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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/75746-0.txt b/75746-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..897348d --- /dev/null +++ b/75746-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,5773 @@ + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 75746 *** + + + + + + GARRY GRAYSON AT LENOX HIGH + + OR + + The Champions of the Football League + + BY ELMER A. DAWSON + + AUTHOR OF "GARRY GRAYSON'S HILL STREET ELEVEN," + "GARRY GRAYSON SHOWING HIS SPEED," + ETC. + + _ILLUSTRATED BY_ + + WALTER S. ROGERS + + NEW YORK + GROSSET & DUNLAP + PUBLISHERS + + Made in the United States of America + + GROSSET & DUNLAP, PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK + + Copyright, 1926, by + GROSSET & DUNLAP + + Garry Grayson at Lenox High + + + + +[Illustration: "GET IN THERE, GRAYSON!" HE DIRECTED.] + + + + + CONTENTS + + + I STRAIGHT FOR THE ROCKS + + II A GALLANT RESCUE + + III THE MUDDY FOOTBALL + + IV AN AWKWARD ENCOUNTER + + V CONSTERNATION + + VI FACING THE BULLY + + VII TROMPET SHRUGG + + VIII ON THE ANXIOUS SEAT + + IX COUNTING THEIR CHANCES + + X INTO THE FRAY + + XI STRUGGLING AGAINST ODDS + + XII TESTING THEIR METTLE + + XIII IN THE LAST PERIOD + + XIV GETTING A REPRIMAND + + XV AN UNEXPECTED ALLY + + XVI FIGHTING MAD + + XVII WINNING HIS SPURS + + XVIII LIKE A THUNDERBOLT + + XIX GARRY GETS A SHOCK + + XX HARD LUCK + + XXI PLUNGING THROUGH + + XXII FORGING AHEAD + + XXIII JERRY INTERVENES + + XXIV IN THE THICK OF THE FIGHT + + XXV VICTORY + + + + + GARRY GRAYSON AT LENOX HIGH + + + + + CHAPTER I + + STRAIGHT FOR THE ROCKS + + +"Wonder if we'll be able to make the football eleven when we go to +Lenox High." + +Rooster Long stopped drawing pictures in the dust with the toe of his +shoe and looked up at his companion inquiringly. + +Garry Grayson, former captain and quarterback of the Hill Street +eleven, shook his head doubtfully. + +"I don't think we have a Chinaman's chance of making the team our first +year in high," he replied. "Lenox will have plenty of material, good +seasoned material, to draw on from the three upper classes. No reason +why they should turn to the freshmen for recruits." + +"Except that there are going to be some mighty good players among the +freshmen this year," chimed in another boy, who emerged from the house +at that moment and sat down on the step near which Garry was standing. +"Maybe I'm speaking out of my turn, and there are some who won't agree +with me--so much the worse for them--but I certainly think we turned +out some pretty good players last year, if you should ask me." + +The speaker was Bill Sherwood, a tall, well-developed lad who had +played center on the Hill Street grammar school eleven, and was +affectionately known to his mates as "Big Bill." + +"You said it," agreed Nick Danter, a rather rangy, well-knit youth who +lay stretched out at full length on the porch. "I'd go far enough to +say that some of them could give the high school fellows a pretty nifty +tussle at this minute." + +"That goes not only for our Hill Street boys, but for some of the +fellows of the Cherry and Webster Street schools," put in Ted +Dillingham, stocky and muscular, as he leaned lazily against the +finishing post of the porch railing. "Look at Pete Maddern and Tom +Allison! They're no slouches when it comes to playing football, and I +hear they're going to high this fall." + +The boys were gathered about and on the porch of the Sherwood summer +bungalow on the shores of picturesque Bass Lake, to which Garry +Grayson, Rooster Long, Nick Danter and Ted Dillingham had been invited +for a two week's stay, an invitation that they had gladly accepted, as +they were the warmest and most congenial of friends. + +All of them had graduated from the Hill Street grammar school of Lenox +the preceding term, and were planning to enter the high school in the +fall. The summer was nearly at an end, and they were looking forward +eagerly to the new experience in store for them. Books, however, were +not foremost in their thoughts at the moment. + +All of them were football players, loved the great game, and had +acquitted themselves well on the Hill Street football team that had won +the grammar school championship the preceding season from their rivals +of the Cherry and Webster Street schools. Garry Grayson especially had +proved himself a remarkable player for a boy of his age. + +But, good as they had been on a grammar school eleven, they knew that +the high school was a different matter--all the difference, as Nick +Danter had at one time expressed it, that there was "between being big +frogs in a little puddle and little frogs in a big puddle." + +But despite the cold water thrown on his hopes by his chums, Rooster +Long still held tenaciously to his ambition. + +"I don't see why we can't make a try for the team, anyway," he +persisted, with a long face. "Just because we're freshmen doesn't say +we have to be dumbbells and sit back and take just whatever is handed +to us." + +"Of course not," Garry agreed, with a touch of irony. "There's nothing +to prevent our making a noise and trying to draw the attention of the +upper classes to our humble position at the foot of the throne. Though, +of course, there's just a chance," he admitted, his eyes kindling, +"that our victories over Cherry and Webster may give us Hill Streeters +a little boost even with the high and mighty Lenox fellows." + +"Gee, I sure would like to be on that team!" said Rooster, with a +yearning shake of his head. "They're just one degree below the college +teams." + +"Come out of your trance!" admonished Bill Sherwood. "We won't have a +look in." + +"I'm afraid you're right," agreed Garry. "If we get even as far as the +scrub this year we'll be lucky. Maybe they'll let us be doormats for +the regulars." + +"Gee, you fellows are about as cheerful as a funeral!" cried Rooster, +giving a vicious kick to an unoffending stone. "You give me the +jim-jams. I've got to do something to get my mind off my troubles." + +Bill Sherwood laughed lazily. + +"Nothing to get so het up about, Rooster," he drawled. "We won't be the +only freshmen at Lenox High this fall, you know. There will be plenty +of others biting their nails on the sidelines and telling any one who +will listen that they could do a mighty sight better than those boobs +of regulars." + +"They say that misery loves company, but that doesn't cut any ice with +me," and Rooster frowned mightily. "I'd rather dodge Lenox altogether +than to stand on the sidelines and watch the other fellows play." + +"He's getting wild," observed the grinning Garry. He yawned and raised +his arms above his head in a luxurious stretch. "What do you say we go +in for a swim, Bill? That may help cool him off." + +"Just what I was going to suggest, nothing else but," replied Bill, +rising with alacrity. "Come on, let's jump into our bathing suits." + +This formality was accomplished in a very short time, and the boys were +soon out of the house and making a dash through the woods toward the +shimmering waters of Bass Lake. + +The Sherwood bungalow boasted a private dock from which the lads often +went fishing and swimming. Bill had a canoe and also a cranky little +motorboat that usually spoke out of its turn. + +"It goes when you think the motor's dead," Bill had said, when +describing the eccentric craft to his chums, "and it stops without the +sign of a reason just when everything seems in fine working order. The +only thing that has any effect on it is a good talking to, for it knows +its master's voice." + +He threw out his chest pompously as he spoke, but doubled up promptly +when Garry poked him in the stomach. + +"What do you think I am, a punching bag?" he demanded in an injured +tone. + +"Oh, did I hit you?" asked Garry in mock contrition. "My hand must have +slipped." + +At the moment the boys had no use for either craft, for on that +particular afternoon they intended to be in the water and not on it. + +They sat for a time on the edge of the dock, basking enjoyably in the +sun, knowing that the warmer they got the more enjoyable would be the +plunge into the cool waters of the lake. + +It was a pretty sheet of water, with numerous miniature bays and +jutting points to break the monotony of the shore line. There were many +summer bungalows like the Sherwoods' cuddled among the trees near the +shore of the lake, and on the north side was a fairly pretentious hotel. + +On such a bright afternoon the lake was bound to be studded with the +boats of pleasure seekers. Canoes slipped with graceful, gliding +motion from one inlet to another, while motorboats of all descriptions +chugged busily over the gleaming surface. + +"All this will soon be over," remarked Garry, with a shade of regret in +his voice. "I hate to see winter come." + +"But before winter comes fall, and in the fall comes football," chanted +Bill. + +Rooster Long gave his chum an injured look. + +"I thought we came here to get our minds off of football for a while," +he complained. "You fellows can do what you like, but I'm going in +swimming." + +"You bet you are!" declared Garry, and gave Rooster a push that landed +him splashing and sputtering in the seven feet of water at the edge of +the dock. + +Shaking the water from his eyes, Rooster shook a fist at the grinning +Garry. + +"Come down here and try that again," he cried. + +"Come up here and I will," retorted Garry. + +He raised his hands above his head, bent his body in the form of a bow, +and clove the water with as clean and pretty a dive as one could wish +to see. + +Coming to the surface, puffing and blowing, he found himself entwined +in a pair of strong arms that he discovered a moment later belonged to +Rooster. + +Then ensued a hilarious, aquatic wrestling match, in which each of them +swallowed a good deal of water. + +Bill stood on the end of the dock, rooting now for one, now for the +other of his guests, until in the excitement he lost his balance and +fell among them throwing the combatants into temporary confusion. + +"He's busting up the fight!" gurgled Rooster. "Let's put him under." + +And so, as often happens to the innocent bystander, Bill was set upon +by both Garry and Rooster and finally was forced to duck and swim some +distance under water to elude his tormentors. + +"You had to run," called out Garry gleefully, and Bill shook a wet fist +at him. + +"I didn't run, I swam," he returned, grinning. "I can lick you one at a +time, but two together are too many for me." + +Ted Dillingham and Nick Danter had by this time come in with a splash, +but they had scarcely touched the water when Garry's muscles suddenly +became taut and he stared at an object out on the lake. + +"Look at that motorboat!" he cried, as the other boys followed the +direction of his gaze. "Must be going fifty miles an hour." + +"Some fool driving," remarked Bill carelessly. + +"I'll say that he's a fool!" cried Garry excitedly. "Look, fellows, +he's heading straight for those rocks on the south shore!" + +It was a moment before the other lads took in the seriousness of the +situation. + +Then with a yell Bill Sherwood started swimming for the dock. + +Garry guessed his intention, and reached there at the same moment, the +other boys close behind their comrades. + +Bill jumped into his own eccentric motorboat, Garry tumbling in after +him. By the time he had loosened the rope that tied the boat to the +dock all five were on board. + +For once the engine worked without protest. Bill, who was a master hand +at working the craft urged the cranky motor to its limit and headed the +nose of the boat toward the south shore. + +The drivers of the strange motorboat were steering crazily, and those +in the small craft who found themselves in the way turned tail and +scuttled for cover. + +"Why don't they turn out?" exclaimed Garry, in a frenzy of anxiety. +"Are they blind? Can't they see that they're heading right for the +rocks?" + +"They're either idiots or they don't know how to run a boat," muttered +Bill, as he bent himself to the task of getting out of his engine all +the speed possible. + +"Or else they've lost their heads and are too scared to try to steer at +all," commented Rooster. "Gee, but that was a close shave!" he added, +as the strange craft barely missed running down a canoe. + +Bill's boat was now whizzing along like a comet, and the distance +between it and the other craft was rapidly diminishing. The boys could +now see quite clearly the inmates of the runaway vessel. + +There were but two of them, boys apparently of about the age of Garry +and his chums, and they seemed to be arguing about the possession of +the wheel. + +Garry made a megaphone of his hands and shouted: + +"Turn out! You're heading for the rocks. Turn out!" + +Even as he spoke there came a flash of fire, a sharp report, and the +motorboat crashed against the rocks! + + + + + CHAPTER II + + A GALLANT RESCUE + + +The occupants of the ill-fated craft were thrown clear of it just as +the wreck broke into a mass of flames. + +"They went down over there, Bill!" cried Garry, pointing to the spot +where the strangers had disappeared. "Better slow down and I'll dive +for them." + +"I'm with you," declared Rooster, who was almost as expert a swimmer as +Garry Grayson. + +Bill nodded and brought the boat sharply about. Garry poised on the +edge of the deck for a moment and then dived into the transparent +water, closely followed by Rooster Long. + +As Garry came up he saw one of the victims of the wreck struggling in +the water and trying to keep his head above the surface. + +The owner of the head was evidently in a frenzy of fear. + +"Save me! Help! I'm drowning!" + +The words came in sputtering yelps, and Garry struck out for the +imperiled youth. In a moment he was at the boy's side. + +"Put your hand on my shoulder," he directed. "Easy now. You're all +right. We've got a boat right here." + +What was Garry's surprise to feel the arms of the other boy close about +him in a grip that seemed to be made of steel! + +Garry's arms were pinioned close to his sides. He was powerless to +make a move to save either himself or the fear-crazed lad who seemed +determined to drown them both. + +Garry heard a cry from Bill Sherwood and knew by the sound that the +motorboat was being turned around and headed toward the spot where +he struggled vainly to rid himself of that iron clutch around his +shoulders. + +Garry Grayson had been born and brought up in the thriving town of +Lenox, a place of about fifteen thousand inhabitants, situated on the +Sheldon River about two miles from Bass Lake. He was now about thirteen +years old, a frank, likable, courageous boy, a leader in the sports of +his age, and extremely popular with his mates. + +His father was Joseph Grayson, a prominent lawyer of the town and +active in its civic life. His mother was a refined, gracious woman, +to whom her son was devoted. Garry had a twin sister, Ella, a pretty, +merry girl, who teased her brother unmercifully, though in fact she +was very fond and proud of him. + +Among Garry's closest friends were Ted Dillingham and Nick Danter, +whose fathers were partners in the largest department store in town. +Others with whom he was on the most friendly terms included Tom Long, +otherwise Rooster, and Bill Sherwood. All of them had been on the +football team of the Hill Street grammar school, which had won the +championship from similar schools in the town, and their enthusiasm +for the game had still further cemented their friendship. Now they had +graduated from the intermediate school and were preparing to enter the +Lenox high school in the fall. + +They had found the road to the championship no easy one. There had +been traitors in their own school who had done their best to have Hill +Street lose. Chief among these had been Chatwood Johns and Bud Warding +who were disgruntled and envious because they had been put off the +scrub team for playing dirty football. There was, too, another enemy, +Sandy Podder, a vicious, dissipated pupil of the Lenox high school, who +had caused Garry and his chums no end of trouble. + +How Garry Grayson and his teammates overcame all obstacles; how, with +the aid of a gypsy girl, they exposed a mystifying conspiracy--these +and other exciting incidents are narrated in the first volume of this +series, entitled: "Garry Grayson's Hill Street Eleven; or, The Football +Boys of Lenox." + +And now to return to Garry in his desperate plight as he was seeking +to rescue the boy who had been thrown into the lake from the wrecked +motorboat. + +As the water closed over Garry's head he put all his strength into a +straining, outward movement of his imprisoned arms. He felt the grip of +his companion relax a little. He tried again with still better results. +He kicked downward desperately with his feet to bring them both to the +surface for the air his lungs demanded. He felt the grip of the other +boy definitely relax. The latter had either fainted from fright or had +drawn so much water into his lungs as to become unconscious. + +With a feeling of immense thankfulness, Garry drew his arms free, +seized the boy by the hair and brought him to the surface. + +Garry was terribly weak himself by this time from muscular and mental +strain. He gulped in the air, the while treading water. He shifted his +grip to the strange boy's shoulders, keeping his head well above the +surface. + +"Safe, old boy? I was beginning to get mighty scared." + +It was Bill Sherwood's voice, and, looking up, Garry saw the motorboat +looming above him. + +"Take this fellow, will you, Bill?" he gasped. "I'm all in." + +It was the work of a moment for the boys in the boat to relieve Garry +of his unconscious burden, then reach a hand to their chum and help him +scramble over the side of the boat. + +Rooster had reached the dripping deck only a moment before with the +second inmate of the wrecked craft. He had had no such close call as +Garry, however, for the other lad, though temporarily dazed, could +himself swim and required only a little of Rooster's assistance. + +The second boy shook the water from his clothes and regarded his +unconscious friend without much concern. + +"Seems pretty well done up," he remarked unemotionally. "Seems as +though he'd tried to get the whole lake down his windpipe." + +"He has got a good part of it, and it's up to us to get it out of him +in a hurry," replied Bill. "Pitch in, you fellows, and take turns in +doing as I do." + +Bill Sherwood knelt down by the side of the pallid-faced youth and, +with the help of some of his comrades, began to work the unconscious +lad's arms over his head and back again and apply other first aid +principles with which they were all familiar. + +The wreck of the motorboat had been witnessed by many others on the +lake, and various craft gathered quickly at the scene of the disaster, +some from mere curiosity, others with a laudable desire to extend help, +should help be needed. + +Some of them were of service in extinguishing the flames of the wrecked +vessel before it was wholly destroyed. Most of the upper part was +burned, but there was still enough of the hull left to warrant the +belief that the boat might be rebuilt. + +One boat that swung alongside happened to have a doctor aboard. + +"Can I be of any help?" the doctor called out. + +"You might come aboard and take a look at him, though I think he's +coming to all right," replied Garry. + +"Right you are," pronounced the doctor, after a brief examination. +"He's opening his eyes now. Luckily, he missed the rocks and only hit +the water. And you fellows have done a good job in getting that out of +him. All he needs is rest, but it will be just as well to get him home +as soon as possible." + +"We'll do that," promised Bill, and with a friendly wave of his hand to +the doctor stepped again into his own boat and departed. + +The prostrate lad opened his eyes and looked around with a frown on his +face. He did not speak, nor did the Lenox boys urge him to, but waited +for him to get his strength back. + +The other lad from the wrecked craft had watched their efforts with +more or less interest, but had not volunteered to take part in them. +There was evidently no love lost between him and his companion. + +There had been a gleam of recognition in Bill's eyes when the less +injured lad had scrambled on board, and now that Bill had a moment of +respite he introduced the newcomer to his companions. + +"This is Jerry Cox, fellows," Bill said informally. "My brother Frank +knows him. Jerry, let me introduce Garry Grayson, Rooster Long, Ted +Dillingham and Nick Danter. Perhaps you know some of them already." + +"Only by name," returned Jerry Cox, as he seated himself on a box near +by with a cheerful grin on his face. "Garry Grayson sure led a wicked +team for Hill Street last year and Rooster Long did some classy work as +back. Gee, I wish I could play the kind of football you fellows put up!" + +Both Garry and Rooster warmed to the genuine enthusiasm of their +new acquaintance. Here was a football fan like themselves. Garry +wondered at the dislike that was evident in Bill's tone as he made the +introductions, and made a mental note that he would ask him about it +the first time he had an opportunity. + +"I should think you would be satisfied with your own special game," +Bill said now in the same cold, unfriendly tone. "I hear from Frank +that you play a wicked game of pool." + +"Wicked is right," agreed Jerry amiably. "I don't need much advice when +I have a cue in my hand." + +They were interrupted by a fretful voice. + +"Why are you keeping me out here?" queried Jerry's companion. "Why +don't you take me to shore?" + +"We'll do that in a jiffy," responded Bill, with a cheerful grin. "I +guess this old bus can get us that far." + +The eyes of the rescued boy turned toward him, and the frown on his +face deepened. + +Garry and his chums had a chance to study that face now, and what they +saw did not appeal to them. It was a good-looking face in a rather weak +way, but the forehead looked as though it had the habit of scowling +and the mouth had a peevish, downward droop that seemed to indicate an +habitually sullen state of mind. + +The uninvited guest proceeded to act in such a way as to leave little +doubt in his auditors' minds that they had judged correctly. + +"Take it easy," counseled Garry, as he put his arm beneath the other's +shoulder. "Better rest until you get your breath and feel stronger." + +The young fellow brushed away Garry's arm impatiently, and after a +brief struggle managed to lift himself to a sitting posture. His sullen +eyes swept the lake. + +"Where's my motorboat?" he asked sharply. + +"Gone, Lent," Jerry answered, with an airy snap of his fingers. "Burned +up." + +"Burned up?" said the other boy, looking incredulously at Jerry. "Why, +the boat was brand new! I just bought it. Burned up! I don't believe +it!" + +"I don't suppose it makes much difference whether you believe it or +not," Jerry replied. "There's a fragment of it left, as you can see by +looking on the other side. Maybe it can be rebuilt and maybe not. For +myself, I should say it wasn't worth towing home. Sorry, but you can't +get away from facts." + +Garry, who had been listening to the dialogue with interest, now spoke. + +"Your boat struck a rock and something exploded," he explained. "We saw +that you were in trouble and came as quickly as we could. But the boat +burned fast, and, as your friend says, there isn't much of it left." + +"Grayson seems to have left out the most important part of it," Jerry +put in at this point. "He saved your life, Lent, which ought to mean +at least as much to you as the loss of your motorboat." + +He spoke with a touch of irony which seemed to be lost altogether on +his companion. + +The boy addressed as Lent looked at Garry with a gleam of interest for +a moment. + +"You're the Grayson that played quarterback on the Hill Street eleven +last year, are you? You made me lose a lot of money that I bet on the +Webster Street team." + +It was a queer way of expressing gratitude, and Garry was irritated for +a moment. + +"You ought to have used better judgment in picking the team to bet on," +he answered curtly. + +But Lent Stewart was not listening. He dragged himself to his feet and, +steadying himself, gripped the rail and stared out frowningly over the +water. + +Then he turned savagely on Jerry Cox, ignoring the other boys. + +"If my new motorboat's wrecked it's all your fault, Jerry Cox!" he +snarled. "If you hadn't grabbed my arm, I'd have steered clear of the +rocks all right." + +"Yes, you would!" jeered Jerry. "If I hadn't done my best to stop your +crazy piloting, we'd have been at the bottom long before. I warned you +that you were going straight into danger, but you wouldn't listen. You +always think you know it all." + +"It would be queer if I didn't know more about a boat than you do," +retorted his companion. "You as much as wrecked that new boat, and you +ought to pay for it." + +"Watch me," returned Jerry derisively, and there followed what promised +to be a long drawn out and acrimonious dispute had not Garry intervened. + +"Let's take these boys where they want to go and get back to the house, +Bill," he suggested, a glint in his eye. "I'm hungry, and something +tells me that I'm going to be hungrier soon. You wouldn't let me die of +starvation, would you?" + +Bill looked uncertainly at Garry and the others, opened his mouth as +though to speak, then shut it again with a look of determination and +turned his attention to his engine. + +Big Bill was hospitable, as were his father and mother. The obvious and +natural thing for him to do under the circumstances would have been to +ask the derelicts up to his house, which was not far away, give them +dry clothes of some sort, invite them to partake of an early supper, +and then send them home in the family car. + +Nine times out of ten he would have acted in just that way. But this +time he conquered his instinct toward hospitality without apparent +effort. Looking at Jerry Cox and Lent Stewart with an expressionless +face, he said in a cold voice that caused his chums to look at each +other with inquiring glances: + +"If you'll tell me where you want to go, I'll see that you get there as +soon as possible." + +"We came from Lenox," Lent Stewart answered, sullenly enough. "I have a +boathouse there and I can get a change of clothes. My father is rich, +and he'll see that you get a--" + +He was evidently going to add "reward," but the color that came into +Garry's face and the flash that came from his eyes daunted him, and he +murmured something that was unintelligible. + +"I guess I can get you there all right," said Bill, as he coaxed the +engine into life. "It's all up to the old tub. We'll hope she's in a +good humor." + +It appeared that the "old tub" was in exceptionally good humor; so they +made the two-mile trip up the Sheldon river in excellent time. Bill had +fastened the hull of the wrecked boat to his own craft with a rope and +pulled it along after him. + +Lent Stewart's evil humor persisted throughout the trip. Not a word of +thanks came from his lips. He sat sullenly, looking gloweringly at the +wreck of his boat, varied only by the ugly glances he cast at Jerry. + +When they reached the boathouse landing, Stewart stepped off, and with +a mumbled word that might have been interpreted as reluctant thanks, +directed to no one in particular, made for the boathouse. Jerry, on the +contrary, thanked the other lads heartily. Then he turned to go to the +boathouse, only to be stopped by Stewart. + +"You clear out of this!" he growled. "You wrecked my boat and I don't +want anything more to do with you." + +"All right, you doughhead, that suits me," retorted Jerry Cox, and +strode off to the shore, whistling, with his hands in his pockets. + +Garry and his friends, who had not yet gotten out of earshot, heard the +interchange and grinned. They had all of them taken a strong dislike to +Lent Stewart. They heartily hoped that they would never see him again. + +On the contrary, they rather liked Jerry Cox. He was a cheerful young +fellow, so different from Stewart that they wondered what had brought +them together. + +"Cute little sunshine, that Lent Stewart," chuckled Garry, as the +cranky little motorboat widened the distance from the dock. "He ought +to be a pal of Sandy Podder's. Probably each of them could give the +other points on how to make himself a general nuisance." + +Rooster laughed. + +"I don't know about that," he said. "Sandy Podder's in a class by +himself. I liked that Jerry Cox, though," he added. "He seems to be a +good fellow." + +"Good fellow nothing!" grunted Bill, giving the wheel of the motorboat +a savage twist that turned it half about. "He's nothing but a +bum--that's what he is!" + + + + + CHAPTER III + + THE MUDDY FOOTBALL + + +Such an outburst from good-natured Bill Sherwood was startling. His +companions looked at him with surprise. On the face of it, his wrath +against Jerry Cox seemed unfounded. This then was the explanation of +Bill's coldness and lack of hospitality. + +"What's the deep, dark secret, Bill?" asked Garry, voicing the desire +to know that all were feeling. "The way you talk about Jerry Cox would +make one think you were his best enemy." + +"I am," growled Bill. + +"What do you know against him?" queried Nick Danter. + +"I came to know about him through my brother Frank," replied Bill. +"Jerry Cox is one of that fast poolroom bunch. He hangs about Mooney's +place all the time with Sandy Podder, Lent Stewart and that gang. He +used to be all right before he got in with that lot. Now he's as bad as +the rest of them." + +"Well, I don't see that that's any of our funeral," put in Ted. "I'm +mighty sure I'm not losing any sleep over that poolroom bunch. As long +as we don't have to mix with 'em, why should we worry?" + +"It's all right for you fellows to talk," returned Bill moodily. "But +this Jerry Cox--" + +He broke off and looked frowningly straight ahead, while his comrades +regarded him curiously. + +"Well, he's a friend of my brother Frank's," Bill burst forth, "and +he's doing his best to keep Frank in with that rotten poolroom crowd. +Do you wonder that I'm sore at him?" + +"Not a bit, if that's the case," replied Garry promptly. "I'd feel the +same way myself. I'm sorry if Frank has got into that gang. Let's see, +Frank is a good deal older than you, isn't he?" + +"About five years," answered Bill. "He finished his course in the high +school last year, and now he's had a year in college. He'll be in the +sophomore class in the fall. He's planning, you know, to be a doctor." + +"I've heard it said he was a mighty smart scholar in the high," +remarked Ted. + +"So he was," replied Bill. "Walked away with most of the prizes. I wish +I were as good a scholar as he was. Used to love his books. But now +that he's got in with that gang he's neglecting his work and has fallen +'way behind in his studies. The folks have talked to him about it, but +it doesn't seem to do any good. As for me, he treats me like a kid." + +"It's too bad," said Nick sympathetically. + +"Take the time you fellows have been up here, for instance," continued +Bill. "How many times have you seen Frank at the bungalow?" + +"Just once," replied Garry thoughtfully. "And then he seemed in an +all-fired hurry to get back to town," he added. + +"Where does he stay at night in Lenox?" Booster asked. + +"Oh, at the house of one or other of the gang. Usually he pals with +Jerry Cox," Bill explained. "Do you wonder," he added, with another +vicious twist of the wheel, "that I could barely bring myself to be +decent to the fellow?" + +"It's enough to make any one sore," admitted Garry, who felt that +he knew now why Mr. and Mrs. Sherwood had often seemed so sad and +abstracted during the visit of the boys to the bungalow. + +They were entering Bass Lake now, almost at the place where Lent +Stewart's motorboat had met with disaster. They stared at the fatal +rock reminiscently. + +"It's a wonder that Lent Stewart wouldn't learn to pilot a motorboat +before he took it out for a spin," commented Ted. "The end sure came +fast and furious." + +"Shouldn't wonder if he had been drinking," remarked Nick. "I caught +sight of a bottle in the bottom of the boat." + +"Of course you can't blame him for feeling pretty sore," conceded +Garry. "It must be pretty tough to lose a new boat like that. It must +have cost a lot of money." + +"You can blame him for showing that he was sore, though," declared Bill +disgustedly. "The ungrateful goof never even thanked you for saving his +life, Garry." + +"I was thankful enough for saving my own life," returned Garry, and +then told them of the panic-stricken way in which Stewart had clutched +him and drawn them both under water. + +"Sounds just like him," Bill said contemptuously. "That whole poolroom +gang is rotten. That's why it makes me mad enough to bite nails to +think of Frank being in with them." + +All his friends sympathized heartily with Bill. Having come in contact +with that fast, dissipated crowd through Sandy Podder, who was one of +the bunch, they knew how worthless it was. They knew, too, that Bill +had always looked up to his older brother as a model of everything that +was intelligent and fine. There had been a strong bond between the two +lads. Small wonder that Bill had found it hard to be polite to Jerry +Cox! + +"Guess we'd better get over to the house and jump into our clothes," +remarked Bill after a silence. "Supper will be just about ready when we +get there." + +The boys agreed, and after making the motorboat fast to the dock +hurried to the house. + +That evening at the table the guests were able to read a new meaning +into Mrs. Sherwood's anxious glances toward the door and in the +conscious effort that Mr. Sherwood made to be companionable and +cheerful. + +"They are hoping Frank will come home to supper," thought Garry. "I +suppose he's having eats with some of the gang and planning a full +evening at the poolroom." + +Rooster, thinking on the subject, wondered how he could ever have felt +a liking for Jerry Cox. + +Two days later the visit at the bungalow came to an end. + +"Hate to leave, Bill," said Garry. "We've had a mighty slick time while +we've been here." + +The other boys expressed themselves in similar fashion. + +"I hate just as much to have you go," replied Bill. "But I sha'n't be +long behind you. The folks are going to close the bungalow earlier +this year than usual." + +He did not say why, but Garry surmised that this was because they +wanted to get back to town so as the better to keep their eye on Frank +and try to get him under control. + +With warm thanks to their host and hostess, the boys made their way +back to their homes at Lenox, hiking it by preference, though Mr. +Sherwood offered to send them in the car. + +At the corner of Maple and Cherry Streets, they met Dick Randolph and +Con Riley, who greeted them like long lost brothers. + +"You old deserters!" exclaimed Dick. "We thought you weren't coming +back till the first day of school." + +"We've been having some fine practice in that open lot back of your +house, Garry," said Con. "Dick's developed a great punt, and our +forward passing hasn't been so worse." + +"I'll have to get in with you," replied Garry. "My hands are itching +for the feel of the good old pigskin." + +As they reached the front of Garry's home, Mrs. Grayson came hurrying +out to meet her son. After a warm greeting to the wanderer, she turned +to his chums. + +"Come in with Garry, boys," she said smilingly. "Hannah's just putting +lunch on the table." + +The lads made some objections as a matter of form, but they did not +require much urging. Mrs. Grayson was used to having Garry's friends in +her house at all hours of the day and at any meal. + +She liked to have them, and it might be observed that Hannah, the maid, +though she often grumbled over the necessity of setting extra plates at +the table, always served the boys with the best there was and looked on +with beaming approval as the fruits of her labors disappeared. + +The boys' appetites were keen after their hike, and they did full +justice to the appetizing lunch spread before them. While they ate +they recurred to the ever fascinating topic of their chances to play +football at Lenox High during the coming fall. + +"You knew, of course; that Pete Maddern and Tom Allison were entering +high, didn't you?" Dick asked Garry. + +"Yes," replied Garry, as he passed his plate for a second piece of pie. +"I'm glad of it, too. They're both of them good fellows and mighty fine +football players." + +"I can see where we'll have some tall old scrambling to make the team," +said Dick lugubriously, "with three husky captains of grammar school +elevens fighting for a berth." + +"And none of 'em getting it," predicted Ted Dillingham. + +"Maybe. But meantime there's nothing to keep us from kicking the ball +around," said Garry cheerfully. "Who's with me? That is, if you fellows +are all through." + +"If we're not, we ought to be," laughed Rooster, pushing back his chair +after Mrs. Grayson had given the signal, an example followed by the +others. "Lead on, Garry. Get that pigskin. What we'll do to it will be +a sin and a shame." + +They ran around to the barn at the back of Garry's home, that had +been fitted up as a gymnasium, and there Garry possessed himself of +the football that had been given him on his last birthday and which, +despite rough usage, was still serviceable. + +"Make believe it doesn't feel good to get hold of this old football +again," he murmured, hugging the ball lovingly in the crook of his arm +as he trotted with the other boys to the open field back of the house. +"I wish some of the other fellows were here," he added. "We might get +in some good practice." + +As though in answer to his wish, a group of boys who had also played +on the Hill Street eleven appeared at that juncture, coming up Maple +Street. + +"There's Sizz Snider and Si Rowe!" yelled Rooster Long. + +"And Carl Zukor and Sloppy Hume," added Nick. "Hooray! Now we'll have +some fun." + +The other boys came running, and there were some jubilant greetings. + +"If Bill were here now, it would seem like old times!" exclaimed Ted. + +Garry nodded assent. + +"Almost a full eleven here now," he said. "Too bad that we haven't got +another team to play against. But we can get some good group practice +anyway at punting, kicking, and forward passing. We'll have five on +each side, and we'll try to play as hard as though we were in a regular +game." + +They divided up accordingly, with Garry's group in possession of the +ball. + +"Now, fellows, snap into it!" called Garry. "Let's see if you still +have some of your old stuff." + +He called out a signal, received the ball from Carl Zukor, who acted as +center, straightened with a swift movement, and threw the ball to Nick +Danter at right half. + +Nick turned and threw the ball to Ted, who legged it down the field at +a great rate amid the encouraging shouts of his comrades. + +He was downed at last by Dick Randolph, who made a rattling tackle. + +"Good for forty yards, I bet," sang out Rooster. + +"Easy enough to make a long run when there are not many in front of +you," laughed Garry. "Bring it back, Ted, and we'll try another." + +There had been a fairly heavy rain the night before, and the field was +slippery. Also there were small depressions here and there filled with +muddy water, into which a runner was apt to fall unless he watched his +step. + +One of these proved the undoing of Rooster after he in his turn had +received the ball and started to run. He had gone about fifteen yards +when his feet found one of those mud-filled pockets in the ground. + +Down he went in one grand splash, while his mates gathered round to +gibe at his downfall. + +The ball fell under him, and when Rooster struggled to his feet it was +hard to tell which was muddier, the ball or himself. + +"Is that what you call making a touchdown?" asked Dick Randolph, with a +grin. + +"Cock-a-doodle-doo!" crowed Ted. + +Rooster regarded his tormentors with a sour expression of countenance. + +"You're a great bunch, you are!" he grumbled. "The next one that grins +will get this pigskin right on the end of his nose. Now laugh that +off." + +Before this formidable threat the boys scattered, still jeering, though +at a safe distance from Rooster and his weapon. + +Garry, laughing, held out his hands. + +"Chuck it," he invited. "I'll give it a punt that will shake some of +the mud off of it." + +Rooster complied, and Garry received the ball gingerly, holding it at +either end with the palms of his hands only. + +Then he opened his hands. The ball dropped, met his foot squarely, and +went whizzing through the air. + +At the same moment a tall, thin, preoccupied gentleman turned from the +street into the lot. + +Ball and man came together with a plop. + +"Oof!" exclaimed the man explosively. + + + + + CHAPTER IV + + AN AWKWARD ENCOUNTER + + +The tall thin gentleman had been struck squarely in the face. + +The shock and the hurt must have been considerable. But apart from +this, insult was added to injury by the mud on the ball that spattered +over the man's immaculate shirt front and vest. + +Garry, in dismay at what he had unintentionally done, ran swiftly +across the field in pursuit of the offending pigskin, intent upon +making his peace with the victim of the accident. + +Peace, however, was the last thing in the thoughts of the stranger, who +had taken out his handkerchief and was busily engaged in wiping the mud +from his face and clothes. + +He stared angrily at Garry when the boy approached, out of breath and +full of apologies. + +"I didn't see you coming," Garry panted, genuinely penitent. "I'm +awfully sorry, sir. I hope it didn't hurt you much. It was only an +accident." + +"Accident!" sneered the man in a voice trembling with rage. "Quite an +unfortunate accident, young man. You ought to be ashamed of yourself." + +"I'm dreadfully sorry," repeated Garry. "I wouldn't have done it for +the world!" + +"I suppose it was an accident, too," the stranger went on, as though +Garry had not spoken, "that you happen to be playing football in a +vacant lot close to a fairly populous thoroughfare. Any passerby is in +danger of being assaulted as I have been." + +Garry stared at the man helplessly, hardly knowing what answer to make +to the stilted, pedantic speech. + +"Perhaps you had better come into our house," the boy suggested, still +anxious to make amends. "You can wash there and have your clothes +cleaned." + +"I'm not in need of any suggestions from you," replied the man, giving +Garry a look out of his cold gray eyes that made the lad think of a +snake. "All you can do is to make me an abject apology." + +"I've already said that I am sorry," replied Garry, growing a bit red +in the face at the stranger's implacable tone, "and I am--_very_ sorry." + +"People don't usually cross this lot," Nick broke in, coming to Garry's +relief; "and you came around that corner so suddenly that we didn't +see you till after the punt was made." + +"I was taking a short cut to Mr. Elliny's house," the man rejoined, +turning his cold gaze from Garry to Nick. "Not that I feel called on +to offer an explanation, since the lot was not fenced in," he added +loftily. "It's an outrage for you boys to practice with that filthy +football within the town limits," with a glance of distaste at his +muddy waistcoat. "I ought to report this affair to the authorities." + +With this the outraged stranger swept the group with an icy stare, +scowled fiercely at Garry, and continued on his way with a dignity that +refused to be marred by the consciousness that his immaculate clothes +had suffered sadly. + +Nick whistled softly. + +"Going to Mr. Elliny's house," he repeated thoughtfully. "Isn't Elliny +the head of the Board of Education?" + +"Great Scott! So he is," cried Garry, beginning to see whither Nick's +question led. "I bet that tall, thin guy is a teacher!" + +"Well, you did it that time, Garry!" crowed Rooster. "Sure, that old +boy is a teacher. You could tell it by the look of him." + +"By the look in his eyes he'll never forgive you, Garry," predicted +Nick. "You hurt his dignity." + +"Anyway you got some dirt off der ball," said Carl Zukor, who had not +yet shaken off his German accent. + +"Yeah. Think of that and cheer up, old boy," said elephantine Sloppy +Hume, clapping Garry on the shoulder. "It wasn't your fault, anyway. +Don't let it faze you." + +"Just the same, I'm mighty sorry it happened," replied Garry, as he +resumed his position in the field. "I don't suppose it's any fun to +have a muddy football smack into you. You can't blame the man for +feeling sore." + +"You can't blame him for being an old crab, either," said Nick +cheerfully. "But you don't exactly love him for it. If he'd been a +regular fellow, he'd have accepted your apology and let it go at that." + +"Well, come on, play ball," called Garry, and in a few moments practice +was in full swing again. + +But though he entered heartily into the sport, Garry could not shake +off a feeling of regret that the accident had occurred. There had been +a look of bitter animosity in the look the man had turned on him, and +he had a feeling that he would hear of the matter further. + +The afternoon wore on, and the boys were at length forced to call an +end to the practice. As they reluctantly dispersed to their homes Garry +carefully deposited his precious football in the barn "gym" and entered +the house. + +There he found that his mother had an errand for him that must be +attended to at once. + +Garry was muddy and hot and needed a bath badly. Nevertheless, he +started off without protest, thinking that perhaps he could work in a +shower when he returned. + +At the first corner, as luck would have it, he ran into his sister Ella +with two of her girl chums. One was Jane Danter, Nick Danter's pretty +sister, and the other an out-of-town girl whom Garry did not know. + +Since Ella rarely missed an opportunity to tease her brother, she could +not resist the opportunity his rather unkempt appearance gave her. + +"Garry Grayson! who's been throwing mud at you? Or have you been making +mud pies? Of all things! I shouldn't have recognized you if it weren't +for your walk. You look like something the cat dragged in." + +"Is zat so?" was the only retort Garry in his confusion was capable of +making. He felt it was not a very effective one, and his peace of mind +was not increased by the sound of the girls' giggles as he passed on +with what dignity he could muster. + +He realized ruefully that he ought to have taken a moment to wash +himself and brush off his clothes. Handling a muddy football during an +afternoon of hard practice was not conducive to a good appearance. + +"I sure look like a tramp," he thought to himself. "I suppose I'll run +into every one I know just because I've got mud all over me." + +The first person he saw when he entered the store on his mother's +errand was Sandy Podder, who looked Garry over disdainfully from head +to foot. + +After the first look that passed between them, Garry ignored Sandy and +stood with his back toward him while he waited for his order to be +filled. + +But Sandy was evidently in no mood to be ignored. He started a +conversation with the storekeeper in a loud tone that was clearly +intended to reach Garry's ears. + +"Lot of fellows I know entering Lenox High this fall," remarked Sandy. + +"That so?" inquired the storekeeper, without a great deal of interest. + +"Sure," continued Sandy. "Some crack football players too, from Webster +and Cherry Street schools." + +"Some from Hill Street too, if what I hear is true," remarked the man, +giving Garry a friendly wink. + +"Oh, that bunch! They think they're players, of course." Sandy Podder's +scorn was immense. "But they won't have a chance against such