. + +And now the audience went wild indeed at seeing two such plays as have +been seen only once or twice in the history of the game. + +With the score of 13 to 12 in their favor, the Palatines made a strong +rally, and prevented the Kingstonians from scoring. They were tired, +and evidently thought that their safety lay in sparring for time. And +the referee seemed willing to aid them, for his watch was in his hand, +and the game had only the life of a few seconds to live, when the ball +fell into the hands of Heady. The desperate boy realized that now +he had the final chance to retrieve the day and wrest victory from +defeat. He was far, far from the basket, but he did not dare to risk +the precious moment in dribbling or passing the ball. The only hope +lay in one perfect throw. He held the ball in his hands high over his +head, and bent far back. He straightened himself like a bow when the +arrow of the Indian leaves its side. He gave a spring into the air, +and launched the ball at the little basket. It soared on an arc as +beautiful as a rainbow's. It landed full in the basket. + +But the force of the blow was so great that the ball choggled about +and bounded out upon the rim. There it halted tantalizingly, rolled +around the edge of the basket, trembled as if hesitating whether to +give victory to the Palatines or the Kingstons. + +After what seemed an age of this dallying, it slowly dropped-- + +To the floor. + +A deep, deep sigh came from the lips of all, even the Palatines. And +down into the hearts of the Twins there went a solemn pain. They had +lost the game--that was bad enough; but they knew that they deserved +to lose it, that their own misplays had brought their own punishment. +But they bore their ordeal pluckily, and when, the next week, they met +another team, they played a clean, swift game that won them stainless +laurels. + + + + +XIV + + +Snow-time set Quiz to wondering what he could do to occupy his spare +moments; for the drifts were too deep for him to continue his beloved +pastime of bicycling, and he had to put his wheel out of commission. +So he went nosing about, trying a little of everything, and being +satisfied with nothing. + +The Academy hockey team, of which Jumbo was the leader, was working +out a fine game and making its prowess felt among the rival teams of +the Tri-State Interscholastic League. But hockey did not interest +Quiz; for though he could almost sleep on a bicycle without falling +over, when he put on a pair of skates you might have thought that he +was trying to turn somersaults or describe interrogation-points in the +air. + +It was a little cold for rowing,--though Quiz pulled a very decent +oar,--and the shell would hardly go through the ice at an interesting +speed. Indoor work in the gymnasium was also too slow for Quiz, and he +was asking every one what pastime there was to interest a young man +who required speed in anything that was to hold his attention. + +At length he bethought him of a sport he had seen practised during +a visit he paid once to some relatives in Minnesota, where the many +Norwegian immigrants practised the art of running upon the skies. At +first sight this statement looks as if it might have come out of the +adventures of that trustworthy historian, Baron Muenchhaeusen. But the +skies you are thinking of are not the skies I mean. + +The Scandinavian skies are not blue, and they are not overhead, but +underfoot. Of course you know all about the Norwegian ski, but perhaps +your younger brother does not, so I will say for his benefit that the +ski is a sort of Norwegian snow-shoe, only it is almost as swift as +the seven-league boots. When you put it on you look as if you had a +toboggan on each foot; for it is a strip of ash half an inch thick, +half a dozen inches wide, and some ten feet long; the front end of it +pointed and turned up like that of a toboggan. + +When you first get the things on, or, rather, get on them, you learn +that, however pleasant they may grow to be as servants, they are +certainly pretty bad masters; and you will find that the groove which +is run in the bottom of the skies to prevent their spreading is of +very little assistance, for they seem to have a will of their own, and +also a bitter grudge against each other: they step on each other one +moment, and make a wild bolt in opposite directions the next, and +behave generally like a pair of unbroken colts. + +Quiz had once learned to walk on snow-shoes. He grew to be quite +an adept, indeed, and could take a two-foot hurdle with little +difficulty. But he soon found that so far from being a help, his +familiarity with the snow-shoe was a great hindrance. + +The mode of walking on a Canadian snow-shoe, which he had learned with +such difficulty, had to be completely unlearned before he could begin +to make progress with the Scandinavian footgear. For in snow-shoe +walking the feet must be lifted straight up and then carried forward +before they are planted, and any attempt to slide them forward makes a +woeful tangle; to try to lift the ski off the ground, however, is to +invite ridiculous distress, and the whole art of scooting on the ski +is in the long, sliding motion. It is a sort of skating on incredibly +long skates that must not be lifted from the snow. + +Quiz had the skies made by a Kingston carpenter; and he was so proud +of them that, when a crowd gathered to see what he was going to do +with the mysterious slats, he proceeded to make his first attempt in +an open space in the Academy campus. He put the skies down on the +snow, slipped his toes into the straps, and, sweeping a proud glance +around among the wondering Kingstonians, dashed forward in his old +snow-shoe fashion. + +It took the Kingstonians some seconds to decide which was Quiz and +which was ski. For the skittish skies skewed and skedaddled and +skulked and skipped and scrubbed and screwed and screamed and scrawled +and scooped and scrabbled and scrambled and scambled and scumbled +and scraped and scrunched and scudded and scuttled and scuffled +and skimped and scattered in such scandalous scampishness that the +scornful scholars scoffed. + +Quiz quit. + +The poor boy was so laughed at for days by the whole Academy that his +spunk was finally aroused. He got out again the skies he had hidden +away in disgust, and practised upon them in the fields, at a distance +from the campus, until he had finally broken the broncos and made a +swift and delightful team of them. He soon grew strong enough to glide +for hours at a high rate of speed without weariness, and the ski +became a serious rival to the bicycle in his affections. + +He learned to shoot the hills at a breathless rate, climbing up +swiftly to the top; then, with feet apart, but even, zipping like an +express-train down the steep incline and far along the level below. + +He even risked his bones by attempting the rash deeds of old +ski-runners. Reaching an embankment, he would retire a little +distance, and then rush forward to the brink and leap over into the +air, lighting on the ground below far out, steadying himself quickly, +and shooting on at terrific pace. + +But this rashness brought its own punishment--as fool-hardiness +usually does. + +[Illustration: "QUIZ LEARNED TO SHOOT THE HILLS AT A BREATHLESS +RATE."] + + + + +XV + +At dinner, one Saturday, Quiz had broken out in exclamations of +delight over his pet skies, and had begun to complain about the time +when spring should drive away the blessed winter. + +"I can't get enough of the snow," he exclaimed. + +"Oh, can't you?" said Jumbo, ominously. + +Quiz could hardly finish his dinner, so impatient was he to be up and +off again, over the hills and far away. When he had gone, Jumbo asked +the other Lakerimmers if they had not noticed how exclusive Quiz was +becoming, and how little they saw of him. He said, also, that he did +not approve of Quiz' rushing all over the country alone and taking +foolish risks for the sake of a little solitary fun. + +The Lakerimmers agreed that something should be done; and Jumbo +reminded them of Quiz' remark that he could not get enough snow, and +suggested a plan that, he thought, might work as a good medicine on +him. + +That afternoon Quiz seemed to have quite lost his head over his +ski-running. He felt that there were signs of a thaw in the air, and +he proposed that this snow should not fade away before he had indulged +in one grand, farewell voyage. He struck off into the country by a +new road, and at such a speed that he was soon among unfamiliar +surroundings. + +As the day began to droop toward twilight he decided that it was high +time to be turning back toward Kingston. He looked about for one last +embankment to shoot before he retraced his course. + +Far in the distance he thought he saw a fine, high bluff, and he +hurried toward it with delicious expectation. When he had reached the +brink he looked down and saw that the bluff ended in a little body of +water hardly big enough to be called a lake. After measuring the drop +with his eye, and deciding that while it was higher than anything he +had ever shot before, it was just risky enough to be exciting, he went +back several steps, came forward with a good impetus, and launched +himself fearlessly into the air like the aeronaughty Darius Green. + +He launched himself fearlessly enough, but he was no sooner in mid-air +than he began to regret his rashness. It was rather late now, though, +to be thinking of that, and he realized that nothing could save him +from having a sudden meeting with the bottom of the hill. + +He lost his nerve in his excitement, and crossed his skies, so that +when he struck, instead of sailing forward like the wind, he stuck and +went headforemost. Fortunately, one of his skies broke--instead of +most of his bones; and a very kind-hearted snow-bank appeared like a +feather-bed, and somewhat checked the force of his fall. But, for all +that, he was soon rolling over and over down the hill, and he landed +finally on a thin spot in the ice of the lake, and crashed through +into the water up to his waist. + +Now he was so panic-stricken that he scrambled frantically out. He +cast one sorry glance up the hill, and saw there the pieces into which +his ski had cracked, as well as the pathway he himself had cleared in +the snow as he came tumbling down. Then he looked for the other ski, +and realised that it was far away under the ice. + +He was now so cold, that, dripping as he was, he would not have waded +into the lake again to grope around for the other ski if that ski had +been solid gold studded with diamonds. + +Plainly, the only thing to do was to make for home, and that right +quickly, before night came on and he lost his way, and the pneumonia +got him. + +It was a very different story, trudging back through the snow-drifts +in the twilight, from flitting like a butterfly on the ski. He +realized now that his legs were tired from the long run he had enjoyed +so much. He lost his way, too, time and again; and when he came to a +cross-roads and had to guess for himself which path to take, somehow +or other he seemed always to take the wrong one, and to plod along it +until he met some farmer to put him on the right path to Kingston. But +though he met many a farmer, he seemed to find never a wagon going his +way, or even a hospitable-looking farm-house. + +He was still miles away from Kingston when lamp-lighting time came. A +little gleam came cheerfully toward him out of the dark. He hurried +to it, thinking of the fine supper the kind-hearted farmers would +doubtless give him, when, just as he reached the gate of the +door-yard, there was a most blood-curdling uproar, and two or three +furious dogs came bounding shadowily toward him. + +He lost no time in deciding that supper, after all, was a rather +useless invention, and Kingston much preferable. + +Previously to this, Quiz had always understood that the dog was the +most kind-hearted of animals, but it was months after that night +before he could hear the mere name of a canine without shuddering. + +Well, a boy can cover any distance imaginable,--even the path to the +moon,--if he only has the strength and the time. So Quiz finally +reached the outskirts of Kingston. + +His long walk had dried and warmed him somewhat; but he was miserably +tired, and he felt that his stomach was as empty as the Desert of +Sahara. At last, though, he reached the campus, and dragged heavily +along the path to his dormitory. + +He stopped at Tug's to see if Tug had any remains left of the latest +box of good things from home; but no answer came to his knock, and he +went sadly up to the next Lakerim room. But that was empty too, and +all of the others of the Dozen were away. + +For they had become alarmed at Quiz' absence, and started out in +search of him, as they had once before set forth on the trail of Tug +and History. + +[Illustration: "Jumbo saw a pair of flashing eyes glaring at him over +the coverlet."] + +By the time Quiz reached his room he was too tired to be very hungry, +and he decided that his bed would be Paradise enough. So, all cold and +weary as he was, he hastily peeled off his clothes, and blew out the +light. He shivered at the very thought of the coldness of the sheets, +but he fairly flung himself between them. + +Just one-tenth of a second he spent in his downy couch, and then +leaped out on the floor with a howl. He remembered suddenly the look +Jumbo had given him at dinner when he had said he could not get snow +enough. + +Jumbo and the other fiends from Lakerim had filled the lower half of +his bed with it! + + * * * * * + +Late that night, when the eleven Lakerimmers came back, weary from +their long search, and frightened at not finding Quiz, Jumbo went +to his room with a sad heart. When he lighted his lamp and looked +longingly toward his downy bed, he saw a pair of flashing eyes glaring +at him over the coverlet. They were the eyes of Quiz; and within easy +reach lay a baseball bat and several large lumps of coal. But all Quiz +said was: + +"Excuse me for getting into your bed, Jumbo. You are perfectly welcome +to mine." + + + + +XVI + + +But, speaking of cold, you ought to hear about the great fire company +that was organized at the Academy. + +The town of Kingston was not large enough or rich enough to support a +full-fledged fire department with paid firemen and trained horses. +It had nothing but an old-fashioned engine, a hose-cart, and a +ladder-truck, all of which had to be drawn by two-footed steeds, the +volunteer firemen of the village. + +The Lakerimmers had not been in Kingston many weeks before they heard +the fire-bell lift its voice. It was not more than twenty minutes +before the Kingston fire department appeared galloping along the rough +road in front of the campus at a fearsome speed of about six miles an +hour. + +Several of the horses wore long white beards, and others of them were +so fat that they added more weight than power to the team. + +Such of the academicians as had no classes at that hour followed these +champing chargers to the scene of the fire. + +It turned out to be a woodshed, which was as black and useless as a +burnt biscuit by the time the fire department arrived. + +But the Volunteers had the pleasure of dropping a hose down the well +of the owner of the late lamented woodshed, and pumping the well dry. +The Volunteers thus bravely extinguished three fence-posts that had +caught fire from the woodshed, and then turned for home, proud in the +consciousness of duty performed. They felt sure that they had saved +the village from a second Chicago fire. + +Jumbo said that the department ought not to be called the Volunteers, +but the Crawfishes. B.J., who had a scientific turn of mind, said that +he had an idea for a great invention. + +"The world revolves from west to east at the rate of a thousand miles +an hour," he said. + +"I've heard so," broke in Jumbo, "but you can't believe everything you +see in print." + +B.J. brushed him aside, and went on: + +"Now, all you've got to do is to invent a scheme for raising your +fire-engine and your firemen up in the air a few feet, and holding +them still while the earth revolves under them. Then you turn a kind +of a wheel, or something, when the place you want to get to comes +around, and there you are in a jiffy. It would beat the Empire State +Express all hollow. Why, it would be faster even than an ice-boat!" +he exclaimed enthusiastically. "I guess I'll have to get that idea +patented." + +"But say, B.J.," said Bobbles, in a puzzled manner, "suppose your fire +was in the other direction? You'd have to go clear around the world to +get to the place." + +"I didn't think of that," said B.J., dejectedly. + +And thus one of the greatest inventions of the age was left +uninvented. + + * * * * * + +But Tug had also been set to thinking by the snail-like Kingston +firemen. + +"What this place really needs," he said, "is some firemen that can +run. They want more speed and less rheumatism. Now, if we fellows +could only join the department we'd show 'em a few things." + +"Why can't we?" said Punk, always ready to carry out another's +suggestion. + +"George Washington was a volunteer fireman," was History's +ever-present reminder from the books. + +The scheme took like wild-fire with the Dozen, and after a conference +in which the twelve heads got as close together as twenty-four large +feet would permit, it was decided to ask permission of the Academy +Faculty and of the town trustees. + +The Kingston Faculty was of the general opinion that it is +ordinarily--though by no means always--the best plan to allow restless +boys to carry out their own schemes. If the scheme is a bad one they +will be more likely to be convinced of it by putting it into practice +than by being told that it is bad, and forbidden to attempt it. So, +after long deliberation, they consented to permit half a dozen of the +larger Lakerim fellows to join the volunteer department. + +Fires were not frequent, and most of the buildings of the village were +so small that little risk was to be feared. + +The trustees of the village saw little harm in allowing the +academicians to drag their heavy trucks for them, and promised that +they would not permit the boys to rush into any dangerous places. + +In a short while, then, the half-dozen were full-fledged firemen, with +red flannel shirts, rubber boots, and regulation hats. The Lakerimmers +were so proud of their new honor that they wanted to wear their +gorgeous uniforms in the class-rooms. But the heartless Faculty put +its foot down hard on this. + +The very minute the six--Tug, Punk, Sleepy, B.J., and the Twins--were +safely installed as Volunteers, it seemed that the whole town had +suddenly become fire-proof. + +The boys could neither study their lessons nor recite them with more +than half a mind, for they had always one ear raised for the sound of +the delightful fire-bell. They always hoped that when the fire would +come it would be in the midst of a recitation; and Sleepy constantly +failed to prepare himself at all, in the hope that at the critical +moment he would be rescued from flunking by a call to higher +duties. But fate was ironical, and after two or three weeks of this +nerve-wearing existence the Volunteers began to lose hope. + +One Saturday afternoon, when the roads were frozen into ruts as hard +and sharp as iron, and when the Dozen had just started forth to take a +number of pretty girls to see a promising hockey game, the villainous +old fire-bell began to call for help. + +The half-dozen regretted for a moment that they had ever volunteered +to be Volunteers; but they would not shirk their duty, and instantly +dashed toward the shed where the fire department was stored. They +were there long before any