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diff --git a/old/60894-0.txt b/old/60894-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 7b44595..0000000 --- a/old/60894-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,7887 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Crofton Chums, by Ralph Henry Barbour - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world 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. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: Crofton Chums - -Author: Ralph Henry Barbour - -Illustrator: C. M. Relyea - -Release Date: December 10, 2019 [EBook #60894] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CROFTON CHUMS *** - - - - -Produced by Donald Cummings and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - - - - - Crofton Chums - - - - -[Illustration: Jim was off with a clear field ahead.] - - - - - Crofton Chums - - By - - Ralph Henry Barbour - - Author of “The Crimson Sweater,” “Captain Chub,” - “Team-Mates,” etc. - - With Illustrations - - By C. M. Relyea - - - [Illustration] - - - New York - The Century Co. - 1912 - - - - - Copyright, 1911, 1912, by - THE CENTURY CO. - - - _Published, September, 1912_ - - - - - To - G. R. O. - Who Helped - - - - -CONTENTS - - - CHAPTER PAGE - I. BACK TO SCHOOL 3 - II. SUNNYWOOD COTTAGE 16 - III. GARY RECONSIDERS 36 - IV. MR. GORDON RECEIVES 52 - V. MR. HANKS RENTS A ROOM 69 - VI. PLATO SOCIETY 89 - VII. JIM MAKES A PROMISE 103 - VIII. POKE USES TACT 114 - IX. OUT FOR THE TEAM 129 - X. MR. HANKS ACCEPTS ADVICE 148 - XI. ON THE SECOND 162 - XII. GARY IS SURPRISED 172 - XIII. POKE ON CANOES 183 - XIV. UP THE RIVER 193 - XV. THE “MI-KA-NOO” 205 - XVI. MR. HANKS AS A NOVELIST 216 - XVII. THE GAME WITH ST. LUKE’S 227 - XVIII. GARY CHALLENGES 235 - XIX. POKE ADVERTISES 245 - XX. AN EARLY MORNING PRACTICE 256 - XXI. THE GREAT RACE 267 - XXII. THE SWORD FALLS! 284 - XXIII. FRIDAY AND ILL-LUCK 302 - XXIV. HAWTHORNE COMES TO CONQUER 316 - XXV. JIM PASSES AN EXAMINATION 332 - - - - -LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS - - - PAGE - - Jim was off with a clear field ahead _Frontispiece_ - - “Well, what do you think of that!” ejaculated Poke 11 - - “This is Mrs. Hazard’s, isn’t it?” 27 - - “What is it, Jim? Is anything wrong?” inquired Mrs. - Hazard 37 - - “This certainly beats dining-hall,” declared Poke 61 - - “You a football man, Hazard?” Sargent asked 75 - - “I am looking for accommodations, a room and――er――yes, - board with it” 83 - - “Look here,” he demanded, “what did you tell Duncan - Sargent about me?” 125 - - “Ever see a football before?” he asked 141 - - They found Mr. Hanks at his desk 153 - - Gil and Poke assisted in the household duties 181 - - Hope, being a rather wise young lady, prepared a tray 295 - - “We thought you might send him a telegram,” said Gary, - boldly 309 - - Jim takes his examination on the football field 329 - - - - -CROFTON CHUMS - - - - -CHAPTER I - -BACK TO SCHOOL - - - “In the good old football time, - In the good old football time!” - -sang “Poke” Endicott, as he pulled a nice new pair of fawn-hued -football pants from his trunk and reverently strove to smooth the -creases from them. “Aren’t those some pants, Gil?” he demanded. - -His room-mate turned from the window as the “mole-skins” were held up -for inspection. - -“Rather! You must have spent a year’s allowance on those, Poke.” - -“Huh!” Poke folded them carefully and then tossed them in the general -direction of the closet. “I’d hate to tell you, Gil, what they stood -me. But they’re good for ten years; anyhow, that’s what the tailor man -said. Those trousers, Gil, will descend from generation to generation, -down through the ages, like――like――” - -“A mortgage,” suggested Gil Benton, helpfully, as he turned again to -the view of autumn landscape framed by the open casement. Just under -the window, beyond the graveled path, the smooth turf descended gently -to the rim of the little river which curved placidly along below the -school buildings barely a stone’s throw away. (Joe Cosgrove, baseball -captain, had once engaged, on a wager, to place a baseball across it -from the steps of Academy Hall, and had succeeded at the third attempt. -As Academy stands farthest from the stream of any of the buildings, -Joe’s throw was something of a feat, and many a perfectly good baseball -had been sacrificed since by ambitious youths set on duplicating his -performance.) The Academy side of the river was clear of vegetation, -but along the farther bank graceful weeping willows dipped their -trailing branches in the water and threw cool green shadows across the -surface. Beyond, the willows gave place to alders and swamp-oaks and -basswood, and then, as the ground rose to the rolling hills, maples, -already showing the first light frosts, clustered thick. Here and -there the white trunks of paper-birches showed against the hillside. - -Gil――his full name was Gilbert, but no one ever called him that――viewed -the familiar scene with eager pleasure and satisfaction. To-morrow -began his third year at Crofton Academy, and he had grown very fond of -the school; how fond he had scarcely realized until this minute. To the -left, a quarter of a mile away, the old covered bridge was in sight, -its central pier emerging from a wilderness of bush on Bridge Island. -To his right, a little distance down-stream, lay Biscuit Island, a tiny -round mound of moss-covered rock with here and there a patch of grass, -and, in the middle, a group of four white birches asway in the westerly -breeze. Opposite the island was the brown-stained boat-house and the -long float, the latter as yet empty of the canoes and skiffs and tubs -that would later gather there. By bending forward a little, Gil could -catch a glimpse of a corner of the athletic field and the roofed -portico of Apthorpe Gymnasium, the last of the buildings that formed a -crescent along the curve of the river. - -He smiled companionably at the blue and green world, sighed once――why, -he couldn’t have told you――and breathed in a lungful of the warm, -scented air. It was good to be back again; awfully good! He wondered―― - -Footsteps crunched the gravel beneath the window, and Gil leaned out. -Then he turned and called to his chum: - -“Say, Poke, come and see ‘Brownie.’ He’s got a suit of ‘ice-cream’ -clothes on, and a Panama hat! Me, oh, my! Who’d ever think Brownie -could be so frivolous?” - -Poke stumbled over a pile of clothing and hurried across to the -casement, leaning out beside Gil. Almost directly below was a tall man -of thirty-odd years, attired modishly in light home-spun. When, in -answer to Poke’s “Hello, Mr. Brown!” he looked up at the window, his -face was seen to carry a rich coating of tan from which his very light -blue eyes twinkled with startling effect. He waved his hand to them. - -“Hello, Endicott! Hello, Benton! You’re back early, it seems.” - -“Couldn’t stay away, sir,” replied Poke laughingly. “Missed Greek -awfully, sir!” - -“Not the first time you’ve missed it――awfully,” retorted the instructor -with a broad smile. The boys chuckled. “Don’t forget the meeting -to-morrow evening, fellows.” - -“No, sir; we’ll be there,” said Gil. - -“He’s a dandy chap,” he added heartily, as the instructor passed on -toward his room in the next dormitory. Poke nodded. - -“One of the best. That’s why Plato’s the best society in school. What -time is it?” - -“Nearly one,” replied Gil, with a yawn. - -“Don’t suppose we can get anything to eat here, eh?” - -“Not likely. We might try, but as we’re not supposed to come until -after dinner, I guess it would look pretty cheeky.” - -“Right-O! Besides, it will be more fun eating in the village. Aren’t -you going to unpack?” - -“Yes, but there’s no hurry. Let’s get dinner now, Poke. We’ll go to -Reddy’s; he has the best eats.” - -“Got you! But wait until I get some of this mess picked up. How’s -that for a swell suit of glad rags, Gil?” Poke held up the jacket for -inspection. It was perceptibly green in color and decidedly “loud” in -style. Gil grunted. - -“If you had a gray silk hat you could march in the minstrel parade with -that, Poke. Bet you sent your measurements by mail with a ten-dollar -bill.” - -Poke looked highly offended, and draped the garment over the back of a -chair. Then he drew away and admired it silently. - -“That,” he announced finally, “was made by one of the best tailors in -New York.” - -Gil grunted again. “We wouldn’t wear a thing like that in Providence,” -he said. - -Poke laughed rudely as he hung the coat up. “Providence! I believe you, -Gil! Providence never saw anything like that.” - -“That’s no joke,” replied the other. “Get a move on, Poke, I’m hungry.” - -“All right. Put that in the drawer for me, will you? No, the table -drawer, you idiot! Where’s my hat? Come on now. I could eat an ox!” - -They closed the door of Number 12 behind them, scuttled down a flight -of well-worn stairs, and emerged on the granite steps of Weston Hall. -They looked along the fronts of the buildings, but not a soul was in -sight. Gil chuckled. - -“Bet you we’re the first fellows back, Poke.” - -“Sure. They won’t begin to get here until that two-twenty train.” - -They turned to the right, passed between Weston and Rogers, traversed a -few rods of turf, and took a path leading downwards through a grove of -maples and beeches. The path turned and twisted to accommodate itself -to the descent. Gil walked ahead, hat in hand, since it was close and -warm here in the woods, and Poke lounged along behind, hands in pockets -and his merry, good-humored face alight with anticipation of the good -things awaiting him at Reddy’s lunch counter. Poke’s real name was -Perry Oldham Kirkland Endicott, and the nickname had been the natural -result of the first view of the initials on the end of his suitcase. -In age he was sixteen, one year his companion’s junior. He was well -set-up, with a good pair of shoulders and a depth of chest that told -of athletic training. He had brown hair and brown eyes, a good-looking -sunburned face, and a general air of care-free jollity. Like Gil -Benton, Poke was a member of the Upper Middle Class, and consequently -had two more years to spend at Crofton. - -Gilbert Benton, seventeen years old, was a good two inches taller than -his chum, and somewhat slimmer. But the slimness showed wiry muscles -and a healthy body. Gil’s hair was darker than Poke’s, and his eyes -were gray. His face spoke of determination and fearlessness. Seeing -the two boys, you would have said that Gil was the sort to lead bravely -a forlorn hope, and Poke the sort to shrug his shoulders, laugh――and -follow. Gil’s home was in Providence, Rhode Island, and Poke’s in New -York City. The latter had taken an early train and Gil had joined him -at Providence, and the two had reached the station at Crofton well -before noon. To arrive at school early and get settled before their -fellows arrived had struck them as something of a lark. - -The woods ceased and the path led them out onto Academy Road, where -Hill Street turned off and where the village residences began. -Hereabouts most of the trim white-walled structures were used as -boarding- and rooming-houses for the Crofton students who were unable -to secure accommodations in the school dormitories. At the corner was -Mrs. Hooper’s; across the road from it, Jones’s; farther up Academy -Road toward the school, Mrs. Sanger’s. To their left as they leaped -the tumble-down stone wall was a comfortable-looking residence whose -outbuildings nestled in the edge of the woods. - -[Illustration: “Well, what do you think of that!” ejaculated Poke.] - -“Wonder who has the Timberlake place this year,” said Gil. “I see it’s -rented.” - -“Why did she give it up?” asked Poke idly. - -“Went out West to live with her son, I believe. I don’t believe the old -lady ever made much money here.” - -“Well, what do you think of that!” ejaculated Poke, stopping in his -tracks and staring at the house in question. Perched on a short ladder -was a boy of about Poke’s age, nailing a sign over the front steps. A -girl in a white dress and with a long braid of yellow hair aglint in -the sunshine was steadying the ladder. As the boys stopped to look, the -last screw went home and the sign stood forth for all to see: - - SUNNYWOOD COTTAGE - -The boy descended from the ladder, and he and the girl stepped a little -distance down the short walk toward the gate to admire the result of -their labors. Gil and Poke went on, the latter chuckling. - -“‘Sunnywood Cottage,’” he murmured. “Guess there wasn’t anything very -sunny about the place when Mrs. Timberlake had it. I wonder who the -girl is?” - -“Miss Sunnywood,” replied Gil instantly. - -“Thanks,” said Poke, turning to steal another look at the young lady. -“You’re a veritable mine of information, Gil. The house is looking -rather nice, isn’t it? Must have painted it, I guess.” - -“Yes, and her hair is very pretty,” laughed Gil. - -“Oh, you run away,” Poke retorted. “Wonder who the chap is?” - -“You seem mighty interested in the family. Like to call there on the -way back?” - -“That’s not a bad idea! We might make believe we wanted to rent a room.” - -“We might,” Gil laughed. He, too, turned for a glance at the cottage. -“Guess a fellow could be pretty comfy at Sunnywood. Funny, isn’t it, -how some houses look homey and comfy and others sort of give you the -creeps. Look at Jones’s; wouldn’t live there for a hundred dollars a -month!” - -“I wonder if a fellow has more fun living in the village,” mused Poke. -“Of course it’s nice being in hall when you know there are loads of -chaps envying you your room, but, after all, we don’t have much chance -for larks, what with study hour, and being in at ten, and all that. I -believe I’d like to try a house next year, Gil.” - -“Sunnywood?” asked Gil slyly. - -Poke grinned and nodded. “I wouldn’t mind. That corner room in front on -this side ought to be pretty nice. You’d get lots of sun and light――and -that’s more than we get in Number 12.” - -“Well, never mind about sun and light now. Let’s hit it up, Poke. What -I need is food and drink. Thank goodness we’re nearly there! It’s -pretty hot for September, isn’t it?” - -“I don’t know how hot it is for September,” replied Poke with a grin, -as they turned into Main Street, “but it’s uncomfortably hot for Poke!” - - - - -CHAPTER II - -SUNNYWOOD COTTAGE - - -“It’s a perfectly jimmy sign!” declared the girl delightedly. - -The boy turned with an amused smile. “What’s a ‘jimmy’ sign, Hope? One -made by Jim?” - -“N-no, not exactly. Jimmy means awfully nice――something very――very -pleasing――quite _darling_! See?” - -“Of course,” answered her brother. “It’s as plain as the nose on your -face.” - -“My nose isn’t plain,” was the retort. “It’s a real Hazard nose, just -like yours and Lady’s.” - -“Sort of a jimmy nose,” laughed the boy. “Sis, if you keep on coining -words, you’ll have to publish a vocabulary or no one will be able -to understand you. What was it you called the back room upstairs -yesterday?” - -“Snudgy,” replied Hope Hazard gravely. “And that’s just what it is; -small and hot and――and _snudgy_! It’s the snudgiest room I ever saw, -Jim.” - -“Well, don’t let Jane hear you call it snudgy. She might leave. But, -say, that’s a pretty good-looking sign, isn’t it? I don’t believe any -one could tell it was home-made, eh?” - -“N-no, not unless they looked real close. I guess that Y is a little -bit wipsy, though, Jim.” - -Jim Hazard frowned intently for a moment at the letter in question. -“Well, maybe it is kind of out of plumb with the others,” he -acknowledged. “Just the same, I think I’m a pretty good sign painter, -sis. Now what’s to do?” - -“Curtains in the front room upstairs; the rented one,” replied Hope -promptly. - -“Oh, hang the curtains!” grumbled Jim. - -“That’s what I meant,” laughed Hope. “Never mind, they’re the last -ones. And we really must get them up because our star boarder may come -any moment.” - -“All right,” he answered resignedly, “but I’ve got to cool off first.” -He seated himself on the top step and Hope perched herself beside him. -Jim fanned himself with the screw-driver, and they both laughed. Then -the boy’s smile died away, and his forehead puckered itself into lines -of worry. - -“Hope, we’ve got to do better than this or Sunnywood will be vacant -again. Four rooms to rent and only one taken! Didn’t you think from -what Mr. Gordon said that we’d get all the fellows we wanted?” - -“Yes, but maybe they don’t look for rooms until they get here,” she -answered cheerfully. “And you know they don’t begin to come until this -afternoon.” - -“I don’t believe that,” he answered. “Fellows wouldn’t come and not -know where they were going to live. I don’t think Mr. Gordon has -treated us fairly, Hope. That lady over there――” - -“Mrs. Sanger.” - -“Took the sign out of her window this morning. I guess that means that -her rooms are all taken. I’ll bet Mr. Gordon has been sending the -fellows to the other houses and leaving us out of it.” - -“Oh, he wouldn’t do that,” Hope protested, “after all the nice things -he said to mama.” - -“You can’t tell. Besides, we don’t know just what nice things he did -say. You know very well that if a person doesn’t actually call Lady -names she thinks they’ve been as nice as pie to her. Wish I had her -gift of thinking the very best of everything and everybody. Well, if -something doesn’t happen pretty soon, I’m going to see Mr. Gordon -and tell him what I think about it. One thing we do know is that he -wrote Lady that if she took the house she wouldn’t have any trouble in -renting the rooms.” - -“Well, let’s hope for the best, Jim,” said his sister, laying a small -brown hand on his shoulder and giving him a reassuring pinch. - -“That’s you all over,” he muttered. “Guess they knew what they were -about when they named you Hope.” - -“Well, they didn’t name you Despair,” she laughed, “so don’t try and -play they did. It’s most time Lady was back, isn’t it?” - -Jim nodded and looked down the street toward the village a half-mile -away. “That’s her now, I guess; away down by the big elm; see?” - -“Yes, it is. Let’s go and meet her, Jim. She’s probably got a lot of -things to carry.” - -“All right!” Jim laid down the screw-driver and pushed the ladder -aside. “You’d better put a hat on, though.” - -“Nonsense! The sun won’t hurt me. Come on.” - -They went out of the gate together, and walked briskly down the -sidewalk. Jim was half a head taller than his sister, rather thin, a -bit raw-boned, in fact, but strong looking, and good looking, too, -in spite of a smudge of dirt across his forehead and a generally -begrimed appearance due to the fact that he had been sign-painting, -carpentering, and house-cleaning all the forenoon. Besides this, he -wore the very oldest clothes he owned, and that he managed to look -prepossessing in spite of these handicaps speaks rather well for him. -He had brown hair and brown eyes, but the hair was light, extremely -light in places, as though it had been faded by sun and weather, and -the eyes were very dark. Hope had told him once that he had perfectly -lovely eyes, they looked so much like sweet chocolate! For the rest, -Jim was tanned and hardy-looking, with more often than not a little -puckery frown on his forehead, for at sixteen years of age he had -already been head of the family for three years. - -Hope Hazard isn’t quite so easily described, and I’d flunk the task -if I might. She was fourteen, slender, golden-haired, gray-eyed, -light-hearted. As Jim had said, she had been well named, for -hopefulness was the key-note of her nature, and Jim, who was somewhat -prone to borrow trouble if he had none of his own, called her frivolous -in moments of exasperation. But Hope came honestly by her sunny -optimism, for her mother had always been the most hopeful, cheerful -soul in the world, and even Mr. Hazard’s death and the immediate -collapse of the family fortunes had failed to change her. - -Mother and daughter looked much alike. Mrs. Hazard was quite tall, -still young looking, and still pretty. She had gray eyes, like Hope’s, -and if they were a trifle more faded, they still twinkled brightly at -the slightest provocation. Jim was more like his father, a little more -serious, with something of New England granite showing in his face, a -heritage from a race of coast-dwelling Hazards. The Hazard nose, which -Hope fondly believed she had inherited, and which was a straight and -stern appendage, well shaped but uncompromising, was his, while Mrs. -Hazard’s nose was an undignified, even flippant affair that looked for -all the world as though, had it had proper encouragement at an early -stage, it would have become tip-tilted. Truth compels the admission -that in Hope’s case the Hazard nose was more a matter of anticipation -than realization, in spite of the fact that she religiously pulled -it and pinched it in the attempt to make it conform to Hazard -requirements. Perhaps it is a mean thing to say, but Hope’s nose was -more remarkable for the cluster of three big freckles on the end of it -than for beauty of contour. - -Mrs. Hazard yielded her packages to the children and gave an account of -her shopping expedition. “It’s lots of fun buying things in Crofton, my -dears; quite exciting. You never know when you ask for a thing what you -are going to get. I tried to buy some scrim to make curtains for Jane’s -room, and what do you suppose I got? Why, some muslin for a next summer -dress for Hope! It was really very sweet and pretty.” - -“And I suppose,” said Jim, with a smile, “that when Hope isn’t wearing -it, Jane can hang it up at her window.” - -“I think you’ll have to do the shopping, Jim,” continued Mrs. Hazard. -“They don’t take me seriously, I’m afraid. If I want a wash-board, they -smile at me humoringly and sell me a nutmeg grater! And two or three -things I meant to get, I forgot all about!” - -“Did you get the blankets, Lady?” asked Jim anxiously. - -“Oh, yes; and the toweling, and the mat for the front door. But I -forgot bluing and soap and meat for supper.” - -“Well, if we don’t rent some rooms we won’t be able to afford supper,” -replied Jim grimly. “I don’t think Mr. Gordon has been treating us -decently, Lady.” - -“Oh, I’m sure he has done all he could, dear. I can’t doubt that after -the nice way he talked.” - -“Talk’s cheap,” growled Jim. “Why doesn’t he send some boys here to -rent our rooms?” - -“He will, I’m sure. You wait and see.” - -“That woman over there has taken her sign down already.” - -“But she’s been here for years, Jim dear, while we are only starting. -It’s going to take time, of course. Meanwhile we have that Latham boy――” - -“And he’s a cripple,” interrupted Jim, “and I dare say no one else -would take him!” - -“I don’t think that at all,” protested his mother as they entered the -gate, “for Mr. Gordon said that he was sending him to me because he -wanted a place where the poor boy could be well looked after. Oh, how -nice your sign looks! I suppose it is perfectly all right to have a -sign, Jim, but I see none of the other houses have any.” - -“That’s the point,” replied Jim. “This is going to be different. -Fellows who come here are going to be at home; this isn’t going to -be just a plain boarding-house, Lady. Isn’t it most dinner time? I’m -pretty hungry.” - -“You shall have it right away. I’ll tell Jane I’m back.” She hurried -through to the kitchen, and Jim, with a sigh, picked up his step-ladder -and, followed by Hope, trudged upstairs to hang the curtains in the -corner room. - -“I wonder what sort of a cripple he is,” mused Hope, as she paired the -strips of flounced muslin. “I do hope he will be nice.” - -“I wish Mr. Gordon had sent his cripple somewhere else,” muttered her -brother as he worked the brass pole through the heading. “Anybody can -impose on Lady.” - -“Jim, you’re perfectly awful to-day! You’re just one long wail of -despair. I guess you want your dinner. Boys are always grumpy when -they’re hungry. Here’s a hole in this curtain. I’ll draw it together -after dinner.” - -“It’s good enough for him,” growled Jim, who was working himself -rapidly into a fit of ill-temper. “I dare say we’ll have to lug him up -and down stairs, too.” - -“Oh, I don’t believe he’s that kind of a cripple,” responded Hope. “And -he has a perfectly jimmy name, hasn’t he? Jeffrey Latham; it’s quite -a――a romantic sort of name, Jim.” - -“He’s probably a pasty-faced little milksop. There, that’s the last, -thank goodness! My, it’s no wonder I’m hungry!” he added, as he looked -at his nickel watch. “It’s half-past two and after!” - -“It can’t be!” - -“It is, though. Hello, what’s that?” He pushed the new curtains aside -at a front window and looked out. “It’s a carriage――with a trunk――and -bags! I’ll bet it’s the cripple, Hope! Run and tell Lady!” - -His sister hurried downstairs, and Jim, lugging his step-ladder with -him, followed more slowly, grumbling as he went. “It’s a wonder he -couldn’t stay away until the room was ready for him.” He put the ladder -out of the way and went out onto the porch in time to see the driver -of the carriage open the door and the rubber-tipped ends of a pair of -crutches appear. Still resentful, Jim went down the path and reached -the gate just as the occupant of the vehicle swung himself nimbly to -the sidewalk. - -“This is Mrs. Hazard’s, isn’t it?” he asked of Jim. - -“Yes. I suppose you’re Latham.” - -Jim’s tone was not very gracious and the newcomer looked a little -surprised. He was a slight, nice looking boy of fifteen, with big -wistful brown eyes set in a somewhat pale but cheerful face. He was -dressed extremely well, even expensively, and was quite immaculate from -the crown of his Panama hat to the tips of his smart tan shoes. As he -turned to speak to the driver he looked like any healthy, normal boy, -for he appeared well built, straight of back and limb, and it was only -when he crossed the sidewalk to the gate that any imperfection showed. -Then Jim saw that one foot, the left one, swung clear of the ground by -several inches. - -“If you’ll tell the man where my room is he will take my baggage up,” -said Jeffrey. - -Mrs. Hazard met him on the porch, while Hope, frankly curious, hovered -in the background. - -[Illustration: “This is Mrs. Hazard’s, isn’t it?”] - -“I’m so glad to see you,” said Jim’s mother as she shook hands with -Jeffrey. “I’ll show you your room, and then you must come down and -have some dinner with us. This is my daughter Hope, and my son you’ve -already met. And I am Mrs. Hazard. I almost forgot to introduce myself, -didn’t I?” - -Jeffrey bowed to Hope. “Thank you, ma’am,” he answered, “I’d like to go -to my room, but I’ve had my dinner. I stopped at the lunch room.” - -“Lunch room! Good gracious!” exclaimed Mrs. Hazard, “that’s no dinner -for a grown boy! Of course you’ll have something with us; although -we’re hardly settled yet, and our meals are still rather skimpy.” - -Jeffrey murmured thanks as he followed her upstairs, abandoning one -of his crutches and helping himself along by the banister. The driver -followed with his trunk, and Jim and Hope were left alone in the hall. - -“Isn’t it a perfect shame?” cried Hope indignantly, when the star -boarder was out of hearing. “He’s such a nice boy!” - -“Isn’t what a shame?” growled Jim. - -“Why, his being like that! Having to go about on crutches! We must be -awfully kind to him, Jim.” - -“Huh!” Jim picked up the boy’s bags and started upstairs. “Guess I’d be -willing to use crutches if I could wear clothes like his and buy bags -like these!” - -“Oh, Jim!” protested Hope. “That’s an awful thing to say! You shouldn’t -talk like that even――even in fun.” - -Jim grunted and went on. “Bet you,” he said to himself, “he will kick -about his room. The carpet’s worn out and there ought to be new paper -on the walls.” But if Jeffrey Latham observed these things, no one -would have suspected it. - -“What a bully room!” he was saying as Jim entered. “Isn’t it nice and -sunny? May I keep my trunk in here, Mrs. Hazard?” - -“Why, certainly. Between the window and the bureau would be a good -place, wouldn’t it? I’m so glad you like the room. It’s the pleasantest -in the house.” - -Jeffrey took out a pigskin purse and opened it, exhibiting what looked -to Jim like a good deal of money. “How much do I owe you?” he asked the -driver. - -“One dollar, sir. Fifty cents for you, sir, and the trunk and bags -extry.” - -“Nonsense!” said Jim sharply. “He’s trying to do you, Latham. -Seventy-five’s all it ought to be.” - -“With a heavy trunk and two bags like them!” demanded the driver -incredulously. Jeffrey laughed. - -“I dare say the trunk was heavy,” he said as he paid the amount asked. -“Thank you very much.” - -The driver, mollified, touched his hat and took his departure. Jim -looked his disgust at such a reckless waste of money. - -“The bathroom is just down the hall on the left,” explained Mrs. -Hazard. “Dinner is ready, but you needn’t hurry. Your name is Jeffrey, -isn’t it? You see, I must know what to call you.” - -“Yes’m, it’s Jeffrey, but I’m generally called Jeff. I’ll just wash a -bit and come right down, although I’m really not hungry.” - -Perhaps Hope was right in her theory that what Jim needed was food, -for after he had had his soup he forgot his peevishness. Mrs. Hazard -did most of the talking, although Hope showed unmistakable symptoms -of being quite willing to help out. Jeffrey answered questions -unreservedly. They learned that his home was in Poughkeepsie, New York; -that he was entered in the Lower Middle Class; that he had never been -away from his folks before, although he had evidently traveled about a -good deal; and that while others might pity him for his infirmity, he -wasted no pity on himself, but was quite cheerful and contented. - -“Yes’m, I like reading pretty well,” he said in answer to one of Mrs. -Hazard’s questions, “but I like to be out of doors better. There isn’t -much I can do myself, but I like to see other fellows have fun. I’m -crazy about football and baseball and things like that. At home I’m -always running around to the games.” - -“It must be very hard,” murmured Mrs. Hazard sympathetically, “not -to be able to――to take part in them. But I do think you get about -wonderfully on your crutches.” - -“I ought to,” laughed Jeffrey. “I’ve been practising all my life. I’ve -had this bum leg ever since I was born. Oh, you get used to it; used to -not being able to do things like other fellows, I mean. Besides, I’ve -seen chaps worse off than me. I _can_ row a little.” - -“Wish I could,” said Jim, making his second remark of the meal. - -“I guess you could if you tried,” answered Jeffrey. “It isn’t hard. I -suppose there are boats here?” - -“Lots,” said Jim. “They have crews, too, you know.” - -Jeffrey nodded. “Yes, that’s partly why I came here. I’ve always been -fond of boat racing. At Poughkeepsie, you know, we have a lot of it -every year. Are you――do you go to Crofton?” - -“Yes,” answered Jim, passing his plate for a second helping, “I begin -to-morrow. We’re in the same class, too.” - -“Really? And are there other fellows here?” - -“In the house? No, not yet. We’ve got three other rooms, but yours is -the only one taken.” - -“We hope to rent the others,” explained Mrs. Hazard. “This is our first -year here. We have always lived in Essexport; that’s on the coast, you -know; but when Jim decided that he’d rather go to Crofton than anywhere -else, we decided that we couldn’t do without him. So we rented our -house at home and took this. My husband died three years ago and since -then Jim has looked after us. Hope and I are awful babies, aren’t we, -Hope?” - -“Speak for yourself, Lady! Jim and I―― Listen! There’s somebody going -upstairs!” - -“I’ll see who it is.” Jim laid aside his napkin, pushed back his chair -and hurried out. In the hall he was just in time to see the end of a -bag disappear about the turn of the landing. He ran up the stairs, -wondering. At the open door of Jeffrey’s room stood, bag in hand, a big -thick-set boy of apparently seventeen years of age. He had a good deal -of color in his cheeks, very dark eyes and a mass of unruly black hair -under the funny little crimson cap perched on the back of his head. He -turned at the sound of Jim’s approach and scowled at him across the -banisters. - -“Hello,” he growled. - -“Hello,” replied Jim, taking at the instant a strong dislike to him. -“Do you want a room?” - -“No, I’m looking for four-leaved clovers,” he replied with a grin. “Who -are you?” - -“My name is Hazard,” answered Jim, beginning to lose his temper, “and I -happen to live here, if you don’t mind.” - -“Oh, I don’t mind,” laughed the other unpleasantly. “What I want to -know is why isn’t my room ready?” - -“Your room?” - -“Sure! Those your things in there? If they are, dump ’em out, -Bunker――or whatever your name is.” - -“If you want a room I’ll show you one,” said Jim, “but that room’s -taken.” - -“Taken? You bet it’s taken! I took it last year, and if you don’t dump -that trunk and those bags out I will.” - -“That room is rented to a fellow named Latham,” answered Jim warmly. -“Who the dickens are you, anyway?” - -“Who am I? I’m Brandon Gary, that’s who I am. And I engaged this room -from Mother Timberlake last June. And what’s more, I mean to have it!” - - - - -CHAPTER III - -GARY RECONSIDERS - - -The sound of the talking had brought the others from the table to -the hall below, and now Mrs. Hazard came up the stairs to inquire -anxiously: “What is it, Jim? Is anything wrong?” - -“This fellow says he engaged this room last spring and means to have -it,” replied Jim. - -“Engaged this room? But――but how could you?” Mrs. Hazard observed -Brandon Gary bewilderedly. “We only took the house last month!” - -The claimant had snatched off his crimson cap at Mrs. Hazard’s -appearance on the scene and when he replied his tone was much more -respectful. “I engaged it from the lady who had it last year, ma’am, -and it’s always been a rule here that when a house changes hands -the――the new landlady takes it――er――subject to――to――” - -[Illustration: “What is it, Jim? Is anything wrong?” inquired Mrs. -Hazard.] - -“I understand,” said Mrs. Hazard helpfully, smiling her sweetest, “but -I knew nothing about any reservations. You see, Mrs. Timberlake left -early in the summer and I took the house from an agent. And he said -nothing at all about any of the rooms being taken. I’m awfully sorry. -But there are three other very nice rooms for rent――” She paused and -looked at Jim with a look of comical despair. “Unless they are engaged -too!” - -“Don’t believe so,” said Gary. He had set his bag down, thrust his -hands into his pockets and dropped some of his aggressiveness, although -it was plain to be seen that he meant to have his rights. “You see, -ma’am, the fellows never liked Mother Timberlake much. I didn’t -either, but I’d always had my heart set on this room, and so, when -Kidder graduated last June, I made a streak over here and nabbed it. I -had a chance at living in hall, too, this year. I’m sorry you didn’t -know about it, but I guess you can’t expect me to give it up. This -chap”――nodding at Jim――“says you’ve rented the room to some one else. -Well, all he’s got to do is take one of the other rooms. That’s easy.” - -Gary picked up his bag, walked through the door and took formal -possession. Jim and Mrs. Hazard looked at each other at a loss. Jim -was angry clear through, and yet the newcomer seemed to have the law on -his side. “I suppose,” faltered Mrs. Hazard, “we might let Mr. Gordon -decide.” Jim frowned. Gary had set his bag on the table, opened it and -was now unpacking. “I’d like to chuck him out the window!” muttered Jim. - -“Perhaps Jeffrey would just as soon have one of the other rooms,” -suggested his mother weakly. “What do you think?” - -“I guess he’d take one and be decent about it,” answered Jim, eying the -intruder with strong distaste, “only I don’t think it’s fair to ask him -to. I don’t care what the――the custom is here; no one told us about -this room being engaged, and I don’t believe that fellow has any right -to it.” - -At the back of the house a bell pealed and Mrs. Hazard went and leaned -over the banisters. Jim followed slowly. - -“Have you any rooms left?” asked a voice at the doorway. - -“Yes,” replied Hope. “If you’ll wait a moment I will call my brother. -Will you come inside?” - -“Will you see them?” asked Mrs. Hazard. Jim nodded and went down. Hope -rejoined Jeffrey in the dining-room. Near the front door stood two boys -talking together softly. They had no bags with them, nor was there any -conveyance to be seen outside. - -“You wanted to look at a room?” asked Jim gloomily. - -“Please,” replied the taller of the two. - -“This way, then. There’s a back room on this floor to rent and one or -two upstairs.” Jim threw open the door of the chamber opposite the -dining-room and they looked in. It was not a very attractive apartment, -however, and they didn’t enter. - -“I think something upstairs would be nicer,” said one. He turned, -crossed the hall and looked into the dining-room. “Oh, I beg your -pardon,” he said, “that’s not a bedroom, is it?” But in spite of his -apology he seemed in no hurry to withdraw. - -“That’s the dining-room,” said Jim shortly. - -“I see.” The boy gave a final look at the room――and its occupants――and -followed toward the stairway. “Is the corner room on that side rented?” -he asked. - -“Yes,” replied Jim grimly. “Very much rented!” Then he stopped on the -landing and faced the two boys. “Say, you fellows aren’t new here, are -you?” - -“No,” replied the elder, “why?” - -“I want to know something. We rented a room to a fellow about a week -ago and he came to-day. That’s he in the dining-room. Now another chap -comes along and says he engaged the same room from the lady who had -the house last year. It’s the corner room you asked about. This new -chap says we’ve got to stand by what Mrs. Timberlake did. I don’t think -that’s sense. We never saw her and didn’t know anything about it. At -that rate she may have rented all the rooms, for all we know!” - -The two boys looked at each other doubtfully. - -“Well, the chap’s right in a way, I guess. It is customary. But if he’s -a new boy how does he know so much about it?” This from the taller of -the two. - -“He’s not new,” said Jim. “I guess he’s been here two years or so from -the looks of him. He said his name was――Gerry, or something like that.” - -“Gerry? You don’t mean Gary, do you?” - -“Yes, that’s it.” - -The two boys exchanged glances and began to chuckle. - -“‘Bull’ Gary! Sounds like him, doesn’t it? Is he here now?” - -“Yes, in the room,” answered Jim. - -“I think, then, you had better let us talk with him. Hold on, though. -Did you rent the house from Mrs. Timberlake?” - -“No. She left early in the summer. We rented from an agent, Mr. -Simpson.” - -“Ah, that simplifies the case, eh, Poke?” - -“Like anything,” was the cheerful response. “Lead us to him.” - -“Do you fellows know him?” asked Jim doubtfully. - -“Rather! We’re very dear friends of his. You leave it all to us.” - -They went on up, bowed to Mrs. Hazard, who still waited in the hall, -and made for the corner room. Jim dropped back. - -“Well, well, if it isn’t Bull!” - -Gary turned with a doubtful grin. - -“Hello, Poke! Hello, Gil! Where’d you fellows come from? Aren’t living -here, are you?” - -“No, we’re still at the old place,” answered Gil. “Whose room is this, -Bull?” - -“Mine, of course. Not bad, is it?” - -“No, it’s fine and dandy, but I understood that some one else had -taken this. Didn’t that chap downstairs tell us that, Poke?” - -“Sure he did. I guess Bull’s spoofing.” - -“I dare say he did tell you that,” said Gary. “But I engaged this room -last June from Mrs. Timberlake.” - -“Oh, I see!” Gil nodded his head. “Well, that explains it. Too bad, -too, for it’s a mighty pleasant room. Still, there’s one across the -hall that looks pretty decent and I dare say you’ll be just as happy -there, Bull.” - -“Me? I’m staying here,” said Gary uneasily. - -But Gil shook his head gently and firmly. So did Poke. - -“No, you can’t do that, you see,” said Gil. “This room belongs to the -other chap. You see, Bull, Mrs. Timberlake gave up the house. That -canceled everything. Then this Mrs.