fellows +as Pete Maddern and Tom Allison. Those two are what I call real +football players." + +Thinking that Sandy had not recognized Garry as the former captain of +the Hill Street team, the well disposed storekeeper tried to give him a +hint. + +He pointed towards Garry's still averted back and said in a low tone: + +"Gently! Gently! That's Garry Grayson himself." + +"Well, what of it?" Sandy laughed and snapped his fingers flippantly. +"Do you think I'm afraid of him?" + +"You bet your life you are!" Garry whirled on him so swiftly that +Sandy, though much the bigger of the two, shrank back in alarm. "You +stow that kind of talk, Sandy Podder, if you know what's good for you." + +Sandy recovered himself enough to bluster: + +"Who's going to make me, I'd like to know?" + +Garry took a step forward, his eyes blazing. But here the storekeeper +intervened. + +"Easy, boys, easy," he admonished. "Don't let's have any trouble in +here." + +Garry drew back at the words and Sandy sneered openly, thinking that he +had an ally, if only a negative one. + +"You think you're going to make the team at Lenox High, I suppose," +continued the trouble-maker. "Well, let me tell you that you haven't +the ghost of a chance with Allison and Maddern in the field against +you." + +Garry was holding himself in with a great effort. When he spoke it was +in a deceptively quiet voice. + +"You seem to forget that as captain of the Hill Street team I've met +both Pete Maddern and Tom Allison--" + +"And licked them too," interposed the storekeeper, rubbing his hands +with enjoyment. "My boy was there at both those games, and he said they +were the prettiest he ever saw." + +"Just luck!" sneered Sandy again with that offensive snap of his +fingers. "I was there--and I know." + +"Oh, you know, do you?" Garry's voice was still calm, but there was +something in it that warned Sandy Podder he had gone too far. "Since +you know so much, perhaps you can tell me what became of that money +that Mr. Long gave you for your father and that your father never got?" + + + + + CHAPTER V + + CONSTERNATION + + +At the words that fell from Garry Grayson's lips Sandy Podder's face +became as white as ashes. + +"Now, now--" he stammered, all his aggressiveness gone. "Just let that +drop. I don't want to talk about that." + +"I thought not," replied Garry, with a touch of sarcasm. "Then if you +don't want me to spill the whole story, beat it out of here and keep +going. And more than that," he added, as Sandy turned hurriedly toward +the door, "if you try giving anybody else the same line of chatter +you've just handed me, I'll make Lenox a mighty uncomfortable place for +you. Just get that." + +The door slammed after Sandy Podder, and Garry turned toward the +grinning storekeeper. + +"I'll have that package now," he said, with an answering smile. + +"You sure handed that young whippersnapper a hot one that time," said +the man, as he pushed Garry's package across to him and received his +money in exchange. "I must say, I was glad to see you do it. That +fellow needs taking down a peg or two. But say," he lowered his voice +to a confidential murmur and leaned eagerly across the counter, "what +did you mean about that money and Sandy Podder's old man? You let out +just enough to make me interested." + +Garry shook his head, gathered the package under one arm, and turned to +go. + +"How do you know that I wasn't just working a bluff?" he answered. + +But after the door had closed behind the lad the storekeeper remained +in his place behind the counter for a long minute, perplexity written +on his face. + +"Bluffing, eh?" he repeated, half aloud. "Well, all I've got to say +'twas a pretty good bluff to make Sandy Podder turn white in the face +and hurry out of the shop as though a ghost was at his heels. Looks +like Sandy Podder had some trouble with his father about money and that +Garry Grayson knows about it. It's no wonder, the way he runs with that +poolroom crowd. No boy of mine could keep company with that bunch and +live under the same roof with me. That poolroom ought to be closed up, +and I'd like to be the one to do it." + +Meanwhile, Garry made his way homeward as quickly as he could. + +He was irritated by his encounter with Sandy Podder, and half angry +with himself because of the slip of the tongue that had almost revealed +the shameful facts concerning that young reprobate and the missing +three thousand dollars. + +Sandy had apparently gotten out of that scrape a good deal more easily +than he deserved. For a time after the occurrence he had seemed +subdued. But the improvement had lasted only a short time, and now he +was as bad--worse, some thought--as ever. + +"He hates us fellows for the part we took in showing him up," murmured +Garry to himself, "and now that we're entering the same high school +where he's been studying, he'll do his best to get even with us. Well, +let him try," with an unconscious clenching of the fists. "I guess +we'll be a match for him. We've beaten him before, and we can probably +do it again." + +It was not long before the great day came--great, at least, from +Garry's viewpoint--the day on which he was to enter Lenox High. + +Mrs. Grayson had spent a few days before the opening in shopping for +Garry and Ella, for the latter was to enter the high school on the same +day as her twin brother. + +There had been a spirited race during the years of grammar school +between the brother and sister. + +When Garry skipped from 3A to 4A, Ella had put on her working cap and +skipped also. When in the higher grades Ella made a brilliant spurt and +skipped again, Garry had urged himself to greater effort and in the +next grade caught up to her. + +Now, as they were about to step on a higher rung of the ladder of +learning, they were still side by side. + +As they faced each other over the breakfast table, Ella radiant with +excitement and bubbling over with good spirits, Garry a bit sheepish +and acutely conscious of the handsome new suit that had been bought for +him to celebrate the occasion, it would have been hard to find in the +whole of Lenox a more wholesome or promising pair of youngsters. + +At least Mrs. Grayson thought so, and it is safe to say that Mr. +Grayson agreed with her. + +"My, how spick and span my famous brother looks!" remarked Ella, as +she helped herself to some omelet and a crisp slice of bacon. "You and +Tom Allison and that good-looking Pete Maddern will have the spotlight +turned upon you to-day, I reckon. The girls call you the 'Three +Captains,' and there's a lot of interest as to which of you will make +the Lenox football team first." + +"So Tom and Maddern's boy are entering to-day too," observed Mr. +Grayson, eyeing his son thoughtfully. "They're fine fellows, both of +them." + +"I'll say they are," Garry rejoined heartily. "Off the gridiron I like +them first-rate. But on the field," he added, with a grin, "they're +just a couple of fellows to lick." + +"Well, go in and lick them, son," said Mr. Grayson, with a smile. +"They're a pair of sporting enemies, all right, and if you beat them, +it will be in a fair fight." + +"I've got more than Pete and Tom to lick, Dad," said Garry. "It's not +likely any of us freshmen will make the team. And it's going to be +pretty hard to stand on the outside and watch the regulars work." + +"Hard on your sporting instincts, but perhaps good for your +scholarship," returned Mr. Grayson. "There's just one thing I want to +say to you, Garry, before you start out this morning. This goes for you +too, Ella, since your mother tells me you are going to try to make the +girls' hockey team." + +Garry shot an inquiring glance at his sister, but Ella's merry eyes +were fixed demurely on her plate. + +"All during your work in grammar school," went on Mr. Grayson, "you +have been governed by the rule that your studies must come before +anything else. You've both done well and we're proud of you. Aren't we, +Sadie?" + +Mrs. Grayson nodded, smiling. + +"We haven't anything to complain of," she agreed. + +"And I just want you to remember," Mr. Grayson concluded his brief +lecture, "that the same rule holds good in high school. Studies first +and sports in what time you have left." + +"Sure thing, Dad," assented Garry. He had just caught a glimpse through +the window of Nick, Bill, Rooster, and Ted coming up the street. He +pushed back his chair hastily, for the boys had promised to call for +him. On his way to the door he paused for a moment at his father's +side. "That rule is a pretty strict one at Lenox High," he said. +"You've got to reach a certain mark in scholarship before you're even +eligible to try for a team. I say, El," he added, as he playfully +tweaked his sister's ear in passing, "what's this I hear about hockey?" + +Ella smiled, as she also pushed back her chair from the table. + +"You didn't think I was going to let my brother carry off all the +sporting honors of the family, did you?" she returned. Then she ran off +for her hat as Garry called a good-bye from the door and joined his +friends on the porch. + +"Gee, you sure look swell, Garry!" Rooster greeted him. "That is some +outfit." + +Ted staggered as though he were about to swoon. + +"Hold me up," he pleaded. "Am I seeing things?" + +"Cut it," commanded Garry, as he made a pass at Ted. "What are you +trying to do, pull a fight?" + +As they walked on toward the school, it was noticeable that Bill +Sherwood was unusually silent. When Garry finally commented on this, +Bill roused himself with an effort from his abstraction. + +"There was a row at home about Frank's going with that poolroom crowd," +he explained. "Gee, I wish I could find some way to sidetrack him! +They're sure a rough gang, and I never thought that a brother of mine +would be running around with them." + +"Oh, don't worry!" Rooster tried to cheer his chum up. "Frank will +tumble to them himself if you give him time. Just leave him alone till +he comes to his senses." + +"Yeah, that's just what I am doing," said Bill mournfully. "He won't +let me do anything else." + +The chums reached the grounds of the high school a short time later, +and found the campus already crowded with students. As the boys +mingled with these on their way to the building they caught sight of +Sandy Podder talking to Lent Stewart. + +As Sandy's eyes lighted on Garry, an angry look came into them. He said +something in a low voice to his companion, and then the boys saw him +slip off into the crowd. + +"Up to some dirty scheme, you can bet," said Rooster Long, with a +contemptuous twirl of his books. "That Sandy Podder sure has it in for +us." + +"And he was talking to Lent Stewart," remarked Garry thoughtfully. "The +two seem to be pals." + +"Thick as thieves. They're two of a kind, from all I've seen of them," +said Bill. + +They entered the big building now and looked about them with interest +as they proceeded down the corridor. + +The school was an old one, the ceilings high, the woodwork dark. But +despite the dingy aspect of the place there was an air of dignity, an +atmosphere of learning, that impressed the boys just admitted within +its portals. + +They passed an open door and had the temerity to look in. + +"Gee, that's an office!" breathed Ted, with a touch of awe. + +"Where they send the naughty freshmen, maybe," put in Nick Danter, with +a chuckle. "Bet you'll be the first to make it, Ted, at that." + +Ted's retort was cut short by an unexpected incident. + +They had reached the end of the corridor and were about to turn the +corner to the room assigned to them when Garry leaped back suddenly, +almost knocking over Rooster and Bill, who were directly behind him. + +A cup of dirty water thrown by an invisible hand had narrowly missed +landing squarely on the front of his new coat! + + + + + CHAPTER VI + + FACING THE BULLY + + +Surprise on Garry Grayson's part was quickly followed by anger. Whoever +had thrown that cup of water had done it with deliberate and malicious +intent. + +While Nick, who had caught most of the water, was wiping it from his +sleeve, Garry leaped around the corner. There, as he had more than half +expected, he encountered the grinning face of Sandy Podder. + +Sandy was trying to slip into a room the door of which stood ajar. But +Garry was too quick for him and caught him by the shoulder. + +As Sandy wriggled out of the clutch a look of feigned innocence came +into his face. + +"Oh, hello!" he remarked, with an air of specious friendliness. "When +did you get here?" + +"You know as well as I do," replied Garry angrily. "What did you mean +by trying to throw that cup of dirty water over me?" + +"I?" replied Sandy, while in his furtive eyes lurked a grin of +enjoyment. "You must be crazy. I don't know what you're talking about." + +"Oh, don't you?" + +With a swift motion Garry bent forward, seized Podder's wrist and gave +it a sharp twist. With a cry of surprise and pain Sandy's fingers +unclosed and something tinkled on the floor of the corridor. + +Garry pounced upon it and picked it up. The object was a collapsible +tin cup that can be folded in a small compass and put in the pocket for +convenience' sake. + +Garry held out the cup, contempt on his face. + +"Didn't know anything about it?" he said. "With this cup hidden in your +hand and still wet from the water you tried to throw on me!" + +"I tell you I didn't try to throw water on you," reiterated Sandy, a +little of his assurance gone. + +A crowd of boys had gathered, sensing a quarrel, hoping probably, +boylike, for a real fight. + +Nick Danter nudged Garry's arm. + +"Don't start anything, Garry," he urged in an undertone. "This isn't +the place or time." + +Garry appeared not to have heard him. He unfolded the collapsible cup +until it had assumed its full shape and size. There were a few drops of +water still clinging to it. + +"Give me that cup," demanded Sandy, beginning to bluster. "You're +altogether too fresh. Give me back my property." + +Garry looked at the few drops of water in the bottom of the cup. These +he tossed coolly into the flaming face of Sandy Podder, while some of +the boys in the fast-increasing throng laughed gleefully. + +"Say you--you four-flusher," cried Sandy, fairly stuttering with wrath. +"You give me back my cup or I'll--I'll--" + +"Yes," replied Garry, stepping forward to meet him, hands clenched. +"Just what will you do?" + +Bill Sherwood came up to Garry and whispered in his ear: + +"Don't spoil your entrance, Garry. There's nothing Sandy Podder would +like better than to see you get in Dutch with the faculty." + +Garry nodded. Crushing the cup in his hand he flung it at the feet of +its owner. + +"There's your cup," he said curtly. + +Leaving the red-faced Podder to pick up the cup sheepishly, to the +amusement of the spectators, Garry and his friends hurried down the +corridor toward what they had been told would be their classroom. + +Luckily, the numbers were clearly marked on the doors. They found their +number, seventeen, without difficulty and slipped inside. + +They were none too soon, for as Garry cast a glance behind he saw one +of the teachers approach the group around Sandy Podder, inquiry in his +eye. + +"Gee, I'm glad you're well out of that, Garry!" said Rooster, with a +sigh of relief. "It would be a bad thing to get into a fight your first +day in the high school." + +"Podder may peach, anyhow," Garry pointed out, but Bill Sherwood +scoffed at this. + +"Not much! There are too many witnesses to testify that he started the +row. He'll want to keep his own skirts clean." + +"Besides, his own part in it wasn't over-heroic," chuckled Rooster. +"He'd hardly want to brag about it." + +"You sure got him mad when you chucked those drops of water at him," +grinned Ted. "I wanted to crow." + +"The low coward!" exclaimed Garry, his hands clenching again at the +memory. "I suppose that's the kind of thing we've got to look out for +now. But if Sandy Podder's looking for trouble, he'll get all he wants! +I can tell him that." + +"He got some this morning," replied the grinning Nick. "Cheer up, +Garry. You handed that sneak one bitter dose of medicine, judging from +the look on his face when he gulped it down." + +Some more of their classmates were coming in then, and as the time for +the opening exercises was almost at hand they had no time for further +conversation. + +Now that Garry had somewhat cooled down, he was glad that he had +listened to Bill's warning and not let his anger run away with +him. There would be other ways of dealing with the fellow and more +appropriate places for that purpose. + +The principal of the school, Mr. Allen, gave the students a little talk +in the assembly room before they scattered to their respective classes. +It was a genial, kindly talk, and the new boys, as Bill later expressed +it, "cottoned to him at once." He emphasized the necessity for hard +study and the rewards that might be expected to come from it. Then +he touched on the sports of the school, with which he was in hearty +sympathy, though he warned them that scholarship must come first and +that none would be allowed on any of the school teams whose work was +not satisfactory to their teachers. + +In the absorbing round of new classes, new subjects, and new teachers, +Garry soon forgot all about Sandy Podder. + +Not much work was expected of any one on that first day. It was more a +matter of becoming acquainted with classmates and instructors, learning +the rules, and the giving out of the books for the various studies of +the term. + +It was the first period of the afternoon that brought a surprise to +Garry Grayson. It was not a pleasant surprise, and served, together +with the scrap with Sandy in the morning, to shadow considerably his +first day in school. + +As Garry entered the classroom devoted to the study of English +literature with the rest of his classmates, the tall, thin figure +at the desk impressed him as being in some way familiar, and as the +teacher turned his face toward the entering pupils Garry received a +distinct shock. + +The face belonged to the stranger whose immaculate clothing Garry had +soiled with the muddy football on that unfortunate day of practice! + + + + + CHAPTER VII + + TROMPET SHRUGG + + +The recognition appeared to be mutual. As the teacher's cold glance met +Garry's questioning one the eyes of the former hardened with a gleam of +antagonism. + +The interchange lasted only a second, but it was long enough to assure +Garry that it would be a difficult task to erase from the mind of +Trompet Shrugg, teacher of English, the memory of that muddy football +and the indignity to which the incident had subjected him. + +"I'm in Dutch, all right," the boy thought ruefully, as he took a seat +between Nick Danter and Bill Sherwood. "That old boy looked as though +he could hold a grudge forever. Just my luck that I have to be under +him during my first term in Lenox High!" + +Garry glanced at Nick and noticed that he, too, was eyeing the teacher +with interest. Evidently Nick remembered that fateful day in the lot +and was connecting the instructor with the tall, stiff man who had been +on his way to "Mr. Elliny's house." + +Catching Garry's glance, Nick winked dolefully, while his lips framed +the words: "Tough luck." + +Garry nodded and would have telegraphed an answer, had not a peculiar +expression in the eyes of his chum warned him to watch the teacher. + +Glancing toward the desk, Garry found the eyes of Trompet Shrugg fixed +upon him in a disapproving stare. Garry met the stare steadily though +respectfully, and in a moment the English teacher turned away to speak +to one of the other boys. + +"All set to pick on me," said Garry to himself resentfully. "He seems +to think I kicked the pigskin at him on purpose. It begins to look as +though I'd have to watch my step while I'm in this class, anyway." + +The English period dragged interminably, with Professor Shrugg +addressing the boys in his painfully precise English, outlining the +course for the term, and declaring in no uncertain manner what would be +expected of the boys in his classes. + +There was a sigh of genuine relief when the bell sounded through the +hall announcing the end of that period and the commencement of the next. + +When finally the work of the day was over and the boys were strapping +their new books together, his chums expressed their solicitude over +the outlook for Garry. + +"Gee, Garry, that sure is hard luck about old Shrugg," condoled Ted +Dillingham. + +"It is, for a fact," agreed Garry. "That old boy has it in for me, all +right. I could tell it by the way he looked at me." + +"I see where you'll have to be a model for all the rest of us +roughnecks," grinned Nick. "You will have to be so very, very good that +Shrugg will stop suspecting you of secret plots against his health and +happiness." + +"And shirt front," added Rooster. "I guess from the look of him, we'll +all have to walk as though we were treading on eggs. That guy has an +eye like a snake's." + +"I bet he'll be about as popular as one, too," predicted Bill. + +The prophecy proved to be not far from the truth. Trompet Shrugg was +a scholar, a highly educated man. But to his students he was stern, +abrupt, sometimes insultingly sarcastic. + +A large part of this sarcasm was directed at Garry in the days that +followed. But the more Shrugg picked on him, the greater was Garry's +popularity among his schoolmates. Nick and Rooster had been careful +to circulate the story of the muddy football and the martinet of a +teacher. This delighted the boys and made Garry into something of a +hero, while much secret fun was poked at the stiff, pedantic Trompet +Shrugg. + +Garry, however, found nothing amusing in the dislike the teacher of +English had for him. He was subjected almost daily to numerous small +slights and subtle bits of sarcasm, which he found it difficult to +laugh off. He knew himself constantly watched, and his very eagerness +to make no mistakes sometimes tripped him up. + +Garry had his worries outside the classroom as well as in. After the +run-in between him and Sandy Podder the latter's enmity against the +former captain of the Hill Street eleven grew, if possible, still more +active. + +Podder and his cronies lost no opportunity to annoy and exasperate the +lad. Sly winks and sneering glances passed between them when Garry was +present, though their respect for his courage and strength prevented +them from deliberately provoking him to hostilities. + +Strangely enough, Lent Stewart, the constant companion of Sandy during +those first days at school, seemed to share the latter's enmity for +Garry. + +"Though the only thing you ever did to that chump was to save his +life," Ted said one day when they had chanced to overhear an insulting +remark of Lent Stewart's directed covertly at Garry. "That's a fine +thing to hold a grudge about." + +Things were very much in the same state when about a week later Garry +and his friends entered the hall of the school to find an excited crowd +about the bulletin board. + +"Something's up!" cried Garry. "Let's have a look!" + +As he and his friends pushed forward, some of those nearest stepped +back so that the newcomers could have a good look at the board. + +At the same moment that Garry recognized Sandy Podder and Lent Stewart +in the crowd he came face to face with quite another type of boy, Pete +Maddern, the former captain of the Cherry Street football team. + +"Hello, Grayson!" Pete greeted Garry in a hearty voice. "Here's good +news. First call for the gridiron." + +Garry's heart leaped and enthusiasm showed in his tone as he answered +his "friendly enemy" in the same spirit. + +"Something doing at last, is there?" he said. "Suppose you're going to +try for the team?" + +"Am I? You bet!" + +"And it's a team worth trying for, I tell you," came another voice. + +Garry turned to see Tom Allison at his elbow. + +Many who had witnessed the redhot games between the three grammar +schools during the previous season watched the reunion of the trio with +interest. + +It was evident from their faces that these boys who had been deadly +enemies on the gridiron, striving against each other with all that was +in them, were the best of friends now that they were off the field, +each admiring the good qualities of the others. + +The worth-while boys in the group about the bulletin board that day +recognized good sportsmanship when they saw it, and the popularity of +the three, already marked, grew in consequence. + +"Lenox has always stood well," Garry said, in answer to Tom's +observation. "It's up to the boys this year to get the championship +back again." + +Garry referred to the fact that the year before Lenox High had lost the +championship in the league of six high schools which for the two years +preceding that it had held against all comers. Naturally, all Lenoxites +were eager to wipe out the loss of the year before by a smashing +victory during the present season. So at Garry's words there was an +eager murmur of assent from the boys and cries of: + +"That's the stuff!" + +"Lenox forever!" + +"We'll rip the league wide open this fall!" + +Then from the outside of the crowd came Sandy Podder's sneering voice: + +"Sounds fine. Grayson's got it all mapped out. Now that he's here, +Lenox is all right." + +An angry murmur arose, and Pete Maddern swung on his heel and regarded +the speaker coldly. + +"Say, you'd better sing small, Sandy Podder," he said. "What have you +ever done for football, I'd like to know? When you've captained a +champion team like Grayson here you can begin to talk." + +There was a laugh at Sandy's expense. As Garry walked off with Tom +Allison, Pete Maddern and his other and older friends, eagerly +discussing the prospects of the team, Podder turned with a scowl to +Lent Stewart. + +"Let's get out of here," he growled. "That Garry Grayson's got a worse +swelled head than ever. He makes me sick. The whole bunch of 'em make +me sick. I don't see why they want to let freshmen on the team, anyhow. +Colleges don't do it." + +"Don't worry," replied his companion. "Wait till Grayson tries to +make the team--Allison and Maddern too, for that matter. They'll find +they're up against a mighty tough undertaking. Kicking the pigskin on a +high school gridiron is a different thing entirely from grammar school +games. When they find that they can't make the team, maybe they'll be +the ones to sing small." + +"Let's hope they will," muttered Sandy, and grinned maliciously at the +thought. + +Meanwhile Garry and his friends had forgotten Sandy's outburst and his +consequent discomfiture in their excitement over the call for gridiron +recruits. + +Would they answer the call? Would a bee buzz? + +"See you this afternoon in the gym," Garry said, as Tom and Pete parted +from him in the hall. + +"Gee, how are we going to stick it out till two-thirty?" exclaimed Ted +Dillingham. + +"Anyway, we'll soon know the worst," remarked Nick. + +"Or the best," added Rooster, a little more optimistically. + +It looked at one time in the afternoon as though Garry would have to +"stick it out" a good deal longer than two-thirty. The trouble was in +Mr. Shrugg's class, as usual. Following his policy of hectoring Garry, +the teacher called him to book on the charge that he was skylarking +with the boys back of him, thus wasting the time that should have been +spent in writing a short essay. + +Possibly the teacher was honest enough in this case. He was +nearsighted, and may have failed to see that the trouble was with the +two boys seated directly behind Garry, who, in fact, was attending +strictly to business. + +If, however, it was persecution that prompted the teacher's action, it +failed of its object, for the two boys at fault at once shouldered the +blame and declared that Garry had taken no part in the disturbance. +Still Shrugg appeared to be, or really was, unconvinced. He was one of +the small minds that hate to confess to a mistake. + +"In that event," he said in his dry voice, "perhaps Grayson will read +to us the result of his concentrated effort. Come out to the front of +the room, if you please, so that we may hear you better." + +As Garry, red and wrathful, made his way to the front of the room he +saw the eyes of his friends fixed upon him sympathetically. If Shrugg +should think the composition not up to the mark--and he would seize +upon the slightest pretext for thinking so--then Garry would probably +be kept after school to write another and could not attend the meeting +of football candidates. + +No wonder the eyes of his chums followed him fearfully. No wonder, +either, that Garry's lips were set as he came to the front of the room +and met the satirical glance of the teacher. + +"Now read, if you please," directed the latter. + +Garry detected a gleam of pleasant anticipation in the fishy eyes fixed +upon him, and his resentment against the narrow-minded man grew hotter. + +It happened fortunately that the topic given out by Mr. Shrugg for +the essay was one that especially appealed to Garry. Always good in +English, with an ability to express his thoughts clearly and concisely, +the composition Garry read to the class that day under the supercilious +stare of the teacher was an example of the boy's best work. + +Even the boys were interested, and when Garry finished and looked at +the teacher there was an involuntary murmur of applause. + +There was the proof that Garry was not guilty of the fault of which +he had been accused. He could not have written so much in so short a +time and with such evident concentration on his subject if he had been +involved in the mischief-making imputed to him. + +Mr. Shrugg's comment was curt. + +"That will do, Grayson. You can return to your seat." + +Not a word of appreciation of the really excellent work! Not a +generous admission that he had been wrong! + +Garry returned to his seat, glad that he had vindicated himself, but +more resentful than ever of the small-minded ways of his instructor. + +"Gee, Garry, that was a close call!" remarked Nick Danter at the end of +the period when the boys were in the hall passing from one classroom to +another. + +"Thought you were a goner that time for sure," put in Rooster. + +"But say, wasn't Shrugg sore? And wasn't that a classy spiel that Garry +gave us in his essay?" exclaimed Bill Sherwood, giving Garry a thump +between the shoulders. "I begin to think this young feller's wasting +his time on football. Ought to be an orator." + +Garry grinned cheerfully. His anger against Trompet Shrugg was +beginning to evaporate and he was beginning to appreciate more his +lucky escape from the pedantic tyrant. + +"Wouldn't be half so much fun," he said in response to Bill. + + + + + CHAPTER VIII + + ON THE ANXIOUS SEAT + + +The clock seemed to lag dreadfully as the hands made their way to +two-thirty, but they got there at last, and then the eager Garry and +his chums made a dash for the gymnasium where they found that a large +number of their classmates had already gathered. + +The Lenox High first team had been rather severely crippled by the +graduation of some of its best players the preceding June. There were +several important positions to be filled, and the scrubs of last season +were on tiptoe as they figured their chances of selection. + +Greb, in the position of left half, had been one of the most reliable +ground gainers of the eleven. Now he was gone, together with several +other scarcely less important players. + +Both tackle positions would have to be filled, as well as that of right +end. + +Garry and his friends, following the fortunes of Lenox High in a +general way during the preceding fall, had heard rumors that the scrubs +were pressing the regulars hard. Some of the boys brought in from the +bench during tight games had done remarkably good work, as good, some +said, as the first string players themselves. + +But here was an unfortunate fact for Lenox. Graduation had taken toll +not only of some of the best regulars but of some of the finest players +on the scrubs as well, the boys who had worked their heads off in the +effort to secure places on the first team, only to leave school with +their ambitions ungratified. + +This, while hard for Lenox, was fortunate for the aspiring boys just +entering the high school and eager to make the eleven. Since so much +new material was needed, there was more chance for the freshmen than +would ordinarily have been the case. + +Still the captain, Ralph Wynn, was not particularly encouraging on +that point. While they were waiting for the coming of the coach, Wynn +talked to the would-be players on the subject that was of the intensest +interest to the freshmen at that moment. + +"Some of you fellows may be first-rate material to work with," he +said, addressing the freshmen, who had grouped themselves together as +though for moral support. "In fact, we know some of you are from your +records on the grammar school elevens. But of course," he added, just +as some of the freshmen were beginning to throw out their chests a +little, "the old players have the first call. That's only fair. It's +common sense too. In the first place, they have had more experience and +training. It takes some time to break in raw material to new rules and +methods and trick plays. + +"Then too, as a rule, the upper classmen are older and bigger and +heavier. They furnish more of the beef that is needed in hard games. +Lots of you boys are husky specimens, but you haven't filled out +as much as you will in a year or two. You'll all be pounds heavier +and inches taller next year, and therefore worth that much more to +the team. Of course, there are exceptions to every rule, and where +newcomers show themselves quick to learn," he added, as the coach +entered the gymnasium, "they have a chance. But it takes a pretty good +fellow to get on the team the first year." + +This was not particularly encouraging to Garry and his friends. Still +it left a loophole, and they looked with a gleam of hope at the coach +as he entered the room. + +The coach was a tall, rangy young man named Al Garwin. He had a sleepy +manner and a drawling voice, which the boys soon came to find were only +a cloak for the fiery energy he possessed. He was one that mixed praise +and blame with a liberal hand. He could raise a player to the heights +one moment and drop him to the depths the next with no more personal +feeling than if the subject had been a puppet pulled by a string. + +There was a sparkle in his half-closed eyes as he approached the boys, +regulars and aspirants, who looked at him with a touch of misgiving as +the arbiter of their fate. + +"Hello, fellows," he greeted. "Going to pull Lenox up to the +championship again this year?" + +There was a roar of assent that brought a smile to the lips of the +coach. + +"All right," he said. "Now let's see who's going to do it." + +A murmur of excitement ran through the group of aspirants. At last they +were to get a line on their chances. + +But this was not to come in a hurry. Coach Garwin seated himself in +a convenient chair, crossed one long leg over the other in leisurely +fashion and ran his eye over a lengthy list that had been furnished him +by Ralph Wynn. + +On this paper was a list of all the aspirants for the team with a brief +statement of the experience they had had--if any--on the gridiron. + +The coach took so long at this that the boys fidgeted about uneasily. + +"I should think he could have done that just as well before he came +here," Rooster whispered in Garry's ear. "I wish he'd hurry up and +make a choice and get the agony over with." + +"Maybe after he's made the choice we'll wish he hadn't," replied Garry. + +At last Coach Garwin straightened up, uncrossed his legs, and regarded +the boys intently. + +"I'll have to ask you to answer to your names," he said. "I want to get +a good look at you fellows." + +Something in his voice told the boys that he was interested. Each one +asked himself if the interest related to him. The prospect of action +made them eagerly alert. + +As the coach called them each by name the boys stepped forward, +answering the brisk, keen questions fired at them as clearly as they +could. + +Bill Sherwood was called and stood modestly before the coach, face red, +as Mr. Garwin looked him over. + +"You played center on the Hill Street team," remarked the coach, +referring to his list. "I attended a couple of those games and noted +your work, Sherwood. You certainly have the beef. All right. I've got +my eye on you." + +Rooster was also given a word of commendation for his record on the +gridiron, and Nick and Ted were each commended for his work on the Hill +Street eleven. + +Tom Allison and Pete Maddern were each given a word of approbation. + +"It's part of my work to keep my eye on the up and coming grammar +school elevens," Al Garwin drawled; "especially those that are apt to +graduate their members into Lenox High. It isn't often," he added with +a smile, "that we enter three ex-captains of grammar school teams at +the same time." + +By this remark Garry knew that his own name and record had not been +overlooked. This was made a certainty a moment later when the coach +called his name and looked him over with quizzically uplifted eyebrows. + +"Rather a swift worker, aren't you, Grayson?" he asked. "Worked your +raw team up to winning pitch in a single season. Not such a bad record." + +"We had mighty good material to work with," said Garry loyally. "And if +anybody deserves credit for the work of our team, it's Mr. Phillips, +our teacher in English. He coached us and taught us all we knew." + +"Which seems to be considerable," soliloquized the coach, looking Garry +over with more minute attention. His glance wandered to Tom Allison and +Pete Maddern and then back again to Garry. + +"You three boys good friends?" Garwin asked. + +"I hope so!" Garry's reply was instant and hearty. + +"Off the gridiron you can bet we are!" exclaimed Pete, and Tom Allison +added a hearty assent. + +"That's lucky. Because you'll probably have some work to do together. +But this time you'll be fighting alongside and not against each other." + +As the coach bent frowningly over his list the three ex-captains +exchanged elated glances. + +"Looks like business," Garry telegraphed in dumb show, and the others +nodded. + +Mr. Garwin made some hurried notations on his paper and then rose +purposefully from his seat, calling the boys around him. + +"I've filled in the positions on the first and second teams," he +declared, waving the slip toward them. "Roughly, of course. You boys +have got to work your heads off to show me that you are capable of +filling the positions I have marked out for you and to keep them +once you've got them. My selection has been guided of course by the +records of you fellows. But those I don't name to-day need feel no +discouragement, because there's a chance for you all. As I said, this +list is tentative." + +"Gee!" whispered Rooster, "I'm tingling all over." + +Then utter silence fell on the gymnasium as Al Garwin spoke again. + +"Of course our first team--that is, the vacancies on it--will all be +filled by our scrubs of last year," he began. + +Garry, who had cherished a wild hope of getting a position on the +regulars--any position--felt his heart sink. A swift glance at his +friends told him that they were equally disappointed. + +"As our quarterback and captain," the coach continued, "we shall still +have Ralph Wynn." + +There was a spontaneous cheer from the boys, for besides being a +brilliant player on the gridiron Ralph was an all-round good fellow and +was firmly established in the esteem and affection of his schoolmates. + +Coach Garwin held up his hand, and again silence descended upon the +boys before him. + +"We lost two of our linemen by graduation," the coach went on, "Jim +Cooney and Tom Andrews, and we've never had a better guard or tackle on +the Lenox team." + +There was a disconsolate murmur from those who had known the missing +players, and Nick Danter grinned at Garry. + +"Sounds as if they'd died instead of just graduating," Nick remarked. + +"Mournful enough," assented Garry, and again turned his attention to +the coach. + +"We will fill these positions from last year's second team," Coach +Garwin continued. "McCarty, you will play right guard, and Payne, you +will take Andrews' position at left tackle. Those shoes will be hard +to fill and I don't want you to rattle around in them. See that you +justify my choice." + +The two boys, grinning from ear to ear with glee, promised to do their +best. + +"Lucky dogs!" muttered Ted. "But there doesn't seem to be much +nourishment for us in all this." + +"I'm going to move Fred Walker up to center," stated Garwin. "Painter, +from the scrubs, will take his place. Now there remains just one +position to be filled, and since that's an important one I'm going to +lend it--not give it, get that?