of the older Volunteers, and had a long, +impatient wait. Then there were all manner of delays; breakages had to +be repaired and axles greased before a start could be properly made. +But at last they were off, tearing down the rough roads at a speed +that made the older firemen plead for mercy. + +The alarm had come from a man who had been painting a church steeple, +and had seen a cloud of smoke in the direction of the "Mitchell +place," a large farm-house some little distance out of the village +limits. + +There was a fine exhilaration about the run until they reached the +edge of the town, and began to drag the bouncing, jouncing cart over +the miserable country road. Still they tugged on, going slower and +slower, and the older Volunteers letting go of the rope and falling by +the wayside like the wounded at the hill of San Juan. + +Finally even the half-dozen had to slacken speed, too, and walk, for +fear of losing the whole fire department--the chief had already given +out in exhaustion, and insisted upon climbing on one of the trucks +and riding the rest of the way. But at length, somehow or other, the +Kingston Volunteers reached the farm-house at a slow walk, their +tongues almost hanging out of their mouths, and their breath coming in +gasps. + +Strange to say, there were no signs of excitement at the Mitchell +place, though a great cloud of black smoke poured from a huge hollow +sycamore-tree that had been cut off about ten feet from the ground, +and was used as a primitive smoke-house. + +The Volunteers looked at this tree, and then at one another, without a +word. Then Mr. Mitchell came slowly toward his gate, and asked why he +had been honored with such a visit. + +The only one that had breath enough to say a word was the fire chief, +who had ridden the latter part of the way. He explained the alarm, and +asked the cause of the smoke. + +Mr. Mitchell drawled: "Wawl, I'm jest a-curin' some hams." + +As they all pegged dismally homeward, the half-dozen thought that +Mr. Mitchell had also just about cured six Volunteers. And when the +half-dozen took off their red flannel shirts that day, they no longer +looked upon them as red badges of courage, but rather as a sort of +penitentiary uniform. + +The fire department of Kingston had such another long snooze that the +half-dozen began now to rejoice in the hope that there would not be +another fire before vacation-time. They had almost forgotten that they +were Volunteers, and went about their studies and pastimes with the +fine care-freedom of glorious boyhood. + + * * * * * + +Then came a cold wave suddenly out of the West--a tidal wave of bitter +winds and blizzardy snow-storms, that sent the mercury down into the +shoes of the thermometer. + +Things froze up with a snap that you could almost hear. + +It seemed that it would be impossible even to put a nose out of the +warm rooms without hearing a sudden crackle, and seeing it drop to the +ground, and the ears after it. The very stoves had to be coaxed and +coddled to keep warm. + +Jumbo said: "Why, I have to button my overcoat around my stove, and +feed it with coal in a teaspoon, to keep it from freezing to death!" + +The academicians went to and from their classes on the dead run, and +even the staid professors scampered along the slippery paths with more +thought of speed than of dignity. + +That night was the coldest that the oldest inhabitant of Kingston +could remember. The very winds seemed to be tearing madly about, +trying to keep warm, and screaming with pain, they were so cold! Ugh! +my ears tingle to think of it. The Lakerimmers piled the coal high in +their stoves, and piled their overcoats, and even the rugs from the +floor, over their beds. + +Sleepy, whose blood was so slow that he was never warm enough in +winter and never very warm in summer, even spread all the newspapers +he could find inside his bed, and crawled in between them, having +heard that paper is one of the warmest of coverings. The journals +crackled like, popcorn every time he moved; but he moved very little +and it would have been a loud noise indeed that could have kept him +awake. + +At a very early hour, then, the Volunteers and the rest of the Dozen +were as snug as bugs in rugs. + +And then,--oh, merciless fate!--at the coldest and dismalest hour of +the whole twenty-four, when the night is about over and the day is not +begun, at about 3 A.M., what, oh, what! should sound, even above the +howls of the wind and the rattlings of the windows and doors, but that +fiend of a fire-bell! + +It clanged and banged and clamored and boomed and pounded its way even +through the harveyized armor-plate of the Lakerim ship of sleep. + +Tug was the first to wake, and his heart almost stopped with horror of +the time the old bell had chosen for making itself heard. Tug was a +brave boy, and he had a high sense of responsibility; but he had also +a high sense of the comfort of a good warm bed on a bitter cold night, +and he lay there, his heart torn up like a battle-field, where the two +angels of duty and evil fought bitterly. And he was perfectly willing +to give them plenty of time to fight it out to a finish. + + * * * * * + +In another room of the dormitory there was another struggle going on, +though it would be rather flattering to say that they were angels who +were struggling. The Twins had wakened at the same moment, and each +had pretended to be asleep at first. Then each had remembered that +misery loves company, and each had jabbed the other in the ribs, at +the same time. + +"What bell is that?" Reddy had asked Heady, and Heady had asked Reddy, +at the same instant. + +"It's that all-fired fire-bell!" both exclaimed, each answering the +other's question and his own. + +"Jee-minetly! but this is a pretty time for that old thing to break +out!" wailed Reddy. + +"It ought to be ashamed of itself," moaned Heady. + +"It's too bad," said Reddy; "but a fireman mustn't mind the wind or +the weather." + +"That's so," sighed Heady, "but I'm sorry for you." + +"What!" cried Reddy, "you're sorry for _me_! What's the matter with +yourself?" + +"Why, I couldn't possibly think of going out such a night as this," +explained Heady; "you know I haven't been at all well for the last few +days." + +"Oh, haven't you!" complained Reddy. "Well, you're twice as well as I +am, and you ought to be ashamed of yourself to shirk your duty this +way." + +"Duty! Humph! There's nothing the matter with you! It would be +criminal for me, though, to go out a night like this, feeling as I do. +Mother would never forgive me. But you had better hurry, or you'll be +late," urged Heady. + +"Hurry nothing!" said Reddy. "I'm surprised, though, to see you trying +to pretend that you're sick, and trying to send me out on a terrible +night like this when you _know_ I'm really sick." + +Then the quarrel waxed fiercer and fiercer, until they quit using +words and began to apply hands and feet. It was not many minutes +before each had kicked the other out of bed, and each had carried half +of the bedclothing with him. + +Neither of them remained any longer than was necessary on the cold +floor, but each grabbed up his half of the bedding, and rolled himself +up in it, and lay down with great dignity as far away from the other +as he could get, even though he hung far over the edge. + +But the covers had been none too warm all together, and now, divided +into half, the Twins were soon shivering in misery. They stood it +as long as they could, and then, as if by a silent agreement, they +decided to declare a peace, and each remarked: + +"I guess we're both too sick to go out such a night as this." And they +were soon asleep again. + +* * * * * + +When Punk heard the fire-bell, his heart grew bitter at the thought of +the still bitterer night. He did not think it proper for one of +his conservative nature to violate all the rules of health and +self-respect by going out in such rowdy weather. + +He peeked over the edge of his coverlet, and saw that his stove was +still glowing, and that his own room was not on fire. + +Then he reached out one quick arm and pulled his slippers into bed +with him, and when they were warm enough put them on his feet, wrapped +himself up well, and, running to the window, raised it quickly, thrust +his head out, and looked up and down the campus. This quick glance +satisfied him of two things: first, that none of the beloved Academy +buildings were on fire; and second, that he was never much interested +in the old village, anyway. + +So he toddled back to his cozy bed. + +B.J. was sleeping so soundly that the fire-bell could not wake him; it +simply rang in his ears and mingled with his dreams. In the land of +dreams he went to all sorts of fires, and saved thirty or forty lives, +mainly of beautiful maidens in top stories of blazing palaces. His +dreamland rescues were as heroic as any one could desire, but that was +as near as he came to answering the call of the Kingston alarm. + + * * * * * + +As for Sleepy, it is doubtful if the bell would have awakened him if +it had been suspended from his bed-post; but from where it was it +never reached even to his dreams, if, indeed, even dreams could have +wormed their way into his solid slumbers. + + * * * * * + +Tug's conscience, however, was giving him a sharper pain than he +suffered at the thought of the night outside. At length he could stand +the thought of being found wanting in his duty, no longer. + +He flung himself out of bed and into his clothes, his teeth beating a +tattoo, his knees fighting a boxing-match, and his hands all thumbs +with the cold. Then he put on two pairs of trousers, three coats, and +an overcoat, two caps, several mufflers, and a pair of heavy mittens +over a pair of gloves, and flew down the stairs and dived out into the +storm like a Russian taking a plunge-bath in an icy stream. Fairly +plowing through the freezing winds, along the cinder paths he hurried, +and down the clattering board walks of the village to the building of +the fire department. + +He met never a soul upon the arctic streets, and he found never a soul +at the meeting-place of the all-faithful Volunteers. What amazed him +most was that he found not even a man there to ring the bell. The +rope, however, was flouncing about in the wind, and the bell itself +was still thundering alarums over the town. + +Tug's first thought at this discovery was--spooks! As is usual with +people who do not believe in ghosts, they were the first things he +thought of as an explanation of a mysterious performance. + +His second thought was the right one. The hurricane had ripped off the +boarding about the bell, and the wind itself was the bell-ringer. + +With a sigh of the utmost tragedy, Tug turned back toward his room. He +was colder now than ever, and by the time he reached the dormitory he +was too nearly frozen to stop and upbraid Punk and the other derelicts +who had proved false at a crisis that also proved false. + +The next morning, however, he gathered them all in his room and read +them a severe lecture. They had been a disgrace to the Lakerim ideal, +he insisted, and they had only luck, and not themselves, to credit for +the fact that they were not made the laughing-stock of the town and +the Academy. + +And that day the half-dozen sent in its resignation from the volunteer +fire department of the village of Kingston. + + + + +XVII + + +It was not long after this that the Christmas vacation hove in sight, +and the Dozen forgot the blot upon its escutcheon in the thought of +the delight that awaited it in renewing acquaintance with its mothers +and other best girls at Lakerim, not to mention the cronies in the +club-house. Each had his plans for making fourteen red-letter days out +of the two weeks they were to spend at home. Peaceful thoughts filled +the hearts of most of them, but B.J. dreamed chiefly of the furious +conflicts that awaited him on the lake, which had been the scene of +many an adventure in his mettlesome ice-boat. + +The last days crawled painfully by for all of them, and the Dozen grew +more and more meek as they became more and more homesick for their +mothers. They were boys indeed now, and until they reached the old +town; but there there was such a cordial reception for them from +the whole village--fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, best girls, +cronies, and even dogs--that by the time they had reached the +club-house which had been built by their own efforts, and in which +they were recorded on a beautiful panel as the charter members, they +felt that they were aged, white-haired veterans returning to some +battle-field where they were indeed famous. + +A reception was given in their honor at the club-house, and Tug made +a speech, and the others gave various more or less ridiculous and +impressive exhibitions of their grandeur. + +After a day or two of this glory, however, they became fellow-citizens +with the rest of the villagers, and were content to sit around the +club-room and tell stories of the grand old days when the Lakerim +Athletic Club had no club-house to cover its head--the days when they +fought so hard for admission to the Tri-State Interscholastic League +of Academies. They were, to tell the truth, though, just a little +disappointed, in the inside of their hearts, that the successors left +behind to carry on the club were doing prosperously, winning athletic +victories, and paying off the debt in fine style--quite as well as if +they themselves had been there. + +The most popular of the story-tellers was B.J., whose favorite and +most successful yarn was the account of the great ice-boat adventure, +when the hockey team was wrecked upon Buzzard's Rock, and spent the +night in the snow-drifts, with the blizzard howling outside. The +memory of that terrible escape made the blood run cold in the veins of +the other members of the club; but it aroused in B.J. only a new and +irresistible desire to be off again upon the same adventure-hunt. + +Now, B.J.'s father was an enthusiastic sailor--fortunately, not so +rash a sailor as his son, but quite as great a lover of a "flowing +sail." Wind-lover as he was, he could not spend a winter idly, and +turned his attention to ice-boating. + +He owned a beautiful modern vessel made of basswood, butternut, and +pine, with rigging all of steel, and a runner-plank as springy as an +umbrella frame. She carried no more than four hundred square feet of +sail; but when he gave her the whip, and let her take to her heels, +she outran the fleetest wind that ever swept the lake. + +And she skipped and sported along near the railroad track, where the +express-train raced in vain with her; for she could make her sixty +miles an hour or more without gasping for breath. + +She was named _Greased Lightning_. + +Now, B.J.'s father had ample cause to be suspicious of that young +man's discretion, and he never permitted him to take the boat out +alone, good sailor as he knew his son to be; so B.J. had to content +himself with parties of boys and girls hilarious with the cold and +speed, and wrapped up tamely in great blankets, under the charge of +his father, who was a more than cautious sailor, being as wise as he +was old, and seeing the foolishness of those pleasures which depend +only on risking bone and body. + +But B.J. was wretched, and chafed under the restraint of such +respectable amusement--with girls, too! + +And when, in the midst of the holidays, his father was called out +of town, B.J. went to bed, and could hardly fall asleep under the +conspiracies he began to form for eloping on one last escapade with +the ice-boat. + +He woke soon after daybreak, the next morning, and hurried to his +window. There he found a gale of wind blowing and lashing the earth +with a furious rain. The wind he received with welcoming heart, but +the rain sent terror there; for it told him that the ice would soon +disappear, and he would be sent back to Kingston Academy, with never a +chance to let loose the _Greased Lightning_. + +"It is now or never!" mumbled B.J., clenching his teeth after the +manner of all well-regulated desperados. + + + + +XVIII + + +He sneaked into his clothes, and descended the cold, creaking +staircase in his stocking-feet. Then he put on his rubber boots, and +stole out of the house like a burglar. + +The wind would have wrecked any umbrella alive; but he cared naught +for the rain, and hurried down the street where the Twins were +sleeping the sleep of the righteous. He threw pebbles at their windows +till they were awakened; and after a proper amount of deliberation in +which each requested the other to go to the window, both went hand in +hand on their shivering toes. + +When they had leaned out and learned what B.J. invited them to, they +reminded him that he was either crazy or walking in his sleep. + +But B.J. answered back that they were either talking in their sleep or +were "cowardy calves." + +The worst of all fools is the one that is afraid to take a dare; and +the Twins were--well, let us say they were not yet wide enough awake +to know what they were doing. At any rate, they could not stand the +banter of B.J., and had soon joined him in the soaking storm outside. + +When the lake was reached the Twins were more than ever convinced that +B.J. was more than ever out of his head; for, instead of the smooth +mirror they had been accustomed to gliding over in the boat, they +found that the ice was covered with an inch of slush and water. + +The sky above was not promising and blue, nor did the wind have a +merry whizz; but it laughed like a maniac, and shrieked and threatened +them, warning them to go back home or take most dreadful consequences. + +B.J., however, would not listen to the advice they tendered him, but +went busily about getting the sails up and preparing the boat for the +voyage. + +The Twins were still pleading with B.J. to have some regard for the +dictates of common sense, when he began to haul in the sheet-rope and +put the helm down; and they had barely time to leap aboard before the +boat was away. + +They felt, indeed, that they were sailing in a regular sloop, and +that, too, going "with lee rail awash"; for instead of the soft +crooning sound the runners made usually, there was a slash and a +swish of ripples cloven apart; and instead of the little fountains of +ice-dust which rise from the heels of the sharp shoes when the boat is +skimming the frozen surface, there rose long spurting sprays of water. + +The Twins reproached each other bitterly for coming on such a wild +venture. But they did not know how really sorry they were till they +got well out on the lake, where the wind caught them with full force +and proved to be a very gale of fury. The mast writhed and squealed, +and the sails groaned and wrenched, as if they would fairly rip the +boat apart. + +The world seemed one vast vortex of hurricane; and yet, for all the +wind that was frightening them to death, the Twins seemed to find it +impossible to get enough to breathe. It was bitter, bitter cold, too, +and Reddy's hands and feet reminded him only of the bags of cracked +ice they put on his forehead once when he had a severe fever. + +B.J., however, was as happy as the Twins were miserable, and he yelled +and shouted in ecstatic glee. Now he was a gang of cow-boys at a +round-up; now he was a band of Apache Indians circling fiendishly +around a crew of those inland sailors who used to steer their +prairie-schooners across the West. + +Before the Twins could imagine it, the boat had reached the opposite +side of the lake, and it was necessary to come about. Suddenly the +skipper had thrown her head into, the wind, the jib and mainsail were +clattering thunderously, and the boom went slashing over like a club +in the hands of a giant. Before the