――――Mrs. Whatshername took it from -Simpson. Get me, Bull? Your case isn’t good, old scout.” - -“That makes no difference!” blustered Gary. “I engaged this room――” - -“Tut, tut! Don’t be dense, Bull. Have we got to explain it all over -again to you? Honest, Gil, he’s the prize dunce, isn’t he?” - -“Oh, he understands all right. He’s just trying to tease us. Let’s -have a look at the room opposite, Bull.” - -“I don’t want to see the room opposite,” Gary protested with vehemence. - -“Then why not have a look at the back rooms? Of course, they aren’t as -sunny as this, but I’ve no doubt they’re quite comfortable.” - -“I’ll stay just where I am,” growled Gary. But there was a tone of -uncertainty in his voice. Gil smiled indulgently. Poke flecked an -imaginary speck of dust from his sleeve. - -“Strange how dense some folks are, Gil,” said the latter. Gary flushed, -and tried bluster. - -“You fellows think you can come here and bullyrag me into doing -anything you like. Well, you’re mightily mistaken. I know my rights and -I intend to stand up for them.” - -“Noble youth! But you haven’t any rights in this case, Bull. You’re -just making a silly ass of yourself and being disagreeable. Don’t let’s -have any bother about it, Bull.” This from Gil. - -“I rented this room――” - -“S-sh! Remember, please, that there’s a gentleman present,” remonstrated -Poke. “Be sensible, Bull. Honest, you’ve got your signals mixed.” - -Gary looked from one to the other for a moment, swallowed hard once -and yielded. “All right, but I don’t have to give this room up unless I -want to.” - -“You’re doing it, Bull,” responded Poke sweetly, “because you are the -soul of generosity. Ah, we know you, you rascal!” - -“We will examine the other apartments,” said Gil. - -“Not for me,” growled Gary. “If I can’t have this room I don’t want -to stay in this hole. I’ll go back to Sanger’s.” He began to pile his -things back in his bag. Gil and Poke eyed each other dubiously. - -“I――I don’t believe I’d do that,” said Gil finally. “This is a -perfectly good house, Bull, and the landlady hasn’t let many of her -rooms――” - -“I don’t care if she hasn’t! I hope she won’t! You can make me give up -this room, but you can’t make me stay here!” - -Gil and Poke recognized the truth of that. Gary slammed his bag shut, -seized his cap and strode wrathfully downstairs and out the door with -neither a glance nor word for Mrs. Hazard or Jim. - -“I’m afraid we’ve lost you a――a tenant,” said Gil to Mrs. Hazard. “We -didn’t mean for him to leave the house.” - -“That doesn’t matter. It was very kind of you to straighten it out -about the room. We’re so much obliged to you.” - -“I’m glad he’s gone,” declared Jim. “I don’t like him.” - -“Jim dear,” remonstrated his mother, “you mustn’t say that. He may be a -very nice boy for all we know. Has my son shown you the rooms we have -to let?” she added, turning to Gil. - -“Er――yes, thanks; that is, he was showing them when――” - -“This room over here is quite pleasant,” she said, leading the way to -the door across the hall. “It has only one bed in it, but we can set up -another one if necessary. Were you both thinking of coming?” - -Poke looked a trifle uneasy, but Gil came to the rescue. - -“We’ve been rooming in hall, ma’am, and were just sort of looking -around to see what there was. We’re not decided yet.” He looked at the -room. “I suppose this gets the afternoon sun until quite late.” - -“Yes, indeed,” replied Mrs. Hazard. “It’s quite a warm room in winter, -I’m told.” - -Poke looked in over Gil’s shoulder. It really was a very jolly-looking -room. It was big and square, with two broad windows on the front and a -bay on the side. The furnishings were neither new nor elaborate, but -there was a roomy bureau, a big library table that had seen better -days, two good easy chairs, two straight-backed ones and a washstand. -And of course there was a bed, a simple white-enameled iron bed that -looked both clean and comfortable. On the walls were hung several -pictures, the windows had neat dimity curtains and the floor was -covered with a cheerful red and gray carpet which, if it showed wear -in some places, was still quite presentable. There was a fireplace and -mantel, too, and the fireplace looked as though it could be used. - -“It’s a very nice room,” said Poke warmly. - -“Dandy,” said Gil. “I suppose we――I suppose whoever had it could have a -fire there.” - -“Oh, I should think so,” answered Mrs. Hazard. “But I hope that the -furnace will keep the house warm enough without having to use the -grates.” - -“How much would this room be?” asked Gil. - -“Well, I suppose――” Mrs. Hazard turned to Jim for assistance――“I -suppose for two it would be ten dollars a week.” - -“Eleven,” said Jim firmly. “But we don’t charge for board, of course, -when you are away. Then you just pay three dollars for the room.” - -“That seems reasonable,” declared Poke. - -“Quite,” agreed Gil. - -“I dare say if we wanted a fire any time we could have it by paying -something extra?” Poke asked. - -“Just pay for what you burn,” said Jim. - -“I see.” Gil turned to Poke. “What do you think?” - -“Why, we――we might think it over a little,” gasped Poke. - -“Better let us know pretty soon,” said Jim in businesslike tones. “We -couldn’t hold it for you, of course.” - -“N-no,” replied Gil, “I suppose not.” - -There was a silence. Gil and Poke stared fascinatedly at each other. -Finally: - -“I guess,” blurted Gil, “we’ll say we’ll take it!” - -“But, Gil!” cried Poke. “Don’t you think―― Hadn’t we better talk it -over a bit first?” - -“Well, maybe we had. We――we’ll let you know in――in an hour.” - -“Much obliged,” murmured Poke as they made their escape downstairs. - -Once out of sight of the house Gil pulled up and leaned against the -fence. “That――that was awful!” he gasped. “In another minute we’d have -rented the room!” - -“Sure thing,” agreed Poke solemnly. “How the dickens did we get -started?” - -“How did we get started?” exclaimed the other indignantly. “Why, you -insisted on going in there to look at rooms, you idiot!” - -“Well, you asked how much it was, didn’t you? It was all safe enough -until then.” - -“Now, hang it, Poke, I feel as though we’d ought to take it; as though -it was our duty! After all, you know, we drove Bull away.” - -“How can we take it, you simpleton? Haven’t we got a room already? -Honest, Gil, you oughtn’t to be trusted out alone! If it hadn’t been -for me we’d been saddled with two rooms now!” - -“Well, why didn’t you help me? You could see that I was――was -hypnotized!” - -“I guess I was too,” laughed Poke. “I never knew before how easy it is -to buy something you don’t want! Not that I wouldn’t like to have that -room, though. It’s a peach, isn’t it?” - -“Yes, it’s about twice the size of Number 12. I wonder what it would be -like to have all the light and sunshine you wanted.” - -“I’m crazy about the windows,” said Poke. “We could have a seat built -in that bay, Gil.” - -“Sure. And with our pictures and stuff to fix up with the room would -look dandy.” - -“Great!” sighed Poke. - -There was a silence. At last: - -“I don’t suppose J. G. would let us give up our room now,” observed Gil -thoughtfully. - -“We might find out,” answered Poke. They turned by common impulse and -stared at each other. Then Poke broke into a laugh. - -“Let’s do it!” he shouted. - -Gil grinned. “All right,” he answered. - -They shook hands on it. - - - - -CHAPTER IV - -MR. GORDON RECEIVES - - -At a quarter before five that afternoon the expressman landed the last -of Gil’s and Poke’s belongings in the corner room at Sunnywood Cottage. -On his final trip upstairs the expressman carried a waste-basket filled -with books and a crimson sofa pillow embroidered with a gray C. Gil -paid him, closed the door behind him and then with a shout of triumph -seized the cushion and hurled it across the room at Poke. As Poke was -at that instant bent over a suit case, extracting a miscellaneous -assortment of books, balls, pens, shoes and so forth from it, and as -the cushion struck him square between his shoulders, the result was -interesting and spectacular. Poke’s head went into the suit case and -his feet flew out behind him. Gil, chortling gleefully, watched Poke -recover his equilibrium. Then, by deftly dropping to the floor at the -psychological moment, he escaped the rubber-soled shoe that sang -across the room and banged against the door. He picked up the missile -and tossed it back. Poke caught with one hand, swooped down and tagged -the suit case. Gil waved his hand. - -“Out at the plate!” he yelled. - -Then they looked at each other and grinned. - -“Get busy,” said Poke finally. “It’s most five o’clock. Say, you hate -to unpack, don’t you?” - -“Observe the trouble I saved myself at hall,” said Gil, pointing to his -trunk. “If I’d unpacked there, as you did, I’d have had it all to do -over again. See?” - -“Well, as we aren’t likely to move again to-day you’d better get busy. -Say, it was a great scheme of ours to get here early and be all settled -ahead of the others, wasn’t it?” - -“Marvelous,” agreed Gil ironically. “See us now!” - -Poke looked over the room and grinned. “Looks as though it had been -struck by a cyclone, doesn’t it? Say, this is a dandy big closet.” - -“Well, don’t hog it all. Seen my trunk key anywhere?” - -“Yes, I saw it on the window sill at hall.” - -“Oh, feathers! Well, I’m not going back for it to-night. Let’s try -yours, Poke.” - -“Won’t fit. You tried it last year. Get a hammer.” - -“Haven’t any.” - -“Put your fool head out in the hall and yell for one.” - -“All right. Say, Poke, weren’t you surprised when J. G. let us off on -our room?” - -“Rather! But I dare say there are plenty of fellows who’ll be glad of -it.” - -“Well, they can have it! I like this ten times better. Of course we’re -paying a little more――” - -“About fifty cents a week more,” said Poke scornfully, “and what’s -that? I’ll bet Mrs. Hazard will give us better things to eat than we -got at school. And anyway it will be more――more homelike.” - -“‘Be it ever so humble, there’s no place like home,’” sang Gil as he -opened the door. Then, “Say, Poke, who shall I yell for?” - -“Yell for a hammer, of course.” - -“Hammer! Hammer!” cried Gil softly. “It doesn’t come, Poke! What’s the -chap’s name?” - -“Hazard.” - -“First name, I mean.” - -“I don’t know.” - -“Well, maybe he wouldn’t like to have me get familiar on so short an -acquaintance,” reflected Gil. “I guess I’ll go down and find some one.” - -“Don’t get lost,” advised Poke. - -Gil didn’t have to search far, for Jim was in the lower hall. Gil -explained his quandary. - -“I guess I can get it open for you without prying the hasp off,” said -Jim. “Wait a minute and I’ll get some keys.” - -Five minutes later Jim lifted the lid in triumph. “There you are,” he -said. “Say, you fellows have got a raft of truck, haven’t you? Going to -put all those pictures up?” - -“I guess so,” answered Gil, “if there’s room for them.” - -“Better let me help you, then,” said Jim. “Tell me where you want them -to go. I’ll get the step-ladder.” - -“He’s a good-hearted kid,” observed Poke as Jim hurried off. - -“Your friend came back again,” announced Jim as he returned with the -ladder, “just after you telephoned. Said he’d decided to take this -room. I told him we’d just rented it and he was as mad as a hornet. -You would have thought that we’d cheated him out of it.” - -“Oh, that’s like Bull Gary,” said Gil. “He has an overdeveloped sense -of importance.” - -“He’s got an ingrowing ego,” said Poke. - -“I don’t know what that is,” laughed Jim, “but it sounds bad.” - -“It’s awful,” Poke assured him solemnly. “Let’s put that one over the -bed, Hazard. Want help?” - -“No, you fellows go on and get your things unpacked. We have supper in -about an hour.” - -“That sounds reasonable,” said Gil. - -“I’d like to know how you managed that fellow the way you did,” said -Jim presently. - -“Who? Gary?” asked Gil. “Well, not to make a mystery of it, Hazard, we -all belong to the same society, Plato, and in Plato every fellow is -supposed to act decently. Bull wasn’t acting decently and he knew it.” - -“Oh, do you have societies here?” asked Jim. - -“Four,” was the reply. “There’s Plato, which is the best, and to which -Endicott and I belong――” - -“Also Bull Gary,” said Poke dryly. “But Bull was an accident.” - -“And Pindar, Homer and Hesiod,” continued Gil. - -“Are they secret societies? How does a fellow get into them?” - -“Yes, they’re secret. And a fellow doesn’t get into them; he’s taken -in. Each society has from thirty to forty members. New members are -taken in each year during Winter Term.” - -“I see,” said Jim, moving the ladder to a new location. “I thought -maybe you could be proposed and get in that way.” - -“Why?” asked Poke. “Are you at school?” - -“I’m starting to-morrow,” replied Jim. “I’m in the Lower Middle Class. -I suppose you fellows are beyond that, aren’t you?” - -“One year,” replied Gil. “I didn’t know you were one of us, Hazard. -What do you think of our seat of learning?” - -“I like it,” answered Jim warmly. “I’ve always wanted to come here.” - -“Know many fellows?” asked Poke. - -Jim shook his head. “Not a one.” - -“Wrong, Mr. Hazard,” said Gil; “you know two. Mr. Perry Oldham Kirkland -Endicott and Mr. Gilbert Benton, two of the Academy’s most prominent -and representative members. Bow, Poke.” - -“Happy to meet your inquaintance,” murmured Poke politely. - -“Well, I know you fellows a little,” laughed Jim, “and I know the chap -across the hall in the same way. But that’s all.” - -“That doesn’t matter. You’ll soon know plenty of fellows. Who is the -chap you spoke of?” - -“His name is Latham, Jeffrey Latham, and he comes from Poughkeepsie. -He’s a sort of a cripple. One leg’s shorter than the other. He says he -was born that way. He seems a nice sort of fellow, and I was mighty -glad that Gary didn’t get his room from him.” - -“Cripple, eh? That’s hard lines. What class is he in?” - -“Lower Middle, same as me.” - -“Then we’re all Middlers here. Is the young lady your sister, Hazard?” - -“Yes. Hope’s going to High School when it starts. It’s her first year.” - -“Is your father here?” asked Poke. - -“No, he’s dead,” answered Jim. “Died about three years ago. That’s why -we’re here doing this. Everything went smash when dad died.” - -“Too bad,” said Poke sympathetically. “Never mind the rest of those -pictures. You’ve done enough already. Besides, I’m going to knock off -work and get ready for supper.” - -“There aren’t many more to go up,” said Jim. “I’ll stick ’em under this -bed.” - -“Don’t forget that we must telegraph this evening, Poke,” said Gil. “We -can telephone to the office from here.” - -“That’s so,” answered Poke, adding in explanation to Jim, while a broad -smile enveloped his countenance. “You see, Hazard, we’ve got to get -permission from home to change our lodgings.” - -“But you’ve already done it!” exclaimed Jim. “Suppose――suppose your -folks won’t let you?” - -Visions of having the room back on his hands, empty again, gave him an -anxious moment. But Gil smiled reassuringly. - -“Oh, that’ll be all right,” he declared. “I shall wire, ‘Poke moving to -village. Am going with him. Wire permission.’” - -“And I,” said Poke, “shall say, ‘Gil moving to village. Am going with -him. Wire permission.’” He winked at Jim. “Easy, what?” - -“Well, I hope it works,” laughed Jim. “Supper will be ready in about -ten minutes. Guess I’ll go and wash up.” - -“Much obliged for helping us,” said Gil. “See you later.” - -Sunnywood Cottage may be said to have formally opened its season that -evening at supper. At one end of the table sat Mrs. Hazard, at the -other Jim. Hope sat at her mother’s right with Jeffrey Latham beside -her, and across from them were Gil and Poke. Jeffrey was a bit shy -at first, but by the time supper was half over Gil and Poke had made -friends with him and the meal was a very jolly one. - -“This certainly beats dining-hall,” declared Poke, accepting a second -dish of Mrs. Hazard’s preserves. - -“Well, rather!” Gil agreed. “We never had preserves like this, did we, -Poke?” - -“Nor cake like this, either,” added Poke, looking politely expectant at -Hope, in front of whom the cake dish was reposing. - -[Illustration: “This certainly beats dining-hall,” declared Poke.] - -“Do have another piece,” said Mrs. Hazard, smiling with pleasure. “I -shall tell Jane that you like it.” - -Poke accepted his third slice demurely. - -“Is Jane the cook, ma’am? She’s a dandy, all right!” - -“Jane made the cake,” answered Mrs. Hazard, “but I can’t trust her yet -with all the cooking. I think she is going to do very nicely after she -has had a little more experience.” - -“Yes’m, experience is what counts,” said Poke gravely. - -“Well, you’re getting plenty of experience with that cake,” said Gil -dryly. “I guess, Mrs. Hazard, I ought to warn you now that Poke is an -awful eater.” - -“Huh! I don’t begin to eat as much as you do. Have some more cake, -Latham? You don’t eat much, do you?” - -“Oh, yes, I do, but Mrs. Hazard made me take dinner after I came. And I -didn’t want to seem impolite and so I ate a whole lot.” - -“Come to think of it,” said Gil, “it’s a good idea to leave a little -room for J. G.’s ice cream and wafers.” - -“By Jove,” exclaimed Poke, “I forgot about that!” - -“To-night, do you mean?” asked Jim. “Do you get things to eat at the -reception?” - -“Sure thing! Ice cream and those sugar wafers that taste like blotting -paper. It’s a good plan to go early, though; last year the eats gave -out about nine o’clock.” - -“Are you expected to go to it?” asked Jim. - -“Yes,” replied Gil. “Of course you don’t have to, but it’s a pretty -good idea to do it, Hazard. You get a chance to meet fellows, you see. -Faculty too. ‘Boots’――that’s Thurston, you know; physics;――will tell -you about his trip to Europe, and ‘Kitty’ Clarke――he’s chemistry――will -talk fishing until your head spins. Besides, you’ll meet Mrs. Gordon, -and she’s a dandy, isn’t she, Poke?” - -“Yes. We’ll all start about eight. You’re going, Latham?” - -“Yes, but I’ll start a little ahead. I can’t get along quite as fast as -you fellows.” - -“Oh, we’re in no great rush. We’ll all go together. We’d better go by -the road, though; I guess you’d find it pretty hard through the woods. -Let’s telephone those messages to the telegraph office now, Gil, before -we forget it.” - -Half an hour later they were off, Gil and Poke ahead and Jim and -Jeffrey behind, all suiting their pace to Jeffrey’s. He managed to -swing himself along about as fast as an ordinary walk, and that was -fast enough for any of them this evening, for all had supped well and -it was still pretty warm, although the sun had been down for a good -half-hour and there was a little breeze from the west. It was not quite -dark as they followed the winding road, but when, presently, the school -buildings came into sight beyond the trees lights were agleam in most -of the rooms. - -“Seems funny not to be living up there,” reflected Poke. “I wonder -who’ll get our room.” - -“Homesick already?” laughed Gil. “Much I care who gets it. I believe -we’re going to have a dandy time at――what’s its name?” - -“Sunnywood Cottage,” replied Poke as they turned onto the drive that -led past the rear of Academy Hall to the Principal’s residence. “Say, I -like Mrs. Hazard, don’t you?” - -“You bet! She’s a lady.” - -“Yes, she’s――she’s sort of like a fellow’s own mother, isn’t she? And -she certainly has great preserves!” - -The house was brilliantly lighted and already fellows were arriving. -Gil and Poke waited at the steps for the others to come up. Then, -settling their collars and furtively slicking down their hair, they -followed the stream, deposited their caps in the hall and entered the -big library, already half full of guests. Mr. Gordon, the Principal, -or J. G. as the boys called him, was receiving with Mrs. Gordon, and -toward them the Sunnywood contingent made their way, Gil and Poke, -however, stopping at least a dozen times to greet friends. On several -occasions Jim and Jeffrey were introduced, but only one name stuck in -Jim’s memory afterwards, that of a big, good-looking, broad-shouldered -fellow of nineteen, who squeezed Jim’s hand like a vise and of whom Gil -whispered a moment later as they passed on: “That’s Duncan Sargent, -football captain; one of the best!” Then Jim was shaking hands with Mr. -Gordon and Mrs. Gordon and the Principal was saying: - -“This is James Hazard, my dear. His mother has taken the Timberlake -house, you know.” - -The Principal was a sturdily built man of fifty-odd, clean-shaven, -with a nice face and a voice that made you like him instantly. In -appearance he was more the business man than the scholar. Jim had met -Mr. Gordon several times already, but Mrs. Gordon he had never seen. -She asked kindly about Jim’s mother and how the house was prospering. -Then another boy claimed her attention and Jim stepped back out of the -way just as Jeffrey, who had found difficulty in getting through the -throng, reached Mr. Gordon. - -“How do you do?” greeted the Principal, shaking hands in his hearty -way. “And what is your name? We haven’t met before, have we? You must -set me right if I am wrong. I confess that I sometimes forget a face.” - -“My name is Latham, sir, Jeffrey Latham. I came to-day.” - -“To be sure! And so you’re Latham, eh? I believe――yes, I think I might -have known it, my boy, for there is certainly a strong resemblance to -your father. And how is the Senator? Well, I trust?” - -“Yes, sir, thank you.” - -“I’m pleased to hear it. A fine man, Latham. I have had the pleasure of -meeting him once or twice in a casual way. I hope you’ll find your stay -with us happy and profitable, Latham. You must come and take tea with -Mrs. Gordon and me some evening.” - -As Jeffrey shook hands with Mrs. Gordon and turned away Poke Endicott, -who had been next him in line, dragged him aside. - -“What did J. G. mean about the Senator, Latham? Is he your father?” - -“Yes,” replied Jeffrey. - -Poke whistled softly. - -“Don’t that beat all!” he ejaculated. “Why, man alive, Senator Latham -and my dad are regular old cronies. Haven’t you ever heard him speak of -Major Endicott?” - -“Lots of times!” cried Jeffrey. “Is that your father?” - -“That’s the dad! Why, say, Latham, you and I are pretty nearly -relatives, aren’t we?” He grinned and stretched out his hand. “Senator, -I’m pleased to meet you!” he cried. - - - - -CHAPTER V - -MR. HANKS RENTS A ROOM - - -With the ringing of chapel bell in the old stone turret of Academy Hall -the next morning Crofton began its forty-third year. Seven-fifteen -seemed to come extremely early, for none of the boys in Sunnywood -Cottage had gone to bed until very late the night before. There had -been lots to talk about after the reception and they had loitered on -the way home and afterwards had congregated in Jeffrey’s room for a -final gossip. Jim, for one, pulled himself out of bed with a sigh; it -seemed to him that he could have slept until noon to-day. Gil and Poke -were already downstairs when he arrived, and Jeffrey followed a minute -later. They chose the wood path, Jeffrey protesting his ability to -manage it. And manage it he did very well, swinging himself along the -winding path, over protruding roots with a remarkable dexterity. - -Chapel was held in the Meeting Room on the first floor of Academy -Hall. It was a large, square room, taking up the entire east end of -the building. There was a long platform at one side and facing it -were rows of yellow settees. The walls held many portraits of former -Principals, faculty members and noted graduates and the big windows -were set in deep embrasures adorned with plaster casts of Greek and -Roman immortals; the students called this array “The White Company.” - -The shrill-toned bell gave its expiring clang as Jim followed the other -three into the room. Most of the fellows were already in their seats -and his first impression was of a sea of faces confronting him. They -passed row after row of settees before Gil, who was leading, turned in. -Behind them a boy closed the big door and Mr. Gordon arose and stepped -to the reading desk on the platform. Whispers ceased as the big Bible -was opened. - -“My son, forget not my law; but let thine heart keep my commandments. - -“For length of days, and long life, and peace shall they add to thee. - -“Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write -them upon the table of thine heart: so shalt thou find favor and good -understanding in the sight of God and man.” - -The Principal’s deep, pleasant voice went on to the end of the chapter. -Then there was the rustling of many pages as the hymn-books were -opened and the scraping of feet as the boys arose. They sang without -accompaniment of any sort, and to Jim, accustomed to the wheezy droning -of the worn-out organ in the little church at home, the effect was very -beautiful. Then came a prayer, a simple, earnest appeal to the Almighty -for help and guidance throughout the year just beginning. - -“And, O Lord, bless the faculty and the students of this school: give -them strength and patience to do their work, understanding and clean -hearts to follow Thy laws.” - -Then came the Lord’s Prayer, repeated in unison; a moment of silence; -and then the scraping of feet, the creaking of settees and the moving -of bodies, signifying the end of the service; signifying too, perhaps, -a longing for breakfast. But Mr. Gordon was not yet through with them. -He said a few words appropriate to the opening of the school and then -announced the presence on the faculty of a new member. A tall, thin -gentleman of middle age arose and stepped to the front of the platform. -He wore spectacles and held his head forward in a near-sighted way. - -“Mr. Hanks, young gentlemen,” announced Mr. Gordon. Mr. Hanks bowed to -the right, to the left, to the center, hesitated nervously and returned -precipitately to his chair. The students clapped their hands, grinning -the while at the new instructor’s evident delight in reaching his seat -again. - -“Hanks, did he say?” whispered Poke to Jim. “It isn’t hard to guess -what his name will be?” - -Jim looked a question and Poke laughed softly. - -“Nancy,” he whispered. “Nancy Hanks; see?” - -Mr. Gordon dismissed them and there was a fairly dignified rush for -the door, Jim becoming separated from his companions in the exodus. He -discovered them again outside, however. Jeffrey, the subject of much -polite curiosity, was leaning on his crutches at the foot of the steps, -while, close by, Gil and Poke made part of a group of six or seven -fellows who were talking and laughing as fast as they knew how. Jim -joined Jeffrey, but a moment later Gil saw them and called them over. - -“Want you to meet some friends of mine, fellows,” he said. “Sargent you -met last night, I think. This is Cosgrove. Joe, shake hands with Hazard -and Latham. You too, Atherton. Likewise Sommers and Heath. Hazard’s a -Lower Middler. How about you, Latham; what’s your class?” - -“The same,” replied Jeffrey. - -“You fellows want to come over and see our new room,” said Poke. “It’s -a dandy. We’ve got hardwood ceilings, hot and cold elevator service, -continuous janitor, telephone in every room――” - -“Dry up, Poke,” laughed Joe Cosgrove. “Where is it? What did you leave -Weston for?” - -“Didn’t like the society there,” replied Poke gravely. “We’re at Mrs. -Hazard’s; this chap’s mother, you know. She’s taken the Timberlake -cottage. We’ve got a fine old room, honest. Come over soon, will you?” - -Jim became aware that Duncan Sargent was looking at him in a peculiarly -speculative way as though trying to guess his weight. He was -enlightened the next moment when Sargent asked: - -“You a football man, Hazard?” - -Jim shook his head. “Not much of one, I’m afraid. I’ve tried the game -but I never made a success at it.” - -“Well, but you’re coming out, aren’t you?” - -“Coming out?” repeated Jim at a loss. - -“Yes, to try for the team. This afternoon at four. We want all the new -material we can get this year and you look as though you might make -good.” - -“Why, thanks,” said Jim. “I――I’d like to, but I won’t have time. You -see, we’ve taken that house and there’s a good deal to do.” - -“Oh.” Sargent looked disappointed. “I wish you would, though. See if -you can’t give us an hour or so in the afternoon, Hazard. I’m going to -look for you, anyhow.” - -[Illustration: “You a football man, Hazard?” Sargent asked.] - -Jim murmured vaguely and politely, very much flattered by the football -captain’s interest in him, and the group broke up. The quartette -hurried back to Sunnywood Cottage as fast as Jeffrey could go, all -very anxious for breakfast. At nine the school bell rang again and Jim -and Jeffrey――with many another new boy――attended their first class. -But there wasn’t much real work done that opening day, and at three -o’clock they were free. Jim returned to the cottage alone. Most of the -other fellows were making for the athletic field to either don canvas -and get into the first day’s practice or to loll about the grand-stand -or on the warm turf and watch and comment. But Jim had plenty of work -awaiting him at the cottage, for in spite of the fact that they had -been at Crofton for almost a fortnight there still remained numerous -odds and ends to attend to. Hope, busily hemming dish-towels on the -porch, was eager to hear about his experiences, but she found her -brother a good deal of a disappointment. - -“Why, nothing much happened,” replied Jim, dumping his books in a -chair. “There was history and French. I have the new man, Mr. Hanks, in -history. He’s awfully funny; guess he was rattled a bit. Poke calls him -‘Nancy’; not bad, is it?” - -“I haven’t seen him, Jim.” - -“You don’t have to see him to appreciate that; Nancy Hanks; don’t you -see?” - -“Oh!” murmured Hope blankly. “But――but why does he call him Nancy?” - -“Don’t you know who Nancy Hanks was? My, you don’t know much United -States history, do you?” - -“I suppose not,” replied Hope humbly. - -“Was she a――a nurse or something in the Revolutionary War, Jim?” - -“Of course she wasn’t,” answered Jim disgustedly. “You’d better read -your history, sis. Where’s Lady?” - -“In there.” Hope nodded toward the door. “She wants you to go down town -for something.” - -“All right; I’ve got to go anyway; got to get some books and stationery. -What are you doing?” - -Hope held up the piece of blue-checked linen. “Dish-cloths.” - -“Oh. I suppose we haven’t rented any more rooms?” - -Hope shook her head. “No, there hasn’t been a soul here――except the -ice-man and a man who wanted to sell us a set of ‘The World’s Best -Literature.’” - -“Well, I don’t see how we’re going to get along with just those two -rooms rented,” said Jim gloomily. “Endicott said I might advertise in -the school paper, but Benton said it would be wasting money because -the fellows don’t change rooms after school begins.” - -“Lady and I were talking about it this afternoon,” said Hope, biting -a thread off with her teeth and then glancing apologetically at her -brother. - -“What have I told you――” began Jim sternly. But Hope hurried on. “Lady -said she thought we could manage to make expenses even if we don’t let -any more rooms. She says living isn’t very expensive here in Crofton. -And then, Jim, there’s the rent money from the house at home.” - -“Thirty-three dollars a month! Wait until we have to buy coal to heat -this place! It’s going to take a lot of fuel, the rooms are so big and -there are so many windows.” - -“Well, we may rent another one yet,” replied Hope cheerfully. “You -never can tell, Jim, and, anyway, it doesn’t do a bit of good to worry.” - -“Some one’s got to do a little worrying,” answered Jim shortly. “You -and Lady don’t seem to care whether we make this thing go or not!” - -“You’re perfectly horrid! We do care, Jim, but nobody ever did any good -to anybody by worrying. Besides, I don’t see that there is anything we -can do but just――just wait.” - -“Yes, wait,” said Jim disgustedly. “Sit here and wait for some one to -come along and insist on being taken in. A lot of rooms we will rent -that way!” - -“Well, those boys upstairs did that, didn’t they? They came along and -rented the room, Jim; nobody worried them into it, did they?” - -“Well, you sit here and wait,” growled her brother. “I’m going down -town.” He picked up his books and turned toward the door. “I’ll see -what Lady wants.” He was back in a few moments, stuffing a slip of -paper, Mrs. Hazard’s list, into his pocket. “Want to go along, Hope?” - -But Hope shook her head. “I must finish these, Jim. I’ve got five more -to do.” - -“Oh, all right.” He pulled his hat down over his eyes and started off. -Hope looked after him, sighed and shook her head. - -“Jim’s getting growlier and growlier every day,” she murmured. “I -suppose I ought to worry too; maybe he’d like it better if I did. The -trouble is I don’t seem to be able to. Every time I get started to be -unhappy I think of something nice and forget! I’m afraid”――she fixed -her gaze thoughtfully on the little round bed of scarlet sage, which -was all the garden the cottage could boast――“I’m afraid I’m dreadfully -fripish. Maybe I have a――a shallow nature.” Then she smiled, and, “Oh, -dear,” she sighed ruefully, “I can’t worry even about that! - -“Just the same,” she continued in thought as she sent her needle in and -out, “I really don’t see the use of worrying all the time. It seems to -me that if things go wrong you just ought to keep cheerful, and the -wronger they go the cheerfuller you ought to keep. You never know when -something nice is going to happen in this wonderful world. Why, I might -be sitting here just like this and somebody might come along and say, -‘Young lady, have you any rooms to rent?’ And I’d say――” - -“I――I beg your pardon.” - -Hope looked up with a start. At the end of the short walk, holding -the gate half open, stood a tall gentleman in rather ill-fitting -pepper-and-salt clothes. On his head, set at a rakish angle, was a -straw hat with a narrow up-rolled brim. It was very yellow as to straw -and very rusty as to ribbon. And it didn’t suit his lean, thoughtful -face the least bit. He wore spectacles and from behind the lenses a -pair of faded blue eyes peered near-sightedly. He carried a small book -in his right hand, one finger inserted between the pages to hold his -place. Hope wondered if he could be another book agent and dropped her -work and went to the steps. - -“I regret disturbing you, young lady,” said the gentleman, “but will -you kindly tell me whether this is――er――” He stopped perplexedly. Then, -“Dear, dear,” he said half to himself, “what was the name now?” - -“This is Mrs. Hazard’s house,” said Hope helpfully. - -“Ah, that was it; Mrs. Hazard!” he said with vast relief. He entered -and closed the gate carefully behind him, changing the book from right -hand to left as he did so but taking care to keep his place. “I――I am -looking for accommodations; lodgings; a room and――er――yes, board with -it. You give board here?” - -“Yes, indeed,” answered Hope. “If you will take a seat I will tell my -mother you are here.” - -[Illustration: “I am looking for accommodations, a room and――er――yes, -board with it.”] - -“Thank you.” He took a chair. “My name is Hanks. I am just beginning my -duties as instructor at the school. The Principal, Mister――Mister――well, -the name doesn’t matter――sent me here. I had a room――” He broke off -abruptly and exclaimed anxiously; “Your rooms have plenty of light?” - -“Yes, sir, they’re quite light and sunny.” Hope had reached the door -but politeness kept her there until the visitor had finished talking. - -“That is excellent. I had a room in one of the halls; I think it was -Roberts――or Rutgers; now was it that? Well, that’s of no consequence. -I was explaining that the room was extremely dark, even in midday -very little light penetrating the――er――the windows. As my eyes are -unfortunately quite weak I was obliged to inform Mister――Mister――” - -“Gordon,” prompted Hope gently. - -“Thank you. Yes, Mr. Gordon. I was obliged to inform him that the room -would not be satisfactory. I then learned that there was no other room -to be had at the school. Quite extraordinary, I would say.” - -He paused and seemed to be pondering the fact. Hope waited. After a -moment he looked up in his funny startled way. - -“I――I beg your pardon!” he said confusedly. “I――I fear I am detaining -you.” - -“Oh, no, sir. I’ll tell my mother that you are here.” - -“If you will be so kind.” He bowed gravely. - -But Mrs. Hazard was already on the way, having heard the voices on the -porch. As she came out Mr. Hanks arose from his chair and bowed. Then, -as an afterthought, he removed his faded straw hat. - -“Mama,” said Hope, “this is Mr. Nancy Hanks――I mean――” She faltered in -confusion. Mr. Hanks came to the rescue. - -“I fear you did not get the name quite correctly,” he said politely. -“Artemus Hanks is the name.” - -“He――he is looking for a room,” said Hope hurriedly, painfully aware -that she was blushing frantically. - -“I shall be very glad to show you what we have,” said Mrs. Hazard with -a smile. “Will you come in?” - -“Er――thank you.” Mr. Hanks placed his book, open and face down, on the -chair, put his hat carefully on top of it and followed. “I am not very -particular, Mrs.