--to a player whose work on the scrubs +last year was worthy of the first string." + +"Benny Knapp!" came from the old players in chorus. + +"Come up, Benny, old boy, and stop your blushing," called a wag from +the throng. + +Benny Knapp, a rangy, muscular lad with red hair and a great quantity +of freckles, looked hesitantly at Coach Garwin. + +"You mean me, sir?" he queried. + +"Sure, I mean you, Benny," replied the coach, his eyes twinkling. "Why +so modest all of a sudden? Think you can fill Freddie Greb's place?" + +"Gee, nobody could!" + +The compliment to Greb was so spontaneous and so honest that the boys +broke into fresh cheering, mingled with laughter. + +"Well then," amended the coach, "will you try to fill Greb's place?" + +"You bet your life, Mr. Garwin!" the boy replied enthusiastically. "I'm +only too glad to get the chance." + +"All right, then. Benny Knapp at left half. Now we've got our first +team--that is, if they make good. Suppose you line up, boys, and let's +have a look at you." + +The fortunate members on whom the choice had fallen lined up for +inspection. + +"All right," pronounced the coach, turning from what appeared to be a +satisfactory inspection of his new team. "Now we can turn our attention +to the scrubs. And don't let any of us forget that the scrub of to-day +may be the regular of to-morrow." + +Garry saw Rooster, Ted, Nick and Bill stiffen as the glance of the +coach swept over them. He had a sudden realization of what it would +mean should any of his friends fail to make the second team, now that +they had failed of the first. + +"I'd about as soon be dropped myself as to have one of the gang left +out," he said to himself, and then listened with an almost painful +attention as the coach began to name the boys for the vacancies on the +scrubs. + +Bill Sherwood was the first to be called. + +"Our center graduated in June and I'm going to put you in that +position, Sherwood, because you're one of the biggest fellows that we +have left to choose from," said Garwin. + +Bill's chest swelled visibly. Coach Garwin went on rapidly. + +"We are minus ends, and I'm going to give those positions to two boys +who made a good record for themselves on the Hill Street team. Nick +Danter, you will take right end and you, Ted Dillingham, will go to +left." + +Garry began to breathe more easily. Here were three of his chums +accounted for anyway. Of the five of them only Rooster and himself had +not been called. + +And then a sudden thought came to him that threw him into a cold sweat. + +Suppose of all his chums they should be the only ones not chosen! + + + + + CHAPTER IX + + COUNTING THEIR CHANCES + + +Tom Allison was called next, to fill the post of fullback, and Pete +Maddern went in at right tackle. Then the coach shifted about some of +the old players on the scrub team and completed his line formation with +Hick Dabney. + +Only two positions remained unfilled--quarterback and right half. + +Garry and Rooster exchanged gloomy glances. Their chances seemed to be +vanishing into mist. + +"For the position of right halfback," Mr. Garwin went on, through a +silence tense with expectation, "I've chosen a boy who has had some +experience in the backfield and who, from the look of him, ought to be +a pretty good punter. Yes, I mean you, Long. Don't look as though the +moon had dropped into your lap." + +Rooster grew red as a chorus of laughter greeted this sally. He tried +to stammer something, but stopped short in the middle of a sentence, +gulping. + +"Cock-a-doodle-doo!" shrilled Ted Dillingham, and there was more +laughter. + +"Good old Rooster," said Garry to himself. "At right half he'll have a +chance to show his stuff." + +All but him! All but him! Was he going to be left out? + +Coach Garwin was looking at him, a twinkle in his eye. + +"Thought I'd forgotten you, Grayson?" asked the coach, while Garry +thrilled with a sudden, fierce excitement. "Well, you'll be apologizing +to me for that in just a minute. I've got to have a quarterback. Think +you'll do?" + +Garry took a quick step forward. His face glowed. + +"I'll do my best," he said earnestly. + +Coach Garwin looked at him steadily for a moment, then nodded as though +satisfied. + +"Yes, I think you will," he said. "Now, second team, line up." + +They shaped up considerably lighter than the regulars. But there was a +look in their eyes that warned the haughty first string players that +they would have to watch their step. + +The coach now addressed both teams, including in his remarks also the +crestfallen boys who had failed to make either. + +"You boys," he said, "understand of course that the positions I have +assigned you to-day are by no means my final selection. Each one +of you has got to work to keep his place and work hard. I play no +favorites. If I see a boy isn't doing his best, or perhaps is not +qualified to hold the position, he will have to surrender it to some +one else. Lenox High has held the championship before, and this year we +are going to win it again." + +A spontaneous cheer broke from the boys, and the coach smiled. + +"But to get that championship," he went on, "we've got to work +hard--not only each boy for himself in his own position but each boy +for the team in every position. We've got to develop a love for the +team and a loyalty to the team that goes beyond all personal ambition. +If a fellow is dropped for the good of the team, he must take his +medicine smiling and cheer the boy who takes his place with all his +heart--for the good of the team. That's all that counts. Each one +of the eleven players is only a cog in the machine where everything +depends on each cog doing its best. Forget personal ambition in +ambition for your team, think and act to the limit of your ability, be +ready to fill not only your own position but any position on the field, +if necessary, and we'll have a Lenox team this year that will sweep all +before it. + +"What do you say? Are you with me? Are you going to play that kind of +football?" + +The answer was a great shout that rose to the very roof of the +gymnasium and seemed to crash against it. There was no doubt that the +coach had caught the boys' imagination and aroused their enthusiasm. +They crowded about him, already itching for the feel of the pigskin, +impatient to get out on the field. + +"Too late to-day for any real practice," he said. "Meet here to-morrow +afternoon after classes and have your suits with you. I'll assign +each of you a locker then, and we'll get some real practice that will +tell me how right or how wrong I've been in picking you out. And you +fellows," he called after the group of rejected aspirants who were +making their way more or less dejectedly out of the gymnasium, "be on +hand too. It's likely enough that I'll want to make some changes after +I've seen the teams in action, and that's where your chance will come +in. Don't give up too soon. The season's just commenced and anything is +liable to happen." + +"Sounds almost like a threat for the rest of us," remarked Garry, as, +with his friends, he made his exit from the gymnasium. + +"A tip to us to be on our good behavior if we don't want to be +bounced," agreed Nick. + +"I have an idea we'll have to play like all possessed to keep on the +right side of Coach Garwin," put in Ted. "He'd just as soon drop a +fellow from the team as he would an ash from a cigar." + +"All the more reason for us to work like beavers," cried Garry, tossing +his cap in the air as they reached the street and freedom. "We may not +be on the regulars, but that's all the more reason why we've got to +make Mr. Garwin sit up and take notice. Say, fellows--" He paused and +the others looked at him expectantly. + +"What's on your mind?" queried Rooster. + +"Or what you call your mind," chaffed Ted. + +"I may be a nut, probably I am," said Garry. "But I have an idea that +we may get a chance to play on the first team yet." + +"Come off the perch!" admonished Bill. + +"How do you get that way?" asked Nick. + +"Oh, let him rave," counseled Ted. + +"All right, you gloom hounds," retorted Garry. "Just watch and see +who's right. My hunch tells me that I'm going to have the last laugh." + +It was hardly correct to apply the term "gloom hounds" to Garry's +friends, for on the whole they were considerably elated. + +Though they had had a faint hope that one of them at least might make +the first team, their judgment had told them that anything like that +was wholly improbable. + +Then, later, in the gymnasium when they had sensed the possibility +that they might not be chosen either for regulars or scrubs, a place +even on the second team had seemed highly desirable. + +This, however, they had achieved. They were in the running. So by +the time they had reached home they had practically forgotten their +original vaulting ambition and were almost as jubilant as though they +had made the regular team. + +Ella was in the library reading. She looked up as Garry entered, with +an expression of lively interest. + +"I saw the football call on the board," was her greeting to him. "I've +been staying at home purposely this afternoon to get the news at first +hand. Any luck?" + +Garry flung his cap on the table and stretched out luxuriously in a +deep leather chair. He grinned at Ella. + +"Made the team," he said. + +"The first? Why, Garry--" + +"Hold on. I didn't say the first, did I? Old Shrugg says that the habit +of jumping at conclusions is the sign of an inferior mind--" + +"Say, listen, Garry Grayson, leave my mind alone! It belongs to me, and +I like it anyhow. Go on and talk football. If you didn't make the first +team, what did you make?" + +"Mud pies," grinned Garry. Then as Ella flopped about indignantly in +her chair and picked up her book again he condescended to explain. + +"There are two teams, sis. I thought you knew that--first and second. I +made the second." + +Ella looked at him with interest. + +"What position?" + +"Quarterback." + +"That's good, Garry! I didn't think a freshman would have much of a +chance to make either team. That's what they were all saying up at the +school." + +"They don't very often. Not but what a fellow always has an idea that +he may be the exception," he added. "Of course, on the second team I'm +only a doormat for the regulars to wipe their feet on." + +"What a horrid way to put it!" ejaculated Ella. "All the same, I'd be +willing to bet something right now." + +"What's that?" + +"That you won't be a doormat, as you call it, very long, and that +before the end of the term you'll be on the regulars." + +"Thanks for them kind words," returned Garry. "Gee, sis, I wish you +were right." He shook his head dubiously. "Seems a pretty tough +problem though, this getting on the first team when you're only a poor +downtrodden freshman. But you can better believe I'm going to do my +best." + +"How about Pete Maddern and Tom Allison?" asked Ella. + +"They're on the scrubs too," replied Garry. + +"I'd like to see you boys take the conceit out of the regulars by +beating them!" exclaimed Ella. + +"You said it," replied Garry. "Swell chance though. Still we'll muss +their hair a little, if I'm any judge. And I'll bet that more than once +this season we'll throw a scare into them." + +The next morning Garry called for Bill at the Sherwood home, which lay +between his own house and the high school. + +As he stepped up on the porch he noticed that the front door was ajar. +As the boys were accustomed to have the run of each other's houses, +Garry did not ring but pushed the door open and stepped into the hall +ready to sound his halloo for Bill. + +The moment he found himself inside he was sorry. In the room just off +the hall that served as a library he heard the sound of voices. + +If they had been the voices used in ordinary conversation, Garry, so +much at home in the household, would have tapped on the door and made +his presence known. But the voices were angry and high-pitched, and +Garry knew at once that the subject must be a private one, not to be +intruded upon by any one outside the Sherwood family. + +While Garry stood hesitatingly, hardly knowing whether to advance and +make his presence known or to back hurriedly to the porch and ring the +bell, he could not avoid hearing a sentence that gave him the key to +the trouble. + +"I tell you, Frank," came from Bill, in a voice tense with excitement, +"you've got to lay off that poolroom crowd before it's too late!" + + + + + CHAPTER X + + INTO THE FRAY + + +"Oh, you make me sick," came in another voice, lower-toned but angry, +the voice of Bill's older brother, Frank. "Do you think I'm going to +have a kid like you bossing me? The crowd's all right. They make a +lot of noise, that's all, and all the old crabs in town take turns in +picking on them." + +As Garry backed out on the porch and was pulling the door shut behind +him he heard Bill say: + +"That sounds just like Sandy Podder or Lent Stewart. You can think I'm +a crab all you like, Frank, but I'm telling you that if you don't leave +that bunch alone they'll get you in Dutch some day. That's as sure as +my name's Bill Sherwood." + +Garry, once outside, pressed his finger on the bell button. + +Bill himself answered the ring a moment later, his face wearing an +angry frown. + +"Hello!" he said, his face clearing as he saw Garry. "Why didn't you +come right in? I left the door open on purpose." + +Garry did not tell Bill that he had overheard part of the conversation +between him and Frank. But he thought of it a good deal during the day +and wished there were some way in which he might add his warning to +Bill's. + +Ugly rumors of dirty work about Mooney's poolroom had been circulating +ever since the trouble over Mr. Podder's three thousand dollars that +had so mysteriously disappeared while in Sandy Podder's possession. +Garry's father was a lawyer, and Garry had heard at the home table of +many things unknown to his mates. A movement was taking form among the +better citizens of the town to have the poolroom wiped out as a public +nuisance. Garry felt with Bill that if Frank did not break with the +fast crowd that hung out at the resort he might soon find himself in +trouble, involved in some ugly scandal that might prove a bad blot on +his reputation. + +However, in the days that followed Garry had a great deal to think +about besides Frank Sherwood's recklessness. + +For football was in the air and engrossed all the time of the players +that could be spared from their studies. + +On the day after the appointments for the two teams had been made, the +boys met in the gymnasium to don the suits they had brought with them, +eager for the feel of the gridiron under their feet and the pigskin in +their hands. + +Coach Garwin was there, eyes alert and keen behind their half-closed +lids. + +He assigned each boy a locker and directed them curtly to get into +their togs as soon as possible. + +"That guy means business to-day," said Rooster to Garry, as he pulled +on his cleated shoes. "He'll make us work for our positions even on the +scrubs, let me tell you." + +"And past reputations won't cut any ice with him," affirmed Nick. + +"It matters not what once you were, it's what you are to-day," chanted +Ted. + +"Well, we weren't so bad last year, and we ought to be better now," +remarked Garry. + +"To hear us tell it, yes," declared Nick. "But Coach Garwin's the +doctor now, and he may take a different view of the case." + +Out on the gridiron in the crisp air and the bright sunshine the boys +found that Coach Garwin was a hard taskmaster. But they liked him and +worked beneath his forceful driving as they never had worked before. + +"We'll have practice in punting, blocking, passing, and tackling +to-day," he announced. "Also we'll have a short scrimmage between the +two teams. But we'll postpone the real games until we've warmed to our +work a bit more. Now then, you fellows, I want you to show your stuff." + +The boys went to work with a will. Under Mr. Garwin's direction they +broke up into groups of three and four, some blocking, some tackling, +others trying to place kick and punt. + +The coach watched their work with a critical eye and caustic tongue. He +abused them far more liberally than he praised and for that reason the +boys worked like mad to get even the crumbs of his approbation. + +Bill Sherwood was one of the first to be rasped by the rough edge of Al +Garwin's tongue. + +Bill, while endeavoring with another boy to tackle a runner, made a +great leap for the flying knees, only to fall flat on his face in the +dust as the runner dodged. The miss was by only a fraction of an inch, +but still it was a miss. + +The coach's scorn was scathing. + +"That's one of the best examples of tackling I ever saw," he remarked, +as Bill picked himself up, red and sheepish. "Suppose that had been a +member of an opposing team legging it for the goal! You'd have let him +get by, wouldn't you, Sherwood? You'd have lost the game perhaps for +your team. Tackling! That's a joke. You've got to do better than that." + +Bill's face became scarlet. His hands clenched at his sides. He was +fighting mad. + +"My foot slipped," he said in self-defense. "I'd have got him if it +hadn't." + +"Maybe," replied the coach, his keen eyes mercilessly raking Bill's +dusty figure, "with a couple of men to help you. Ploughing up the +gridiron never saved a goal yet." + +"I don't need a couple," declared Bill. "That fellow wouldn't get away +from me another time! Give me another chance at him!" + +Coach Garwin wheeled. + +"Dittler," he called curtly to one of the regulars. "Take the ball and +start running from the forty-yard line. There's your chance, Sherwood. +Let's see you stop him." + +Dittler picked up the ball with a grin and started off like a hound +slipped from the leash. Bill started to meet him with equal speed and +vigor. His blood was up. His resentment lashed him on toward the flying +figure. To reach him, tackle him, and bring him to earth was at that +moment the great object of his life. + +Dittler was one of the best runners on the first team. The coach for +that very purpose had chosen him in order to test Bill's mettle. + +Long and thin as a greyhound, Dittler was flying across the field in a +long, diagonal slant, trusting to his agility and his dodging powers to +evade the figure bearing down upon him. + +The boys were shouting, the regulars urging Dittler on, the scrubs +yelling for Bill. + +The eyes of Coach Garwin narrowed as the opponents neared each other. + +Just as Bill was within a few feet of him, Dittler halted, swerved and +was off like a flash at another angle. + +But Bill had sensed the strategy and himself had turned so that Dittler +found him right in his path. + +Dittler dodged, squirmed, tried to run around his adversary. For a +moment it looked as though he would get past those outstretched arms. + +"Get him, Bill! Get him!" cried Garry, wild with excitement. + +"Come on, you Dittler!" came from the throats of the regulars. + +With muscles as tense as whipcord, jaw set, the blood pounding in his +ears, Bill put all his strength in one magnificent leap. His arms +closed joyfully about the legs of his opponent. Tackler and tackled +came to the ground in a cloud of dust. + +"Another Indian bit the dust!" crowed Rooster. + +"I'll say that Bill is poor!" chuckled Ted. + +Dittler, wiping the grime from his eyes, looked up grinningly at the +coach as he approached. + +"This boy sure can tackle, coach," he said generously. "I thought a +house fell on me. You've sure got to hand it to him." + +"So it seems," drawled Garwin. "You've redeemed yourself, Sherwood. Any +one who can bring Dittler to earth is good." + +As a climax to the afternoon's practice, the coach lined the two teams +up against each other in a series of short scrimmages. In these, as was +to be expected, the regulars had the advantage, owing to their weight +and experience. But all the same the scrubs gave them plenty to do. It +was a hot, pell-mell, ding-dong fight. The regulars were out to show +that the coach was right when he picked them. The scrubs were equally +determined to show that the coach had made a mistake in not putting +them on the first team. + +In this the scrubs did not quite succeed. But they did at least give +Al Garwin food for thought. Those sleepy-looking eyes of his missed +nothing that took place. Oftenest, perhaps, they were fixed on Garry +Grayson. + +For that young man was nothing less than a wildcat that afternoon. He +fought for every advantage, was quick as a flash, as cold and hard as +steel. He was here, there, and everywhere, instilling his own fighting +spirit into his team. Twice he himself got through for what would have +been a sure touchdown in a regular game. + +Tom Allison and Pete Maddern played finely. Ted, Rooster, Nick and Bill +gave a good account of themselves. But it was Garry who shone as the +bright particular star of the scrubs. + +When at last Al Garwin called it a day's work the coach walked off the +field with a smile of satisfaction on his face, which, however, he was +careful to conceal from the boys. + +"It looks as though I had two good teams instead of one," he mused. + +In the gymnasium, as the boys shed their dusty togs, got under showers, +and slipped into their street clothes, there was a babble of excited +conversation between Garry and his friends. + +"Old Hill Street didn't show up so badly this afternoon," chuckled Bill. + +"That tackle of Dittler was a peach, Bill," observed Nick Danter. +"And the way Garry broke through their defense has given the regulars +something to think about. Gee, Garry, you just ran rings around those +fellows." + +"Oh, I don't know," said Garry modestly. "I had some lucky breaks. But +one swallow doesn't make a drink, you know, and we may stub our toes +the next time out. We've just got to keep working like the mischief +all the time." + +On their way home the boys passed Trompet Shrugg, who gave them a stiff +nod in response to their salutations and glanced disdainfully at the +football that Garry carried under his arm. Then the cold dislike in his +eyes shifted to Garry's face. + +"He just loves you, Garry," chuckled Ted. + +"Yes," grinned Garry, "as he loves poison ivy!" + + + + + CHAPTER XI + + STRUGGLING AGAINST ODDS + + +"Trompet Shrugg's after your scalp and won't be satisfied until he gets +it, Garry," warned Nick Danter. + +"He hasn't lifted it yet," returned Garry carelessly. "He tried to +yesterday, but he didn't get away with it." + +"All the same he'll bear watching," surmised Bill. "He's one of the +kind that never forgives and never forgets." + +"I never had a teacher that I disliked so much," declared Ted +Dillingham fervently. + +"He may be a boon to his family, but he's only a baboon to me!" sang +Rooster. + +"Rooster, I'm ashamed of you," said Garry, with mock sternness. "Is +that the way to speak of our dear teacher? It is not!" + +But in the days that followed there were many times when Garry was +inclined to believe that Rooster had struck it right. Trompet Shrugg +certainly "had it in" for Garry, and lost no opportunity of annoying +and humiliating him. + +In his position of authority this was comparatively easy. Garry was +well up in the studies of his grade, in fact was one of the very best +scholars of the class. Any fair, legitimate question that came within +the scope of what he was supposed to know he could answer clearly and +promptly. + +But Mr. Shrugg had a habit when it came to Garry of suddenly shooting +at him some difficult question more appropriate for a college than +a high school class, something that was away over Garry's head and +clearly intended to be so. And when the boy had to confess ignorance, +Trompet Shrugg would appear disgusted and get off some bit of the +sarcasm in which he was an adept. Then Garry would take his seat, +flushed and irritated, with his heart full of resentment against his +tormentor. + +He was in a position where he could not answer back, any more than a +private in the army can give back talk to his captain. Mr. Shrugg had +the whip hand, and he knew it. His petty nature delighted in punishing +the lad who had unwittingly affronted his dignity. + +It is probable that Garry might have had some redress had he appealed +to Mr. Allen, the principal, and laid the matter before him. He could +have easily been backed up by the testimony of his fellow classmates, +who shared his indignation at the way he was treated. + +"It's a shame the way that fellow is treating you," snorted Bill on one +occasion when Trompet Shrugg had been especially tyrannical "He isn't +fit to be a teacher. He ought to be thrown out of the school on his +head." + +"I wish that football had been filled with pig iron when it struck +him!" declared Ted, with a vicious gritting of his teeth. + +"You ought to carry the matter up to Mr. Allen," suggested Rooster. + +"Nothing like that," returned Garry gloomily. "I won't peach on him. +But I wish that he was a fellow of my size and age so that I could get +a crack at him." + +Trompet Shrugg learned that Garry had been chosen a member of the +scrub football team. This was his opportunity. He had not a drop of +sporting blood in his veins anyway, and regarded athletic games as a +waste of time. He had an especial antipathy to football, which had been +strengthened by his experience on that fateful day in the open lot. + +He knew that the practice took place after the lessons of the day were +ended. Then the boys were off with a whoop that was discord to his +ears. What could be a sweeter morsel under his tongue than to keep +Garry from the game in which he delighted? + +So when he had caused Garry to fail on some unfair question he did not +content himself with a sarcastic remark, but gave the boy as a penalty +long compositions to write that detained him in the building after +hours. He knew that he could not do this too often without bringing on +an investigation of his methods. But he did it as often as he dared, +and on several occasions Garry sat within toiling and listening to the +shouts that came from his companions on the field. + +More than once Garry was goaded to such desperation that he came almost +to the point of open defiance. But by a great effort he mastered his +anger. A flare-up would do him more injury than benefit. He knew that +in such cases the teacher was supposed to be right and the pupil wrong. +The discipline of the school had to be maintained at all hazards. For +the time he was the under dog. But even at that he comforted himself by +the adage that every dog has his day. When would his day come? + +When he did get out on the field after some such exasperating session +he would find the practice half over or nearing its end. His place +would have been taken by some one else, and at times he could not get +into the game at all. + +But there were many days when even Trompet Shrugg could find no excuse +for detaining him, and then Garry made up for what he had lost in the +way of practice. As a matter of fact, the persecution to which he had +been subjected had its compensations. For with the blood boiling in his +veins from the sense of injustice he was all the more formidable on the +field. He tackled his opponents as though he were tackling the English +teacher, and when he went through the line it was with the force of a +catapult. + +Coach Garwin watched him with those sleepy eyes that seemed to see +little, but in reality noted everything. But he was puzzled at his +frequent absence from practice. He had questioned the lad about it and +Garry had simply told him the truth, that he had been made to do work +after school for having failed in his recitation. Garry was too proud +to explain further. If he hated anything, it was a telltale. + +"Too bad, Wynn," Coach Garwin remarked to the captain of the regulars, +"that young Grayson isn't keeping up in his scholarship. He's the most +promising young player I've seen in years, almost good enough for the +regulars, if he weren't a freshman." + +"Quite good enough, I should say," returned Ralph, with a wry smile. +"I'm sore yet from the way he tackled me a few minutes ago. He goes +into a fellow like a battering ram. But what do you mean about his +scholarship? I thought he was one of the brightest young fellows in +the school. He stood at the head of his class in Hill Street." + +"Seems a clever lad," said Garwin, "but he's told me himself that +he's had to stay after school several times because he failed in his +recitations." + +"Do you know why?" came a voice from behind them. + +They turned to see Bill Sherwood, who had come up in time to hear part +of this conversation. + +"I'll tell you why," went on Bill, his voice shaking with indignation. +"It's because Mr. Shrugg has it in for him! He's riding him all the +time! There isn't a fellow in the class that he treats as he does +Garry! In every other class in the school Garry's right up at the top. +Why isn't he in the English class? Because Mr. Shrugg won't let him. He +asks him questions no one in the class is expected to know, things away +beyond the grade. He takes delight in flunking him." + +Coach Garwin and Ralph Wynn exchanged amazed glances. + +"That's very strange," said Ralph. "I know Mr. Shrugg is rather +eccentric and not very popular with any of the boys. But it doesn't +seem as if any teacher could be as small as that. I know that Mr. Allen +wouldn't stand it for a minute if he knew. Are you sure that he's +riding Grayson deliberately?" + +"There isn't any doubt of it," replied Bill. "Ask any fellow in the +class. They're all talking about it." + +"Grayson didn't tell me anything about that," remarked Mr. Garwin. + +"That's just because he's a thoroughbred and won't tell tales," +declared Bill. "He takes his medicine and lets it go at that. But I'm +giving you a straight story. Garry's getting it in the neck." + +"What do you suppose the reason is?" asked Ralph, a frown of perplexity +on his brow. + +"Oh, I know the reason all right," explained Bill. "A bunch of the +fellows were practicing in an open lot near Garry's house and Garry +let go a punt just as Mr. Shrugg came around a corner into the lot. +The ball was muddy and it caught him in the face. He was a sight, I +must confess. Of course it was all an accident. Garry was mighty sorry, +apologized to him, and wanted him to go into his house and clean up. +But Mr. Shrugg was as sore as a boil. He's never forgotten that muddy +football, and ever since school began he's been making Garry sweat for +it." + +"It's a bad thing for Lenox High to have a teacher of that kind in it," +said Ralph in disgust. "The sooner it gets rid of him the better." + +"And as for keeping Garry after school," went on Bill, "Mr. Shrugg does +that for two reasons. He knows Garry is on the scrubs and is crazy +about football. So he keeps him away from practice all he can. Then, +too, when the question of scholarship comes up, he'll be able to point +to the many times he's had to keep him in, and that will give him a +chance to say that Garry doesn't stand high enough to be permitted to +play. Oh, he's a foxy guy, that Trompet Shrugg!" + +"I'm glad that you told me all this, Sherwood," said Coach Garwin. "It +explains a lot of things that have puzzled me. And I think all the more +of the lad for not making excuses. He's the right stuff." + +"And don't let the question of Garry's scholarship keeping him out of +the game worry you," put in Ralph Wynn. "If that thing ever comes to an +issue, I'll see that the truth is told. I think the amiable Mr. Shrugg +will find that he has overreached himself." + +All of this was balm to Garry Grayson's troubled heart when Bill +narrated the conversation to him on the way home. He had been standing +up under Mr. Shrugg's persecution without a whimper. But it had galled +him horribly, especially the fear that he might not be allowed to +play on account of the marks that the teacher of English was giving +him. Loyal Bill Sherwood had done for him what his own pride would not +permit him to do for himself. + +"It was mighty good of you, old boy," he said to Bill gratefully. + +The next day, Mr. Garwin told the boys that on the following Saturday +there would be a real game between the first and second teams. + +"I haven't hurried to bring you boys along," he said. "I wanted to get +you limbered up and get some of the kinks out of your muscles. Then, +too, I've wanted to size you up. But now I think you're in shape for a +regular game." + +There was a murmur of assent from the eager boys who wanted nothing +better than to show the stuff of which they were made. + +"I want each team to play against the other as hard as though they +were tackling Pawling or Wimbledon," went on the coach, referring to +rival teams in the High School League. "If there's any let-down I'll be +on hand to see it. You regulars have got to try to walk all over the +scrubs--" + +"Swell chance," piped up Ted Dillingham, and there was a general laugh +from his comrades on the scrubs. Mr. Garwin smiled quizzically. + +"That's the spirit I like to see," he said. "I was just going on to +urge the scrubs to take some of the conceit out of the regulars." + +On the following Saturday the two teams faced each other, each full of +determination to show the other up. + +"Now, fellows," said Garry, as he gathered his scrubs about him just +before the game began, "those fellows think we are easy meat. They +think they're going to walk all over us, beat us to a frazzle, throw us +to the lions. It's up to us to show them that they have another guess +coming. How about it? Are you with me?" + + + + + CHAPTER XII + + TESTING THEIR METTLE + + +There was a cheer from Garry Grayson's mates as they crowded closer to +their leader. + +"We'll show that team where it gets off," promised Bill Sherwood, as he +flexed his muscles. + +"We'll eat 'em up," declared Ted. + +Practically all of the Lenox High students were on the field that +day, reinforced by a sprinkling of boys from the grammar schools who +had come to see how their old-time favorites performed. These latter, +together with the freshmen, were about the only ones who were rooting +for the scrubs. The upper classmen were partisans of the regulars and +looked for nothing less than a sound beating for the scrubs. And they +greeted the latter with unflattering comments as they came out on the +field. + +"Lambs coming to the slaughter!" + +"What the regulars won't do to them!" + +"Call for the ambulance to carry them home!" + +Sandy Podder and Lent Stewart were foremost among those who sent these +and other contemptuous gibes at the second string team. + +"Here's where that false alarm, Garry Grayson, gets his," Sandy +remarked to Lent. "Now he's playing against a real team. That swelled +head of his will be a mighty sight smaller when he gets through." + +"There won't be anything left of him but a grease spot at the end of +the game," predicted Lent. + +It had been arranged that the periods would be for twelve minutes each +instead of the usual fifteen, as the coach did not want to take too +much out of the boys at the start of the season. + +Garry won the toss and elected to kick off. The teams lined up on the +scrubs' forty-yard line and Rooster Long sent the ball hurtling down +the field for thirty yards. Dittler gobbled the ball and ran it back +for five yards before he was downed by Nick. + +The ball was in the possession of the regulars on their thirty-five +yard line. Ralph Wynn passed the ball to Knapp, who plunged through the +line for four yards. Another try netted him only one additional yard. +Dittler found a hole between tackle and guard that was good for three +yards more, and on the fourth down Wynn himself got through for three. + +The regulars had made their distance and still retained possession of +the ball. + +"What did I tell you!" chuckled Sandy. + +"Ye-e-s," admitted Lent hesitatingly. "But after all they had only a +yard to spare." + +"I tell you it will be a massacre," declared Sandy, who now settled +down comfortably to watch the fulfillment of his prediction. + +"Brace up, fellows," Garry panted to his companions. "They're not such +a much. We nearly held them that time. Next time we'll get the ball." + +But the regulars had already awakened to the fact that the scrubs were +not going to be such a "pudding" as had been anticipated, and they +summoned all their energy to make the next four downs yield a more +impressive result. + +It seemed as though they were going to do it, too, for on the first try +Dittler plunged through a hole between guard and tackle for six yards. +That was so good that he tried again, but Pete Maddern tackled him +savagely and threw him back for three yards. + +Wynn himself took the ball for the next play, but though he launched +himself at the line like a thunderbolt he made only two yards. + +With five yards to go on the fourth down and such a stiff defense +to combat, Wynn tried a forward pass to Minter. But Minter, usually +reliable, fumbled it and the ball fell to the ground. + +Garry pounced on it like a flash and, tucking it securely under his +arm, skirted the right end, running like a deer. + +He was nearly forced out of bounds by Thomas, but dodged adroitly to +the left, and with Ted and Rooster running as his interference sped +down the field. + +The action had been so quick and unexpected that the regulars were +taken completely by surprise. Knapp made a dash for Garry, but Rooster +gave him a stiff shoulder block that rolled him over and over. Dittler +made for him, but Garry straight-armed him and kept on. + +But now the whole team of the regulars was on his trail like a pack of +wolves. On he went like the wind, the cheers of the crowd sounding in +his ears, his eyes on the goal posts. + +Twenty yards away! Fifteen! Ten! + +Wynn himself now was close on his heels. He was a fast runner and was +desperate to prevent the threatened touchdown. + +Five yards, and Garry felt rather than saw that Wynn's outstretched +arms were reaching for him. With one last tremendous effort he threw +himself toward the line and went over it, still holding the ball a foot +in advance of him. + +Wynn had hurled himself at him and came down on top of him. But he was +too late. The touchdown had been made, and the score was 6 to 0 in +favor of the scrubs! + +Garry rose from the ground, panting, bruised, all in, but radiantly +happy. + +"Well run, Grayson!" said Wynn generously, as he clapped the boy on the +shoulder. + +"You almost got me though," returned Garry. "It was a mighty close +call." + +Rooster kicked the goal, adding one more point to the score of the +scrubs. + +The latter were jubilant, while the regulars looked sheepish and +discomfited. + +Sandy Podder rubbed his eyes as though he could not believe what he saw. + +"He wouldn't have made that if Minter hadn't fumbled," he said. "Any +one can pick up a ball when somebody else muffs it." + +"You've got to admit that he was the only one who did pick it up though +there were twenty-one others who might have done it," said Stewart. "I +suppose now he'll have a bigger swelled head than ever." + +"He'll get his just the same before the game's over," prophesied Sandy. +"It was just a bit of beginner's luck." + +Thompson kicked off to Dittler, who caught the ball on his ten-yard +line and ran it back twenty-four yards before he was tackled so hard +by Maddern that he was knocked breathless. The ball was recovered by +Payne and it was the regulars' ball on the scrubs' thirty-three yard +line. Knapp broke through the scrub line for a twelve-yard gain and +a first down on the scrubs' twenty-one yard line. Not satisfied with +that, he made a further gain of three yards between left and tackle. A +forward pass failed, but on the fourth down Wynn dropped back and made +a drop-kick that sailed over the bar like a bird, scoring three points +for the regulars. + +This was equalled five minutes later when Nick also kicked a field goal. + +Both sides were fighting hard now, and the ball went back and forth, +mostly in the territory of the scrubs, till the period ended with the +score 10 to 3 in favor of the despised scrubs. + +There was plenty of cheering from the freshmen and the grammar school +boys, while the upper classmen were for the most part glum and silent. + +The face of Coach Garwin was as inscrutable as that of the Sphinx. +But he was not averse to seeing the regulars take their medicine--it +would be a good thing to have some of their overconfidence knocked out +of them--and it pleased him to see the kind of material he had on the +scrubs. The time might come when he would need it all. + +In the minute of rest between the first and second period Wynn passed +among his men, spurring them on to avoid the disgrace that threatened +of being beaten by the scrubs. + +Garry, too, improved the opportunity to give his jubilant mates a word +of warning. + +"Don't get too chesty, fellows," he admonished. "We've just started to +fight. The hardest part is yet to come. Seven points to the good is +seven points, but the game is young yet. They're more dangerous now +than they were before, because they know they've got to work to beat +us. Keep it up, fellows, keep it up!" + +The first period had ended with the ball only twenty yards away from +the scrubs' goal line and in the possession of the regulars. + +The latter started off with a savage rush that almost swept the scrubs +off their feet. Evidently Wynn's exhortations had had their effect. +Knapp went through for seven yards on the first down. Dittler tried +next but was thrown back for a loss of two. Knapp was called on again +to carry the ball, and justified the choice by getting through for +three more with the whole of the scrub team on his back. With only two +to go Wynn made a gain of four, the regulars thus holding possession of +the ball on the scrubs' eight-yard line. + +Garry called on his team mates desperately to brace. But the regulars +were too close now to be denied. Dittler plunged through for three, +added two more on the second try, and on the third Payne crossed the +coveted line for a touchdown. Thomas was called on to kick the goal, +but the ball hit one of the posts and was deflected. But the regulars +had added six points to their score and were only one behind the total +of the scrubs. + +For the rest of the period the fighting was fast and furious. At one +time the scrubs came dangerously near scoring when Rooster, who was +carrying the ball, was downed within ten yards of the regulars' goal. +But Payne kicked the ball out of danger, and the period ended without +further scoring, with the pigskin in the middle of the field. + +The twelve minutes of rest between the second and the third periods was +welcomed by both teams. They had been playing at the top of their speed +and were thoroughly winded. + +On the whole, honors had been even. Both teams had played good ball +considering that it was the first real game of the season. Fumbles +had been few and only two of them had been costly. Coach Garwin was +secretly elated, though his sleepy-lidded eyes betrayed little of his +real emotions. + +The scrubs sprawled out on the gymnasium floor, more exhausted perhaps +than the bigger and older boys on the regulars. But what they lacked +in breath they made up in exultation. They had held the regulars down! +They were a point ahead! + +"How dared we do it?" grinned Ted. + +"Mighty impudent of us, if you ask me," replied Rooster. + +"Did you see Sandy Podder biting his nails?" asked Nick. "Gee, I'd like +to win if for nothing else than to make that boob sore." + +"Lent Stewart seemed just about as grouchy," added Bill. + +"Let's make them grouchier yet," urged Garry. "Let's go in and lick the +tar out of the regulars. All we've got to do is to hold them safe and +the game is ours. That one little point we have looks to me as big as a +house." + +It looked that big to the regulars, too, though from a different angle, +and they started to wipe it out from the very beginning of the third +period. + +Thompson kicked off to Knapp, who returned twenty-two yards. Dittler +shot around the scrubs' right end for nine yards. A forward pass made +the yard that gave the regulars their distance. McCarty made a yard, +but Knapp lost ground on an attempted end run. Dittler shot through +the scrubs' right side for a five-yard gain. Knapp then punted to the +scrubs' twenty-five yard line, Rooster signaling for a fair catch. + +The scrubs failed to gain, and Rooster dropped back for a punt. The +regulars' linesmen hurried the kick, and the ball went up almost +straight in the air, netting the scrubs only ten yards and giving the +regulars the ball on the scrubs' twenty-nine yard line. On two plays +Wynn gained five yards. Then he broke loose and got the ball through to +the scrubs' fifteen-yard line. + +This was dangerously close, and the scrubs braced desperately. Dittler +failed to gain around the right end. Knapp lost ground on an attempted +run around left. + +It was third down with eleven yards to gain. Then Dittler went back to +try a forward pass. He was smeared, however, and the scrubs took the +ball on downs on their own twenty-five yard line. + +Tom Allison lost eight yards on an end run. Then he punted to Knapp, +who was downed in his tracks by Rooster before he could make a move. +Garry, aided by splendid interference by Bill, who bowled over his +opponents one after the other, made a run of thirty-eight yards, +bringing the ball well down in the enemy's territory. + +The scrubs gained only two yards on the first two downs. Then they were +penalized five yards for off-side play. An attempted forward pass was +incompleted and on the fourth down they made only two yards, the ball +going to the regulars. + +Then the latter began a steady march down the field. They were fighting +like mad to make a touchdown before the period ended. They wanted +to smother that one point lead to which the scrubs clung with such +desperate tenacity. + +Twice in succession the regulars made their distance, aided by a +splendid run of Benny Knapp's, who ran twenty-two yards before Bill +Sherwood downed him. + +Closer and closer they came to the scrubs' goal. The superior beef of +the older and better trained boys was beginning to tell. Their lighter +opponents fought frantically to hold them back. What they were fighting +for now was time. + +Twenty yards! Ten yards! And the regulars still held the ball! + +"Hold 'em, fellows, hold 'em!" gasped Garry, whose nose was bleeding +while one of his eyes was closing from the furious mix-ups in which he +had ever been foremost. "For the love of Pete, hold 'em!" + + + + + CHAPTER XIII + + IN THE LAST PERIOD + + +With victory so near, the regulars declined to be held. Dittler plunged +through between right end and tackle for four yards. Wynn took the +ball-- + +And just then the referee's whistle blew! The period had ended! + +"The score's still 10 to 9 in our favor! Gee, that's great!" gasped +Rooster, as he threw himself down on the ground to rest. + +Garry was too winded to say anything. He had almost reached the limit +of his endurance. That whistle seemed to him the sweetest music he had +ever heard. + +"We're still ahead," Nick agreed with Rooster, but with well-founded +anxiety in his tone. "But look where they'll be when the next period +begins. Only six yards to go and three downs to do it in." + +"We'll make that six yards look like six miles," declared Ted, with a +confidence in his tone that, however, he was far from feeling. + +On the bleacher seats Sandy Podder and Lent Stewart looked on with +eyes smouldering with discontent and apprehension. + +"Gee, I'd give fifty dollars to see the regulars knock 'em cold," +muttered Lent gloomily. "Lenox won't hold those scrubs if they down the +first string team." + +"That fellow Grayson certainly has luck," growled Sandy. "If he lost a +time-table, they'd give him the railroad." + +But the disgruntled soreheads had an opportunity to cheer within two +minutes after the fourth period began, for the regulars came out with a +fierce determination to make that six yards that alone separated them +from a touchdown. It would not do to throw away that chance in the very +shadow of the enemy's goal posts. + +For this desperate effort they chose their best material, Wynn, Knapp +and Dittler. + +Dittler came first, and, lowering his head, he plunged like a bull in +a hole made for him between guard and tackle. The play netted three +yards. Knapp came next, but Bill Sherwood threw him back for the loss +of a yard. Then Wynn took the ball and made two yards more. + +"Brace, fellows! Brace!" yelled Garry. + +The line stiffened. Dittler bucked it with all his might. There was a +furious mix-up, but when the mass was disentangled Dittler was over the +line with a yard to spare. + +There was frantic cheering from the upper classmen, which deepened in +volume when Wynn kicked the goal. + +16 to 10 in favor of the regulars and the final period well on its way! + +Now superior weight and age and condition began to tell. The scrubs +had almost shot their bolt. Their strength was ebbing, although their +courage still remained. + +Encouraged by having regained the lead, the regulars now put into play +all that they possessed. Almost from the kick-off the ball was in their +possession. They started down the field in a triumphal march. Time +after time they made their distance, and when they had come within +striking distance of the goal by a series of mass plays, a brilliant +run about the right end by Benny Knapp carried the ball over the goal +for another touchdown. Dittler kicked the goal and the score was 23 to +10 in favor of the regulars. + +"I guess they've got us," mourned Rooster. + +"Snap out of it!" returned Garry. "The game isn't over till the whistle +blows." + +One of Garry's eyes was closed now, but he made the other do the work +of two. When he got the ball a moment later he broke through for a +first down on the scrubs' forty-yard line. Nick added two yards and +Garry again made his way through for twelve yards taking the ball +beyond mid-field. Here, however, the scrubs were penalized fifteen +yards for holding, and Garry saw his gain go for nothing--less than +nothing. + +But this, far from discouraging him, only added to the fierce energy +of which he felt himself possessed. Grimy, bleeding, half blind, +again he got through the middle for fourteen yards. Tom Allison made +four yards on the first down. Then Garry shot around the left end +for a seventeen-yard gain. He was downed by Dittler on the regulars' +thirty-yard line. A moment later he again broke away for another first +down placing the ball on the regulars' eighteen-yard line. + +Nothing could hold him now. He was practically the whole team, though +Tom Allison and Pete Maddern gave him royal support. In two more tries +he made nine yards more. Here his team was penalized five yards for +holding. + +But in his present mood, fourteen yards counted for little to Garry +Grayson. Once more he plunged through the bewildered line of the +regulars and by a superb effort hurled himself over the goal line for a +touchdown. Nick kicked the goal. + +Just then the whistle sounded. The game was over and the regulars had +won by a score of twenty-three to seventeen! + +"Gee, but you gave us a battle!" laughed Ralph Wynn, as he helped +Garry with his bruised eye. + +Coach Garwin came up and grinned as he looked at Garry. + +"Somewhat disfigured, but still in the ring, I see, Grayson," he said. +"You played a good game and ran your team well. You've certainly given +the regulars something to think about. In this last quarter you did +about all the ground-gaining. They found you hard to stop. Keep it up! +Keep it up!" + +It was high praise from Al Garwin, who was usually chary of +words--especially words of praise--and Garry found enough in them to +compensate him for all his efforts. + +By this time the bleachers were empty and the crowd was spread over the +field, the freshmen and grammar school lads clustering about Garry and +his team, whom they cheered to the echo. Even some of the haughty upper +classmen condescended to clap Garry on the shoulder and congratulate +him on his showing. + +"Well, we had a moral victory anyway," Ted Dillingham comforted +himself, as the scrubs were slipping into their street clothes. "We +were beaten, but not disgraced." + +"If we'd had five periods instead of four, I bet we would have beaten +them anyway," declared Rooster. "That is," he added, "if Garry could +have kept up the pace he was going in the fourth. Gee, Garry, you were +as slippery as an eel!" + +"I had dandy interference, or I couldn't have made it," replied Garry. +"All you fellows were on your toes. But the score stands, and we're +licked. But one thing is certain. Those upper class fellows will never +hold us cheap again." + + + + + CHAPTER XIV + + GETTING A REPRIMAND + + +Ella Grayson gave a little squeal as Garry came into the living room +that afternoon. She had of course seen the game, as had every other +high school girl, but this was her first close view of her brother. + +"Garry Grayson!" she exclaimed. "Of all things! Mother, just look at +him!" + +Mrs. Grayson looked, and hurried with an exclamation to her son's side. + +"Oh, Garry, what has happened? Your nose! That eye! Have you been in an +accident?" + +Garry laughed as he flung his cap into a chair. + +"Don't worry, Mother," he said giving her an affectionate hug. "I never +felt better or happier in my life. Is dinner nearly ready? Gee, but I'm +hungry." + +"But, Garry, you haven't told me--" + +"Just been in a football game, Mother," Garry explained. "And I got my +share of the hard knocks. But it was a peach of a game. We scrubs sure +gave the regulars a tough fight. At one time it looked as though we +had them licked." + +"I suppose the next thing you'll have is a cauliflower ear," remarked +Ella, as their mother hurried off to find a soothing lotion with which +to dress the boy's hurts. + +"I heard something about your football game on my way home," remarked +Mr. Grayson, who entered the house a few minutes later. "I heard, +too, who made the touchdowns for the scrubs. Seems to me his name was +Grayson or something like that." + +Garry flushed and Ella giggled. + +"I think Garry's cut out for an editor," she said. "He's always saying +'we' when it ought to be 'I'." + +"The other fellows played as hard as I did," declared Garry. "If it +hadn't been for the interference I had, I wouldn't have made the +touchdowns. The whole team fought like tigers." + +"Well, I'm glad you made a good showing," said his father. "It's fine +to win, of course: but, after all, the main thing is to play the game, +play it honorably, squarely and with all your might. And from all I've +heard that's the way you played it to-day." + +"But look at his nose and his eye!" said Mrs. Grayson. + +"I guess his injuries won't be fatal," laughed Mr. Grayson. + +"I'm going to take a snapshot of him and show it to the girls," said +Ella, making a dive for her camera. + +"Not on your life you won't!" returned Garry, as he forestalled her and +held the instrument out of