Twins had dared to lift their +heads again, there was a silence, and the sails began to fill and the +boat to resume her speed quickly in a new direction. In a moment the +_Greased Lightning_ was well under way along a new leg, and sailing as +close as B.J. could hold her. + +And now, as the Twins glared with icy eyeballs into the mist ahead, +suddenly they both made out a thin black line drawn as if by a great +pencil across the lake in front of them. + +"Watch out, B.J.," they cried; "we are coming to an enormous crack." + +"Hooray for the crack!" was all the answer they got from the intrepid +B.J. + +And now, instead of their rushing toward the crack, it seemed to be +flying at them, widening like the jaws of a terrible dragon. But the +ice-boat was as fearless and as gaily jaunty as Siegfried. Straight at +the black maw with bits of floating ice like the crunching white teeth +of a monster, the boat held its way. + +Neatly as the boy Pretty ever skimmed a hurdle in a hurdle-race, +the boat skimmed the gulf of water. The ice bent and cracked +treacherously, and the water flew up in little jets where it broke; +but _Greased Lightning_ was off and away before there was ever a +chance to engulf her. And then the heart of the Twins could beat +again. + +The boat was just well over the crack when she struck a patch of rough +ice and yawed suddenly. There was a severe wrench. B.J. and Reddy were +prepared for it; but Heady, before he knew what was the matter, had +slid off the boat on to the ice and on a long tangent into the crack +they had just passed. + +He let out a yell, I can tell you, and clung to the edge of the +brittle ice with desperate hands. + +He thought he had been cold before; but as he clung there now in the +bitter water, and watched B.J. trying to bring the obstinate boat +about and come alongside, he thought that the passengers on the +ice-boat were warm as in any Turkish bath. + +After what seemed to him at least a century of foolish zigzagging, +B.J. finally got the boat somewhere near the miserable Heady, brought +the _Greased Lightning_ to a standstill, and threw the dripping Twin +the sheet-rope. Then he hauled him out upon the strong ice. + +B.J. begged Heady to get aboard and resume the journey, or at least +ride back home; but Heady vowed he would never even look at an +ice-boat again, and could not be dissuaded from starting off at a +dog-trot across the lake toward home. + +Reddy wanted to get out and follow him; but B.J. insisted that he +could not sail the boat without some ballast, and before Reddy could +step out upon the ice B.J. had flung the sail into the wind again, and +was off with his kidnapped prisoner. Reddy looked disconsolately after +the wretched Heady plowing through the slush homeward until his twin +brother disappeared in the distance. Then he began to implore B.J. to +put back to Lakerim. + +Finally he began to threaten him with physical force if he did not. + +B.J. fairly giggled at the thought of at last seeing one of those +mutinies he had read so much about. But he contented himself with +having a great deal to say about tacking on this leg and on that, and +about how many points he could sail into the wind, and a lot of other +gibberish that kept Reddy guessing, until the boat had gone far up the +lake. + +At last, to Reddy's infinite delight, B.J. announced that he was going +to turn round and tack home. As they came about they gave the wind +full sweep. The sail filled with a roar, and the boat leaped away like +an athlete at a pistol-shot. + +And now their speed was so bird-like that Reddy would have been +reminded of the boy Ganymede, whom Jupiter's eagle stole and flew off +to heaven with; but he had never heard of that unfortunate youth. He +had the sense of flight plainly enough, though, and it terrified him +beyond all the previous terrors of the morning. + +As I have said before, different persons have their different +specialties in courage, as in everything else; and while Reddy and +Heady were brave as lads could well be in some ways, their courage +lay in other lines than in running dead before the wind in a madcap +ice-boat on uncertain ice. + +The wind had increased, too, since they first started out, and now it +was a young and hilarious gale. It began to wrench the windward runner +clear of the ice and bang it down again with a stomach-turning thud. + +In fact, the wind began to batter the boat about so much that B.J. +decided he must have some weight upon the windward runner, or it would +be unmanageable. He told Reddy that he must make his way out to the +end of the see-saw. + +Reddy gave B.J. one suspicious look, and then yelled at the top of his +voice: + +"No, thank you!" + +The calm and joyful B.J. now proceeded to grow very much excited, +and to insist. He told Reddy that he must go out upon the end of +the runner, or the boat would be wrecked, and both of them possibly +killed. After many blood-curdling warnings of this sort, the disgusted +Reddy set forth upon his most unpleasant voyage. + +He crept tremblingly along the narrow backbone until he reached the +crossing-point of the runner; there he grasped a hand-rope, and made +his way, step by step, along the jouncing plank to the end, where he +wrapped his legs around the wire stay, and held on for dear life. + +Reddy's weight gave the runner steadiness enough to reassure B.J., +though poor Reddy thought it was the most unstable platform he had +stood upon, as it flung and bucked and shook him hither and yon with +a violence that knew no rest or regularity. But, uncomfortable as he +was, and much as he felt like a seasick balloonist, he did not know in +what a lucky position he was, nor how happy he should have been that +it was not even riskier. + +There is some comfort, or there ought to be, in the fact that a +situation is never so bad that it might not be worse. + +B.J. was now so well satisfied with his live ballast that he began +once more to sing and make a mad hullabaloo of pure enjoyment. He +finally grew careless, and forgot himself and the eternal alertness +that is necessary for a good skipper. Just one moment he let his mind +wander, and that moment was enough. The boat, without warning to +either B.J. or Reddy, jibed! + +Reddy, now more than ever astounded, suddenly found himself pitching +forward in the air and slamming on the ice. He slid along it for a +hundred feet or more on his stomach, like a rocket with a wake of +spray and slush for a tail. Reddy was soaked as completely as if +he had fallen into a bath-tub, and his face and hands were cut and +bruised in the bargain. + +But his feelings, his mental feelings, were hurt even worse than his +flesh. + +As for the reckless B.J., though he was not so badly bruised as his +unfortunate and unwilling guest, he was to suffer a still greater +torment. He, too, was thrown from the boat into the slush; and by the +time he had recovered himself the yacht was well away from the hope +of capture. But that wilful boat, the _Greased Lightning_, seemed +unwilling to let off her tormentor so easily. + +For the astounded B.J., glaring at her as she ran on riderless, saw +her come upon some rough ice, and jolt and ditch her runner, and veer +until she had actually made a half-circle, and was heading straight +for him! + +All this remarkable change took place in a very short space of time; +but a large part of that small time was spent by B.J. in absolute +amazement at the curious and vicious action of his boat. Then, as the +yacht began to bear down on him with increasing speed, he made a dash +to get out of its path; but his feet slipped on the wet ice, and he +could make no headway. + +B.J. saw immediately that one of two things was very sure to happen; +and he could not see how either of them would result in anything but +terrible disaster to him. + +For if he should stand still the runner-plank would strike him below +the knee and break both his legs like straws; besides, when he was +knocked over he was likely to be struck by the tiller-runner, which +would finish him completely. + +If, on the other hand, he tried to jump into the air and escape the +runner, he stood a fine chance of being hit on the head by the boom, +which would deal a blow like the guard of an express-engine. Before +these two sickening probabilities the boy paused motionless, helpless. + +It was the choice of frying-pan or fire. + + + + +XIX + + +B.J. decided to take the chances of a battered skull rather than let +both the windward runner and the tiller-runner have a slash at him. + +He gathered himself for a dive into the air. + +But, just as he was about to leap, a sudden gust of wind lifted the +windward runner off the ice at least two feet. + +Like lightning B.J. dropped face down on the ice, and the boat passed +harmlessly over him, the runner just grazing his coat-sleeve. + +Having inflicted what seemed to it to be punishment enough, the +_Greased Lightning_ sailed coquettishly on down the lake, and finally +banged into a dock at home, and stopped. B.J. and Reddy made off after +it as fast as they could on the slippery ice with the help of the wind +at their backs; but they never overtook it, and the run served them +only the good turn of warming them somewhat, and thus saving them from +all the dire consequences they deserved for their foolhardiness. + +When Reddy reached home, he found that Heady had preceded him. Both +were put to bed and dosed with such bitter medicine that they almost +forgot the miseries they had had upon the lake. But it was many a day +before they would consent to speak to B.J. + +When they saw him coming they crossed the street with great dignity, +and if he spoke to them they seemed stricken with a sudden deafness. + +B.J.'s troubles did not end with his return home; for, somehow or +other, the escapade with the ice-boat reached his father's ears. And +it is reported that B.J.'s father forgot for a few minutes the fact +that his son was now a dignified academician. At any rate, B.J. took +his meals standing for a day or two, and he could not explain this +strange whim to the satisfaction of his friends. + + * * * * * + +Every member of the Dozen realized the necessity of keeping the body +clean if he would be a successful athlete, and of keeping his linen +and clothes comely if he would be a successful gentleman. Taken +altogether, the Twelve were exactly what could be called "neat but not +gaudy." But presentable as all of them were, there was none that took +so much pains and pride in the elegances of dress as the boy Pretty, +who won his title from his fondness for being what the others +sometimes called a dude. But he was such a whole-hearted, vigorous, +athletic young fellow, with so little foolishness about his make-up, +that the name did not carry with it the insult it usually conveys. + +The chief offense Pretty gave to the less careful of the Dozen was his +fondness for carrying a cane, a practice which the rest of the boys, +being boys, did not affect. But Pretty was not to be dissuaded from +this, nor from any of his other foibles, by ridicule, and the others +finally gave him up in despair. + +When he went to Kingston there was a new audience for his devotion to +matters of dress. But at the Academy it was considered a breach of +respect to the upper-classmen for the lower-classmen to carry canes. +Pretty, however, simply sniffed at the tradition, and said it didn't +interest him at all. + +Finally a large Senior vowed he would crack the cane in pieces over +Pretty's head, if necessary. + +Pretty heard these threats, and was prepared for the man. When the +fatal moment of their meeting arrived, though the Senior was much +bigger than Pretty, the Lakerim youth did not run--at least, he ran +no farther than was necessary to clear a good space for the use of a +little single-stick exercise. + +Pretty was no boxer, but he was a firm believer in the value of a good +stout cane. Imagine his humiliation, then, when he found, in the first +place, that the crook of his stick had caught in his coat-pocket and +spoiled one good blow, and, in the second place, that the fine strong +slash he meant to deliver overhead like a broad-sword stroke merely +landed upon the upraised arm of the Senior, and had its whole force +broken. Pretty then had the bitter misery of seeing his good sword +wrenched from his hand and broken across the knee of the Senior, who +very magnificently told him that he must never appear on the campus +again with a walking-stick. + +Pretty was overcome with embarrassment at the outcome of his innocent +foppery, and of his short, vain battle, and he was the laughing-stock +of the Seniors for a whole day. But, being of Lakerim mettle and +metal, he did not mean to let one defeat mean a final overthrow. He +told the rest of the Lakerimmers that he would carry a cane anyway, +and carry it anywhere he pleased, and that the next man who attempted +to take it from him would be likely to get "mussed up." + +About this time he found a magazine article that told the proper sort +of cane to carry, and the proper way to use it in case of attack; and +he proceeded to read and profit. + +Now, inasmuch as Sawed-Off was working his way through the Academy, +and paying his own expenses, without assistance except from what small +earnings he could make himself, it was only natural that he should +always be the one who always had a little money to lend to the other +fellows, though they had their funds from home. It was now Pretty who +came to him for the advance of cash enough to buy a walking-stick of +the following superb description: a thoroughly even, straight-grained +bit of hickory-wood, tapered like a billiard-cue, an inch and a half +thick at the butt and three fourths of an inch thick at the point, the +butt carrying a knob of silver, and the point heavily ferruled. + +Pretty had managed to find such a stick in the small stores of +Lakerim. He bought it with Sawed-Off's money, and he practised his +exercises with it so vigorously and so secretly that when he next +appeared upon the campus and carried it, the Senior who had attacked +him before, let him go by without any hindrance. He was fairly +stupefied at the impudence of this Lakerimmer whom he thought he had +thrashed so soundly. He did not know that the main characteristic of +the Lakerimmer is this: he does not know when he is whipped, or, if he +does know it, he will not stay whipped. + +But once he had recovered his senses, the haughty Senior did not lose +much time in making another onslaught on Pretty. + +When some of his friends were pouring cold water on this Senior's +bruised head a few minutes later, he poured cold water on their scheme +to attempt to carry out what he had failed in, for he said: + +"Don't you ever go up against that Lakerim fellow; his cane works like +a Gatling gun." + +So Pretty was permitted to carry his cane; and though he swaggered a +little, perhaps, no further attempt was made by the Seniors to take +the stick away from him. They had to content themselves with trying to +throw water on him from upper windows; but their aim was bad. + + + + +XX + + +Pretty had not been home long on his Christmas vacation before he +called at the home of the beautiful girl Enid, who had helped him win +so many tennis games, and who was the best of all the best girls he +devoted himself to, either in Kingston, Lakerim, or any other of the +towns he blessed with his smiling presence. + +Enid and Pretty, being great lovers of fresh air, took many a long +walk on the country roads about Lakerim. + +One day, when the air was as exhilarating and as electric as the +bubbles in a glass of ice-cream soda, they took a much longer stroll +than usual. + +Then they made a sudden decision to turn homeward; for, rounding +a sharp bend in the road, they saw coming toward them three burly +tramps. + +At the sight of these Three Graces both Pretty and Enid stopped short +in some little uneasiness. The tramps also stopped short, and seemed +to engage in a conversation about the two young people ahead of them +on the road. + +Pretty, on account of the extreme neatness of his costume, often got +credit for being a much richer lad than he was. And Enid also was as +careful and as successful in her costumery as Pretty. So the three +tramps probably thought they had before them two children of wealth, +who would be amply provided with pocket-money. But if they had only +known how little the two really had in their possession, the adventure +you are about to hear would never have happened. + +But while Pretty was flicking the dirt at the end of his toe with his +walking-stick, and wondering if he really cared to go any farther, the +tramps moved toward him quickly. + +Enid, being a girl, was frightened, and did not try to conceal it, but +said: + +"Oh, Pretty, let's go home at once!" + +Pretty, being a boy, thought he must make a display of courage, even +if he didn't feel it; so, while his heart clattered away in his +breast, and he could hardly find breath to speak, he said with some +show of composure: + +"Yes, Enid; I think we have walked far enough for to-day." + +Then they whirled about and started for home at a good gait. They had +not gone far when Enid, glancing back over her shoulder, noticed that +the tramps were coming up at a still more rapid walk. + +One of them, indeed, called out in a suspiciously friendly tone: + +"Hey, young feller, hold up a minute and tell us what time it is, will +ye?" + +Enid gasped: + +"Let's run, Pretty; come on." + +But Pretty answered with much dignity: + +"Run? What for?" And he turned and called back to the tramp: "I don't +know what time it is." + +Then the tramps insisted again that Pretty wait for them to come up. +But when he continued to walk without answering them, they began to +hurl oaths and rocks, and to run toward him. Now Pretty thought that +discretion was the better half of valor, and he seized Enid's wrist +and started off on a run, an act in which she was willing enough to +follow his lead. But he had to explain, just to preserve his dignity: + +"They're three to one, you know." + +But while Enid understood well enough the necessity for speed, she had +no breath to expend expressing her appreciation of Pretty's delicate +position. She was too frightened to run even as well as she knew +how, and she was going at a gait that was neither very fast nor very +economical of muscle and breath. Pretty, however, ran scientifically: +on the balls of his feet, with his head erect, his chest out, and his +lips tightly locked. + +But before long he was doing all the work for two, and laboring like +a ship that drags its anchor in a storm. They came to a hill now, and +here Enid leaned her whole weight upon him. He barely managed, with +the most tremendous determination and exertion, to get her to the top +of this long incline. As they labored up he decided in his own mind, +and told her, that she must leave him and run on for help. + +Just one tenth of a second his terrified mind had been occupied with +the thought that he might run on alone and leave her. The tempting +idea of self-preservation had whispered to him that if he stayed +behind, it would only result in disaster to two, while if he ran on +alone, at least one would be saved. + +But this cowardly selfishness he put away after the tenth of a second +of thought, and now he was insisting, even against Enid's gasping +objection, that she must run on alone and leave him to take care of +the footpads. He did not know how he was going to do this, but he felt +that upon him devolved the duty of being the zealous rear-guard to +cover the retreat of a vanquished army. + +Enid, however, was stubborn, and proposed to stay and fight with him, +even drawing out a very sharp and very dangerous hat-pin to emphasize +her