――er――Mrs. Hazel; plenty of light is almost my sole -requirement. Unfortunately, my eyesight――” - -They passed out of hearing, leaving Hope divided between confusion and -laughter. How had she ever been so stupid as to call him Nancy? The -gate slammed and Jim came up the walk, laden with bundles and looking -very warm. - -“Oh, Jim,” she cried softly. “He came and I called him Mr. Nancy Hanks! -Wasn’t that simply awful?” - -“Who came? Mr. Hanks? Came here? What for?” - -“For a room. Just after you went. I was sitting here――” - -“Did he take it?” asked Jim eagerly. - -“I don’t know. He’s still up there. Isn’t he the funniest, foolishest -old dear of a man, Jim? He couldn’t remember Lady’s name, nor Mr. -Gordon’s――” - -“S-sh, they’re coming down,” warned Jim. The instructor, followed by -Mrs. Hazard, came out of the door. - -“I hope you will find it quite light enough, Professor.” - -“Not Professor, ma’am, merely instructor. I have no doubt the room will -be――er――quite satisfactory. I shall have my things removed directly.” -He caught sight of Jim and bowed. “How do you do,” he murmured. “Thank -you, ma’am.” He bowed to Mrs. Hazard, managing to include Hope in the -salutation, and started down the steps. Hope, stifling a giggle, seized -his hat and book and ran after him. - -“Eh?” he asked bewilderedly. “Oh, thank you, thank you. My hat――and -book; to be sure. I believe I would have forgotten them. Thank you, -thank you.” - -He set his hat on his head, where it immediately shifted to the same -rakish angle as before, closed the gate carefully behind him, opened -his book and paced slowly off toward school, reading as he went. Hope -subsided in a chair and gave way to laughter. Jim grinned in sympathy -and Mrs. Hazard said “S-sh!” warningly, but had to smile too. Then: - -“Well, Jim, another room rented,” she said cheerfully. - -“Fine, Lady! What’s he going to pay?” - -“Why――why”――a queer expression came over Mrs. Hazard’s face――“why, do -you know, Jim, I don’t think he――I――we spoke of the price at all!” - - - - -CHAPTER VI - -PLATO SOCIETY - - -“Of course I’m glad you’ve rented your room,” said Poke with hesitancy, -“but――but it isn’t going to be much fun having a faculty in the house.” - -“We had two in hall,” said Gil. - -“Yes, but what’s two when there are forty fellows to look after? That’s -different. Here there are only four of us, and, besides, he’s right -next door. Not, of course,” he continued, assuming an air of conscious -virtue, “that I would think of doing anything――er――out of the way, but -I――one resents the――the espionage.” - -“Come again,” requested Gil. - -“I’m sorry,” said Jim. “I didn’t think about that.” - -They were talking it over on the porch before supper. Mr. Hanks was -already installed in the room behind Jeffrey’s, his luggage consisting -of four huge boxes of books, one small trunk and a battered valise, -having arrived simultaneously with Gil and Poke. - -“Piffle!” said Gil. “It doesn’t matter. I dare say Nancy isn’t the sort -to bother us much. He’s a queer old duffer.” - -“Old?” questioned Jim thoughtfully. “I don’t believe he’s so terribly -old, fellows.” - -“He looks as though he might be anything from twenty-five to forty,” -said Gil. “I dare say he’s really about thirty, eh?” - -“I dare say,” responded Poke. “Well, it doesn’t matter as long as he -behaves himself and leaves us alone to our innocent amusements. I’d -hate to have to report him to J. G., though. Here comes Latham. He -manages to get along pretty well on those sticks of his, doesn’t he?” - -“It’s too bad he’s that way,” said Gil. “He seems a good sort. Wonder -why he doesn’t wear a thick-soled shoe on that foot. Seems to me that -would be better than using crutches.” - -“It’s something about the muscles of that leg,” explained Jim. “Some -of them don’t work right; I think he said they were the――the extensive -muscles,” ended Jim doubtfully. - -“Extensor,” corrected Gil. “He’s mighty cheerful considering everything, -I think. Hello, Latham! Where have you been?” - -“Seeing the world,” replied Jeffrey. “Stumping all over the place. -I watched football practice awhile and went down along the river -afterwards. It’s awfully pretty, isn’t it?” He seated himself in a -chair, leaning his crutches against his knees. “I saw you two fellows -playing,” he added. - -“You saw us working like dogs,” replied Poke grimly. “Football for the -first month is a whole lot like hard work, Latham. By the way, Hazard, -what happened to you? Aren’t you going to try for the team? Dun asked -where you were to-day.” - -“I wouldn’t have time,” answered Jim. “Besides, I can’t play; I’ve -tried it.” - -“Can’t play? How do you know you can’t play? You let Johnny get at you -for a couple of weeks. Then if he says you can’t play I’ll believe it. -Johnny can make a football player out of a lump of wood!” - -“He did something more wonderful than that,” said Gil. “He made one out -of you, Poke.” - -“Your wit is very cheap, Mr. Benton.” - -“Who is Johnny?” asked Jim. - -“Johnny? Johnny is Mr. John Connell, the best little trainer in the -country. He’s a wonder! Why, half the big schools have been after -him for years, and last spring he had an offer from Dartmouth! You go -and let Johnny look you over. If he says there’s no hope for you, all -right.” - -“I’d like to play well enough,” said Jim, “but there’s too much to do -about the house.” - -“Why? What sort of things?” - -“Oh, chopping kindling, bringing up coal, running to the village, -cutting grass――” - -“Get your coal up in the morning, cut your kindling at night, telephone -to the village and forget the grass,” said Poke glibly. “It won’t do to -waste yourself on――on domestic duties, Hazard; you look to me just like -a chap who has the making of a good back in him. Say, now, you come out -to-morrow afternoon with us and we’ll hand you over to Johnny and see -what happens. Will you?” - -But Jim shook his head, with a smile. “I know what might happen,” he -said. “There might be no coal to cook supper with.” - -“Get a fireless cooker,” suggested Jeffrey with a laugh. - -“Joking aside, Hazard,” said Gil soberly, “they really need you on the -field this fall. We’re short of good men. See if you can’t fix your -chores so as to have the afternoons for football.” - -“Oh, I think they can do without me,” laughed Jim. “If they ever saw me -play they wouldn’t want me a minute. No, I guess I’ll get my exercise -right around here.” - -“Let me go as his substitute,” said Jeffrey with a smile. - -“At that you’d get around a heap quicker than some of the fellows -who try for the team,” replied Poke. “Well, let’s wash up, Gil. It’s -meeting night, you remember.” - -“What’s meeting night?” asked Jim. - -“Plato Society meets this evening. I’d ask you along, but it’s business -meeting to-night. Glad to have you some other time, though; you, too, -Latham, if you’d like.” - -At supper the household had increased to seven, for Mr. Hanks occupied -the seat of honor at Mrs. Hazard’s right. He was introduced to the -boys and shook hands with each, smiling in his absentminded way. At -first his presence at table rather dampened the spirits of the others, -excepting Mrs. Hazard who did her best to make conversation with the -newcomer. Her efforts, however, were not very successful. Mr. Hanks -replied politely but embarrassedly, showing that he was far more ill -at ease than the boys. On the whole, supper was a quiet meal, and -almost as soon as it was over Gil and Poke left the house for the -meeting. - -At Crofton the faculty keeps a gentle but firm hold on the societies -by assigning to each a Counsellor, one of the younger faculty members. -He is responsible to the Principal for the conduct of his society, -although his office is merely an advisory one. Plato’s Counsellor was -Mr. Brown, better known as “Brownie,” instructor in Greek and one of -the more popular of the faculty members. Plato, like the other three -societies, had a home of its own, a small cottage near the campus on -Academy Road in charge of an elderly man and his wife who received -the rear part of the house rent-free in return for their services as -housekeeper and gardener. There was a little yard in front, what Poke -called an “open-faced porch”――there being no railing on it――and four -downstairs rooms, of which two were used by the society. On the second -floor were four bedrooms, occupied principally by visiting friends. The -room on the right on the first floor was the Meeting Room, and it was -quite ample in size to accommodate the thirty boys who had congregated -there this evening. - -It was already well filled when Gil and Poke arrived, although the -meeting had not yet been called to order. Mr. Brown was the center of -a group of fellows which the two new arrivals joined. The instructor -had a handshake and a word of welcome for each. Then other friends -demanded recognition, and for the next five minutes the hum of talk and -laughter filled the square, old-fashioned room. The two windows on the -front of the house were wide open, for the flaring gas-jets in the big -chandelier were making the room uncomfortably warm. The side windows -were kept closed and curtained, for it was not beyond the possibilities -that prankish or curious members of a rival society might eavesdrop; -such a thing had occurred before now, and the heavy shrubbery outside -offered excellent concealment for the enemy. The room was papered with -plain gray cartridge paper above the white-painted paneling, and a -half-dozen good engravings decorated the walls. There was an oak desk -between the front windows with a few straight-backed chairs about it, -while some forty folding chairs filled the body of the room. There -was no carpet on the floor and the broad mantel was bare of adornment. -The apartment, save at commencement time, was used only for business -purposes. At commencement the chairs were moved against the wall and -visiting relatives and friends took possession and the floor was waxed -for dancing. - -Presently the president of the Society, Ben Atherton, who was also -captain of the crew, rapped on the desk with a little silver-mounted -gavel and the fellows took their places. What passed at the meeting we, -as outsiders, have no right to know. I do not believe, however, that -it was a very important affair, for it lasted less than half an hour. -Then the boys trooped into the room across the hall or emerged onto -the porch. Banjos, mandolins and guitars were taken from their cases. -“Punk” Gibbs seated himself at the piano――a long-suffering instrument -constantly in need of tuning――and wandered through some chords while -the other musicians, seated around or leaning about it, tuned up. - -The Social Room, as they called it, was well and comfortably furnished. -There were many brown oak chairs and settles upholstered in dull red -leather, some fairly good rugs on the polished floor, a broad couch, -filled with cushions――and, just now, with boys as well――in front of -the fireplace, a good-sized bookcase moderately well filled and many -pictures on the walls. The word picture here means all sorts of things -in frames, for there were originals of cover-designs for the school -weekly, _The Crow_, posters of all sorts, drawings and other trophies -and mementos, all crowded together in interesting confusion. Visitors -to Plato Society found the walls of the Social Room highly amusing. - -The room was soon noisy with talk and laughter, the jangle of the -piano and the _strum-strum_ of strings. Gil and Poke had found places -at one of the windows, which opened clear to the floor, where, seated -on cushions, they were in position to see and hear what went on both -inside and out. Mr. Brown was on the porch telling an interested group -about his summer walking trip through Switzerland. On the big couch in -front of the empty fireplace a very hilarious group were recounting -their own vacation experiences and, incidentally, “rubbing it into” one -youth on whom they apparently had a very good joke. He was grinning -in an embarrassed way and half-heartedly retaliating on his chief -tormentor with a cushion. Then Gibbs started up “Old Plato” and the -banjos and guitars and mandolins, six or seven in all, joined in as -best they could. Fingers were stiff, however, from lack of practice, -and the music was pretty wobbly at first. But by the time Gibbs had -reached the refrain the orchestra was doing fairly well, and when the -pianist started over again, first one voice and then another began the -words, and presently the whole assemblage was singing the Society Song. -It wasn’t an especially edifying production, but it went with a swing -and Platonians had sung it for years. - - Old Plato was a good old soul, - Old Plato, Old Plato! - He loved his pipe and he loved his bowl, - Old Plato! Old Plato! - But more than all he loved a scrap; - He’d argufy at the drop of the cap; - Oh, he was a fine old sporting chap, - Old Plato! Old Plato! - - Hurrah, hurrah for Plato, - Hurrah for our Patron Saint! - He was a hot potato - In the good old days that ain’t! - A very lucky man was he, - A lucky man as you’ll agree, - For “Greek ain’t never Greek to me,” - Said Plato, Old Plato! - - Old Plato dealt in philosoph-ee; - Old Plato! Old Plato! - And he founded this great Societ-ee; - Old Plato! Old Plato! - He wrote the Protagoras, too,―― - Which wasn’t a thoughtful thing to do―― - And made much trouble for me and you; - Old Plato! Old Plato! - - Old Plato lived in Ancient Greece; - Old Plato! Old Plato! - And when he died he died in peace; - Old Plato! Old Plato! - They buried him under a cypress tree, - And said, as they danced with joy and glee; - “No more of your fool philosoph-ee, - Old Plato! Old Plato!” - - Hurrah, hurrah for Plato, - Hurrah for our Patron Saint! - He was a hot potato - In the good old days that ain’t! - A very lucky man was he, - A lucky man as you’ll agree, - For “Greek ain’t never Greek to me,” - Said Plato, Old Plato! - -Afterwards they sang “Crow, Crow for Crofton!” and then “Follow the -River”: - - Follow the river up from the sea, - Through sun and shadowy tracery, - Over the shallows and past the green pools; - You’ll come at last to the School of Schools. - -Then came the old college songs, “Mother Yale,” “Fair Harvard,” “Old -Nassau,” and the football songs, “Boola,” “Veritas,” and many more. And -then it was bedtime――Mr. Brown was the first to discover the fact――and -instruments were put away, the lights extinguished and by twos and -threes and larger groups the Platonians dispersed. The Counsellor -lived in Browne Hall――most appropriately――and as Browne was the last -dormitory on the campus the instructor was accompanied homeward by -some dozen or more students. Gil and Poke were amongst the number, for -it was quite as near for them to walk to the school and then go home -through the woods as to follow the winding road. Besides, there was a -full moon to-night to light their way. - -They talked about the new students and speculated as to whom they -would draw into Plato when the elections came. This was a subject of -unfailing interest, although it was too early in the school year for -the interest to wax intense. The societies took their members from the -three upper classes in January and each sought to select fellows who -had in some way distinguished themselves. - -“There’s one thing,” said Mr. Brown, as they passed into the black -shadows of Academy Hall, “that we ought to keep in sight, fellows, and -that is that the men we want for Plato are the men who have not only -_done_ things but who _think_ things. Don’t let’s just make the Society -a group of athletes and First Honors men and commencement officers. -Let’s try and pick the fellows who are honorable and earnest and fine -and manly. Remember that Plato isn’t over with when you leave Crofton; -the Society goes right on, bringing other fellows together just as -it has brought us together. Let’s see that when we leave it we leave -it in shape to do the work it was designed to do, let’s see that we -leave a fine, big lot of chaps to carry on the work in our stead. It’s -character we want, fellows, and not merely athletic honors, nor social -honors, nor even merely scholastic honors. Let’s judge our members to -be as _men_ first; then consider the honors they’ve won. Remember the -motto, fellows: ‘For the Good of the School, and so for the Good of -Myself.’ Good night, everybody.” - - - - -CHAPTER VII - -JIM MAKES A PROMISE - - -“We’ve got the same lessons, Hazard,” said Jeffrey, after the others -had taken their departure, “so why don’t you bring your books into my -room and study?” - -“I’d like to,” answered Jim, “and I will as soon as I finish my chores.” - -Half an hour later the two were seated on opposite sides of the -table in Jeff’s room, their books spread out before them in a very -businesslike way. But there wasn’t much studying done that evening, -although each acknowledged the necessity of it. There were too many -things to talk about. Naturally the foremost topic was the school. -Jeffrey had to tell Jim what he thought about it, and Jim had to give -his opinion of the fellows they had met; and after that they discussed -the instructors and the course of study and many associated subjects. -And before the evening was over it was no longer Hazard and Latham, but -Jim and Jeff. - -And in another day or two proper names had quite disappeared from -Sunnywood. Every one called every one else by his first name; except -that Poke had dubbed Jeff “The Senator” and called him that about half -the time. For awhile Jim’s mother was “Mrs. Hazard,” but eventually she -became “Lady” to every one except Mr. Hanks. Mr. Hanks――or “Nancy,” as -the boys dubbed him――called Mrs. Hazard pretty nearly everything except -Mrs. Hazard. Sometimes it was Hazel, sometimes Hastings, sometimes -Hathaway; and once, to the amusement and bewilderment of the entire -table, he called her “Mrs. Venture.” Hope was “Miss Hope” to the boys -for awhile, but as friendship ripened the Miss was dropped. The boys -all liked Hope. They couldn’t have done anything else, I fancy, for -Hope was always happy and merry, eager for fun and firmly convinced -that Sunnywood Cottage held the four finest boys in Crofton Academy. - -But I am getting ahead of my story. - -Gil and Poke had in due time received the required parental sanction -to their change of quarters and had settled down very comfortably in -what Poke called the Royal Suite. With three of their rooms rented for -the school year Jim and his mother were much encouraged, for even if -the fourth room didn’t rent they could, they were certain, more than -pay expenses. Mr. Hanks, in spite of Poke’s forebodings, troubled no -one. If he found the house rather noisy at times, he made no complaint. -Except at meal times they saw very little of him. He was usually very -silent at the table, accepting what was placed before him or handed to -him and eating it in his funny absentminded way. At school, however, -Mr. Hanks was having his troubles. In the first place, he was a new -man, and there is an unwritten law at Crofton to the effect that new -instructors must be decently hazed. Hazing in Mr. Hanks’ case consisted -of taking advantage of his inexperience and diffidence until at the end -of his first week at school his Latin and history classes had lost all -semblance of order and discipline. The instructor’s worst trial was -Latin 2. In this class was Brandon Gary, and Gary knew more ways to -make the teacher’s life a burden to him than there were pages in the -Æneid. - -“Bull makes me very tired,” said Gil one day. “It’s all right to have -a little fun; and every faculty ought to stand a little joshing; but -Bull is keeping it up too long. First thing we know Nancy will get -discouraged and quit. If he only knew enough to sit on a few of those -Smart Alecks he wouldn’t have any more trouble.” - -“I think it’s just as mean as can be,” declared Hope. “Mr. Hanks is a -perfect dear.” - -“Oh, he’s all right,” agreed Poke. “Nancy isn’t a half bad sort. Only -thing is he hasn’t enough grit.” - -“And,” continued Hope, puzzledly, “I don’t see why you want to call him -Nancy. He doesn’t look a bit like a horse.” - -“A what?” demanded Jeff in surprise. - -“A horse. I asked Lady the other day who Nancy Hanks was and she said -he――I mean she――was a famous racehorse. And I don’t see――” - -But the boys were laughing so loudly that the rest of Hope’s remark was -drowned. She viewed them bewilderedly. - -“Wasn’t she a horse?” she asked doubtfully. - -“Well,” answered Jeff, who had recovered first, “I believe there used -to be a horse named that. But the original Nancy Hanks was Abraham -Lincoln’s mother. Have you never heard of her?” - -Hope shook her head. “I don’t believe so. What――what did she do?” - -Jeff looked at Gil and Gil looked at Jim and Jim shook his head. It was -Poke who came to the rescue. - -“Mrs. Hanks,” he observed thoughtfully, “was a very estimable lady. -Besides being the mother of the Martyr President she――er――she invented -the idea of winding yarn in hanks. Hence the name.” - -The others viewed him suspiciously, but were afraid to question his -statement for fear of confessing their ignorance. Jeff said “Hm” -noncommittingly and Jim became very busy over the lock he was trying to -repair. Hope accepted the information at face value and thanked Poke -very nicely. Poke, I think, was on the verge of a confession when Mr. -Hanks himself came into sight beyond the fence. He had an armful of -books as usual and his head seemed to have acquired to-day an added -droop. As he turned in through the gate his face looked pretty tired -and discouraged. Jim and Poke arose from their places on the steps to -let him by and it was only then that he saw the group. He lifted his -funny old straw hat rather sketchily and murmured, “Good evening.” The -others responded politely, but Hope, with a sudden rush of sympathy for -the instructor, said: “Won’t you sit down here and rest, Mr. Hanks? -You look very tired, and supper won’t be ready for a long time.” - -Mr. Hanks looked surprised and embarrassed, hesitated, dropped a -book――which Gil rescued――and finally stammered: “Er――thanks, but I have -much work to do. It――it has been a very nice day, hasn’t it?” - -They all agreed enthusiastically that it had, after which Mr. Hanks -hemmed and coughed once or twice, bowed jerkily and went on in. They -could hear him walking weariedly up the stairs to his room. - -“He looks perfectly floppy!” exclaimed Hope, indignantly. “It is too -mean for anything to treat him so!” - -“What’s floppy?” asked Gil, a little ashamed of his own small share in -the instructor’s unhappiness and willing to switch the conversation. - -“Why――why, _floppy_, of course; tired and――and miserable and unhappy!” - -“Ready to flop,” added Poke knowingly. “It is an excellent word, even -if Mr. Webster doesn’t countenance it. What’s the matter, Jim?” - -“I lost a screw somewhere. I guess it went down a crack when I got up.” - -“That lock will be a wonder when you get through with it,” laughed -Poke. “You’ve used up three screw-drivers and a perfectly good penknife -on it so far.” - -“The trouble,” responded Jim gravely, holding the offending article -under his nose and squinting knowingly into its intricacies, “is with -the tumblers.” - -“Nonsense!” said Poke. “The trouble’s in the carburetor. It needs -adjusting. How’s school going, Hope?” - -“Fine!――I just love the teacher in our room.” - -“Hm; wait until you’ve been there another week. Teachers all look good -at first. They’re very――very deceptive.” Poke shook his head sadly. -“I’ve had a great deal of experience with teachers.” - -“I guess they’ve had a good deal of experience with you,” laughed Hope. -Poke grinned. - -“Well, I don’t deny that I have aided in the education of a few. -Including our estimable Nancy,” he added rashly. - -Hope sobered. “I shan’t like you, Poke,” she said gravely, “if you’re -mean to Mr. Hanks.” - -“Who? Me? Honest, now, I haven’t done a thing, have I, Gil?” - -“Not much,” answered Gil. “No more than I have. We’ve all had a go at -him. I think, though, it’s about time we let up. I guess we’ll have to -squelch Bull Gary, Poke.” - -Poke nodded. “I guess so. Bull lacks a――a sense of sufficiency.” - -“What’s that?” inquired Jeff. - -“That is a polite way of saying that he doesn’t know when he’s had -enough. By the way, Jim, did we tell you that Gary has taken a room at -Jones’s? He says it’s fine, but that’s poppycock. Jones’s is the worst -hole in the village. I guess he’s still peeved with you for not renting -a room to him.” - -“I don’t see how I could,” said Jim, laying aside the lock with a sigh -of relief. “I wasn’t going to put Jeff out; or you fellows either. -Besides, I don’t like him.” - -“Well, Bull isn’t terribly popular,” said Gil, “but he’s really not so -awfully bad. All he needs is some one to beat a little sense into him. -He’s a lot better than when he first came. I dare say that some day -Gary will be a useful member of society.” - -“In the sweet by and by,” said Poke skeptically. “And, say, Gil, what’s -the matter with Bull’s playing this year? He’s way off his game. Johnny -gave him a fierce ragging this afternoon. Did you hear him? Told Bull -that if he didn’t do better than he’d been doing he’d be wearing a nice -warm blanket on the side-line. I guess Bull has a swelled head after -last year.” - -“Does he play well?” asked Jim. - -“He _can_ play well. He’s one of the best guards we’ve had for years. -And in the Hawthorne game last fall――which, as you probably know, Mr. -Locksmith, is our big game――he put up a grand old exhibition. Didn’t -he, Gil?” - -“You bet! And that’s what I say. You can’t altogether dislike a chap -who can play football the way he can――when he wants to.” - -“Well, he will have to want to pretty soon, I guess,” said Poke. -“Johnny’s getting out of patience. When are you coming down to the -field with me, Jim, to have a try?” - -“About Christmas time, I think.” - -“You don’t say? Well, let me tell you something, son. I’m going to -get Dun Sargent after you. I’m not going to see a good football player -wasted in a locksmith.” - -“Good football player!” scoffed Jim. “I never played enough to be -good――or even real bad, for that matter. I don’t know enough about the -rules to――to――” - -“That’s all right,” said Gil. “They’ll teach the rules to you. Just you -come and have a try. You’re missing a lot of fun.” - -“And a lot of hard work, too,” sighed Poke. - -“I wish you would play,” said Hope. “Won’t you, Jim?” - -“How can I?” asked Jim a trifle irritably. “I’d like to――in a way――I -guess, but who’d do the work here?” - -“Listen,” said Poke impressively, “if you’ll try for the squad and if -you make it we’ll all help with your silly chores. Won’t we, fellows?” - -“Right-O!” agreed Gil. - -“Surely,” said Jeff. - -“Besides,” Poke continued, “what do you have to do, anyway? Lug up a -little coal, split some kindling, sift some ashes――” - -“Beat some carpets, run some errands, fix some locks, study some -lessons,” added Jim with a laugh. - -“Oh, well, that’s nothing,” said Poke airily. “I’m a wonderful carpet -beater; better than one of those vacuum things, Jim. Now that’s a fair -offer. What do you say?” - -Jim laughed. - -“Will you report to-morrow?” Poke persisted. - -“No, but maybe I’ll go down and look on for awhile.” - -“All right! That’s a promise. You go down with Gil and me after school -to-morrow. Don’t forget. Jeff, you’re a witness; you too, Hope. After -he’s looked on awhile he will want to play. Jim, you’re a gone coon!” - - - - -CHAPTER VIII - -POKE USES TACT - - -Jim kept his promise; in fact, he was given no choice in the matter, -for Poke was waiting for him on the steps of Academy Hall when he -emerged from his algebra recitation the next afternoon. Jeffrey had -agreed to accompany them to the field, but as he didn’t show up they -started along without him. It was Jim’s first visit to the field, -although he had often viewed it from afar. Their way took them past -the front of Memorial Hall, a small building of Grecian architecture -presented to the school by graduates in honor of four Croftonians who -had lost their lives in the war with Spain. Crofton was proud of those -men and the bronze tablet beside the doorway was one of the first -objects exhibited to visitors. The building held the dining-hall and -kitchen, and if some humorists alluded to it as Prunorial Hall no -disrespect was intended. - -The river, a few rods away, was alive with craft this afternoon, for -this early October day was warm and still, with just enough hint of -autumn in the air to make the blood course quickly and put the joy of -adventure in the heart. Half way between Memorial and the gymnasium the -two boys turned at the sound of a hail from the river. In a canoe sat -Jeffrey and Gil, the latter snuggled comfortably in the bow and the -former dexterously dipping the paddle in the stern. Gil waved his hand -nonchalantly. - -“Where are you going?” cried Poke enviously. “Do you know what time it -is?” - -“I am the Queen of Sheba,” replied Gil, “and this is my royal barge. We -are on the way to the gym.” - -“Well, of all the lazy Its!” exclaimed Poke. “Say, Senator, take me -back after practice?” - -Gil howled derisively. “Get out! I’ve engaged Jeff for the rest of the -day. Proceed, slave!” - -Jeffrey, smiling broadly, dipped his paddle again and the canoe went on -along the stream to the swimming float. The others walked down to meet -them. - -“We’ve had a dandy ride,” said Gil as he stretched the kinks out of -his legs. “Jeff took me all the way up to Birch Island and back. He’s -a fine little canoedler.” Jeff, once more with his crutches under his -arms, fell in beside Jim. - -“I think I’ll get a canoe of my own,” he said. “They say there’s a -fellow up the river a couple of miles who makes dandy ones. And I’m -sort of daffy about being on the water.” - -“Is it hard to learn to paddle one of those things?” Jim asked. “I -tried it once and the silly thing just went around in a circle and made -me dizzy.” - -“It’s the easiest thing there is,” laughed Jeffrey. “You come out with -me some day and I’ll show you the trick in a minute.” - -Gil and Poke disappeared in the gym to don their football clothes and -the others sauntered slowly toward the field. Already the big expanse -of yellowing turf was scattered with players. Beyond the gridiron with -its new white lines a baseball game had begun. Nearer at hand the -tennis courts were all occupied. And on the grand-stand and along the -sides of the field on the warm grass fellows less inclined to bodily -exertion sat or sprawled in groups and waited to be entertained. Half -a dozen pigskins were arching back and forth across the gridiron or -bounding erratically into the spectators. Jim and Jeff found a place -near the twenty-five-yard line and settled themselves, Jeff laying his -crutches down with a sigh of relief. - -“This is fine,” he murmured as he lay back with his hands beneath his -head and blinked at the sunlight. “I read somewhere once, Jim, that -every one has the――the characteristics of some animal. I guess I’m like -a cat, I’m so fond of sunlight and warmth. I could almost purr this -minute.” - -“Go ahead,” Jim laughed. “I don’t mind as long as you don’t scratch. -There comes What’s-his-name, the coach.” - -“Connell,” murmured Jeffrey. “They say he’s a dandy.” - -“He isn’t very big,” replied Jim doubtfully. “He doesn’t look much -taller than I. Guess he’s the sort to make you stand around, though; -don’t believe he’d take much nonsense. There’s Gil and Duncan Sargent. -And there’s that chap Gary, the fellow who wanted your room. He’s -pretty hefty, isn’t he?” - -“Yes.” Jeffrey rolled over and observed the scene, supported on one -elbow. “I heard a fellow say Gary had a grouch against Connell and -isn’t half playing.” - -“Johnny” shouted to the candidates and they came from all quarters of -the field and flocked about him. There seemed to be some fifty or sixty -of them altogether. - -“A lot of show I’d have,” said Jim, “in that bunch. Some of those chaps -must be nineteen years old.” - -“I dare say,” Jeffrey replied. “But that doesn’t necessarily mean much. -You are going to try, aren’t you?” - -Jim shrugged his shoulders. “I’d sort of like to,” he acknowledged, -“but I’d just make a show of myself, I guess.” - -The coach had finished his instructions and now the candidates were -forming in groups about the field. For the beginners football was still -drudgery; passing, falling on the ball, starting and tackling. But the -veterans were learning signals and getting ready for the first game -now only three days distant. The first and second squads were soon -scampering up and down the field in short rushes under the directions -of shrill-voiced quarter-backs. In Squad A a substitute had Duncan -Sargent’s place at left guard and the captain, draped in a faded red -blanket that trailed behind him and tried to trip him up in moments of -excitement, followed the play. Now and then Jim could hear him calling -a halt and laying down the law. - -“Hold on! Let’s try that again. And don’t go to sleep, Smith, this -time. They’d have got you about three yards behind your line then. Take -your time from quarter. This is a delayed pass, but not a misplaced -one. And now try again. Same signals, Arnold.” - -On this first squad Gil was at left end, Poke at right half-back and -Gary at right guard. To Jim’s surprise the fellows were not very -heavy in weight, while as to age the squad would have averaged about -seventeen. The quarter, Harry Arnold, was a mere youngster, and with -the exception of Captain Sargent himself there was no member over -eighteen. LaGrange, a big good-natured youth who played center, was but -sixteen, in spite of his size. - -Jim and Jeffrey looked on with interest. Jeffrey, who had made other -trips to the field, knew many of the more prominent players by name -and pointed them out to his companion. At the end of half an hour the -signal work ceased, the linemen were taken to the upper end of the -field for special instruction and the backs and ends were put to work -getting down under kicks. As it happened Poke took up his position at -a little distance from Jim and Jeffrey, and, turning to run back for a -long catch, caught sight of them. - -“Hello!” he shouted. “Seen Sargent, Jim?” - -Jim shook his head. Poke curled the ball against his arm and hurled it -back across the field. - -“Well, he’s looking for you. I told him you wanted to come out for the -team. Told him you were a wonderful footballist, Jim, and he’s hot on -your trail.” - -“You told him that?” cried Jim in dismay. “Why, you――you――” - -“Say it,” said Poke, keeping a watchful eye across the field at where -a substitute center was poising the ball between his legs. Jim grinned -ruefully and threw a pebble at him. - -“But you didn’t tell him any such yarn as that, did you, Poke?” he -asked. - -“I told him you were thinking of coming out, Jim, and that you’d played -the game some. Said you looked good to me. When he asks you just keep -your mouth shut tight and it will be all right.” - -With that Poke sprinted for the arching pigskin, caught it deftly -without slackening his speed and dodged the opposing end. - -“Do you suppose he did tell Sargent all that?” Jim said. - -“I dare say,” replied Jeffrey with a smile. “Poke is likely to say most -anything he thinks of. I guess you’ll soon know, though, for there’s -Sargent now.” - -The captain, having discarded his blanket, was striding across the -field toward Poke. They exchanged a few words and Poke nodded his head -toward Jim and Jeffrey. In a moment Duncan Sargent had reached them. - -“How are you, Hazard?” he began. “Endicott tells me you’ve decided to -help us out, and I’m mighty glad to hear it. We really want fellows who -know something about the game and are willing to buckle down to it. -Wish you might have come out to-day. To-morrow sure, though, eh?” - -Jim, who had climbed to his feet, looked somewhat embarrassed. - -“Why――er――I only told Endicott that I might like to try――” - -“Of course! That’s the spirit! You’ve played a good bit, haven’t you?” - -“No, not much,” answered Jim modestly. “I really don’t――” - -“In the line, I suppose?” - -“Well, yes, when I played, but I never――” - -“Fine! We need linemen, Hazard. You report to me to-morrow and I’ll put -you to work. There’s going to be a cut in a day or two and then we’ll -have some of these dubs out of the way. Don’t forget! Three-thirty!” - -And away hurried Sargent, leaving Jim flushed and uncomfortable and -Jeffrey visibly amused. - -“Now what shall I do?” asked Jim ruefully. “He evidently thinks I’m a -regular Hogan of a lineman. I wonder what Poke _did_ tell him! Why, -hang it, Jeff, I don’t even know this year’s rules!” - -“Oh, they aren’t much different from last year,” replied Jeffrey -consolingly. - -“Yes, they are; they’re different every season. Every time any one -thinks of a new wrinkle he writes to the Rules Committee about it and -they stick it in. Well, you won’t see me around here to-morrow! It’s me -for the tall timber!” - -“Oh, shucks, Jim, see it through. You can tell Sargent you aren’t a -star――” - -“Tell him! Why, didn’t I try to tell him?” exclaimed Jim irritably. “He -wouldn’t let me get a word in edgewise.” - -“He was afraid you would try to beg off,” laughed Jeffrey. - -“He didn’t give me a chance,” replied Jim ruefully. “Guess I’ll just -have to hike out to the woods or he will get me sure.” - -“I don’t think I’d do that. See it through. You’ll like it after you -get started. Why, the first game’s on Saturday. Maybe Sargent will put -you in in his place, Jim!” - -“Dry up. They’re going to scrimmage. Let’s get nearer the middle of the -field.” - -The scrimmage wasn’t very encouraging that day. There was a good deal -more fumbling than there should have been and it was plain to be seen -that neither first nor second team had thoroughly learned its signals. -When it was over Jim and Jeff cut across the field and took the road -back to Sunnywood. - -“I wonder,” mused Jim as they passed the little white house where Plato -Society held its meetings, “if being on the football team would help a -fellow to make a society.” - -“Well,” answered Jeffrey, “I suppose a fellow who is well known and -has done something for the school like playing football or baseball or -rowing in the boat naturally stands a better show than some chap who is -unknown.” - -He shot a glance at Jim’s thoughtful face and smiled to himself. A -hundred yards further on Jim spoke again. - -“I wonder,” he said, “if Gil or Poke has a book of rules.” - -When Poke came back he sought Jim and found him in the cellar swinging -the ax. - -“Hello,” he said, “what are you doing?” - -“Kindlings,” replied Jim as he dodged a piece of wood. Then he buried -the ax in the block and faced Poke. - -“Look here,” he demanded, “what did you tell Duncan Sargent about me?” - -Poke laughed. “Why?” he asked. - -“Because he evidently thinks I’m a football player and he wouldn’t give -me a chance to say anything at all; just rattled on and on and fixed it -all up that I’m to report for practice to-morrow.” - -“Did he? Well, I told you you’d be a gone coon if you once got out on -the field.” - -[Illustration: “Look here,” he demanded, “what did you tell Duncan -Sargent about me?”] - -“What did you tell him?” Jim insisted sternly. - -“Oh, just that you’d played the game and that I had an idea you’d be -a big addition to the team. It wasn’t what I really said so much as -the――the impression I managed to convey, Jim. One thing I rather dwelt -on,” he continued with a chuckle, “was that you were terribly modest -and that you were almost certain to refuse to come out for the team if -he gave you a chance.” - -“I see. Well”――Jim shrugged his shoulders――“he will be considerably -surprised to-morrow.” - -“Pshaw, that will be all right. You’ll pick it up quick enough, and -before the season’s over you’ll be thanking me on your knees for -my――er――diplomacy.” - -“Your fibs, you mean! Look here, Poke, I don’t even know what the rules -are this year.” - -“No more does any one――except Johnny; and I sometimes think he’s just -bluffing. You come up to the room after supper and Gil and I will -tell you all you need to know. Between us I dare say we’ve got a fair -inkling of the rules.” - -“All right,” Jim agreed. “But I’m going to see Sargent to-morrow before -practice and tell him the facts. I’m not going to start out under false -colors.” - -“Hm.” Poke considered that a moment. “Oh, all right. The main thing is -to come out. Got any togs?” - -“Yes, some old ones. I guess they’ll do. Guess they’ll have to. I can’t -afford to buy new ones.” - -“Good stuff! Get ’em out and we’ll look ’em over. Here, I’ll take that -up for you. You bring the coal. You know we all agreed to help out with -the chores if you went in for the team.” - - - - -CHAPTER IX - -OUT FOR THE TEAM - - -Hope was delighted. - -“I just know you’re going to be a real football hero, Jim,” she -declared earnestly. “And I shall be too proud of you for words! And -to-morrow I shall go and see you play.” - -“You’ll do nothing of the sort,” responded Jim shortly. “If I’ve got to -make a fool of myself I don’t intend to have the whole family watching -me.” - -Hope’s face fell. “But I may see you some day, mayn’t I? And I shall -bring some of the girls from school with me. There’s one, Grace -Andrews, whose brother plays on the High School team and she’s too -sticky about it for anything. We play the High School Saturday, don’t -we?” - -“Yes.” - -“Oh, I do hope they’ll let you play then, Jim! I’d love to have Grace -Andrews see you.” - -“Well, she won’t,” replied Jim grimly. “I’ll be on the awkward squad -for weeks, I suppose, and it’s a fair bet I never leave it. Besides, it -seems to me your sympathy ought to be with your own school, sis.” - -Hope considered that a moment. Then, “Well,” she sighed, “it’s a very -difficult position I’m in. Of course I’m very fond of High School, Jim, -but――but I think I’d rather have Crofton win; especially if you play. -Wouldn’t that be just perfectly jimmy?” - -“Fine! And maybe Duncan Sargent will retire and make me captain in his -place,” added Jim ironically as he started upstairs to get ready for -supper. “But, somehow, I don’t look for him to do it!” - -After supper study was delayed in Sunnywood while Gil and Poke went -over the football rules with Jim and did their best to elucidate them. -Jeffrey was on hand too, and if it had not been for him I think Jim -would have known less after the lesson than before, for Gil and Poke -proved quite at variance as to the interpretation of half the rules and -Jim was getting more and more confused when Jeffrey came to the rescue. -Gil and Poke were hotly contradicting each other as to what invalidated -a forward pass. - -“I’ll leave it to Jeff if I’m not right,” declared Poke. - -“Whereupon Jeffrey very quietly and understandingly explained Rule XIX -in all its phases, while the others listened in respectful and admiring -silence. - -“I say,” exclaimed Poke when Jeffrey had finished, “you certainly know -the rules, Senator. I’ll bet you you wrote them yourself!” - -Jeffrey smilingly denied this but acknowledged that he always studied -them very carefully each year, adding, “You see, I like to watch -football mighty well, even if I can’t play it, and unless you know the -rules of the game well enough to know just what’s being done all the -time, and why, you don’t thoroughly enjoy it.” - -“Well,” said Gil, “I guess you know them better than most of the -fellows who play. I believe I’ll get a rule book and study up a little -myself.” - -“You wouldn’t understand them,” said Poke. “It takes a chap with a -whole lot of brains to make head or tails of that stuff. Why, bless -you, fellows, I was looking through a book of rules before I left home. -Give you my word I tried the hardest I knew how to make out what it -was all about, and could I? I could――_not_! So I pitched the silly book -in the waste-basket. And I wouldn’t be at all surprised to hear that -the ashman found it and has gone crazy.” - -“Well, that’s about all you need to know at first, Jim,” said Gil. -“You’ll pick it up quick enough. The main thing is to know how to hold -a ball so it won’t bite you, to kick a little, throw a little――” - -“Won’t need to know that if he plays in the line,” said Poke. “If he -can block and break through and help the runner――” - -“Well, I guess I’ve had enough for to-night,” said Jim. “I guess I’d -better pay a little attention to my lessons. Looked at your Latin yet, -Jeff?” - -“Yes, I’ve been over it once; it looks pretty easy.” - -“For you perhaps,” replied Jim. “It won’t be for me, though.” - -“Speaking of Latin,” said Gil, “something’s due to happen to Nancy -Hanks pretty soon if he doesn’t brace up. They say J. G. is getting -very much peeved at him. There was a peach of a rough house in history -this morning, wasn’t there, Poke?” - -“Lovely! But I’m sorry for Nancy, just the same. Bull Gary makes me -tired. He’s got half a dozen of the fellows trained now so that every -time he starts something they all drop into line and poor Nancy’s life -is a positive burden to him.” - -“He shows it, too,” observed Jeffrey. “He’s getting to look as worried -and nervous as――as a wet hen.” - -“That’s so,” said Jim. “We’ve sort of let up on him in our classes. The -fun wore off after awhile.” - -“Because you haven’t any one in your bunch with the inventive genius of -Mr. Gary,” said Poke. “Bull lies awake nights, I guess, thinking up new -mischief. Somebody will just have to sit on him, Gil, and sit hard.” - -“Yes, maybe. Still, perhaps, after all, Crofton isn’t just the place -for