her reach until she promised to be good. + +On Monday morning the school was agog with interest over the result +of the Saturday game. The stock of Lenox High football went up with a +bound. Up to that time there had been a good deal of pessimism as to +the standing of Lenox in the High School League, owing to the loss of +Greb and other stars. But now it began to look as though Lenox would +have a good store of reserve material to draw on for the hot contests +that were promised in the future. + +There were six teams in the High School League of which Lenox was a +member. All of them were within a radius of thirty miles, so that there +was not much traveling to be done, and almost the entire membership of +the schools that were playing on any particular day could be depended +on to be on hand to cheer their favorites. The rivalry between the +different teams was intense, and feeling ran high whenever the teams +clashed. + +Besides Lenox, there were the Wimbledon, Pawling, Bass Lake, Greenfield +and Thomaston high schools represented in the league. Of these, +Greenfield was the most to be feared, and they had always given Lenox +the hardest opposition. After Greenfield came Pawling. The others also +were, as Ralph Wynn said, "not to be sneezed at," and no game was +counted as surely in Lenox's hands until the referee's whistle blew. + +Just now Coach Garwin was "pointing" the team for the Greenfield game. +Of course, he wanted as many of the others too as his team could win, +but he recognized Greenfield as his strongest opponent. Reports that +had come to him indicated that Greenfield had retained most of its +former stars, and in addition had added a fullback who was said to be a +wonder. + +So, with this struggle in view, it was no wonder that the coach was +elated by the showing made by his scrubs. He knew now that, in case of +injury to any of his regulars, he had a second line to draw from that +would be almost or quite as good as the boys they replaced. + +He smiled pleasantly at Garry as he met the lad on the school steps, +but made no reference to the Saturday game. No one under his control +was going to get a swelled head if he knew it. + +Garry's nose was still swollen, and his eye had a purple ring around +it. + +"Gee, but you wouldn't take a beauty prize just now," chuckled Ted. + +Trompet Shrugg eyed Garry sourly as the lad entered his room. He seemed +about to speak, but for the moment restrained himself. + +During the first quarter of an hour lessons went on as usual. But it +was noticeable that the teacher was fidgeting and most of the time kept +his eye on Garry's disfigured face. At last he seemed to have reached a +resolution and rapped on the desk for attention. + +"It is of course my chief duty to teach you English," he said to the +expectant boys, who sensed that something unusual was coming. "But it +is also my duty, as I conceive it, to oversee your conduct. And from +that duty I shall not flinch. I am surprised--perhaps I should say I +am disgusted--that one of your number should have been engaged in an +unseemly brawl. It would seem to me to be only common decency that he +should not intrude his presence here until the shameful evidence of +that brawl has disappeared." + +He paused and fixed his eyes on Garry. + + + + + CHAPTER XV + + AN UNEXPECTED ALLY + + +Garry Grayson flushed to the ears. The attack was so venomous, so +unwarranted, that he was hardly able to believe that he had heard +aright. His eyes blazed as they encountered Trompet Shrugg's. + +His comrades were equally amazed. Their impulse was that of +indignation. The second was to laugh. Knowing the real reason for +Garry's disfigured appearance, the mistake of Mr. Shrugg in attributing +it to a brawl seemed to them comical. + +"This is no laughing matter," said the teacher sternly, as a ripple of +amusement ran around the class. "Rowdyism is a thing to be condemned +severely." + +Garry by a great effort had gained a measure of self-control. + +"I suppose you are referring to me, Mr. Shrugg," he said, rising and +trying to speak respectfully. + +"I am mentioning no names," said Trompet Shrugg primly. "Any one that +the shoe fits can put it on." + +"But I think that you must have meant me," persisted Garry, "because I +am the only one in the class that has a swelled nose and a black eye." + +"Well, you are correct in assuming that you were the boy I had in +mind," snapped the teacher. "And I do not hesitate to say again that +such conduct is disgraceful." + +"What conduct?" asked Garry. + +"Fighting," replied Shrugg. + +"What makes you think that I have been fighting?" asked Garry. + +"Your appearance shows it. And what is more, I want no impudence from +you, Grayson. I am not here to be subjected to cross examination." + +"I am not impudent," replied Garry. "I only want to say that you +are mistaken. I have not been fighting. I got these injuries in the +football game on Saturday." + +Trompet Shrugg was so taken aback that for a moment he did not know +what to say. He looked so discomfited, so disconcerted at the way his +spite had proved a boomerang that a roar of laughter that could not be +quelled rose from the class. + +The teacher rapped angrily on his desk for order. + +"If that be true," he said, "it simply confirms the opinion I have +always entertained of the brutality of football. It is nothing less +than organized fighting, and it's unworthy of our civilization. That +will do, Grayson. You may take your seat." + +At this moment the door opened and Mr. Allen, the principal, entered on +his daily tour of inspection of the classes. He was a genial man and +very popular with the boys. He was also a great friend of Mr. Grayson's +and often visited at his home. + +His eye lighted on Garry, who was just taking his seat. + +"Hello, Garry," he said quizzically. "You look as though you had been +through the wars." + +"I got roughed up a little in the football game on Saturday," replied +Garry, grinning. + +Mr. Allen threw back his head and laughed. + +"Well, they're honorable scars," he remarked. "I saw part of that game, +and was especially struck by the way you made that last touchdown. +It was splendid work, and I hope you'll keep it up. I want to say to +all you boys that football is a great game. Any one with red blood in +his veins can't help liking it. It develops courage, self-reliance, +discipline and quick thinking--all the qualities that go into the +making of the best type of manhood. I am sure that Mr. Shrugg will +agree with me in this. Of course you must not let it interfere with +your studies. Scholarship comes first. But as long as you maintain a +good rank in your studies you can't do anything better in the hours +devoted to pastime than to play good hard football, the harder the +better. An occasional black eye won't do you any harm. It's a badge of +honor, as in Garry's case." + +During this talk, Trompet Shrugg's face was a study. Chagrin, +embarrassment, consternation chased themselves across his features. As +for the boys, they nearly choked in restraining their mirth. + +Of course, had Mr. Allen had any idea of what had preceded his +entrance, he would have foregone his eulogy on football for the sake +of discipline and to spare the feelings of the teacher. But, wholly +unaware of the situation, he made one or two more routine inquiries and +left the room. + +Study was resumed, but the work of the rest of that hour did not amount +to much. Mr. Shrugg's face was as red as a peony. His pettiness had met +with a just reward. The persecution he had heaped on Garry had returned +to plague him. Never had the teacher felt such relief as when the gong +sounded the signal of dismissal. + +The boys poured out into the hall and then for the first time dared +to give vent to their emotions. Peals of laughter echoed through the +corridors, and the sound of it penetrated to the room in which Trompet +Shrugg sat. + +"Did you ever see such a face?" gurgled Ted Dillingham. + +"And to think Mr. Allen should have come in just at that minute!" +rejoiced Rooster. "Garry, you old rascal, I'll bet you had it all +cooked up in advance!" + +"Not guilty," declared Garry with a grin. "But it sure was a bit of +good luck for me." + +"I guess that ends Shrugg's riding you," conjectured Pete Maddern. "He +won't dare rag you any more." + +"Things were getting to such a pass that I'd just about made up my mind +to draw up a round robin to Mr. Allen and get all the fellows to sign +it," put in Tom Allison. + +The story spread like wildfire through the school, and was greeted +everywhere hilariously, for Trompet Shrugg had succeeded in making +himself intensely unpopular. That Mr. Allen himself eventually heard +of the incident no one knew for a certainty, but events that followed +shortly afterward indicated that he had. + +The first game of the league season--that with Wimbledon--was now +rapidly approaching and the boys were looking forward to it eagerly. +That team had usually put up a stiff fight, and the year before Lenox +had beaten it only by a lucky field goal as the last quarter was +nearing its end. + +Coach Garwin did not hold it cheaply--indeed, he never made that often +fatal error in regard to any games on the schedule--and he drove his +boys on remorselessly in practice. By this time they had become pretty +well seasoned, and the coach had no hesitation in making them go the +limit. + +He compelled the scrubs, too, to be on their toes all the while. Not +that the second string men needed any urging. The close call they had +given the regulars in the first game was ever present with them, and +they were frantically eager to win a game from their opponents. + +Victory, however, never came as close to them as it had in that first +game. The regulars then had been over confident and had come near +paying the penalty. Now that they knew the stuff the scrubs were made +of, the regulars went in every time expecting a stiff struggle, and +their superior weight carried them through to triumph. + +"Looks less likely than ever that we'll get on the first team this +year," mourned Rooster. + +"You never can tell," replied Garry, with his unconquerable optimism. +"I don't wish the regulars any bad luck, but accidents are likely to +happen at any time. Sometimes three or four fellows are knocked out in +a single quarter, and then our chance may come. All we've got to do is +to keep on plugging with all our might." + +There was no doubt that Garry himself was putting that principle in +practice. He was out almost every day on the field working to his +utmost. He was among the first to get on the playing oval and among the +last to leave. And very frequently he and some of the Hill Street bunch +would get together after supper and practice in the lot back of his +house until darkness forced them in. + +He was happier now than he had been at any other time since school +opened. His persecution by Trompet Shrugg had greatly diminished. Ted +conjectured that some one had "put a flea in the old boy's ear," as he +disrespectfully phrased it. More likely it was the recollection of the +humiliation he had suffered when Mr. Allen had unwittingly spiked his +guns that made the teacher of English more careful in his dealings with +Garry. + +On the day set for the Wimbledon game Garry was as hard as nails and +ready for the call, if the call should come. + +The game was to be played at Lenox, which gave a slight edge to the +home team. They were on familiar ground, and the larger part of the +crowd would be rooting for them. + +But Wimbledon was only eight miles away, and practically the whole +school came over to encourage their football team, most of them +bringing horns and cowbells along with which they were prepared to make +a din whenever the occasion required. + +Garry, with his comrades of the scrubs, was on the side lines with a +blanket thrown over his shoulders. As the Wimbledon boys romped out on +the field for practice, he had a good chance to size them up. + +What he saw made him a trifle uneasy, for the visitors were a husky +bunch and showed up extremely well in their ten minutes of practice. To +his eyes they seemed trained to the minute and to have somewhat more +"beef" in their line than the Lenox boys. + +Lenox won the toss and elected to kick off. The teams lined up on the +home forty-yard line, and Wynn sent the ball hurtling down the field +for thirty-five yards. Beebe, the red-headed fullback of Wimbledon, ran +the ball back for five yards before he was downed, and the game was on. + +The teams lined up for the scrimmage, with Wimbledon having the ball. +Johnston, their left halfback, plunged through left guard and tackle +for a gain of four yards. Beebe tried the other side and made two more, +and on the next down went through for five, making the distance with a +down to spare. + +It was an auspicious beginning for the visitors, and the yells and +cowbells of their rooters drowned all other sounds. + +"First blood for Wimbledon!" + +"Show these fellows where they get off." + +"Wimbledon, Wimbledon! Our team weighs a ton!" they chanted in chorus. + +But their yells died down a moment later when Wynn intercepted a +forward pass and made a pretty run of twenty-two yards around the +Wimbledon right end. + +Now the Lenox backs got in their work. Dittler bucked the line for two +yards. Wynn went through for three. Knapp was good for two more, and +then Dittler again took up the Lenox burden for four more. + +Lenox had made the distance and still had the ball, with the Wimbledon +goal only about nine yards away. + +This time the Lenox rooters had their turn at yelling, and it made that +of the Wimbledon partisans seem weak in comparison. + +But now the staying qualities of the visitors was put to the test, and +they responded gamely. With their goal in danger, they put up a furious +resistance. Dittler, on the first down, was thrown back for a loss of +three yards. Knapp was good for only two. Wynn duplicated this with +two more. + +With eight yards to go on the fourth down, Lenox tried a forward pass. +But a magnificent leap of Beebe's intercepted it and the prospect of a +touchdown went glimmering. + +Beebe dropped back and kicked the ball nearly to the middle of the +field. Knapp ran it back for eight yards, and the teams lined up for +the scrimmage, with Lenox in possession of the ball. + + + + + CHAPTER XVI + + FIGHTING MAD + + +For the rest of that first period it was a case of seesaw, first one +and then the other of the teams getting the ball, but neither being +able to make any notable advance. The referee's whistle ended the +period with the ball in the middle of the field. The quarter had +demonstrated nothing more than that the teams were unusually well +matched. + +"Doesn't look like a walkover for either one," remarked Rooster to +Garry, while the panting warriors tried to get their breath in the +brief minute of space between the first and second periods. + +"Righto," responded Garry. "Our boys have got their work cut out for +them, if they expect to win. That red-headed Beebe is a terror. He's as +good as any two of their other men." + +"He's there with the goods all right," admitted Nick. "But he isn't a +bit better than Dittler, although I think he's a trifle heavier." + +"It's a mighty good scrap so far," observed Bill. "May the best team +win. Provided, of course," he added with a grin, "that team is Lenox." + +"That goes without saying," agreed Garry. + +In the next quarter Wimbledon resorted to an aerial game and relied +more on forward passes than mass play. It was soon evident that they +had been well coached in this feature of the game, and for a time they +gained ground consistently. + +Steadily they advanced the ball down the field until they got within +striking distance of the home team's goal. Then Lenox gained possession +of the ball and showed that they too could do some forward passing +themselves. + +Wynn took the ball for a brilliant run of twenty yards about right end, +very narrowly escaping being forced out of bounds. Dittler, not to be +outdone, made eighteen more yards around left. Twice following this, +Lenox, by hard line smashing, made their distance on downs. + +It was classy work, and it set the Lenox rooters to yelling +vociferously in the stands. A moment later the noise became pandemonium +when Benny Knapp dropped back and kicked a field goal, scoring the +first three points of the game. + +"Here's where we get them!" yelled Bill Sherwood bringing his big hand +down with a resounding slap on Garry's knee. + +"For the love of Pete, keep that big ham off me!" ejaculated Garry, as +he rubbed the spot. "Do you want to cripple me! Yes, it does look good, +but the game is young yet. Those Wimbledon guys will take a lot of +beating." + +That Bill had been premature in his exultation was shown a few moments +later when Beebe, his red head shining in the sun, intercepted a +forward pass and by a superb exhibition of running carried it for forty +yards across the Lenox line for a touchdown. + +Johnston kicked the goal and the score was 7 to 3 in favor of +Wimbledon. And now the horns and cowbells set up a din that could be +heard a mile away. + +"Tough luck!" groaned Rooster. + +"Luck, nothing!" returned Nick. "That red-headed rascal earned every +inch he covered. His mates gave him good interference, too! We've got +to hand it to them, much as we hate to. That was good football, and +nothing else." + +Wimbledon seemed to have taken on a new lease of life, now that they +had the lead. As though to show that there was nothing like a fluke +in the first touchdown, they made another in the last minute of the +quarter, Johnston this time being the happy warrior to scoop up the +ball when Knapp fumbled and scamper like a jack rabbit over the goal +line. + +Marsden's try for goal failed, but the Wimbledon rooters made little of +that. Six more points had been safely stowed away and they were wild +with enthusiasm. The Lenox partisans, glum and silent, breathed sighs +of relief as the whistle blew. + +"Ten points ahead and the game half over!" muttered Ted disconsolately. + +"They're outplaying us," growled Nick. "They were like wild men in that +quarter. We'll be lucky if they leave us our shirts." + +"Snap out of it," admonished Garry. "There's plenty of time left to +win." + +"I wonder what Coach Garwin's saying to the boys," remarked Bill, as he +looked toward the gymnasium where Wynn's battered warriors were resting +and wondering what had hit them. + +"What he's saying is plenty," returned Nick. "He's got the finest +command of language of any one I know. He's got the boys raw and +bleeding by this time." + +That Al Garwin had been doing something of the kind was evident when +the Lenox team trotted out for the third quarter. The players' faces +were red and the glint of rage was in their eyes. + +"I can almost hear them gnashing their teeth," commented Bill. + +"So much the better," remarked Garry. "The coach has told them they +were dubs. They're going to show him that he didn't know what he was +talking about." + +That Al Garwin's tongue had rasped the boys to the quick was made +evident from the start. Beebe kicked off for thirty yards and Dittler +signaled for a fair catch. He made it and the ball was in the +possession of Lenox on their own thirty-yard line. + +Then the home team commenced a triumphal march down the field. Their +line smashing was irresistible. Again and again they made their +distance, despite the frantic opposition put up by Wimbledon. And +seeing the spirit and power that animated his boys, Wynn kept to the +bucking game. + +Through they went, now on the left and again on the right side. All the +players of the opposition looked alike to them. The Lenox boys plunged, +smashed, bored their way through, while their rooters in the bleachers +went mad. + +On their ten-yard line Wimbledon braced desperately. But it was of no +use. Dittler went through for three, Knapp for four more, and Minter +capped the plays when he tore through guard and left tackle for a +touchdown. + +Garry and his fellow scrubs were pounding each other and babbling +incoherently. + +"I guess our boys are poor!" chortled Garry. "Oh, yes, they're poor! +Did you ever see such line bucking?" + +"If they only keep that up, it will be a massacre," rejoiced Bill +Sherwood. "They'll simply snow them under." + +But joy was of short duration. Out once more in the middle of the +field, Wynn passed the ball to Knapp, who started off to skirt right +end, but slipped as he dodged to evade a tackler and fell heavily, the +ball shooting out from his arm with the impact. + +The irrepressible Beebe, who had so often that day blighted the hopes +of Lenox, was on the ball like a hawk and scooted down the field for +a magnificent run of forty-two yards for Wimbledon's third touchdown. +Johnston kicked the goal and the score was 20 to 10 in favor of the +visitors. + +"They have all the breaks," groaned Rooster, though his voice could +scarcely be heard in the terrific din that rose from the Wimbledon +section of the stands. + +"That fellow Beebe must have a rabbit's foot in his pocket," gloomed +Nick. + +"He's got brains in his head, you mean," amended Garry, "to say nothing +of speed in his feet. That fellow can ran rings around a streak of +lightning." + +For the rest of that period the fighting was furious on both sides, but +neither made an additional score. + +When their brief breathing spell ended, Lenox came out determined to +do or die. That they were more likely to die than do was indicated by +the score. But they were a fighting bunch and at least would sell their +lives dearly. + +Wimbledon, fairly content with what she had gained and confident that +her lead could not be overcome in the short time remaining for play, +resorted to a defensive game that was more cagey than sportsmanlike. +All that she had to do was to prevent any further scoring by Lenox and +the game was hers. + +But Lenox, on the other hand, threw caution to the winds and battered +furiously at the enemy's line. Again and again she threw herself +against that line and would not be denied. The first time the Lenox +boys got possession of the ball they made their distance on downs with +two yards to spare. + +Again they lined up for the scrimmage and the ball was passed to +Dittler for a plunge between left end and tackle. He went through like +a bull for four yards before he went down with almost all the Wimbledon +team on top of him. + +When the pile was disentangled, Dittler did not rise, and after he +had been helped to his feet it was found that his right ankle had +been so severely strained that he could hardly bear his weight on it. +Consternation reigned in the Lenox ranks, for Dittler was one of the +pillars of the team. + +"There goes the game!" mourned Nick. + +"They had little enough chance before," groaned Ted. "They haven't any +at all now." + +"Just when the boys were going like a house afire!" grumbled Rooster. + +Time was called while Dittler was assisted from the field amid the +sympathetic applause of the rooters, not excluding those from Wimbledon +who knew a good sportsman when they saw one. + +"I wonder whom they'll put in his place," murmured Tom Allison. + +"Search me," replied Pete Maddern. "He'll have to be good to fill +Dittler's shoes." + +Coach Garwin walked over to the group. + +"Get in there, Grayson," he directed. + + + + + CHAPTER XVII + + WINNING HIS SPURS + + +Like a flash Garry Grayson threw off his blanket and sped out into the +field. His heart was beating like a triphammer. He was really playing +on the first team! He was playing in the place of Dittler, a star! +Could he really fill the position? Or would he fall down on the job? + +A shout of encouragement went up from the Lenox rooters as he took his +place. + +"Grayson! Grayson! Go to it! Eat 'em up! Turn 'em inside out! Lenox +forever!" + +Two voices were lacking in this chorus. Sandy Podder and Lent Stewart +fumed and growled when they saw who had been chosen as a substitute. + +"That four-flusher!" snapped Sandy. "Now the game's gone for fair." + +"Garwin must be off his nut," declared Stewart. "Picking out a freshman +when he's got lots of better material." + +For the second down Knapp was chosen to carry the ball. But the +Wimbledon line, more certain of victory than ever now that such a +formidable enemy as Dittler had been removed, threw Benny back for a +loss of two yards. + +On the next snapback Wynn passed the ball to Garry, and, lowering his +head, the recruit from the scrubs went through like a catapult. He was +fresh while his adversaries were panting, and he hit the line with such +force that he made seven yards before he was downed. + +With fourth down and only one yard to make for the distance, Wynn again +gave the ball to Garry, and this time he made four yards with almost +the whole Wimbledon team piled up on him. + +Cheers went up from the Lenox rooters and the cowbells of the Wimbledon +men remained silent. + +"Fool's luck!" growled Sandy. + +"The Wimbledon fellows thought so little of him that they didn't try +hard enough to stop him," returned Lent. "He'll get his the next time +he tries it." + +Again the teams lined up for the scrimmage. Minter made two yards +between right guard and tackle. Knapp went through for one more. The +Wimbledon line had braced and Wynn signaled for a forward pass. + +The ball was snapped back to him and he made the throw to Garry, who +was running at full speed toward the right of the line. The pass was +beautifully timed and Garry gathered it in on the run and, with Minter +and Knapp as his interference, ran like a deer down the field. + +Red-headed Beebe made a rush for him, but Garry straight-armed him and +ran on. Minter blocked Johnston neatly just as he was on the point of +diving for the runner. + +On, on, Garry went, squirming, dodging, twisting, slipping through the +ranks of his enemies like a ghost. Out of the corner of his eye he saw +Beebe, who was at his left, launch himself at him. At the same moment +Garry hurled himself through the air, and, evading Beebe's outstretched +arms, came down with a thump just across the line for a touchdown. + +A thunder of yells from the Lenox rooters swept across the field as +Garry, flushed and panting, rose to his feet. + +Minter kicked the goal, and the score was 20 to 17 in favor of the +visitors. + +A field goal by Lenox would tie the score. A touchdown would win, +provided they kept Wimbledon from increasing its tally. + +But the time was now perilously short. + +Both teams were wound up to the highest fighting pitch. Every inch +that was gained had to be fought for. Again and again attempts to buck +the line by either team proved unavailing, and the ball changed hands +repeatedly. + +With only three minutes left for play, Johnston fumbled the ball and +Garry pounced on it and ran for a gain of twenty-three yards, bringing +the ball within eight yards of the Wimbledon goal. + +But with victory almost in sight and the Lenox fans shouting like mad, +the referee ordered the ball brought back and in addition penalized the +Lenox team. One of their team had been off-side, and the run went for +nothing--even less than nothing. + +Lenox's case was almost desperate then, but still the team fought on. +With but one minute left for play, Wynn tried for a goal from the +Wimbledon thirty-five yard line. + +The ball soared through the air like a bird, and for one breathless +minute it seemed as though it were going over the bar. But it struck +the right goal post and bounded back in the field where Beebe fell upon +it, and before it could again be put in play the referee's whistle blew +and the game was over. + +Wimbledon had conquered by a score of 20 to 17! + +The Lenox boys were game, and lined up and gave three cheers for the +victors. Wimbledon, who knew that they had been in a fight, responded +with three more cheers, and then the teams retired to their respective +quarters. + +Sandy Podder was jubilant, though he did not dare show it. + +"Gosh, I would have been sore if that kid had made another touchdown!" +he whispered to Lent. + +"Y-e-e-s," responded Lent dubiously. "But it would have won for Lenox." + +"Lenox be hanged!" replied Sandy, "I'd rather she'd lose than have +Grayson win it for her." + +Garry's chums crowded around him, patting him, thumping him until he +was sore. + +"Gee, but you were wonderful, Garry!" exclaimed Ted. + +"Those runs of yours were peaches," put in Rooster. + +"If that game had only lasted ten minutes longer!" groaned Nick. + +Others now came forward to congratulate the scrub player. + +"You did dandy work, Grayson," was Ralph Wynn's tribute. + +"Well played, my boy," Coach Garwin contented himself with saying, +at the same time placing his hand on the boy's shoulder. "I made no +mistake in sending you in." + +"But we lost the game," mourned Garry, as, later on, he was walking +home with his chums. "The first game of the league season, too! I was +hoping we'd get the jump on them." + +"It was too bad," agreed Bill. "But if Lenox was beaten she was not +disgraced. The boys played great football in the last half." + +"There'll be a different story to tell next time," predicted Rooster. + +"Too bad Dittler was hurt though," said Tom Allison. "He's one of the +best men on the team." + +"As it happened, though, he wasn't missed," declared Pete Maddern. +"Garry more than made up for him." + +"That's because I was fresh while he was tired," protested Garry. "He +can run rings all around me." + +"You're the only fellow in Lenox that thinks so then," put in the loyal +Ted. + +The coach had a heart to heart talk with the members of the team the +next school-day afternoon. He went over the game in detail, pointing +out a mistake here, giving full credit for a good play there, and +making the boys wonder how on earth he had managed to see so many +things with those sleepy eyes of his. + +"On the whole you played a fair game of ball," he summed up. "But +no game is really good unless it's good enough to win. Don't kid +yourselves into thinking that the other fellows had the breaks of the +game. That's the excuse of faint hearts. You had as many breaks as they +did. They won the game on its merits. That's the way I want you to win +the next one. And every one of you fellows has got to work like the +mischief if you want to hold your jobs." + +Garry was not present at this gathering, and for a sufficient reason. + +Trompet Shrugg had been in an execrable humor that day. He was usually +grumpy, but now he was ferocious. For some reason, which the boys +could not fathom, he had apparently thrown discretion to the winds. He +distributed stings and sarcasms with a liberal hand--or rather, tongue. + +"The old boy's as full of poison as a rattlesnake," whispered Ted to +Garry. + +"And seems as if he was in a hurry to get rid of it all at once," +replied Garry. + +The teacher caught the motion of Garry's lips. + +"Talking again in class, Grayson?" he snapped. "You'll stay and write a +composition of fifteen hundred words this afternoon." + +"Stung!" Garry muttered forlornly to himself. + +So it was that he rejoined his chums only as they were coming from the +gymnasium after the talk by Mr. Garwin. + +"So the old crab got you, did he?" said Bill consolingly, as he threw +his arm around Garry's shoulder. "But don't care, old-timer. It's the +last time." + +"No such luck," returned Garry moodily. "He'll ride me till the end of +the term." + +"I said it was the last time," repeated Bill. + +Something in his voice made Garry look at him quickly. + +"What do you mean?" he asked. + +"Trompet Shrugg leaves to-morrow," replied Bill. + + + + + CHAPTER XVIII + + LIKE A THUNDERBOLT + + +Garry Grayson stared at Bill as though he could not believe his ears. + +"Wh-h-at?" he stammered. + +"Don't roll your eyes like a dying fish," admonished Bill "Trust old +Doc Sherwood. He knows. And if you feel like crying, you can weep on my +shoulder." + +"Bill knows what he's talking about," broke in Ted, who, with a number +of other boys, had been watching Garry's face with amusement as the +news was imparted to him. "It's straight goods. This is old Shrugg's +last day in Lenox." + +"Glory, hallelujah!" cried Garry, throwing his bundle of books in the +air and catching it dexterously on its return. "That's the best news +I've heard since school opened! It seems too good to be true! How did +you find it out?" + +"Just got the tip from Ralph Wynn," replied Nick. "And it came straight +to him from Mr. Allen, too! Oh, it's true all right! That's the reason +that Shrugg was so full of gall to-day. It was his last chance to work +it off." + +"Where's he going?" asked Garry. + +"He's got a position away off in the upper part of the State," put in +Rooster. "It seems that this thing's been brewing for some time. Mr. +Allen and the school board have heard so many complaints of Shrugg's +tyrannical methods that they decided to get rid of him, though they let +him stay until he could get himself fixed. But now we're through with +him." + +"I feel sorry for the poor dubs that will be under him," put in +Rooster. "Our gain will be their loss." + +"Oh well," returned Nick, "why should we have to take all the bad +medicine?" + +"I wonder whom we'll get in his place," conjectured Garry. "Though it +doesn't much matter. Any change is bound to be for the better." + +Garry's chums looked grinningly at each other. + +"Shall we tell him!" asked Rooster. + +"Better go slow," admonished Ted. + +"He oughtn't to have two shocks in one day," added Nick. + +"Let me see," said Bill, assuming a professional air and feeling +Garry's pulse. "Hum! Hum! A little fast, but not dangerously so. Yes, I +think it will be safe to tell him. Trust old Doc Sherwood. He knows." + +Garry made a pass at him, and Bill ducked with a loss of his +professional dignity. + +"Quit your kidding," demanded Garry. "Spill it. Who's coming in +Shrugg's place?" + +"Mr. Phillips," replied Ted. + +Garry's heart gave a bound and his face became radiant. + +"Not our Mr. Phillips of the Hill Street school?" he exclaimed. + +"That's the one," Nick assured him. "You'll see him at the desk when we +go into the English class to-morrow morning. Shrugg shakes the dust of +Lenox from his shoes to-night." + +"What a change it will be to have a regular fellow for a teacher!" +exulted Garry. + +"And as good a scholar as Shrugg ever was," put in Rooster. "I +understand he was a star in his classes at Amherst, as well as on the +football team." + +"I'm glad, too, for Mr. Phillips's own sake as well as ours," remarked +Ted. "It will be promotion for him to come from a grammar school to a +high school. He'll be a professor in a big college before he's through." + +"Let's hope that won't be until we get out of high," put in Garry. +"Gee, I feel as though some one had given me a million dollars!" + +"We sha'n't hear any more about the brutality of football," laughed +Bill. "You've got through being a disgraceful brawler, Garry." + +"You can intrude yourself now into the society of gentlemen without +feeling out of place," added Rooster, grinning. + +The boys were early in their places in the English class the following +morning, and when Mr. Phillips entered there was a ripple of applause +that swelled in volume as other pupils followed the lead of the former +Hill Street boys. It was a sincere tribute, and Mr. Phillips flushed +with pleasure as he bowed and took his seat. + +He made no formal speech, simply expressed his thanks at the welcome +and his hope that he and the boys would enjoy their studies together +and that his pupils would feel free to come to him with any of their +problems, whether bearing on the lessons or not. There was no stiffness +nor pedantry about him, and coming after the primness of Trompet +Shrugg, the contrast was refreshing. In that little two-minute talk he +got close to all the boys in the class, and it was evident that the +English class, instead of being dreaded as before, was to be looked +forward to with pleasure. + +At the close of the hour he held an impromptu reception as the former +Hill Street boys crowded around him. + +"Gee, but we're glad to see you here, Mr. Phillips," said Garry, his +face shining with pleasure, and his comrades expressed themselves with +equal warmth. + +"You can be sure that I am very glad, too, to have so many of my old +pupils in the class," responded Mr. Phillips warmly, as he shook hands +with each. "I could see from the work you did this morning that all of +you have kept well up in your studies. That's fine. You look, too, as +though you were in fine physical condition. I suppose with some of you +a part of that is due to football." + +"We fellows who play are at the game whenever we get a chance," replied +Garry, with a smile. + +"I've kept track of you in that to some extent," said Mr. Phillips. "I +saw that game with Wimbledon, and I was proud of the way you played, +Garry, when you were called on to take the place of Dittler. And I saw +you boys when you came so near to taking a game from the regulars. You +all did good work." + +"That's because we had such a good coach when we were in Hill Street," +declared Garry. + +"Oh, I don't know about that," laughed Mr. Phillips. "What little I did +wouldn't have amounted to much if I hadn't had such good material to +work with." + +"But after all we're only on the scrubs," put in Rooster, with a wry +face. + +"That's a great deal in itself," replied Mr. Phillips. "You're right +in line for promotion to the regulars. Of course you couldn't expect to +make the regulars the first year, no matter how well you played. That's +a tradition of high school and college that's very strong and seldom +broken. But I look for all of you to be first string boys before you +finish your course." + +"Here's hoping," said Garry, and after a little further talk on general +matters the boys took their leave. + +The next morning, as Garry Grayson was eating breakfast, he heard a +startled exclamation from his father, who was glancing over the morning +paper. + +"What's the matter, Dad?" asked Garry, laying down his knife and fork. + +"Matter enough," replied Mr. Grayson gravely. "Frank Sherwood has been +arrested!" + + + + + CHAPTER XIX + + GARRY GETS A SHOCK + + +At his father's announcement Garry Grayson was startled and horrified. + +"Frank Sherwood, Bill Sherwood's brother?" he gasped. + +"That's the one," replied Mr. Grayson. + +"What was he arrested for?" asked Garry. "Speeding?" + +"Far worse than that," was the answer. + +"Worse?" + +"He's charged with theft." + +"What?" fairly shouted Garry. "Theft? Frank Sherwood a thief? Oh, Dad, +he can't be! He's been wild and has been running around with that +poolroom gang, but he'd never do anything like stealing!" + +"I hate to believe it myself," replied his father. "I used to like +Frank a lot. And of course a charge isn't proof. But he's been arrested +just the same. He's to have a preliminary examination in the police +court this morning." + +"Poor Mr. and Mrs. Sherwood!" exclaimed Mrs. Grayson. "Their hearts +will be broken over this." + +"And poor Bill," mourned Garry. "He won't be able to hold his head up. +He thinks the world of Frank." + +"I'm heartily sorry," declared Garry's father. "The Sherwoods are among +the best people of the town. It's too bad Frank ever got in with that +poolroom gang. You can't keep bad company and stay clean. Mooney's +place ought to be closed up," he added, with a grim tightening of his +lips. "I'm going to get the decent people of the town together and see +if it can't be done. Mooney is an unprincipled scoundrel." + +"What is it they say Frank stole?" asked Garry, whose appetite for +breakfast had vanished utterly. + +"The paper doesn't give many details," replied his father. "Those +will probably come out in the hearing this morning. The case concerns +the disappearance of that three thousand dollars or thereabouts that +belonged to Mr. Podder." + +"Mr. Podder!" exclaimed Garry. "Why, I know something about that +matter, Dad! And so do you! Rooster told me about it last fall. Mr. +Long gave the money to Sandy to take to his father in pay for some +horses Mr. Long had bought of Mr. Podder. Sandy says he stopped at the +poolroom on his way home, hung up the coat containing the envelope with +the money in it while he shot a game or two at pool, and when he put on +his coat again he found only the empty envelope, with the money gone. +He was scared, and told his father that Mr. Long hadn't given him the +money. + +"I don't know whether his father believed him or not, but at any rate +he tried to get the money again from Mr. Long and said he'd sue him +if it wasn't paid. But as luck would have it, Mr. Long had a witness +in Rudolph, the gypsy, that he'd paid the money to Sandy, and so the +matter ended. Or I thought it had ended." + +"Amos Podder isn't the kind to pocket a loss of that sort if he can +help it," replied Mr. Grayson thoughtfully. "He's probably been +investigating, and at last he's fixed the thing on Frank Sherwood." + +"I don't believe that Frank had anything to do with it!" declared +Garry heatedly. "I'll bet the Podders are charging Frank with it just +because they know the Sherwoods are well off and will pay the money to +get Frank out of trouble. I wouldn't trust either of those Podders any +further than I could see them." + +"I don't know that I would myself," responded Mr. Grayson. "I hope +you're right and that Frank is innocent. We'll know more about it +after the examination this morning." + +Garry's heart was heavy when he met his chums on the way to school that +morning. A quick glance told him that Bill was not among them. + +The rest of the bunch had learned of the matter too, and were as much +upset over it as Garry himself. + +"I don't believe a word of it," said Nick Danter. + +"Nor I, either," echoed Rooster. "Frank may have been wild, but he's no +thief." + +"That dirty crook, Sandy Podder, is at the bottom of this!" pronounced +Ted. + +"Anything he's connected with smells bad," declared Garry. "Probably +the chase was getting hot and he picked on Frank as the goat. I'd like +to wring his neck!" + +Garry went through his work mechanically that morning, and the sight of +Bill's empty seat sent a stab through his heart every time he looked at +it. + +He knew that his father had planned to attend the examination that +morning, and he could hardly wait till evening for his return. The +moment Mr. Grayson entered the house Garry opened a fire of questions +on him. + +"What about that matter of Frank Sherwood, Dad?" + +Mr. Grayson shook his head. + +"It doesn't look good," he replied, as he hung his hat on the rack and +came into the living room. + +Garry's heart sank. + +"You don't mean that they proved anything against him?" + +"Not proved as yet," was the reply. "But there was enough evidence to +justify the judge in holding Frank for trial. Of course, this was only +a preliminary examination, and the evidence may be disproved when the +real trial comes." + +"Just what did they say against him?" asked Garry. + +"Well," replied Mr. Grayson, "two witnesses testified that they had +seen Frank take an envelope from Sandy's coat, open it, transfer +something from it, and put the envelope back again." + +"Who said that?" asked Garry. + +"Gyp Mooney, the proprietor of the poolroom, and Piker Anson, as I +believe he is called," replied Mr. Grayson. + +"Those bums!" exclaimed Garry hotly. "I wouldn't hang a yellow dog on +anything they might say." + +"They've got an evil reputation, right enough," admitted Garry's +father. "But when a theft takes place in a resort like Mooney's that's +about the only kind of witnesses you expect to have. Unless it's +refuted, their testimony goes for what the jury thinks it's worth. +Then, too, there was Sandy Podder--" + +"Oh, that sneak testified against him too, did he?" sneered Garry. + +"Yes," replied Mr. Grayson. "But he was very cautious in his testimony. +He said he remembered seeing Frank hovering about the place where the +coat was hanging, but thought nothing of it at the time. All he really +knew, he admitted, was that the money was in the envelope when he hung +the coat up and wasn't there when he put it on again. Sandy impressed +me all through as knowing more about the matter than he cared to tell." + +"You bet he does!" declared Garry. "He's yellow right down to the +ground. But what did Frank have to say to all this?" + +"Denied the theft utterly," replied Mr. Grayson. "Said he knew nothing +at all about it. He admitted that he was in the poolroom that night. +Also admitted that Sandy was in his shirt sleeves, so that his coat +must have been hanging somewhere. But he denied emphatically that he +had taken the money." + +"Well, why, then, didn't the judge let him go?" asked Mrs. Grayson. +"His testimony ought to be as good as that of those worthless fellows." + +"You forget, my dear, that a man charged with crime will almost always +deny it," replied her husband. "Against the direct testimony of two +men, however worthless, who swore they saw him take the money, and the +indirect testimony of still another witness who remembered that he +had acted suspiciously, the judge had no recourse but to hold Frank. +And that's what he did. Mr. Sherwood furnished bail, and the boy was +released from custody. His trial comes up a few weeks from now." + +There was a sad silence in the Grayson living room. All were thinking +of the terrible heartache that must be the lot of the Sherwood family. +Garry especially was thinking of poor Bill. + +It was Garry who broke the silence. + +"What did you think of it, Dad?" asked Garry. "You've seen a lot of +accused people on the witness stand. Did Frank act to you as if he were +guilty or innocent?" + +Mr. Grayson for once relaxed his usual lawyer's caution. + +"Innocent," he stated emphatically. "His face, his actions, his talk, +all impressed me that way. I think he's the victim of a conspiracy. I'm +going to try to prove it, too, for Mr. Sherwood has put the case in my +hands." + +"Hooray!" shouted Garry, who had unbounded faith in his father's +ability. "Then you'll get Frank off sure!" + +"I hope to," replied Mr. Grayson, smiling at his son's enthusiasm. "But +one never knows what a jury may do," he added soberly. "I'll do my best +to establish Frank's innocence, and I hope enough will develop in the +course of the trial to put those poolroom rats out of business." + + + + + CHAPTER XX + + HARD LUCK + + +Bill Sherwood turned up the next morning, his face drawn and pale, his +steps lagging and dispirited. + +His chums gathered eagerly around him and gave him the warmest of +welcomes. + +"Still willing to speak to me, eh?" he said, looking at them +shamefacedly and with a wan attempt at a smile. + +"Look here, Bill Sherwood!" exclaimed Garry, as he threw an arm over +his friend's shoulder. "If you ever say a thing like that again, I'll +slug you, big as you are. You're the best old pal that ever lived, and +we're with you till the cows come home. Aren't we, fellows?" + +"You bet we are!" came from the group in chorus. + +"Snap out of it, old boy," admonished Nick affectionately. "Everything +will turn out all right." + +"We know that they're trying to frame Frank," put in Ted. "They might +do that to any one of us." + +"It's all that sneaking Sandy Podder and his crowd!" declared Rooster. +"I know what they are! They tried to cheat my father last fall, but +they didn't get away with it. And they won't get away with this, +either." + +"Not on your life they won't!" exclaimed Garry. "And now, Bill, forget +all about it. We're not going to think of it or speak of it. Before +this thing's over we'll get that Sandy Podder by the nape of the neck +and shake the truth out of him. Trust my dad for that." + +Such a welcome as this was balm to poor Bill's wounded feelings and +heartened him immensely. From that time on the subject was avoided, and +the bunch settled down to their lessons and their football practice. + +Although they