courage. But Pretty, while he blessed her for her bravery and +her full-heartedness, still commanded her to run on and bring help, +promising her that he would keep out of harm's way till help could +come. With this assurance, the poor girl staggered on, gaining +strength from the necessity of speed to save her beloved Pretty. + +At the brow of the hill Pretty found himself alone, and turned and +looked at the on-coming trio with defiant sternness. After a moment, +which gave him some much-needed rest and a chance to gain new breath, +he realized that one half a battle is with the warrior that is wise +enough to make the first onslaught. So, after a tremor of very natural +hesitation, the boy dashed full at the three hulkish tramps. + + + + +XXI + + +The overgrown brutes were so much taken aback at the change of front +on the part of the young fellow whom they had hoped to run down like a +scared rabbit, that they stopped short in sheer surprise. + +But this was only for a moment. Then the leader of the three rushed +forward, with a large club. He carried it high in the air in the same +indiscreet manner in which Pretty had once attacked the Senior. + +Just before the tramp and the boy came to close quarters Pretty made +a diving sidelong dodge, and as the tramp's club whisked idly through +the air past him, he dealt the fellow a furious blow across the left +shin. Now, as any one who was ever struck there knows, a man's shin is +as tender as a bear's nose; and the surprised tramp was soon dancing +about in the air, hugging his bruised leg and yowling like a wildcat. +But Pretty had run on past, leaving him to his misery. + +Now he came up to the other two, who moved in single file toward +him. The first man Pretty received right upon the point of his cane, +driving the hard metal ferrule straight at the man's solar plexus. The +combination of the man's rush and Pretty's powerful thrust was enough +to lay the wretch upon the ground, writhing and almost unconscious. + +For the last thug Pretty had prepared a beautiful back-handed slash +across the face; but the villain, seeing what was in store for him, +dropped down, and rushed at the boy low enough to evade the stick. +Pretty, however, had a check for this move also, and a quick step to +one side saved him from the man's clutch. + +Now he recovered himself quickly enough to deliver a vicious whack +straight at the back of the man's head--a blow that would have settled +the tramp's mind for some time to come, but the fellow was running so +fast that Pretty missed his aim, and his stout weapon only dealt a +stinging blow upon the man's left shoulder. + +The thug ran on far enough to gain a good vantage-ground, and then, +whirling, came at Pretty again. Now his uplifted hand held an ugly +knife. + +The look of this was not pleasant to Pretty's eyes; but the excitement +of the situation was much increased when a glance out of the side of +his eye showed him that the first thug had regained enough nerve to +come limping forward in the endeavor to throttle him. + +The men were not coming at him in such a way that he could use the +"point-and-butt thrust" that he had learned for such occasions, so he +decided instantly to repeat upon the first thug the shin-shattering +blow that had been so successful before. + +As the man came on, then, Pretty gave a terrific backward slash that +caught the tramp's uninjured shin. It was a beauteous shot, and sent +the fellow to his hunkers, actually boohooing with agony. + +And now, with another fine long sweep, this time upward, Pretty sent +a smashing blow at the third tramp's upraised arm. The force of the +stroke was alone strong enough to send the knife flying; but, by the +addition of a bit of good luck, Pretty caught the wretch on his crazy +bone, and set him to such a caterwauling as cats sing of midnights on +a back-yard fence. + +Leaving the battered Three Graces to their different dances, Pretty +picked up the knife he had knocked from the hand of the third, and +sauntered homeward, adjusting his somewhat ruffled collar and tie as +he went, with magnificent self-possession. + +On his way he met the party of rescuers sent to him by Enid, who had +managed to reach town in rapid time. Pretty calmly sent them back to +pick up the three tramps he had left; and these gentlemen were stowed +away in the Lakerim jail, where they cracked rock and thought of their +cracked bones till long after Pretty's Christmas vacation was over. + +As for Enid, I will leave you to guess whether or no she thought +Pretty the greatest hero of his age,--or any age,--and whether or no +she gossiped his bravery all around Lakerim long after the Dozen were +away again in Kingston. + + + + +XXII + + +The night before the Lakerim contingent went back to the Kingston +Academy, another grand reception was given in their honor at the +club-house; and the Dozen made more speeches and assumed an air of +greater magnificence than ever. + +But, nevertheless, they were just a trifle sorry that they had to +leave their old happy hunting-ground. But there was some consolation +in the thought that the life at the Academy would not be one +glittering revel of studies and classes. For the Dozen believed, as +it believed nothing else, that all play and no work makes Jack a dull +boy. + +The general average of the Dozen in the matter of studies was +satisfactory enough; for, while Sleepy was always at the bottom of his +classes, and probably the laziest and stupidest of all the students +at Kingston, History was certainly at the head of his classes, and +probably the most brilliant of all the students at Kingston. + +With these two at the opposite poles, the rest of the Dozen worked +more or less hard and faithfully, and kept a very decent pace. + +But the average attainment of the Dozen in the field of athletics was +far more than satisfactory. + +It was brilliant. + +For, while there was one man (History) who was not quite the all-round +athlete of the universe, and was not good at anything more muscular +than chess and golf, the eleven others had each his specialty and his +numerous interests. + +They believed, athletically, in knowing everything about something, +and something about everything. + + * * * * * + +The winter went blustering along, piling up snows and melting them +again, only to pile up more again. And the wind raved in very +uncertain humors. But, snow or thaw, the Dozen was never at a loss to +know what to do. + +Finally January was gone, and February, that sawed-off month, was +dawdling along its way toward that great occasion which gives it its +chief excuse for being on the calendar--Washington's Birthday. + +From time immemorial it had been the custom at Kingston to celebrate +the natal anniversary of the Father of his Country with all sorts of +disgraceful rioting and un-Washingtonian cavorting. The Lakerim Twelve +were not the ones to throw the weight of their influence against any +traditions that might add dignity to the excitements of school-book +life. + +Of the part they took in raising the flag on the tower of the chapel, +and in defending that flag, and in tearing down a dummy raised in +their colors by the Crows in the public square of the village--of this +and many other delightfully improper pranks there is no room to tell +here; and you must rest content with hearing of the important athletic +affair--the affair which more truly and fittingly celebrated the +anniversary of the birth of this great man, who was himself one of the +finest specimens of manhood and one of the best athletes our country +has ever known. + +The athletic association from a neighboring school, known as the +Brownsville School for Boys, had sent the Kingstonians an offer to +bring along a team of cross-country runners to scour the regions +around Kingston in competition with any team Kingston would put forth. + +The challenge was cordially accepted at once, and the Brownsville +people sent over John Orton, the best of their cross-country runners, +to look over a course two days in advance, and decide upon the path +along which he should lead his team. It was agreed that the course +should be between six and eight miles long. The runners should start +from the Kingston gymnasium, and report successively at the Macomb +farm-house, which was some distance out of Kingston, and was cut off +by numerous ditches and gullies; then at the railway junction two +miles out of Kingston; then at a certain little red school-house, and +then at the finish in front of the campus. It was agreed that the two +teams should start in different directions and touch at these points +in the reverse order. Each captain was allowed to choose his own +course, and take such short cuts as he would, the three points being +especially chosen with a view to keeping the men off the road +and giving them plenty of fence-jumping, ditch-taking, and +obstacle-leaping of all sorts. + +The race was to have been run off in the afternoon; but the train was +late, and the Brownsvillers did not arrive until just before supper. +It was decided, after a solemn conference, that the race should be run +in spite of the delay, and as soon as the supper had had a ghost of +a chance to digest. The rising of a full and resplendent moon was a +promise that the runners should not be entirely in the dark. + +Tug and the Brownsville chief, Orton, had made careful surveys of +the course they were to run over. It was as new to Tug as to the +Brownsville man. Each of the two had planned his own short cuts, and +even if they had been running over the course in the same direction +they would have separated almost immediately. But when the signal-shot +that sent them off in different directions rang out, they were +standing back to back, and did not know anything of each other's +whereabouts until they met again, face to face, at the end of the +course. + +The teams consisted of five men each. The only Lakerim men on the +Kingston team were Tug, the chief, who had been a great runner of +440-yard races, and Sawed-Off, who had won the half-mile event on +various field-days. The other three were Stage, Bloss, and MacManus. +All of them were stocky runners and inured to hardship. + +They had come out of the gymnasium in their bathrobes; and when the +signal to start was given, the spectators in their warm overcoats felt +chills scampering up and down their ribs as they noticed that all the +men of both teams, when they had thrown off their bath-robes, stood +clad only in running-shoes, short gymnasium-trunks, and jerseys. + +But their heat was to come from within, and once they were started, +cold was the least of their trials. + +The two teams broke away from each other at the gymnasium, and bolted +at a wide angle straight across the campus. They all took the first +fence in perfect form, as if they were thoroughbred hunters racing +after a fox. + +Quiz and one or two other of the bicycle enthusiasts attempted to +follow one or the other of the two packs; but they avoided the road so +completely that the bicyclists soon lost them from sight, and returned +to watch the finish. + +The method of awarding the victory was this: the different runners +were to be checked off as they passed the different stages of the +course, and crossed off as they came across the finish-line. Each man +was thus given the number of his place in the finish, and the total of +the numbers earned by each team decided the match, the team having the +smaller number winning. Thus the first man in added the number 1 to +the total score of his side, while the last man in added 10 to his. + +Tug had explained to his runners, before they started out, that +team-work was what would count--that he wished his men to keep +together, and that they were to take their orders all from him. + +After the first enthusiasm of a good brisk start to get steam and +interest up, Tug slowed his pace down to such a gait as he thought +could be comfortably maintained through the course. + +The Brownsville leader, Orton, however, being a brilliant +cross-country runner himself, set his men too fierce a pace, and soon +had upon his hands a pack of breathless stragglers. + +Tug vigorously silenced any attempt at conversation among his men, and +advised them to save their breath for a time soon to come when they +would need it badly. + +His path led into a heavy woods, very gloomy under the dim moonlight; +and he had many an occasion to yell with pain and surprise as a low +branch stung him across the head. But all he permitted himself to +exclaim was a warning cry to the others: + +"Low bridge!" + +The grove was so blind (save for the little clearing at Roden's Knoll, +which Tug and Sawed-Off recognized with a groan of pride) that the +men's shins were barked and their ankles turned at almost every other +step, it seemed. But Tug would not permit any of them the luxury of +complaint. + +In time they were out of the wood and into the open. But here it +seemed that their troubles only increased; for, where the main +difficulty in the forest was to avoid obstacles, the chief trouble in +the plain was to conquer them. There were many barbed-wire fences +to crawl through, the points clutching the bare skin and tearing it +painfully at various spots. The huge Sawed-Off suffered most from +these barbs, but he only gasped: + +"I'm punctured." + +There were long, steep hills to scramble up and to jolt down. There +were little gullies to leap over, and brooks to cross on watery +stepping-stones that frequently betrayed the feet into icy water. + +After vaulting gaily over one rail fence, and scooting jauntily along +across a wide pasture, the Kingstonians were surprised to hear the +sound of other footsteps than theirs, and they turned and found a +large and enthusiastic bull endeavoring to join their select circle. + +Perhaps this bovine gentleman was, after all, their very best friend, +for nowhere along the whole course did they attain such a burst of +speed as then. Indeed, none of the five could remember a time in his +life when he made such a spurt. + +They reached and scaled a stone wall, however, in time to shake off +the company of this inhospitable host. In the next field there were +two or three skittish colts, which they scared into all manner of +hysterical behavior as they sped across. + +Down a country lane they turned for a short distance; and a farmer and +his wife, returning home from a church sociable, on seeing these five +white figures flit past in a minimum of clothing, thereafter always +vowed that they had seen ghosts. + +As the runners trailed past a farm-house with never a light to show +upon its front, there was a ferocious hullabaloo, something between +the angry snorting of a buffalo and the puffing of a railroad engine +going up a steep grade. It was the wolfish welcome of three canine +brigands, the bloodthirsty watch-dogs that surrounded and guarded this +lonely and poverty-stricken little farm-house from the approach of any +one evil- or well-intentioned. + +Those dogs must have been very sorry they spoke; for when they came +rushing forward cordially to take a few souvenir bites out of the +Lakerim team, Tug and the others stopped short and turned toward them. + +"Load!" cried Tug. + +And every mother's son of the five picked up three or four large rocks +from the road. + +"Aim!" cried Tug. + +And every father's son of the five drew back a strong and willing arm. + +"Fire!" cried Tug. + +And every grandfather's and grandmother's grandson of the five let fly +with a will the rocks his hands had found upon the road. + +Those dogs must have felt that they were caught out in the heaviest +hail-storm of their whole experience. Their blustering mood +disappeared in an instant, and they turned for home, yelping like +frightened puppies; nor did they forget, like Bo-peep's sheep, to take +their tails with them, neatly tucked between their legs. + +Past as the cross-country dogs ran in one direction, the cross-country +humans ran in the opposite. + +Now that they were on a good pike road, some of them were disposed to +sprint, particularly the fleet-footed Stage, who could far outrun Tug +or any of the team. + +But Tug thought that wisdom lay in keeping his team well in hand, and +he did not approve of running on in advance any more than he approved +of straggling. Thus the enthusiastic Stage, rejoicing in his airy +heels, suddenly found himself deserted, Tug having seen fit to leave +the road for a short cut across the fields; and Stage had to run back +fifty yards or more and spend most of his surplus energy in catching +up with the team. + +It was a merry chase Tug led his weary crew: through one rough ravine +where the hillside flowed out from under their feet and followed them +down, and where they must climb the other side on slippery earth, +grasping at a rock here and a root there; then through one little +strip of forest that offered him an advantageous-short cut. Here again +he silenced the protests of his men at the thick underbrush and the +frequent brambles they encountered. Just at the edge of this little +grove Tug put on an extra burst of speed, and was running like the +wind. The others, following to the best of their ability, saw him +about to pass between two harmless posts. + +Suddenly they also saw him throw up his hands and fall over backward. +When they reached him they saw that he had run into a barbed-wire +fence in the dark. + + + + +XXIII + + +They were doubly dismayed now, because they not only had lost their +leader, but were themselves lost in some part of the country where +they knew neither the landmarks nor the points of the compass. They +helped Tug cautiously to his feet, and, for lack of a better medicine, +rubbed snow upon the ugly slashes in his breast and legs. + +"This ends the race, as far as we are concerned," moaned Bloss. + +But Tug had recovered enough from his dizziness to shake his head and +mane lion-like, and cry: + +"Not much! Come on, boys!" + +And before the restraining hand of Sawed-Off could stop him, Tug had +somehow wormed himself through the barbed-wire fence and was off +across the open; and they were sore put to it to catch up with him +again. + +Suddenly, as the devoted four followed their leader, the first +station, the farm-house at which they were to report, loomed +unexpectedly upon the horizon, approached in some unknown way by Tug, +who was threading his way through the wilderness with more regard for +straight lines than for progress. They were named off, as they flew +past, by a watcher stationed there, and without pause they made +off toward the railroad junction. Once they thought they saw a few +fleeting forms in the distance, and they guessed that they must be +Orton and his Brownsville team; but they could not feel sure, and no +closer sight of their rivals was vouchsafed to them. + +When the last station, the little red school-house, had been passed, +they began to feel that there was some hope of their reaching home. +They began also to feel the effect of their long, hard journey. Their +sides hurt them sorely, their legs ached, and their breath came faster +than they wished. + +MacManus now showed more serious signs of weakening than any of the +rest. He straggled along the way with feet that seemed to get into +each other's path, and with a head that wabbled uncertainly on his +drooping shoulders. + +Tug fell back and ran alongside him, trying to console and encourage +him to better speed. MacManus responded to this plea with a spurt, and +suddenly broke away from the four and ran wildly ahead with the speed +of desperation. + +He came upon a little brook frozen across with a thin sheet of +ice. Here he found a log that seemed to have been placed, either +providentially or by some human being, to serve as a foot-bridge. +MacManus