Nancy. And if it isn’t he might as well make the discovery now as -later. I guess he knows an awful lot, but I don’t believe he can teach -it. And as for discipline, why, he doesn’t know the meaning of the -word.” - -“Oh, he knows what it means all right,” corrected Poke, “but he doesn’t -know how to go to work to enforce it. I’ll bet you he never taught -before in his life.” - -“Then what’s he been doing all these years?” asked Jim. - -“I think,” replied Jeffrey, “that he writes.” - -“Writes? Writes what?” asked Poke. - -“Books. The other day I passed his room when he happened to have left -the door open――which doesn’t very often happen, as you know――and I saw -a whole pile of paper on his desk and he was writing away like sixty -with those tortoise-shell spectacles of his on.” - -“Pshaw! Correcting papers, likely,” said Poke. - -“They weren’t papers; they were sheets all written on just alike. I -could see that easily.” - -“Wonder what sort of books he writes,” murmured Jim. - -“Oh, about Latin and history, probably,” said Poke. “Maybe they’re -text-books. He doesn’t look quite such a criminal as that, either.” - -“Well, whatever he writes,” remarked Gil, “it’s a safe bet he won’t be -doing it here much longer.” - -“Couldn’t we do something?” asked Jeffrey. “You see, after all, even -if he is a member of the faculty, he――he’s one of us, you know, a -Sunnywooder.” - -“That’s so,” agreed Poke, “and we ought to stick together. I guess -we’ll just have to read the riot act to Bull, Gil.” - -Gil half-heartedly replied that he guessed something like that would -have to be done and the conclave broke up, Jeffrey and Jim retiring -across the hall to the former’s room in which Jim had formed the custom -of studying. - -The next afternoon he accompanied Gil and Poke to the gymnasium, rented -a locker and struggled into his football togs which had grown strangely -tight in the last year. Then, in the wake of half a hundred other -fellows, they trotted down to the field and Jim sought Duncan Sargent. -He found him conferring with Johnny and waited a few steps away until -they finished talking. As it happened captain and coach were not -telling secrets and so made no effort to talk quietly, and before Jim -realized it he heard Sargent say: - -“By the way, Johnny, I’ve got a new lineman coming out this afternoon; -fellow named Hazard; big and rangy and looks good. Poke Endicott knows -him and says he’s an all right player. I’ll hand him over to you and -you give him a try with the second squad in scrimmage, will you? Let me -know how he shapes up.” - -“That’s good,” replied Johnny with enthusiasm. “We surely need better -line material than we’ve got. There isn’t a promising substitute tackle -in sight. Send him along to me and I’ll see what he can do.” - -They strolled slowly away, still talking, leaving Jim a prey to -varied emotions. He wanted to punch Poke for getting him into such -a scrape. How could he go to Sargent now and say that it was all a -mistake, that he really knew very little about the game and had only -played as a sort of third or fourth substitute on his grammar school -eleven? Why, it couldn’t be done! Rather than do that he would sneak -back to the gymnasium, get his togs off and go home. He thought hard -for a minute, while he followed the captain and trainer across the -field. After all, he reflected presently, perhaps he could play fairly -well if he had a chance. Why not accept the reputation that had been -imposed upon him without his connivance and carry things off as best -he could? After all, it wasn’t his fault, and if he disappointed them, -why, he could get out. The situation required nerve and Jim had plenty -of it when necessary. He smiled and made up his mind. They thought -him an experienced player. Well, he would do his best to keep up the -delusion. Let them find out for themselves that he was little more than -a tyro, a one-hundred-and-thirty-pound bluff in a suit that threatened -to rip at the seams every time he stretched his muscles! - -He quickened his gait and overtook Duncan Sargent. - -“What shall I do, Captain?” he asked quietly. - -“Eh? Hello, Hazard.” Sargent was so pleased that he shook hands -and Jim’s conscience smote him for an instant. Sargent was such a -dandy chap that it seemed a shame to impose on him. “Hi, Johnny! -Here a minute, please.” And as the trainer came swinging up, Sargent -continued: “This is Hazard. You know I spoke to you about him. Take him -in hand, will you, Johnny?” - -Johnny said he was glad to meet Mr. Hazard and shook hands with a grip -that made Jim wince. - -“Play in the line, don’t you?” he asked. “That’s good; we need linemen. -This is your first practice?” - -Jim agreed that it was. - -“Then I guess we’ll go easy with you. Suppose you go over there and -report to Gary; tell him I sent you. Pass the ball awhile and warm -up.” He took out a little tattered memorandum book and entered Jim, -name, age and address. “Come to me after practice, Hazard, and I’ll put -you on the scales. About a hundred and thirty, aren’t you?” - -“I haven’t weighed very recently,” replied Jim, “but I guess that’s -pretty near it.” - -“All right. By the way, ever play tackle?” - -“Yes, for awhile; and guard. And I was at full-back once or twice.” - -“You don’t look very quick on your feet,” commented Johnny, “but we’ll -get you gingered up after awhile. Don’t be afraid of sweating a little; -it will do you good.” - -Jim obediently made his way down the field to the squad indicated, and -Johnny and Sargent looked after him critically. - -“He’s well set-up,” mused Johnny, “but somehow he doesn’t handle -himself like a player. Looks slow to me, eh?” - -“Y-yes,” agreed Sargent, “but I have Endicott’s word for it that he’s a -good man, and you know Endicott’s a good judge, Johnny.” - -Jim didn’t exactly relish putting himself under Brandon Gary’s charge, -but there was evidently no help for it. Gary, looking very well in his -football togs, was looking after, with a noticeable lack of enthusiasm, -some twelve or fourteen members of the third squad who stood about in a -circle and passed the ball to each other. Jim observed that they threw -the ball by clasping it with the fingers at one end and sending it -away with a round-arm sweep that caused the pigskin to revolve on its -shorter axis; also that in catching it the fellows received it between -elbow and thigh, pulling up the right leg slightly to cradle it. When -they missed the catch they fell on the ball, snuggling it under them. -He made his way to Gary just as that youth, with an impatient glance -toward Sargent, was receiving the ball. - -“The captain told me to report to you,” said Jim. - -Gary turned and viewed him carelessly. “All right, find a place -somewhere,” he answered. Then recognition dawned and he accorded Jim -a scowl. “Here, stand over there,” he said curtly. And then, before -Jim was well in place, Gary launched the ball at him swiftly. As the -pigskin had only some eight feet to travel before it reached Jim, the -latter was quite unready for it, and although he made a desperate -attempt to capture it the ball struck his chest and bounded crazily -away across the grass. Jim trotted after it and was in the act of -picking it up when Gary bellowed: - -“Fall on it, you idiot! None of that here!” - -Jim fell. Unfortunately, confusion made him miss the ball entirely and -he had to scramble on elbows and knees for a full yard before he could -seize the exasperating oval and snuggle it under him. From behind him -came audible, if good-natured, laughter from the others. Gary alone -seemed unamused. - -“Ever see a football before?” he asked as Jim went back to his place. -Jim made no reply and the pigskin went on around the circle, _thump -thump_, with an occasional break in the monotony of the proceedings -when some one missed and had to launch himself to the turf. As the -ball went around, Jim looked over his companions. He saw none that he -recognized. All were apparently of Jim’s age or younger, and it was -plain to be seen that they constituted the awkward squad. Whenever -the ball reached Gary he tried his best to make Jim fumble it again, -now throwing it high and now low, but always as hard as he could. But -Jim, watching the others closely, emulated their way of catching and -only once dropped the ball. Then he fell on it from where he stood and -captured it very nicely. But Gary declined to let the incident pass -without a reprimand. - -[Illustration: “Ever see a football before?” he asked.] - -“Keep your eyes open, you fellow! You’re not running a boarding-house -now; this is football!” - -The allusion to the boarding-house caused other members of the squad to -observe Jim curiously, but Jim kept his temper and his tongue. A minute -afterwards the coach called them and the squad broke up. Jim walked -over to the bench and picked up a blanket, but before he had wrapped it -around his shoulders Johnny was after them. - -“Over to the dummy now! And hurry up!” - -About thirty panting youths gathered at the side of the newly spaded -pit and one by one launched themselves at the swinging canvas dummy. -Johnny himself operated the pully that sent the headless imitation of a -man swinging across the soft loam. - -“Pretty good, but tackle lower next time.” - -“Perfectly rotten, Curtis. Try it again and get off your feet. That’s -better but not good enough.” - -“All right! Next man! Wrong side. Get in front of the runner always.” - -“Too low, Page! Aim higher.” - -“Pretty fair, Hazard, but put some jump into it. Remember you’re not -patting him on the back; you’re trying to stop him――and stop him short. -Try again now.” - -Jim had never hurled himself at a tackling dummy before but he had -tackled players in a game and he strove to create the illusion that -the canvas-covered figure was real. The pully creaked, the dummy slid -across the pit, wobbling and turning, and Jim ran and dived with -outstretched arms. _Thump! Rattle!_ His nose was buried in the cold -loam and his arms were tightly wrapped about the stuffed canvas legs. -He scrambled to his feet and cast an inquiring look at the coach. -Johnny nodded noncommittally and Jim took up his place at the end of -the line again. And so it went on for twenty minutes longer. Jim’s -next try brought slight commendation with the criticism and the third -attempt went off handsomely. - -“That’s the stuff, Hazard! Just as though you meant it. Some of you -fellows go at that dummy as though you were afraid you’d hurt it. -That’ll do for to-day. Back to the bench! On the trot!” - -By now Jim was tuckered and aching, with one side of his face smeared -with dirt and his right elbow sticking forth from the faded blue -jersey he wore. But football was in his blood now and so he was highly -disappointed when Johnny called to him and ordered him once around the -field at a jog and back to the gym. - -“But I’m not tired, sir,” he ventured. Johnny scowled. - -“I didn’t ask you if you were tired,” he said shortly. “Do as I tell -you. Get on the scales after your shower and let me know your weight. -Maybe you’d better come back here after you’re dressed and watch -scrimmage. I may want to use you to-morrow.” - -So Jim jogged around the field, his eyes on the others as he went, and -wished heartily that he had come out for the team at the beginning of -the term. Had he done that, he reflected, he might now be one of the -fortunate number running through signals. Well, he reflected, he hadn’t -done so badly for the first time. He doubted if Johnny even suspected -what a green candidate he was. And he meant to learn. They thought he -could play good football and he meant to prove them right! - -Half way down the backstretch of the running track he passed near Poke -who was going through signals with the first squad. Poke waved to him -and grinned. - -“How’d you get on?” he called. - -“Pretty fair,” replied Jim. “And I hope you choke!” - -But he really didn’t. He had quite forgiven Poke by now, for without -Poke’s conspiracy he would probably not be where he was. Completing -the circuit of the field, he trotted off to the gymnasium, had his -shower, found that he tipped the scales at one hundred and thirty-one -and a half, dressed and hurried back to the gridiron just in time to -see Sargent kick off the ball for the scrimmage with the second team. -Afterwards he waited for Gil and Poke and walked home with them through -the early dusk, rather lame and tired but supremely happy. - -At the supper table football was the one subject and Mrs. Hazard alone -failed to show enthusiasm over Jim’s conversion. She was very glad, -she said, that they were going to let Jim play if he really wanted to, -but she did wish that football wasn’t quite so dangerous. Whereupon -Poke deluged her with a mass of impromptu statistics proving beyond -the shadow of a doubt that, with the possible exception of croquet, -football was the safest amusement extant. Mrs. Hazard smiled and -sighed, but remained unconvinced. Mr. Hanks did not appear at the -beginning of the meal, nor had he come down when the cake and preserves -began to circulate, and Hope was despatched to his room to summon him. -She returned alone to report that the instructor wished no supper. - -“No supper!” exclaimed Mrs. Hazard. “But he must have something, Hope. -You shall take some toast and tea up to him. I’ll set a tray when we’ve -finished. I do wish he would eat more, Jim; I’m getting real worried -about him.” - -After supper the boys returned to the porch, still talking football, -while Mrs. Hazard fixed up a tray for Mr. Hanks and Hope bore it -upstairs. Poke was narrating humorously the tale of what he called -Jim’s deception against Duncan Sargent and Johnny when Hope appeared at -the hall door, breathless and dismayed. - -“Oh, boys!” she cried. “What do you think has happened?” - -Four pairs of startled eyes questioned her. - -“Mr. Hanks is going to leave!” - - - - -CHAPTER X - -MR. HANKS ACCEPTS ADVICE - - -There was a moment of silence, broken at length by Gil. - -“Going to leave!” he exclaimed. “You’re not fooling, Hope?” - -“No. I took his tray up and he was writing at his desk. I told him he -just must eat some supper and he said we were very kind and he would -drink some tea. And then――then he was afraid he’d been a great deal of -trouble to us and that he wouldn’t be that much longer as he was going -to leave the school. And I said, ‘Oh, Mr. Hanks!’――just like that――and -he said he was sorry to leave and――and he thanked me for bringing the -tray and――and I ran out of the room because――because――” Hope’s eyes -were “because” enough. The boys looked away while she dashed a wisp of -a handkerchief across them. Poke whistled between his teeth, much out -of tune. “I――I think it’s just――just too horrid for anything!” ended -Hope tremulously. - -Jim stirred his feet uneasily and Gil cleared his throat as if to speak -and then evidently thought better of it. Hope subsided on the arm of a -porch rocker. It was Jeffrey who spoke first. - -“I’m awfully sorry,” he said. “I suppose we’re all to blame to some -extent.” - -“If he had any grit――” began Poke. - -“I’d like to punch that fellow’s head,” Jim growled. - -“What fellow? Bull Gary?” asked Gil. - -Jim nodded. - -“What are we going to do?” demanded Hope anxiously. - -“I don’t see that there’s anything we can do,” answered Gil. “I’m sorry -he’s going, for he really isn’t a bad sort. But he’d never get on -here because the fellows have found out that they can do just as they -please with him. If he’d put his foot down hard the first day and made -Bull and a few of the others walk the plank he wouldn’t have had any -trouble. As it is now I guess he’s wise to quit.” - -“That’s all well enough for you,” demurred Jim, “but we can’t afford -to lose a lodger. So, by hooky, something’s just got to be done!” - -“If we went up and asked him to stay don’t you think perhaps he would?” -asked Hope. - -“Sure! He’d do anything to oblige us,” replied Poke ironically. - -“You needn’t be sarcastic,” murmured Hope aggrievedly. “I don’t think -you’ve been very nice about it anyway, Poke.” - -There was a silence after this that lasted until Jeffrey, who had been -staring thoughtfully into the dusk, said: - -“Look here, if some one can induce Nancy to turn over a new leaf now -and――er――buck up, you know, he won’t have much trouble, will he? It -isn’t too late, is it?” - -“I’m afraid so,” said Gil. - -“I’m not,” said Poke. “But he wouldn’t do it; he doesn’t know how.” - -“Do you think he’d mind if we suggested something of the sort to him?” -pursued Jeffrey. The rest looked doubtful, but Hope broke out eagerly -with: - -“Of course he wouldn’t! He’s just as nice and――and good-natured as he -can be. Let’s do it!” - -But Poke hung back. “He’d probably tell us to mind our own miserable -business,” he objected. - -“There’d be no harm in trying it,” said Jim. “Let’s all go up and -tell him we’ve heard that he’s going to leave and that we’re sorry -and――and――” - -“And then what?” asked Poke. “Tell him he doesn’t know his business and -that he’s made a mess of things?” - -“Why not?” asked Jeffrey quietly. “It’s so, isn’t it?” - -“If you’ll do the talking,” suggested Jim, “it’ll be all right, Jeff. -What do you say, Gil?” - -“Oh, I’ll go.” - -“Will you, Poke?” - -“Not by a long shot!” - -“Oh, Poke, I think you might!” wailed Hope. “It’s partly your fault, -and you know it is, and I think you might do what you can to――to help.” - -“Gee, you talk as though I was to blame for everything,” Poke growled. -“Anybody would think――” - -“Oh, cut out the grouch,” said Gil. “Nobody’s asking you to do anything -except go up there and hear Jeff talk.” - -“I think you’d better do the talking,” objected Jeffrey. “You’re the -oldest, Gil.” - -“You can do it better. If you need help the rest of us will come to -your assistance. Ready now? Know what you’re going to say?” - -“Not exactly,” laughed Jeffrey, “but I guess I can stumble through with -it.” - -“Good!” said Jim eagerly. “Let’s go before we lose courage.” - -So, Gil and Jeffrey leading and Poke ambling along behind with his -hands in his pockets and a general expression of disapprobation about -him, the five mounted the stairs and knocked at the door of the -instructor’s room. Bidden to enter, they found Mr. Hanks at his desk, -pen in hand and a pile of manuscript at his elbow. He had taken his -tea, Hope observed, but nothing else on the tray had been touched. As -the embassy filed into the room Mr. Hanks arose from his chair with a -look of surprise and embarrassment. - -“Good evening, sir,” began Jeffrey. “May we come in for a minute if -you’re not too busy?” - -[Illustration: They found Mr. Hanks at his desk.] - -“Er――certainly! How do you do? Won’t you――won’t you be seated?” Mr. -Hanks glanced around nervously in search of accommodations. Gil and -Poke simplified matters by seating themselves on the edge of the -bed, leaving the chairs for the others. Mr. Hanks laid aside the -tortoise-shell spectacles he was wearing, pushed his manuscript aside, -drew it back again, smiled doubtfully and subsided in his chair. - -“You――er――you wanted to see me?” he asked, clearing his throat -nervously. - -“Yes, sir,” replied Jeffrey. “Hope has just told us, sir, that you are -thinking of leaving Crofton.” - -“Yes.” Mr. Hanks glanced down at his papers. “Yes, I have decided -to resign,” he replied, in tones which he strove to make sound -businesslike and matter-of-fact. - -“We’re awfully sorry to hear it, Mr. Hanks,” said Jeffrey earnestly. - -“Terribly sorry,” said Hope. - -“Very,” said Gil. - -“You bet,” said Jim. - -Poke growled something inarticulate. - -Mr. Hanks glanced around in surprise and embarrassment. - -“Why――er――that’s very good of you all, very kind of you, I’m sure,” he -murmured. “I――I regret the necessity of leaving, myself. I was getting -very fond of the school, quite attached. And this place――” he looked -about the room――“suits me very well. The light is excellent, you see, -and owing to the fact that my eyes are not what they used to be I have -to be very particular about――er――about light.” - -“Yes, sir,” said Jeffrey. “Mr. Hanks, maybe we’re sort of intruding -on your affairs, sir, but when we heard about your leaving we got to -talking it over and we decided that we’d come up here and ask you -to――to reconsider.” Mr. Hanks opened his mouth to speak, but Jeffrey -hurried on. “We may be wrong, sir, but our idea is that you’re leaving -because some of us haven’t been acting very well in class.” - -“I think I have no complaint to make about any of you young gentlemen,” -replied Mr. Hanks, looking from one to the other and allowing his eyes -to rest on Poke, for what the youth thought was an unnecessary length -of time. “But I won’t attempt to deny that your――your assumption is -correct, Latham. The fact is that I am, I find, quite unsuited to the -work here. The position I have tried to fill requires a man with more -experience than I have had.” - -“May we talk right out plain, Mr. Hanks?” asked Jeffrey. - -“Why, I think so,” replied the instructor, a trifle bewildered. - -“Then what we came up here to say, sir, is just this. There isn’t any -reason why you should leave us on account of what’s been going on in -class. Of course we fellows haven’t any right to act the way we’ve been -acting, but I guess it’s more than half your fault, Mr. Hanks. You see, -sir, if you’d started right with us we’d have behaved ourselves, but -you didn’t understand, I guess. If you’d sent a couple of fellows up to -Mr. Gordon the first time there was trouble the whole thing would have -stopped right there, but you didn’t and the fellows think now they can -do as they please. That’s where the trouble is.” - -“Er――yes――I dare say. Yes, I realize now that I should have -acted――er――differently, that I should have been――er――stern.” (Gil tried -not to grin at the thought of Mr. Hanks being stern.) “Doubtless, -I have, as you say, followed a mistaken course with the classes. I -see that now. But the damage is done, Latham, and so――so I think the -best thing to do is to retire in favor of some man who can――er――who -understands you young gentlemen better than I do.” Poke thought he -detected a faint emphasis on the word gentlemen. He hadn’t meant to -open his mouth, but he suddenly found himself speaking. - -“What’s the use, sir?” he asked. “Why don’t you stick it out and start -over, sir? Kick a few fellows out of class, send a few up to J. G. and -sock some extra work onto a few more? That’ll fix ’em in the shake of a -lamb’s tail! It isn’t too late, Mr. Hanks.” - -Mr. Hanks shook his head, however. “I’m afraid it is,” he said. -“Anything I might do now would be quite futile. They have――er――taken my -measure, so to speak.” - -“I don’t agree with you, sir,” said Gil. “I think Poke is right. I -think if you’ll start in to-morrow and sit down hard on the first -fellow who starts anything you’ll have things in shape in no time at -all. Of course, you’ll have to keep it up for awhile, sir, but it won’t -be long before the fellows will find out that you’re not to be monkeyed -with. You see, sir, the fact is none of us have anything against you; I -guess we all like you pretty well; anyhow, this bunch here does; it’s -just that here at Crofton every new faculty has to be hazed a little. -Usually they stand about so much of it and then something drops and -it’s all over. You didn’t quite understand, sir, and you let things run -along. Why not do as Poke says, Mr. Hanks? Why not stay where you are -and hit out from the shoulder once or twice?” - -“Hit out from――You don’t mean _strike_ any one?” gasped the instructor. - -“No, sir,” Gil laughed, “not actually. I mean punish some one good and -hard; set an example for the whole class.” - -“Oh!” Mr. Hanks was visibly relieved. “You――you think that -would――er――accomplish something?” - -“I’m certain of it,” replied Gil decidedly. - -“Sure to,” said Poke. - -Mr. Hanks played with his pen for a minute. Then he looked up with a -helpless smile at Gil. - -“What――what could I do?” he asked. - -“Why, sir, the first time any fellow does anything in class he -shouldn’t, call him down.” - -“Call him down?” questioned Mr. Hanks, at a loss. - -“Reprimand him, I mean. Then if he doesn’t behave send him to Mr. -Gordon. Mr. Gordon will stand back of you, sir; he always does. Take -Gary for instance, sir. If you did that just once with him he’d come -back as meek as a kitten.” - -“And what would Mr. Gordon do to him?” - -Gil shrugged his shoulders. “He might do most anything, sir. It would -depend on what Gary had done. He might put him on probation, he might -send him home for the rest of the term, he might expel him for keeps.” - -“But I shouldn’t want anything like that to happen to the boy,” said -Mr. Hanks in alarm. “He has been very trying to me; in fact, I have -sometimes suspected that in a way he has been at the bottom of most of -my troubles, what I might call a ringleader, Benton.” - -“Yes, sir, that might be,” replied Gil gravely. - -“Yes. But even so I should very much dislike to be the cause of his -being sent from school even temporarily.” - -“He wouldn’t be if you told J. G. to be easy with him,” said Poke. -“That’s what Gary needs, though, Mr. Hanks, a good scare. You throw one -into him and see what a difference it will make.” - -“I do wish you’d try it, please, sir,” said Hope. - -Mr. Hanks was silent a moment. Once he sighed deeply. Once he smiled -slightly at the pen he was rolling between his long fingers. Finally he -looked up. - -“This has been very kind of you,” he said quietly. “I appreciate -your――your interest. I thank you――all.” - -“And you’ll try it?” cried Hope eagerly. - -Mr. Hanks smiled and shook his head. “I must consider it,” he answered. -“The plan is――is revolutionary. I have great doubts of my ability in -the rôle you have assigned me. But――I will think it over.” - -“And meanwhile you’ll stay, won’t you, sir?” asked Jim anxiously. - -“Yes, I shall――er――postpone any action in regard to my resignation -for the present. I――I have no wish to leave here. My room is very -comfortable and the light is――er――excellent.” - -“Well, we don’t want you to leave,” said Poke gruffly. “And I guess you -won’t need to if you take our advice, sir. Good night, sir.” - -“Good night,” responded Mr. Hanks, rising, “good night. I thank you all -very much.” - -“Shall I take your tray away?” asked Hope. - -“Eh? Why――er――no. I rather think I’ll eat a little of the――er――whatever -it is. I really feel a bit hungry.” - - - - -CHAPTER XI - -ON THE SECOND - - -Whether Mr. Hanks meant to profit by the advice so frankly given -him remained a question for several days. On Friday his classes in -Latin and history presented the usual disordered appearance and the -instructor’s attitude remained the same. It seemed to Gil, however, -that Mr. Hanks was a little quieter and a little less nervous than -usual; that he was silently studying the situation. But Gil may only -have imagined that. There were no actual outbreaks of disorder on -Friday, although Brandon Gary and his crowd indulged to their hearts’ -content in minor annoyances. Saturday Mr. Hanks had only classes in -Latin and for almost the first time since his appearance at Crofton -recitations went off quietly and in order, due to the fact that the -first football game of the season was to be played that afternoon and -every fellow in school was much too absorbed in that to have either -time or inclination for mischief. - -On Friday Jim had weathered another day of practice without results -damaging to his reputation for skill and experience. He had signal -practice with the third squad and by dint of maintaining an appearance -of ease and doing what the others did as best he could he had managed -to deceive even Johnny Connell. Johnny was puzzled however. He confided -as much to Duncan Sargent. - -“I don’t understand how he can handle himself as awkwardly as he does, -Cap,” said Johnny. “He seems to know what to do all right, but he makes -all sorts of false moves while he’s doing it.” - -“He can play, though, can’t he?” asked Sargent, his mind only half on -the subject. - -“Yes, it looks so,” answered Johnny. - -“Well, let’s see what we can do with him. If we take Curtis from the -second squad we’ll need some one in his place who can put up a fight -against Cosgrove. Think Hazard would fit in?” - -“I guess so. He’s got the build and he’s strong as a colt――and just -about as awkward. Of course, that may be because he hasn’t had much -practice.” - -“I shouldn’t wonder,” murmured the captain. “What time is it? Can we -start the scrimmage?” - -On Saturday all Sunnywood went to the game, Gil and Poke to play, Jim -to sit on the substitutes’ bench, Jeffrey, with Mrs. Hazard and Hope -as his guests, to follow the play with the keenest enjoyment and to -elucidate to his companions what everything meant. Crofton High School -was not a dangerous opponent, although in the matter of practice she -was a whole fortnight ahead of Crofton. Her work showed a finish that -was quite absent from that of the home eleven and only the fact that -her team was lighter and her plays old fashioned allowed Crofton -to win the contest. At the end of the second period Crofton had a -touchdown and a safety to her credit and High School had only once been -dangerous. Then a try at goal from the twenty-five yards had gone badly -astray. In the third period four substitutes went in for Crofton and -there was no scoring by either team. The fourth period began for the -Crimson-and-Gray with what was practically an entirely new eleven, only -Tearney at right end and Poke at right half remaining in. The periods -were ten minutes long and when only six minutes of the game remained -Crofton High began to make headway through the Academy’s line and at -last secured a second try at goal from the field. This time her kicker -was successful from the thirty-two-yard line and High School chalked -three points to her credit. It was after that feat, while the teams -were resuming their places for the kick-off, that Johnny beckoned to -Jim, who, sandwiched in between big Andy LaGrange, the first string -center, and “Punk” Gibbs of the second, had been comfortably watching -the progress of the conflict with no thought of participating. Jim -stared unbelievingly until Johnny called him impatiently and Gibbs dug -an unkind elbow against his ribs. Then Jim squirmed from the bench and -struggled with his sweater. - -“Go in for Curtis at left tackle,” said Johnny. “You know the signals, -don’t you?” - -Jim nodded, trying hard to recall one single thing about them! - -“All right. Hurry up. Show me what you can do. And play low, Hazard!” - -Jim sped out on to the gridiron, searching wildly for the referee, his -heart thumping alarmingly as he realized that he was to take part in -an actual contest. He found the official, sent Curtis off grumbling -and took his place. Perhaps luckily for Jim he was not called on for -any special feats of prowess during the short time that remained, for -he was decidedly nervous. To his credit, however, it may be said that -he broke through well and, on the defense, held his adversary fairly. -There was no more scoring and just as Jim had regained his confidence -and was beginning to enjoy the fray the final whistle was blown and it -was all over, the score 7 to 3 in favor of the Academy. - -In the gymnasium later Jim ran into Duncan Sargent. Sargent, his -powerful body, scantily draped with a bath towel, glowing from the -effects of a shower, stopped him. - -“Good work, Hazard,” he said cordially. “I watched you to-day. Keep it -up and we’ll find a place for you before the season’s done. There’s -just one thing, though, old man, and that is: _Play low!_ Try to -remember that, will you?” And the captain passed on with a smile and a -nod, leaving Jim very pleased and a little remorseful. - -Perhaps no one was more delighted with the events of the afternoon -than Hope. She made heroes of Gil and Poke and Jim, and especially Jim. -“You played perfectly jimmy!” she declared. “And I saw Grace Andrews -there and I was just as proud and sticky as――as anything! Wasn’t it too -funny, Jim, you should have played against her brother?” - -“Was that who he was?” asked Jim. “I didn’t know his name. He’s pretty -light for a tackle.” - -(Jim, you see, was already talking like an expert.) - -“Well, anyhow, you played all around him. Jeff said so. And we beat -them, didn’t we?” - -“We ought to. We were pounds heavier, sis.” - -“I wish you could have seen Lady when Jeff told her that you were going -to play. She covered up her face with her hands and then looked through -her fingers every minute!” - -That was Jim’s baptism by fire and those few minutes of play gave him -new courage to go on with his rôle. On Monday practice was lengthened -and the work became a good deal like drudgery. One had to have a real -passion for football in order to really get any enjoyment out of the -proceedings. For the first part of the week scrimmaging was abandoned -entirely, and Johnny, who had detected a lack of fundamental knowledge -in the players, took them back to first principles, and even Duncan -Sargent himself was put to tackling the dummy and handling the ball. On -Thursday the one scrimmage of the week was held and Jim fought through -ten minutes on the second team at left tackle and had his hands very -full in keeping Cosgrove and Shepard, who opposed him, from making him -look like the inexperienced player he was. But Jim kept his wits about -him, worked hard, bluffed harder, and pulled through creditably. And -every day now he was gaining knowledge and knack and football sense. -And every day the awkwardness which had puzzled the trainer was wearing -off. Jim had strength of body and plenty of sound sense, and he was -developing both every day. And so, by the end of that week, the school -was taking notice of him and fellows were discussing his chance of -ousting Curtis from the second team. In short, he had made good. And -Poke was as pleased as might be. - -“What did I tell you, Jimmy, my boy?” he asked that Friday night. -“Didn’t I tell you I’d make a real player out of you? Didn’t I tell -you you’d be down on your knees thanking me for my efforts in your -behalf, you ungrateful pup?” - -“Well, I’m not going down on my knees,” laughed Jim. “They’re much too -lame.” - -“Look here, Jim,” broke in Jeffrey excitedly, “if you can manage to get -on the first team before the season’s through think what it would mean! -Why, out of eleven men there’d be three from Sunnywood!” - -“Rah for Sunnywood!” cried Poke. “Don’t you worry, Senator; Jim will -make the first yet. I’ve got it all doped out. Listen, my children: -Marshall won’t last long. He’s a good player, but he had whooping cough -or something――” - -“Measles,” corrected Gil. - -“Well, measles, then, in the summer, and he can’t stand the pace. -Johnny sees that already. That’s why Curtis has been playing at left -tackle in practice. But Curtis is too slow. He may stay first choice, -but it’s pounds to pennies that if Jim keeps on coming he will find -himself first sub when the Hawthorne game comes along. Now you fellows -mark my words!” - -“You’re a wonderful little prophet, Poke,” said Gil. “Still, I -shouldn’t be surprised if things turned out something like that. Keep -it up, Jim. You’re doing fine!” - -“Think I’ll get in to-morrow?” asked Jim anxiously. - -“Sure to for a while,” replied Poke. “Why, Dun Sargent’s tickled to -death with you. He’s thanked me half a dozen times for getting you out. -And now he thinks I’m the one best bet as a football scout. Wants me -to keep my eyes open and find him a good left end in Gil’s place.” And -Poke scampered before Gil could reach him. - -Jim did get into the next day’s game, just as Poke had predicted, and -although he had one bad fumble to his discredit he played a good game -through one whole period and more than atoned for his fault. And Jim -was not the only one to fumble the pigskin that day. Even Gil lost the -chance of a clean touchdown by letting the ball roll out of his arms -when tackled on the five-yard line, while Arnold, the quarter-back, -twice offended. But in spite of these misadventures Crofton had no -trouble in rolling up seventeen points against her adversary. - -Meanwhile Mr. Hanks had given no sign. There was less trouble in his -classes nowadays, possibly because the whole school was so much -interested in football, and it began to look as though the instructor’s -troubles were over. But on the following Tuesday, Brandon Gary, -realizing possibly, that he had neglected his duties as a cut-up, gave -his attention again to Mr. Hanks. That was at five minutes past ten. - -At a quarter past ten Gary was sitting in Mr. Gordon’s office. - -At twelve o’clock it was known all over school that Bull Gary was on -probation. - - - - -CHAPTER XII - -GARY IS SURPRISED - - -Let Gil and Poke tell about Gary’s surprise party, for they were -eye-witnesses. - -“You could have knocked me over with a feather,” declared Poke――the -four Sunnywood boys were on their way back to the cottage at noon――“and -I never thought Nancy Hanks had it in him! Here’s the way it was. Most -of the class were in their seats and Mort Nichols――he’s monitor, you -know――was calling the roll. When he got to the G’s he skipped Bull’s -name because he could see that Bull wasn’t there. Mort’s rather a -chum of Bull’s, you know. But Nancy was on to him. ‘You’ve left out a -name, Nichols,’ says he. ‘Go back, please.’ So Mort gets sort of red -and calls, ‘Gary.’ And Bull, who had just come loafing in at the door -says, ‘Dead on the field of battle,’ and the fellows began to laugh. It -really was funny, wasn’t it, Gil?” - -“Rather.” - -“Pshaw! You laughed, too. I saw you. Well, Nancy never turned a hair――” - -“The funny thing,” interrupted Gil, “was the way Mr. Hanks was looking. -He was sort of white and frightened and he had his mouth set in a -straight line like――like this.” And Gil illustrated. “I never saw him -look that way before.” - -“And he had a funny little sparkle in his eyes,” said Poke. “Did you -notice that, Gil?” - -“Yes. He really looked kind of dangerous and I was mighty glad I wasn’t -Bull Gary just then.” - -“Well, get on with your story,” said Jim. “Then what happened?” - -“Then,” replied Gil, “Mr. Hanks said, ‘Are we to understand by that -cryptic remark, Gary, that you desire to be marked as present?’ And -Bull was so flabbergasted that all he could do was stammer, ‘Y-yes, -sir.’ ‘Mark Gary present,’ said Mr. Hanks. So Mort went on with the -roll and we began the recitation, all the fellows looking at each other -and wondering what had happened to Mr. Hanks. Marshall was reciting -when there was a crash at the back of the room. It seems that Bull -had reached out with his foot and poked over a pile of books on Punk -Gibbs’ desk. Mr. Hanks held up a hand and Marshall stopped. ‘Whose -books are those?’ he asked. ‘Mine, sir,’ replied Punk very, very -meekly. ‘Pick them up, please.’ So Punk picked them up and put them -back and the room was very quiet. Every one was grinning, but no one -made a sound. Marshall started off again when――_bang!_ went the pile of -books once more. Mr. Hanks lifted his hand. ‘Whose books are those?’ -he asked again. ‘Mine,’ said Punk, looking sort of scared. ‘Pick them -up, please.’ ‘I didn’t knock them off,’ grumbled Punk. ‘Who did?’ asked -Mr. Hanks. But Punk wouldn’t tell. Then Mr. Hanks said, ‘The student -who pushed those books onto the floor will kindly pick them up.’ No -one moved for a minute. ‘We will wait,’ said Mr. Hanks, and sat down -again in his chair. Finally Punk grumbled something and started to pick -them up, when Mr. Hanks said: ‘Let them alone, Gibbs!’ And Punk sat -up as though he was shot. Another minute or so passed. Some one began -to snigger nervously at the back of the room. ‘Who’s that laughing?’ -asked Mr. Hanks. After that there wasn’t a sound. Finally Mr. Hanks -looked at the clock. ‘I’ve given you plenty of time,’ he said, ‘but you -may have thirty seconds more in which to replace those books,’ and he -looked straight at Bull. Bull grinned, but didn’t move.” - -“Just the same,” broke in Poke, “he was getting pretty nervous.” - -“We all were,” said Gil. “Finally Mr. Hanks said, ‘Time’s up, Gary. -You’re delaying the recitation.’ ‘I didn’t knock them off,’ said Bull -in his ugliest tones. ‘You didn’t?’ asked Mr. Hanks very quietly. -‘Think well, Gary, before you answer.’ Bull looked around and grinned. -‘No, I didn’t,’ said he. And then Mr. Hanks, our quiet little Nancy -Hanks, exploded a bombshell. ‘Report to Mr. Gordon, Gary,’ said he -sternly. Bull sat and looked at him with his mouth wide open, too -surprised to speak, and the rest of us just gasped. Finally Bull said, -‘What for, sir?’ in that bullying way of his, and Mr. Hanks came back -at him like a flash. ‘For disturbance in class and lying!’ he said!” - -“And that,” murmured Poke, “was the way the battle was fit.” - -“Gee!” said Jim. “Gary must have been surprised.” - -“Did he go right away?” asked Jeffrey. - -“Like a lamb,” answered Gil. “And then, ‘Please continue, Marshall,’ -said Mr. Hanks. And there wasn’t a better-behaved class in school than -we were!” - -“Just what we told him would happen,” declared Poke. “He ought to be -mighty grateful to us for giving him the tip.” - -“He will probably send up a set of engraved resolutions, thanking us,” -said Jim dryly. - -“What I want to know is,” remarked Jeffrey as they passed through the -cottage gate, “what the team’s going to do without Gary at right guard.” - -“I wonder myself,” mused Gil as they took their places on the porch. -“Probably they’ll bring Parker over from the second. But it’s going to -weaken the team like anything.” - -“How long will J. G. keep him on pro?” asked Poke. - -“Search me. Maybe he will let him back in time for the big game. That’s -not much more than a month away now.” - -“I hope he will,” said Jeffrey. “We certainly need him in the line.” - -“But think of Nancy rearing up and being saucy like that!” marveled -Poke. “I could hardly believe my own little eyes, fellows!” - -“It’s a case of the worm will turn,” observed Jeffrey. - -“And here comes the worm,” whispered Jim. - -Mr. Hanks came along the road with a bundle of blue books under his -arm. He had discarded his straw hat for a faded black Fedora that was -perhaps two sizes too large for him and that settled down over his -forehead in a desperate and rakish manner. To-day it seemed to the boys -on the porch that the instructor held his head more erect and stepped -out more briskly. When he came up the steps they were all on their feet -and unconsciously there was a new respect in the way in which they -stood at attention and took off their caps. Mr. Hanks bowed his jerky -bow and passed them silently. When he was heard mounting the stairs Jim -observed thoughtfully: - -“‘Nancy’ doesn’t seem to fit him so well to-day, fellows.” - -Naturally enough Mr. Hanks’ astounding change from the meek and lowly -victim to the high-handed martinet was a nine days’ wonder. During -that nine days three other members of his classes were punished in -various ways and from that time on recitations in Latin and history -were conducted with a decorum that soon became the envy of other -instructors. Mr. Hanks never spoke to Gil or Poke, Jim or Jeffrey about -the matter, nor did he ever show them any special consideration in -class, but in some way they all understood that he was grateful, and -with their new respect for him was a stronger liking. - -In the meanwhile football affairs were at sixes and sevens for the -better part of a week, for Gary’s probation prohibited him from taking -part in athletics and when he left the team the team lost one of its -strongest units. Parker was tried, but found wanting. Springer, left -guard on the second, was brought across to the first but fared badly in -the first game played. Finally Cosgrove, right tackle on the first, was -moved to Gary’s vacant place, and Curtis, of the second, was promoted -to right tackle on the first. Whereupon, presto!――Mr. James Hazard -found himself with disconcerted suddenness playing left tackle on the -second team! And the season was half over and already the Hawthorne -game loomed large and impending on the horizon. - -To say that Jim was pleased is putting it but mildly. To say that he -was secretly alarmed is no more than the truth. It is one thing to -serve as a substitute and be put in for five or ten minutes when the -game is safe and quite another to be a first string man. On defense -Jim found himself opposed to Tearney, right end on the first, and that -was not so bad, but on the attack he had Cosgrove in front of him and -Cosgrove was an old and experienced player with a most irritating trick -of coaxing Jim off-side, for which, for the first week or so, Jim was -forever being censured by coach and captain and quarter-back. Of course -playing on the second team is not as momentous an affair as being on -the ’varsity, but it’s the next biggest thing, and if any one thinks -that a second team doesn’t take itself very seriously they should have -watched proceedings at Crofton that fall. The second, captained by -Page, the tiny quarter-back, went into every tussle as though the fair -honor of Crofton was in their keeping. The second regretted the loss of -Curtis, but speedily made Jim welcome to their ranks. He soon got close -to several fellows well worth knowing and within a fortnight was “Jim” -to every member of the team. - -At Sunnywood, true to their promise, Gil and Poke assisted in the -household duties every morning and evening. Mrs. Hazard had instead of -one majordomo three cheerfully willing assistants. Chilly weather had -come and the furnace had begun its duty, and in the morning the three -boys descended to the cellar and put it in shape, raking out ashes -and sifting them, shoveling coal, picking over cinders and splitting -kindling for the kitchen. Jeffrey, although barred from taking an -active part in the chores, made himself useful whenever possible. In -the evening a somewhat similar program was carried out, and at ten -o’clock Poke, who had evolved certain theories for the scientific -management of furnaces, went down and fixed the fire for the night. In -this way Jim had plenty of time to pursue the gentle art of football. - -[Illustration: Gil and Poke assisted in the household duties.] - - - - -CHAPTER XIII - -POKE ON CANOES - - -It was shortly after Mr. Hanks’ disconcerting assumption of the rôle of -despot that Jeffrey crossed the hall to Gil and Poke’s room one Friday -evening. - -“Are you fellows still grinding?” he asked. - -“We are still studying,” responded Poke. “Please try to abstain from -slang, Mr. Latham. I don’t care so much about myself, but it sets a bad -example for my friend across the table. I have to be very careful about -him. His parents have placed him in my charge, you see. Well, what’s on -your mind, old top?” - -“I’ve been thinking,” said Jeffrey gravely. - -“I know.” Poke nodded sympathetically. “It does make you feel sort of -queer, doesn’t it? Have a glass of water?” - -“That might give him water on the brain,” observed Gil, looking up from -his book. - -Poke observed him sorrowfully. “Your humor, Gil, is heavy, very heavy. -Go on with your Latin, my poor fellow.” - -“How the dickens can I, when you two chaps are talking?” asked Gil -mildly, pushing his book away. - -“I thought you’d be through,” said Jeffrey. “I’ll come in again later.” - -“Sit still, Jeff. I am through. I was just taking a fall out of -Monday’s stuff. Where’s Jim?” - -“Over there; studying math.” Jeffrey indicated his room with a jerk of -his head. “I’ve been thinking――” - -“You said that before,” interrupted Poke sweetly. - -“Shut up, Poke! Let him think if he wants to. Just because you never do -it――” - -“Let him tell it, Gil, can’t you? Always interrupting and annoying -folks with your beastly chatter. Go ahead, Jeff; don’t mind him; you’ve -been thinking; now what’s the rest? Bet you I know the answer!” - -Jeff aimed a blow at Poke’s shins with the end of a crutch and Poke -kicked his feet up just in time. “He’s getting crutchity, Gil,” he said -sadly. - -Gil threatened him with a book from the table and Poke retired to the -other side of the room. - -“You see,” said Jeff, taking advantage of Poke’s retreat to state his -errand, “you see, fellows, I’ve been thinking――” - -There was a chuckle from the window seat which turned quickly into a -cough as Gil swung around in that direction, the book still in his -hand. Jeffrey smiled. - -“Thinking,” he went on, “about getting a canoe.” - -“Gee, but I’m glad you aren’t thinking about getting a steam yacht!” -ejaculated Poke. “You’d have brain fever by this time!” - -“They say there’s a man named Sandford up the river who makes corkers.” - -“There is; at Riverbend. There are two or three up there who make -canoes,” replied Gil. - -“Well, I’ve always heard that Sandford’s were the best. I think――” - -“He’s at it again!” groaned Poke, who had fortified himself with half a -dozen cushions. “He’s at it again!” - -“I think I’ll buy one. Oughtn’t I get a pretty good one for thirty -dollars, Gil?” - -“I really don’t know, Jeff. Never bought a canoe in my life. I would -think so, though. How about it, Poke?” - -“Oh, am I to be allowed to speak?” asked Poke in a muffled voice from -behind his breastworks. “Had to come to old Poke when you wanted to -know something, didn’t you?” - -“Oh, shut up, you idiot!” laughed Gil. “How much do canoes cost?” - -Poke emerged in a shower of cushions. “Canoes?” he asked. “Well now, -what kind of canoes? There are canvas canoes, wooden canoes, paper -canoes, birch-bark canoes, steel canoes, dug-outs――” - -“Dug-outs, of course,” replied Gil sarcastically. “Those are what -Sandford makes, I suppose?” - -“Irony doesn’t become you,” responded Poke critically. “Irony, Gil, -should be indulged in only by those having an iron constitution. -Returning to the subject of canoes and the cost thereof――” - -“Thirty dollars will probably buy you a first-class one, Jeff,” Gil -interrupted. “When are you going to――” - -“Thirty dollars will buy a very fair one only,” Poke corrected. “Allow -me, if you please, to speak on this subject. I suppose there is no -one in Crofton who has more knowledge of canoes than I, Jeff. Canoes -are――are an open book to me. I can tell you where to buy them, how -to buy them, when to buy them――and when not to! Also, I have full -knowledge of what to feed them and how to bring them up. I suppose I’ve -brought up more canoes――” - -“Honestly, Poke, you’re silly,” said Gil disgustedly. “We’re talking -seriously, so shut up or get out, will you?” - -“I can be just as serious as you can, you old Mr. Grouch!” Poke -returned to his chair at the table, wearing an expression of intense -dignity. “Sandford’s eighteen-foot canoe, Jeff, costs forty-two -dollars, but you can get a dandy sixteen-footer for thirty-five. It -isn’t finished quite as nicely, I believe. Sometimes you can pick up a -good second-hand one up there. Perky Wright has one he only paid about -fifteen for. I don’t think it came from Sandford, though. What’s that -other fellow’s name up there, Gil?” - -“I don’t know. There are two or three others, aren’t there? Was Perky’s -second-hand when he got it, Poke?” - -“Yes, and he had the fellow paint it all up as good as new. You’d -never have known it had been used before he got it, Jeff.” - -“I think I’d rather have a brand-new one,” said Jeff doubtfully. “And I -wouldn’t want an eighteen-footer; sixteen is long enough. Couldn’t you -fellows go up there with me in the morning and help me buy it?” - -“I guess so,” Gil answered. “We’d have to go early, though; dinner’s at -twelve to-morrow on account of the game.” - -“We can go up on the train,” said Poke. “Take the eight-something and -be there in five minutes.” - -“I thought we might paddle up,” suggested Jeff. “It wouldn’t take very -long.” - -“Hm, and who would do the paddling?” asked Poke with elaborate -carelessness. - -“I’d do most of it,” Jeffrey replied, “if some one would take a hand in -the bow.” - -“That’s Gil, then. He’s tried it and I never have. How many can we get -in a canoe? Is Jim going along?” - -“No, he says he can’t. But I thought we might take Hope if she’d like -to go.” - -“Four of us in one frail bark?” demurred Poke. - -“Of course; easy as pie.” - -“I’ve seen six fellows in some of our canoes here,” said Gil. “But I’m -afraid you and I’ll be a bit tired by the time we reach Riverbend, -Jeff. However, we can come back with the current.” - -“Gee,” exclaimed Poke, “I wish we didn’t have a game to-morrow. We -could take some grub with us and have a picnic.” - -“Fine! Couldn’t we do it anyway?” Jeff asked eagerly. - -“Why not, Poke? Johnny will let us off,” said Gil. “We’ll get Lady to -put us up a nice big basket of grub and we’ll find a place along the -river and have a fine old time! Why can’t Jim come along?” - -“He says he has to attend to some things around the house in the -morning,” answered Jeff. - -“Shucks! Where is he? I’ll attend to him!” And Poke disappeared across -the hall. - -“We’ll have to make sure and be back by one-thirty,” said Gil. “Game’s -at two-thirty to-morrow, you know. We’ll put on our old things so we -can fall overboard if we want to. By the way, Jeff, what would happen -to you if the old thing did upset?” - -“I’d swim ashore, I hope,” laughed Jeff. - -“Really? Can you swim with――with those?” Gil was looking at the -crutches. - -“No, I usually leave these behind when I go in swimming,” replied -Jeffrey with a smile. “Swim is one thing I can do fairly well, Gil. -Funny, though, isn’t it? I suppose I do most of it with my good leg, -although I seem to get some push with the other, too. If we upset, you -look after yourself; don’t worry about me; I dare say I’d be ashore as -soon as you.” - -“Here he is!” cried Poke in the doorway. He had Jim by the coat -collar. “Now apologize to Mr. Latham for so rudely refusing his kind -invitation!” - -“I apologize,” laughed Jim. - -“Then you’ll go with us?” cried Jeffrey. - -Jim hesitated. “I oughtn’t to,” he began. - -“Oh, feathers!” said Poke, giving him a shake. “Of course you’ll come. -What have you got to do here, I’d like to know?” - -“Lots of things; lay a carpet, for one.” - -“Lay it after you get back,” suggested Jeffrey. - -“I want to see the game, thank you. Maybe, though, I can do it -to-morrow evening.” - -“Of course you can; carpets lay better in the evening, anyhow.” And -Poke released his prisoner. - -“Will Hope come along?” asked Jeffrey. - -“I guess so,” Jim replied. “Want me to find out?” - -“Yes, and say, Jim, while you’re about it see if Lady will get up some -sandwiches and things for us, will you?” - -“Of course she will.” Jim went out to seek his mother and sister, and -Poke began to chuckle. - -“What are you crying about?” asked Gil. - -“Oh, nothing much, thank you. I was just wondering which of us, if -Hope comes, is to swim. For I’ll be switched if I want to go five in a -canoe.” - -“That’s so,” said Jeff. “I hadn’t thought of that. Couldn’t we take two -canoes, Gil?” - -“If we can get them, but some one will have to get to the boat-house -pretty early or they’ll be taken; that is, if it’s a decent day. And -who will paddle the second one?” - -“Jim,” replied Jeffrey. “He can paddle very well now. I’ve been showing -him how.” - -“And who will take the bow paddle?” asked Poke uneasily. - -“You, you lazy dub,” responded Gil promptly. “If you can’t paddle a -canoe it’s time you learned how. You and Jeff can go in one canoe, with -Hope, and Jim and I will take the other.” - -“All right, but don’t blame me if something awful happens. I am subject -to cramps, and if I have a cramp I can’t paddle, and if I can’t paddle -we’ll upset, and if we upset――” - -“You’ll get wet,” ended Jeffrey. “So I guess we’ll let you and Jim take -care of the luncheon, Gil.” - -“I won’t go if you’re going to put the luncheon in his care,” declared -Poke. “Why, there wouldn’t be a smutch of it left by the time we got to -Riverbend. I insist on staying close to the grub!” - -“As close as you want, but in another boat, sweet youth,” replied Gil. -“Here’s Jim. What did she say, Jim?” - -“Which she? Lady says she will give us all the lunch we want and Hope -says she would like to go very much indeed. To be quite exact, fellows, -she said it would be ‘perfectly jimmy!’” - - - - -CHAPTER XIV - -UP THE RIVER - - -They were off at nine o’clock the next morning, Jeffrey and Poke in -one canoe and Jim and Gil and Hope in another. The basket of luncheon -reposed between Jeffrey and Poke, the latter declaring that it was -needed as ballast. Their canoe was not a very good one and was the -smaller of the two, and Poke had only secured it, from two juniors who -were in possession of it when he arrived at the boat-house, by his -moving eloquence. It was a fine autumn morning, warm and sunny, and it -seemed that the whole school had elected to spend the forenoon on the -river. For the first quarter of a mile the stream was alive with canoes -and skiffs. Then the throng dwindled and soon the voyagers had the -river to themselves. - -Poke was making hard work of paddling, although all that Jeffrey -required of him was “push,” as he put it. “Just stick your blade in, -Poke, and push it back. I’ll look after the steering.” - -“That’s all very well,” answered Poke, “but I keep skinning my knuckles -on the side of the canoe.” - -“Then put your left hand higher up on the paddle,” Jeffrey laughed. -“And when you get tired, change over to the other side.” - -“I’m not comfortable,” Poke grumbled presently. “This thing you call a -seat is as hard as a rock. Why don’t they have cushions in canoes?” - -“Some do,” Jeffrey replied. “When I get mine I’ll have a cushion -especially for you, Poke, with your initials on it.” - -“Just as long as you don’t ask me to sit on it, all right. I say, Gil, -how are you getting on?” - -“Pretty well, thank you. How are you?” - -“Oh, fine! I guess I’m doing most of the work from the feeling of my -arms. Say, wouldn’t it be great if the silly old river would run the -other way for awhile?” - -“I wish there was another paddle,” said Hope disconsolately. “I could -help if there were.” - -“You’d upset the canoe if you tried to paddle from the middle,” said -Jim. “How much further is it, Gil?” - -“About a mile, I guess. Getting tired?” - -“N-no; a little. It surely gets your muscles, doesn’t it?” - -“It surely does!” agreed Gil. “It’s getting muscles I didn’t know I -had!” - -“Keep farther away,” warned Poke. “I need lots of room when I paddle, -and you make me nervous when you come so close. Get out or I’ll splash -you, Gil!” - -“Don’t you try it, son! And for goodness’ sake don’t wriggle around so -in your seat. If you upset we’ll lose the luncheon. I knew we oughtn’t -to have let you take it.” - -“Isn’t it most time for luncheon now?” asked Poke. “We might just rest -a while and have a sandwich, eh?” - -“Get out! It isn’t ten o’clock yet,” Gil jeered. - -“Isn’t it?” asked his chum pathetically. “My arms feel as though it was -twelve!” - -“Rest awhile,” said Jeffrey from the stern. “I can work it alone here. -The current isn’t so hard now.” - -“No, I’ll keep at it until I fall in a swoon,” answered Poke. “One -arm’s numb clear to the elbow now and doesn’t hurt so much. I dare say -I’ll soon be beyond all pain.” - -“Let’s paddle in to the bank,” Jim suggested, “and take a rest. I’m -just about all in, fellows.” - -So they turned the canoes to where the branches of the trees overhung -a little stretch of pebbly beach and ran the bows of the craft ashore. -Poke laid his dripping paddle across his knees, murmured “Good night!” -and apparently sank into slumber. They were all, excepting Jeffrey and -Hope, glad of the respite, for paddling against the current, even for -those accustomed to it, is no light task. Hope wanted to get out and -“explore,” but her brother hard-heartedly commanded her to sit still -and not overturn the canoe. - -“Isn’t the river perfectly beautiful!” she exclaimed. - -There was a deep sigh from Poke. “It is indeed paradise,” he murmured. -Presently he raised his head and looked about him, passing a hand -across his damp forehead. “Where am I?” he asked dazedly. “Ah, I -remember all! I thought ’twas but a dream!” - -“Well, suppose we dream some more,” laughed Jeffrey. “After we get to -Riverbend we can rest as long as we want to. You fellows ready?” - -“Yes, come on,” answered Jim. “Push her off, Gil.” - -“Aren’t we going to have our luncheon now?” asked Poke in injured -surprise. “Only the thought of food has kept me alive thus far. Let’s -every one have a sandwich, fellows, just one miserable little sandwich.” - -“Oh, come on, Poke,” said Gil. “Get a move on. Jeff wants to buy his -canoe some time to-day.” - -“Well, just a half a sandwich,” pleaded Poke. “Honest to goodness, -fellows, I’m faint with hunger and fatigue.” - -“Shall I give him one?” asked Jeffrey laughingly. - -“Not a bite!” replied Gil. “He wouldn’t do another stroke of work if -you fed him now. All he wants to do after he has eaten is lie down and -go to sleep.” - -“Gee, I want to do that now!” ejaculated Poke, raising his paddle -wearily and pushing the bow of the canoe from the sand. “When I fall in -a dead faint in the bottom of the canoe you fellows will be sorry you -treated me so meanly. Jeff, will you push the basket this way a little -farther, please? I just want a smell of it to encourage me!” - -A half-mile farther up the stream they began to encounter other -crafts. Riverbend was a veritable canoeing center and on fair days, -and especially on Saturdays and holidays, hundreds of persons were -to be found on the river thereabouts. As early as it was, the stream -was pretty well populated as they drew near their destination. There -were red canoes and blue canoes and white canoes and green canoes, and -canoes of half a dozen other colors or tints. Many of them were really -luxurious, with mahogany seats and embroidered cushions, while one -craft that they passed, occupied by a man and a woman, was floating -lazily down the stream with a graphophone playing in the bow. That was -too much for Poke. He stopped paddling and stared at it most impolitely -with open mouth. Finally he shook his head. - -“It’s no use,” he said discouragedly. “I can’t do any more. My mind is -wandering. I’m seeing things and hearing music!” - -“Well, we’re just about there, I guess,” laughed Jeffrey. “There’s a -boat-house ahead of us now, although I don’t know that it’s the one we -want.” - -“I will essay a few more faltering strokes then,” replied Poke. “Shall -you have one of those music affairs in your canoe, Jeff, or are you -going to have a church organ?” - -“A music box, I guess. There’s our place, Poke; see the sign?” - -Poke shook his head. “I see nothing clearly,” he muttered. “All is a -blur before me.” - -“There’s Sandford’s,” called Gil from the other canoe which had drawn -ahead. “Shall we go over there now?” - -“Yes, let’s look at his canoes first. Then we’ll have something to eat, -eh?” - -“Eat!” shouted Poke. “Who said eat? Do my ears deceive me?” - -“Back water!” commanded Jeffrey. “That was a narrow squeak, Poke.” A -pea-green canoe crossed their bow, while the single occupant of it -asked them scathingly if they were blind. It required some care to -cross the river, which here widened into a very respectable basin, -without scraping somebody’s paint, but it was at last accomplished and -the two canoes sidled up to a long sloping float which presented a -very busy scene. Canoes were being brought from their racks in the big -shed and placed in the water, and dozens of persons were embarking or -awaiting their turns. Paddles and cushions and lunch-boxes littered the -float. Through the open doors of the boat-house canoe after canoe could -be seen housed on racks in the dim interior. - -“Great Scott!” exclaimed Jim. “I didn’t know there were so many canoes -in the world!” - -They pulled their own craft onto the float and looked about them. -Across the basin was another boat-house bearing the name of a rival -maker. Near at hand a high bridge spanned the river. Beyond it the -stream turned to the left and still more boat-houses showed through the -leafless trees that lined the banks. - -“It’s just too――too jimmy for words!” cried Hope. “It must be perfectly -stunning up here in summer, mustn’t it? Jim, will you bring me up here -sometime and paddle me around?” - -“We’ll all come up and make a day of it next spring,” said Gil. “It’s -really very jolly in warm weather, when the leaves are out, you know, -and the birds are singing――” - -“Listen to him!” hooted Poke. “Listen to old Gil rhapsodizing! ‘Trees -and birds’! Say, Gil, what you need is a bite to eat.” - -“Let’s get busy, then,” said Jeffrey. “I wonder where the office is.” - -“At the other end,” said Poke. “I’ll show you. Only――” He stopped and -viewed the luncheon basket thoughtfully. “Only,” he went on, “I don’t -want to take any chances about losing that grub. Shall we take it with -us?” - -“Oh, come ahead; no one’s going to steal it,” said Gil. “Besides, if -they do we can buy luncheon here. There are two or three places up -there towards the station.” - -“That’s so,” responded Poke in relieved tones. “Come on, then.” - -Buying a canoe was not as easy as it had seemed. Not that there was any -scarcity of the articles, however. That was just where the difficulty -lay. There were so many of them, new and second hand, of all colors -and sizes, that it took a lot of deciding. Poke had been very nearly -right as to prices. In the end, after fully a half hour of viewing -and discussing, Jeffrey made his decision. The canoe he selected was -sixteen feet long, with a white cedar body and red cedar trim. It was -painted crimson and the varnish shone until the boys could almost see -their faces in it. It had been difficult at the last to choose between -crimson and blue in the matter of color, for the blue was a most -enticing shade. But Gil reminded Jeffrey that crimson and gray were -the school colors and patriotism cast the deciding vote. Then came the -extras; paddles, seat-backs and cushions. Jeffrey tried a half-dozen -paddles at the edge of the float before he decided on the model he -liked best and ordered two. One seat-back was all he wanted, and that -was only in case Hope should honor the canoe with her presence. Three -cork cushions completed his purchases and almost exhausted the fifty -dollars that he had brought with him. (The canoe was thirty-seven -dollars and a half.) Then came the subject of having a name printed on -the bow, and Jeffrey was nonplussed. - -“I think that would be nice, don’t you?” he asked the others. They -agreed that it would and immediately suggested names. But none of them -seemed to please Jeffrey and finally he told the man that they would -think it over and let him know about it in an hour or so. - -“I suppose, though,” he said with a trace of disappointment in his -voice, “I’d have to wait for it if you painted the name on.” - -The man replied that it would require several days to perform the work -and dry the paint. - -“That means that I’ll have to come up again and get it, then.” - -“Oh, no, sir. We’ll deliver it for you at the school. Just take it down -with our launch.” - -“Well, then I guess I’ll have a name on it,” replied Jeffrey. “And I’ll -let you know in about an hour.” - -So they left matters that way and went back to their canoes for -the luncheon basket. With this in hand they started out to find a -suitable place to eat and at last succeeded, discovering a sunny nook -a little way down the river where a row of willows shut them off from -the observation of the people in the passing canoes. Mrs. Hazard had -provided liberally. There were sandwiches galore, tongue, ham and -lettuce; a thermos bottle filled with coffee that was as hot when Hope -poured it into the drinking cups as when it had been put into the -bottle; another thermos filled with milk; a dozen hard-boiled eggs; -much cake and some bananas. Poke heaved a sigh of contentment as Hope -and Jim spread the contents of the basket out on two napkins. - -“Great!” he said. “There’s as much as I can eat there. I wonder, -though, what the rest of you are going to do.” - -“We’ll show you in a minute,” said Gil. “All gather around, ladies and -gentlemen. Who wants milk and who wants coffee?” - -“I,” said Poke promptly. - -“Well, which?” - -“Both, please.” - -“You’ll not get both. Which do you want, Hope?” - -“Milk, please. Have a sandwich, Poke?” - -“_A_ sandwich?” murmured Poke, helping himself liberally after -determining the kind he wanted. “Why put the ‘a’ in?” - -“Now,” said Jeffrey presently, when the first pangs of hunger had been -assuaged, “let’s talk about a name for the canoe, fellows.” - -“Mayn’t I help too?” asked Hope. - -“Why, of course; I want you to!” - -“You said ‘fellows,’ and I didn’t know.” - -“Excuse me,” Jeffrey laughed, “I should have said ‘Lady and fellows.’ I -tell you how we’ll do it. We’ll start and go around the circle in turn. -You’re first, Jim. What do you say?” - - - - -CHAPTER XV - -THE “MI-KA-NOO” - - -“Let some one else start it,” said Jim. “I’m not much good at names.” - -“All right. You’re next, Gil.” - -“Well, how would ‘Crofton’ do?” - -“Punk!” said Poke promptly. “What you want to call it, Jeff, is -something――” - -“Kindly await your turn, Mr. Endicott,” said Jeff. “What do you say, -Hope?” - -“I think something like――like ‘Dragon Fly’ would be pretty.” - -“That’s not bad,” said Gil. - -“Now, Poke.” - -“‘Tippy,’” replied Poke promptly. - -“It isn’t tippy,” denied Jeff. - -“All canoes are tippy. Call this one ‘Tippi-canoe,’ only call it -‘Tippy’ for short. Get me?” - -There was a groan of disapproval and Jeffrey looked at Jim. - -“I don’t know,” said Jim. “I think what Hope suggested is pretty good. -Or you might call it ‘Kingfisher.’” - -“Yes,” said Jeffrey, “or ‘Lotus.’” - -“Yes, or ‘Pink Carnation,’” jeered Poke. “Or ‘Canary Bird.’ Why don’t -you think of something appropriate? Now, ‘Tippy’――” - -“Is idiotic,” interrupted Gil. “I think you need a short name, Jeff; -something with ‘go’ to it――” - -“That’s it!” exclaimed Jim, almost upsetting his coffee cup. - -“What’s it?” they asked. - -“‘Go To It’!” - -“Really, that’s not bad,” commented Poke. - -The others agreed, all save Hope. Hope said she thought it was a bit -slangy. - -“But that’s the kind of name you want,” insisted Gil. “Something -snappy, Jeff.” - -“Why not call it ‘Poke’?” asked that youth. - -“Yes, ‘Slow Poke,’” amended Jim. “But I don’t call that snappy. What’s -the matter with something Indian?” - -“That’s the ticket!” cried Poke. “Jimmy, old boy, you’re coming on. -Let’s call it ‘Laughing Water.’” - -“Or ‘Minnehaha.’” - -“Or ‘Silver Heels.’” - -“‘Rain-in-the-Face!’” - -“Oh, cut it out, Poke! Be sensible.” This from Gil. “I guess all the -Indian names have been used up, Jeff. Why not call it ‘Hope’?” - -Hope laughed merrily at that, and Poke grinned. “I wish you would,” he -said eagerly. “You certainly would get your share of joshing, Senator.” - -“Well, it’s getting on, fellows, and we don’t seem to have found -anything very good yet. Can’t any one think of anything?” - -There was a depressed silence until Jim said feebly: “Call it -‘Noname.’” This met with the reception it deserved. Hope knitted her -brows and forgot, in her absorption, to finish the slice of cake she -held. Finally Poke broke the stillness. “Who’s got a pencil?” he asked. - -“Give it back?” inquired Jeffrey. - -“I certainly will,” replied Poke, viewing it in disgust. “Now who’s got -a piece of paper?” - -“Any other little thing you’d like?” asked Gil, tossing him a box-lid. -“A twenty-dollar gold piece or a silk hat?” - -“Yes, I’d like silence,” said Poke severely. He began to write on -the lid and the others, glad of a respite from thinking, watched him -curiously. For a minute Poke scribbled and erased and frowned, but -finally a satisfied smile dawned over his countenance. - -“I’ve got it,” he announced. “Gil said all the Indian names had been -used, my friends, but Gil, as usual, was wrong. Here, Jeff, is the name -of your canoe.” - -He tossed the box-lid to Jeffrey. On it he had printed in big letters: - - MI-KA-NOO. - -“What’s that mean?” asked Jeffrey. Then it dawned on him and he burst -into a laugh and handed the inscription on to Jim. “That’s bully, Poke! -It really does look like Indian at first, too!” - -“My Canoe,” Jim translated as he passed it on. “How did you think of -it, Poke?” - -Poke waved his hand airily, signifying that the thing was too trivial -to be worth attention. - -“The only thing,” said Gil, with a grin, “is that you’re pretty sure to -call it ‘Mike’ for short.” - -“Great!” laughed Jim. “You wanted something short and snappy and there -it is; Mike. You can’t beat it.” - -Hope was less enthusiastic about the name than the others, and said she -thought it would be a shame to call anything as pretty as the crimson -canoe, “Mike,” but Jeffrey was delighted with the suggestion. “It will -look bully when it’s painted on,” he declared. “I suppose they’ll do it -in gold, won’t they, Gil?” - -“If you tell them to they will, I guess. Let’s get a move on, or we -won’t get home before the game begins. Toss me another banana, Poke.” - -“How many have you had already?” asked his chum severely. - -“Only one; honest.” - -“All right; catch. Who wants some more cake? There are three bananas -left, too. Have one, Jim? Any one else in the audience like a banana? -Shove the basket over, Hope, and I’ll dump these things in. What time -is it?” - -“After twelve,” replied Gil. “We’ll have to hurry a bit.” - -“It won’t take us twenty minutes to get back after we’re started,” said -Jeffrey. “We’ve got the current with us, you know.” - -“That is indeed painful news,” grunted Poke. “I hoped to be able to -paddle back.” - -“Jeff,” asked Hope as they retraced their steps, “will you teach me to -paddle sometime? I’d love to know how. It isn’t hard, is it? It doesn’t -look hard, anyway.” - -“No, it isn’t hard, except when you’re going against the stream or the -wind,” Jeffrey answered. “I’ll show you how any day you like after I -get ‘Mike.’” - -Hope made a face. “I think that’s a perfectly――perfectly suggy name, -Jeff.” - -“Suggy? What’s suggy?” - -“Horrid, of course.” - -“I see; the antonym of jimmy.” - -“I guess so,” replied Hope. “I don’t believe I know what an-an-anto――what -that is, though.” - -They returned to the float, and while Jeffrey and Gil went on to -the office to see about having the name put on the canoe, Jim and -Poke launched the craft and made ready for the return trip. Then, as -the others had not come back, Poke excused himself with the vague -explanation that he thought he’d just look around a minute, and -disappeared up the hill. Jeffrey and Gil returned presently and after -they had waited several minutes for Poke that young gentleman sauntered -into sight with a huge bag of peanuts from which he was industriously -eating. - -“Pig!” shouted Gil scathingly. - -“For that,” remarked Poke tranquilly, “you get none, my friend. Who -wants some peanuts?” - -It seemed that they all did, for Gil and Jim captured the bag by main -force and made an equal distribution of its contents. As Jim remarked -a few minutes later, it was a lucky thing that they did not have to -paddle going back, for paddling would have interfered seriously with -eating the peanuts. As it was, they left a floating trail of shells all -the way from Riverbend to the boat-house at Crofton. - -Jeffrey and Hope returned to Sunnywood, but the others remained at -school to await the time for the game with St. Luke’s Academy. Poke -declared that Jeffrey was going home to get more dinner, and showed a -strong disposition to accompany him. Gil and Jim, however, restrained -him by force of arms. - -“Oh, I don’t want anything myself,” he said, “but some one ought to go -along and see that those two don’t get any more. My――my motive, Gil, -was quite disinterested.” - -“You’re coming back to see the game, aren’t you, Jeff?” called Jim. - -“Yes, indeed. So is Hope. And we’re going to bring Lady if she will -come,” answered Jeffrey. - -The three seated themselves on the steps of the gymnasium and watched -Jeffrey go swinging along with the aid of his crutches, Hope beside him -suiting her steps to his. - -“He gets along mighty well, doesn’t he?” observed Gil. “Gee, if I was -in his shoes, fellows, I’d have a grouch all the time. Think of knowing -that you’ve got to go through life like that! Br-r-r!” - -“Think of not being able to play football or tennis or any of the -things we do,” said Poke soberly. “That’s what would get me, I guess.” - -“He certainly can handle a canoe, though,” said Jim. - -“And he told me last night that he could swim,” Gil added. “In fact he -seemed to think he could do that about as well as I can.” - -“I should hope so!” exclaimed Poke. “You’re a punk swimmer.” - -“Am I? I noticed that I had no trouble swimming all around you last -summer, Pokey.” - -“Shucks! I wasn’t well that day. You know I’d eaten too much breakfast.” - -“You usually do,” replied Gil sweetly. “I suppose you can swim like a -fish, Jim?” - -“N-no, I can’t swim much; I mean I can’t do many fancy tricks like -fellows I’ve seen. I can keep it up a long time, though. I swam six -miles one day last summer.” - -“Six miles!” Poke whistled expressively. “What for?” - -“Nothing; just to see if I could.” - -“Weren’t you dead when you got through?” - -“A little tired; not much. I swam out to the island first; that’s -nearly a mile; and then I went to the breakwater, which is a good two -miles, and then back the same way. It makes a good swim.” - -“Oh, yes,” said Poke carelessly, “but a trifle short; what? Did you -rest any?” - -“No, not to speak of. I stayed in the water all the time, but I rested -a couple of minutes at the island and about as long as that at the end -of the breakwater. I didn’t stop at all coming back.” - -“Where’s this place you live?” asked Gil. “Near here, isn’t it?” - -“Yes, just over there.” Jim nodded in the general direction of the -coast. “Only about thirty miles. Essexport, you know.” - -“I’ve heard of it. Folks go there in summer, don’t they?” - -“Some, but it isn’t a fashionable summer resort at all. A good many -artists go there. You stumble over them all the time on the wharves and -around the harbor. They sit under white umbrellas and paint any old -thing they can find. They’re rather nice folks, artists.” - -“I should think it would be fun,” said Poke vaguely. “Are you going -home in the summer?” - -Jim shook his head. “I don’t know. You see, we’ve rented our house. We -might go back for a little while, I suppose. I dare say it’s pretty hot -here in summer.” - -“I’ll bet it is!” said Gil. “It was so hot last spring at commencement -that we nearly died. Had to dress up in our best togs, you know, and -make a hit with our relatives.” - -“And other fellows’ relatives,” growled Poke. “I nearly danced my poor -little heart out that night, Gil. It was my fatal fascination, Jim. The -girls simply _had_ to have a dance with me!” - -“Dance!” scoffed Gil. “You don’t call what you do dancing, do you?” - -“I certainly do,” replied Poke with dignity. “It is the poetry of -motion. Gil is envious,” he explained, turning to Jim. “He dances like -a trained bear on the end of a chain. Ever see one? Like this.” And -Poke began to revolve around and around on the landing in ludicrous -imitation of a bear. Even Gil had to laugh at the performance. Then -Poke declared that he had to have a drink of water and they sauntered -over to Memorial, meeting a few late diners on the way. After that it -was almost time to think of dressing for the game, and they returned to -the gymnasium, loitered awhile on the steps and then descended to the -locker-room and leisurely got into their togs. - - - - -CHAPTER XVI - -MR. HANKS AS A NOVELIST - - -Jeffrey and Hope failed in their plan to entice Mrs. Hazard to the game -that afternoon. When they reached Sunnywood dinner was just over and -Mrs. Hazard and Mr. Hanks were coming from the dining-room. - -“Did you have a nice time, dear?” asked Hope’s mother. - -“Oh, just scrumptious!” Hope answered. “And Jeff bought the darlingest, -jimmiest canoe you ever saw! And its name is ‘Mi-Ka-Noo.’ And Jeff is -going to teach me to paddle, aren’t you, Jeff?” - -“If Lady doesn’t mind,” replied Jeff. “Do you like canoeing, sir?” he -asked, turning to Mr. Hanks, who, during the conversation had been -surreptitiously striving to edge his way past the group and reach the -stairway. - -“I――I have never tried it, Latham. But isn’t it――er――a bit unsafe? I’ve -always understood that canoes were――er――very unstable boats.” - -“Well, you have to be careful in them,” Jeffrey allowed. “But they’re -not quite as bad as folks try to make out. As long as you can swim -there’s no danger, sir.” - -“I suppose not; no, not so long as you can――er――swim. I regret to say -that swimming is an accomplishment I have never mastered.” - -“I don’t know about this canoeing,” said Mrs. Hazard doubtfully. “Hope -can swim a little, but――” - -“Why, Lady, you know I can swim beautifully! I swam seventy-five -strokes last summer!” - -“Well, that would be enough to take you ashore anywhere on this river,” -laughed Jeffrey. “I don’t think you need be alarmed, Lady. I’ll be very -careful of her.” - -“But――but can you swim all right yourself, Latham?” asked Mr. Hanks. - -“Oh, yes, sir, I get along better in the water than I do on land.” - -“Well, I suppose you can go, then, if you want to very much,” said Mrs. -Hazard. “But do be careful; and sit very quiet. Are you going this -afternoon?” - -“Oh, no, Lady. Jeff hasn’t got it yet; not until next week. He’s having -the name painted on it. This afternoon we’re going to the football -game. We’re all going, aren’t we?” She turned questioningly to the -instructor. “You are coming with us, aren’t you, Mr. Hanks?” - -“Er――why, thank you,” he stammered, “but I have so much to attend to, -Miss Hope. I――I think I won’t go. Much obliged. I――I must really get -back to my work.” He moved toward the stairway, nodded embarrassedly -and disappeared up the stairs. - -“Well, you’re coming, aren’t you?” Hope demanded of her mother. But -Mrs. Hazard shook her head smilingly. - -“Not to-day, dear. I’ve too much to do. I’ve told Jane she might go to -the village and do some shopping, and――” - -“Then I shall stay at home and help you,” declared Hope cheerfully. -“You won’t mind, will you, Jeff?” - -“Oh, but Jeff will mind!” said Mrs. Hazard laughingly. “He will mind -terribly! And, besides, my dear, I don’t need you a bit. So run along -and don’t be late.” - -“There’s lots of time,” said Hope. “Are you quite, _quite_ sure -there’s nothing I can do, Lady?” - -“Quite sure. So you go and see the football. Did you have luncheon -enough? Don’t you want something now?” - -“No, ma’am, we had plenty,” replied Jeffrey. “In fact, we didn’t eat -quite all of it.” - -“We had a lot of peanuts, too,” laughed Hope. “Poke bought them, and -Jim and Gil took them away from him and we all ate them coming home. -And, Lady, it’s perfectly beautiful at Riverbend, and we saw thousands -and thousands of canoes, and――” - -“Isn’t that a great many?” asked her mother smilingly. - -“Well, not thousands, but hundreds, Lady. We did see hundreds, didn’t -we, Jeff?” - -“Well, let’s say dozens, Hope, and be on the safe side,” Jeff replied -with a laugh. “Sometime I’d like you and Hope to let me take you up -there in the canoe, Lady, and show you how pretty it is. Sometime in -the spring would be best, I suppose.” - -“I should love to go,” replied Mrs. Hazard, “but I’ll have to learn to -swim first. Now run along to your football game. Is Jim going to play -to-day, Jeff?” - -“No, ma’am, I think not. At least, I’m afraid he isn’t.” - -“Well, I was afraid he was,” Mrs. Hazard laughed. “It’s all in the -point of view, isn’t it? Do you think you ought to walk so much, Jeff? -You must be careful and not get too tired.” - -“Oh, I don’t mind it. It’s just my shoulders that get sort of tired -sometimes, but they soon feel all right again. I think I’ll go up and -put some decent clothes on, Hope. It won’t take me very long.” - -“And I’m going to do the same,” Hope replied. “And it will take me a -full half-hour. So you needn’t hurry. We’ve got plenty of time, haven’t -we?” - -“Over an hour,” Jeffrey replied. “So you can just doll yourself all up, -Hope.” - -“Doesn’t he use awful language, Lady?” asked Hope. “I’d be ashamed if I -were a senator’s son, wouldn’t you? I’ll be all ready in just exactly -half an hour, Jeff.” - -“All right; I’ll be waiting for you.” - -When he reached the head of the stairs he noticed that Mr. Hanks’ door -was partly open. It was usually closed tight when the instructor was -inside, and Jeffrey wondered. And he wondered more a moment later when -the sound of quick, nervous footsteps reached him. He paused a moment -and listened. Back and forth paced Mr. Hanks, the length of the room, -the tail of his coat appearing at the opening of the door each time as -he turned. - -“I wonder,” reflected Jeffrey, “what the trouble is with Nancy. He -sounds like a caged lion. I guess somebody must have turned in some -pretty bad papers. Hope it wasn’t me!” - -True to her promise, Hope was ready at the end of the half-hour, -looking very neat and pretty in her blue dress. Jeffrey had changed his -old clothes for a suit of dark gray, and they were a very nice-looking -pair of youngsters as they left the cottage. Jeffrey said something -complimentary about Hope’s gown, and Hope smiled demurely down at its -trim folds. - -“It is nice, isn’t it?” she asked. “I like blue better than any other -color. I suppose I ought to like crimson, oughtn’t I? Because that’s -the Crofton color. But I couldn’t wear crimson, could I? Not with -yellow hair.” - -“Never mind,” laughed Jeffrey, “you’ll make an awful hit with the St. -Luke’s fellows. Their color’s blue, you see.” - -“Not really, Jeff?” - -He nodded. “Of course, their shade of blue isn’t like your dress, but -they’ll know you’re for them, Hope.” - -Hope tossed her head. “They’ll know nothing of the sort. I shall borrow -somebody’s flag and tie it around my neck! They won’t beat us, will -they?” - -“St. Luke’s? I don’t think so, but you can’t tell. Gil says we’re going -to have a rattling good game, so I suppose that means that it will be a -close one.” - -“I hope so. I don’t care how close it is as long as we win. That Gary -boy can’t play to-day, can he?” - -“No, not for a good many days. He fixed himself for awhile, I guess. -Wasn’t Mr. Hanks funny when you asked him to go with us? I thought he -was going to fall in a faint.” - -“I don’t see why, do you? It would do him good to get out of doors and -forget his silly work now and then.” - -“I guess it would. When I went upstairs he was walking back and forth -in his room just like a lion in a cage at the zoo. I guess something -must be troubling him.” - -“Oh, that’s nothing,” said Hope. “He often does that. You can hear him -in the dining-room when you’re setting table or something. He does -it sometimes for ten or fifteen minutes, and then he’s as quiet as a -mouse for hours and hours! I suppose it’s his writing, Jeff. He――he is -seeking inspiration.” - -“I hope he finds it before your carpet is worn out!” Jeffrey laughed. -“I wonder what he is writing, Hope.” - -“I think it’s a book,” said Hope. - -“What kind of a book?” - -Hope shook her head. “I don’t know. Perhaps――perhaps it’s a novel, -Jeff.” - -“A novel! Fancy Nancy Hanks writing a novel!” Jeffrey laughed at the -thought of it. - -“I don’t see why not,” Hope demurred. “I think he’s awfully smart, -Jeff, don’t you? Don’t you think he knows a terrible lot?” - -“Y-es, I suppose he does, only――only he doesn’t look like a novelist, -does he?” - -“I don’t think Sir Walter Scott looked much like a novelist, but he was -one. And――and I don’t suppose all novelists can look the same, anyway.” - -“I suppose not. But I’ll bet you that book of his is some sort of a -history or a Latin text-book. Why, Nancy wouldn’t waste his time on -anything as――as flippant as a novel, Hope!” - -“I don’t think novels are flippant,” Hope replied rather indignantly. -“You don’t call Ivanhoe and David Copperfield and――and all those -flippant, do you?” - -“No, but I wasn’t thinking of that sort of novels. If that’s what he’s -doing――” - -“You can’t tell. He might be. If he is I do hope he will tell us about -it when it’s done. Wouldn’t you like to read it, Jeff?” - -“I don’t know; I dare say. Anyhow, I know mighty well I’d rather read -it than any old Latin book he could write!” - -They found the grand-stand well filled when they reached the field, and -after securing seats they had to wait but a minute or two before the -visiting team appeared. Hope was relieved to find that the St. Luke’s -blue was a very light shade of the color, although Jeffrey gravely -assured her that blue was blue and that St. Luke’s wouldn’t mind if she -didn’t wear the exact shade. - -“There’s Brandon Gary over there,” said Jeffrey sotto voce as he -indicated the direction with his glance. “I should think he’d feel -pretty mean to be sitting up there not able to play.” - -“Who is the nice-looking boy this side of him?” asked Hope. “The one -leaning forward.” - -“Joe Cosgrove. He’s baseball captain, you know. He is nice looking, -isn’t he? They say he’s a dandy player.” - -“I don’t care much for baseball, do you?” said Hope. - -“Crazy about it.” - -“But you don’t like it as well as football, Jeff?” - -“I don’t know. I think I do. Perhaps one reason is that a fellow can -see a baseball game and not freeze to death or get soaking wet. Still, -come to think of it, I did get pretty well drenched once at a baseball -game. I’d rather see a boat race, though, than either.” - -“I’ve never seen one,” said Hope. “Not a rowing race, I mean. I’ve -watched lots of yacht races, but I never can make out which boat is -ahead. There are always so many of them. And lots and lots of them -aren’t racing at all; just following; and I never know which is which. -I suppose a rowing race isn’t like that, though.” - -“Not a bit. I’m going to try for the crew in the spring, but I don’t -suppose I’ll make it. Anyhow, it’s fun trying, and I love to row. Here -comes our fellows, Hope.” - -The cheer leaders were on their feet and in an instant the sharp cheer -rattled out; _Crow, crow, crow, Crofton! Crow, crow, crow, Crofton! -Crow, crow, crow, Crofton! Crofton! Crofton!_ Then came a cheer for -St. Luke’s, and a moment after some thirty devoted sons of that alma -mater gathered together across the field and returned the compliment, -making up in vigor what they lacked in numbers. Then Crofton lined her -warriors across the gridiron, St. Luke’s scattered her defense over the -opposite territory and Duncan Sargent kicked off. - - - - -CHAPTER XVII - -THE GAME WITH ST. LUKE’S - - -That kick-off was a fizzle. St. Luke’s got the ball on her twenty-five -yards, ran it back ten and then her full-back broke through the Crofton -left side for twenty yards, and there was great joy where the handful -of St. Luke’s supporters were gathered. After two tries had yielded -but four yards the St. Luke’s captain and left half-back kicked to -Arnold on Crofton’s fifteen-yard line. A very considerable little wind -had come up since noon and it lengthened the kick. Arnold ran back -fifteen yards before he was downed. Two plays were tried and Crofton -was penalized for starting before the ball. After Arnold had broken -through the center for four yards he kicked and a moment later the -St. Luke’s captain started the Blue’s rooters again by tearing off a -fifteen-yard run through center on a delayed pass. On the next play a -St. Luke’s back fumbled and LaGrange recovered the pigskin, for the -Crimson-and-Gray. - -Poke beat off nine yards at St. Luke’s left end and Arnold followed -with a plunge of five yards through the middle. Smith then failed to -gain, and Arnold got off a poor punt which the St. Luke’s right end -captured. On the first play the Blue’s quarter-back tried for distance -through the Crofton center, only to fumble and have Benson of Crofton -recover the ball. - -Arnold kicked, and as Gil was interfered with, the ball was brought -back and Crofton was presented with ten yards. On the next play -Arnold made five yards, and then Poke shaking off his opponents, ran -thirty-seven yards, placing the ball within ten yards of the St. Luke’s -goal line. Smith tried to gain on the right of the Blue’s line but -failed, and a forward pass, Arnold to Poke, was intercepted by the -St. Luke’s captain on his own four-yard line. He scampered and dodged -back to his ten-yard line before he was brought down, with half the -Crofton team sitting on and about him. On the first play the Blue’s -captain fumbled while going through the line and Duncan Sargent grabbed -the ball for Crofton on the nineteen yards. Two plays by Arnold and -Poke netted seven yards. Then, with Arnold back, a forward pass, -Arnold throwing the ball to Poke, brought the first score. Poke caught -the ball on the twelve-yard line and scampered over the last white -mark before he was pulled down. The punt-out was a failure, the ball -striking the ground. - -But Crofton cheered and made known her approval. The playing for the -rest of the first period was in the middle of the field, although at -one time Arnold was forced to punt from behind Crofton’s goal line, -after a mess had been made of the handling of one of the blue captain’s -kicks. The quarter ended with the ball in St. Luke’s possession on her -own forty-six-yard line. - -In the second period St. Luke’s was on the defensive. Fumbles enabled -Crofton to get the pigskin to within twenty-five yards of St. Luke’s -goal line, where Benson, on a forward pass, ran over the goal line, -only to be called back because Poke had held an opponent. Some two -minutes later the period ended and the teams trotted off. - -“The teams are pretty evenly matched,” said Jeffrey, “and Gil was right -about it being a stiff game. I guess we’re a little heavier than they -are, and I think our offense is better. One thing is certain, though, -and that is that we’re away ahead of them at handling the ball. They -made some awful fumbles in that last quarter, didn’t they?” - -“Yes, but it helped us, Jeff. I don’t see why that mean old thing of a -referee wouldn’t let us have that last touchdown. Do you think that was -fair?” - -“Of course it was,” Jeffrey laughed. “Poke was holding one of the St. -Luke’s fellows and the officials caught him. So we got penalized and -lost our touchdown. Too bad, too, for that was a corking pass, and -Benson handled it finely. There wasn’t a soul near him when he got the -ball.” - -“Then it was Poke’s fault?” asked Hope sadly. - -“I’m afraid it was. I don’t suppose he meant to hold. A fellow gets -excited and doesn’t realize sometimes. I guess Poke feels as badly as -anybody about it. But never mind, we’ll trim them all right. We should -get at least one more touchdown in the next two periods.” - -“I hope we get a dozen,” declared Hope. “And wasn’t that run of Poke’s -perfectly jimmy? I guess we can forgive him for losing us that other -touchdown, don’t you?” - -“Yes, especially as he made the first one. I wonder if Johnny will put -in any substitutes now.” - -“I wish he’d let Jim play,” said Hope. - -“Jim may make the team yet,” replied Jeffrey. “Cosgrove is playing a -mighty good game in Gary’s place, by the way. I wonder what Gary is -thinking about it. Here they come again. Now let’s see. No, the team’s -just the same, I guess.” - -Crofton was on the defensive throughout the whole of the third period, -the St. Luke’s captain having ordained it so when his long kick rolled -to Crofton’s twenty-yard line before Arnold recovered it. It was then -that the Blue’s supporters took heart, and from across the gridiron -came cheer after cheer as St. Luke’s worked the ball by a series -of plays in which three successful forward passes figured down to -within eight yards of the Crofton goal line. St. Luke’s looked really -dangerous for the first time and on the Crofton side of the field her -supporters watched uneasily as the St. Luke’s backs settled for the -next play. It was another forward pass and a sigh of relief went up -from the Crimson-and-Gray as the ball was fumbled and went to Crofton -as a touchback. Out to the twenty-five yards went the ball and Crofton -put it in scrimmage. St. Luke’s made several other attempts in that -period to get across her opponent’s goal line, but never again secured -such another chance as the one she had wasted. - -The last quarter found Crofton forcing the playing and St. Luke’s again -on the defensive. Arnold tried a goal from placement from the Blue’s -forty-yard line, but the ball went wide of the posts. St. Luke’s chose -to kick from behind the twenty-five-yard line, but it was not long -before Crofton had the ball back in the Blue’s territory. Failure to -gain ground at rushing caused Arnold to punt, and a substitute left -half-back who had taken the place of the Blue’s captain a moment -before, muffed the ball. LaGrange fell on it for Crofton on St. Luke’s -ten-yard line, and before St. Luke’s realized what had happened Poke -tossed the pigskin on a forward pass to Gil at left end and the second -touchdown was made. This time Sargent kicked the goal and Crofton’s -score was 11. For the remainder of the contest the ball hovered about -the middle of the gridiron, St. Luke’s, recognizing defeat, being -content to keep her opponent from approaching her goal line again. - -It had been a good game from a Crofton point of view, and, to quote -Hope, a “perfectly jimmy” one for Sunnywood. Poke and Gil had played -finely and had scored the only touchdowns that had been made. But it -was Poke’s work especially that brought them joy and sent the whole -school away in a glow of enthusiasm. He had been far and away the -most spectacular performer of the afternoon. He had contributed the -best individual work in carrying the ball, once having made a run -of thirty-seven yards at St. Luke’s left end, and, later, one of -forty-five yards around the enemy’s right end. Whether on the directing -or the receiving end of the forward pass, he had been excellent. -Crofton’s first score had been made with Poke on the receiving end, -while the second score had been the result of his accurate throw to Gil. - -Arnold, too, however, was a hero that day. The quarter-back had used -the best of judgment in the selection of plays, while at ground gaining -he had performed well. Several times he had torn through the St. Luke’s -center for good distances. His punting also had been good and the -enemy’s backs had found a great deal of difficulty in handling his -kicks. LaGrange at center had shown a wonderful nose for the ball, -and his recovery of the pigskin which opened the way for the second -touchdown had been a fine effort. Gil at end, Benson at full-back, -Sargent at left guard and Smith at left half-back all distinguished -themselves that day. On the whole Crofton went home from the game very -well satisfied with her team. Even Johnny’s countenance gave one the -impression that he was pleased. And he was. The only place that was -worrying the coach was the position of left tackle. Marshall had not -been up to the rest of the line that day, and it was becoming more and -more evident that a better man must be found for his place. - -There was great pride and much rejoicing at Sunnywood that Saturday -night. Hope, could she have had her way, would, I am certain, have -crowned Poke and Gil with wreaths of laurel! - - - - -CHAPTER XVIII - -GARY CHALLENGES - - -The canoe came on Wednesday. Of course by this time, as Gil had -predicted, its name had been shortened to “Mike,” which was a very -plebeian title for such a handsome craft. It was quite the best looking -canoe in the school boat-house, although Brandon Gary and “Punk” Gibbs -owned between them a craft that, when new, had been a marvel of white -and gold. Now it was pretty well scratched and battered, and there -were palpable patches showing along the bottom. Jeffrey was properly -proud of his new possession, and spent most of Wednesday afternoon in -or about it. It paddled beautifully, he decided, sat well on the water -and was altogether a treasure. He paddled far down the river in the -Mi-Ka-Noo and worked back in the golden glory of an autumn sunset, with -the afterglow tingeing the surface of the little stream with coppery -lights and the blade of his paddle trickling golden drops as it hung -between strokes above the placid surface. In the boat-house he found -an empty rack and saw the canoe carefully laid away on it, holding his -breath for fear the boatman might mar the glistening varnish of its -sides. - -The next forenoon he and Poke hurried down to the boat-house between -recitations. Sammy, the boatman, left his bench in the repair shop and -lifted the Mi-Ka-Noo into the water for them. Jeffrey got into the -stern and Poke settled himself in the bow and they started up-river. -Poke was eager now to learn how to paddle and so there was a ten-minute -lesson. By the time they had dropped Biscuit Island from sight he was -doing very well, although he had not yet mastered the twist of the -paddle at the end of the stroke. Jeffrey, however, kept the canoe in -its course and Poke persevered in his efforts to “get the hang of it,” -as he said. Half a mile up-stream Jeffrey called a halt and they pulled -the canoe in under the branches of the trees and rested awhile, Poke -ascertaining, by a glance at his watch, that they still had a full -half-hour before them. - -“It’s funny how it tires your shoulders,” said Poke, as he dropped his -watch back. “I believe I can get onto it all right, though.” - -“Of course you can,” Jeffrey responded. “There’s no trick to it. It’s -just a hard, steady drive and then a half-turn of the blade before you -take it out.” - -“I know, but it’s that half-turn that puzzles me. I get it sometimes, -and then the next time I almost lose my paddle.” - -“Want to try the stern going back?” - -But Poke shook his head. “I don’t think I’d better yet. I might put -Mike onto the bank or into a snag. Here’s some one coming up. Looks -like Bull Gary. Not only looks, but is. And Gibbs with him.” - -They watched the white canoe approach, drawing the bow of their own -canoe further toward shore, for the stream was narrow here and Jeffrey -wasn’t going to risk his paint. Gary was paddling in the stern and Punk -Gibbs was in the bow. Gary recognized Poke when some distance away and -waved his paddle to him. Poke waved back, and when the white craft was -within speaking distance Poke called: - -“Hello, Bull! Hello, Punk! That the same old mud-scow you used to have?” - -Gary turned his canoe toward the opposite side, Gibbs seized a branch -and they came to a pause. Gary laid his paddle across his knees, said -“Phew!” eloquently and grinned at Poke. - -“Yes, same old mud-scow,” he said. “Where’d you get that thing, Poke? -It looks like a fire-engine. Did they have any red paint left?” - -“This,” replied Poke, “belongs to Latham. You know Latham, don’t you, -Bull? Latham’s the chap who has the room you liked the looks of, Bull. -Jeff, the other gentlemen is Mr. Gibbs. Punk is all right, but he’s -terribly careless about the company he keeps. What do you think of this -for some canoe, Punk?” - -“She’s a peach,” replied Gibbs admiringly. “Where did you get her, -Latham?” - -“Sandford’s,” answered Jeffrey. - -“How do you pronounce that name?” asked Gary, who had been frowning at -it for a minute. Poke told him and the frown vanished. Gary chuckled. -“Pretty good, eh, Punk? Mi-Ka-Noo! I thought it was some Indian -gibberish.” - -“Go pretty well?” asked Gibbs. - -“Like a breeze,” replied Poke. “She paddles herself. Fastest thing on -the river except the varsity shell!” - -“I’ll bet you this old tub can run rings around her,” grunted Gary. -“Even if she is two years old and has forty-eleven patches on her!” - -“Oh, that’s been a good canoe in its day,” answered Poke airily. “But -they’re making ’em better now, Bull. Look at the lines on this old top. -Pretty neat, what?” - -“Too broad,” said Gary. “She’s built for comfort but not speed, Poke.” - -“Speed! Why, this canoe has the Empire State Express spiked to the -rails! Speed! Honestly, Bull, you pain me.” - -Gary grinned. “We’ll race you back to the boat-house,” he offered. “If -we don’t beat you by half a dozen lengths I――I’ll――” - -“Apologize,” suggested Poke. “We accept your challenge, sir.” - -“But, Poke,” said Jeffrey, “they’re bound to beat us.” - -“Of course we are,” Gary laughed. “Latham’s got a lot more sense than -you have, Poke.” - -“He is thinking of the fact that I am a very poor canoedler,” said -Poke. “This is only the second time I’ve ever tried it. But that -doesn’t matter because, as I have previously remarked, Bull, this canoe -paddles herself. Turn your old derelict around and get ready.” - -“Don’t you want me to take the stern?” asked Gibbs. “You paddled all -the way up.” - -“Pshaw, I’m not tired,” answered Gary. “Let the bow come around.” - -“Right-O!” cried Poke as the two canoes lay side by side. “Give the -word, Bull.” - -“All right. Are you ready? ... Go!” - -Off they went, all four paddles digging hard. Poke was apparently -trying to lift the bow of the Mi-Ka-Noo out of the water in his wild -efforts, and Jeffrey called to him to slow down. - -“Longer strokes, Poke, and make them tell! That’s it!” - -For a moment during that first excited spurt the two canoes were in -danger of colliding, but Jeffrey managed to swing away and in that -instant the white canoe gained a slight lead. - -In some places the channel was scarcely wide enough to allow the two -canoes to travel side by side, since there were many snags along the -banks. And so when the white canoe took the lead Jeffrey was content -to let it keep it until they had passed the next turn and the channel -widened. But the Mi-Ka-Noo hung close to the stern of the other -craft in spite of Gary’s strenuous paddling, and presently, when -the boat-house came into sight ahead, Jeffrey passed the word and -slowly the Mi-Ka-Noo crept up foot by foot until it was even with its -competitor. - -Poke was not yet a scientific paddler, but he had plenty of muscle, -meant to beat Gary if such a thing were possible and so toiled like a -hero in the bow. At the stern Jeffrey’s experience made up for the fact -that he hadn’t the strength to put into the strokes that Gary had. But -it was, I think, the Mi-Ka-Noo that won its own race, for the crimson -canoe was undoubtedly faster than the white one. Some fifty yards from -the boat-house float the Mi-Ka-Noo’s curving prow drew away from the -rival craft. Then Jeffrey, crouching at the stern, was even with the -center of the white canoe, and Gary, paddling madly and grunting with -every stroke of his flashing blade, called on Gibbs for a spurt. - -“Come on, Punk! Get into it! Make her go!” - -Gibbs tried his best, but his strokes when they grew faster grew also -weaker, and the crimson canoe gained steadily until there was open -water between her stern and the white bow. - -“Not too fast!” warned Jeffrey. “Make them hard, Poke!” - -And Poke, who was getting excited by the prospect of victory, steadied -down again. Then Gibbs “caught a crab” with his paddle, Gary lost his -temper and called him names and the Mi-Ka-Noo shot past the float a -good length and a half ahead! - -Poke subsided over his paddle and fought for breath while Jeffrey, -backing water and paddling, turned the canoe about and went back to the -float. - -“I guess this one’s a bit faster than yours, Gary,” said Jeffrey. “She -sits out of the water more, I think.” - -But strangely enough Gary had an affection for his battered craft and -was up in arms at once. - -“It wasn’t a test of the canoes,” he said indignantly. “This one is -twice as fast as yours. If Punk hadn’t nearly lost his paddle we’d have -shown you. Besides, I was tired. You fellows had been resting up there.” - -Poke lifted his head, gave a gasp for breath, and said: - -“You couldn’t have beat us if you’d just got out of bed, Bull.” - -“Couldn’t I? I’ll row you again any time you like; if I can find some -one to take the bow,” he added with a disgusted glare at Gibbs. - -Gibbs grinned and winked at Poke. “What you want in the bow, Bull,” he -said, “is a gasoline motor!” - -“I tell you what I’ll do with you,” offered Poke quietly. “I’ll race -you Saturday morning up-stream from the old bridge to the landing here. -You take any canoe you like and I’ll do the same. It isn’t the canoe, -Bull, it’s science that counts!” - -“Science!” scoffed Bull. “Why, you couldn’t paddle that far to save -your life!” - -“Don’t let that worry you,” Poke replied soothingly. “Will you try it?” - -“What would be the use? You say yourself that you’ve never paddled a -canoe before.” - -“I know, but I’m awfully quick to learn, Bull. I’m a clever little lad -that way. What do you say, now? Try it? We’ll start at the old bridge -and I’ll beat you to the boat-house here. If I don’t get here at least -a length ahead of you I’ll black your shoes for you on the front steps -of Mem!” - -“I hope you lose,” said Gibbs vindictively. “Bull’s shoes need blacking -most of the time.” - -“All right,” said Gary. “I’ll race you. And if I don’t beat you -I’ll――I’ll――” - -“Careful now! Don’t say anything you’ll be sorry for!” laughed Poke. - -“――I’ll black your shoes!” - -“Done, old scout! It’s a bargain. You fellows are witnesses.” - -“Saturday morning, you said. What time?” - -“Oh, say eleven; or later, if you like,” replied Poke. - -“Eleven’s all right for me. And I don’t have to use this canoe unless I -want to.” - -“Use any canoe you like and as many as you like as long as they don’t -have motors in them. We’re to start at the old bridge and finish here -at the corner of the float. And if I get here first you black my shoes. -And if you get here first I’m to black yours. Right?” - -“Yes,” said Gary; and Jeffrey and Gibbs nodded. - -“And there’s one other thing,” said Poke. “I want a good job done, -Bull; no skimping the heels, you know!” - -Gary grinned. “If you don’t get your shoes blackened until I do them, -Poke, they’ll be sights.” - - - - -CHAPTER XIX - -POKE ADVERTISES - - -“What made you do such a silly thing?” asked Jeffrey of Poke as they -hurried back to Academy Hall. “You know very well he can paddle faster -than you can.” - -“Ah,” replied Poke gravely, “the race is not always to the swift, Jeff.” - -“Well, a canoe race is. You’d better put in all your spare time to-day -and to-morrow practising. You’ll have to learn to keep your canoe -straight first of all, Poke.” - -“I shall take several lessons. I engage you now to impart to me all the -knowledge you have, Jeff, of the gentle art of canoedling. If I can get -the hang of that twist I’ll be all right.” - -But Jeffrey shook his head. “He will beat you to a frazzle,” he said -dejectedly. “We won to-day because our canoe was the faster of the two. -Gary is a good paddler, and he’s as strong as an ox.” - -“Tut, tut, my tearful friend! I have the strength of a team of -oxes――I mean oxen. I’m like a horse, Jeff; I don’t know my own strength -yet.” - -“Well, you’ll know it Saturday forenoon! Of course you can use Mike if -you want to, but I think you’d better take one of the shorter canoes; -it would be lots easier to handle.” - -“I mean to. I mean to take the shortest and lightest one I can find. -Can you give me a lesson after football practice this afternoon, Jeff?” - -“Yes, but you’ll be too tired, won’t you?” - -“I never tire,” replied Poke grandly. “I’ll meet you on the gym steps -at five sharp.” - -“It will be almost dark by that time,” Jeffrey objected. - -“Never mind. We’ll take a lantern, Jeff. Maybe, though, we can start -before five. You be there at a quarter to. Or, better still, you go -down to the boat-house and get your canoe over and ready, and I will -come as soon as I can skip off. How’s that?” - -“That’s better. I’ll be all ready for you at four-thirty, and you get -there as soon as you can. I’ll put you in the stern this time.” - -“All right. I wonder how a little resin would go on my hands. They’re -getting full of blisters!” - -Poke’s challenge created quite a sensation at dinner time. Gil told -him he was a chump, and Jim, without actually saying so, confirmed the -judgment. Only Hope refused to see defeat in prospect. - -“Of course you can beat him!” she declared cheerfully. “I think Brandon -Gary is a perfectly horrid boy!” - -“That doesn’t alter the fact that he’s a pretty good chap with the -paddle,” said Gil dryly, “or that Poke doesn’t really know one end of a -canoe from the other.” - -“Nobody does,” replied Poke untroubledly, passing his plate for a -second helping of vegetables. “They’re exactly alike!” - -“Well, we will all be there to see you finish,” laughed Jim. - -“And we’ll all be there to see him black Bull Gary’s shoes,” added Gil. - -Poke viewed him sorrowfully. “It pains me deeply, Gil, to find you have -so little faith in me. I used to think you were my friend.” - -“You can show him all about rowing a canoe, can’t you, Jeff?” asked -Hope anxiously. “I should think if he practised hard to-morrow he’d -just beat that Gary boy all to bits!” - -“There will be very little left of him but bits after the race,” said -Poke. “I feel sorry for him, fellows; I actually do.” - -The rest hooted. - -Poke proved a diligent pupil that afternoon. Jeffrey gave him the -stern paddle and Poke labored hard with it. And by the time darkness -drove them back to the boat-house Poke had actually mastered the trick -of holding the canoe straight after the stroke. The next day, which -was Friday, there were two sessions on the river, one in the morning, -between Latin and English recitations, and one again after practice in -the late afternoon. - -“You really did very well,” said Jeffrey as they went back to Sunnywood -through the chilly twilight. “If you can do a little bit better -to-morrow you may stand a chance of finishing pretty well.” - -“I shall win,” replied Poke with deep conviction. - -By Friday noon the entire school was in possession of the fact that -Gary and Endicott were to have a canoe race and the fellows were -discussing the event with much interest and amusement. It was no -secret that Poke was a veritable tyro at the paddle, but every one -who knew Poke was certain that in some way, by luck or pluck or sheer -impudence, he would give his opponent a hard race. To make sure, -however, that the world at large should know of the event, Poke himself -printed out and posted on the notice board in Academy Hall a highly -alluring announcement, which read as follows: - - EXTRAORDINARY SPORTING EVENT! - - EXCITING CANOE CONTEST BETWEEN TWO - INTREPID MEMBERS OF THIS - SCHOOL! - - At eleven o’clock on Saturday morning Mr. Brandon Gary and Mr. - Perry Endicott will participate in a Canoe Race to decide the - Championship of Crofton Academy. The start will be made at the - Old Bridge near Saunder’s Farm and the contest will finish at - the Boat-House float. According to the terms of the Contest, - the Loser is to black the shoes of the Winner on the steps of - Memorial Hall immediately after the conclusion of the Race, the - Loser to provide his own Blacking and Brushes and not to skimp - the Heels. For further particulars, arrangement of Special - Trains, excursion rates, etc., see Daily Papers! - - COME ONE! COME ALL! - -Gary didn’t altogether approve of that notice. It sounded as though -Poke meant to make a spectacle of him, although he couldn’t just see -how that was to be accomplished. “The silly chump can’t paddle a canoe -to save his neck,” he confided to a friend. “So what does he mean by -all this nonsense?” - -“They say he’s been practising three or four times a day,” replied the -other. - -“He will need more practice than that if he is going to beat me,” -grunted Gary. “I’ve a good mind to tear that notice down.” - -But he didn’t, and the notice continued to provide mirth for the -passers. On Friday afternoon a complication arose and threatened to put -an end then and there to the contemplated event. Johnny Connell put his -foot down. - -“Look here, Endicott,” he said in the gymnasium before afternoon -football practice, “don’t you know we’ve got a game with Frawley’s -to-morrow?” - -“Of course I know it, Johnny. Why?” - -“Then you cut out this canoe race business, my boy. I’m not going to -have you get tired and go stale at this time of the season.” - -“But, Johnny――” - -“Cut it out, I tell you! If you don’t I’ll see Sargent and you’ll get -in trouble.” - -Poke thought hard for a moment. Then he drew the coach aside and there -ensued a whispered conference in a corner of the locker room, during -which a smile crept into Johnny’s face, a smile that finally became a -full-fledged grin. - -“Oh, well, all right, if that’s it,” he said at last. “But mind you -don’t get tired, now.” - -“I won’t,” Poke promised. “And don’t you say a word to any one, Johnny. -If you do you’ll spoil the whole show.” - -“I won’t. What time’s this race to be?” - -“Eleven sharp, from the old bridge down the river.” - -Johnny chuckled. “I guess I’ll have to see it,” he said. - -That evening Jeffrey and Jim accompanied Gil and Poke to Plato -Society. It was not a business meeting to-night and there were quite -a few invited guests present. It was too cold to sit out of doors -and so the social room was filled to its capacity. As usual, there -was music and the evening passed very pleasantly. Both Jeffrey and -Jim were introduced to a number of fellows they had not met before, -and each had a very good time. Poke’s appearance was the signal for -wild applause, and the others had a good deal of fun with him over -to-morrow’s canoe race. Later on Gary came in, and he, too, was hailed -with cheers, although as he had never been very popular with the other -members of the society, his advent caused less of an ovation. - -Gary had accepted his punishment with smiling indifference, and at -first the school at large had been inclined to sympathize with him. But -his attitude had soon changed that. No longer on the football team, -and with no prospect of rejoining it this fall, he pretended a vast -contempt for it and frequently predicted defeat in the Hawthorne game. -For some unknown reason his resentment appeared to be against Duncan -Sargent and Johnny Connell instead of Mr. Hanks or the Principal, and -he was forever criticizing the former’s efforts at leadership and -coaching. If he felt any anger against Mr. Hanks――and I am inclined -to believe that he did not――he never betrayed it. Having learned his -lesson, Gary was quick to profit by it, and no member of his classes -was any more docile and well-behaved than he. - -The Platonians tried to get Poke and Gary together that evening and -have them talk on the subject of the race, but each fought shy of the -other, although each seemed willing enough to talk about it when the -other was out of hearing. - -“He hasn’t the ghost of a show,” declared Gary. “I don’t know what -his game is. I guess he just wants to make a sensation. Why, he never -paddled a canoe in his life until the other day!” - -“I don’t believe that,” said some one. “Who says so, Bull?” - -“He told me so himself,” replied Gary. And it was a tribute to Poke’s -veracity that no one suggested a doubt after that. Poke when baited -waved a hand airily and shrugged his shoulders. - -“I’m sorry for Bull,” he said with regret in his voice. “I suppose I -shouldn’t have led him into it. But, after all, it’s just a little fun. -He will get over his disappointment in time.” - -His audience chuckled and winked. - -“But they say, Poke,” said one of his hearers, “that you don’t know how -to paddle.” - -“Don’t know how to paddle! Me? Well, if you want to believe everything -you hear, that’s not my fault. Without desiring to appear conceited, -fellows, I think I may lay claim to being the nicest little paddler -in this state, if not in the country. I can paddle with my eyes shut -and one hand tied securely behind my back. I am the only successful -exponent of the Bob Cook stroke.” - -“That’s a rowing stroke, you crazy chump!” - -“What of it? I have adapted it to canoeing,” replied Poke calmly. -“It is the stroke with which I shall win to-morrow’s classic event, -gentlemen. I trust that you will all be on hand to see how it is done.” - -“We’ll be on hand to see how _you_ are done,” a fellow laughed. -“Honestly, Poke, you’ve got more cheek than any fellow in the country!” - -“I?” said Poke with a demure smile. “You surprise me. It shows how you -misjudge my character, Tom. I am a modest little violet, did you but -know it.” - -“We didn’t but know it, Poke,” replied Tom. - -“The kind of a violet he means,” said another, “is about the size of a -soup plate, is yellow and grows in the sun.” - -“Get out,” said Poke, “that’s a forget-me-not! You’d better go back to -the Junior Class and study your botany again.” - -“Well, we’ll all be on hand to-morrow morning, Poke, to root for you. -And, say, Poke, if you lose, you know, I’ll lend you my blacking set!” - - - - -CHAPTER XX - -AN EARLY MORNING PRACTICE - - -Poke possessed the ability to awake in the morning at approximately -whatever hour he had decided upon the night before, a most convenient -gift that saved the price of an alarm clock. On Saturday Poke made use -of this ability and was out of bed long before any one else in the -house was stirring and out of the house without having awakened even -Gil. It was fortunate that he had put a sweater on under his jacket, -for the morning was cloudy and chill as he set off along the road -toward the school and the river. But early as he was, Sammy was ahead -of him at the boat-house. The latter was just unlocking when Poke -arrived, and he displayed an unflattering surprise at his appearance. - -“Likely you been up all night,” he said, struggling with a yawn as he -ushered Poke into the house. - -“Had your breakfast, Sammy?” Poke asked. - -“O’ course I have,” replied the boatman indignantly. “Most time for -dinner it is now.” - -“Wish I had,” sighed Poke. “What’s the smallest and lightest canoe -you’ve got, Sammy?” - -“I dunno. There’s all kinds here. Take your pick o’ ’em.” - -“No, you show me, Sammy. I don’t know much about the things.” - -Sammy walked along the racks, chin in hand, mumbling. Finally, - -“Here be it,” he announced, placing his hand on a green canvas canoe. -“Light and short, sir, and paddles itself.” - -“All right. Put her over, Sammy.” - -“Be you goin’ out now?” asked the boatman in surprise. - -“Of course. A little exercise before breakfast, you know. I’m troubled -with dyspepsia. Doctor’s orders, Sammy.” - -“You be over young to have dyspepsy,” said Sammy, shaking his head -disapprovingly. “Too many sweets, likely. What kind o’ paddle, now; -double or single?” - -“Single, please. That’s the ticket. See you later, Sammy.” And Poke -dipped his blade and leisurely headed down-stream. If his purpose was -to practise for the race he gave but small indication of the fact, for -he only put his paddle in the water when the slow current threatened -to send him toward the banks. Presently he had passed under the bridge -at Birch Island and was out of sight. Sammy, who had watched from the -float, turned and ambled back to the work-shop, shaking his head. - -“It’s puttin’ a lot o’ rich victuals in their stummicks as does it,” -he muttered as he set about lighting the stove. “Dyspepsy be the curse -o’ the age. That,” he added as he felt a twinge in his knee, “that an -rhumatics.” He dropped some fresh sheet-glue in the glue pot, set it -over the fire and glanced out the window. “’Twill be soon clearin’,” he -murmured. “Likely I’d best finish paintin’ that canoe so ’twill dry.” - -It was about half an hour later that he heard a noise at the float and -saw Poke lifting his canoe out of the water. Poke had acquired very red -cheeks and a hearty appetite, but whether he had acquired more skill at -paddling remained to be seen. - -“You be soon back,” observed Sammy, putting his head out the shop -door. “Likely you be thinkin’ some o’ breakfast by now.” - -“I’m thinking of nothing else, Sammy,” replied Poke heartily. “And, -Sammy, I want you to do me a favor.” - -The boatman immediately looked dubious. He didn’t believe overmuch in -doing favors. But Poke’s next action cleared his face. Poke put his -hand in his trousers pocket and brought out a bright quarter. - -“I’m going to have a race with a fellow at eleven o’clock,” he went on, -“and I want this same canoe. See that I get it, will you? And here’s -something for your trouble.” - -“That be easy,” replied Sammy, “and I’ll not be taken siller for’t.” -But he did nevertheless, slipping the quarter into the pocket of his -overalls even as he spoke. “Leave it to me, sir, an’ ’twill be here -when you come.” He lifted the green canvas canoe and placed it athwart -a couple of horses in the shop. “Likely,” he added, “it be in need o’ -repairin’.” - -Poke just barely got into chapel in time. Afterwards Gil and Jim and -Jeffrey were curious to know where he had been. - -“I’ve been on the river,” replied Poke. “I thought it would be a good -idea to have a sort of dress rehearsal, you see.” - -Gil viewed him suspiciously. Finally, “Look here, Poke,” he said, “is -this on the level, this race?” - -“No, on the river,” replied Poke flippantly, “and you know they’re -never quite level.” - -“Do you mean,” asked Jeffrey, “that you went down at six o’clock and -paddled over the course?” - -“Something like that. But it was before six, I think. Say, you chaps, -for the love of Mike, walk up, will you? I’m just about starved to -death! I came mighty near nibbling the varnish off the settee in -chapel. This before-breakfast exercise is great stuff, I tell you. You -ought to try it, Jeff. You never eat anything to speak of. Get into -your little canoe some morning and paddle a couple of miles and just -see how it tones you up. It’s marvelous! Anybody got any chocolate -about their person? Or a slab of chewing gum? Or any other little thing -that will keep life in my starving body?” - -But nobody had. Jim offered a cough-drop from the corner of his -waistcoat pocket, but after looking it over Poke refused it indignantly. -“I can get all the dirt I want without having to take paregoric with -it,” he said. - -Gil had gotten it into his head that there was something “fishy,” as he -put it, about the race, and tried his best to get Poke to confess to -some scheme of villainy. But Poke only looked hurt and injured and said -he was sorry that a fellow he had always liked and respected should -entertain such doubts as to his integrity. However, as he said most of -it with his mouth filled with breakfast, the full effect was lost. - -But I am certain that the reader is quite as interested in the race -and as anxious to witness it as was the school in general; although I -trust he does not share Gil’s miserable suspicions; and so I will hurry -on to the appointed moment. Long before eleven o’clock practically -every canoe, skiff and tub in commission was on the water and the -boat-house was emptier than it had ever been since spring. Sammy was -dazed and indignant. Some few fellows who did not trust themselves -to manage an oar or paddle elected to see the contest from the bank, -and the more energetic of these got away early and walked down to the -starting-point. Most, however, were satisfied to see the finish of the -race from the stone bridge over Birch Island or from the float itself. - -Now for a thorough understanding of this terrific contest it is -incumbent on the reader to know a little about the course of the river. -What Poke called the old bridge was a wooden structure which crossed -the river about half a mile below the school as the crow flies and -about a mile as the river runs. For the river turns thrice in that -distance, curving once to the north-west in a wide sweep and then -again to the south-east and finally a third time toward the west. -It describes a giant S, with the upper loop, viewed from the school -float, round and large and the lower loop smaller and flattened. -After finishing the second loop the river meanders south-westerly in -a generally straight direction. Imagine, then, the start of the race -to be at a point about at the middle of the top curve of the S and -the finish at a point just beyond the final end of the letter. What, -then, would have been scarcely more than a mile could one have walked -the distance in a straight line, was fully twice the distance by boat. -And a mile against the current is no light feat for one whose canoeing -experience has stretched over such a small space of time as a week. - -Both contestants were on hand early at the boat-house. At twenty -minutes to eleven Poke stepped majestically into the Mi-Ka-Noo -and, in company with Gil, Jim, Jeffrey and Hope, put off for the -starting-point. Behind the Mi-Ka-Noo bobbed the little green canoe -that Poke had chosen in the morning. The Mi-Ka-Noo was pretty well -loaded but stood the ordeal beautifully. Poke was calm and heroic, Gil -suspicious, Jim frankly amused, Jeffrey anxious and Hope so excited -that she could scarcely sit still. She did, however, because Jim nipped -every wriggle in the bud, so to speak. Accompanying the Mi-Ka-Noo, -for all the world as though it was the Royal Barge of an Eastern -Potentate――the expression is Poke’s, not mine――went a flotilla of -canoes and boats filled with laughing boys in a very holiday mood. Poke -was the recipient of much advice and the butt of many jokes, but Poke -this morning was absolutely impressive. I have said that he was calm, -but that scarcely expresses the quiet, almost haughty, determination -of his countenance. Hope was positively fascinated by him and -deliberately seated herself with her face toward the stern, so that she -could feast her eyes on the noble hero. - -Brandon Gary had preceded them down the river, paddling in the blue -canoe he had selected for the race. This, explained Poke, was a -mistake. It was unwise to exert one’s self before the contest. He -believed in saving his strength. Gil, who was doing his best at the -bow, to keep the Mi-Ka-Noo from colliding with the other boats, grunted -ironically. The starting-place looked like the English Thames on a -regatta day. The sun had come out gloriously and the variously colored -canoes and cedar boats glistened in the sunlight. Joe Cosgrove, the -baseball captain, had been chosen official, combining the duties of -referee, judge, timer and starter. Joe had provided himself with a -small pistol and was determined to do his part in ship-shape fashion. -He was also determined to waste no time, having an engagement to -play golf at a quarter past eleven with Mr. Arroway, the English -instructor. So he watched impatiently while Poke stepped carefully into -his green canoe――Poke still held canoes in deep respect and boarded -them circumspectly――with all the impressiveness possible under the -circumstances. - -“Paddle over here, Poke, and get in place,” he called. - -Poke, without replying, took up his paddle and looked it all over, much -as a batsman examines a favorite bat or a billiard player his cue, much -to the amusement of the spectators. - -“It’s all right,” called Gil. “It isn’t loaded, old man.” - -Poke thereupon carefully placed the tip of the paddle in the water, -moved it experimentally, withdrew it and once more scrutinized it -carefully. Cosgrove sputtered. - -“For goodness’ sake, Poke, get a move on, can’t you?” - -Poke appeared to have heard him for the first time and glanced across -inquiringly. “Are you waiting for me?” he asked surprisedly. - -“Get in line with Gary there,” directed Joe. “Get those bows even. Are -you ready?” - -Poke agreed that he was, and so did Gary. - -_Bang!_ - -That was Joe’s pistol. Gary dug his paddle and the blue canoe darted -ahead. Poke dug his paddle and the green canoe followed, but more -slowly. Poke, agreed the crowd, was going to let Gary set the pace. -You couldn’t fool old Poke! You’d have to get up pretty early in the -morning to get ahead of him! The flotilla followed, cheering and -laughing and shouting advice to the contestants. - -“Go it, Bull! You’re doing fine!” - -“Keep after him, Poke! Wear him out! That’s the stuff!” - -“’Rah for Endicott!” - -“’Rah for Gary!” - -The great race had begun! - - - - -CHAPTER XXI - -THE GREAT RACE - - -For a time it seemed that the race would come to an ignominious end -then and there, for the other canoes, or such of them as were paddled -by two or more fellows, followed so closely that at the end of the -first hundred yards they were on both sides of the contestants and even -in front of them! - -“Get out of the way, can’t you?” bawled Gary. “Give me room!” - -Poke, a length and more behind, was not bothered by the convoy, and -chuckled at Gary’s dilemma. But Joe Cosgrove came to the rescue. Joe -was sculling in a tub. - -“Keep back there!” he shouted. “Keep back of the race or I’ll call it -off!” - -“If they don’t get back I’ll claim a foul!” shouted Gary, encouraged by -the referee’s support. - -“So will I!” announced Poke. “I’ll claim two fouls!” - -But the referee’s command had the desired effect and Gary’s blue canoe -swept out of the press, followed by its green competitor. Joe followed -close behind Poke and the rest of the craft came bobbing along back of -Joe in merry, laughing confusion. The Mi-Ka-Noo had been lucky enough -to secure a position well in the lead of the followers from where -during the first stage of the race both canoes were in plain sight. - -“Poke’s just simply going to pieces,” mourned Jeffrey. “Look at him! He -can’t keep her nose straight at all!” - -“He can’t paddle, and he knows it,” answered Gil. “What I’m wondering -is what’s his idea? I’ll bet anything he never thought of winning this -race by paddling.” - -“Maybe he’s got a motor hidden in his canoe,” suggested Jim with a -laugh. - -“If he has he’d better start it going,” said Jeffrey. “He had to stop -paddling then and straighten his canoe out. Why doesn’t he remember -what I told him?” - -“Is he much behind?” asked Hope anxiously, craning forward. - -“About three or four lengths,” answered Jim. “Sit still or you’ll have -us overboard!” - -“He’s just doing that to fool him,” said Hope. “You wait!” - -But if Poke was playing fox he was overdoing it, for now Gary was -increasing his lead with every stroke of his paddle. The blue canoe -was going finely, Gary’s bare arms working the paddle with the power -and regularity of a piece of machinery. He was at the end of the first -loop of the course now and the starting-point was already hidden from -sight by the trees which grew to the water’s edge on both sides. The -sound of the accompanying boats grew less and less, showing that Poke, -keeping them back, was rapidly losing. But it was not until the stream -turned to the right again on the beginning of the second loop that Gary -allowed himself to turn and look behind him. When he did so he smiled. -Not a canoe was in sight on so much of the winding stream as lay within -his vision. In another moment, easing a little from the pace he had -been setting, he was around the point, keeping as close to the bank as -the channel would allow. He was beginning to be aware of aching muscles -in arms and legs and back, and so he shifted his paddle to the right -for a few minutes. The river still turned so that he could see only a -hundred feet or so ahead of him at a time, but presently the bridge at -Birch Island crept into sight down the stream; first the tip end of it -on the Crofton side of the river, then the second stone pier and the -edge of the island and then the whole bridge. There were spectators -on it. They were waving to a youth on the bank who was in the act of -dropping a green canoe into the water. The green canoe, which had a -strange likeness to the one which Poke Endicott was in, disappeared -under the further arch of the bridge and went out of sight. The fellows -on the bridge disappeared, too, running to the other side to watch it. -But by the time Gary neared the bridge they were back again, shouting -to him and cheering loudly. Gary experienced a glow of pleasure at the -discovery of such a warm sentiment in his favor. As he neared the faces -leaning over the parapet he was puzzled, however, to account for the -expressions on them, and for the burst of laughter that greeted him. -There was something ironic in that laughter, and he realized dimly that -the shouts of encouragement were not altogether sincere. - -“Go it, Gary! Eat ’em up! Paddle hard!” - -“Dig, Bull! You’ll get him yet! That’s the boy!” - -The shouting died away as he swept his canoe out from under the old -stone arch and left the bridge and the island behind. Ahead was the -boat-house and the float and the end of the race――and victory! And -ahead, too, was a green canoe, a green canoe with a boy in the stern -whose back looked marvelously like Poke Endicott’s! Of course it -couldn’t be Poke, for Poke was yards and yards behind. Gary turned and -looked. Just beyond the bridge came the pursuit. He could see the boats -under the arches. Which was Poke’s he couldn’t tell, but Poke was there -somewhere, vanquished and discomfited. Of course, only――_who_ was the -boy ahead? And why were the watchers on the float waving to him and -shouting? Now he had stopped paddling and they were helping him out and -slapping him on the back and cheering. Of course it wasn’t Poke; that -was impossible; but it looked―― - -_It was Poke!_ - -The fellow had turned and Gary had seen his face. For a moment Gary -stopped paddling and stared open-mouthed as though at an apparition. -What did it mean? Poke had not passed him on the way up. Or――was it -possible that he had passed and that he hadn’t seen him? That was -an awful thought, for it suggested that he was losing his senses! -Nonsense! It was some trick, some―― - -Then Gary saw it all! Poke had carried across the point! - -Gary realized that the current was carrying him down-stream and dug his -paddle again. After all, it was all right, for plenty of fellows could -testify to having seen Poke put his canoe back into the river at Birch -Island. Why, Gary had seen that himself! And others must have seen him -leave the water on the other side. Poke had fooled him, and he supposed -a lot of the fellows would think it a good joke and try to jolly him -about it, but he had won the race fairly and squarely, and he could -afford to let them laugh. He went on to the float leisurely. The other -canoes were almost up to him now. The crowd at the landing watched him -approach and cheered him a little for consolation. At the edge of the -float stood Poke, bearing his honors as modestly as might be. He leaned -down and held Gary’s canoe for him. - -“Well paddled, Bull,” he said heartily. “But what was the trouble? Did -you strike a snag or run aground?” - -“You think you’re smart, don’t you?” replied Gary indignantly. “Gee, -you couldn’t do a thing, Poke, without trying to make a silly farce of -it! You make me tired!” - -“Farce!” repeated Poke in amazement. “Oh, now, I say, Bull, don’t be -grouchy because I beat you. Shake hands and let’s forget it. It isn’t -my fault if I can paddle faster than you can, is it now?” - -“Paddle!” fumed Gary, climbing onto the float. “Run, you mean! You -cheated!” - -Poke shook his head and viewed sorrowfully the fellows who had huddled -around at the first sounds of the altercation. “I thought you were a -good loser, Bull,” he sighed. - -“Loser! I am when I lose. But I haven’t lost. You carried across the -point to Birch Island. Why, dozens of fellows saw you!” - -“Oh, cut it out, Bull,” said one of the audience. “Don’t get sore about -it. He beat you fair and square――” - -“Of course I did,” agreed Poke soothingly. - -Gary sputtered with indignation. “Fair and square! Why――why, he took -his canoe out of the water and ran across the point with it, I tell -you!” - -“What! Oh, get out, Gary!” - -“You’re sore, Bull!” - -“You didn’t, did you, Poke?” - -“Sure I did. It was quicker that way. I wonder you didn’t think of it, -Bull.” - -“What did I tell you?” demanded Gary in triumph as the other canoes and -boats began to unload their passengers. “He knew he couldn’t win fairly -and so――” - -“Now you hold on a minute, Bull,” commanded Poke smilingly. He pushed -his way toward the other end of the float. “Jeff, where are you? Who’s -seen Punk Gibbs?” Punk answered from nearby and Jeffrey hobbled through -the crowd. “Now, then,” resumed Poke. “Bull says I didn’t win the -race fairly. What do you fellows say? You were there when we made the -agreement.” - -Jeffrey hesitated. “Well,” he said, “you know you carried your canoe -across the land, Poke.” - -“Of course. What of it? What were the terms of the challenge?” - -“You were to start together at the old bridge,” spoke up Gibbs, “and -the one who got here first was to have his shoes blacked by the other -fellow. That’s the agreement, because I took notice that you didn’t say -anything about canoes.” - -“Is that the way you remember it, Jeff?” asked Poke. - -“Yes, it is. But it hadn’t occurred to me――” - -“It was understood that we were to race in canoes,” exclaimed Gary -hotly. “If you’d meant a running race――” - -“You may have understood it that way,” said Poke, “but I certainly -didn’t.” He looked at his shoes. “Got your blacking handy, Bull?” - -“No, and don’t you think for a minute that I’m going to black your -shoes for you! You didn’t race fair, and every one knows it! I won that -race――” - -But the sentiment of the crowd was against Gary. It was too good a joke -to be spoiled by quibbles. - -“Cut it out, Bull!” - -“Of course he beat you! He didn’t say anything about staying in the -canoes!” - -“Go on and get your blacking, Bull!” - -“Every one over to Mem!” - -And the crowd, jostling and laughing, swept Gary and Poke with it up -the bank, Gary asking excitedly where Joe Cosgrove was. - -“Wait till you hear what the referee says!” he demanded. “He hasn’t -given his decision yet! Where is he? Any one seen him?” - -But Joe was half-way to the links by that time, and when, hours later, -Gary ran him down, he was suffering from a strange lapse of memory. - -“Race? Oh, I’ve forgotten all about the race, Bull. What of it?” - -“Well, didn’t I win?” demanded Gary. “Poke carried his canoe half the -way.” - -“That’s a very serious accusation to make,” said Joe gravely. “Can you -substantiate it, Bull?” - -“Of course I can! Dozens of fellows saw him do it! Why, you must have -seen him yourself!” - -“N-no, I don’t think I could swear that Poke carried his canoe. I did -see him haul it up on the bank once, but there’s no rule to keep a chap -from taking a rest if he wants to. All I know is that he arrived at the -boat-house first, and that gives him the race, Bull.” - -“But he cheated, I tell you! Don’t you understand that?” - -“I tell you what you do, Bull,” said Joe finally. “You bring some good, -reliable witnesses to me to prove that Poke carried his canoe instead -of paddled it and I’ll――I’ll hear ’em.” - -But Gary had cooled down by the next day and the witnesses never -testified. I don’t think Gary ever saw the humor of that memorable -aquatic contest, but he got so after awhile that he could grin when -he was teased about it, and that wasn’t so bad for Gary. But he never -blackened Poke’s shoes. And I, for one, don’t blame him! - -The school enjoyed the event for days afterward and some of the Juniors -got together and presented Poke with a loving-cup――which had all the -ear-marks of a tin gallon measure――suitably inscribed in black paint. -In the inscription Poke was referred to as the “Champion Dry-Ground -Canoist of the World.” - -“But do you mean to tell me,” asked Jeffrey after the race that -forenoon, “that you went down this morning at half-past six or some -such unearthly time and carried that canoe through the woods for -practice?” - -“Why not?” asked Poke. “You see, I wasn’t certain it could be done, on -account of the bushes and things.” - -“Nice time to find out about it,” laughed Jim. “Suppose you had found -that it couldn’t be done?” - -“Then I’d had to follow my original plan, which was to use two canoes.” - -“Two canoes? How could you have done that?” - -“Why, I’d have started in one, left it on the bank, hot-footed it -through the woods and picked up another which would have been waiting -for me. But I didn’t quite like to do that. It didn’t seem quite fair, -you see. Of course there was nothing in the agreement prohibiting the -use of two canoes, or twenty, but――well, there’s the spirit of the law -to consider as well as the letter.” And Poke looked as virtuous as a -saint. - -“You’re a silly chump,” observed Gil with conviction. “Why did you let -Jeff here wear himself out trying to teach you to handle a paddle if -you didn’t mean to use it?” - -Poke grinned. “Because Jeff was troubled about me and I knew he’d feel -a lot better if he thought he was teaching me how to win the race. I -didn’t want to cause him any uneasiness, Gil.” - -“You and your uneasiness!” scoffed Gil. “If I were Jeff I’d punch your -head for you!” - -“I’ll do worse than that some day,” laughed Jeffrey. “I’ll take him out -in a canoe and leave him there helpless!” - -Poke laughed. “It was funny, though, fellows,” he said, “to see -the look on Bull’s face when he saw me on the float. He was so -flabbergasted that he sat with his paddle in the air and let the canoe -drift down-stream with him! I’ll bet that for a minute he thought it -was my ghost he saw!” - -Hope, I think, was a little disappointed in the outcome of the race. -She had wanted Poke to prove a hero and instead of that he had only -proved a practical joker. And Hope, while her sense of humor was -extremely well developed, failed to appreciate the joke as much as the -boys did. She confided to Poke some days later that she wished he would -learn to paddle perfectly jimmy and then beat “that Gary boy” in a real -race. And Poke gravely consented to think the matter over. - -For awhile speculation was rife as to the duration of Gary’s term of -probation, but after Cosgrove had settled into the position of right -guard and it was observed that that side of the line appeared as -strong as ever the school became less concerned with Gary’s fortunes. -Cosgrove, although he had never played the position before, soon became -a proficient right guard, and Curtis, accustomed to the other side of -the line, took very kindly to his change. Crofton met and defeated -three adversaries and then ran into a snag in the shape of Chester -Polytechnic. “Poly” swept the Academy team off its feet and won the -game in a romp. But “Poly” had a way of doing that, and Crofton was not -disheartened. The game proved that the weakest place in the line was -at left tackle, where Marshall, willing and hard-working, hadn’t the -stamina for the position. And yet Marshall was the best material in -sight and Johnny decided to keep him, trusting that in the Hawthorne -game Sargent, on one side, and Gil Benton, on the other, would help him -out. After the Polytechnic game came a battle with Cupples Academy, -and Crofton crawled out victor by a single goal from field. With two -contests remaining before the Hawthorne game the season settled into -the home-stretch. Graduates ran out to Crofton for a day or two at a -time and looked the team over and gave advice and sometimes took a hand -in the coaching, and ran back to college or business quite satisfied -with their devotion to alma mater. But the man behind the team was -Johnny, and Johnny pursued the even tenor of his way, undisturbed. -Rumors of exceptional ability on the part of the Hawthorne eleven might -cause uneasiness to others, but Johnny paid them no heed. He had heard -that sort of thing many, many times before. - -Meanwhile Jim was getting on with rapid strides, and there came a -day when the name of Hazard was on every tongue. For on that day Jim -broke through Curtis, blocked a kick, captured the ball and sped forty -yards for a touchdown. As the first team’s best that afternoon was a -field goal, Jim’s feat brought a victory to the second, and he went -off the field a hero in the eyes of ten panting, happy players. But -brilliant tricks of that sort are not the common lot of tackles and -Jim’s best work was of the sort that doesn’t show much. By now he had -learned how to handle Cosgrove, while Curtis and he battled day after -day with honors fairly even. But while Jim was making fine progress on -the gridiron he was scarcely holding his own in class. A boy must be -peculiarly constituted to work heart and soul for the success of his -team and yet not show a falling off at recitations. And Jim, since it -was his first attempt at serving two masters, was beginning to find -himself at outs with his instructors. Oddly enough it was with Latin -that he had the most trouble those days and it was Mr. Hanks who first -scared him. - -“It won’t do, Hazard,” said the instructor one day. “You’ll have to -give more time to your Latin. Don’t let me find you unprepared again -this month, please.” - -That night Jim settled down in the quiet and seclusion of his own room -and dug hard. And the next day, and the next after that, Mr. Hanks -viewed him kindly. But in specializing on Latin Jim had neglected his -other studies and he heard from that. Two weeks before the final game -Jim was looking worried and had become so irritable that Hope declared -she was certain he was about to be ill. And unfortunately his troubled -condition of mind reflected itself in his playing and on the second -team it was whispered around that Jim was getting “fine.” And then -came the game with Fosterville School, one crisp Saturday afternoon in -the first of November. And when it was over, with the score 12 to 5 -in favor of the enemy, the future looked pretty dark for Crofton. For -Marshall had been dragged out of a play limp and white, his usefulness -to the team a thing of the past. The doctor declared it only a severe -wrench of the left shoulder but Marshall took it badly and Johnny knew -that even if Marshall pulled around in a week the accident had taken -every bit of fight out of him. And so it was that the second lost -another lineman to the first team, for by the middle of the following -week, after trying out Parker and Hazard for the position, the much -coveted, but unhoped for, honor fell to Jim. - - - - -CHAPTER XXII - -THE SWORD FALLS! - - -Jim broke into the first team on Wednesday. - -That night there was a celebration at Sunnywood. Jeffrey began it with -two bottles of ginger ale which he produced after study hour. They -drank Jim’s health in that enticing beverage and then Poke suggested -that some cake wouldn’t be half bad. So Hope was summoned and Mrs. -Hazard was appealed to and the party adjourned to the dining-room where -a spread worthy of the occasion was speedily forthcoming. Every one was -very merry save Jim. Jim was wondering when the sword would fall, for -he had flunked badly that morning in mathematics and had barely scraped -through in Latin. And that was why he protested when Poke had the merry -thought of inviting Mr. Hanks to the feast. - -“Oh, no,” said Jim, “let him alone, Poke.” - -“I think he ought to participate in our merry-making,” Poke persisted. -“You run up and invite him down, Hope.” - -“Shall I?” asked Hope, her eyes dancing. - -“No,” said Jim. But the others insisted and Hope hurried away on her -errand. - -“Well, anyway, he won’t come,” predicted Jim. But he did. He didn’t -quite know what it was all about, but he and Hope were very good -friends by now and he came unquestioningly, smiling and blinking behind -his huge spectacles. It was explained to him that Jim had that day -attained to the utmost pinnacle of success by being taken onto the -Crofton Academy Football Team, and Mr. Hanks murmured “Dear, dear! I -want to know!” nibbled at a piece of cake and wondered how soon he -could in decency return to his interrupted labors upstairs. Finally -he did go back, shaking hands with Jim in an absent-minded way first, -with one of Mrs. Hazard’s serviettes dangling from his coat pocket. The -party proceeded quite as merrily without him, however. Poke rallied Jim -on his quietness. - -“I fear the sudden honor is too much for you, Jim. You used to be -rather a merry youth. To-night you remind me of a graveyard gate post. -Why so sad?” - -“I’m tired,” murmured Jim. - -“Then, Jim dear,” said Mrs. Hazard, “I really think you had better not -eat any more cake. I’m sure that must be your fifth slice. And you ate -a great big supper.” - -“You don’t mean to say you’ve been counting the slices!” ejaculated -Poke. “Why, that’s not like you, Lady.” - -“She couldn’t count all you’ve eaten,” declared Hope. “You’re a――a -gridjon!” - -“A what-on?” asked Poke anxiously. - -“A gridjon. A gridjon is a person who eats too much.” - -“Webster or Hazard?” laughed Jeffrey. - -“It’s a perfectly good word of my own,” replied Hope with dignity. - -But although Jim tumbled into bed in short time he didn’t go right to -sleep. Instead he lay awake for quite a while wondering how long, if -he didn’t make a much better showing in class, faculty would allow him -to enjoy his new honors. And when sleep did come to him finally it was -because he had comforted his conscience with the firm resolve to buckle -down to-morrow and study as never before. - -But, alas, how many of our good resolutions survive the night? The next -day was filled with new experiences for Jim, and much hard, gruelling -work on the field, and a blackboard lecture in dining hall after -dinner. And so, when study time came, he was tired and nervous and his -thoughts absolutely refused to concern themselves with studies. And the -following day Mr. Groff, the mathematics instructor, lectured him in -front of the whole class, which didn’t improve Jim’s state of mind a -bit, and Mr. Hanks viewed him sadly but forebore to reprimand him. In -his other studies he was doing fairly well as yet. - -There was no practice on Friday and Jim locked himself up in his room, -in spite of the fact that Johnny had instructed them to stay out of -doors and take mild exercise, and heroically studied. But the faculty -of assimilation seemed to have deserted him of late and it was the -hardest sort of work to make anything stick in his memory for more than -a minute. But he kept at it until supper time and then emerged tired -and fagged. - -In the Merton contest the next day, the last before the “big game,” -Crofton showed flashes of first-rate football. Although he didn’t say -so, Johnny was well satisfied, for he knew that, barring accidents, his -team would play at least twenty per cent. better a week from that day. -Crofton was still coming, and a team that is coming is better than -one that has reached the zenith of its development. Merton went down -in defeat, 17 to 8, after a hard-fought battle. Best of all, Crofton -emerged from the fray with scarcely a scratch, at all events with no -real injuries to any of her players. Jim played well in that game. For -four twelve-minute periods he forgot all about Latin and mathematics -and thought and lived football. And Johnny, who hadn’t liked the -haggard look in Jim’s eyes, concluded that his fears were groundless, -and confided to Captain Sargent after the game that “That fellow Hazard -is the best find of the season.” - -And then, on Monday, the sword fell! - -He was summoned to the office at noon. What Mr. Gordon said and what -excuses Jim offered are of small consequences. We are interested in -results. The result in this case was that Jim emerged from Academy Hall -feeling that life was indeed a very tragic thing. That afternoon Parker -played at left guard on the eleven and all the school knew that Hazard -was “in wrong with the Office.” - -Johnny was a philosopher. Such things had happened to him before. He -wasted no breath in regrets nor recriminations. He picked the next -best man for Jim’s place and went ahead. Perhaps he was a little -grimmer in the face that afternoon and a little more silent, but that -was all. Duncan Sargent, his nerves already jangling as a captain’s -nerves are likely to jangle when the last week of the season arrives, -was in despair. - -“First it’s Gary,” he groaned, “and then it’s Marshall and now it’s -Hazard. Well, I’d like to know what’s going to happen next! We might as -well hand the game to Hawthorne and save the trouble of playing!” - -Poke, to whom these remarks were addressed just before the beginning of -practice, was as gloomy as his captain. He had known nothing of Jim’s -misfortune until a few minutes before, for Jim had not shown up at -dinner hour and Poke had not glimpsed him since morning. - -“Gee,” he muttered, “it’s all a surprise to me. I never suspected that -Jim wasn’t getting on all right in class. You don’t suppose J. G. will -let him back in a day or two?” - -“I don’t know,” answered Sargent despondently. “What if he does? A -fellow can’t drop training for two or three days on the eve of the big -game and then play decently.” - -“Jim could,” said Poke thoughtfully. “I wonder where the chump is. I -suppose he isn’t here, eh?” - -“I haven’t seen him.” Sargent shrugged his broad shoulders. “What’s -more, I don’t want to. If a fellow doesn’t think enough of the success -of his school to study a few silly lessons we’re better without him.” - -“Oh, be good,” Poke chided. “It was only two years ago that you were -off for a whole week for the same reason, Dun.” - -“And I learned my lesson,” said the other gloomily. - -“Well, I suppose Jim Hazard’s learning his,” replied Poke. “Only I wish -he’d chosen some other time. How’s Parker going to fit?” - -Sargent kicked viciously at a football that had rolled up to them. -“Rotten!” he said. - -Practice went badly that day, just as it’s likely to on the Monday -after a hard game, and there was a general air of discouragement about -coach and players alike. The second team, grumbling over the loss of -another lineman, smashed vengefully at their opponents and tied the -score in the second half of the scrimmage. And so it stayed and the -second credited themselves with what was virtually a victory. Gil, -Poke and Jeffrey walked home together after practice and talked over -Jim’s predicament. - -“Success,” said Gil, “was too much for him.” - -“That’s not fair,” remonstrated Poke. “Jim got onto the team late and -has had to learn a whole lot in a short time. Hang it, Gil, I haven’t -been doing any too well at studies, myself, and I’ve been playing -football long enough to know the ropes. I don’t wonder that Jim fell -behind. The question now is can he catch up and square himself with the -Office before Saturday?” - -“Is it all studies or one or two?” asked Jeffrey. - -Poke shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know. Why didn’t he say something -to some of us? I noticed that he seemed rather down in the mouth, but I -didn’t suspect this. I thought he was just worried for fear he wouldn’t -make good at playing.” - -“Who do you suppose started the trouble?” asked Gil. “Who do you and -Jim have, Jeff?” - -“Hanks in Latin and history, Groff in math, Arroway in English, -Lewellyn in French and Thurston in physics.” - -“Well, it might be ‘Gruff,’” said Gil, “or it might be ‘Boots.’ -(‘Boots’ was the popular name for Mr. Thurston.) It isn’t likely that -Hanks had anything to do with it; nor Lewellyn. As for English, why, no -fellow has trouble in that course.” - -“I’m not so sure about Nancy, though,” said Jeffrey. “Ever since we -turned him into a tyrant he’s been pretty fussy about us having our -lessons. But I think it was probably Groff that started the trouble. He -gave Jim a calling-down in class last week.” - -“Gruff always was a tartar,” grumbled Poke. “I never knew a mathematics -instructor who wasn’t.” - -“Well, the question is,” observed Gil, “is there anything we can do -to pull Jim out of his hole? There’s five days yet before the game. -Something might be done.” - -“I don’t believe Johnny would let him play after being laid off,” said -Poke gloomily. “Dun’s got a grouch against him, too.” - -“Well, the first thing to do is to find him,” said Jeffrey. “I haven’t -seen him since physics.” - -“I suppose he’s feeling so mean he’s hiding out somewhere,” Poke -suggested. “I don’t blame him for being cut up about it.” - -Jim, however, wasn’t very far off when the trio entered the gate. He -was sitting at the table in his room with his books spread before him -looking disconsolately out of the window. “No more athletics, Hazard, -until your marks are considerably better in all studies, Latin and -mathematics especially,” had been Mr. Gordon’s ultimatum. Jim had -spent the dinner hour sitting on a spile near the bridge, gazing into -the water and wondering on the lack of gratitude displayed by Mr. -Hanks. For Mr. Gordon had distinctly said that it had been the Latin -instructor who had made complaint. Jim was through with the team and -wouldn’t have shown up at training table for anything. Nor did he want -to go home and face his chums at Sunnywood just then. Besides, he was -much too disappointed and miserable to want anything to eat. Of course, -he had reflected, it was all his own fault, but that knowledge didn’t -seem to make the situation any easier. He found a little satisfaction -in calling Mr. Hanks names. It seemed to him that after the way they -had come to Nancy’s assistance with advice the least he could have done -was to have been a little more lenient with Jim Hazard. He wished he -had never gone in for football; wished he had never come to Crofton. -Then the bell rang and he dragged himself back along the river to -Academy Hall and a French recitation. After that there had been -physics, and then, when most of the fellows were setting their faces -toward the field, he had hurried home and shut himself in his room. His -mother had sought entrance and he had put her off with the plea that he -was busy studying, but as a matter of fact there had been very little -studying done that afternoon. His thoughts simply refused to stay on -his books. It was almost dark now in the room, and through the window -the western sky was paling from orange to gray. He heard the gate click -and then came the sound of footsteps on the stairs. Some one knocked -imperatively at his door. - -“Hello?” he growled. - -“We want to come in, Jim.” It was Poke’s voice. And the tone told Jim -that Poke had heard. - -“I’m working,” replied Jim, more gruffly. - -“It’s time to quit. Open up, like a good fellow.” - -“Too busy,” replied Jim. There was a whispered conference beyond the -door and then footsteps died out along the hall. Jim felt more lonely -than ever then and wished he had let them in. But pride kept him there -behind the locked door until the supper bell rang, and then until Hope -came up to find why he wasn’t down. Hope had to beg her hardest before -she was admitted. Then Jim said he wasn’t hungry and wanted no supper. -All he wanted was to be let alone. So Hope went out quietly, closing -the door after her, and, being a rather wise young lady, prepared a -tray. After she had taken her departure for the second time Jim sat and -looked at the tray for a long time; to be exact, just as long as his -courage lasted. Then he gave in and ate everything in sight. After that -life didn’t look quite so dark, and when, presently, Poke came knocking -at the door again, Jim bade him enter. - -They talked it all over then, Gil and Jeffrey sort of happening in, and -Poke was highly incensed at Mr. Hanks’ conduct. - -“After what we did to help him!” he said disgustedly. - -“He has only followed the advice we gave him,” observed Gil dryly. -“What goes for one goes for all, Poke.” - -“He hasn’t a grain of――of gratitude,” spluttered Poke. “And what’s -more, I’d like to tell him so, too.” - -“If you talk so loud you won’t have to,” said Jeffrey. “He will hear -you now.” - -“Let him! He’s the limit!” - -“Stop calling names and let’s see what’s to be done,” Gil counseled. -“Think you can catch up by Friday, Jim?” - -“Oh, I don’t know. I can’t seem to get down to studying. I’ve been -trying to all the afternoon.” - -“Well, I can’t promise that Johnny will take you on again even if you -get square with the Office,” said Gil, “but seems to me it’s worth -trying. You get your books and go over to Jeff’s room. After awhile -we’ll go over to-morrow’s stuff with you. Maybe between us we can coach -you up, Jim. I’m not much of a Latin student myself, but Poke gets on -pretty well in that; so does Jeff. As for math, why, I’ll do what I can -for you there. What do you say?” - -Jim thought a moment. He was still inclined to feel hurt and imposed -on. But the offer was too good to be refused, and so, - -“All right,” he muttered. “I’ll try it.” - -[Illustration: Hope, being a rather wise young lady, prepared a tray.] - -Jim’s showing in class the next day was not much better, but on -Wednesday there was a marked improvement. Every night Gil, Poke and -Jeffrey took him in hand and put him through his paces in mathematics -and Latin. Jim was not stupid, and now that he had more time and -constant encouragement he went ahead in good shape. If Mr. Hanks -suspected the sudden coolness exhibited toward him by Jim and Poke he -made no sign. Personally I don’t believe that he gave it a thought. -He had done what his duty required of him in Jim’s case and that was -all. That his action had cost Jim his position on the football team and -deprived the team of a good player he did not know. He went his way -serenely unconscious of the trouble he had caused. - -Meanwhile the team worked like Trojans every afternoon, the football -enthusiasm and excitement grew to fever heat and Thursday dawned. -Thursday was the last day of practice. The whole school marched to -the field at four o’clock, cheering and singing. Even Jim allowed the -others to persuade him to attend the final practice, and he and the -rest of the Sunnywood, saving Mrs. Hazard, who had lost her interest in -football, now that Jim no longer played, followed the procession, Hope -wildly enthusiastic and attracting many admiring glances on the way. - -There was nothing spectacular about practice that afternoon. After the -preliminary work the rest of the time was spent in a hard signal drill -and one fifteen-minute period of scrimmaging, the latter being halted -for minutes at a time while one or other of the coaches, who had grown -quite numerous by now, criticized and lectured, begged and threatened. -Around the field, outside the ropes which were already in place for -Saturday’s game, all Crofton cheered and sang. Then the final whistle -sounded, the second team gathered together and cheered the first, -the first tiredly returned the compliment and players, coaches and -onlookers trailed back to the gymnasium. - -Poke, a faded blanket hanging about him, found Jim on the way out. - -“I spoke to Sargent about you, Jim,” he panted, “and he says if you -can get square with the Office by Saturday he’s willing to give you -a chance in the game if he can. That is, of course, if Johnny says -so. I haven’t talked with him yet, but I will. Of course, Jim, you -won’t get in at the beginning. You see, Parker’s doing pretty well and -it wouldn’t be fair to throw him out at the last moment, would it? -Besides, you might be a bit stale, you know.” - -Jim nodded gloomily. “I know. Much obliged to you, Poke, but I guess -it’s no use. I don’t even know that J. G. will give me leave to play -yet. I’m pretty square with Groff, but Nancy doesn’t love me much, I -guess. Don’t bother about speaking to Johnny. It’s all right.” - -“Oh, I’ll see Johnny,” responded Poke heartily. “You do the best you -can and go and have a talk with J. G. to-morrow. Why, supposing you -don’t get in for the whole game, Jim, even a couple of periods is -better than nothing at all. And you’ll get your C if you only play two -minutes. Buck up and never say die, old chap!” - -Jim nodded again and Poke, clapping him on the shoulder, hurried into -the gymnasium. They were cheering again now, cheering each member of -the team in turn, from Sargent down to the latest member, Parker. There -was no cheer for Hazard, though. Jim had got parted from Hope and -Jeffrey, and presently he edged his way out of the gathering and strode -home alone and forlorn through the twilight. - - - - -CHAPTER XXIII - -FRIDAY AND ILL-LUCK - - -“I think,” remarked Mr. Groff, the next morning, “that I could count on -one hand the students who have studied their algebra. Wyman, Latham, -Nutter, Hazard――if there is another I’d like to hear from him.” - -Thirty-odd hands went up. Mr. Groff smiled gently and sorrowfully. - -“If football plays may be worked out by algebra, I believe you. We will -repeat to-day’s lesson to-morrow. I trust that as the football season -will be over on Monday we may then return to our studies. Dismissed.” - -Events transpired so rapidly that day that it is difficult to tell of -them in order. First of all, though, just before noon it was known that -Curtis, formerly of the second and now playing right tackle on the -first team, had been summoned home because of sickness in the family. -Consternation prevailed. At two o’clock Curtis went off, bag in hand, -torn between anxiety and disappointment. Before that Duncan Sargent and -Johnny Connell had spent a troubled hour trying to rearrange their line -of battle. At dinner time Johnny pedaled along the road, jumped from -his wheel in front of Sunnywood Cottage, rang the bell impatiently and -demanded Jim. - -“Look here, Hazard,” began Johnny when Jim reached the porch, napkin in -hand, “we’ve lost Curtis. He’s gone home. Some of his folks ill. We’ve -got to have another lineman. There’s no one on the second heavy enough -to stand up in front of Hawthorne. Either you or Gary must come back. I -don’t care which, but the first of you to report to me, all square with -the Office, starts the game to-morrow. I’ve seen Gary and told him the -same thing. Now you have a talk with Mr. Gordon right away, understand? -And let me know what he says. Come to me after school. If he lets you -play you’ll have to learn the new signals this evening. Now hurry up -and finish your dinner, and don’t stuff yourself. Then see Mr. Gordon -at once.” - -“All right,” replied Jim, his heart thumping hard at the thought of -getting back to the team. “I’ll see him in fifteen minutes. Where will -I find you?” - -“I’ll be in the gym at two. Before that you’ll find me around Academy -somewhere. Get a move on. Tell Gordon you’ve _got_ to play; tell him -we’ve got to have you!” - -And Johnny hurried through the gate, jumped on his bicycle and tore -back to school. Fifteen minutes later Jim, breathless and anxious, ran -up the steps of Academy Hall, hurried down the corridor and entered the -Office. - -“Can I see Mr. Gordon, please?” - -“Mr. Gordon has gone to Boston,” replied the secretary in his best -official voice. “He left at twelve o’clock.” - -Jim’s heart sank. “When will he be back, please, sir?” he asked. The -secretary frowned. - -“He is not in the habit of informing me very closely as to his plans. -I believe, however, that he expects to return sometime to-morrow -forenoon.” - -“To-morrow forenoon!” gasped Jim. - -“Exactly.” The trouble in the boy’s face softened the secretary’s -manner. “What was it you wanted? Is there anything I can do for you?” - -“No, sir, thank you,” answered Jim. He went out, closed the heavy oak -door softly and dragged his feet along the corridor. At the corner he -drew aside and Brandon Gary hurried by him in the direction of the -Office. Jim smiled wanly. Gary and he were in the same boat. - -On the front steps he paused, hands thrust deep in his pockets and -tried to think what to do. It still lacked twenty minutes of recitation -time and he had the sunlit entrance to himself. But he could see no way -out of his quandary. Only Mr. Gordon could lift the ban and Mr. Gordon -had gone away. Jim seated himself on the top step and stared unseeingly -at the wooded slope beyond the river. Footsteps echoed in the corridor -and Brandon Gary came out. He saw Jim, hesitated and then leaned -against the doorway. Jim looked up and their eyes met. Gary nodded. - -“Hello,” said Jim morosely. - -“Say, Hazard, you and I are both up against it, aren’t we?” said Gary. -“I’d like to know what business J. G. has going away at a time like -this.” - -“I suppose to-morrow morning will be too late,” responded Jim -discouragedly. - -“Oh, he won’t be back until noon. He’ll come on the express that gets -in just before dinner. Gee, Hazard, I’d like to play to-morrow! I’ve -been thinking he might let me off before this, but he didn’t, and I -made up my mind I wouldn’t ask. But now it’s serious. With Curtis gone -the old team’s up against it, I guess.” - -Jim nodded. Gary seated himself on the other side of the steps. Silence -held them for a minute. Then Jim sighed. - -“Well,” he said, “I guess I’ll look up Johnny and tell him. I promised -to let him know.” - -“So did I,” said Gary. “Look here, Hazard, do you think it would do any -good to talk to Nancy?” - -Jim considered a moment. - -“I don’t see what he could do, Gary.” - -“He might telegraph to J. G. and ask him to let us off.” - -“I don’t believe Nancy would do that,” replied Jim doubtfully. -“Besides, we don’t know where he is, do we?” - -“Mrs. Gordon can tell us. Look here, will you go and see him with me? -Maybe we can talk him into it. I’ll apologize to him, if he wants me -to. I’ll do anything to help the team out.” - -“Yes, I’ll go,” answered Jim, brightening a little. “If we walk up the -road maybe we’ll meet him.” - -They sprang up and hurried off side by side, choosing the road instead -of the wood path, since if they took the latter they might miss the -instructor. They hadn’t far to go. As they walked briskly around the -curve behind the Principal’s residence Mr. Hanks came into sight a few -rods away. - -“You start it,” whispered Gary. “You know him better. I’ll dig in -afterwards.” - -“Mr. Hanks, may we speak to you a minute, sir?” asked Jim as the -instructor met them. Mr. Hanks dropped the hand holding the book he had -been reading and brought his thoughts back with a visible effort. - -“Er――certainly.” - -“Gary and I, sir, are both in wrong at the Office, as you know. Now -Curtis has gone home and the team’s in a bad way for a fellow to take -his place in the line. We’ve been to see Mr. Gordon and he’s gone away -and may not be back until to-morrow noon. That will be too late, sir. -Wouldn’t you be willing to say a good word for us, sir, to Mr. Gordon? -Tell him we――we’re sorry and――and all that, and ask him if we can’t -play to-morrow?” - -Mr. Hanks looked blank. “I――I don’t quite understand,” he said. “You -want me to intercede for you with Mr. Gordon?” - -“Yes, sir,” answered Gary. “I guess I deserved what I got, Mr. Hanks, -but I’ve been on probation for nearly a month now. I’m sorry for what -I did and I――I beg pardon, sir, I wouldn’t have asked any favors for -myself, sir, but the team’s in a rotten mess now that Curtis can’t play -and it needs me badly, needs both of us.” - -“I――I’m afraid, I don’t quite get your meaning about this――this team. -What sort of a team is it, Gary?” - -“Why, the football team, sir! To-morrow’s the big game of the season, -you know; Hawthorne. And we’re going to get licked as sure as shooting -if either Hazard or I don’t get back.” - -“Am I to understand,” asked Mr. Hanks in puzzled tones, “that Mr. -Gordon has forbidden you to play in the game?” - -“Why, of course,” replied Gary a trifle impatiently. “I haven’t played -since he put me on probation. And Hazard here had to give up last -Monday. You can’t play if you don’t keep up with your studies.” - -“Really! I didn’t know that. I fear I am not sufficiently conversant -with the customs here. I understand, then, that you want to take part -in this――this contest to-morrow. Is that it?” - -“Yes, sir,” chorused Gary and Jim eagerly. - -“Why――why――yes, I shall be glad to say a good word for you both. Your -work in class has been very satisfactory since――since the occasion we -both, I am sure, regret, Gary. As for Hazard, he seems to have taken -hold earnestly with his studies of late. But――but if Mr. Gordon is away -I don’t just see how――that is――” - -“We thought you might send him a telegram,” said Gary boldly. “Tell him -we’re needed on the team and that you’re willing we should play and ask -him to give us permission.” - -“Do you think,” asked Mr. Hanks doubtfully, “I should be within -my――er――authority? It――it has the appearance of interference with the -Principal’s affairs.” - -“No, sir, it would be all right. It’s been done lots of times. You see, -Mr. Hanks, you had us punished and you have a right to ask for pardon. -And, besides, sir, it isn’t just for us personally, it’s for the whole -school! If we don’t play we’ll be licked by Hawthorne! And you don’t -want that to happen!” - -“Er――no, I suppose not. Naturally a victory is much to be desired. -But――but a telegram? Wouldn’t a letter do?” - -“He wouldn’t get it in time, sir. We’ll have to know right off; -to-night or to-morrow morning at the latest. Please say you will, Mr. -Hanks!” - -“We-ell, yes, Gary, I’ll do as you ask. Now what is the address?” - -“We don’t know yet, sir. We’ll ask Mrs. Gordon for it. If you will just -write out the telegram now, sir, I’ll get the address and take the -message down town right after school.” - -“Very well. If you will accompany me to the hall I will――er――attend to -it.” - -[Illustration: “We thought you might send him a telegram,” said Gary, -boldly.] - -At a few minutes before four o’clock Gary sent the message at the -telegraph office in the village. Mrs. Gordon had willingly supplied -her husband’s address in Boston. There was nothing to do now but wait. -Johnny was far from satisfied with events, but told Gary and Jim to -report that evening and receive instructions in signals. Jim was a -different boy now. At Sunnywood excitement reigned supreme. Supper was -a very perfunctory meal, for every one was too busy listening for the -footsteps of a messenger boy to eat much. Even Mr. Hanks, suddenly -drawn into the swirl of school affairs, displayed a mild interest -in events. At eight o’clock no reply had been received and Hope put -forward the explanation that Mr. Gordon, who was stopping at an hotel, -had gone out to dinner with friends. - -“He will find the telegram when he gets back to the hotel this -evening,” she declared cheerfully. “There’s no use getting worried, -Jim. It will be all right. You see if it isn’t.” - -Right or wrong, Jim was forced to leave the house at twenty minutes -past eight and hurry to the locker rooms in the gymnasium, where -Sargent, Johnny and Arnold, the quarter-back, were awaiting him and -Gary. For a solid hour and ten minutes the two boys were coached in the -new signals, and not until they were letter-perfect were they allowed -to depart. By that time Jim’s head was in a whirl. He and Gary walked -back together through the frosty darkness, discussing the chances of -the telegram coming that night and speculating as to what its tenor -would be when it did come. - -“Like as not,” said Jim, who was tired and low-spirited by this time, -“he will refuse to let us off.” - -“I have a feeling it’s going to be all right,” answered Gary cheerfully. -“Guess I’ll walk on to your place and see if it’s come.” - -And it had. Hope met them at the door with the news and they went -upstairs to Mr. Hanks’ room. The instructor fumbled around on his desk -and finally found the message. He handed it to Gary. Gary read it with -a broad smile, that trailed away toward the end, and handed it to Jim. -This was the message: - - MR. ARTEMUS HANKS, - CARE MRS. HAZARD, Crofton, Mass. - - Gary’s probation lifted. Please inform him. Hazard must pass - examination in Latin before he can take part in athletics. - - JOHN GORDON. - -Jim reread the telegram and then laid it back on the desk. “That lets -me out,” he said quietly. “I’m glad you’re all right, though, Gary. If -you play they won’t need me, anyway. Thank you, Mr. Hanks.” - -“You’re very welcome, Jim. I――I regret that the result in your case is -so disappointing.” - -Jim went down to the door with Gary and bade him good night. “Glad you -can play, Gary,” he said. “And I hope we win.” - -“We will if I can bring it about,” replied Gary warmly. “I wish you -were going in, too, though, Hazard.” He hesitated a moment on the -steps. “Thanks for helping me. Come and see me some time, will you?” At -the gate he turned again. “Oh, Hazard, I say!” - -“Yes?” replied Jim from the doorway. - -“How about your rooms here? Haven’t got one I could have after -Christmas recess, have you?” - -“Yes, there’s one empty. It isn’t as good as――as the one you saw, Gary, -but it’s not bad.” - -“I’ll come around and have a look at it some day. Jones’s is the limit! -Good night.” - -“Good night,” answered Jim tiredly. - -Then he went upstairs to face the sympathy of Gil and Poke and Jeffrey. - - - - -CHAPTER XXIV - -HAWTHORNE COMES TO CONQUER - - -The day of the Hawthorne game dawned cold and gray, with a chill -breeze out of the east that held a tang of the ocean thirty miles -away. Hawthorne came along, nearly two hundred strong, early in the -forenoon and took possession of the village, taxing the capacities of -the railroad restaurant and the various lunch rooms to the limit. At -Sunnywood Gil and Poke, veterans though they were, showed unmistakable -nervousness all the morning, and it took the required efforts of Jim -and Jeffrey to amuse them. By eleven o’clock the sun had peeped for an -instant through the gloom, promising better things for the afternoon. -The football team dined at twelve that day, so at Sunnywood the dinner -hour was set forward correspondingly. At one Gil and Poke, happy and -cheerful now that the time of waiting was past, set off to the field. - -“If you don’t win, Poke Endicott,” called Hope from the porch as the -boys started down the road, “I’ll never speak to you again!” - -“After that threat,” laughed Poke, “I shall simply eat ’em alive, Hope!” - -The rest of the household, Jim, Jeffrey, Hope, Mrs. Hazard and Mr. -Hanks started an hour later. Mr. Hanks, having had football thrust -suddenly into his philosophy, displayed an amazing interest and -curiosity. “You see,” he confided to Mrs. Hazard, “I have never -witnessed a game of football. This may seem strange to you, for -my college was, I believe, very successful at the game. The fact -is, however, that I never had time to attend the contests. I am -really quite curious to see how the game is played. I think it must -be――er――quite interesting.” - -When the Sunnywood party arrived Hawthorne, looking in its black -and orange like an army of young Princetonians, was on the gridiron -warming up for the fray. Along the ropes on the other side of the field -Hawthorne’s supporters were already shouting to the sky. The sun, still -coy, broke through every few minutes and cast a pallid wash of gold -over the sere turf. It was cold enough for rugs and heavy coats, and -Hope was secretly pleased that she had managed to snuggle in between -her mother and Mr. Hanks. Beyond Mrs. Hazard sat Jim with Jeffrey -beside him. By a quarter to two the Crofton side of the field was three -and four deep along the ropes and at ten minutes to the hour two things -happened simultaneously; the Crofton eleven, brave and colorful in new -uniforms of crimson and gray, trotted onto the field, and the sun burst -through the murk in a sudden blaze of glory. - -“That,” cried Hope ecstatically, “means that we shall win!” - -Crofton took the field for practice, Gary, back in his togs once more, -racing down the gridiron like a colt. A moment later Gil ran up and -called to Jim across the rope. - -“Come on and be our linesman, Jim. You see,” he continued as Jim -ducked under the barrier and strode across the field with him, “you’ll -be nearer things and can watch the game a heap better. There’s your -partner in crime over there with the chain. Introduce yourself like a -gentleman, shake hands and welcome him to the funeral. They’ve got a -pretty husky set of men, haven’t they? That’s Gould, the little chap -talking to Johnny. He’s the man we’ve got to watch to-day. Gee, I wish -you were playing, Jim!” - -“So do I. Is Gould their quarter? He doesn’t look such a wonder, does -he?” - -“Wait till you get a good look at his face. There’s the whistle. Wish -us luck, Jim!” - -Jeffrey moved into the seat next to Mrs. Hazard, depositing an extra -coat beside him so that Jim might have his place if he returned. -Hawthorne spread herself over the west end of the field to receive the -kick-off, Duncan Sargent patted the tee into shape, poised the ball -and looked around him. “All ready, Hawthorne? All ready, Crofton?” -questioned the referee. Both teams assented, the whistle blew, Sargent -sent the ball spinning down the field and the game was on. - -Crofton displayed her offensive ability at the start. Johnny had -instructed the team to get the jump on Hawthorne in the first minute of -play and carry her off her feet if possible. Arnold obeyed directions -to the letter. From the first line-up, after the full-back had caught -and carried the ball to his thirty-five yards, Poke Endicott tore off -eighteen yards outside of tackle and began a rushing advance that took -the ball to Hawthorne’s fifteen-yard mark. Hawthorne stiffened as the -play neared the goal line and Arnold tried a forward pass to Tearney, -right end. This failed and the ball went to the Orange-and-Black. -But on the very next play Hawthorne’s left half fumbled and Benson, -Crofton’s full-back, dived into the scramble and recovered the pigskin. -Crofton’s machine started up again and after three rushes Poke shot -through and over the goal line for a well-earned touchdown. Sargent -kicked goal. - -The crimson-and-gray flags waved madly and three hundred voices cheered -and yelled. In just five minutes Crofton had swept her opponent off -her feet and scored six points! That was surely cause for rejoicing. -Even Mrs. Hazard clapped her hands, and Mr. Hanks, just beginning -to understand the scheme of things, beamed delightedly through his -spectacles. As for Hope, why Hope was already breathless from screaming -and trembling with excitement. Jeffrey, seeing more of the game than -the others, better appreciated the _coup de main_ that had put Crofton -in the ascendancy at the very beginning of the battle. But he wondered -whether the Crimson-and-Gray would show an equally good defense. That -was the only scoring in the first period of fifteen minutes. Crofton -suffered a penalty for holding shortly after the touchdown had been -made, and later was set back for off-side. However, the loss of twenty -yards had no effect on the final result, for neither side came near -scoring, and the quarter ended with the ball in Crofton’s possession on -her rival’s twenty-seven yards. - -Hawthorne’s chief mainstay was her quarter-back, Gould, a remarkable -all-around player. A brainy general, a certain catcher of punts, a -brilliant runner either in a broken field or an open and a clever -manipulator of the forward pass, Crofton held him in great respect. -Hawthorne’s team was, in a manner, built around Gould, and in that lay -whatever weakness it possessed. Johnny had coached his players for -a fortnight to stop Gould, knowing that aside from his performances -Hawthorne had very little to offer in the matter of ground-gaining -feats. And throughout the first period Gould failed to get away with -anything. Crofton watched him as a cat watches a mouse and every move -of his was smothered. One twenty-yard sprint around Tearney’s end was -the best he could do, while whenever he caught a punt in the backfield -Tearney and Gil were down on him to stand him on his plucky little -head the instant the ball was in his arms. - -The second period began with Crofton in high feather. Benson and Smith, -left half, each made short gains, and then Arnold tried a forward pass -from Hawthorne’s twenty-five yard mark. He threw too far, however, and -the Orange-and-Black received the ball on its thirteen-yard line. Gould -kicked, and, thanks to two holding penalties, Crofton was forced back -into its own territory in the next few minutes. Then Arnold’s punt went -to Gould on his forty yards. With the first real flash of form he had -shown, the little quarter-back tore off fifteen yards. From the center -of the field and close to the side-line he made his first successful -forward pass, a long, low throw along the edge of the field to his -right end who caught the ball over his shoulder and ran to Crofton’s -thirty-four-yard line. A try at the line netted two yards. Then Gould -again hurled the pigskin, this time selecting his left end for receiver -and sending a low drive to him on Crofton’s twenty-five-yard line. For -a moment it looked as though Hawthorne would score there and then and -the runner sprinted to Crofton’s eight-yard line before he was pulled -down from behind. Across the field Hawthorne was wild with joy and -two hundred of her loyal sons shouted and danced with delight. Then -Hawthorne tried one rush and lost a yard. Crofton was now plainly over -anxious and when, on the next play, Gould sent his right half-back -at the right wing on a delayed pass, Tearney was drawn in and the -orange-and-black player simply romped across the line for a touchdown. -From this Hawthorne’s right end kicked a goal from a difficult angle -and the score was tied. - -Then, it seemed, that Hawthorne had found herself. Success breeds -success. The Orange-and-Black took heart and after Crofton had kicked -off again Gould ran the ball back thirty yards, eluding half the -Crofton team, and placed it on her enemy’s forty-five-yard line. -Crofton’s defense was now severely tested. Gould gave the ball to -his half-backs and his full-back and twice Hawthorne made first down -by short line plunges. The vulnerable spot in Crofton’s defense was -at left tackle where Parker, willing enough though he was, lacked -experience and weight. On her twenty-five-yard line Crofton stiffened -up and Gould tried a forward pass that proved illegal. A plunge at -center gave the ball to Crofton, and Arnold punted on the first down. -Gould caught the ball and was promptly laid on his back by Gil. A -penalty for holding forced Hawthorne back to her thirty yards. Gould -tried an end run that gained but seven yards and punted on the next -down. Crofton made three yards through right tackle and then Arnold -got off a beautiful forward pass to Gil, and the latter, by squirming -and crowding, finally reached Hawthorne’s twenty-yard line. Two rushes -failed to gain much distance and Arnold dropped back to the thirty-yard -line and, with every watcher holding his breath, drop-kicked the oval -over the cross-bar. It was Crofton’s turn to exult and exult she did, -while from the opposite side of the gridiron Hawthorne hurled defiance. -A moment later the first half ended, the score 9 to 6; Crofton ahead by -three points. - -Jim returned to his party on the seats and squeezed himself down beside -Jeffrey. - -“Isn’t it just glorious?” cried Hope, her cheeks crimson and her hair, -loosened by the breeze, fluttering about her face. - -“Glorious!” laughed her brother. “It’s jimmy!” - -“Can we hold them, do you think?” asked Jeffrey. - -Jim shook his head. “I don’t know. I heard Johnny tell Duncan Sargent a -minute ago that he’d give a hundred dollars if the game were over. If -Hawthorne pounded away at the left side of our line she could gain like -anything. Parker’s doing the best he can but he can’t stop them. How do -you like the game, Mr. Hanks?” - -“Very much indeed. I――I find myself quite excited. Hope has been -instructing me in the――er――fine points, but I fear she has found me a -very stupid pupil.” - -“Well, I don’t think I can give you more than a C,” laughed Hope. “And -mama gets a D minus. Awhile ago she wanted to know why the tall man in -the white sweater didn’t play harder!” - -“Well, nobody told me he was the referee, or whatever he is,” declared -Mrs. Hazard. “For my part I think I’d much prefer to be he.” - -“Jim, I hope we just――just gobble them up this half,” said Hope. - -“Gobble them up,” repeated Mr. Hanks. “Is that――er――a football term or -do you use the phrase metaphorically?” - -“She means eat ’em alive, sir,” laughed Jeffrey. - -“We won’t do that,” said Jim with a shake of his head. “All we can hope -to do is hold them where they are. Isn’t Gil playing a peach of a game? -And Poke, too. Did you see him go through for that touchdown? He was -like a human battering ram!” - -“How’s Gary doing?” asked Jeffrey. - -“Putting up a great game; playing a heap better than Sargent, I think. -But I suppose that’s natural enough. Sargent’s captain and that always -puts a chap off his game, they say. If I was that Hawthorne quarter -I’d plug away at Parker and Sargent, and I’ll bet I’d make some bully -gains.” - -“They probably will this half,” said Jeffrey. “Their coach has probably -seen just what you have. Somebody ought to tell Gould, too, that he -is punting too low. He doesn’t give his ends a chance to get down the -field. We’ve gained every time on exchange of kicks.” - -At that moment a voice cried, “Hazard! Hazard! Is Hazard here?” - -Jim jumped to his feet and answered. A substitute player in a much -begrimed uniform ran up. “Johnny wants to see you at the gym,” he -called. “Come right up.” - -“What the dickens does he want?” muttered Jim. “Keep my seat for me, -Jeff.” - -He found Johnny in the midst of wild confusion. Rubbers were busy with -strains and bruises, twenty fellows were talking at once. The close air -of the locker-room was heavy with the fumes of alcohol and liniment. -Johnny was deep in conversation with captain and manager. - -“You wanted to see me?” asked Jim, pushing his way through the crowd. - -“Yes, I do! Look here, Hazard, where do you stand?” - -“Stand?” - -“Yes,” replied Johnny impatiently. “Isn’t there any way you can play -this half?” - -“I’m afraid not,” answered Jim. “Mr. Gordon wired that I’d have to take -an exam before I could play.” - -“You didn’t take it?” - -“No, sir. There wasn’t any way to take it that I knew of.” - -Johnny looked at Sargent questioningly. “You wouldn’t risk it, would -you?” he asked in a low voice. Sargent shook his head. - -“I’d be afraid to. J. G.’s a tartar about that sort of thing. Better -try Needham.” - -“All right.” Johnny nodded to Jim. “Sorry. Thought maybe you could -manage somehow to help us out. Better not go against faculty, though.” - -“I’m willing to risk it if you need me,” replied Jim quietly. - -“I won’t have it,” said Sargent decisively. “You’d get fired as sure as -fate, Hazard. Much obliged, just the same.” - -“Time’s up!” called Johnny. - -Jim walked back to the field despondently. If they had given him any -encouragement, he told himself, he’d have risked J. G.’s displeasure -and played. When he reached his seat Jeffrey asked: - -“What was it, Jim?” - -“Nothing much. Johnny thought maybe I could play in this half. They’re -taking Parker out. Needham’s going in. He will be twice as bad as -Parker, I guess.” - -“Didn’t Johnny know?” - -“About me? I guess so. He seemed to think I might have taken an exam -somehow. I didn’t see how I could have, do you?” - -Jeffrey shook his head. “No, I don’t.” Jim glanced along to find Mr. -Hanks peering interestedly through his spectacles. - -[Illustration: Jim takes his examination on the football field.] - -“Do I understand, Jim,” he asked, “that you could play if you passed an -examination?” - -“Yes, sir, I suppose so. That’s what Mr. Gordon wired, you know.” - -“Do they――er――need you, do you think?” - -“They seem to think so,” answered Jim. “They want a fellow to take -Parker’s place.” - -“Well――well――” Mr. Hanks’ eyes snapped behind the thick lenses of his -glasses――“do you think you could pass an examination now?” - -“Now!” exclaimed Jim. “Why――why――do you mean――” - -“I mean now!” repeated Mr. Hanks crisply. - -“Yes, sir!” - -“Then I’ll examine you, and if you pass――” - -“Jeff,” cried Jim, as he jumped to his feet, “run over and tell Johnny -to find some one to take my place with the line. Tell him I’m taking my -exam! Tell him to get me some togs and I’ll be ready to play in――” He -stopped and looked at Mr. Hanks. - -“Ten minutes!” said the instructor. - -Jeffrey seized his crutches and hobbled quickly away, while Mr. Hanks -and Jim left their seats and disappeared behind the throng. At that -minute the Crofton team trotted back on to the field and the cheering -began again. - - - - -CHAPTER XXV - -JIM PASSES AN EXAMINATION - - -Instructed by its coach, Hawthorne began to hammer the right side -of Crofton’s line at the start. Gould hurled his backs time and again -at Needham and at Captain Sargent. Gain after gain was made, Needham -proving no harder to penetrate than Parker had been. Sargent was a -tougher proposition, but even he was weakening. The first ten minutes -of the third quarter was a rout for Crofton. From their forty yards to -Crofton’s twenty-five the Hawthorne players swept, and then, just when -success seemed within their grasp, a fumble lost them the ball. Gil -reeled off twelve yards through the center of the Hawthorne line and -Smith and Benson plugged away for another down. Then Hawthorne held -stubbornly and Arnold kicked. After that Hawthorne came back again, -slowly but surely, banging the right guard and tackle positions for -gain on gain, and now and then sending Gould on an end run for the -sake of variety. Both teams were tiring now and the playing was slower. -After a particularly vicious plunge at his position Sargent remained -on the ground when the play was over and it was a good three minutes -before he was on his feet again. Then Smith was hurt and a substitute -went in for him. With three minutes of the third period remaining, the -ball was down on Crofton’s eighteen-yard line and the Crimson-and-Gray -was almost in her last ditch. Had Gould chosen to try a goal from field -there he might have tied the score, but the plucky little general was -out for a victory and insisted on a touchdown. He himself took the ball -for a plunge through left tackle and got by for three yards. Then a -delayed pass went wrong and there was seven to gain on the third down. -There was a consultation and Gould fell back as though he meant to -kick. Instead of that, however, he tried a short forward pass that went -to Gil instead of to one of his own side and for the moment the advance -was stayed. On the second down Arnold punted to midfield. For once -Gould signaled a fair catch. Again Hawthorne took up the attack, but -before she had made much headway the whistle sounded. - -At that minute, over behind the row of Crofton sympathizers, Mr. Hanks -nodded his head twice. - -“You pass, Jim,” he said. - -Johnny was looking anxiously about when Jim leapt over the rope. - -“All right!” he cried. “There are your togs. Get into them.” - -Jim, walled from gaze by a quickly formed ring of substitutes, changed -quicker than ever he had in all his life. Out on the field the whistle -blew and the two lines formed again. Finally Jim was ready and Johnny -seized him by the arm and led him along the side-line. - -“Wait till this play is over,” he said. “Then go in for Needham, and -play low, Hazard. Get the jump on those fellows and break it up! -Understand? _Break it up!_ You can do it; any one with an ounce of -ginger can. There you are! Scoot!” - -And Jim scooted! - -“Left tackle, sir!” he cried to the referee. That official nodded. -Needham, panting and weak, yielded his headgear and walked off -to receive his meed of cheering. Arnold thumped Jim on the back -ecstatically. - -“Oh, look who’s here!” he yelled shrilly. “Well, well, well! Now let’s -stop ’em, Crofton!” - -“Look out for the left half on a cross-buck,” whispered Sargent from -between swollen lips. “And get low, Hazard. We’ve got to queer this, -you know, we’ve got to do it!” - -“All right,” answered Jim quietly, eyeing his antagonist shrewdly. -“Here’s where we put ’em out of business.” - -“Hello, son,” said the opposing tackle as the lines set again. “How’d -they let you in? Watch out now, I’m coming through!” - -But he didn’t. Jim beat him by a fraction of a second and had his -shoulder against his stomach and was pushing him back before he knew -what had happened. Sargent, having no longer to play two positions, -braced wonderfully. In three plays Hawthorne discovered that the left -of the opponent’s line was no longer a gateway. Learning that fact -cost her the possession of the ball, for she missed her distance by -a half-foot. Crofton hurled Gil at left guard and piled him through -for four yards. Then came a mix-up in the signals in which Smith’s -substitute hit Hawthorne’s line without the ball. Arnold kicked, but -his leg was getting tired and Gould got the oval twenty yards down the -field. On Crofton’s forty-yard mark Gould got off a short forward pass -that took the team over two white lines. Then an end run netted nothing -and again Gould kicked. Benson got under the ball, caught it, dropped -it, tried to recover it and was bowled aside by a Hawthorne forward -who snuggled the pigskin beneath him on Crofton’s twelve-yard line. -Two plunges netted nothing and Gould fell back for a kick from the -twenty-eight-yard line. Although half the Crofton team managed to break -through and though Gil absolutely tipped the ball with his fingers, the -oval flew fair and square across the bar and Hawthorne had tied the -score! - -With four minutes to play the teams took their places again. Sargent -kicked off and Gil and Tearney again downed Gould in his tracks. A try -at a forward pass failed and an on-side kick went out at Crofton’s -forty-five yards. The ball was brought in and then Arnold pegged at -Hawthorne’s center for twenty yards. A fumble by Gil was recovered by -a Hawthorne end and again the Orange-and-Black started for the Crofton -goal. But there was little time left now and along the side-lines -every one was agreed that the contest would end in a tie. But football -is always uncertain. When two minutes remained and the ball was in -Hawthorne’s possession on her opponent’s thirty-eight yards, after two -exchange of punts, Gould dashed off around Gil’s end of the line and -with good interference gained almost fifteen yards. Hawthorne took -heart at this and her cheers boomed across the field. A plunge at right -tackle gave her five more. Then the unexpected happened. - -Gould dropped back into kicking position, but when the ball went to him -he poised it and waited to find his end to make a forward pass. Jim, -hurling himself past his opponent, dodged a half-back and before Gould -could get the ball away, was upon him. Down went the little quarter -and away bobbed the ball. An instant of wild scrambling and then Jim -was on his feet again, the ball was scooped up into his arms and he -was off with a clear field ahead. After him came the pursuit, foe and -friend alike trailing backward along the gridiron. Past the middle of -the field, and still well ahead, Jim dared turn in toward the center -of the middle of the field. Then Gould, making what was his pluckiest -effort of all that long, hard-fought game, almost reached him. But -behind Gould was Gil, and Gil it was who, just as the quarter-back’s -arms stretched out to bring Jim to earth, threw himself in front of the -enemy. Over they went together, rolling and kicking, and Jim, with his -breath almost gone, staggered and fell across the goal line. - -What if Andy LaGrange, called on to kick the goal in place of Sargent, -did miss it by yards and yards? The game was won! For another year the -Crimson-and-Gray held the championship! - -Crofton was still shouting, still waving, still cavorting when LaGrange -missed that goal, and still at it when, after two plays, the final -whistle sounded. Hope, standing on the seat, flourished her flag wildly. - -“Isn’t it perfectly jimmy?” she cried. - -Mr. Hanks, beaming satisfiedly through his spectacles, assented. “It -is. We――er――as you would say, ‘gobbled them up’!” - -“Didn’t we just? And didn’t Jim do beautifully, Mr. Hanks?” - -Mr. Hanks nodded slowly. “Yes,” he replied, “your brother passed a very -creditable, if somewhat hurried examination.” - - -THE END - - - - - Transcriber’s Notes: - - ――Text in italics is enclosed by underscores (_italics_). - - ――Printer's, punctuation and spelling inaccuracies were silently - corrected. - - ――Archaic and variable spelling has been preserved. - - ――Variations in hyphenation and compound words have been preserved. - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Crofton Chums, by Ralph Henry Barbour - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CROFTON CHUMS *** - -***** This file should be named 60894-0.txt or 60894-0.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/6/0/8/9/60894/ - -Produced by Donald Cummings and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law 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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