did well in the former, the latter was foremost in their +thoughts, for the game with the Bass Lake high school was coming on +apace and the Lenox boys were consumed with a frantic desire to win. +The loss of the Wimbledon game rankled. It had been a blot on their +escutcheon. It must be wiped out, and they had determined to do this by +making Bass Lake their victims. + +But here hard luck intervened and threatened for a time to do all the +victimizing. + +An epidemic both of measles and mumps broke out in Lenox. As a rule, +these attacked the younger pupils in the schools, but they became so +virulent in the Cherry Street school that the whole institution was +closed for a couple of weeks. + +Most of the high school students were immune because they had already +had these diseases in earlier years. Still, there was a comparatively +large number there that suffered, and the classes were considerably +reduced in size. + +Mumps and measles rarely have a serious result, and are regarded +more as nuisances than as real afflictions. Garry and his especial +chums viewed the matter lightly enough until the football teams were +threatened. Then indeed their faces grew long and they were affected +with something akin to panic. + +Bass Lake had no such visitation, and their boys were going along +strongly in practice. But in Lenox Hick Dabney, right guard of the +scrubs, was taken down with the mumps and Pete Maddern had an attack +of measles. Tom Allison, too, had one or the other coming on and was +compelled to stay at home. + +Substitutes were found for their places, but none so good as those they +replaced, and the scrub line was seriously weakened. Still this would +not have mattered greatly had the regulars remained intact. + +Dittler had recovered from his sprained ankle and was as good as ever. +But Walker, the heavy center, and Minter, the right halfback, were out +of the game temporarily, the one by mumps and the other by measles, +and even if they recovered in time for the game they would be in too +weakened a condition to play. + +This left two big holes in the team that Coach Garwin plugged up with +Rankin and Bellows, two boys of the junior class who had played well on +the last year's team but had left the preceding June, not expecting to +return. Their plans had been changed, however, and they had returned +several weeks after the term opened to complete their course. They were +good players, but had lost several weeks of practice, and even at their +best were not as good as Walker and Minter. + +But the schedule had to be met regardless of mumps and measles, and +when the appointed day came the coach took his weakened team over to +Bass Lake where the game was to be played. The distance was not far, +and almost the whole pupil body of Lenox High went over to cheer their +favorites. + +The Bass Lake boys showed up full of pep and ginger in practice, and it +was apparent to the visitors that a hard game was in prospect. + +But they buckled to the task with determination, and for the first +quarter held their opponents even. Lenox seemed once on the verge of +scoring, when by repeated rushes down the field she had come within +twelve yards of the Bass Lake goal line. But on the next down a fumble +by Rankin gave the ball to Houston of the home team, who promptly +kicked it out of danger, and the period ended scoreless for either +team. The second quarter told a different story. For ten minutes of +play the battling lines swayed back and forth with neither having a +pronounced advantage. Then with the quickness of a kaleidoscope things +changed. + +Bartlett, the right half of the Bass Lake team, emerged with a rush +from the mass of grappling combatants, skirted the right end, and with +a magnificent run of forty-two yards carried the ball over the Lenox +line for a touchdown amid the terrific cheering of his mates. Ashley +kicked the goal and seven big juicy points went up on the Bass Lake +score! + + + + + CHAPTER XXI + + PLUNGING THROUGH + + +"Gee, but that's tough!" muttered Garry Grayson, as he sat on the side +lines muffled in his blanket and looking at the score just marked up +for Bass Lake. + +"The team surely misses Walker and Minter," grumbled Nick. + +"Right you are," agreed Ted Dillingham. "If Rankin hadn't made that +fumble, we'd have scored, sure. And if Bellows had made the right kind +of a tackle, he could have downed Bartlett." + +"Stop your grouching and look at that!" cried Rooster Long excitedly. +"Go it, old boy, go it!" + +The yell was directed at Dittler, who had made a superb leap in the +air and intercepted a forward pass. Now he was legging it down the +field like a jack rabbit, aided by splendid interference on the part +of Knapp and Wynn. Bartlett made a dive for Dittler, but the latter +straight-armed him and, dodging Ashley on the other side, made a +touchdown. Wynn kicked the goal and the score was tied! + +The Lenox rooters made the welkin ring, and the subs on the sidelines +performed an Indian snake dance. + +"That, Abe, is something else again!" chortled Garry. "What a pair of +legs that boy has!" + +"He didn't run, he flew," exulted Rooster. "It would have taken an +airplane to catch him." + +Neither side scored in the remaining minutes of play, and when the +teams trotted off to the clubhouse for the rest between halves honors +were even. + +Coach Garwin had been doing some hard thinking during that second +quarter. He knew that there were two weak spots in his team that needed +to be plugged, center and right halfback. In addition to the faults +that the boys on the side lines had noted, he had detected others that +they had failed to see. + +Rankin at center had been too inaccurate in passing and too slow in +charging. Moreover, he was excited, and several times had lost his head +at critical moments. + +Bellows at halfback had lacked speed in getting down field under a punt +in the second or third wave. Also he hesitated at times when he should +have been off like a shot. + +"No, they won't do. Not in this game, at least. They are short on +practice," decided the coach. + +He looked over the bunch of subs. There was big Bill Sherwood, a bit +heavier than Rankin and experienced in playing center. He would take a +chance on him. + +For right halfback he hesitated for a moment between Garry Grayson +and Rooster Long. He had more confidence in the former, and had the +game been at a critical stage would have chosen him. But it was a tie, +with two quarters yet to play. Besides, he wanted to see how Rooster +would bear himself in a regular league game. Garry had already proved +himself. Rooster was an unknown quantity. He would try him, anyway, +and if he failed to make good, there was Garry ready to jump into the +breach. + +So he called on Bill and Rooster to go in at center and right half +respectively, and they galloped joyously into the fray. + +In that third quarter they justified Al Garwin's choice. They were +fresh, ambitious, eager. Here was the chance for which they had hardly +dared to hope, and now that they had it they were determined to make +the most of it. + +Bill snapped the ball accurately and was like a bull on the charge and +on defense. Rooster's nimble feet made him a great ground gainer. The +rest of the team, feeling that the weak places had been plugged, took +on a new lease of life. + +Steadily, against fierce opposition, they advanced down the field until +they were within eighteen yards of the Bass Lake goal. Then, on a +delayed pass that bewildered their opponents for a moment, Rooster got +the ball and skirted the left end for a touchdown. + +A burst of frenzied cheering from the Lenox rooters greeted the feat. + +"That's going some!" + +"Oh, you Rooster!" + +"Cock-a-doodle-doo!" + +Knapp missed kicking the goal by the merest fraction of an inch, and +the score was 13 to 7 in favor of Lenox. + +But the Bass Lake boys were far from beaten, and before the period +closed they had evened the score and more, for an unfortunate fumble by +Payne enabled Ellis to scoop up the ball on the run and make a splendid +run of twenty-two yards that carried him over the Lenox goal line. +The try for goal was successful, and Bass Lake was ahead by the scant +margin of one point, and the period ended with that score unchanged. + +"Not so good," muttered Garry, who had been in the seventh heaven of +delight when Rooster had made his touchdown. + +"Only one point ahead, but that means an awful lot at this stage of +the game," mourned Nick Danter. + +After a brief minute of rest the opposing warriors were at it again. +For a time it looked as though neither team could gain. The ball passed +from one side to the other repeatedly, and most of the time remained +near the middle of the field. + +Then it seemed as though Lenox's hopes had indeed gone, for Wynn was +so badly knocked out in a collision with Bartlett that time had to be +called while he was assisted off the field. + +"That's curtains for us," muttered Ted. + +"And only six minutes left to play!" moaned Nick. + +"Get in there, Grayson," called the coach. + +Off went Garry's blanket, and he sped out into the field. + +A strange feeling came over the lad as he took Wynn's place. He was at +quarterback, his old position, the one in which he had led the Hill +Street school to the championship. The position fitted him like a glove. + +The confidence he showed in every move put new life into the Lenox +team. Bill at center was passing the ball to him, and they worked +together like the two blades of a shears. + +Lenox had the ball, and Rooster plunged through for four yards. Knapp +was good for two more. Dittler was thrown for no gain, but on the +fourth down Garry himself went through for four, just making the +distance. + +Now Lenox was within thirty yards of the enemy's goal. But the Bass +Lake boys had braced grimly and desperately. Knapp made but one yard on +the first down. Dittler gained three more, but on the next try he was +halted in his tracks. + +The time was growing perilously short. With six yards to go on the +fourth down against the stiffened resistance of the foe, Garry took a +desperate chance. + +Bill snapped the ball to him. Garry dropped back and kicked. + +The ball sped toward the Bass Lake goal twenty-eight yards away. At +first it looked as though it might go under the bar. But it rose as it +progressed and just cleared the bar. + +A field goal! Three points! Before the ball could again be put into +play the referee's whistle blew and the game was over with Lenox two +points to the good! + + + + + CHAPTER XXII + + FORGING AHEAD + + +The air resounded with cheers from the frantic Lenox rooters as they +poured down over the field, hoisted Garry on their shoulders, despite +his laughing protests, and carried him to the clubhouse. Their joy was +all the greater because their case had looked so hopeless that they had +resigned themselves to defeat. + +"A narrow squeak," commented Garry happily, as he was getting into his +street clothes. + +"But you made it!" exulted Nick. "And Rooster here and Bill covered +themselves with glory. Old Hill Street was in it to-day with both feet." + +It was a triumphal return that the Lenox boys made to their home town, +and their delight in the victory was increased when they learned +that Wimbledon had been defeated on the same day by Pawling, while +Greenfield, their most feared opponent, had had to lower its colors to +Thomaston. The first especially was balm to their spirits, as it seemed +a sort of vicarious revenge for the defeat that Wimbledon had handed to +Lenox. + +On the following Monday their high spirits took a sudden drop when they +learned that Mr. Garwin had suddenly been summoned out of town. There +was serious illness in his family, and it was impossible to predict +when he would be back. + +Gloom settled over the teams like a pall. But though his heart, equally +with others, was filled with consternation, Garry Grayson was the first +to see that the cloud had a silver lining. + +"Mr. Garwin was a crackajack coach," he said to his chums, as they were +excitedly discussing the matter. "No mistake about that. But what's the +matter with Mr. Phillips! They don't come any better than he is." + +"He's there with the goods, all right," agreed Nick. + +"But perhaps he won't be willing," came from Ted. + +"Trust him to do anything he can for the school," said Garry +confidently. "And he's a fiend for football. He doesn't think it's a +brutal game unfit for gentlemen." + +There was a general laugh at this reminder of the unlamented Trompet +Shrugg. + +"Of course we're only freshmen and we can't butt in," added Garry. +"Perhaps Mr. Garwin has already made arrangements for some one to take +his place. If he hasn't it's up to Ralph Wynn to take the first step." + +"Who's taking my name in vain!" said a jocular voice behind them, and +they looked up to see Ralph himself. + +"I'm the guilty wretch," answered Garry, smiling. "We were wondering +who was going to coach the team now that Mr. Garwin has gone." + +"Mr. Garwin arranged for that before he left," replied Ralph. "He +pressed an old friend of yours into the service." + +"You don't mean Mr. Phillips?" cried Garry eagerly. + +"No one else," answered Ralph, with a smile. + +Mr. Phillips took up the reins that same afternoon, when he gathered +the first and second teams together in the gymnasium. He gave them +a little talk full of hard sense and inspiration, paying a graceful +tribute to Mr. Garwin, whose shoes he said modestly he could not hope +to fill. It was a genial talk, but firm, and his hearers readily +guessed that there was an iron hand in the velvet glove. No one could +shirk and get away with it while he was at the helm. + +That the boys were going to support the new coach royally was evident +from the very start. They were full of pep and ginger in practice. The +two league games they had already played had gotten them into their +stride. Now many weaknesses were eliminated, many new plays perfected. +So when the day came for their match with Pawling they were at the top +of their form. + +From the first it was a battle of rush lines, and the aerial attack +seldom figured. Lenox proved to have the heavier, the more aggressive, +and the best-trained line. Pawling was very generally outplayed and +outrushed. Time and again the Lenox forwards would break through on +plays and repeatedly spoiled the Pawling cut-in dashes of its fast +backs whose end sweeps were blocked because of the Lenox drive into the +interference. + +Lenox gained the lead in the first quarter, when after about five +minutes of play, it staged a steady march down the field for a +touchdown, aided by two beautiful end runs by Dittler. Knapp kicked the +goal, and the home boys had got off to a flying start. + +That was all the scoring done in that period, but shortly after the +beginning of the second the visitors threw a scare into the home team +by advancing the ball as far as the Lenox eighteen-yard line. There +Lenox got possession of it, and although Knapp's kick was blocked the +visitors could not rush it over the line. A little later a fine run +back by Wynn put the ball on the Pawling fifteen-yard line, where the +visitors put up a stubborn defense and were finally saved when a +forward pass was incompleted in the zone. + +It was not until the third that Pawling scored. A Lenox pass was +intercepted, and the Pawling fullback drove ahead to the Lenox +twenty-yard line. Then Abbott, the visitors' quarterback, tossed a +forward pass over to the left and Wilson, sweeping in on the ball just +beyond the scrimmage, carried it over the line for a touchdown, tying +the score, and with the tally still unchanged the period ended. + +Knapp was limping when he came in for the minute's rest between +periods, and it developed that he had strained a tendon in the last +mix-up. + +Mr. Phillips's eye swept the line of substitutes on the bench and he +beckoned to Garry. + +"You take Knapp's place," he directed. "Remember that I'm depending on +you to break that tie." + +"I'll do my best," promised Garry, as he hurried out with the rest of +the team. + +Though the boy threw himself heart and soul into the struggle, no +special opportunity came to him until ten minutes of the period had +passed. Then Wynn threw a wide diagonal forward pass from his own +nineteen-yard line and well beyond scrimmage. The ball went off into +the open where Garry was uncovered and in the midst of several of his +own teammates. Garry received the ball on his own forty-one yard +line and streaked down the field on a gallop for a sixty-yard run, +outstripping Abbott by a hairbreadth and plunged over the line for a +touchdown. Wynn missed kicking the goal. But now the score was 13 to 7 +and only three minutes left for play. + +The Pawling boys were determined to die, if die they must, in the last +ditch. After several line plunges had failed to gain distance Wilson +made a gallant run of twenty-two yards where he was downed by Dittler. +Before the ball could be put in play the whistle sounded, and a second +victory was chalked up for Lenox. + +The fans went wild, and Garry had to make a run for the shelter of the +gymnasium to escape the mauling and pounding of the enthusiasts. + +"Johnny-on-the-spot as usual!" exulted Ted. + +"A bit of luck," said Garry modestly. "Most of the Pawlings were on the +other side, and I had almost a clear field." + +"They simply can't keep you off the regular team, if you keep on +playing that way," declared Rooster. + +"Oh, yes, they can for this first year, I'm afraid," answered Garry. +"That freshman tradition is mighty strong at Lenox. We're lowly scrubs +to be used in a pinch, but not good enough for the first string. +Gee, but I'd be glad of a chance to play in a full game from start to +finish!" + +"I'm afraid our chances are worse than ever now," put in Nick Danter +thoughtfully. "You see, Mr. Phillips may be especially leary in using +any of us on the regulars, because, since we were members of the old +Hill Street team, it might be thought a bit of favoritism." + +"That is, you think Mr. Phillips will stand up so straight that he'll +fall over backwards," said Garry. "Well, I don't. I think he'll do +just what he thinks is best for the team, no matter what any one says. +That's the kind of man he is." + +A few days later, as Bill and Garry were going along a rather secluded +street in the outskirts of the town, they saw, a little way ahead of +them, Sandy Podder and Lent Stewart, together with a crony of theirs +of the same stripe, Garry's old enemy, Chat Johns. Sandy turned at +the sound of footsteps, saw Garry and Bill, and then held a low but +animated discussion with his companions. + +"Let's get ahead of them," suggested Garry. "The very sight of them +makes me sick." + +"Same here," agreed Bill, and the two boys quickened their steps. + +As they passed the three cronies, Sandy remarked to Lent: + +"Aren't you glad you're not a thief, Lent?" + +"I sure am," was the reply. "I've no ambition to get behind the bars." + +"I'd hate even to have a thief in the family," put in Chat, with an +evil grin. + +The slur was so evidently directed at Frank Sherwood and was so wanton +and deliberate that Garry's blood boiled. Bill turned around like a +flash and approached the group, his eyes blazing. + +"You're a bunch of curs," he said hotly. + +"And that goes double," chimed in Garry, at a white heat. + +An ugly look came into the faces of the young rascals. They were not +only three to two, but, with the exception of Chat, were older and +heavier than either Bill or Garry. + +"I'll make you eat those words, Garry Grayson," threatened Sandy Podder. + +For answer Garry's fist shot out and caught Sandy full in the jaw. + + + + + CHAPTER XXIII + + JERRY INTERVENES + + +At the same moment that Garry struck Sandy Podder, Bill tackled Lent +Stewart and gave him a blow that sent him staggering. + +The bullies recovered themselves in a moment, and, with Chat, were +about to rush on their opponents when a voice close at hand startled +them. + +"Three to two," said the voice of Jerry Cox, who had come around a +corner. "That doesn't seem exactly square. Count me in on this." + +"You keep out of this, Jerry Cox," snarled Sandy. + +"It's none of your funeral," growled Lent, sourly. + +"Seems to me that there'd have been flowers at your funeral, Lent +Stewart, if Garry Grayson hadn't saved your life," returned Jerry +coolly. "And now here you are trying to beat him up. Nothing doing, +Lent. You know I can lick you and perhaps help a bit in licking your +pals. So come along if you're ready." + +But the bullies were not at all ready. What had seemed easy had +suddenly become hard. They stood growling and disconcerted for a +moment, and then decided to move on. + +"I'll get square with you yet, Garry Grayson," called back Sandy. + +"Any time you like," replied Garry quickly. "Put a bit of arnica on +that jaw of yours. It sometimes helps." + +Jerry looked at Garry and Bill with a broad grin. + +"They're yellow clear through," he remarked. "Didn't like the game at +all when the chances were even. What was the trouble, anyway!" + +"Oh, they made a dirty crack and we came back at them," replied Garry +evasively. "It was mighty good of you to pitch in on our side." + +"I thought they were friends of yours," said Bill, though with less of +coldness in his tone than he had previously used in speaking to Jerry. + +"I've cut 'em out," replied Jerry soberly. "No more of that poolroom +gang for me. I was a fool for playing around with them as long as I +did. But I've got the right slant on things now and I'm hunting for a +real job, and when I get it, you bet I'm going to stick to it." + +"Anything special in view?" asked Garry cordially. + +"Not yet," answered Jerry. "But I'm looking for it with both eyes. +I need it badly, too, because there's been sickness at home and my +father's out of work. Well, so long, fellows, and good luck." + +He went away with a friendly wave of the hand. Garry and Bill looked at +each other. + +"Seems to have the right stuff in him, after all," admitted Bill. + +"Glad he's cut loose from that bunch," said Garry. "He sure proved a +friend in need just now, and I think it's up to us to find him and his +father jobs. I'll put it up to my dad and you speak to your father +about it. They know almost everybody in town, and they ought to be able +to help Jerry if any one can." + +Bill agreed to do this and later both fathers promised to do what +they could. The consequence was that within a week Jerry's father had +secured a position in Mr. Sherwood's large manufacturing establishment, +while Mr. Grayson got Jerry himself a place in a lumber concern down on +the river front. + +The young fellow was immensely grateful, and from that time on Garry +had no firmer friend in Lenox, outside of his own immediate chums. + +Lenox now had played three games on its football schedule and had but +two remaining, those with Thomaston and Greenfield, which were to be +played in that order. Like Lenox, the Greenfield team had lost but one +game, and its victories had been by scores much more impressive than +Lenox had been able to muster. + +Lenox therefore feared Thomaston much less. It was a good team--in +spots. And it also played well--in spots. It was an in-and-outer, +sometimes rising to great heights and again playing football far below +the high school standard. + +None the less, Mr. Phillips drove his team hard for the Thomaston game, +which was to be played on the enemy's grounds, and Lenox was in fine +fettle when it went over, determined to bring back the scalps of the +foe and fasten them on the Lenox wigwam. + +It proved to be the only game of the season in which Lenox did not have +to work hard to win. It was not a game. It was, rather, a massacre. The +Thomaston boys had one of their bad days and played like a lot of dubs. +Their passing was wild, their line bucking weak, their fumbles frequent. + +Lenox scored almost at will, making two touchdowns in the first period +and a touchdown and field goal in the second, while Thomaston never +came within striking distance of the Lenox goal. + +With the game securely stowed away, Mr. Phillips in the third period +took out his first string men with the exception of Wynn, Dittler, and +Knapp, and sent in substitutes from the scrubs. + +Pete, Tom, Nick, Ted, Rooster, Bill, Hick Dabney, and Garry were those +chosen, and they made the most of the opportunity. It was the first +time that so many of them had been used in any one game, and they went +in to play their heads off. + +The first string men resting on the side lines looked on patronizingly. +They told themselves that they had really won the game and it would do +no harm to let the scrubs take up the burden. Of course, they would not +do much, but it would give them exercise. + +Garry sensed their feeling and caught their condescending smiles. + +"Now, fellows," he exhorted, "let's show those first string boobs where +they get off. They've made twenty-four points. They're counting on +us to do not much more than hold Thomaston even. Let's give them the +surprise of their lives." + +This they promptly proceeded to do. They ran wild. Nothing could stop +them. Under the delighted eyes of Mr. Phillips and the now sober looks +of the first string men, they piled up touchdown after touchdown until, +when the last period ended, they had added thirty-five points to the +twenty-four already scored, making the final tally 59 to 0. It was the +worst Waterloo that Thomaston had ever encountered. + +The Lenox boys were filled with joy, and none more so than the +once-despised scrubs. + +"Just doormats, are we?" laughed Pete. + +"We've given them something to think of," chortled Tom Allison. "Did +you see their long faces while we were piling up the score?" + +"We put a dent in that freshman tradition, anyway!" exulted Nick. + +"And now for Greenfield!" exclaimed Garry, turning from the present to +the future. "That's the only obstacle left. If we hurdle that, we win +the championship." + +"And it will take some hurdling," predicted Nick. "They won't be the +pudding that Thomaston was to-day." + +That seemed more likely than ever when the boys learned that on that +same afternoon Greenfield had fairly smothered Bass Lake, the same team +that Lenox had beaten by only a scanty margin. + +The contest for the league pennant was now clearly defined. Lenox and +Greenfield had each won three games and lost one. The other teams +were out of the running. The Lenox-Greenfield game would decide the +championship. + +In the meantime Mr. Grayson was busy preparing to defend Frank +Sherwood in his trial for theft, which had been put on the docket for +an early date. The more the lawyer delved into it the more confident he +felt that Frank was innocent. Yet there was the definite evidence of +Mooney and Anson, each corroborating that of the other, and despite the +bad character of the men there was no knowing what effect it might have +on the jury. + +Jerry Cox had several times met Garry on the street, but each time the +latter had been accompanied by friends, so that Jerry had just spoken +to him and passed on. + +But one afternoon toward dusk Garry happened to be alone as he +encountered Jerry at the intersection of two streets. + +"Hello, Garry," Jerry greeted him. "How's tricks?" + +"Everything fine," replied Garry. "How are things going with you?" + +"Dandy," responded Jerry. "I like my work and the boss seems to like +the way I do it. At least, he hasn't fired me yet," he added, with a +grin. + +"My dad saw your boss the other day, and he said you were doing good +work," said Garry. + +"I'm doing my best," declared Jerry, "and I'm tickled to death to +get away from the poolroom gang. By the way, Garry, speaking of +poolrooms--" He hesitated. + +"Yes," said Garry encouragingly. + +"It's about that Frank Sherwood matter," went on Jerry slowly. "I've +been meaning to speak to you about it for some time, but have never +been able to catch you alone." + +Garry was all alert in an instant. + +"Do you know anything about that case?" he asked eagerly. + +"I know that Frank Sherwood didn't steal that money, and I can't stand +by and see a fellow framed for something he didn't do," replied Jerry. + +Jerry's words had the effect on Garry of an electric shock. + +"What's that?" he cried excitedly. "Tell me all you know! For the love +of Pete, Jerry, spill it! I was sure that Frank didn't take the money. +But do you know who did take it?" + +"Yes," replied Jerry. "It was Gyp Mooney himself." + +"Gyp Mooney!" exclaimed Garry. "The dirty crook! But are you sure? How +do you know?" + +"Well," said Jerry, "it was this way. I saw Mooney hanging around +Sandy's coat, but thought nothing of it. It was late and most of the +fellows had gone. I was leaving myself when I saw Sandy put on his +coat, feel in the pocket and turn pale. Then he called Mooney outside. +I was taking a short cut through the lot where there were plenty of +bushes, and it was dark. Sandy and Mooney were walking in the same +direction. They were arguing so angrily I thought there might be a +scrap coming, and I slowed up to see what might happen. + +"They stopped nearly opposite me, but didn't see me. Sandy was accusing +Mooney of having robbed him. Said he'd seen him taking something from +his coat. Mooney denied it, but Sandy insisted. Then Mooney turned +ugly. Seems he had a hold on Sandy. He knew of a barn that Sandy had +set fire to. Mooney said he'd have Sandy sent to jail for that if he +didn't keep quiet. Told Sandy that all he'd have to do would be to tell +his father Mr. Long hadn't put the money in the envelope. Then Mr. Long +would have to pay over again. Anyway, Podder was rich and could stand +it. If Sandy kept his mouth shut, Mooney would see that Sandy would get +a bit of the money for himself. If not, he'd tell about that barn fire +and Sandy'd go to jail. + +"So it ended that way. Sandy caved in. Mooney admitted he had taken +the money and that just as soon as it was safe he'd see that Sandy had +his bit. They went on then and I didn't hear anything further, but I +suppose Sandy told his father the story that Mooney had coached him to +tell." + +"I know he did!" cried Garry. "But Podder didn't get the money again +from Mr. Long! I suppose he's been trying to find out where the money +went, and the thing got so hot that Mooney got scared and cooked up +this thing about Frank Sherwood. + +"That's it, as sure as shooting," went on Garry. "They picked on Frank +as the goat, and Mooney got Piker Anson to back him up. That skunk +would swear to anything for ten dollars! + +"But come right along with me, Jerry, and see my father. He's in charge +of Frank's case, you know. Gee, but I'm glad I met you!" + +Jerry went along willingly. There was a long conference in the Grayson +home that night. At its conclusion Jerry Cox went away with a strong +injunction to keep tight-lipped till the trial. + +And Mr. Grayson's face was beaming. + + + + + CHAPTER XXIV + + IN THE THICK OF THE FIGHT + + +"I understand we have a great little detective among us," remarked +Ella, as Garry came down to breakfast the next morning. + +"Well, I got the clue, didn't I?" replied Garry, throwing out his chest +a little. + +"Yes, when the clue marched right up to you and asked to be taken in," +chaffed Ella. + +"Stop your scrapping, you two," commanded Mr. Grayson, with a +smile. "The fact is that what Garry found out yesterday is of great +importance. I'm sure that Jerry Cox is telling the truth. I tested him +in every possible way, turned him inside out, so to speak, and I'm sure +that his story will stand up under any cross examination. But I want +to warn you youngsters not on any account to let a syllable of this +get out. Mooney or Anson or any of that crowd mustn't get an inkling +of it. I want not only to clear Frank but to put those perjurers and +scoundrels where they belong. And that pest of a poolroom is going to +be put out of business." + +"Of course, I suppose you've let Frank and the Sherwoods know all about +it," remarked Garry. + +"Certainly," reported his father. "I went over there last night. You +can imagine the reception I got with such news to take them. I tell you +there is a happy family to-day." + +"Good old Bill!" exclaimed Garry. "It will be a new lease of life for +him." + +He met Bill that morning as he came along with the rest of the bunch. +It was indeed a transformed Bill, jolly, laughing, full of the highest +spirits. The rest of the boys noticed the change and wondered. But Bill +and Garry alone knew the secret of the change, and, though their lips +were sealed by promise, the look that passed between them spoke volumes. + +Football practice went on under a full head of steam. It was made all +the harder by Mr. Phillips because he feared that the easy victory +over Thomaston might give rise to false overconfidence and prompt a +let-down. So he drove the two teams ruthlessly until, when the day +arrived for the great game with Greenfield, the game that was to decide +the championship of the High School League, the Lenox boys were as hard +as nails. + +All but Ralph Wynn, their captain, quarterback, and main reliance, the +brains of the team! + +Ralph had been feeling under the weather for a day or two, and on the +fateful Saturday on which the game was to be played Lenox was stricken +with consternation by the news that Ralph had taken the mumps and was +confined to his bed. + +The school staggered under the shock. The team without Wynn was +like a ship without a rudder. It looked as though Greenfield would +have a walkover. She would have been hard to beat under the best +circumstances. Now her victory seemed certain. + +But the panic that shook the team did not extend to their coach. Not +that Mr. Phillips was not seriously disturbed, but he had been watching +the practice very closely for the past two weeks and felt that the +predicament was not a hopeless one. + +The teams were to gather that morning at ten o'clock for a brief +practice, just to run through the signals and limber up for the +afternoon game. + +They came together, regulars and scrubs, their hearts heavy and their +faces anxious. Mr. Phillips wasted no time in preliminaries and went +straight to the point. + +"Grayson," he said abruptly, "you play at quarterback this afternoon." + +Garry caught his breath and a murmur of surprise ran through the group +of players. + +"I'm as much a stickler for school tradition as any of you," Mr. +Phillips went on. "But there come times when tradition must go down +before common sense. Grayson is a freshman. But he knows football and +knows how to run a team. I want you regulars to give him as loyal +support as you have given to Wynn. Wynn himself would be the first to +ask it if he were here. I want you to whip Greenfield this afternoon. +That's all that counts. Will you do it?" + +The shout of assent that went up showed the spirit of the boys, and the +coach smiled. + +"I knew I could count on you," he said. "Now go in and win." + +The half hour of practice that followed was spirited and snappy. Garry, +his head in a whirl at first, soon got his bearings and ran the team in +a way that brought a glint of satisfaction to the eyes of the coach. + +That afternoon the Greenfield team came over chock full of confidence, +bringing a brass band with them to celebrate the expected victory. They +had heard that Ralph Wynn was out of the game and that a freshman was +to run the team. + +"A freshman! It is to laugh!" shouted one of Greenfield's rooters. +"Lenox must indeed be hard up! It's only a question now of the score +that Greenfield will run up! It'll be like taking candy from a baby!" +And with this many agreed, not all of them Greenfield rooters, either. + +But before the game had been long in progress it became evident that +the baby was quite a lusty youngster after all. + +Greenfield won the toss and elected to kick off. Kearny kicked to +Knapp, who came back eleven yards to the Lenox thirty-yard line. +Dittler made a yard through the Greenfield line. A forward pass by +Minter was grounded. Knapp kicked for forty-nine yards and the ball was +grounded on the Greenfield forty-yard line without a return. + +Two passes by Greenfield were knocked down. Wallace, the enemy +quarterback, kicked twenty-five yards, and Knapp was downed on the +Lenox forty-five yard line before he could take a step. Dittler cut +through left tackle and got away for forty-two yards before he was +driven out of bounds by Holcomb on Greenfield's thirteen-yard line. +Here, with their goal threatened, Greenfield took a mighty brace, and +three successive line plunges failed to gain an inch. On the fourth +down Payne tried for a field goal but his drop-kick was short. But +Garry recovered the ball on the Greenfield nine-yard line. + +Again Greenfield braced and two line smashes gained only two yards. +On the third down, Minter plunged between right guard and tackle but +was met so furiously that he was thrown back for a four-yard loss. On +the fourth down Lenox tried a forward pass but it was intercepted by +Rogers, who ran to the Greenfield thirty-yard line. + +Bush made two through the line and Wallace punted forty-five yards, +Garry being downed in his tracks on the Lenox twenty-two yard line. + +Knapp made three yards in two line smashes. Garry punted for +thirty-seven yards and Holcomb came back fifteen yards before he was +downed. He fumbled as he was tackled, and Lenox recovered on its +thirty-eight yard line. + +Again Lenox plunged at the Greenfield line, Dittler going through for +three yards. A forward pass from Minter was grounded. Knapp found a +hole at left tackle and slid through for four. On the fourth down Garry +himself took the ball and went through for five yards, making the +distance and still keeping possession of the ball. + +On a crisscross play Dittler was thrown for a loss of three yards. +And just then the whistle blew and the period ended with the ball in +Lenox's keeping near mid-field. + +It had been a furious struggle, with honors about even. If anything, +Lenox had a slight edge, as most of the time the ball had been in the +enemy's territory and twice she had come within striking distance of +the Greenfield goal. + +The "baby" had come up to scratch, and roars of frenzied applause went +up from the Lenox rooters, led by their cheer leaders, who, dressed in +white, went through all sorts of acrobatic antics before the stands. + +Answering roars went up from the Greenfield section and their brass +band added to the tumult as the players, panting and breathless, took +their minute of rest, sprawled out on the turf. + +Garry was covered with dust, his nose bleeding, his hands scratched, +his chest heaving from his exertions. + +"Oh, look at Garry!" squealed Ella. "He's hurt!" + +"Hurt nothing!" retorted Jane Danter, her face flushed with excitement. +"He's as happy as a clam. Go it, Garry!" she called in her shrill +treble. "We're all rooting for you!" + +Garry looked at her and grinned. Jane sure was a nice girl. + +When play was resumed Lenox still had the ball and Garry punted fifteen +yards, the kick being partially blocked and Greenfield recovering the +ball on its own forty-five yard line. Lenox was off-side, and the +five-yard penalty brought the ball to the middle of the field. Wallace +knifed off tackle for ten yards for first down. A long pass, Bush to +Rogers, was completed for a thirty-yard gain, giving Greenfield first +down on the Lenox ten-yard line. + +Rogers went through for three yards. Bush added three more through +right guard. Holcomb smashed the line hard, but Lenox had braced +desperately and he gained only a yard. On the fourth down, Sayles +dropped back to the thirteen-yard line, and though the angle made the +feat seem impossible, sent the ball over the bar between the posts for +a field goal for the first three points of the game. + +Greenfield had drawn first blood and her rooters went crazy while their +band struck up "See, the Conquering Hero Comes!" + +"Let them cheer," called Garry to his mates, by no means dismayed. +"It's the last chance they'll have." + +In the Lenox stands there were downcast looks and heavy hearts. +Probably there were but two exceptions, Lent Stewart and Chat Johns. +There would have been three, but Sandy Podder was attending the trial +of Frank Sherwood, which was in progress that day. + +"Here's where that four-flusher gets his," muttered Lent, his eyes +glowing with ill-concealed elation. + +Kearny kicked off to Knapp, who fumbled and then came back for eleven +yards to the Lenox twenty-six yard line. Two line plays gained seven +yards, and on third down Garry broke through for twelve yards, with the +whole Greenfield line piled on his back. + +Having made its distance and more, Lenox again had the ball for first +down on its own forty-five yard line. Dittler went through tackle +for three yards and Knapp added four more through a big hole in the +Greenfield line. On a fake plunge and a pass, Dittler to Minter, Lenox +got within thirty yards of the Greenfield goal. + +Minter plowed through for four yards and Knapp added one more, but a +penalty for unnecessary roughness cost Lenox fifteen yards and pushed +it back to Greenfield's forty-yard line. Minter's pass over the center +of the line fell to earth untouched. Another long heave was battered +down by Bush. + +For the rest of that period the game was fast and furious, with first +one side and then the other having possession of the ball, and when the +first half of the game was over the score still remained at 3 to 0 in +favor of the invaders. + + + + + CHAPTER XXV + + VICTORY + + +Though on the wrong side of the ledger, Garry still retained his +indomitable spirit. + +"Are we down-hearted?" he cried to his mates as they trotted off to +their quarters for the rest between halves. + +"No!" came in a roar from his comrades. + +"You bet we're not!" returned Garry. "We've just begun to fight!" + +The bruising battle had not been without its casualties. Knapp in +the last mix-up had twisted his leg and could barely more than limp. +Painter at right guard was badly winded. So Mr. Phillips picked Nick +Danter to take the place of Knapp and Rooster Long to fill the vacancy +at guard. + +The Greenfield ball carriers were unchanged, though two changes had +been made in the line. + +"Now, boys," was Mr. Phillips's last injunction after a short but +inspiring talk, "go out and eat those fellows up. They haven't a thing +you fellows haven't. I've watched their play, and I know. Get after +them and bring home the bacon." + +Garry kicked off to Bush, who came back eighteen yards to Greenfield's +thirty-three yard line. Rogers broke through the right side of the +Lenox line and ran twenty-four yards to Lenox's forty-three yard line +before he was downed. Greenfield failed to gain through the line and +Wallace was stopped without an advance on an attempted end run. Bush +punted to the Lenox twenty-yard line. + +Lenox made an ineffectual try on a line plunge by Dittler. Nick gained +a yard off tackle. Then he made a superb punt of forty-five yards, Bush +being thrown without a return. Rogers made a yard on a plunge, but a +pass from Wallace was intercepted by Garry on the Lenox forty-five yard +line. + +Dittler threw a pass into the ground. Minter fumbled on a line plunge +and Bush recovered for Greenfield on the Lenox forty-yard line. Wallace +failed to gain through the line. Bush swung wide around the end for a +five-yard gain. A Greenfield pass was battered down by Rooster. Another +Greenfield pass was completed, but Garry threw Wallace for the loss of +a yard and Lenox took the ball on its own thirty-six yard line. + +Two stabs at the line gained four yards for Lenox. Garry plowed through +the line for fifteen yards. An attempt by Dittler was stopped without +a gain and Lenox was penalized five yards for off-side play. Nick +gained three yards on a wide end run. While trying to get away a punt +Dittler slipped and Greenfield recovered the ball. + +Rogers was thrown for a four-yard loss by Rooster. A Greenfield +pass was grounded. Garry intercepted the next toss and reached the +Greenfield fourteen-yard line before he was downed. + +The visitors braced doggedly to defend their goal. Nick went through +center for two yards. Dittler made three more off tackle. A third +attempt by Minter resulted in no gain, and Garry dropped back for a +kick. + +The ball sailed through the air in a beautiful spiral and came down on +the other side of the bar, while pandemonium broke out in the Lenox +stands. + +Three points and the score was tied! Before the ball could be put again +in play the referee's whistle sounded the end of the quarter. + +While the stands fairly rocked with applause, Lent Stewart and Chat +Johns sat glum and silent. + +"If that fellow fell overboard, he'd come up with a fish in his mouth," +grumbled Lent. + +"The town won't hold him if he wins this game," growled Chat. "Gee, I +wish he'd break a leg," he added viciously. + +Ella and Jane fairly hugged each other, radiant with delight. And the +other girls who lent a splash of color to the Lenox stands were quite +as jubilant as the male rooters. + +"Now, fellows," adjured Garry, as his team again took the field, "on +your toes! That quarter we tied them. This quarter is where we lick +them." + +Rooster kicked off, Rogers returning the ball to Greenfield's +forty-yard line. Bush threw a pass to Holcomb for a fifteen-yard gain +and first down on Lenox's forty-five yard line. Rogers battered his way +through the line for five yards. He gained two more off tackle, but +Wallace was halted without a gain. A long Greenfield pass was grounded +and Lenox took the ball on its own thirty-eight yard line. + +Nick slid off tackle for two yards and then swung wide around the end +for two more. Dittler gained three off tackle and then Garry punted +the ball for twenty-six yards, the ball being downed on Greenfield's +thirty-five yard line. + +Rogers was driven out of bounds after gaining seven yards on a wide end +run. Wallace failed to advance and Bush was thrown back for the loss of +a yard. Rooster broke through and blocked Bush's kick, regaining the +ball for Lenox on the Greenfield twenty-nine yard line. + +Nick made four yards through tackle. Dittler was halted in his tracks. +A pass from Garry to Nick was completed for a five-yard gain. But +Nick's next attempt was thrown back for a loss of two yards. + +Greenfield got the ball then and, fighting desperately, made their +distance twice on downs, advancing the ball to their own forty-five +yard line while their rooters cheered their encouragement and the band +broke out in tumultuous strains. + +"Hold 'em, fellows!" panted Garry. "Hold 'em, for the love of Pete! +They mustn't get past! We've got to win for Lenox!" + +But Greenfield was now frantic for victory and put up a bitter fight. +Rogers plunged through tackle and end for three yards. But Bush was +thrown back for the loss of a yard and on his next try made but two. + +With fourth down and six yards to make the distance, Greenfield tried a +forward pass, Wallace to Rogers. But Garry leaped high in the air and +intercepted the ball. He tucked it under his arm and scurried down the +field, with Rooster, Nick and Dittler acting as his interference. + +How he ran! His feet seemed to have wings. The wind fairly whistled in +his ears. + +Rogers dived at him, but Garry straight-armed him and ran on. Nick +blocked off Wallace on the right while Rooster gave Bush a similar dose +on the left. And Garry kept on, on, his eyes fixed on the goal, while +the whole Greenfield team thundered behind him. + +And now Holcomb was the only one who stood between him and that coveted +line. The husky fullback darted toward him on a slant with arms +outstretched. He dived for Garry, but the latter dodged, and with one +last summoning-up of all his speed and strength hurled himself over the +Greenfield line for a touchdown! + +Then rose such yells as the Lenox field had never known. The home +rooters went mad. The boys shouted, the girls screamed with delight. +Caps were thrown in the air, some never to be recovered by their +frenzied owners. But that did not matter. Lenox had scored a touchdown! + +A moment later Rooster kicked the goal and the yells were repeated. + +With barely a minute left for play the game was cinched. The ball +passed back and forth a few times and the whistle blew. + +The score was 10 to 3, and Lenox had won the championship of the High +School League! + +The crowd swarmed over the field, and Garry was fairly smothered by his +admirers, all seeking an opportunity to touch and hug their idol. + +Finally, in the safety of the gymnasium, his mates surrounded him, and +there was a scene of enthusiasm that had never been paralleled in the +history of Lenox High. + +"What's the matter with Garry Grayson?" + +"He's all right!" came back in thundering chorus. + +Garry himself, though he bore his honors modestly, was elated beyond +words. Would he ever again find triumph so sweet? How that unspoken +question was answered will be told in the next book of this series, +entitled: "Garry Grayson's Football Rivals; or, The Secret of the +Stolen Signals." + +If there was any fly in the ointment of that great victory to Garry's +mind it was that Bill Sherwood had not been present to see the game and +rejoice in the triumph. Bill, of course, had been at Frank's trial. + +But that his chum was quite as happy as himself was evident to Garry +when Bill rushed to meet him as he was on his way home. + +"He's free!" cried Bill. "He's free! We've won! Frank's acquitted!" + +"Glory hallelujah!" shouted Garry, as he grasped Bill's hand so tightly +that the other winced. "That's bully, Bill! Bully! I knew Frank was +innocent. Tell me all about it." + +"You ought to have been there," cried Bill. "Gee, Garry, your father +was splendid. The way he tied Gyp Mooney and Piker Anson up in knots! +Jerry told his story and the other side couldn't make a dent in it. +Then Sandy broke down under cross examination and gave the whole thing +away. The jury freed Frank without leaving their seats. The judge +held Mooney and Anson for theft and perjury, and Sandy is held as a +material witness. Gee, Garry, I'm so happy that I don't know whether +I'm standing on my head or my heels!" + +"You're on your own big feet all right," laughed Garry. "Gee, this +news is all I needed to make it a perfect day! And now for the big +celebration to-night! The boys are going to have a blow-out that will +make Lenox howl!" + + + THE END + + * * * * * + + GARRY GRAYSON + + FOOTBALL STORIES + + By ELMER A. DAWSON + + 12mo. Cloth. Illustrated. + + GARRY GRAYSON'S HILL STREET ELEVEN + OR THE FOOTBALL BOYS OF LENOX + + GARRY GRAYSON AT LENOX HIGH + OR THE CHAMPIONS OF THE FOOTBALL LEAGUE + + GARRY GRAYSON'S FOOTBALL RIVALS + OR THE SECRET OF THE STOLEN SIGNALS + + GARRY GRAYSON SHOWING HIS SPEED + OR A DARING RUN ON THE GRIDIRON + + GARRY GRAYSON AT STANLEY PREP + OR THE FOOTBALL RIVALS OF RIVERVIEW + + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 75746 *** diff --git a/75746-h/75746-h.htm b/75746-h/75746-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..0899994 --- /dev/null +++ b/75746-h/75746-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,5912 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html> +<html lang="en"> +<head> + <meta charset="UTF-8"> + <title> + Garry Grayson at Lenox High | Project Gutenberg + </title> + <link rel="icon" href="images/cover.jpg" type="image/x-cover"> + <style> + +body { + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; +} + + h1,h2,h3 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + clear: both; +} + +p { + margin-top: .51em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .49em; +} + +hr { + width: 33%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: 33.5%; + margin-right: 33.5%; + clear: both; +} + +hr.tb {width: 45%; margin-left: 27.5%; margin-right: 27.5%;} +hr.chap {width: 65%; margin-left: 17.5%; margin-right: 17.5%;} +@media print { hr.chap {display: none; visibility: hidden;} } +hr.full {width: 95%; margin-left: 2.5%; margin-right: 2.5%;} +div.chapter {page-break-before: always;} +h2.nobreak {page-break-before: avoid;} + +x-ebookmaker-drop {display: none;} + +.center {text-align: center;} + +.right {text-align: right;} + +.smcap { font-variant:small-caps; } + +/* Images */ +.figcenter { + margin: auto; + text-align: center; + page-break-inside: avoid; + max-width: 100%; +} + +.caption p +{ + text-align: center; + text-indent: 0; + margin: 0.25em 0; + font-weight: bold; +} + +div.titlepage { + text-align: center; + page-break-before: always; + page-break-after: always; +} + +div.titlepage p { + text-align: center; + text-indent: 0em; + font-weight: bold; + line-height: 1.5; + margin-top: 3em; +} + +table { + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; +} + +table.autotable { border-collapse: collapse; } +table.autotable td, +table.autotable th { padding: 4px; } + +.tdl {text-align: left;} +.tdr {text-align: right;} +.tdc {text-align: center;} + +.ph1 { text-align: center; text-indent: 0em; } +.ph1 { font-size: x-large; margin: .83em auto; } + +.ph2 { text-align: center; text-indent: 0em; } +.ph2 { font-size: medium; margin: .83em auto; } + + </style> +</head> +<body> +<div style='text-align:center'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 75746 ***</div> + +<div class="figcenter x-ebookmaker-drop"> + <img src="images/illusc.jpg" alt=""> +</div> + +<hr class="chap"> + +<div class="titlepage"> + +<h1>GARRY GRAYSON AT LENOX HIGH</h1> + +<p>OR</p> + +<h2 class="nobreak">The Champions of the Football League</h2> + +<p class="ph1">BY ELMER A. DAWSON</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Author of "Garry Grayson's Hill Street Eleven,"<br> +"Garry Grayson Showing His Speed,"<br> +Etc.