leaped gaily on it to cross the stream ahead of the rest. + +To his breathless dismay, the log turned under his foot; and wildly as +he tried to get a good grip on the atmosphere, nothing could save him, +and he went ker-smash and ker-splash through the thin ice into the +water. + +Now he was indeed willing to run without any more coaxing than the +bitter air upon his wet skin. His only hope of getting warm was in +his heels. And he ran like a maniac till Tug and the rest must put on +extra force also, or leave him completely. + +Almost before they knew it, now, they were on the outskirts of +Kingston village. Their arrival at the beginning of the home stretch +was signaled in a very startling manner; for Tug, who had regained the +lead, saw ahead of him a bright, shining strip that looked for all the +world like a little frozen stream under the moonlight. He did not care +to risk stepping on any more thin ice, so he gave the quick command: + +"Jump!" + +And he jumped, followed almost immediately by his devoted attendants. +The next thing they all knew, they were in half-frozen mud up to +their knees. The bright patch they had supposed to be a brook was a +frost-covered sidewalk! + +And they had carefully jumped over the sidewalk into the mire beyond! + +Tug was disgusted but not disheartened, and he had his crew under way +again instantly. He kept up his system of short cuts even now that +they were in town. He led them over back fences, through orchards and +kitchen-gardens, scattering a noisy flock of low-roosting hens in one +place, and stirring up a half-dozen more dogs in another. + +The true home stretch was a long downhill run straight to the goal. + +By the time they reached this MacManus was once more in bad shape, and +going very unsteadily. + +As they cleared the brow of the hill, Tug's anxious heart was pierced +with the fear that he had lost the long, racking race, after all; for, +just crossing the stake at the finish, he caught a sight of Orton. + +The rest of the team saw the same disheartening spectacle. And +MacManus, eager for any excuse to stop running, gasped: + +"They've beaten us. There's no use running any farther." + +But Tug, having Lakerim ideals in mind, would never say die. He +squandered just breath enough to exclaim: + +"We're not beaten till the last man crosses the line!" And he added: +"Stage, run for your life." + +And Stage ran. Oh, but it was fine to see that lad run! He fled +forward like a stag with the hounds in full cry after him. He wasted +not an ounce of energy, but ran cleanly and straightly and splendidly. +He had the high-stepping knee-action of a thoroughbred trotter, and +his running was as beautiful as it was swift. + +"Run, all of you, for your lives!" cried Tug; and at that the +weary little band sprang forward with a new lease on strength and +determination. Tug had no ambition, like Orton, to leave his men to +find their own way. Rather, he herded them up and urged them on, as a +Scotch collie drives home the sheep at a canter. + +Orton's runners were "tailed out" for more than half a mile behind +him. He himself was easily the first man home; but Stage beat his +second man in, and Bloss was a good third. Orton ran back frantically, +now, to coax his last three men. He hurried in his third runner at a +fairly good gait, but before he could get him to the line, Tug had +brought forward his last three men, Sawed-Off well up, MacManus going +doggedly and leaning mentally, if not physically, on Tug, who ran at +his side. + +By thus hurling in three men at once, Tug made an enormous inroad upon +the score of the single-man Brownsvillers. Besides, though Orton got +his next-to-the-last man in soon after Tug, the last Brownsviller did +not come along for a minute afterward. He had been left to make his +way along unaided and unguided, and he hardly deserved the laughter +that greeted him as he came over the line. + +Thus Orton, too ambitious, had brought his team in with this score: 1, +3, 8, 9, 10--total, 31; while Tug's men, well bunched at the finish, +came in with this score: 2,4, 5, 6, 7-total, 24. + +Tug richly deserved the cheers and enthusiasm that greeted his +management; for, in spite of a team of individual inferiority to +the crack Brownsvillers; he had won by strict discipline and clever +generalship. + + + + +XXIV + + +The victorious outcome of the cross-country run, as well as many other +victories and defeats, had pretty well instilled it in the Lakerim +minds that team-play is an all-important factor of success. But the +time came when there was no opportunity to use the hard-learned, +easily forgot lesson of team-work, and it was each man for himself, +and all for Lakerim and Kingston. + +When the ground was soggy and mushy with the first footsteps of +spring, and it was not yet possible to practise to any extent out of +doors, the Kingston Athletic Association received from the athletic +association of the Troy Latin School a letter that was a curious +combination of blood-warming hospitality and blood-curdling challenge. +The Latin School, in other words, opened its heart and its gymnasium, +and warmly invited the Kingston athletes to come over and be eaten up +in a grand indoor carnival. Troy was not so far away that only a small +delegation could go. Almost every one from Kingston, particularly +those athletically inclined, took the train to Troy. + +Most surprising of all it was to see the diminutive and bespectacled +History proudly joining the ranks of the strong ones. He was going to +Troy to display his microscopical muscles in that most wearing and +violent of all exercises--chess. + +The Tri-State Interscholastic League, which encouraged the practice +of all imaginable digressions from school-books, had arranged for +a series of chess games between teams selected from the different +academies. The winners of these preliminary heats, if one can use so +calm a word for so exciting a game, were to meet at Troy and play for +the championship of the League. + +If I should describe the hair-raising excitement of that chess +tournament, I am afraid that this book would be put down as entirely +too lively for young readers. So I will simply say once for all that, +owing to History's ability to look wiser than any one could possibly +be, and to spend so much time thinking of each move that his +deliberation affected his opponents' nerves, and owing to the fact +that he could so thoroughly map out future moves on the inside of his +large skull, and that there was something awe-inspiring about +his general look of being a wizard in boys' clothes, he won the +tournament--almost more by his looks than by his skill as a tactician. +The whole Academy, and especially the Lakerimmers, overwhelmed this +second Paul Morphy with congratulations, and felt proud of him; but +when he attempted to explain how he had won his magnificent battle, +and started off with such words as these: "You will observe that I +used the Zukertort opening"; and when he began to tell of his moves +from VX to QZ, or some such place, even his best friends took to tall +timber. + +The Kingston visitors found that the Troy Latin School was in +possession of a finer and much larger gymnasium than their own. But, +much as they envied their luckier neighbors, they determined that they +would prove that fine feathers do not make fine birds, nor a fine +gymnasium fine athletes. A large crowd had gathered, and was put in a +good humor with a beautiful exhibition of team-work by the Troy men +on the triple and horizontal bars and the double trapeze. The Trojans +also gave a kaleidoscopic exhibition of tumbling and pyramid-building, +none of which sports had been practised much by the Kingstonians. +After this the regular athletic contests of the evening began. + +In almost every event at least one of the Lakerim men represented +Kingston. Some of the Dozen made a poor showing; but the majority, +owing to their long devotion to the theory and the practice of +athletics, stood out strongly, and were recognized by the strange +audience, in their Lakerim sweaters, as distinguished heroes of the +occasion. + +The first event was a contest in horse-vaulting, in which no Lakerim +men were entered. Kingston suffered a defeat. + +"Ill begun is half done up," sighed Jumbo. + +But in the next event the old reliable Tug was entered, among others; +and in the Rope-Climb he ran up the cord like a monkey on a stick, and +touched the tambourine that hung twenty-five feet in the air before +any of his rivals reached their goal, and in better form than any of +them. + +The third event was the Standing High Jump; and B.J. and the other +Kingstonians were badly outclassed here. Their efforts to clear the +bar compared with that of the Trojans as the soaring of an elephant +compares with the flight of a butterfly. + +Punk was the only Lakerimmer on the team that attempted to win glory +on the flying-rings, but he and his brother Kingstonians suffered a +like humiliation with the standing high-jumpers. + +The clerk of the course and the referees were now seen to be running +hither and yon in great excitement. A long delay and much putting of +heads together ensued, to the great mystification of the audience. At +length, just as a number of small boys in the gallery had begun to +stamp their feet in military time and whistle their indignation, the +official announcer officially announced that there had been a slight +hitch in the proceedings. + +"I have to explain," he yelled in his gentlest manner, "that two of +the boxers have failed to turn up. Both have excellent excuses and +doctors' certificates to account for their absence, but we have +unfortunately to confess that the Kingston heavy-weight and the Troy +feather-weight are incapacitated for the present. The feather-weight +from Kingston, however, is a good enough sport to express a +willingness to box, for points, with the heavy-weight from Troy. While +this match will look a little unusual owing to the difference in size +of the two opponents, it will be scientific enough, we have no doubt, +to make it interesting as well as picturesque." + +As usual, the audience, not knowing what else to say, applauded very +cordially. + +And now the heavy-weight from Troy, one Jaynes, appeared upon the +scene with his second. There was no roped-off space, but only an +imaginary "ring," which was, as usual, a square--of about twenty-four +feet each way. + +Jaynes was just barely qualified as a heavy-weight, being only a +trifle over one hundred and fifty-eight pounds. But he overshadowed +little Bobbles as the giants overshadowed Jack the Giant-killer. + +Bobbles, while he was diminutive compared with Jaynes, was yet rather +tall and wiry for his light weight, and had an unusually long reach +for one of his size. He regretted now the great pains he had taken to +train down to feather-weight weight. For when he had stepped on the +scales in the gymnasium, the day before he had started for Troy, he +found that he was three pounds over the necessary hundred and fifteen. +So he had put on three sweaters, two pairs of trousers, and his +football knickers, and run around the track for fully four miles, +until he was in doubt as to whether he was a liquid or a solid body. +Then he had fallen into a hot bath, and jumped from that into a cold +shower, and had then been rubbed down by some of his faithful Lakerim +friends with a pail of rock-salt to harden his muscles. At Troy, too, +he had continued these tactics, and found, to his delight, when he +weighed in, that he just tipped the scales at one hundred and fifteen. +And now he was matched to fight with a heavy-weight, and every pound +he had sweat off would have been an advantage to him! Yet, at any +rate, it was not a fight to a finish, but only for points, and he +counted upon his agility to save him from the rushes and the major +tactics of the larger man. + +In order to make the scoring of points more vivid and visible to the +audience, it was decided, after some hesitation, that the gloves +should be coated with shoe-blacking. + +Bobbles realized that his salvation lay in quick attack and the +seizure of every possible opportunity, as well as in his ability to +escape the onslaughts of the heavy-weight. He did not purpose turning +it into a sprinting-match, but he felt that he was justified in making +as much use of the art of evasion as possible. + +He began the series by what was almost sharp practice, but was +justified by the rules. + +The referee sang out: + +"Gentlemen, shake hands." + +Then the long and the short of it quickly clasped boxing-gloves in the +middle of the ring. + +"Time!" cried the referee. + +[Illustration: THE BOXING MATCH.] + +Immediately on the break-away, before Jaynes had got his hands into +position, Bobbles had landed on him with a fine left upper cut that +put a black mark on Jaynes' jaw. Jaynes looked surprised, and the +audience laughed. Bobbles also laughed, for he knew he would have few +chances to place black spots on the upper works of the tall Jaynes, +and that he must make his scores mainly upon the zone just above +Jaynes' belt. + +Jaynes was as much angered as surprised at receiving the first blow, +and sailed in with a vengeance to pepper Bobbles; but he began to +think that he was boxing with a grasshopper before long, for, wherever +he struck, there Bobbles was not. In fact, most of his straight-arm +blows were not only dodged by Bobbles with the smallest necessary +effort, but were effectively countered. + +Bobbles proved himself an adept at that best of boxing tactics, +the ability to dodge. He rarely moved more than would take him +sufficiently out of harm's way. A little bending of the head from one +side to the other, a quick side-step or an adroit duck, saved him from +being the bull's-eye of most of Jaynes' attacks. + +There were to be three rounds of three minutes each, with one minute's +intermission between rounds. The first round was over before either +of the men was much more than well warmed up to the work, and before +either had scored any impressive amount of points. Jaynes, however, +realized that Bobbles had landed oftener than he, and that the +sympathy of the audience was with the little fellow. When time was +called for the next round, therefore, he decided to rush things; +and he charged on Bobbles with such fury that side-stepping and +back-stepping were of little avail, and there was nothing for Bobbles +to do but go into the mix-up and try to give as much as he received. + +Before they knew just how, they were clinched, and the referee was +cutting them apart like a cheese-knife. And now the big man realized +that on the swift interchange of blows Bobbles was quicker than he, +and that he must keep him at a little distance. Relying, then, on +his greater reach, he went at Bobbles in a most exasperating manner, +holding one long arm out straight, and fanning Bobbles with the other. +Bobbles ran into the outstretched fist with great enthusiasm at first, +but after a moment's daze he dodged round and under that arm and +devoted himself to playing a tattoo on Jaynes' solar plexus. Since his +glove left a black mark wherever it struck, it was tattooing in two +senses. + +Both men welcomed the gong that announced a chance to breathe. + +The grateful rubbing down, fanning, and sponging of the lightning-like +seconds between the rounds restored both men somewhat to their +enthusiasm, though the furious rate at which they had taken the two +previous rounds left them bodily weak. + +Jaynes' second told him, during the pause, that Bobbles had decidedly +the best of it thus far on form, and Jaynes' temper was aroused. +Bobbles, having been told by his second that he had the better of +it, had grown a trifle rash and impudent, and dared to take the +aggressive. He went straight into Jaynes' zone of fire, and managed to +plant several good hooks and upper cuts. + +While Bobbles was playing in the upper regions for Jaynes, Jaynes made +a reach for Bobbles' body, several times; but Bobbles was not there. +When Jaynes made a careless lead, Bobbles countered and dodged with +remarkable skill. + +All these things, while they increased Bobbles' score and standing +with the judges, increased Jaynes' temper; and finally he gave a +vicious right swing, which Bobbles avoided unintentionally by slipping +and falling. So he found himself on the floor, with Jaynes standing +over him in expectant anticipation of landing him another ebonizing +blow. He heard, also, the referee beginning to count slowly the +seconds. His first impulse was to rise to his feet and assail Jaynes +with all his might; then he realized that he had nine seconds for +refreshment, and there he waited on one hand and one knee, while the +seconds were slowly intoned, until the referee sang out: + +"Nine!" + +Then he made a sidelong scramble to his feet, and succeeded in dodging +the blow with which Jaynes welcomed him back. + +Jaynes charged now after Bobbles like a Spanish bull; but the wiry +Lakerimmer dodged him, and smote back at him while he dodged; while +Jaynes, losing his head completely, wasted his strength in futile +rushes and wild blows that bruised nothing except the atmosphere. +Before the end of the round both men were decidedly tired, because the +pace had been very rapid. The blows they dealt at each other were now +hardly more than velvety shoves, and the air seemed to be the chief +obstacle in their way. When by some chance they clinched, they leaned +lovingly upon each other till the referee had to pry them apart. There +was a little revival of interest just before the gong sounded to end +the third and last round; for Bobbles, having regained some of his +wind, began to pommel Jaynes with surprising rapidity and accuracy. +The end of the bout found them in a happy-go-lucky mix-up, each +striking blindly. + +The judges now met to discuss the verdict they were to render; and, +there being some dispute as to the number of blows landed by each, the +two men were brought forward for inspection. Bobbles' face and neck +were as black as a piccaninny's, but there were few dark spots upon +his chest. Jaynes, however, was like a leopard, for the blacking on +Bobbles' gloves had mottled him all up and down and around. + +As Jumbo remarked to Sawed-Off: "Bobbles certainly had designs on that +big fellow!" + +The judges had been agreed that on the points of defense, guarding, +ducking, getting away, and counter-hitting, Bobbles, considering his +size, was plainly the more brainy and speedy of the two. They were +also inclined to grant him the greater number of points on his form in +general, and especially on account of the disparity in size and reach; +and when they counted the tattoo-marks on each, they found that here +also Bobbles had made the highest score, and they did not hesitate to +award him the prize. + +The next event was the High Kick, which was won by a Kingston +hitch-and-kicker, who was a rank outsider from the Dozen. Quiz managed +to be third and add one point to the Academy's score. + +Then came an exhibition of Indian-club swinging. Jumbo had formerly +been the great Indian-club swinger of the Dozen, but he had recently +gone in so enthusiastically for wrestling that he had given up his +other interest. Sleepy had taken up this discarded amusement with as +much enthusiasm as was possible to him. There was something about it +that appealed to Sleepy. It was different from weight-lifting and +dumb bell exercising in that when you once got the clubs started they +seemed to do all the work themselves. But Sleepy was too lazy to learn +many of the new wrinkles, and the Troy club-swingers set him some +tasks that he could not repeat. In form, too, he was not their equal; +and this event went to the Kingston opponents. + +A novelty