</span></p> + +<p><i>ILLUSTRATED BY</i></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Walter S. Rogers</span></p> + +<p>NEW YORK<br> +GROSSET & DUNLAP<br> +PUBLISHERS</p> + +<p>Made in the United States of America</p> + +<p>GROSSET & DUNLAP, PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK</p> + +<p>Copyright, 1926, by<br> +GROSSET & DUNLAP</p> + +<p>Garry Grayson at Lenox High</p> + +</div> + +<hr class="chap"> + +<div class="figcenter"> + <img src="images/illus.jpg" alt=""> + <div class="caption"> + <p>"GET IN THERE, GRAYSON!" HE DIRECTED.</p> + </div> +</div> + +<hr class="chap"> + + +<h2>CONTENTS</h2> + +<table> +<tr><td class="tdr">I.</td> <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_I"><span class="smcap">Straight for the Rocks</span></a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">II.</td> <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_II"><span class="smcap">A Gallant Rescue</span></a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">III.</td> <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_III"><span class="smcap">The Muddy Football</span></a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">IV.</td> <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_IV"><span class="smcap">An Awkward Encounter</span></a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">V.</td> <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_V"><span class="smcap">Consternation</span></a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">VI.</td> <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_VI"><span class="smcap">Facing the Bully</span></a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">VII.</td> <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_VII"><span class="smcap">Trompet Shrugg</span></a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">VIII.</td> <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_VIII"><span class="smcap">On the Anxious Seat</span></a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">IX.</td> <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_IX"><span class="smcap">Counting Their Chances</span></a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">X.</td> <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_X"><span class="smcap">Into the Fray</span></a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">XI.</td> <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_XI"><span class="smcap">Struggling Against Odds</span></a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">XII.</td> <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_XII"><span class="smcap">Testing Their Mettle</span></a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">XIII.</td> <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIII"><span class="smcap">In the Last Period</span></a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">XIV.</td> <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIV"><span class="smcap">Getting a Reprimand</span></a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">XV.</td> <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_XV"><span class="smcap">An Unexpected Ally</span></a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">XVI.</td> <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVI"><span class="smcap">Fighting Mad</span></a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">XVII.</td> <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVII"><span class="smcap">Winning His Spurs</span></a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">XVIII.</td> <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVIII"><span class="smcap">Like a Thunderbolt</span></a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">XIX.</td> <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIX"><span class="smcap">Garry Gets a Shock</span></a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">XX.</td> <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_XX"><span class="smcap">Hard Luck</span></a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">XXI.</td> <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXI"><span class="smcap">Plunging Through</span></a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">XXII.</td> <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXII"><span class="smcap">Forging Ahead</span></a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">XXIII.</td> <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXIII"><span class="smcap">Jerry Intervenes</span></a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">XXIV.</td> <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXIV"><span class="smcap">In the Thick of the Fight</span></a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">XXV.</td> <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXV"><span class="smcap">Victory</span></a></td></tr> +</table> + +<hr class="chap"> + + +<h2>GARRY GRAYSON AT LENOX HIGH</h2> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_I">CHAPTER I</h2> +</div> + +<h3><span class="smcap">Straight for the Rocks</span></h3> + + +<p>"Wonder if we'll be able to make the football eleven when we go to +Lenox High."</p> + +<p>Rooster Long stopped drawing pictures in the dust with the toe of his +shoe and looked up at his companion inquiringly.</p> + +<p>Garry Grayson, former captain and quarterback of the Hill Street +eleven, shook his head doubtfully.</p> + +<p>"I don't think we have a Chinaman's chance of making the team our first +year in high," he replied. "Lenox will have plenty of material, good +seasoned material, to draw on from the three upper classes. No reason +why they should turn to the freshmen for recruits."</p> + +<p>"Except that there are going to be some mighty good players among the +freshmen this year," chimed in another boy, who emerged from the house +at that moment and sat down on the step near which Garry was standing. +"Maybe I'm speaking out of my turn, and there are some who won't agree +with me—so much the worse for them—but I certainly think we turned +out some pretty good players last year, if you should ask me."</p> + +<p>The speaker was Bill Sherwood, a tall, well-developed lad who had +played center on the Hill Street grammar school eleven, and was +affectionately known to his mates as "Big Bill."</p> + +<p>"You said it," agreed Nick Danter, a rather rangy, well-knit youth who +lay stretched out at full length on the porch. "I'd go far enough to +say that some of them could give the high school fellows a pretty nifty +tussle at this minute."</p> + +<p>"That goes not only for our Hill Street boys, but for some of the +fellows of the Cherry and Webster Street schools," put in Ted +Dillingham, stocky and muscular, as he leaned lazily against the +finishing post of the porch railing. "Look at Pete Maddern and Tom +Allison! They're no slouches when it comes to playing football, and I +hear they're going to high this fall."</p> + +<p>The boys were gathered about and on the porch of the Sherwood summer +bungalow on the shores of picturesque Bass Lake, to which Garry +Grayson, Rooster Long, Nick Danter and Ted Dillingham had been invited +for a two week's stay, an invitation that they had gladly accepted, as +they were the warmest and most congenial of friends.</p> + +<p>All of them had graduated from the Hill Street grammar school of Lenox +the preceding term, and were planning to enter the high school in the +fall. The summer was nearly at an end, and they were looking forward +eagerly to the new experience in store for them. Books, however, were +not foremost in their thoughts at the moment.</p> + +<p>All of them were football players, loved the great game, and had +acquitted themselves well on the Hill Street football team that had won +the grammar school championship the preceding season from their rivals +of the Cherry and Webster Street schools. Garry Grayson especially had +proved himself a remarkable player for a boy of his age.</p> + +<p>But, good as they had been on a grammar school eleven, they knew that +the high school was a different matter—all the difference, as Nick +Danter had at one time expressed it, that there was "between being big +frogs in a little puddle and little frogs in a big puddle."</p> + +<p>But despite the cold water thrown on his hopes by his chums, Rooster +Long still held tenaciously to his ambition.</p> + +<p>"I don't see why we can't make a try for the team, anyway," he +persisted, with a long face. "Just because we're freshmen doesn't say +we have to be dumbbells and sit back and take just whatever is handed +to us."</p> + +<p>"Of course not," Garry agreed, with a touch of irony. "There's nothing +to prevent our making a noise and trying to draw the attention of the +upper classes to our humble position at the foot of the throne. Though, +of course, there's just a chance," he admitted, his eyes kindling, +"that our victories over Cherry and Webster may give us Hill Streeters +a little boost even with the high and mighty Lenox fellows."</p> + +<p>"Gee, I sure would like to be on that team!" said Rooster, with a +yearning shake of his head. "They're just one degree below the college +teams."</p> + +<p>"Come out of your trance!" admonished Bill Sherwood. "We won't have a +look in."</p> + +<p>"I'm afraid you're right," agreed Garry. "If we get even as far as the +scrub this year we'll be lucky. Maybe they'll let us be doormats for +the regulars."</p> + +<p>"Gee, you fellows are about as cheerful as a funeral!" cried Rooster, +giving a vicious kick to an unoffending stone. "You give me the +jim-jams. I've got to do something to get my mind off my troubles."</p> + +<p>Bill Sherwood laughed lazily.</p> + +<p>"Nothing to get so het up about, Rooster," he drawled. "We won't be the +only freshmen at Lenox High this fall, you know. There will be plenty +of others biting their nails on the sidelines and telling any one who +will listen that they could do a mighty sight better than those boobs +of regulars."</p> + +<p>"They say that misery loves company, but that doesn't cut any ice with +me," and Rooster frowned mightily. "I'd rather dodge Lenox altogether +than to stand on the sidelines and watch the other fellows play."</p> + +<p>"He's getting wild," observed the grinning Garry. He yawned and raised +his arms above his head in a luxurious stretch. "What do you say we go +in for a swim, Bill? That may help cool him off."</p> + +<p>"Just what I was going to suggest, nothing else but," replied Bill, +rising with alacrity. "Come on, let's jump into our bathing suits."</p> + +<p>This formality was accomplished in a very short time, and the boys were +soon out of the house and making a dash through the woods toward the +shimmering waters of Bass Lake.</p> + +<p>The Sherwood bungalow boasted a private dock from which the lads often +went fishing and swimming. Bill had a canoe and also a cranky little +motorboat that usually spoke out of its turn.</p> + +<p>"It goes when you think the motor's dead," Bill had said, when +describing the eccentric craft to his chums, "and it stops without the +sign of a reason just when everything seems in fine working order. The +only thing that has any effect on it is a good talking to, for it knows +its master's voice."</p> + +<p>He threw out his chest pompously as he spoke, but doubled up promptly +when Garry poked him in the stomach.</p> + +<p>"What do you think I am, a punching bag?" he demanded in an injured +tone.</p> + +<p>"Oh, did I hit you?" asked Garry in mock contrition. "My hand must have +slipped."</p> + +<p>At the moment the boys had no use for either craft, for on that +particular afternoon they intended to be in the water and not on it.</p> + +<p>They sat for a time on the edge of the dock, basking enjoyably in the +sun, knowing that the warmer they got the more enjoyable would be the +plunge into the cool waters of the lake.</p> + +<p>It was a pretty sheet of water, with numerous miniature bays and +jutting points to break the monotony of the shore line. There were many +summer bungalows like the Sherwoods' cuddled among the trees near the +shore of the lake, and on the north side was a fairly pretentious hotel.</p> + +<p>On such a bright afternoon the lake was bound to be studded with the +boats of pleasure seekers. Canoes slipped with graceful, gliding +motion from one inlet to another, while motorboats of all descriptions +chugged busily over the gleaming surface.</p> + +<p>"All this will soon be over," remarked Garry, with a shade of regret in +his voice. "I hate to see winter come."</p> + +<p>"But before winter comes fall, and in the fall comes football," chanted +Bill.</p> + +<p>Rooster Long gave his chum an injured look.</p> + +<p>"I thought we came here to get our minds off of football for a while," +he complained. "You fellows can do what you like, but I'm going in +swimming."</p> + +<p>"You bet you are!" declared Garry, and gave Rooster a push that landed +him splashing and sputtering in the seven feet of water at the edge of +the dock.</p> + +<p>Shaking the water from his eyes, Rooster shook a fist at the grinning +Garry.</p> + +<p>"Come down here and try that again," he cried.</p> + +<p>"Come up here and I will," retorted Garry.</p> + +<p>He raised his hands above his head, bent his body in the form of a bow, +and clove the water with as clean and pretty a dive as one could wish +to see.</p> + +<p>Coming to the surface, puffing and blowing, he found himself entwined +in a pair of strong arms that he discovered a moment later belonged to +Rooster.</p> + +<p>Then ensued a hilarious, aquatic wrestling match, in which each of them +swallowed a good deal of water.</p> + +<p>Bill stood on the end of the dock, rooting now for one, now for the +other of his guests, until in the excitement he lost his balance and +fell among them throwing the combatants into temporary confusion.</p> + +<p>"He's busting up the fight!" gurgled Rooster. "Let's put him under."</p> + +<p>And so, as often happens to the innocent bystander, Bill was set upon +by both Garry and Rooster and finally was forced to duck and swim some +distance under water to elude his tormentors.</p> + +<p>"You had to run," called out Garry gleefully, and Bill shook a wet fist +at him.</p> + +<p>"I didn't run, I swam," he returned, grinning. "I can lick you one at a +time, but two together are too many for me."</p> + +<p>Ted Dillingham and Nick Danter had by this time come in with a splash, +but they had scarcely touched the water when Garry's muscles suddenly +became taut and he stared at an object out on the lake.</p> + +<p>"Look at that motorboat!" he cried, as the other boys followed the +direction of his gaze. "Must be going fifty miles an hour."</p> + +<p>"Some fool driving," remarked Bill carelessly.</p> + +<p>"I'll say that he's a fool!" cried Garry excitedly. "Look, fellows, +he's heading straight for those rocks on the south shore!"</p> + +<p>It was a moment before the other lads took in the seriousness of the +situation.</p> + +<p>Then with a yell Bill Sherwood started swimming for the dock.</p> + +<p>Garry guessed his intention, and reached there at the same moment, the +other boys close behind their comrades.</p> + +<p>Bill jumped into his own eccentric motorboat, Garry tumbling in after +him. By the time he had loosened the rope that tied the boat to the +dock all five were on board.</p> + +<p>For once the engine worked without protest. Bill, who was a master hand +at working the craft urged the cranky motor to its limit and headed the +nose of the boat toward the south shore.</p> + +<p>The drivers of the strange motorboat were steering crazily, and those +in the small craft who found themselves in the way turned tail and +scuttled for cover.</p> + +<p>"Why don't they turn out?" exclaimed Garry, in a frenzy of anxiety. +"Are they blind? Can't they see that they're heading right for the +rocks?"</p> + +<p>"They're either idiots or they don't know how to run a boat," muttered +Bill, as he bent himself to the task of getting out of his engine all +the speed possible.</p> + +<p>"Or else they've lost their heads and are too scared to try to steer at +all," commented Rooster. "Gee, but that was a close shave!" he added, +as the strange craft barely missed running down a canoe.</p> + +<p>Bill's boat was now whizzing along like a comet, and the distance +between it and the other craft was rapidly diminishing. The boys could +now see quite clearly the inmates of the runaway vessel.</p> + +<p>There were but two of them, boys apparently of about the age of Garry +and his chums, and they seemed to be arguing about the possession of +the wheel.</p> + +<p>Garry made a megaphone of his hands and shouted:</p> + +<p>"Turn out! You're heading for the rocks. Turn out!"</p> + +<p>Even as he spoke there came a flash of fire, a sharp report, and the +motorboat crashed against the rocks!</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_II">CHAPTER II</h2> +</div> + +<h3><span class="smcap">A Gallant Rescue</span></h3> + + +<p>The occupants of the ill-fated craft were thrown clear of it just as +the wreck broke into a mass of flames.</p> + +<p>"They went down over there, Bill!" cried Garry, pointing to the spot +where the strangers had disappeared. "Better slow down and I'll dive +for them."</p> + +<p>"I'm with you," declared Rooster, who was almost as expert a swimmer as +Garry Grayson.</p> + +<p>Bill nodded and brought the boat sharply about. Garry poised on the +edge of the deck for a moment and then dived into the transparent +water, closely followed by Rooster Long.</p> + +<p>As Garry came up he saw one of the victims of the wreck struggling in +the water and trying to keep his head above the surface.</p> + +<p>The owner of the head was evidently in a frenzy of fear.</p> + +<p>"Save me! Help! I'm drowning!"</p> + +<p>The words came in sputtering yelps, and Garry struck out for the +imperiled youth. In a moment he was at the boy's side.</p> + +<p>"Put your hand on my shoulder," he directed. "Easy now. You're all +right. We've got a boat right here."</p> + +<p>What was Garry's surprise to feel the arms of the other boy close about +him in a grip that seemed to be made of steel!</p> + +<p>Garry's arms were pinioned close to his sides. He was powerless to +make a move to save either himself or the fear-crazed lad who seemed +determined to drown them both.</p> + +<p>Garry heard a cry from Bill Sherwood and knew by the sound that the +motorboat was being turned around and headed toward the spot where +he struggled vainly to rid himself of that iron clutch around his +shoulders.</p> + +<p>Garry Grayson had been born and brought up in the thriving town of +Lenox, a place of about fifteen thousand inhabitants, situated on the +Sheldon River about two miles from Bass Lake. He was now about thirteen +years old, a frank, likable, courageous boy, a leader in the sports of +his age, and extremely popular with his mates.</p> + +<p>His father was Joseph Grayson, a prominent lawyer of the town and +active in its civic life. His mother was a refined, gracious woman, +to whom her son was devoted. Garry had a twin sister, Ella, a pretty, +merry girl, who teased her brother unmercifully, though in fact she +was very fond and proud of him.</p> + +<p>Among Garry's closest friends were Ted Dillingham and Nick Danter, +whose fathers were partners in the largest department store in town. +Others with whom he was on the most friendly terms included Tom Long, +otherwise Rooster, and Bill Sherwood. All of them had been on the +football team of the Hill Street grammar school, which had won the +championship from similar schools in the town, and their enthusiasm +for the game had still further cemented their friendship. Now they had +graduated from the intermediate school and were preparing to enter the +Lenox high school in the fall.</p> + +<p>They had found the road to the championship no easy one. There had +been traitors in their own school who had done their best to have Hill +Street lose. Chief among these had been Chatwood Johns and Bud Warding +who were disgruntled and envious because they had been put off the +scrub team for playing dirty football. There was, too, another enemy, +Sandy Podder, a vicious, dissipated pupil of the Lenox high school, who +had caused Garry and his chums no end of trouble.</p> + +<p>How Garry Grayson and his teammates overcame all obstacles; how, with +the aid of a gypsy girl, they exposed a mystifying conspiracy—these +and other exciting incidents are narrated in the first volume of this +series, entitled: "Garry Grayson's Hill Street Eleven; or, The Football +Boys of Lenox."</p> + +<p>And now to return to Garry in his desperate plight as he was seeking +to rescue the boy who had been thrown into the lake from the wrecked +motorboat.</p> + +<p>As the water closed over Garry's head he put all his strength into a +straining, outward movement of his imprisoned arms. He felt the grip of +his companion relax a little. He tried again with still better results. +He kicked downward desperately with his feet to bring them both to the +surface for the air his lungs demanded. He felt the grip of the other +boy definitely relax. The latter had either fainted from fright or had +drawn so much water into his lungs as to become unconscious.</p> + +<p>With a feeling of immense thankfulness, Garry drew his arms free, +seized the boy by the hair and brought him to the surface.</p> + +<p>Garry was terribly weak himself by this time from muscular and mental +strain. He gulped in the air, the while treading water. He shifted his +grip to the strange boy's shoulders, keeping his head well above the +surface.</p> + +<p>"Safe, old boy? I was beginning to get mighty scared."</p> + +<p>It was Bill Sherwood's voice, and, looking up, Garry saw the motorboat +looming above him.</p> + +<p>"Take this fellow, will you, Bill?" he gasped. "I'm all in."</p> + +<p>It was the work of a moment for the boys in the boat to relieve Garry +of his unconscious burden, then reach a hand to their chum and help him +scramble over the side of the boat.</p> + +<p>Rooster had reached the dripping deck only a moment before with the +second inmate of the wrecked craft. He had had no such close call as +Garry, however, for the other lad, though temporarily dazed, could +himself swim and required only a little of Rooster's assistance.</p> + +<p>The second boy shook the water from his clothes and regarded his +unconscious friend without much concern.</p> + +<p>"Seems pretty well done up," he remarked unemotionally. "Seems as +though he'd tried to get the whole lake down his windpipe."</p> + +<p>"He has got a good part of it, and it's up to us to get it out of him +in a hurry," replied Bill. "Pitch in, you fellows, and take turns in +doing as I do."</p> + +<p>Bill Sherwood knelt down by the side of the pallid-faced youth and, +with the help of some of his comrades, began to work the unconscious +lad's arms over his head and back again and apply other first aid +principles with which they were all familiar.</p> + +<p>The wreck of the motorboat had been witnessed by many others on the +lake, and various craft gathered quickly at the scene of the disaster, +some from mere curiosity, others with a laudable desire to extend help, +should help be needed.</p> + +<p>Some of them were of service in extinguishing the flames of the wrecked +vessel before it was wholly destroyed. Most of the upper part was +burned, but there was still enough of the hull left to warrant the +belief that the boat might be rebuilt.</p> + +<p>One boat that swung alongside happened to have a doctor aboard.</p> + +<p>"Can I be of any help?" the doctor called out.</p> + +<p>"You might come aboard and take a look at him, though I think he's +coming to all right," replied Garry.</p> + +<p>"Right you are," pronounced the doctor, after a brief examination. +"He's opening his eyes now. Luckily, he missed the rocks and only hit +the water. And you fellows have done a good job in getting that out of +him. All he needs is rest, but it will be just as well to get him home +as soon as possible."</p> + +<p>"We'll do that," promised Bill, and with a friendly wave of his hand to +the doctor stepped again into his own boat and departed.</p> + +<p>The prostrate lad opened his eyes and looked around with a frown on his +face. He did not speak, nor did the Lenox boys urge him to, but waited +for him to get his strength back.</p> + +<p>The other lad from the wrecked craft had watched their efforts with +more or less interest, but had not volunteered to take part in them. +There was evidently no love lost between him and his companion.</p> + +<p>There had been a gleam of recognition in Bill's eyes when the less +injured lad had scrambled on board, and now that Bill had a moment of +respite he introduced the newcomer to his companions.</p> + +<p>"This is Jerry Cox, fellows," Bill said informally. "My brother Frank +knows him. Jerry, let me introduce Garry Grayson, Rooster Long, Ted +Dillingham and Nick Danter. Perhaps you know some of them already."</p> + +<p>"Only by name," returned Jerry Cox, as he seated himself on a box near +by with a cheerful grin on his face. "Garry Grayson sure led a wicked +team for Hill Street last year and Rooster Long did some classy work as +back. Gee, I wish I could play the kind of football you fellows put up!"</p> + +<p>Both Garry and Rooster warmed to the genuine enthusiasm of their +new acquaintance. Here was a football fan like themselves. Garry +wondered at the dislike that was evident in Bill's tone as he made the +introductions, and made a mental note that he would ask him about it +the first time he had an opportunity.</p> + +<p>"I should think you would be satisfied with your own special game," +Bill said now in the same cold, unfriendly tone. "I hear from Frank +that you play a wicked game of pool."</p> + +<p>"Wicked is right," agreed Jerry amiably. "I don't need much advice when +I have a cue in my hand."</p> + +<p>They were interrupted by a fretful voice.</p> + +<p>"Why are you keeping me out here?" queried Jerry's companion. "Why +don't you take me to shore?"</p> + +<p>"We'll do that in a jiffy," responded Bill, with a cheerful grin. "I +guess this old bus can get us that far."</p> + +<p>The eyes of the rescued boy turned toward him, and the frown on his +face deepened.</p> + +<p>Garry and his chums had a chance to study that face now, and what they +saw did not appeal to them. It was a good-looking face in a rather weak +way, but the forehead looked as though it had the habit of scowling +and the mouth had a peevish, downward droop that seemed to indicate an +habitually sullen state of mind.</p> + +<p>The uninvited guest proceeded to act in such a way as to leave little +doubt in his auditors' minds that they had judged correctly.</p> + +<p>"Take it easy," counseled Garry, as he put his arm beneath the other's +shoulder. "Better rest until you get your breath and feel stronger."</p> + +<p>The young fellow brushed away Garry's arm impatiently, and after a +brief struggle managed to lift himself to a sitting posture. His sullen +eyes swept the lake.</p> + +<p>"Where's my motorboat?" he asked sharply.</p> + +<p>"Gone, Lent," Jerry answered, with an airy snap of his fingers. "Burned +up."</p> + +<p>"Burned up?" said the other boy, looking incredulously at Jerry. "Why, +the boat was brand new! I just bought it. Burned up! I don't believe +it!"</p> + +<p>"I don't suppose it makes much difference whether you believe it or +not," Jerry replied. "There's a fragment of it left, as you can see by +looking on the other side. Maybe it can be rebuilt and maybe not. For +myself, I should say it wasn't worth towing home. Sorry, but you can't +get away from facts."</p> + +<p>Garry, who had been listening to the dialogue with interest, now spoke.</p> + +<p>"Your boat struck a rock and something exploded," he explained. "We saw +that you were in trouble and came as quickly as we could. But the boat +burned fast, and, as your friend says, there isn't much of it left."</p> + +<p>"Grayson seems to have left out the most important part of it," Jerry +put in at this point. "He saved your life, Lent, which ought to mean +at least as much to you as the loss of your motorboat."</p> + +<p>He spoke with a touch of irony which seemed to be lost altogether on +his companion.</p> + +<p>The boy addressed as Lent looked at Garry with a gleam of interest for +a moment.</p> + +<p>"You're the Grayson that played quarterback on the Hill Street eleven +last year, are you? You made me lose a lot of money that I bet on the +Webster Street team."</p> + +<p>It was a queer way of expressing gratitude, and Garry was irritated for +a moment.</p> + +<p>"You ought to have used better judgment in picking the team to bet on," +he answered curtly.</p> + +<p>But Lent Stewart was not listening. He dragged himself to his feet and, +steadying himself, gripped the rail and stared out frowningly over the +water.</p> + +<p>Then he turned savagely on Jerry Cox, ignoring the other boys.</p> + +<p>"If my new motorboat's wrecked it's all your fault, Jerry Cox!" he +snarled. "If you hadn't grabbed my arm, I'd have steered clear of the +rocks all right."</p> + +<p>"Yes, you would!" jeered Jerry. "If I hadn't done my best to stop your +crazy piloting, we'd have been at the bottom long before. I warned you +that you were going straight into danger, but you wouldn't listen. You +always think you know it all."</p> + +<p>"It would be queer if I didn't know more about a boat than you do," +retorted his companion. "You as much as wrecked that new boat, and you +ought to pay for it."</p> + +<p>"Watch me," returned Jerry derisively, and there followed what promised +to be a long drawn out and acrimonious dispute had not Garry intervened.</p> + +<p>"Let's take these boys where they want to go and get back to the house, +Bill," he suggested, a glint in his eye. "I'm hungry, and something +tells me that I'm going to be hungrier soon. You wouldn't let me die of +starvation, would you?"</p> + +<p>Bill looked uncertainly at Garry and the others, opened his mouth as +though to speak, then shut it again with a look of determination and +turned his attention to his engine.</p> + +<p>Big Bill was hospitable, as were his father and mother. The obvious and +natural thing for him to do under the circumstances would have been to +ask the derelicts up to his house, which was not far away, give them +dry clothes of some sort, invite them to partake of an early supper, +and then send them home in the family car.</p> + +<p>Nine times out of ten he would have acted in just that way. But this +time he conquered his instinct toward hospitality without apparent +effort. Looking at Jerry Cox and Lent Stewart with an expressionless +face, he said in a cold voice that caused his chums to look at each +other with inquiring glances:</p> + +<p>"If you'll tell me where you want to go, I'll see that you get there as +soon as possible."</p> + +<p>"We came from Lenox," Lent Stewart answered, sullenly enough. "I have a +boathouse there and I can get a change of clothes. My father is rich, +and he'll see that you get a—"</p> + +<p>He was evidently going to add "reward," but the color that came into +Garry's face and the flash that came from his eyes daunted him, and he +murmured something that was unintelligible.</p> + +<p>"I guess I can get you there all right," said Bill, as he coaxed the +engine into life. "It's all up to the old tub. We'll hope she's in a +good humor."</p> + +<p>It appeared that the "old tub" was in exceptionally good humor; so they +made the two-mile trip up the Sheldon river in excellent time. Bill had +fastened the hull of the wrecked boat to his own craft with a rope and +pulled it along after him.</p> + +<p>Lent Stewart's evil humor persisted throughout the trip. Not a word of +thanks came from his lips. He sat sullenly, looking gloweringly at the +wreck of his boat, varied only by the ugly glances he cast at Jerry.</p> + +<p>When they reached the boathouse landing, Stewart stepped off, and with +a mumbled word that might have been interpreted as reluctant thanks, +directed to no one in particular, made for the boathouse. Jerry, on the +contrary, thanked the other lads heartily. Then he turned to go to the +boathouse, only to be stopped by Stewart.</p> + +<p>"You clear out of this!" he growled. "You wrecked my boat and I don't +want anything more to do with you."</p> + +<p>"All right, you doughhead, that suits me," retorted Jerry Cox, and +strode off to the shore, whistling, with his hands in his pockets.</p> + +<p>Garry and his friends, who had not yet gotten out of earshot, heard the +interchange and grinned. They had all of them taken a strong dislike to +Lent Stewart. They heartily hoped that they would never see him again.</p> + +<p>On the contrary, they rather liked Jerry Cox. He was a cheerful young +fellow, so different from Stewart that they wondered what had brought +them together.</p> + +<p>"Cute little sunshine, that Lent Stewart," chuckled Garry, as the +cranky little motorboat widened the distance from the dock. "He ought +to be a pal of Sandy Podder's. Probably each of them could give the +other points on how to make himself a general nuisance."</p> + +<p>Rooster laughed.</p> + +<p>"I don't know about that," he said. "Sandy Podder's in a class by +himself. I liked that Jerry Cox, though," he added. "He seems to be a +good fellow."</p> + +<p>"Good fellow nothing!" grunted Bill, giving the wheel of the motorboat +a savage twist that turned it half about. "He's nothing but a +bum—that's what he is!"</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_III">CHAPTER III</h2> +</div> + +<h3><span class="smcap">The Muddy Football</span></h3> + + +<p>Such an outburst from good-natured Bill Sherwood was startling. His +companions looked at him with surprise. On the face of it, his wrath +against Jerry Cox seemed unfounded. This then was the explanation of +Bill's coldness and lack of hospitality.</p> + +<p>"What's the deep, dark secret, Bill?" asked Garry, voicing the desire +to know that all were feeling. "The way you talk about Jerry Cox would +make one think you were his best enemy."</p> + +<p>"I am," growled Bill.</p> + +<p>"What do you know against him?" queried Nick Danter.</p> + +<p>"I came to know about him through my brother Frank," replied Bill. +"Jerry Cox is one of that fast poolroom bunch. He hangs about Mooney's +place all the time with Sandy Podder, Lent Stewart and that gang. He +used to be all right before he got in with that lot. Now he's as bad as +the rest of them."</p> + +<p>"Well, I don't see that that's any of our funeral," put in Ted. "I'm +mighty sure I'm not losing any sleep over that poolroom bunch. As long +as we don't have to mix with 'em, why should we worry?"</p> + +<p>"It's all right for you fellows to talk," returned Bill moodily. "But +this Jerry Cox—"</p> + +<p>He broke off and looked frowningly straight ahead, while his comrades +regarded him curiously.</p> + +<p>"Well, he's a friend of my brother Frank's," Bill burst forth, "and +he's doing his best to keep Frank in with that rotten poolroom crowd. +Do you wonder that I'm sore at him?"</p> + +<p>"Not a bit, if that's the case," replied Garry promptly. "I'd feel the +same way myself. I'm sorry if Frank has got into that gang. Let's see, +Frank is a good deal older than you, isn't he?"</p> + +<p>"About five years," answered Bill. "He finished his course in the high +school last year, and now he's had a year in college. He'll be in the +sophomore class in the fall. He's planning, you know, to be a doctor."</p> + +<p>"I've heard it said he was a mighty smart scholar in the high," +remarked Ted.</p> + +<p>"So he was," replied Bill. "Walked away with most of the prizes. I wish +I were as good a scholar as he was. Used to love his books. But now +that he's got in with that gang he's neglecting his work and has fallen +'way behind in his studies. The folks have talked to him about it, but +it doesn't seem to do any good. As for me, he treats me like a kid."</p> + +<p>"It's too bad," said Nick sympathetically.</p> + +<p>"Take the time you fellows have been up here, for instance," continued +Bill. "How many times have you seen Frank at the bungalow?"</p> + +<p>"Just once," replied Garry thoughtfully. "And then he seemed in an +all-fired hurry to get back to town," he added.</p> + +<p>"Where does he stay at night in Lenox?" Booster asked.</p> + +<p>"Oh, at the house of one or other of the gang. Usually he pals with +Jerry Cox," Bill explained. "Do you wonder," he added, with another +vicious twist of the wheel, "that I could barely bring myself to be +decent to the fellow?"</p> + +<p>"It's enough to make any one sore," admitted Garry, who felt that +he knew now why Mr. and Mrs. Sherwood had often seemed so sad and +abstracted during the visit of the boys to the bungalow.</p> + +<p>They were entering Bass Lake now, almost at the place where Lent +Stewart's motorboat had met with disaster. They stared at the fatal +rock reminiscently.</p> + +<p>"It's a wonder that Lent Stewart wouldn't learn to pilot a motorboat +before he took it out for a spin," commented Ted. "The end sure came +fast and furious."</p> + +<p>"Shouldn't wonder if he had been drinking," remarked Nick. "I caught +sight of a bottle in the bottom of the boat."</p> + +<p>"Of course you can't blame him for feeling pretty sore," conceded +Garry. "It must be pretty tough to lose a new boat like that. It must +have cost a lot of money."</p> + +<p>"You can blame him for showing that he was sore, though," declared Bill +disgustedly. "The ungrateful goof never even thanked you for saving his +life, Garry."</p> + +<p>"I was thankful enough for saving my own life," returned Garry, and +then told them of the panic-stricken way in which Stewart had clutched +him and drawn them both under water.</p> + +<p>"Sounds just like him," Bill said contemptuously. "That whole poolroom +gang is rotten. That's why it makes me mad enough to bite nails to +think of Frank being in with them."</p> + +<p>All his friends sympathized heartily with Bill. Having come in contact +with that fast, dissipated crowd through Sandy Podder, who was one of +the bunch, they knew how worthless it was. They knew, too, that Bill +had always looked up to his older brother as a model of everything that +was intelligent and fine. There had been a strong bond between the two +lads. Small wonder that Bill had found it hard to be polite to Jerry +Cox!</p> + +<p>"Guess we'd better get over to the house and jump into our clothes," +remarked Bill after a silence. "Supper will be just about ready when we +get there."</p> + +<p>The boys agreed, and after making the motorboat fast to the dock +hurried to the house.</p> + +<p>That evening at the table the guests were able to read a new meaning +into Mrs. Sherwood's anxious glances toward the door and in the +conscious effort that Mr. Sherwood made to be companionable and +cheerful.</p> + +<p>"They are hoping Frank will come home to supper," thought Garry. "I +suppose he's having eats with some of the gang and planning a full +evening at the poolroom."</p> + +<p>Rooster, thinking on the subject, wondered how he could ever have felt +a liking for Jerry Cox.</p> + +<p>Two days later the visit at the bungalow came to an end.</p> + +<p>"Hate to leave, Bill," said Garry. "We've had a mighty slick time while +we've been here."</p> + +<p>The other boys expressed themselves in similar fashion.</p> + +<p>"I hate just as much to have you go," replied Bill. "But I sha'n't be +long behind you. The folks are going to close the bungalow earlier +this year than usual."</p> + +<p>He did not say why, but Garry surmised that this was because they +wanted to get back to town so as the better to keep their eye on Frank +and try to get him under control.</p> + +<p>With warm thanks to their host and hostess, the boys made their way +back to their homes at Lenox, hiking it by preference, though Mr. +Sherwood offered to send them in the car.</p> + +<p>At the corner of Maple and Cherry Streets, they met Dick Randolph and +Con Riley, who greeted them like long lost brothers.</p> + +<p>"You old deserters!" exclaimed Dick. "We thought you weren't coming +back till the first day of school."</p> + +<p>"We've been having some fine practice in that open lot back of your +house, Garry," said Con. "Dick's developed a great punt, and our +forward passing hasn't been so worse."</p> + +<p>"I'll have to get in with you," replied Garry. "My hands are itching +for the feel of the good old pigskin."</p> + +<p>As they reached the front of Garry's home, Mrs. Grayson came hurrying +out to meet her son. After a warm greeting to the wanderer, she turned +to his chums.</p> + +<p>"Come in with Garry, boys," she said smilingly. "Hannah's just putting +lunch on the table."</p> + +<p>The lads made some objections as a matter of form, but they did not +require much urging. Mrs. Grayson was used to having Garry's friends in +her house at all hours of the day and at any meal.</p> + +<p>She liked to have them, and it might be observed that Hannah, the maid, +though she often grumbled over the necessity of setting extra plates at +the table, always served the boys with the best there was and looked on +with beaming approval as the fruits of her labors disappeared.</p> + +<p>The boys' appetites were keen after their hike, and they did full +justice to the appetizing lunch spread before them. While they ate +they recurred to the ever fascinating topic of their chances to play +football at Lenox High during the coming fall.</p> + +<p>"You knew, of course; that Pete Maddern and Tom Allison were entering +high, didn't you?" Dick asked Garry.</p> + +<p>"Yes," replied Garry, as he passed his plate for a second piece of pie. +"I'm glad of it, too. They're both of them good fellows and mighty fine +football players."</p> + +<p>"I can see where we'll have some tall old scrambling to make the team," +said Dick lugubriously, "with three husky captains of grammar school +elevens fighting for a berth."</p> + +<p>"And none of 'em getting it," predicted Ted Dillingham.</p> + +<p>"Maybe. But meantime there's nothing to keep us from kicking the ball +around," said Garry cheerfully. "Who's with me? That is, if you fellows +are all through."