was introduced here in place of the usual parallel-bar +exhibition. From the horizontal bar a light gate was hung, and the +various contestants gave exhibitions of Vaulting. The gate prevented +the use of the kippie swing. There was no method of twisting and +writhing up to the bar; it had to be clean vaulting; and Kingston +gradually raised the mark till the Troy men could not go over it. +At its last notch only one man made it, and that was a Kingston +athlete--but unfortunately not a Lakerimmer, as Punk remained behind +with the others, and divided second place with a rival. + +A Sack Race was introduced to furnish a little diversion for the +audience, which, in view of the length of the program, was beginning +to believe that, after all, it is possible to have too much of a good +thing. The Kingstonians had put their hope in this event upon the +Twins. None but the Dozen could tell them apart, but the Kingstonians +felt confident that one of the red-headed brotherhood would win out. +And so it looked to the audience when the long row of men were tied +up like dummies in sacks that reached to their necks; for, after the +first muddle at the start, two small brick-top figures went bouncing +along in the lead, like hot-water bags with red stoppers in them. +The Kingstonians, not knowing which of the Twins was in the lead, if +indeed either of them actually led, yelled violently: + +"The Twins! The Twins!" + +It was Reddy that had got the first start and cleared the multitude, +but Heady, by a careful system of jumping, was soon alongside his +brother. He made a kind-hearted effort to cut Reddy off, with the +result that they wabbled together and fell in a heap. They did not +mind the fact that two or three other sack-runners were falling all +over them; nor did they care what became of the race: the desire of +each was to tear off that sack and get at the wretched brother that +had caused the fall. Not being able to work their hands loose, they +rolled toward each other, and began violently to bunt heads. Finding +that this banner of battle hurt the giver of the blow as much as it +did the receiver of it, they rolled apart again, and began to kick at +each other in a most ludicrous and undignified manner. The Lakerimmers +were finally compelled to rush in on the track and separate the loving +brothers. Strange to say, the Twins got no consolation for the loss of +the race from the fact that the audience had laughed till the tears +ran down its face. + +[Illustration: "TIED UP LIKE DUMMIES IN SACKS."] + +When the Running High Jump went to Troy on account of the inability +of B.J. to reach even his own record, the Kingstonians began to feel +anxious of results. Troy had won six events, and they had won only +four. The points, too, had fallen in such a way that there was a bad +discrepancy. + +Sawed-Off appeared upon the horizon as a temporary rescuer; and while +he could not put the sixteen-pound bag of shot so far as he had in +better days sent the sixteen-pound solid shot, still he threw it +farther than any of the Trojans could, and brought the Kingston score +up to within one of the events gone to Troy. Pretty added one more by +a display of grace and skill in the fencing-match with foils, that +surprised even his best friends from Lakerim, and won the unanimous +vote of the three judges, themselves skilful fencers. + +A wet blanket was thrown on the encouragement of the Kingstonians by +their inferiority at weight-lifting. Sawed-Off was many pounds from +the power of a certain powerful Trojan, who was a smaller man with +bigger muscles. + +Then all the members of the Dozen had a special parlay with Jumbo, +imploring him to save the day and the honor of both Kingston and +Lakerim by winning the wrestling-match. + + + + +XXV + + +When Jumbo glanced across the floor and saw the man that was to be his +opponent striding toward the mat in the center of the floor, he wished +that some one else had been placed as the keystone in the Kingston +arch of success. For Jumbo knew well the man's record as a wrestler. +But Jumbo himself, while small, was well put together; and though +built, as he said, "close to the ground," he was built for business. + +Since he had gone in for wrestling he had made it the specialty of +all his athletic exercises. He had practised everything that had any +bearing on the strengthening of particular muscles or general agility. +He had practised cart-wheels, hand-springs, back and front flips. He +had worked with his neck at the chest-weight machine. He would walk on +his hands to strengthen his throat, and his collars had grown in a few +weeks from thirteen and a half to fifteen, and he could no longer +wear his old shirts without splitting them. He made the mats in the +Kingston gymnasium almost his home. + +His special studies were bridging and spinning. He spent hours on his +back, rising to his two feet and his head and then rolling from one +shoulder to the other and spinning to his front. When he had his +bridge-building abilities fairly well started, he compelled his heavy +chum Sawed-Off to act as a living meal-bag, and rolled around upon +the top of his head and bridged, with Sawed-Off laying all his weight +across his chest. When he went to bed he bridged there until the best +of wrestlers, sleep, had downed him. When he woke in the morning, he +fell out of bed to the floor, turning his head under him and rolling +so as not to break his neck or any bones, and bridging rigidly upon +his head and bare feet. + +Jumbo knew that, whatever might be the ability of his rival, the +Trojan Ware, at least he, Jumbo, could have his conscience easy with +the thought that he had made the most profitable use of the short time +he had spent on wrestling, and that he would put up as good a fight as +was in him. + +More than that no athlete can do. + +Jumbo and Ware met upon the mattress with their close-shaven heads +looking like bulldogs' jowls; and they shook hands--if one can imagine +bulldogs shaking hands. + +Jumbo had two cardinal principles, but he could put neither of them +into practice in the first maneuvers: the first was always to try to +get out of one difficulty by dumping the opponent into another; the +second was always to try for straight-arm leverages. + +Ware being the larger of the two, Jumbo was content to play a waiting +game and find out something of the methods of his burly opponent. He +dodged here and there, avoiding the reaching lobster-claws of Ware by +quick wriggles or by slapping his hands away as they thrust. Suddenly +Ware made a quick rush, and, breaking through Jumbo's interference, +seized him around the body to bend him backward. But while the man was +straining his hardest, Jumbo brought his hands around and placed them +together in front of the pit of his stomach, so that the harder Ware +squeezed the harder he pressed Jumbo's fists into his abdomen. + +Ware looked foolish at being foiled so neatly, and broke away, only to +come at Jumbo again, and clasp him so close that there was no room for +his fists to press against Ware's diaphragm. But now Jumbo suddenly +clasped his left arm back of Ware's neck, and with his right hand bent +the man's forehead back until he was glad enough to let go and spring +away. Ware continued to run around Jumbo as a dog runs around a treed +cat. But Jumbo always evaded his quick rushes till Ware, after many +false moves, finally made a sudden and unforeseen dash, seized Jumbo's +right hand with both of his, whirled in close, and, with his back +against Jumbo's chest, carried the Lakerimmer's right arm straight and +stiff across his shoulder. Bearing down with all his weight on this +lever, and at the same time dropping to his knees, he shot Jumbo over +his shoulders, heels over head. + +"That Flying Mere was certainly a bird!" said Bobbles. + +Ware went down with Jumbo, to land on his chest and break any bridge +the boy might form. And the Flying Mere had been such a surprise, +and the fall was so far and the floor so hard, that, while Jumbo +instinctively tried to bridge, his effort collapsed. His two shoulders +touched. The bout was over. + +The first fall had been so quickly accomplished, and Jumbo had offered +so feeble a resistance, that the Troy faction at once accepted the +wrestling-match as theirs, and the Kingstonians gave up the evening as +hopelessly lost. + +Jumbo was especially covered with chagrin, since he had practised so +long, and had builded so many hopes on this victory; worst of all, the +whole success of the contest between the two academies depended on his +victory. + +When, then, after a rest, the referee called "Time!" Ware came +stalking up jauntily and confidently; but Jumbo, instead of skulking, +was up, and at, and on him like a wildcat. Ware had expected that the +Lakerim youngster would pursue the same elusive tactics as before, and +he was all amaze while Jumbo was seizing his left hand with his own +left hand, and, darting round behind him, was bending Ware's arm +backward and upward into the Hammerlock. + +The pain of this twist sent Ware's body forward, so that Jumbo could +reach up under his right armpit and, placing the palm of his right +hand on the back of Ware's head, make use of that crowbar known as the +right Half-Nelson. This pressure was gradually forcing Ware forward on +the top of his head; but he knew the proper break for the Hammerlock, +and simply threw himself face forward on the mat. + +As he rose to his knees again Jumbo pounced on him like a hawk, and +while Ware waited patiently the little Lakerimmer was reaching under +Ware's armpit again for another Half-Nelson; but Ware simply dodged +the grasping of Jumbo's right hand, or, bringing his right arm +vigorously back and down, so checked Jumbo's arm that the boy could +not reach his neck. Jumbo now tried, by leaning his left forearm and +all his weight upon Ware's head, to bring it into reach; but Ware's +neck was too strong, and when he stiffened it Jumbo could not force it +down. + +Ware waited in amused patience to learn just how much Jumbo knew about +wrestling. Jumbo wandered around on his knees, feinting for another +Half-Nelson, and making many false plays to throw Ware off his guard. + +Suddenly, while Ware seemed to be all neck against a Half-Nelson, +Jumbo dropped to his knees near Ware's right arm, and, shooting his +left arm under Ware's body and his right arm across beneath Ware's +chin, laid violent hold on the man's left arm near the shoulder with +what is known as the Farther-Arm Hold. Jumbo's movement was so quick +and unexpected that Ware could not parry it by throwing his left leg +out and forward for a brake. He realized at once that he would have to +go, and when Jumbo gave a quick yank he rolled over and bridged. But +Jumbo followed him quickly over, and clasping Ware's left arm between +his legs, he forced the right arm out straight also with both his +hands so that Ware could not roll. Then he simply pressed with all his +force upon Ware's chest. And waited. + +Also weighted. + +Ware squirmed and wriggled and grunted and writhed, but there was no +escape for him, and while he stuck it out manfully, with Jumbo heavy +upon him, he knew that he was a goner. + +And finally, with a sickly groan, London Bridge came a-falling down. + +The bout was Jumbo's, and he retired to his corner with a heart much +lighter. The applause of the audience, the rip-roaring enthusiasm +of the Kingston Academy yell, followed by the beloved club cry of +Lakerim, rejoiced him mightily. He had put down a man far heavier +than he; and he felt that possibly, perchance, maybe, there was a +probability of a contingency in which he might be able to have a +chance of downing him once more--perhaps. + +It was a very cool and cautious young man that came forward to +represent Kingston when the referee exclaimed: + +"Shake hands for the third and last bout!" + +Jumbo, as soon as he had released Ware's fingers, dropped to his +hands and knees on the mat, squatting far back on his haunches, and +manifested a cheerful willingness to go almost anywhere except on the +back of his two shoulders. + +It was Ware's turn to be aggressive now, for he had been laughed at +not a little for being downed by so small an opponent. He spent some +time and more strength in picking Jumbo up bodily from the mat and +dropping him all over the place. Jumbo's practice at bridging stood +him in excellent stead now, and he got out of many a tight corner by a +quick, firm bridge or a sudden spin. + +Ware time after time forced one of the boy's shoulders to the mat, +and strove with all his vim to force the other shoulder down. And +he generally succeeded; but the first always came up. Jumbo went +willingly from one shoulder to the other, but never from one to both. +He frequently showed a most obliging disposition, and did what Ware +wanted him to, or, rather, he did just that and a little more--he +always went too far; and Ware was becoming convinced that he never +could get those two obstinate shoulder-blades to the mat at the same +time. + +After much puttering, he reached the goal of his ambition, and got +the deadly Full-Nelson on Jumbo's head, and forced it slowly and +irresistibly down. Just as he was congratulating himself that he had +his fish landed, Jumbo suddenly whirled his legs forward and assumed a +sitting position. The whole problem was reversed. Ware rose wearily to +his feet, and Jumbo returned to his hands and knees. + +Once more Ware strove for the Nelson. He was jabbing Jumbo's head and +trying to shove it down within reach of his right hand. Suddenly, with +a surprising abruptness, Jumbo's head was not there,--he had jerked it +quickly to one side,--and Ware's hand slipped down and almost touched +the floor. But the watchful Jumbo had seized Ware's wrist with +both hands, and returned to the big fellow the compliment of the +Straight-Ann Leverage and the Flying Mere which had been so fatal +to himself in the first bout. Ware's fall was not nearly so far as +Jumbo's had been, and he managed to bridge and save himself. + +Before Jumbo could settle on his chest, Ware was out of danger. But he +went to his hands and knees in a defensive attitude that showed he was +nearly worn out. + +Jumbo did not see just what right Ware had to imitate his own +position, and the two of them sprawled like frogs, eying each other +jealously. + +Jumbo soon saw that he was expected to take the aggressive or go +to sleep; so, with a lazy sigh, he began snooping around for those +nuggets of wrestling, the Nelsons. After foiling many efforts, the +Trojan noted all at once that Jumbo's head was not above Ware's +shoulders, but back of the right armpit. In a flash a thought of pity +went through Ware's brain. + +"Poor fool!" he almost groaned aloud; and reaching back, he gathered +Jumbo's head into chancery. + +A sigh went up from all Kingston, and Sawed-Off gasped: + +"Poor Jumbo 's gone!" + +But just as Ware, chuckling with glee, started to roll Jumbo over, the +boy swung at right angles across Ware's back, and brought the Trojan's +arm helplessly to the Hammerlock. + +This was a new trick to Ware, one he had never heard of, but one that +he understood and respected immediately. He yielded to it judiciously, +and managed to spin on his head before Jumbo could land on his chest. + +Ware had more respect now for Jumbo, and decided to keep him on the +defensive, especially as a bystander announced that the time was +almost up. + +Ware rushed the contest, and, after many failures, managed to secure a +perfect Full-Nelson. Jumbo's position was such that there was no way +for him to squirm out. He resisted until it seemed that his neck would +break. In vain. His head was slowly forced under. + +And now his shoulders began to follow, and he was rolling over on his +back. + +One shoulder is down. + +The referee is on all fours, his cheek almost to the ground. He is +watching for the meeting of those two shoulders upon the mat. + +The Kingstonians have given up, and the Trojans have their cheers all +ready. + +And now the despairing Jumbo feels that his last minute has come. But +just for the fraction of a second he sees that the cautious Ware is +slightly changing his hold. + +With a sudden, a terrific effort, he throws all his soul into his +muscles--closes his arms like a vise on Ware's arms. The Nelson is +broken, or weakened into uselessness. He draws his head into his +shoulders as a turtle's head is drawn into its shell, whirls like +lightning on the top of his head to his other shoulder, and on over, +carrying the horrified Ware with him, plouncing the Trojan flat on his +back, and plumping down on top of him. + +And the excited referee went over on his back also, and kicked his +heels foolishly in the air as he cried: + +"Down!" + +Jumbo had won the match. + +This brought the score of contests back to a tie, and the result of +these Olympic games now rested entirely on the victors of the Tug of +War. + + + + +XXVI + + +Curiously enough, the Trojans and the Kingstonians had each won a +series of firsts, seconds, and thirds that totaled up the same. So the +Tug of War, which had been intended only for an exhibition, became in +a sense the deciding event of the whole contest. + +The captain of the Kingston four was the large Sawed-Off, who was also +the anchor of his team. He came out upon the floor, wearing around his +waist a belt that was almost as graceful as a horse-collar, and quite +as heavy, made, as it was, of padded leather. It was suspended from +his shoulders like a life-belt, and carried a deep groove around the +middle of it. + +The Troy captain had a similar contrivance about him, and he looked +somewhat contemptuously upon the Kingstonians, who had not the beefy, +brawny look of his own big four. + +The eight took their places on the long board, each man with his feet +against a cleat. The rope was marked in its exact center with a white +cord, and held there by a lever, which the umpire pressed down with +his foot. + +The Troy tuggers took a stout hold on the rope and faced the +Kingstonians gloweringly. The Kingston men, however, faced to the rear +and straddled the rope--all except Sawed-Off, who had wrapped it round +his belt, and taken a hitch in it for security. He faced the Trojans, +and hoped that science would defeat beef once more in the history of +athletics. + +When all were ready the umpire shouted "Go!" and at the same instant +released the lever and the cable. + +The Trojans threw all their muscle into one terrific jerk; but each of +Sawed-Off's men, gripping the cable in front of him at arm's-length, +fell forward, face down. + +By the impact of their full weight, and by relying not merely upon +their arms, but on the whole pull of back and legs, the Kingstonians +gave the rope a yank that would have annoyed an oak-tree, and +certainly left the Trojans no chance. + +After this first assault the teams found themselves thus: The +Kingstonians were stretched prone upon the board with their legs +straight against the cleats; Sawed-Off was braced against his cleat +and seated, facing Troy. The rival team was seated, but with knees +bent; and their captain glared amazed at Sawed-Off, who was busily +taking in over a foot of captured cable. + +The Trojan captain, Winthrop by name, gave a signal grunt, to which +his men responded with a fury, regaining about two of the lost inches. +This lifted Sawed-Off slightly off the board, and in response to three +or four bitter wrenches from Troy, he was forced to let them have six +inches more cable, lest they cut him in two like a cake of soap. + +But Kingston had learned, by painful experience, the signals of the +Troy captain; and just as the Trojans were reaching confidently +forward for a new hold, the alert Sawed-Off murmured a quick hint, and +his men gave a sudden hunch that took the enemy unawares, and brought +back home three inches of beautiful rope. The same watchfulness won +another three; and there they held the white string, a foot to their +side, when the time was up and the lever was clamped down. + +After a short rest, the men resined their hands anew and prepared for +the second pull. The Trojan captain had been wise enough to see the +advantage of the Kingston forward fall, and he was not too modest to +adopt it. + +When the lever was supped the second time both teams fell face +downward. But now Troy's greater bulk told to her advantage, and she +carried the white cord six inches to her side. + +The Kingstons lay with their knees bent. + +Now Sawed-Off tried a preconcerted trick signal. With ominous tone he +cried: + +"Now, boys--all together--heave!" + +At the word "heave" the Trojans braced like oxen against the expected +jerk; but none came, and they relaxed a little, feeling that they had +been fooled. But Sawed-Off's men were slowly and silently counting +five, and then, with a mighty heave, they yearned forward, and +catching the Winthrop team unprepared, got back four inches. They +tried it again, and made only about an inch. A third time Sawed-Off +gave the signal, and the Trojans, recognizing it, waited a bit before +bracing for the shock. But for the third time Sawed-Off had arranged +that the pull should immediately follow the command. Again the Trojans +were fooled, and the white went two inches into Kingston territory. + +The Trojans now grew angry and panicky, and began to wrench and twist +without regard for one another. The result of this was that Kingston +gradually gained three inches more before Winthrop could coax his men +back to reason and team-work. + +The time was almost gone now, and he got his men into a series of +well-concerted, steady, deadly efforts, that threatened to bring the +whole Kingston four over with the snail-like white cord. But Sawed-Off +pleaded with his men, and they buried their faces in the board and +worked like mad. To the spectators they seemed hardly to move, but +under their skins their muscles were crowding and shoving like a gang +of slaves, and fairly squeezing streams of sweat out of them as if +their gleaming hides were sponges. + +And then, after what seemed a whole night of agony, the white cord +budged no more, though the Trojans pulled themselves almost inside +out; and suddenly the lever nipped the rope, and the contest was over. +The Trojans were all faint, and the head of Winthrop fell forward +limply. Even Sawed-Off was so dizzy that he had to be helped across +the floor by his friends. But they were glad enough to pay him this +aid. + +All Kingston had learned to love the sturdy giant, and the Lakerimmers +were prouder of him than ever, for it was through him that the fatal +balance had been pulled down to Kingston's side, so that the team +could take another victory home with them to the Academy. + + + + +XXVII + + +As the school year rolled on toward its finish in June, times became +busier and busier for the students, especially for the Lakerimmers, +who felt a great responsibility upon their shoulders, the +responsibility of keeping the Lakerim Athletic Club pennant flying +to the fore in all the different businesses of academic life--in the +classroom, at the prize speaking, in the debating society, and, most +of all, in the different athletic affairs. + +It was no longer necessary, as it had been at home in Lakerim, for the +same twelve men to play all the games known to humanity--to make a +specialty of everything, so to speak. At Kingston, while they were +still one body and soul, and kept up their union with constant powwows +in one another's rooms, but most often in Tug's, they were divided +variously among the athletic teams, where each one felt that his own +honor was Lakerim's. + +Their motto was the motto of the Three Musketeers: "All for one, and +one for all." + +The springtime athletics found the best of them choosing between the +boat crew and the ball team. It was a hard choice for some of them +who loved to be Jacks-at-all-trades, but a choice was necessary. The +Kingston Academy possessed so many good fellows that not all of the +Dozen found a place on the eight or the nine; still, there were +enough of them successful to keep Lakerim material still strongly in +evidence. + +Of the men that tried for the crew, all were sifted out, gradually, +except B.J., Quiz, and Punk. The training was a severe one, under a +coach who had graduated some years before from Kingston, and had come +back to bring his beloved Academy first across the line, as it had +gone the year he had captained the crew. + +As the training went on, the man who had been elected captain of the +eight worked so faithfully--or overworked so faithfully--that he was +trained up to the finest point some two or three weeks before the +great regatta of academies. Every day after that he lost in form, in +spite of himself, and the coach had finally to make him abdicate the +throne; and Punk, who had worked in his usual slow and conservative +fashion, seemed the fittest man to succeed him. So Punk became captain +of the crew, and found himself at the old post of stroke-oar. + +On the day of the great Henley of the Interscholastic League, when all +the crews had got away in their best style, after two vexatious false +starts, Punk slowly, and without any impatience, urged his crew past +all the others, till Kingston led them all. + +From this place he could study his rivals well, and after some +shifting of positions, he saw the Troy Latin School eight coming +cleanly out of the parade and making swiftly after him. Suddenly a +great nervousness seized him, because he remembered the time, the year +before, when the Lakerim crew rowed Troy, and when his oar had broken +just before the finish, so that he had been compelled to jump out into +the water, and had missed the joy of riding over the line with his +winning Lakerimmers. He wondered now if this oar would also play him +false. + +But he had selected it with experienced care, and hard as he strained +it, and pathetically as it groaned, it stood him in good stead, +and carried him, and the seven who rowed with him, safely into the +paradise of victory. + + + + +XXVIII + + +Of the Lakerimmers who tried for the baseball team, four men were +elevated to the glory of positions on the regular nine. + +Sleepy had somehow proved that left-field was safer when he was +seeming to take a nap there than it was under the guard of any of the +more restless players. + +Tug was a second baseman, whose cool head made him a good man at that +pivot of the field; he was an able assistant to the right-field, a +ready back-stop to the short-stop, and a perfect spider for taking +into his web all the wild throws that came slashing from the home +plate to cut off those who dared to try to steal his base. + +Sawed-Off was the nearest of all the Kingstonians to resembling a +telegraph-pole, so he had no real competitors for first base. He +declined to play, however, unless Jumbo were given the position of +short-stop; and Jumbo soon proved that he had some other rights to the +position besides a powerful pull. + +Reddy and Heady had worked like beavers to be accepted as the battery, +but the pitcher and catcher of the year before were so satisfactory +that the Twins could get no nearer to their ambitions than the +substitute-list, and there it seemed they were pretty sure to remain +upon the shelf, in spite of all the practice they had kept up, even +through the winter. + +The Kingston ball-team had found its only rival to the championship of +the Interscholastic League in the nine from the Charleston Preparatory +School. The Kingstonians all plucked up hope, however, when they found +themselves at the end of the season one game ahead of Charleston; or, +at least, they called it one game ahead, for Charleston had played off +its schedule, and Kingston had only one more nine to defeat, and that +was the Brownsville School for Boys, the poorest team in the whole +League, a pack of good-for-nothings with butter on their fingers and +holes in their bats. So Kingston counted the pennant as good as won. + +Down the team went to Brownsville, then, just to see how big a score +they could roll up. Back they came from Brownsville so dazed they +almost rode past the Kingston station. For when they had reached the +ballground, one of those curious moods that attacks a team as it +attacks a single person seized them and took away the whole knack that +had won them so many games. The Brownsvillers, on the other hand, +seemed to have been inspired by something in the air. They simply +could not muff the ball or strike out. They found and pounded the +curves of the Kingston pitcher so badly that the substitute battery +would have been put in had they not been left behind because it was +not thought worth while to pay their fare down to Brownsville. + +The upshot of the horrible afternoon was that Brownsville sent +Kingston home with its feelings bruised black and blue, and its record +done up in cotton. It was a good thing that Kingston had prepared no +bonfire for the victory they had thought would be so easy, because if +the defeated nine had been met with such a mockery they would surely +have perished of mortification. + +The loss of this game--think of it, the score was 14 to 2!--tied the +Kingstonians with the Charlestonians, and another game was necessary +to decide the contest for the pennant. That game was immediately +arranged for commencement week on the Kingston grounds. + +And now the Twins, who had resigned themselves to having never a +chance on the nine, found themselves suddenly called upon to pitch and +catch in _the_ game of the year; for the drubbing the regular pitcher +had received had destroyed the confidence of the team in his ability +to pitch a second time successfully against the Charlestonians. + +To make matters worse, the game was to come almost in the very midst +of the final examinations of the year, and the Twins became so mixed +up in their efforts to cram into their heads all the knowledge in the +world, and to pull out of their fingers all of the curves known to +science, that one day Reddy said to Heady: + +"I half believe that when I get up for oral examination I'll be so +rattled that, instead of answering the question, I'll try to throw the +ink-bottle on an upshoot at the professor's head." + +And Heady answered, even more glumly: + +"I wouldn't mind that so much; what I'm afraid of is that when you +really need to use that out-curve you'll throw only a few dates at the +batter. I will signal for an out-curve, and you'll stand in the box +and tie yourself in a bow-knot, and throw at me something about +Columbus discovering America in 1776; or you'll reel off some problem +about plastering the inside of a room, leaving room for four doors and +six windows." + +When the day of the game arrived, however, Reddy and Heady took their +positions with the proud satisfaction of knowing that they had passed +all their school-book examinations. Now they wondered what percentage +they would make in their baseball examination. + +Sleepy, however, went out to left-field not knowing where he stood. +He knew so little about his books, indeed, that even after the +examination was over he could tell none of the fellows what answers he +had made to what questions, and so they could not tell him whether or +no he had failed ignominiously or passed accidentally. This worry, +however, sat very lightly on Sleepy's nerves. + +The largest crowd of the year was gathered to witness the greatest +game of the year, and Charleston and Kingston were tuned up to the +highest pitch they could reach without breaking. The day was perfect, +and in the preliminary practice the Kingstonians showed that they were +determined to wipe out the disgrace of the Brownsville game, or at +least to cover it up with the scalps of the Charlestonians. + +At length the Charlestonians were called in by their captain, for they +were first at bat. The Kingstonians dispread themselves over the field +in their various positions. The umpire tossed to the nervous Reddy +what seemed to be a snowball, whose whiteness he immediately covered +with dust from the box. The Charlestonian batter came to the plate and +tapped it smartly three or four times. The umpire sang out: + +"Play-ball!" + +Reddy cast a nervous look around the field, then went into a spasm +in which he seemed to be trying to "skin the cat" on an invisible +turning-pole. Out of the mix-up he suddenly straightened himself. The +first baseman saw a dusty white cannon-ball shoot past him, and heard +the umpire's dulcet voice growl: + +"Strike!" + +Which pleased the Kingston audience so mightily that they broke forth +into cheers and applause that upset Reddy so completely that the next +ball slipped from his hand and came toward the first baseman so gently +that he could hardly have missed it had he tried. + +The Kingstonian cheer disappeared in a groan as everybody heard that +unmistakable whack that resounds whenever the bat and the ball meet +face to face. But the very sureness of the hit was its ruination, for +it went soaring like a carrier-pigeon straight home to the hands of +Sleepy, who, without moving from his place, reached up and took it in. + +The Kingston groan was now changed back again to a cheer, and the +first batter of the first half of the first inning had scored the +first "out." + +The Charleston third baseman now came to the bat. Three times in +succession Reddy failed to get the ball over the plate, and the man +evidently had made up his mind that he was to get his base on balls, +for at the fourth pitch he dropped his bat and started for first base, +only to be called back by the umpire's voice declaring a strike. To +his immense disgust, two other strikes followed it, and he went to the +bench instead of to the base. + +The third Charlestonian caught the first ball pitched by Reddy, and +sent it bounding toward Jumbo, who ripped it off the ground and had +it in the hands of his chum Sawed-Off before the Charlestonian was +half-way to first base. + +This retired the side, and the Kingstonians came in to bat amid a +pleasant April shower of applause. + +Sawed-Off was the first Kingston man to take a club to the +Charlestonians. He waved his bat violently up and down, and stared +fiercely at the Charleston pitcher. His ferocity disappeared, however, +when he saw the ball coming at a frightful speed straight at him, and +threatening to take a large scoop out of his stomach. He stretched up +and back and away from it with a ridiculous wiggle, that was the more +ridiculous when he saw the ball curve harmlessly over the plate and +heard the umpire cry: + +"Strike--one!" + +He upbraided himself for his fear, and when the next ball was pitched, +though he felt sure that it was going to strike him on the shoulder, +he did not budge. But here he made mistake number two; for the ball +did not curve as the pitcher had intended, but gave the batter a sharp +nip just where it said it would. The only apology the pitcher made was +the rueful look with which he watched Sawed-Off going down to first +base. + +The Kingston center-fielder was the next at the bat, and he sent a +little Roman candle of a fly that fell cozily into the third baseman's +hands. + +Jumbo now came to the plate, and swinged at the ball so violently that +one might have thought he was trying to lift Sawed-Off bodily from +first base to second. But he managed only to send a slow coach of a +liner, that raced him to first base and beat him there. Sawed-Off, +however, had managed to make second before the Charleston first +baseman could throw him out, and there he pined away, for the Kingston +third baseman struck out, possibly in compliment to the Charleston +third baseman, who had done the same thing. + +This complimentary spirit seemed to fill the short-stop also, for he +sent down to his rival Jumbo a considerately easy little fly, which +stuck to Jumbo's palms as firmly as if there had been fly-paper on +them. + +The Charleston catcher now found Reddy for a clean base-hit between +left and center field. He tried to stretch it into a two-base hit, and +the Kingston center fielded the ball in so slowly that he succeeded in +his grasping attempt. + +The Charlestonian second baseman made a sacrifice hit that advanced +the catcher to third. And now the pitcher came to the bat, eager to +bring home the wretch at whom he had hurled his swiftest curves. His +anxiety led him into making two foolish jabs at curves that were out +of his reach, and finally he caught one just on the tip of his bat, +and it went neatly into Tug's hand, leaving the catcher to perish on +third base. + +Sleepy now came to the bat for Kingston, and, without making any +undue exertion, deftly placed a fly between the short-stop and the +left-fielder, and reached first base on a canter. He made no rash +attempts to steal second, but waited to be assisted there. The +Kingston right-fielder, however, struck out and made way for Reddy. + +Reddy, though a pitcher, was, like most pitchers, unable to solve the +mystery of a rival's curves for more than a little grounder, that lost +him first base, and forced Sleepy to a most uncomfortable exertion to +keep from being headed off at second. + +Tug now came to the bat; but, unfortunately, while the hit he knocked +was a sturdy one, it went toward third base, and Sleepy did not dare +venture off second, though he made a feint at third which engaged the +baseman's attention until Tug reached first. + +Heady now came to the bat, and some of the Charlestonians insisted +that he had batted before; but they were soon convinced of their error +when the Twins were placed side by side. + +Heady puzzled them even more, however, by scratching off just such +another measly bunt as his brother had failed with, and when he was +put out at first Sleepy and Tug realized that their running had been +in vain. Sleepy thought of the terrific inconvenience the struggle for +the three bases had caused him, and was almost sorry that he had not +struck out in the first place. + +The Charleston right-fielder opened the third inning with a graceful +fly just this side the right-fielder's reach, in that field where +base-hits seem to grow most plentifully. The Kingston center-fielder +was presented with a base on balls, which forced the right-fielder to +second base. Now Reddy recovered sufficiently to strike out the next +Charleston batter, though the one after him sent into right field a +long, low fly, which the Kingston right-fielder caught on the first +bound, and hurled furiously to third base to head off the Charleston +runner. The throw was wild, and a sickening sensation went through the +hearts of all as they saw it hurtle past the third baseman. + +The Charleston runner rejoiced, and giving the bag a mere touch with +his foot, started gaily for home. A warning cry from his coach, +however, checked him in full speed, and he whirled about to see that +Sleepy, foreseeing the throw from right-field as soon as the ball left +the bat, had sauntered over behind the third baseman, had stopped the +wild throw, and now stood waiting for the base-runner to declare his +intention before he threw the ball. The Charlestonian made a quick +dash to get back to third; but Sleepy had the ball in the third +baseman's hands before him. + +Now the third baseman saw that the second Kingston runner had also +been wavering uncertainly between second and third, ready to reach +third if Sleepy threw for home, and to return to second if he threw +to third. The third baseman started toward the runner, making many +pretenses of throwing the ball, and keeping the poor base-runner on +such a razor-edge of uncertainty that he actually allowed himself to +be touched out with barely a wriggle. This double play retired the +side. It was credited to the third baseman; but the real glory +belonged to Sleepy, and the crowd gave him the applause. + +Once more Sawed-Off towered at the bat. He was willing to take another +bruise if he could be assured of getting to first base; but the +pitcher was so wary of striking him this time that he gave him his +base on balls, and Sawed-Off lifted his hat to him in gratitude for +this second gift. + +The center-fielder knocked a fly into the hands of the first baseman, +who stood on the bag. Sawed-Off barely escaped falling victim to a +double play by beating the fly to first. + +Again Jumbo labored mightily to advance Sawed-Off, and did indeed +get him to second on a well-situated base-hit. The next Kingstonian, +however, the third baseman, knocked to the second baseman a bee-liner +that was so straight and hot that the second baseman could neither +have dodged nor missed it had he tried; so he just held on to it, and +set his foot on the bag, and caught Sawed-Off before he could get back +to the base. + +The fourth inning was opened by a Charlestonian, who sent a singing +fly right over Sawed-Off's head. He seemed to double his length like +a jack-knife. When he shut up again, however, the ball was not in his +hand, but down in the right-field. It was a master stroke, but, worth +only one base to Charleston. + +The second man at the bat fell prey to Reddy's bewildering curves, and +Reddy heard again that sweetest sound a pitcher can hear, the umpire's +voice crying: + +"Striker--out!" + +The Charlestonian who had lined out the beautiful base-hit proved +himself the possessor of a pair of heels as good as his pair of eyes, +and just as Reddy had declared by his motions such a readiness to +pitch the ball that he could not have changed his mind without being +declared guilty of a balk--just at that instant the Charlestonian +dashed madly for second base. Heady snatched off his mask and threw +the ball to second with all the speed and correctness he was master +of; but the throw went just so far to the right that Tug, leaning far +out, could not recover himself in time to touch the runner. + +[Illustration: "'STRIKER--OUT!'"] + +These two now began to play a game of hide-and-seek about second base, +much to Reddy's discomfort. There is nothing so annoying to a pitcher +as the presence of a courageous and speedy base-runner on the second +base; for the pitcher has always the threefold terror that in whirling +suddenly he may be found guilty of balking, or in facing about quickly +he may make a wild throw; and yet if he does not keep a sharp eye in +the back of his head, the base-runner can play off far enough to stand +a good chance of stealing third safely. + +Reddy engaged in this three-cornered duel so ardently that before he +knew it he had given the man at the bat a base on balls. This added to +his confusion, and seeing at the bat the Charleston catcher who had in +the second inning knocked out a perfect base-hit and made two bases +on it, Reddy left the wily fox at second base to his own devices, and +paid no heed to Tug's efforts to beat the man back to second. Suddenly +the fellow made a dart for third; though Heady's throw was straight +and swift, the fellow dived for the base, and slid into safety under +the ball. In the shadow of this dash the other Charleston base-runner +took second base without protest. + +The Charleston catcher was evidently determined to bring in at least +one run, or die trying. He smashed at every ball that Reddy pitched. +He only succeeded, however, in making a number of fouls. But Reddy +shuddered for the score when he realized how well the Charleston +catcher was studying his best curves. Suddenly the man struck up a +sky-scraping foul. Everybody yelled at once: "Over your head!" + +And Heady, ripping away his mask again, whirled round and round, +trying to find the little globule in the dazzling sky. He gimleted all +over the space back of the plate before he finally made out the ball +coming to earth many feet in front of him. He made a desperate lunge +for it and caught it. And Reddy's groan of relief could be heard clear +from the pitcher's box. + +The Charleston catcher, in a great huff, threw his bat to the ground +with such violence that it broke, and he gave way to the second +baseman, who had made a sacrifice hit in the second inning--which +advanced the catcher one base. The man realized, however, that a +sacrifice in this inning, with two men already out, would not be so +advantageous as before. He made an heroic attempt, resulting in a +clean drive that hummed past Reddy like a Mauser bullet, and chose a +path exactly between Jumbo and Tug. It was evident that no Kingston +man could stop it in time to throw either to first base or home ahead +of a Charleston man; but since Kingston could not put the side out +before a run was scored, the Charlestonians cheerfully consented to +put themselves out; that is, the base-runner on second, making a +furious dash for third, ran ker-plunk into the ball, which recorded +itself on his funny-bone. + +When he fell to the ground yelping with torment, I am afraid that +the Kingstonians showed little of the Good Samaritan spirit, for the +ball-nine and the Kingston sympathizers in the crowd indulged in +a jubilation such as a Roman throng gave vent to when a favorite +gladiator had floored some new savage. + +The Kingston men came in from the field arm in arm, but it was not +long before they were once more sauntering out into the field, for not +one of them reached first base. + +A game without runs is not usually half so interesting to the crowd as +one in which there is free batting and a generous sprinkling of runs. +The average spectator is not sport enough to feel sorry for the +pitcher when a home run has been knocked over the fence, or to feel +sorry for a fielder who lets a ball through his fingers and sends the +base-runners on their way rejoicing. To your thorough sport, though, +a scientific, well-balanced game is the most interesting. He likes to +see runs earned, if scored at all, and has sympathy but no interest +for a pitcher who permits himself to be knocked out of the box. + +A more nicely balanced game than this between Kingston and Charleston +could hardly be imagined, and there was something in the air or in +the game that made the young teams play like veterans. Each worked +together like a clock of nine cog-wheels. + +Though the next four innings were altogether different from one +another in batting and fielding, they were exactly alike in that they +were all totaled at the bottom of the column, with a large blank +goose-egg. + +At the opening of the ninth inning even the uncultured members of the +crowd--those unscientific ingoramuses that had voted the game a dull +one because no one had made the circuit of the bases--even these sat +up and breathed fast, and wondered what was going to happen. They had +not drawn many breaths before the Kingston catcher rapped on the plate +and threw back his bat to knock the stuffing out of any ball that +Reddy might hurl at him; and, indeed, his intentions were nearly +realized, for the very first throw that Reddy made hit the bull's-eye +on the Charleston bat, and then leaped away with a thwack. + +Reddy leaped for it first, but it went far from his fingers. + +Next after him Tug went up into the air and fell back beautifully. + +And after him--just as if they had been jumping-jacks--the +center-fielder bounded high and clutched at the ball, but past his +finger-tips, too, it went, and he turned ignominiously after it. If he +was running the Charlestonian was flying. He shot across first base, +and on, just grazing second base--unseen by Tug, who had turned his +back and was yelling vainly to the center-fielder to throw him the +ball he had not yet caught up with. On the Charlestonian sped in a +blind hurry. He very much resembled a young man decidedly anxious to +get home as soon as possible. He flew past third base and on down like +an antelope to the plate. This he spurned with his toe as he ran on, +unable to check his furious impetus, until he fell in the arms of the +other Charleston players on the bench. + +And then the Charleston faction in the crowd raised crawled in at the +back door and been ousted unceremoniously! + +The Kingstonians had certainly played a beautiful game, but +the Charlestonians had played one quite as good. All that the +Kingston-lovers could do when they saw their nine come to the bat for +the ninth time was to look uncomfortable, mop their brows, and remark: + +"Whew!" + +The Kingstonian center-fielder was the first to the bat, and he struck +out. + +Then Jumbo appeared, and played a waiting game he was very fond of: +while pretending to be willing to hit anything that was pitched, he +almost always let the ball go by him; and since he was so short and +stocky,--"built so close to the ground," as he expressed it,--the +pitcher usually threw too high, and Jumbo got his base on balls +a dozen times where he earned it with a base-hit or lost it on a +strike-out. + +And now he reached first base in his old pet way, and made ardent +preparations to steal second; but his enterprise was short-lived, for +the Kingston third baseman knocked an easy grounder to the short-stop, +who picked it from the ground and tossed it into the second baseman's +hands almost with one motion; and the second baseman, just touching +the base with his toe to put Jumbo out on a forced run, made a clean +throw to first that put out the batsman also, and with him the side. + +The scientists marked down upon the calendars of their memory the fact +that they had seen two preparatory school teams play a nine-inning +game without scoring a run. The others in the crowd only felt sick +with hope deferred, and wondered if that home plate were going to be +as difficult to reach as the north pole. + +The Charleston third baseman came to the bat first for his side in the +tenth inning, and he struck out. The left-fielder followed him, and +by knocking a little bunt that buzzed like a top just in front of the +plate, managed to agonize his way to first base before Reddy and Heady +could field the ball, both of them having jumped for it and reached it +at the same time. But this man, making a rash and foolish effort to +steal second, was given the eighteenth-century punishment of death for +theft, Heady having made a perfect throw from the plate. + +The Charleston short-stop reached second on a fly muffed by the +Kingston right-fielder--the first error made by this excellent player. + +And now once more the redoubtable Charleston catcher appeared at the +bat. Once more he showed his understanding of Reddy's science. This +time he was evidently determined to wipe out the mistake he had made +of too great haste on his previous home runs. After warming up with +two strikes, and letting three balls pass, he found the ball where he +wanted it, and drove out into left-field a magnificent fly. + +Pretty saw it coming, and turning, ran to the best of his ability for +the uttermost edge of his field, hoping only to delay the course of +the ball. At length it overtook him, and even as he ran he sprang into +the air and clutched upward for it, and struck it as if he would bat +it back to the home plate. + +It did not stick to his fingers, but none of the scorers counted it as +an error on the clean square beside his name under the letter E. He +had not achieved the impossible of catching it, but he had done the +next best thing: he had knocked it to the ground and run it down in +two or three steps, and turned, and drawing backward till the ball +almost touched the ground behind him, had strained every muscle with a +furious lunge, and sent the ball flying for home in a desperate race +with the Charleston short-stop, who had passed third base and was +sprinting for dear life homeward. + +At the plate stood Heady, beckoning the carrier-pigeon home with +frantic hope, Sawed-Off and Reddy both rushing to get behind him and +back him up, so that at least not more than one run should be scored. + +With a gasp of resolve the Charleston runner, seeing by Heady's eyes +that the ball was just at hand, flung himself to the ground, hoping to +lay at least a finger-tip on the plate; but there was a quick thwack +as the ball struck Heady's gloves, there was a stinging blow at the +Charlestonian's right shoulder-blade, and the shrill cry of the +umpire: + +"Out!" + +Once more the spectators shifted in their seats and knit their brows, +and observed: + +"Whew!" + +And now Sleepy opened the second half of the tenth inning. He had a +little splutter of applause for his magnificent throw when he came to +the plate; but he either was dreaming of base-hits and did not +hear it, or was too lazy to lift his cap, for he made no sign of +recognition. He made a sign of recognition of the Charleston's +pitcher's first upshoot, however, for he sent it spinning leisurely +down into right-field--so leisurely that even he beat it to first +base. The Kingston right-fielder now atoned for his previous error by +a ringing hit that took Sleepy on a comfortable jog to second base and +placed himself safely on first. + +Then Reddy came to the bat. He was saved the chagrin of striking out +to his deadly rival, but the hit he knocked was only a little fly that +the pitcher caught. The two base-runners, however, had not had great +expectations of Reddy's batting prowess, so they did not stray far +from their bases, and were not caught napping. + +Now Tug came to the bat; and while he was gathering his strength for +a death-dealing blow at the ball, the two base-runners made ready to +take advantage of anything he should hit. The right-fielder played off +too far, and, to Tug's despair, was caught by a quick throw from the +pitcher to the first baseman. + +Tug's heart turned sick within him, for there were two men out, and +the only man on base was Sleepy, who could never be counted on to make +a two-base run on a one-base hit. + +As Tug stood bewailing his fate, the ball shot past him, and the +umpire cried: + +"Strike--one!" + +Tug shook himself together with a jolt, and struck furiously at the +next ball. + +"Strike--two!" sang the umpire. + +And now the umpire had upon his lips the fatal words: + +"Strike--three!" + +For as he looked down the line traced in the air by the ball, he saw +that Tug had misjudged it. But for once science meant suicide; for +though Tug struck wildly, the ball condescendingly curved down and +fell full and fair upon the bat, and danced off again over the first +baseman's head and toward the feet of the right-fielder. This worthy +player ran swiftly for it and bent forward, but he could not reach it. +It struck him a smarting whack on the instep, and bounded off outside +the foul-line; and while he limped painfully after it, there was time +even for the sleepy Sleepy to reach the plate and score a run. + +And then the right-fielder, half blinded with pain, threw the ball at +nobody in particular, and it went into the crowd back of third base, +and Tug came in unopposed. + +And since the game was now Kingston's, no one waited to see whether +Heady would have knocked a home run or struck out. He was not given a +chance to bat. + + + + +CONCLUSION + + +There was great rejoicing in Kingston that night, much croaking of +tin horns, and much building of bonfires. The athletic year had been +remarkably successful, and every one realized the vital part played +in that success by the men from Lakerim--the Dozen, who had made some +enemies, as all active people must, and had made many more friends, as +all active people may. + +The rejoicing of the Lakerimmers themselves had a faint tang of +regret, for while they were all to go back to the same town together +for their vacation, yet they knew that this would be the last year of +school life they could ever spend together. Next year History, Punk, +Sawed-Off, and Jumbo were to go to college. The others had at least +one more year of preparatory work. + +And they thought, too, that this first separation into two parts was +only the beginning of many separations that should finally scatter +them perhaps over the four quarters of the globe. + +There was Bobbles, for instance, who had an uncle that was a great +sugar magnate in the Hawaiian Islands, and had offered him a position +there whenever he was ready for it. + +B.J. had been promised an appointment to Annapolis, for he would be a +sailor and an officer of Uncle Sam's navy. + +And Tug had been offered a chance to try for West Point, and there +were no dangers for him in either the rigid mental or the physical +examinations. + +Pretty, who had shown a wonderful gift for modeling in clay, was going +some day to Paris to study sculpture. + +And Quiz looked forward to being a lawyer. + +The Twins would go into business, since their father's busy sawmill +property would descend to both of them, and, as they thought it out, +could not very well be divided. Plainly they must make the best of +life together. It promised to be a lively existence, but a pleasant +one withal. + +History hoped to be a great writer some day, and Punk would be a +professor of something staid and quiet, Latin most probably. + +Sawed-Off and Jumbo had not made up their minds as to just what +the future was to hold for them, but they agreed, that it must be +something in partnership. + +Sleepy had never a fancy of what coming years should bring him to do; +he preferred to postpone the unpleasant task of making up his mind, +and only took the trouble to hope that the future would give him +something that offered plenty of time for sleeping and eating. + +Late into the night the Twelve sat around a waving bonfire, their eyes +twinkling at the memory of old victories and defeats, of struggles +that were pleasant, whatever their outcome, just because they were +struggles. + +At length Sleepy got himself to his feet with much difficulty. + +"Going to bed?" Jumbo sang out. + +"Nope," drawled Sleepy, and disappeared into the darkness. + +They all smiled at the thought of him, whom none of them respected and +all of them loved. + +In a space of time quite short for him, Sleepy returned with an +arm-load of books--the text-books that had given him so much trouble, +and would have given him more had they had the chance offered them. + +"Fire's getting low," was all he said, and he dumped the school-books, +every one, into the blaze. + +The other Lakerimmers knew that they had passed every examination, +either brilliantly or, at the worst, well enough to scrape through. +Sleepy did not even know whether he had failed or not; but the next +morning he found out that he should sadly need next year those books +that were charred ashes in a corner of the campus, and should have to +replace them out of his spending-money. + +That night, however, he was blissful with ignorance, and having made +a pyre of his bookish tormentors, he fell in with the jollity of the +others. + +When it grew very late silence gradually fell on the gossipy Twelve. +The beauty of the night and the union of souls seemed to be speech +enough. + +Finally the fire fell asleep, and with one mind they all rose and, +standing in a circle about glimmering ashes, clasped hands in eternal +friendship, and said: + +"Good night!" + + +THE HOME PLATE + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE DOZEN FROM LAKERIM*** + + +******* This file should be named 11062.txt or 11062.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/1/1/0/6/11062 + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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