</p> + +<p>"If we're not, we ought to be," laughed Rooster, pushing back his chair +after Mrs. Grayson had given the signal, an example followed by the +others. "Lead on, Garry. Get that pigskin. What we'll do to it will be +a sin and a shame."</p> + +<p>They ran around to the barn at the back of Garry's home, that had +been fitted up as a gymnasium, and there Garry possessed himself of +the football that had been given him on his last birthday and which, +despite rough usage, was still serviceable.</p> + +<p>"Make believe it doesn't feel good to get hold of this old football +again," he murmured, hugging the ball lovingly in the crook of his arm +as he trotted with the other boys to the open field back of the house. +"I wish some of the other fellows were here," he added. "We might get +in some good practice."</p> + +<p>As though in answer to his wish, a group of boys who had also played +on the Hill Street eleven appeared at that juncture, coming up Maple +Street.</p> + +<p>"There's Sizz Snider and Si Rowe!" yelled Rooster Long.</p> + +<p>"And Carl Zukor and Sloppy Hume," added Nick. "Hooray! Now we'll have +some fun."</p> + +<p>The other boys came running, and there were some jubilant greetings.</p> + +<p>"If Bill were here now, it would seem like old times!" exclaimed Ted.</p> + +<p>Garry nodded assent.</p> + +<p>"Almost a full eleven here now," he said. "Too bad that we haven't got +another team to play against. But we can get some good group practice +anyway at punting, kicking, and forward passing. We'll have five on +each side, and we'll try to play as hard as though we were in a regular +game."</p> + +<p>They divided up accordingly, with Garry's group in possession of the +ball.</p> + +<p>"Now, fellows, snap into it!" called Garry. "Let's see if you still +have some of your old stuff."</p> + +<p>He called out a signal, received the ball from Carl Zukor, who acted as +center, straightened with a swift movement, and threw the ball to Nick +Danter at right half.</p> + +<p>Nick turned and threw the ball to Ted, who legged it down the field at +a great rate amid the encouraging shouts of his comrades.</p> + +<p>He was downed at last by Dick Randolph, who made a rattling tackle.</p> + +<p>"Good for forty yards, I bet," sang out Rooster.</p> + +<p>"Easy enough to make a long run when there are not many in front of +you," laughed Garry. "Bring it back, Ted, and we'll try another."</p> + +<p>There had been a fairly heavy rain the night before, and the field was +slippery. Also there were small depressions here and there filled with +muddy water, into which a runner was apt to fall unless he watched his +step.</p> + +<p>One of these proved the undoing of Rooster after he in his turn had +received the ball and started to run. He had gone about fifteen yards +when his feet found one of those mud-filled pockets in the ground.</p> + +<p>Down he went in one grand splash, while his mates gathered round to +gibe at his downfall.</p> + +<p>The ball fell under him, and when Rooster struggled to his feet it was +hard to tell which was muddier, the ball or himself.</p> + +<p>"Is that what you call making a touchdown?" asked Dick Randolph, with a +grin.</p> + +<p>"Cock-a-doodle-doo!" crowed Ted.</p> + +<p>Rooster regarded his tormentors with a sour expression of countenance.</p> + +<p>"You're a great bunch, you are!" he grumbled. "The next one that grins +will get this pigskin right on the end of his nose. Now laugh that +off."</p> + +<p>Before this formidable threat the boys scattered, still jeering, though +at a safe distance from Rooster and his weapon.</p> + +<p>Garry, laughing, held out his hands.</p> + +<p>"Chuck it," he invited. "I'll give it a punt that will shake some of +the mud off of it."</p> + +<p>Rooster complied, and Garry received the ball gingerly, holding it at +either end with the palms of his hands only.</p> + +<p>Then he opened his hands. The ball dropped, met his foot squarely, and +went whizzing through the air.</p> + +<p>At the same moment a tall, thin, preoccupied gentleman turned from the +street into the lot.</p> + +<p>Ball and man came together with a plop.</p> + +<p>"Oof!" exclaimed the man explosively.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_IV">CHAPTER IV</h2> +</div> + +<h3><span class="smcap">An Awkward Encounter</span></h3> + + +<p>The tall thin gentleman had been struck squarely in the face.</p> + +<p>The shock and the hurt must have been considerable. But apart from +this, insult was added to injury by the mud on the ball that spattered +over the man's immaculate shirt front and vest.</p> + +<p>Garry, in dismay at what he had unintentionally done, ran swiftly +across the field in pursuit of the offending pigskin, intent upon +making his peace with the victim of the accident.</p> + +<p>Peace, however, was the last thing in the thoughts of the stranger, who +had taken out his handkerchief and was busily engaged in wiping the mud +from his face and clothes.</p> + +<p>He stared angrily at Garry when the boy approached, out of breath and +full of apologies.</p> + +<p>"I didn't see you coming," Garry panted, genuinely penitent. "I'm +awfully sorry, sir. I hope it didn't hurt you much. It was only an +accident."</p> + +<p>"Accident!" sneered the man in a voice trembling with rage. "Quite an +unfortunate accident, young man. You ought to be ashamed of yourself."</p> + +<p>"I'm dreadfully sorry," repeated Garry. "I wouldn't have done it for +the world!"</p> + +<p>"I suppose it was an accident, too," the stranger went on, as though +Garry had not spoken, "that you happen to be playing football in a +vacant lot close to a fairly populous thoroughfare. Any passerby is in +danger of being assaulted as I have been."</p> + +<p>Garry stared at the man helplessly, hardly knowing what answer to make +to the stilted, pedantic speech.</p> + +<p>"Perhaps you had better come into our house," the boy suggested, still +anxious to make amends. "You can wash there and have your clothes +cleaned."</p> + +<p>"I'm not in need of any suggestions from you," replied the man, giving +Garry a look out of his cold gray eyes that made the lad think of a +snake. "All you can do is to make me an abject apology."</p> + +<p>"I've already said that I am sorry," replied Garry, growing a bit red +in the face at the stranger's implacable tone, "and I am—<i>very</i> sorry."</p> + +<p>"People don't usually cross this lot," Nick broke in, coming to Garry's +relief; "and you came around that corner so suddenly that we didn't +see you till after the punt was made."</p> + +<p>"I was taking a short cut to Mr. Elliny's house," the man rejoined, +turning his cold gaze from Garry to Nick. "Not that I feel called on +to offer an explanation, since the lot was not fenced in," he added +loftily. "It's an outrage for you boys to practice with that filthy +football within the town limits," with a glance of distaste at his +muddy waistcoat. "I ought to report this affair to the authorities."</p> + +<p>With this the outraged stranger swept the group with an icy stare, +scowled fiercely at Garry, and continued on his way with a dignity that +refused to be marred by the consciousness that his immaculate clothes +had suffered sadly.</p> + +<p>Nick whistled softly.</p> + +<p>"Going to Mr. Elliny's house," he repeated thoughtfully. "Isn't Elliny +the head of the Board of Education?"</p> + +<p>"Great Scott! So he is," cried Garry, beginning to see whither Nick's +question led. "I bet that tall, thin guy is a teacher!"</p> + +<p>"Well, you did it that time, Garry!" crowed Rooster. "Sure, that old +boy is a teacher. You could tell it by the look of him."</p> + +<p>"By the look in his eyes he'll never forgive you, Garry," predicted +Nick. "You hurt his dignity."</p> + +<p>"Anyway you got some dirt off der ball," said Carl Zukor, who had not +yet shaken off his German accent.</p> + +<p>"Yeah. Think of that and cheer up, old boy," said elephantine Sloppy +Hume, clapping Garry on the shoulder. "It wasn't your fault, anyway. +Don't let it faze you."</p> + +<p>"Just the same, I'm mighty sorry it happened," replied Garry, as he +resumed his position in the field. "I don't suppose it's any fun to +have a muddy football smack into you. You can't blame the man for +feeling sore."</p> + +<p>"You can't blame him for being an old crab, either," said Nick +cheerfully. "But you don't exactly love him for it. If he'd been a +regular fellow, he'd have accepted your apology and let it go at that."</p> + +<p>"Well, come on, play ball," called Garry, and in a few moments practice +was in full swing again.</p> + +<p>But though he entered heartily into the sport, Garry could not shake +off a feeling of regret that the accident had occurred. There had been +a look of bitter animosity in the look the man had turned on him, and +he had a feeling that he would hear of the matter further.</p> + +<p>The afternoon wore on, and the boys were at length forced to call an +end to the practice. As they reluctantly dispersed to their homes Garry +carefully deposited his precious football in the barn "gym" and entered +the house.</p> + +<p>There he found that his mother had an errand for him that must be +attended to at once.</p> + +<p>Garry was muddy and hot and needed a bath badly. Nevertheless, he +started off without protest, thinking that perhaps he could work in a +shower when he returned.</p> + +<p>At the first corner, as luck would have it, he ran into his sister Ella +with two of her girl chums. One was Jane Danter, Nick Danter's pretty +sister, and the other an out-of-town girl whom Garry did not know.</p> + +<p>Since Ella rarely missed an opportunity to tease her brother, she could +not resist the opportunity his rather unkempt appearance gave her.</p> + +<p>"Garry Grayson! who's been throwing mud at you? Or have you been making +mud pies? Of all things! I shouldn't have recognized you if it weren't +for your walk. You look like something the cat dragged in."</p> + +<p>"Is zat so?" was the only retort Garry in his confusion was capable of +making. He felt it was not a very effective one, and his peace of mind +was not increased by the sound of the girls' giggles as he passed on +with what dignity he could muster.</p> + +<p>He realized ruefully that he ought to have taken a moment to wash +himself and brush off his clothes. Handling a muddy football during an +afternoon of hard practice was not conducive to a good appearance.</p> + +<p>"I sure look like a tramp," he thought to himself. "I suppose I'll run +into every one I know just because I've got mud all over me."</p> + +<p>The first person he saw when he entered the store on his mother's +errand was Sandy Podder, who looked Garry over disdainfully from head +to foot.</p> + +<p>After the first look that passed between them, Garry ignored Sandy and +stood with his back toward him while he waited for his order to be +filled.</p> + +<p>But Sandy was evidently in no mood to be ignored. He started a +conversation with the storekeeper in a loud tone that was clearly +intended to reach Garry's ears.</p> + +<p>"Lot of fellows I know entering Lenox High this fall," remarked Sandy.</p> + +<p>"That so?" inquired the storekeeper, without a great deal of interest.</p> + +<p>"Sure," continued Sandy. "Some crack football players too, from Webster +and Cherry Street schools."</p> + +<p>"Some from Hill Street too, if what I hear is true," remarked the man, +giving Garry a friendly wink.</p> + +<p>"Oh, that bunch! They think they're players, of course." Sandy Podder's +scorn was immense. "But they won't have a chance against such fellows +as Pete Maddern and Tom Allison. Those two are what I call real +football players."</p> + +<p>Thinking that Sandy had not recognized Garry as the former captain of +the Hill Street team, the well disposed storekeeper tried to give him a +hint.</p> + +<p>He pointed towards Garry's still averted back and said in a low tone:</p> + +<p>"Gently! Gently! That's Garry Grayson himself."</p> + +<p>"Well, what of it?" Sandy laughed and snapped his fingers flippantly. +"Do you think I'm afraid of him?"</p> + +<p>"You bet your life you are!" Garry whirled on him so swiftly that +Sandy, though much the bigger of the two, shrank back in alarm. "You +stow that kind of talk, Sandy Podder, if you know what's good for you."</p> + +<p>Sandy recovered himself enough to bluster:</p> + +<p>"Who's going to make me, I'd like to know?"</p> + +<p>Garry took a step forward, his eyes blazing. But here the storekeeper +intervened.</p> + +<p>"Easy, boys, easy," he admonished. "Don't let's have any trouble in +here."</p> + +<p>Garry drew back at the words and Sandy sneered openly, thinking that he +had an ally, if only a negative one.</p> + +<p>"You think you're going to make the team at Lenox High, I suppose," +continued the trouble-maker. "Well, let me tell you that you haven't +the ghost of a chance with Allison and Maddern in the field against +you."</p> + +<p>Garry was holding himself in with a great effort. When he spoke it was +in a deceptively quiet voice.</p> + +<p>"You seem to forget that as captain of the Hill Street team I've met +both Pete Maddern and Tom Allison—"</p> + +<p>"And licked them too," interposed the storekeeper, rubbing his hands +with enjoyment. "My boy was there at both those games, and he said they +were the prettiest he ever saw."</p> + +<p>"Just luck!" sneered Sandy again with that offensive snap of his +fingers. "I was there—and I know."</p> + +<p>"Oh, you know, do you?" Garry's voice was still calm, but there was +something in it that warned Sandy Podder he had gone too far. "Since +you know so much, perhaps you can tell me what became of that money +that Mr. Long gave you for your father and that your father never got?"</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_V">CHAPTER V</h2> +</div> + +<h3><span class="smcap">Consternation</span></h3> + + +<p>At the words that fell from Garry Grayson's lips Sandy Podder's face +became as white as ashes.</p> + +<p>"Now, now—" he stammered, all his aggressiveness gone. "Just let that +drop. I don't want to talk about that."</p> + +<p>"I thought not," replied Garry, with a touch of sarcasm. "Then if you +don't want me to spill the whole story, beat it out of here and keep +going. And more than that," he added, as Sandy turned hurriedly toward +the door, "if you try giving anybody else the same line of chatter +you've just handed me, I'll make Lenox a mighty uncomfortable place for +you. Just get that."</p> + +<p>The door slammed after Sandy Podder, and Garry turned toward the +grinning storekeeper.</p> + +<p>"I'll have that package now," he said, with an answering smile.</p> + +<p>"You sure handed that young whippersnapper a hot one that time," said +the man, as he pushed Garry's package across to him and received his +money in exchange. "I must say, I was glad to see you do it. That +fellow needs taking down a peg or two. But say," he lowered his voice +to a confidential murmur and leaned eagerly across the counter, "what +did you mean about that money and Sandy Podder's old man? You let out +just enough to make me interested."</p> + +<p>Garry shook his head, gathered the package under one arm, and turned to +go.</p> + +<p>"How do you know that I wasn't just working a bluff?" he answered.</p> + +<p>But after the door had closed behind the lad the storekeeper remained +in his place behind the counter for a long minute, perplexity written +on his face.</p> + +<p>"Bluffing, eh?" he repeated, half aloud. "Well, all I've got to say +'twas a pretty good bluff to make Sandy Podder turn white in the face +and hurry out of the shop as though a ghost was at his heels. Looks +like Sandy Podder had some trouble with his father about money and that +Garry Grayson knows about it. It's no wonder, the way he runs with that +poolroom crowd. No boy of mine could keep company with that bunch and +live under the same roof with me. That poolroom ought to be closed up, +and I'd like to be the one to do it."</p> + +<p>Meanwhile, Garry made his way homeward as quickly as he could.</p> + +<p>He was irritated by his encounter with Sandy Podder, and half angry +with himself because of the slip of the tongue that had almost revealed +the shameful facts concerning that young reprobate and the missing +three thousand dollars.</p> + +<p>Sandy had apparently gotten out of that scrape a good deal more easily +than he deserved. For a time after the occurrence he had seemed +subdued. But the improvement had lasted only a short time, and now he +was as bad—worse, some thought—as ever.</p> + +<p>"He hates us fellows for the part we took in showing him up," murmured +Garry to himself, "and now that we're entering the same high school +where he's been studying, he'll do his best to get even with us. Well, +let him try," with an unconscious clenching of the fists. "I guess +we'll be a match for him. We've beaten him before, and we can probably +do it again."</p> + +<p>It was not long before the great day came—great, at least, from +Garry's viewpoint—the day on which he was to enter Lenox High.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Grayson had spent a few days before the opening in shopping for +Garry and Ella, for the latter was to enter the high school on the same +day as her twin brother.</p> + +<p>There had been a spirited race during the years of grammar school +between the brother and sister.</p> + +<p>When Garry skipped from 3A to 4A, Ella had put on her working cap and +skipped also. When in the higher grades Ella made a brilliant spurt and +skipped again, Garry had urged himself to greater effort and in the +next grade caught up to her.</p> + +<p>Now, as they were about to step on a higher rung of the ladder of +learning, they were still side by side.</p> + +<p>As they faced each other over the breakfast table, Ella radiant with +excitement and bubbling over with good spirits, Garry a bit sheepish +and acutely conscious of the handsome new suit that had been bought for +him to celebrate the occasion, it would have been hard to find in the +whole of Lenox a more wholesome or promising pair of youngsters.</p> + +<p>At least Mrs. Grayson thought so, and it is safe to say that Mr. +Grayson agreed with her.</p> + +<p>"My, how spick and span my famous brother looks!" remarked Ella, as +she helped herself to some omelet and a crisp slice of bacon. "You and +Tom Allison and that good-looking Pete Maddern will have the spotlight +turned upon you to-day, I reckon. The girls call you the 'Three +Captains,' and there's a lot of interest as to which of you will make +the Lenox football team first."</p> + +<p>"So Tom and Maddern's boy are entering to-day too," observed Mr. +Grayson, eyeing his son thoughtfully. "They're fine fellows, both of +them."</p> + +<p>"I'll say they are," Garry rejoined heartily. "Off the gridiron I like +them first-rate. But on the field," he added, with a grin, "they're +just a couple of fellows to lick."</p> + +<p>"Well, go in and lick them, son," said Mr. Grayson, with a smile. +"They're a pair of sporting enemies, all right, and if you beat them, +it will be in a fair fight."</p> + +<p>"I've got more than Pete and Tom to lick, Dad," said Garry. "It's not +likely any of us freshmen will make the team. And it's going to be +pretty hard to stand on the outside and watch the regulars work."</p> + +<p>"Hard on your sporting instincts, but perhaps good for your +scholarship," returned Mr. Grayson. "There's just one thing I want to +say to you, Garry, before you start out this morning. This goes for you +too, Ella, since your mother tells me you are going to try to make the +girls' hockey team."</p> + +<p>Garry shot an inquiring glance at his sister, but Ella's merry eyes +were fixed demurely on her plate.</p> + +<p>"All during your work in grammar school," went on Mr. Grayson, "you +have been governed by the rule that your studies must come before +anything else. You've both done well and we're proud of you. Aren't we, +Sadie?"</p> + +<p>Mrs. Grayson nodded, smiling.</p> + +<p>"We haven't anything to complain of," she agreed.</p> + +<p>"And I just want you to remember," Mr. Grayson concluded his brief +lecture, "that the same rule holds good in high school. Studies first +and sports in what time you have left."</p> + +<p>"Sure thing, Dad," assented Garry. He had just caught a glimpse through +the window of Nick, Bill, Rooster, and Ted coming up the street. He +pushed back his chair hastily, for the boys had promised to call for +him. On his way to the door he paused for a moment at his father's +side. "That rule is a pretty strict one at Lenox High," he said. +"You've got to reach a certain mark in scholarship before you're even +eligible to try for a team. I say, El," he added, as he playfully +tweaked his sister's ear in passing, "what's this I hear about hockey?"</p> + +<p>Ella smiled, as she also pushed back her chair from the table.</p> + +<p>"You didn't think I was going to let my brother carry off all the +sporting honors of the family, did you?" she returned. Then she ran off +for her hat as Garry called a good-bye from the door and joined his +friends on the porch.</p> + +<p>"Gee, you sure look swell, Garry!" Rooster greeted him. "That is some +outfit."</p> + +<p>Ted staggered as though he were about to swoon.</p> + +<p>"Hold me up," he pleaded. "Am I seeing things?"</p> + +<p>"Cut it," commanded Garry, as he made a pass at Ted. "What are you +trying to do, pull a fight?"</p> + +<p>As they walked on toward the school, it was noticeable that Bill +Sherwood was unusually silent. When Garry finally commented on this, +Bill roused himself with an effort from his abstraction.</p> + +<p>"There was a row at home about Frank's going with that poolroom crowd," +he explained. "Gee, I wish I could find some way to sidetrack him! +They're sure a rough gang, and I never thought that a brother of mine +would be running around with them."</p> + +<p>"Oh, don't worry!" Rooster tried to cheer his chum up. "Frank will +tumble to them himself if you give him time. Just leave him alone till +he comes to his senses."</p> + +<p>"Yeah, that's just what I am doing," said Bill mournfully. "He won't +let me do anything else."</p> + +<p>The chums reached the grounds of the high school a short time later, +and found the campus already crowded with students. As the boys +mingled with these on their way to the building they caught sight of +Sandy Podder talking to Lent Stewart.</p> + +<p>As Sandy's eyes lighted on Garry, an angry look came into them. He said +something in a low voice to his companion, and then the boys saw him +slip off into the crowd.</p> + +<p>"Up to some dirty scheme, you can bet," said Rooster Long, with a +contemptuous twirl of his books. "That Sandy Podder sure has it in for +us."</p> + +<p>"And he was talking to Lent Stewart," remarked Garry thoughtfully. "The +two seem to be pals."</p> + +<p>"Thick as thieves. They're two of a kind, from all I've seen of them," +said Bill.</p> + +<p>They entered the big building now and looked about them with interest +as they proceeded down the corridor.</p> + +<p>The school was an old one, the ceilings high, the woodwork dark. But +despite the dingy aspect of the place there was an air of dignity, an +atmosphere of learning, that impressed the boys just admitted within +its portals.</p> + +<p>They passed an open door and had the temerity to look in.</p> + +<p>"Gee, that's an office!" breathed Ted, with a touch of awe.</p> + +<p>"Where they send the naughty freshmen, maybe," put in Nick Danter, with +a chuckle. "Bet you'll be the first to make it, Ted, at that."</p> + +<p>Ted's retort was cut short by an unexpected incident.</p> + +<p>They had reached the end of the corridor and were about to turn the +corner to the room assigned to them when Garry leaped back suddenly, +almost knocking over Rooster and Bill, who were directly behind him.</p> + +<p>A cup of dirty water thrown by an invisible hand had narrowly missed +landing squarely on the front of his new coat!</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_VI">CHAPTER VI</h2> +</div> + +<h3><span class="smcap">Facing the Bully</span></h3> + + +<p>Surprise on Garry Grayson's part was quickly followed by anger. Whoever +had thrown that cup of water had done it with deliberate and malicious +intent.</p> + +<p>While Nick, who had caught most of the water, was wiping it from his +sleeve, Garry leaped around the corner. There, as he had more than half +expected, he encountered the grinning face of Sandy Podder.</p> + +<p>Sandy was trying to slip into a room the door of which stood ajar. But +Garry was too quick for him and caught him by the shoulder.</p> + +<p>As Sandy wriggled out of the clutch a look of feigned innocence came +into his face.</p> + +<p>"Oh, hello!" he remarked, with an air of specious friendliness. "When +did you get here?"</p> + +<p>"You know as well as I do," replied Garry angrily. "What did you mean +by trying to throw that cup of dirty water over me?"</p> + +<p>"I?" replied Sandy, while in his furtive eyes lurked a grin of +enjoyment. "You must be crazy. I don't know what you're talking about."</p> + +<p>"Oh, don't you?"</p> + +<p>With a swift motion Garry bent forward, seized Podder's wrist and gave +it a sharp twist. With a cry of surprise and pain Sandy's fingers +unclosed and something tinkled on the floor of the corridor.</p> + +<p>Garry pounced upon it and picked it up. The object was a collapsible +tin cup that can be folded in a small compass and put in the pocket for +convenience' sake.</p> + +<p>Garry held out the cup, contempt on his face.</p> + +<p>"Didn't know anything about it?" he said. "With this cup hidden in your +hand and still wet from the water you tried to throw on me!"</p> + +<p>"I tell you I didn't try to throw water on you," reiterated Sandy, a +little of his assurance gone.</p> + +<p>A crowd of boys had gathered, sensing a quarrel, hoping probably, +boylike, for a real fight.</p> + +<p>Nick Danter nudged Garry's arm.</p> + +<p>"Don't start anything, Garry," he urged in an undertone. "This isn't +the place or time."</p> + +<p>Garry appeared not to have heard him. He unfolded the collapsible cup +until it had assumed its full shape and size. There were a few drops of +water still clinging to it.</p> + +<p>"Give me that cup," demanded Sandy, beginning to bluster. "You're +altogether too fresh. Give me back my property."</p> + +<p>Garry looked at the few drops of water in the bottom of the cup. These +he tossed coolly into the flaming face of Sandy Podder, while some of +the boys in the fast-increasing throng laughed gleefully.</p> + +<p>"Say you—you four-flusher," cried Sandy, fairly stuttering with wrath. +"You give me back my cup or I'll—I'll—"</p> + +<p>"Yes," replied Garry, stepping forward to meet him, hands clenched. +"Just what will you do?"</p> + +<p>Bill Sherwood came up to Garry and whispered in his ear:</p> + +<p>"Don't spoil your entrance, Garry. There's nothing Sandy Podder would +like better than to see you get in Dutch with the faculty."</p> + +<p>Garry nodded. Crushing the cup in his hand he flung it at the feet of +its owner.</p> + +<p>"There's your cup," he said curtly.</p> + +<p>Leaving the red-faced Podder to pick up the cup sheepishly, to the +amusement of the spectators, Garry and his friends hurried down the +corridor toward what they had been told would be their classroom.</p> + +<p>Luckily, the numbers were clearly marked on the doors. They found their +number, seventeen, without difficulty and slipped inside.</p> + +<p>They were none too soon, for as Garry cast a glance behind he saw one +of the teachers approach the group around Sandy Podder, inquiry in his +eye.</p> + +<p>"Gee, I'm glad you're well out of that, Garry!" said Rooster, with a +sigh of relief. "It would be a bad thing to get into a fight your first +day in the high school."</p> + +<p>"Podder may peach, anyhow," Garry pointed out, but Bill Sherwood +scoffed at this.</p> + +<p>"Not much! There are too many witnesses to testify that he started the +row. He'll want to keep his own skirts clean."</p> + +<p>"Besides, his own part in it wasn't over-heroic," chuckled Rooster. +"He'd hardly want to brag about it."</p> + +<p>"You sure got him mad when you chucked those drops of water at him," +grinned Ted. "I wanted to crow."</p> + +<p>"The low coward!" exclaimed Garry, his hands clenching again at the +memory. "I suppose that's the kind of thing we've got to look out for +now. But if Sandy Podder's looking for trouble, he'll get all he wants! +I can tell him that."</p> + +<p>"He got some this morning," replied the grinning Nick. "Cheer up, +Garry. You handed that sneak one bitter dose of medicine, judging from +the look on his face when he gulped it down."</p> + +<p>Some more of their classmates were coming in then, and as the time for +the opening exercises was almost at hand they had no time for further +conversation.</p> + +<p>Now that Garry had somewhat cooled down, he was glad that he had +listened to Bill's warning and not let his anger run away with +him. There would be other ways of dealing with the fellow and more +appropriate places for that purpose.</p> + +<p>The principal of the school, Mr. Allen, gave the students a little talk +in the assembly room before they scattered to their respective classes. +It was a genial, kindly talk, and the new boys, as Bill later expressed +it, "cottoned to him at once." He emphasized the necessity for hard +study and the rewards that might be expected to come from it. Then +he touched on the sports of the school, with which he was in hearty +sympathy, though he warned them that scholarship must come first and +that none would be allowed on any of the school teams whose work was +not satisfactory to their teachers.</p> + +<p>In the absorbing round of new classes, new subjects, and new teachers, +Garry soon forgot all about Sandy Podder.</p> + +<p>Not much work was expected of any one on that first day. It was more a +matter of becoming acquainted with classmates and instructors, learning +the rules, and the giving out of the books for the various studies of +the term.</p> + +<p>It was the first period of the afternoon that brought a surprise to +Garry Grayson. It was not a pleasant surprise, and served, together +with the scrap with Sandy in the morning, to shadow considerably his +first day in school.</p> + +<p>As Garry entered the classroom devoted to the study of English +literature with the rest of his classmates, the tall, thin figure +at the desk impressed him as being in some way familiar, and as the +teacher turned his face toward the entering pupils Garry received a +distinct shock.</p> + +<p>The face belonged to the stranger whose immaculate clothing Garry had +soiled with the muddy football on that unfortunate day of practice!</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_VII">CHAPTER VII</h2> +</div> + +<h3><span class="smcap">Trompet Shrugg</span></h3> + + +<p>The recognition appeared to be mutual. As the teacher's cold glance met +Garry's questioning one the eyes of the former hardened with a gleam of +antagonism.</p> + +<p>The interchange lasted only a second, but it was long enough to assure +Garry that it would be a difficult task to erase from the mind of +Trompet Shrugg, teacher of English, the memory of that muddy football +and the indignity to which the incident had subjected him.</p> + +<p>"I'm in Dutch, all right," the boy thought ruefully, as he took a seat +between Nick Danter and Bill Sherwood. "That old boy looked as though +he could hold a grudge forever. Just my luck that I have to be under +him during my first term in Lenox High!"</p> + +<p>Garry glanced at Nick and noticed that he, too, was eyeing the teacher +with interest. Evidently Nick remembered that fateful day in the lot +and was connecting the instructor with the tall, stiff man who had been +on his way to "Mr. Elliny's house."</p> + +<p>Catching Garry's glance, Nick winked dolefully, while his lips framed +the words: "Tough luck."</p> + +<p>Garry nodded and would have telegraphed an answer, had not a peculiar +expression in the eyes of his chum warned him to watch the teacher.</p> + +<p>Glancing toward the desk, Garry found the eyes of Trompet Shrugg fixed +upon him in a disapproving stare. Garry met the stare steadily though +respectfully, and in a moment the English teacher turned away to speak +to one of the other boys.</p> + +<p>"All set to pick on me," said Garry to himself resentfully. "He seems +to think I kicked the pigskin at him on purpose. It begins to look as +though I'd have to watch my step while I'm in this class, anyway."</p> + +<p>The English period dragged interminably, with Professor Shrugg +addressing the boys in his painfully precise English, outlining the +course for the term, and declaring in no uncertain manner what would be +expected of the boys in his classes.</p> + +<p>There was a sigh of genuine relief when the bell sounded through the +hall announcing the end of that period and the commencement of the next.</p> + +<p>When finally the work of the day was over and the boys were strapping +their new books together, his chums expressed their solicitude over +the outlook for Garry.</p> + +<p>"Gee, Garry, that sure is hard luck about old Shrugg," condoled Ted +Dillingham.</p> + +<p>"It is, for a fact," agreed Garry. "That old boy has it in for me, all +right. I could tell it by the way he looked at me."</p> + +<p>"I see where you'll have to be a model for all the rest of us +roughnecks," grinned Nick. "You will have to be so very, very good that +Shrugg will stop suspecting you of secret plots against his health and +happiness."</p> + +<p>"And shirt front," added Rooster. "I guess from the look of him, we'll +all have to walk as though we were treading on eggs. That guy has an +eye like a snake's."</p> + +<p>"I bet he'll be about as popular as one, too," predicted Bill.</p> + +<p>The prophecy proved to be not far from the truth. Trompet Shrugg was +a scholar, a highly educated man. But to his students he was stern, +abrupt, sometimes insultingly sarcastic.</p> + +<p>A large part of this sarcasm was directed at Garry in the days that +followed. But the more Shrugg picked on him, the greater was Garry's +popularity among his schoolmates. Nick and Rooster had been careful +to circulate the story of the muddy football and the martinet of a +teacher. This delighted the boys and made Garry into something of a +hero, while much secret fun was poked at the stiff, pedantic Trompet +Shrugg.</p> + +<p>Garry, however, found nothing amusing in the dislike the teacher of +English had for him. He was subjected almost daily to numerous small +slights and subtle bits of sarcasm, which he found it difficult to +laugh off. He knew himself constantly watched, and his very eagerness +to make no mistakes sometimes tripped him up.</p> + +<p>Garry had his worries outside the classroom as well as in. After the +run-in between him and Sandy Podder the latter's enmity against the +former captain of the Hill Street eleven grew, if possible, still more +active.</p> + +<p>Podder and his cronies lost no opportunity to annoy and exasperate the +lad. Sly winks and sneering glances passed between them when Garry was +present, though their respect for his courage and strength prevented +them from deliberately provoking him to hostilities.</p> + +<p>Strangely enough, Lent Stewart, the constant companion of Sandy during +those first days at school, seemed to share the latter's enmity for +Garry.</p> + +<p>"Though the only thing you ever did to that chump was to save his +life," Ted said one day when they had chanced to overhear an insulting +remark of Lent Stewart's directed covertly at Garry. "That's a fine +thing to hold a grudge about."</p> + +<p>Things were very much in the same state when about a week later Garry +and his friends entered the hall of the school to find an excited crowd +about the bulletin board.</p> + +<p>"Something's up!" cried Garry. "Let's have a look!"</p> + +<p>As he and his friends pushed forward, some of those nearest stepped +back so that the newcomers could have a good look at the board.</p> + +<p>At the same moment that Garry recognized Sandy Podder and Lent Stewart +in the crowd he came face to face with quite another type of boy, Pete +Maddern, the former captain of the Cherry Street football team.</p> + +<p>"Hello, Grayson!" Pete greeted Garry in a hearty voice. "Here's good +news. First call for the gridiron."</p> + +<p>Garry's heart leaped and enthusiasm showed in his tone as he answered +his "friendly enemy" in the same spirit.</p> + +<p>"Something doing at last, is there?" he said. "Suppose you're going to +try for the team?"</p> + +<p>"Am I? You bet!"</p> + +<p>"And it's a team worth trying for, I tell you," came another voice.</p> + +<p>Garry turned to see Tom Allison at his elbow.</p> + +<p>Many who had witnessed the redhot games between the three grammar +schools during the previous season watched the reunion of the trio with +interest.</p> + +<p>It was evident from their faces that these boys who had been deadly +enemies on the gridiron, striving against each other with all that was +in them, were the best of friends now that they were off the field, +each admiring the good qualities of the others.</p> + +<p>The worth-while boys in the group about the bulletin board that day +recognized good sportsmanship when they saw it, and the popularity of +the three, already marked, grew in consequence.</p> + +<p>"Lenox has always stood well," Garry said, in answer to Tom's +observation. "It's up to the boys this year to get the championship +back again."</p> + +<p>Garry referred to the fact that the year before Lenox High had lost the +championship in the league of six high schools which for the two years +preceding that it had held against all comers. Naturally, all Lenoxites +were eager to wipe out the loss of the year before by a smashing +victory during the present season. So at Garry's words there was an +eager murmur of assent from the boys and cries of:</p> + +<p>"That's the stuff!"</p> + +<p>"Lenox forever!"</p> + +<p>"We'll rip the league wide open this fall!"</p> + +<p>Then from the outside of the crowd came Sandy Podder's sneering voice:</p> + +<p>"Sounds fine. Grayson's got it all mapped out. Now that he's here, +Lenox is all right."</p> + +<p>An angry murmur arose, and Pete Maddern swung on his heel and regarded +the speaker coldly.</p> + +<p>"Say, you'd better sing small, Sandy Podder," he said. "What have you +ever done for football, I'd like to know? When you've captained a +champion team like Grayson here you can begin to talk."</p> + +<p>There was a laugh at Sandy's expense. As Garry walked off with Tom +Allison, Pete Maddern and his other and older friends, eagerly +discussing the prospects of the team, Podder turned with a scowl to +Lent Stewart.</p> + +<p>"Let's get out of here," he growled. "That Garry Grayson's got a worse +swelled head than ever. He makes me sick. The whole bunch of 'em make +me sick. I don't see why they want to let freshmen on the team, anyhow. +Colleges don't do it."</p> + +<p>"Don't worry," replied his companion. "Wait till Grayson tries to +make the team—Allison and Maddern too, for that matter. They'll find +they're up against a mighty tough undertaking. Kicking the pigskin on a +high school gridiron is a different thing entirely from grammar school +games. When they find that they can't make the team, maybe they'll be +the ones to sing small."</p> + +<p>"Let's hope they will," muttered Sandy, and grinned maliciously at the +thought.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile Garry and his friends had forgotten Sandy's outburst and his +consequent discomfiture in their excitement over the call for gridiron +recruits.</p> + +<p>Would they answer the call? Would a bee buzz?</p> + +<p>"See you this afternoon in the gym," Garry said, as Tom and Pete parted +from him in the hall.</p> + +<p>"Gee, how are we going to stick it out till two-thirty?" exclaimed Ted +Dillingham.</p> + +<p>"Anyway, we'll soon know the worst," remarked Nick.</p> + +<p>"Or the best," added Rooster, a little more optimistically.</p> + +<p>It looked at one time in the afternoon as though Garry would have to +"stick it out" a good deal longer than two-thirty. The trouble was in +Mr. Shrugg's class, as usual. Following his policy of hectoring Garry, +the teacher called him to book on the charge that he was skylarking +with the boys back of him, thus wasting the time that should have been +spent in writing a short essay.</p> + +<p>Possibly the teacher was honest enough in this case. He was +nearsighted, and may have failed to see that the trouble was with the +two boys seated directly behind Garry, who, in fact, was attending +strictly to business.</p> + +<p>If, however, it was persecution that prompted the teacher's action, it +failed of its object, for the two boys at fault at once shouldered the +blame and declared that Garry had taken no part in the disturbance. +Still Shrugg appeared to be, or really was, unconvinced. He was one of +the small minds that hate to confess to a mistake.</p> + +<p>"In that event," he said in his dry voice, "perhaps Grayson will read +to us the result of his concentrated effort. Come out to the front of +the room, if you please, so that we may hear you better."</p> + +<p>As Garry, red and wrathful, made his way to the front of the room he +saw the eyes of his friends fixed upon him sympathetically. If Shrugg +should think the composition not up to the mark—and he would seize +upon the slightest pretext for thinking so—then Garry would probably +be kept after school to write another and could not attend the meeting +of football candidates.</p> + +<p>No wonder the eyes of his chums followed him fearfully. No wonder, +either, that Garry's lips were set as he came to the front of the room +and met the satirical glance of the teacher.</p> + +<p>"Now read, if you please," directed the latter.</p> + +<p>Garry detected a gleam of pleasant anticipation in the fishy eyes fixed +upon him, and his resentment against the narrow-minded man grew hotter.</p> + +<p>It happened fortunately that the topic given out by Mr. Shrugg for +the essay was one that especially appealed to Garry. Always good in +English, with an ability to express his thoughts clearly and concisely, +the composition Garry read to the class that day under the supercilious +stare of the teacher was an example of the boy's best work.</p> + +<p>Even the boys were interested, and when Garry finished and looked at +the teacher there was an involuntary murmur of applause.</p> + +<p>There was the proof that Garry was not guilty of the fault of which +he had been accused. He could not have written so much in so short a +time and with such evident concentration on his subject if he had been +involved in the mischief-making imputed to him.</p> + +<p>Mr. Shrugg's comment was curt.</p> + +<p>"That will do, Grayson. You can return to your seat."</p> + +<p>Not a word of appreciation of the really excellent work! Not a +generous admission that he had been wrong!</p> + +<p>Garry returned to his seat, glad that he had vindicated himself, but +more resentful than ever of the small-minded ways of his instructor.</p> + +<p>"Gee, Garry, that was a close call!" remarked Nick Danter at the end of +the period when the boys were in the hall passing from one classroom to +another.</p> + +<p>"Thought you were a goner that time for sure," put in Rooster.</p> + +<p>"But say, wasn't Shrugg sore? And wasn't that a classy spiel that Garry +gave us in his essay?" exclaimed Bill Sherwood, giving Garry a thump +between the shoulders. "I begin to think this young feller's wasting +his time on football. Ought to be an orator."</p> + +<p>Garry grinned cheerfully. His anger against Trompet Shrugg was +beginning to evaporate and he was beginning to appreciate more his +lucky escape from the pedantic tyrant.</p> + +<p>"Wouldn't be half so much fun," he said in response to Bill.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_VIII">CHAPTER VIII</h2> +</div> + +<h3><span class="smcap">On the Anxious Seat</span></h3> + + +<p>The clock seemed to lag dreadfully as the hands made their way to +two-thirty, but they got there at last, and then the eager Garry and +his chums made a dash for the gymnasium where they found that a large +number of their classmates had already gathered.</p> + +<p>The Lenox High first team had been rather severely crippled by the +graduation of some of its best players the preceding June. There were +several important positions to be filled, and the scrubs of last season +were on tiptoe as they figured their chances of selection.</p> + +<p>Greb, in the position of left half, had been one of the most reliable +ground gainers of the eleven. Now he was gone, together with several +other scarcely less important players.</p> + +<p>Both tackle positions would have to be filled, as well as that of right +end.</p> + +<p>Garry and his friends, following the fortunes of Lenox High in a +general way during the preceding fall, had heard rumors that the scrubs +were pressing the regulars hard. Some of the boys brought in from the +bench during tight games had done remarkably good work, as good, some +said, as the first string players themselves.</p> + +<p>But here was an unfortunate fact for Lenox. Graduation had taken toll +not only of some of the best regulars but of some of the finest players +on the scrubs as well, the boys who had worked their heads off in the +effort to secure places on the first team, only to leave school with +their ambitions ungratified.</p> + +<p>This, while hard for Lenox, was fortunate for the aspiring boys just +entering the high school and eager to make the eleven. Since so much +new material was needed, there was more chance for the freshmen than +would ordinarily have been the case.</p> + +<p>Still the captain, Ralph Wynn, was not particularly encouraging on +that point. While they were waiting for the coming of the coach, Wynn +talked to the would-be players on the subject that was of the intensest +interest to the freshmen at that moment.</p> + +<p>"Some of you fellows may be first-rate material to work with," he +said, addressing the freshmen, who had grouped themselves together as +though for moral support. "In fact, we know some of you are from your +records on the grammar school elevens. But of course," he added, just +as some of the freshmen were beginning to throw out their chests a +little, "the old players have the first call. That's only fair. It's +common sense too. In the first place, they have had more experience and +training. It takes some time to break in raw material to new rules and +methods and trick plays.</p> + +<p>"Then too, as a rule, the upper classmen are older and bigger and +heavier. They furnish more of the beef that is needed in hard games. +Lots of you boys are husky specimens, but you haven't filled out +as much as you will in a year or two. You'll all be pounds heavier +and inches taller next year, and therefore worth that much more to +the team. Of course, there are exceptions to every rule, and where +newcomers show themselves quick to learn," he added, as the coach +entered the gymnasium, "they have a chance. But it takes a pretty good +fellow to get on the team the first year."</p> + +<p>This was not particularly encouraging to Garry and his friends. Still +it left a loophole, and they looked with a gleam of hope at the coach +as he entered the room.</p> + +<p>The coach was a tall, rangy young man named Al Garwin. He had a sleepy +manner and a drawling voice, which the boys soon came to find were only +a cloak for the fiery energy he possessed. He was one that mixed praise +and blame with a liberal hand. He could raise a player to the heights +one moment and drop him to the depths the next with no more personal +feeling than if the subject had been a puppet pulled by a string.</p> + +<p>There was a sparkle in his half-closed eyes as he approached the boys, +regulars and aspirants, who looked at him with a touch of misgiving as +the arbiter of their fate.</p> + +<p>"Hello, fellows," he greeted. "Going to pull Lenox up to the +championship again this year?"</p> + +<p>There was a roar of assent that brought a smile to the lips of the +coach.</p> + +<p>"All right," he said. "Now let's see who's going to do it."</p> + +<p>A murmur of excitement ran through the group of aspirants. At last they +were to get a line on their chances.</p> + +<p>But this was not to come in a hurry. Coach Garwin seated himself in +a convenient chair, crossed one long leg over the other in leisurely +fashion and ran his eye over a lengthy list that had been furnished him +by Ralph Wynn.</p> + +<p>On this paper was a list of all the aspirants for the team with a brief +statement of the experience they had had—if any—on the gridiron.</p> + +<p>The coach took so long at this that the boys fidgeted about uneasily.</p> + +<p>"I should think he could have done that just as well before he came +here," Rooster whispered in Garry's ear. "I wish he'd hurry up and +make a choice and get the agony over with."</p> + +<p>"Maybe after he's made the choice we'll wish he hadn't," replied Garry.</p> + +<p>At last Coach Garwin straightened up, uncrossed his legs, and regarded +the boys intently.</p> + +<p>"I'll have to ask you to answer to your names," he said. "I want to get +a good look at you fellows."</p> + +<p>Something in his voice told the boys that he was interested. Each one +asked himself if the interest related to him. The prospect of action +made them eagerly alert.</p> + +<p>As the coach called them each by name the boys stepped forward, +answering the brisk, keen questions fired at them as clearly as they +could.</p> + +<p>Bill Sherwood was called and stood modestly before the coach, face red, +as Mr. Garwin looked him over.</p> + +<p>"You played center on the Hill Street team," remarked the coach, +referring to his list. "I attended a couple of those games and noted +your work, Sherwood. You certainly have the beef. All right. I've got +my eye on you."</p> + +<p>Rooster was also given a word of commendation for his record on the +gridiron, and Nick and Ted were each commended for his work on the Hill +Street eleven.</p> + +<p>Tom Allison and Pete Maddern were each given a word of approbation.</p> + +<p>"It's part of my work to keep my eye on the up and coming grammar +school elevens," Al Garwin drawled; "especially those that are apt to +graduate their members into Lenox High. It isn't often," he added with +a smile, "that we enter three ex-captains of grammar school teams at +the same time."</p> + +<p>By this remark Garry knew that his own name and record had not been +overlooked. This was made a certainty a moment later when the coach +called his name and looked him over with quizzically uplifted eyebrows.</p> + +<p>"Rather a swift worker, aren't you, Grayson?" he asked. "Worked your +raw team up to winning pitch in a single season. Not such a bad record."</p> + +<p>"We had mighty good material to work with," said Garry loyally. "And if +anybody deserves credit for the work of our team, it's Mr. Phillips, +our teacher in English. He coached us and taught us all we knew."</p> + +<p>"Which seems to be considerable," soliloquized the coach, looking Garry +over with more minute attention. His glance wandered to Tom Allison and +Pete Maddern and then back again to Garry.</p> + +<p>"You three boys good friends?" Garwin asked.</p> + +<p>"I hope so!" Garry's reply was instant and hearty.</p> + +<p>"Off the gridiron you can bet we are!" exclaimed Pete, and Tom Allison +added a hearty assent.</p> + +<p>"That's lucky. Because you'll probably have some work to do together. +But this time you'll be fighting alongside and not against each other."</p> + +<p>As the coach bent frowningly over his list the three ex-captains +exchanged elated glances.</p> + +<p>"Looks like business," Garry telegraphed in dumb show, and the others +nodded.</p> + +<p>Mr. Garwin made some hurried notations on his paper and then rose +purposefully from his seat, calling the boys around him.</p> + +<p>"I've filled in the positions on the first and second teams," he +declared, waving the slip toward them. "Roughly, of course. You boys +have got to work your heads off to show me that you are capable of +filling the positions I have marked out for you and to keep them +once you've got them. My selection has been guided of course by the +records of you fellows. But those I don't name to-day need feel no +discouragement, because there's a chance for you all. As I said, this +list is tentative."</p> + +<p>"Gee!" whispered Rooster, "I'm tingling all over."</p> + +<p>Then utter silence fell on the gymnasium as Al Garwin spoke again.</p> + +<p>"Of course our first team—that is, the vacancies on it—will all be +filled by our scrubs of last year," he began.</p> + +<p>Garry, who had cherished a wild hope of getting a position on the +regulars—any position—felt his heart sink. A swift glance at his +friends told him that they were equally disappointed.</p> + +<p>"As our quarterback and captain," the coach continued, "we shall still +have Ralph Wynn."</p> + +<p>There was a spontaneous cheer from the boys, for besides being a +brilliant player on the gridiron Ralph was an all-round good fellow and +was firmly established in the esteem and affection of his schoolmates.</p> + +<p>Coach Garwin held up his hand, and again silence descended upon the +boys before him.</p> + +<p>"We lost two of our linemen by graduation," the coach went on, "Jim +Cooney and Tom Andrews, and we've never had a better guard or tackle on +the Lenox team."</p> + +<p>There was a disconsolate murmur from those who had known the missing +players, and Nick Danter grinned at Garry.</p> + +<p>"Sounds as if they'd died instead of just graduating," Nick remarked.</p> + +<p>"Mournful enough," assented Garry, and again turned his attention to +the coach.</p> + +<p>"We will fill these positions from last year's second team," Coach +Garwin continued. "McCarty, you will play right guard, and Payne, you +will take Andrews' position at left tackle. Those shoes will be hard +to fill and I don't want you to rattle around in them. See that you +justify my choice."</p> + +<p>The two boys, grinning from ear to ear with glee, promised to do their +best.</p> + +<p>"Lucky dogs!" muttered Ted. "But there doesn't seem to be much +nourishment for us in all this."</p> + +<p>"I'm going to move Fred Walker up to center," stated Garwin. "Painter, +from the scrubs, will take his place. Now there remains just one +position to be filled, and since that's an important one I'm going to +lend it—not give it, get that?—to a player whose work on the scrubs +last year was worthy of the first string."</p> + +<p>"Benny Knapp!" came from the old players in chorus.</p> + +<p>"Come up, Benny, old boy, and stop your blushing," called a wag from +the throng.</p> + +<p>Benny Knapp, a rangy, muscular lad with red hair and a great quantity +of freckles, looked hesitantly at Coach Garwin.</p> + +<p>"You mean me, sir?" he queried.</p> + +<p>"Sure, I mean you, Benny," replied the coach, his eyes twinkling. "Why +so modest all of a sudden? Think you can fill Freddie Greb's place?"</p> + +<p>"Gee, nobody could!"</p> + +<p>The compliment to Greb was so spontaneous and so honest that the boys +broke into fresh cheering, mingled with laughter.</p> + +<p>"Well then," amended the coach, "will you try to fill Greb's place?"</p> + +<p>"You bet your life, Mr. Garwin!" the boy replied enthusiastically. "I'm +only too glad to get the chance."</p> + +<p>"All right, then. Benny Knapp at left half. Now we've got our first +team—that is, if they make good. Suppose you line up, boys, and let's +have a look at you."</p> + +<p>The fortunate members on whom the choice had fallen lined up for +inspection.</p> + +<p>"All right," pronounced the coach, turning from what appeared to be a +satisfactory inspection of his new team. "Now we can turn our attention +to the scrubs. And don't let any of us forget that the scrub of to-day +may be the regular of to-morrow."</p> + +<p>Garry saw Rooster, Ted, Nick and Bill stiffen as the glance of the +coach swept over them. He had a sudden realization of what it would +mean should any of his friends fail to make the second team, now that +they had failed of the first.</p> + +<p>"I'd about as soon be dropped myself as to have one of the gang left +out," he said to himself, and then listened with an almost painful +attention as the coach began to name the boys for the vacancies on the +scrubs.</p> + +<p>Bill Sherwood was the first to be called.</p> + +<p>"Our center graduated in June and I'm going to put you in that +position, Sherwood, because you're one of the biggest fellows that we +have left to choose from," said Garwin.</p> + +<p>Bill's chest swelled visibly. Coach Garwin went on rapidly.</p> + +<p>"We are minus ends, and I'm going to give those positions to two boys +who made a good record for themselves on the Hill Street team. Nick +Danter, you will take right end and you, Ted Dillingham, will go to +left."</p> + +<p>Garry began to breathe more easily. Here were three of his chums +accounted for anyway. Of the five of them only Rooster and himself had +not been called.</p> + +<p>And then a sudden thought came to him that threw him into a cold sweat.</p> + +<p>Suppose of all his chums they should be the only ones not chosen!</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_IX">CHAPTER IX</h2> +</div> + +<h3><span class="smcap">Counting Their Chances</span></h3> + + +<p>Tom Allison was called next, to fill the post of fullback, and Pete +Maddern went in at right tackle. Then the coach shifted about some of +the old players on the scrub team and completed his line formation with +Hick Dabney.</p> + +<p>Only two positions remained unfilled—quarterback and right half.</p> + +<p>Garry and Rooster exchanged gloomy glances. Their chances seemed to be +vanishing into mist.</p> + +<p>"For the position of right halfback," Mr. Garwin went on, through a +silence tense with expectation, "I've chosen a boy who has had some +experience in the backfield and who, from the look of him, ought to be +a pretty good punter. Yes, I mean you, Long. Don't look as though the +moon had dropped into your lap."</p> + +<p>Rooster grew red as a chorus of laughter greeted this sally. He tried +to stammer something, but stopped short in the middle of a sentence, +gulping.</p> + +<p>"Cock-a-doodle-doo!" shrilled Ted Dillingham, and there was more +laughter.</p> + +<p>"Good old Rooster," said Garry to himself. "At right half he'll have a +chance to show his stuff."</p> + +<p>All but him! All but him! Was he going to be left out?</p> + +<p>Coach Garwin was looking at him, a twinkle in his eye.</p> + +<p>"Thought I'd forgotten you, Grayson?" asked the coach, while Garry +thrilled with a sudden, fierce excitement. "Well, you'll be apologizing +to me for that in just a minute. I've got to have a quarterback. Think +you'll do?"</p> + +<p>Garry took a quick step forward. His face glowed.</p> + +<p>"I'll do my best," he said earnestly.</p> + +<p>Coach Garwin looked at him steadily for a moment, then nodded as though +satisfied.</p> + +<p>"Yes, I think you will," he said. "Now, second team, line up."</p> + +<p>They shaped up considerably lighter than the regulars. But there was a +look in their eyes that warned the haughty first string players that +they would have to watch their step.</p> + +<p>The coach now addressed both teams, including in his remarks also the +crestfallen boys who had failed to make either.</p> + +<p>"You boys," he said, "understand of course that the positions I have +assigned you to-day are by no means my final selection. Each one +of you has got to work to keep his place and work hard. I play no +favorites. If I see a boy isn't doing his best, or perhaps is not +qualified to hold the position, he will have to surrender it to some +one else. Lenox High has held the championship before, and this year we +are going to win it again."</p> + +<p>A spontaneous cheer broke from the boys, and the coach smiled.</p> + +<p>"But to get that championship," he went on, "we've got to work +hard—not only each boy for himself in his own position but each boy +for the team in every position. We've got to develop a love for the +team and a loyalty to the team that goes beyond all personal ambition. +If a fellow is dropped for the good of the team, he must take his +medicine smiling and cheer the boy who takes his place with all his +heart—for the good of the team. That's all that counts. Each one +of the eleven players is only a cog in the machine where everything +depends on each cog doing its best. Forget personal ambition in +ambition for your team, think and act to the limit of your ability, be +ready to fill not only your own position but any position on the field, +if necessary, and we'll have a Lenox team this year that will sweep all +before it.</p> + +<p>"What do you say? Are you with me? Are you going to play that kind of +football?"</p> + +<p>The answer was a great shout that rose to the very roof of the +gymnasium and seemed to crash against it. There was no doubt that the +coach had caught the boys' imagination and aroused their enthusiasm. +They crowded about him, already itching for the feel of the pigskin, +impatient to get out on the field.</p> + +<p>"Too late to-day for any real practice," he said. "Meet here to-morrow +afternoon after classes and have your suits with you. I'll assign +each of you a locker then, and we'll get some real practice that will +tell me how right or how wrong I've been in picking you out. And you +fellows," he called after the group of rejected aspirants who were +making their way more or less dejectedly out of the gymnasium, "be on +hand too. It's likely enough that I'll want to make some changes after +I've seen the teams in action, and that's where your chance will come +in. Don't give up too soon. The season's just commenced and anything is +liable to happen."</p> + +<p>"Sounds almost like a threat for the rest of us," remarked Garry, as, +with his friends, he made his exit from the gymnasium.</p> + +<p>"A tip to us to be on our good behavior if we don't want to be +bounced," agreed Nick.</p> + +<p>"I have an idea we'll have to play like all possessed to keep on the +right side of Coach Garwin," put in Ted. "He'd just as soon drop a +fellow from the team as he would an ash from a cigar."</p> + +<p>"All the more reason for us to work like beavers," cried Garry, tossing +his cap in the air as they reached the street and freedom. "We may not +be on the regulars, but that's all the more reason why we've got to +make Mr. Garwin sit up and take notice. Say, fellows—" He paused and +the others looked at him expectantly.</p> + +<p>"What's on your mind?" queried Rooster.</p> + +<p>"Or what you call your mind," chaffed Ted.</p> + +<p>"I may be a nut, probably I am," said Garry. "But I have an idea that +we may get a chance to play on the first team yet."</p> + +<p>"Come off the perch!" admonished Bill.</p> + +<p>"How do you get that way?" asked Nick.</p> + +<p>"Oh, let him rave," counseled Ted.</p> + +<p>"All right, you gloom hounds," retorted Garry. "Just watch and see +who's right. My hunch tells me that I'm going to have the last laugh."</p> + +<p>It was hardly correct to apply the term "gloom hounds" to Garry's +friends, for on the whole they were considerably elated.</p> + +<p>Though they had had a faint hope that one of them at least might make +the first team, their judgment had told them that anything like that +was wholly improbable.</p> + +<p>Then, later, in the gymnasium when they had sensed the possibility +that they might not be chosen either for regulars or scrubs, a place +even on the second team had seemed highly desirable.</p> + +<p>This, however, they had achieved. They were in the running. So by +the time they had reached home they had practically forgotten their +original vaulting ambition and were almost as jubilant as though they +had made the regular team.</p> + +<p>Ella was in the library reading. She looked up as Garry entered, with +an expression of lively interest.</p> + +<p>"I saw the football call on the board," was her greeting to him. "I've +been staying at home purposely this afternoon to get the news at first +hand. Any luck?"</p> + +<p>Garry flung his cap on the table and stretched out luxuriously in a +deep leather chair. He grinned at Ella.</p> + +<p>"Made the team," he said.</p> + +<p>"The first? Why, Garry—"</p> + +<p>"Hold on. I didn't say the first, did I? Old Shrugg says that the habit +of jumping at conclusions is the sign of an inferior mind—"</p> + +<p>"Say, listen, Garry Grayson, leave my mind alone! It belongs to me, and +I like it anyhow. Go on and talk football. If you didn't make the first +team, what did you make?"</p> + +<p>"Mud pies," grinned Garry. Then as Ella flopped about indignantly in +her chair and picked up her book again he condescended to explain.</p> + +<p>"There are two teams, sis. I thought you knew that—first and second. I +made the second."</p> + +<p>Ella looked at him with interest.</p> + +<p>"What position?"</p> + +<p>"Quarterback."</p> + +<p>"That's good, Garry! I didn't think a freshman would have much of a +chance to make either team. That's what they were all saying up at the +school."</p> + +<p>"They don't very often. Not but what a fellow always has an idea that +he may be the exception," he added. "Of course, on the second team I'm +only a doormat for the regulars to wipe their feet on."</p> + +<p>"What a horrid way to put it!" ejaculated Ella. "All the same, I'd be +willing to bet something right now."</p> + +<p>"What's that?"</p> + +<p>"That you won't be a doormat, as you call it, very long, and that +before the end of the term you'll be on the regulars."</p> + +<p>"Thanks for them kind words," returned Garry. "Gee, sis, I wish you +were right." He shook his head dubiously. "Seems a pretty tough +problem though, this getting on the first team when you're only a poor +downtrodden freshman. But you can better believe I'm going to do my +best."</p> + +<p>"How about Pete Maddern and Tom Allison?" asked Ella.</p> + +<p>"They're on the scrubs too," replied Garry.</p> + +<p>"I'd like to see you boys take the conceit out of the regulars by +beating them!" exclaimed Ella.</p> + +<p>"You said it," replied Garry. "Swell chance though. Still we'll muss +their hair a little, if I'm any judge. And I'll bet that more than once +this season we'll throw a scare into them."</p> + +<p>The next morning Garry called for Bill at the Sherwood home, which lay +between his own house and the high school.</p> + +<p>As he stepped up on the porch he noticed that the front door was ajar. +As the boys were accustomed to have the run of each other's houses, +Garry did not ring but pushed the door open and stepped into the hall +ready to sound his halloo for Bill.</p> + +<p>The moment he found himself inside he was sorry. In the room just off +the hall that served as a library he heard the sound of voices.</p> + +<p>If they had been the voices used in ordinary conversation, Garry, so +much at home in the household, would have tapped on the door and made +his presence known. But the voices were angry and high-pitched, and +Garry knew at once that the subject must be a private one, not to be +intruded upon by any one outside the Sherwood family.</p> + +<p>While Garry stood hesitatingly, hardly knowing whether to advance and +make his presence known or to back hurriedly to the porch and ring the +bell, he could not avoid hearing a sentence that gave him the key to +the trouble.</p> + +<p>"I tell you, Frank," came from Bill, in a voice tense with excitement, +"you've got to lay off that poolroom crowd before it's too late!"</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_X">CHAPTER X</h2> +</div> + +<h3><span class="smcap">Into the Fray</span></h3> + + +<p>"Oh, you make me sick," came in another voice, lower-toned but angry, +the voice of Bill's older brother, Frank. "Do you think I'm going to +have a kid like you bossing me? The crowd's all right. They make a +lot of noise, that's all, and all the old crabs in town take turns in +picking on them."</p> + +<p>As Garry backed out on the porch and was pulling the door shut behind +him he heard Bill say:</p> + +<p>"That sounds just like Sandy Podder or Lent Stewart. You can think I'm +a crab all you like, Frank, but I'm telling you that if you don't leave +that bunch alone they'll get you in Dutch some day. That's as sure as +my name's Bill Sherwood."</p> + +<p>Garry, once outside, pressed his finger on the bell button.</p> + +<p>Bill himself answered the ring a moment later, his face wearing an +angry frown.</p> + +<p>"Hello!" he said, his face clearing as he saw Garry. "Why didn't you +come right in? I left the door open on purpose."</p> + +<p>Garry did not tell Bill that he had overheard part of the conversation +between him and Frank. But he thought of it a good deal during the day +and wished there were some way in which he might add his warning to +Bill's.</p> + +<p>Ugly rumors of dirty work about Mooney's poolroom had been circulating +ever since the trouble over Mr. Podder's three thousand dollars that +had so mysteriously disappeared while in Sandy Podder's possession. +Garry's father was a lawyer, and Garry had heard at the home table of +many things unknown to his mates. A movement was taking form among the +better citizens of the town to have the poolroom wiped out as a public +nuisance. Garry felt with Bill that if Frank did not break with the +fast crowd that hung out at the resort he might soon find himself in +trouble, involved in some ugly scandal that might prove a bad blot on +his reputation.</p> + +<p>However, in the days that followed Garry had a great deal to think +about besides Frank Sherwood's recklessness.</p> + +<p>For football was in the air and engrossed all the time of the players +that could be spared from their studies.</p> + +<p>On the day after the appointments for the two teams had been made, the +boys met in the gymnasium to don the suits they had brought with them, +eager for the feel of the gridiron under their feet and the pigskin in +their hands.</p> + +<p>Coach Garwin was there, eyes alert and keen behind their half-closed +lids.</p> + +<p>He assigned each boy a locker and directed them curtly to get into +their togs as soon as possible.</p> + +<p>"That guy means business to-day," said Rooster to Garry, as he pulled +on his cleated shoes. "He'll make us work for our positions even on the +scrubs, let me tell you."</p> + +<p>"And past reputations won't cut any ice with him," affirmed Nick.</p> + +<p>"It matters not what once you were, it's what you are to-day," chanted +Ted.</p> + +<p>"Well, we weren't so bad last year, and we ought to be better now," +remarked Garry.</p> + +<p>"To hear us tell it, yes," declared Nick. "But Coach Garwin's the +doctor now, and he may take a different view of the case."</p> + +<p>Out on the gridiron in the crisp air and the bright sunshine the boys +found that Coach Garwin was a hard taskmaster. But they liked him and +worked beneath his forceful driving as they never had worked before.</p> + +<p>"We'll have practice in punting, blocking, passing, and tackling +to-day," he announced. "Also we'll have a short scrimmage between the +two teams. But we'll postpone the real games until we've warmed to our +work a bit more. Now then, you fellows, I want you to show your stuff."</p> + +<p>The boys went to work with a will. Under Mr. Garwin's direction they +broke up into groups of three and four, some blocking, some tackling, +others trying to place kick and punt.</p> + +<p>The coach watched their work with a critical eye and caustic tongue. He +abused them far more liberally than he praised and for that reason the +boys worked like mad to get even the crumbs of his approbation.</p> + +<p>Bill Sherwood was one of the first to be rasped by the rough edge of Al +Garwin's tongue.</p> + +<p>Bill, while endeavoring with another boy to tackle a runner, made a +great leap for the flying knees, only to fall flat on his face in the +dust as the runner dodged. The miss was by only a fraction of an inch, +but still it was a miss.</p> + +<p>The coach's scorn was scathing.</p> + +<p>"That's one of the best examples of tackling I ever saw," he remarked, +as Bill picked himself up, red and sheepish. "Suppose that had been a +member of an opposing team legging it for the goal! You'd have let him +get by, wouldn't you, Sherwood? You'd have lost the game perhaps for +your team. Tackling! That's a joke. You've got to do better than that."</p> + +<p>Bill's face became scarlet. His hands clenched at his sides. He was +fighting mad.</p> + +<p>"My foot slipped," he said in self-defense. "I'd have got him if it +hadn't."</p> + +<p>"Maybe," replied the coach, his keen eyes mercilessly raking Bill's +dusty figure, "with a couple of men to help you. Ploughing up the +gridiron never saved a goal yet."</p> + +<p>"I don't need a couple," declared Bill. "That fellow wouldn't get away +from me another time! Give me another chance at him!"</p> + +<p>Coach Garwin wheeled.</p> + +<p>"Dittler," he called curtly to one of the regulars. "Take the ball and +start running from the forty-yard line. There's your chance, Sherwood. +Let's see you stop him."</p> + +<p>Dittler picked up the ball with a grin and started off like a hound +slipped from the leash. Bill started to meet him with equal speed and +vigor. His blood was up. His resentment lashed him on toward the flying +figure. To reach him, tackle him, and bring him to earth was at that +moment the great object of his life.</p> + +<p>Dittler was one of the best runners on the first team. The coach for +that very purpose had chosen him in order to test Bill's mettle.</p> + +<p>Long and thin as a greyhound, Dittler was flying across the field in a +long, diagonal slant, trusting to his agility and his dodging powers to +evade the figure bearing down upon him.</p> + +<p>The boys were shouting, the regulars urging Dittler on, the scrubs +yelling for Bill.</p> + +<p>The eyes of Coach Garwin narrowed as the opponents neared each other.</p> + +<p>Just as Bill was within a few feet of him, Dittler halted, swerved and +was off like a flash at another angle.</p> + +<p>But Bill had sensed the strategy and himself had turned so that Dittler +found him right in his path.</p> + +<p>Dittler dodged, squirmed, tried to run around his adversary. For a +moment it looked as though he would get past those outstretched arms.</p> + +<p>"Get him, Bill! Get him!" cried Garry, wild with excitement.</p> + +<p>"Come on, you Dittler!" came from the throats of the regulars.</p> + +<p>With muscles as tense as whipcord, jaw set, the blood pounding in his +ears, Bill put all his strength in one magnificent leap. His arms +closed joyfully about the legs of his opponent. Tackler and tackled +came to the ground in a cloud of dust.</p> + +<p>"Another Indian bit the dust!" crowed Rooster.</p> + +<p>"I'll say that Bill is poor!" chuckled Ted.</p> + +<p>Dittler, wiping the grime from his eyes, looked up grinningly at the +coach as he approached.</p> + +<p>"This boy sure can tackle, coach," he said generously. "I thought a +house fell on me. You've sure got to hand it to him."</p> + +<p>"So it seems," drawled Garwin. "You've redeemed yourself, Sherwood. Any +one who can bring Dittler to earth is good."</p> + +<p>As a climax to the afternoon's practice, the coach lined the two teams +up against each other in a series of short scrimmages. In these, as was +to be expected, the regulars had the advantage, owing to their weight +and experience. But all the same the scrubs gave them plenty to do. It +was a hot, pell-mell, ding-dong fight. The regulars were out to show +that the coach was right when he picked them. The scrubs were equally +determined to show that the coach had made a mistake in not putting +them on the first team.</p> + +<p>In this the scrubs did not quite succeed. But they did at least give +Al Garwin food for thought. Those sleepy-looking eyes of his missed +nothing that took place. Oftenest, perhaps, they were fixed on Garry +Grayson.</p> + +<p>For that young man was nothing less than a wildcat that afternoon. He +fought for every advantage, was quick as a flash, as cold and hard as +steel. He was here, there, and everywhere, instilling his own fighting +spirit into his team. Twice he himself got through for what would have +been a sure touchdown in a regular game.</p> + +<p>Tom Allison and Pete Maddern played finely. Ted, Rooster, Nick and Bill +gave a good account of themselves. But it was Garry who shone as the +bright particular star of the scrubs.</p> + +<p>When at last Al Garwin called it a day's work the coach walked off the +field with a smile of satisfaction on his face, which, however, he was +careful to conceal from the boys.</p> + +<p>"It looks as though I had two good teams instead of one," he mused.</p> + +<p>In the gymnasium, as the boys shed their dusty togs, got under showers, +and slipped into their street clothes, there was a babble of excited +conversation between Garry and his friends.</p> + +<p>"Old Hill Street didn't show up so badly this afternoon," chuckled Bill.</p> + +<p>"That tackle of Dittler was a peach, Bill," observed Nick Danter. +"And the way Garry broke through their defense has given the regulars +something to think about. Gee, Garry, you just ran rings around those +fellows."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I don't know," said Garry modestly. "I had some lucky breaks. But +one swallow doesn't make a drink, you know, and we may stub our toes +the next time out. We've just got to keep working like the mischief +all the time."</p> + +<p>On their way home the boys passed Trompet Shrugg, who gave them a stiff +nod in response to their salutations and glanced disdainfully at the +football that Garry carried under his arm. Then the cold dislike in his +eyes shifted to Garry's face.</p> + +<p>"He just loves you, Garry," chuckled Ted.</p> + +<p>"Yes," grinned Garry, "as he loves poison ivy!"</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XI">CHAPTER XI</h2> +</div> + +<h3><span class="smcap">Struggling Against Odds</span></h3> + + +<p>"Trompet Shrugg's after your scalp and won't be satisfied until he gets +it, Garry," warned Nick Danter.</p> + +<p>"He hasn't lifted it yet," returned Garry carelessly. "He tried to +yesterday, but he didn't get away with it."</p> + +<p>"All the same he'll bear watching," surmised Bill. "He's one of the +kind that never forgives and never forgets."</p> + +<p>"I never had a teacher that I disliked so much," declared Ted +Dillingham fervently.</p> + +<p>"He may be a boon to his family, but he's only a baboon to me!" sang +Rooster.</p> + +<p>"Rooster, I'm ashamed of you," said Garry, with mock sternness. "Is +that the way to speak of our dear teacher? It is not!"</p> + +<p>But in the days that followed there were many times when Garry was +inclined to believe that Rooster had struck it right. Trompet Shrugg +certainly "had it in" for Garry, and lost no opportunity of annoying +and humiliating him.</p> + +<p>In his position of authority this was comparatively easy. Garry was +well up in the studies of his grade, in fact was one of the very best +scholars of the class. Any fair, legitimate question that came within +the scope of what he was supposed to know he could answer clearly and +promptly.</p> + +<p>But Mr. Shrugg had a habit when it came to Garry of suddenly shooting +at him some difficult question more appropriate for a college than +a high school class, something that was away over Garry's head and +clearly intended to be so. And when the boy had to confess ignorance, +Trompet Shrugg would appear disgusted and get off some bit of the +sarcasm in which he was an adept. Then Garry would take his seat, +flushed and irritated, with his heart full of resentment against his +tormentor.</p> + +<p>He was in a position where he could not answer back, any more than a +private in the army can give back talk to his captain. Mr. Shrugg had +the whip hand, and he knew it. His petty nature delighted in punishing +the lad who had unwittingly affronted his dignity.</p> + +<p>It is probable that Garry might have had some redress had he appealed +to Mr. Allen, the principal, and laid the matter before him. He could +have easily been backed up by the testimony of his fellow classmates, +who shared his indignation at the way he was treated.</p> + +<p>"It's a shame the way that fellow is treating you," snorted Bill on one +occasion when Trompet Shrugg had been especially tyrannical "He isn't +fit to be a teacher. He ought to be thrown out of the school on his +head."</p> + +<p>"I wish that football had been filled with pig iron when it struck +him!" declared Ted, with a vicious gritting of his teeth.</p> + +<p>"You ought to carry the matter up to Mr. Allen," suggested Rooster.</p> + +<p>"Nothing like that," returned Garry gloomily. "I won't peach on him. +But I wish that he was a fellow of my size and age so that I could get +a crack at him."</p> + +<p>Trompet Shrugg learned that Garry had been chosen a member of the +scrub football team. This was his opportunity. He had not a drop of +sporting blood in his veins anyway, and regarded athletic games as a +waste of time. He had an especial antipathy to football, which had been +strengthened by his experience on that fateful day in the open lot.</p> + +<p>He knew that the practice took place after the lessons of the day were +ended. Then the boys were off with a whoop that was discord to his +ears. What could be a sweeter morsel under his tongue than to keep +Garry from the game in which he delighted?</p> + +<p>So when he had caused Garry to fail on some unfair question he did not +content himself with a sarcastic remark, but gave the boy as a penalty +long compositions to write that detained him in the building after +hours. He knew that he could not do this too often without bringing on +an investigation of his methods. But he did it as often as he dared, +and on several occasions Garry sat within toiling and listening to the +shouts that came from his companions on the field.</p> + +<p>More than once Garry was goaded to such desperation that he came almost +to the point of open defiance. But by a great effort he mastered his +anger. A flare-up would do him more injury than benefit. He knew that +in such cases the teacher was supposed to be right and the pupil wrong. +The discipline of the school had to be maintained at all hazards. For +the time he was the under dog. But even at that he comforted himself by +the adage that every dog has his day. When would his day come?</p> + +<p>When he did get out on the field after some such exasperating session +he would find the practice half over or nearing its end. His place +would have been taken by some one else, and at times he could not get +into the game at all.</p> + +<p>But there were many days when even Trompet Shrugg could find no excuse +for detaining him, and then Garry made up for what he had lost in the +way of practice. As a matter of fact, the persecution to which he had +been subjected had its compensations. For with the blood boiling in his +veins from the sense of injustice he was all the more formidable on the +field. He tackled his opponents as though he were tackling the English +teacher, and when he went through the line it was with the force of a +catapult.</p> + +<p>Coach Garwin watched him with those sleepy eyes that seemed to see +little, but in reality noted everything. But he was puzzled at his +frequent absence from practice. He had questioned the lad about it and +Garry had simply told him the truth, that he had been made to do work +after school for having failed in his recitation. Garry was too proud +to explain further. If he hated anything, it was a telltale.</p> + +<p>"Too bad, Wynn," Coach Garwin remarked to the captain of the regulars, +"that young Grayson isn't keeping up in his scholarship. He's the most +promising young player I've seen in years, almost good enough for the +regulars, if he weren't a freshman."</p> + +<p>"Quite good enough, I should say," returned Ralph, with a wry smile. +"I'm sore yet from the way he tackled me a few minutes ago. He goes +into a fellow like a battering ram. But what do you mean about his +scholarship? I thought he was one of the brightest young fellows in +the school. He stood at the head of his class in Hill Street."</p> + +<p>"Seems a clever lad," said Garwin, "but he's told me himself that +he's had to stay after school several times because he failed in his +recitations."</p> + +<p>"Do you know why?" came a voice from behind them.</p> + +<p>They turned to see Bill Sherwood, who had come up in time to hear part +of this conversation.</p> + +<p>"I'll tell you why," went on Bill, his voice shaking with indignation. +"It's because Mr. Shrugg has it in for him! He's riding him all the +time! There isn't a fellow in the class that he treats as he does +Garry! In every other class in the school Garry's right up at the top. +Why isn't he in the English class? Because Mr. Shrugg won't let him. He +asks him questions no one in the class is expected to know, things away +beyond the grade. He takes delight in flunking him."</p> + +<p>Coach Garwin and Ralph Wynn exchanged amazed glances.</p> + +<p>"That's very strange," said Ralph. "I know Mr. Shrugg is rather +eccentric and not very popular with any of the boys. But it doesn't +seem as if any teacher could be as small as that. I know that Mr. Allen +wouldn't stand it for a minute if he knew. Are you sure that he's +riding Grayson deliberately?"</p> + +<p>"There isn't any doubt of it," replied Bill. "Ask any fellow in the +class. They're all talking about it."</p> + +<p>"Grayson didn't tell me anything about that," remarked Mr. Garwin.</p> + +<p>"That's just because he's a thoroughbred and won't tell tales," +declared Bill. "He takes his medicine and lets it go at that. But I'm +giving you a straight story. Garry's getting it in the neck."</p> + +<p>"What do you suppose the reason is?" asked Ralph, a frown of perplexity +on his brow.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I know the reason all right," explained Bill. "A bunch of the +fellows were practicing in an open lot near Garry's house and Garry +let go a punt just as Mr. Shrugg came around a corner into the lot. +The ball was muddy and it caught him in the face. He was a sight, I +must confess. Of course it was all an accident. Garry was mighty sorry, +apologized to him, and wanted him to go into his house and clean up. +But Mr. Shrugg was as sore as a boil. He's never forgotten that muddy +football, and ever since school began he's been making Garry sweat for +it."</p> + +<p>"It's a bad thing for Lenox High to have a teacher of that kind in it," +said Ralph in disgust. "The sooner it gets rid of him the better."</p> + +<p>"And as for keeping Garry after school," went on Bill, "Mr. Shrugg does +that for two reasons. He knows Garry is on the scrubs and is crazy +about football. So he keeps him away from practice all he can. Then, +too, when the question of scholarship comes up, he'll be able to point +to the many times he's had to keep him in, and that will give him a +chance to say that Garry doesn't stand high enough to be permitted to +play. Oh, he's a foxy guy, that Trompet Shrugg!"</p> + +<p>"I'm glad that you told me all this, Sherwood," said Coach Garwin. "It +explains a lot of things that have puzzled me. And I think all the more +of the lad for not making excuses. He's the right stuff."</p> + +<p>"And don't let the question of Garry's scholarship keeping him out of +the game worry you," put in Ralph Wynn. "If that thing ever comes to an +issue, I'll see that the truth is told. I think the amiable Mr. Shrugg +will find that he has overreached himself."</p> + +<p>All of this was balm to Garry Grayson's troubled heart when Bill +narrated the conversation to him on the way home. He had been standing +up under Mr. Shrugg's persecution without a whimper. But it had galled +him horribly, especially the fear that he might not be allowed to +play on account of the marks that the teacher of English was giving +him. Loyal Bill Sherwood had done for him what his own pride would not +permit him to do for himself.</p> + +<p>"It was mighty good of you, old boy," he said to Bill gratefully.</p> + +<p>The next day, Mr. Garwin told the boys that on the following Saturday +there would be a real game between the first and second teams.</p> + +<p>"I haven't hurried to bring you boys along," he said. "I wanted to get +you limbered up and get some of the kinks out of your muscles. Then, +too, I've wanted to size you up. But now I think you're in shape for a +regular game."</p> + +<p>There was a murmur of assent from the eager boys who wanted nothing +better than to show the stuff of which they were made.</p> + +<p>"I want each team to play against the other as hard as though they +were tackling Pawling or Wimbledon," went on the coach, referring to +rival teams in the High School League. "If there's any let-down I'll be +on hand to see it. You regulars have got to try to walk all over the +scrubs—"</p> + +<p>"Swell chance," piped up Ted Dillingham, and there was a general laugh +from his comrades on the scrubs. Mr. Garwin smiled quizzically.</p> + +<p>"That's the spirit I like to see," he said. "I was just going on to +urge the scrubs to take some of the conceit out of the regulars."</p> + +<p>On the following Saturday the two teams faced each other, each full of +determination to show the other up.</p> + +<p>"Now, fellows," said Garry, as he gathered his scrubs about him just +before the game began, "those fellows think we are easy meat. They +think they're going to walk all over us, beat us to a frazzle, throw us +to the lions. It's up to us to show them that they have another guess +coming. How about it? Are you with me?"</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XII">CHAPTER XII</h2> +</div> + +<h3><span class="smcap">Testing Their Mettle</span></h3> + + +<p>There was a cheer from Garry Grayson's mates as they crowded closer to +their leader.</p> + +<p>"We'll show that team where it gets off," promised Bill Sherwood, as he +flexed his muscles.</p> + +<p>"We'll eat 'em up," declared Ted.</p> + +<p>Practically all of the Lenox High students were on the field that +day, reinforced by a sprinkling of boys from the grammar schools who +had come to see how their old-time favorites performed. These latter, +together with the freshmen, were about the only ones who were rooting +for the scrubs. The upper classmen were partisans of the regulars and +looked for nothing less than a sound beating for the scrubs. And they +greeted the latter with unflattering comments as they came out on the +field.</p> + +<p>"Lambs coming to the slaughter!"</p> + +<p>"What the regulars won't do to them!"</p> + +<p>"Call for the ambulance to carry them home!"</p> + +<p>Sandy Podder and Lent Stewart were foremost among those who sent these +and other contemptuous gibes at the second string team.</p> + +<p>"Here's where that false alarm, Garry Grayson, gets his," Sandy +remarked to Lent. "Now he's playing against a real team. That swelled +head of his will be a mighty sight smaller when he gets through."</p> + +<p>"There won't be anything left of him but a grease spot at the end of +the game," predicted Lent.</p> + +<p>It had been arranged that the periods would be for twelve minutes each +instead of the usual fifteen, as the coach did not want to take too +much out of the boys at the start of the season.</p> + +<p>Garry won the toss and elected to kick off. The teams lined up on the +scrubs' forty-yard line and Rooster Long sent the ball hurtling down +the field for thirty yards. Dittler gobbled the ball and ran it back +for five yards before he was downed by Nick.</p> + +<p>The ball was in the possession of the regulars on their thirty-five +yard line. Ralph Wynn passed the ball to Knapp, who plunged through the +line for four yards. Another try netted him only one additional yard. +Dittler found a hole between tackle and guard that was good for three +yards more, and on the fourth down Wynn himself got through for three.</p> + +<p>The regulars had made their distance and still retained possession of +the ball.</p> + +<p>"What did I tell you!" chuckled Sandy.</p> + +<p>"Ye-e-s," admitted Lent hesitatingly. "But after all they had only a +yard to spare."</p> + +<p>"I tell you it will be a massacre," declared Sandy, who now settled +down comfortably to watch the fulfillment of his prediction.</p> + +<p>"Brace up, fellows," Garry panted to his companions. "They're not such +a much. We nearly held them that time. Next time we'll get the ball."</p> + +<p>But the regulars had already awakened to the fact that the scrubs were +not going to be such a "pudding" as had been anticipated, and they +summoned all their energy to make the next four downs yield a more +impressive result.</p> + +<p>It seemed as though they were going to do it, too, for on the first try +Dittler plunged through a hole between guard and tackle for six yards. +That was so good that he tried again, but Pete Maddern tackled him +savagely and threw him back for three yards.</p> + +<p>Wynn himself took the ball for the next play, but though he launched +himself at the line like a thunderbolt he made only two yards.</p> + +<p>With five yards to go on the fourth down and such a stiff defense +to combat, Wynn tried a forward pass to Minter. But Minter, usually +reliable, fumbled it and the ball fell to the ground.</p> + +<p>Garry pounced on it like a flash and, tucking it securely under his +arm, skirted the right end, running like a deer.</p> + +<p>He was nearly forced out of bounds by Thomas, but dodged adroitly to +the left, and with Ted and Rooster running as his interference sped +down the field.</p> + +<p>The action had been so quick and unexpected that the regulars were +taken completely by surprise. Knapp made a dash for Garry, but Rooster +gave him a stiff shoulder block that rolled him over and over. Dittler +made for him, but Garry straight-armed him and kept on.</p> + +<p>But now the whole team of the regulars was on his trail like a pack of +wolves. On he went like the wind, the cheers of the crowd sounding in +his ears, his eyes on the goal posts.</p> + +<p>Twenty yards away! Fifteen! Ten!</p> + +<p>Wynn himself now was close on his heels. He was a fast runner and was +desperate to prevent the threatened touchdown.</p> + +<p>Five yards, and Garry felt rather than saw that Wynn's outstretched +arms were reaching for him. With one last tremendous effort he threw +himself toward the line and went over it, still holding the ball a foot +in advance of him.</p> + +<p>Wynn had hurled himself at him and came down on top of him. But he was +too late. The touchdown had been made, and the score was 6 to 0 in +favor of the scrubs!</p> + +<p>Garry rose from the ground, panting, bruised, all in, but radiantly +happy.</p> + +<p>"Well run, Grayson!" said Wynn generously, as he clapped the boy on the +shoulder.</p> + +<p>"You almost got me though," returned Garry. "It was a mighty close +call."</p> + +<p>Rooster kicked the goal, adding one more point to the score of the +scrubs.</p> + +<p>The latter were jubilant, while the regulars looked sheepish and +discomfited.</p> + +<p>Sandy Podder rubbed his eyes as though he could not believe what he saw.</p> + +<p>"He wouldn't have made that if Minter hadn't fumbled," he said. "Any +one can pick up a ball when somebody else muffs it."</p> + +<p>"You've got to admit that he was the only one who did pick it up though +there were twenty-one others who might have done it," said Stewart. "I +suppose now he'll have a bigger swelled head than ever."</p> + +<p>"He'll get his just the same before the game's over," prophesied Sandy. +"It was just a bit of beginner's luck."</p> + +<p>Thompson kicked off to Dittler, who caught the ball on his ten-yard +line and ran it back twenty-four yards before he was tackled so hard +by Maddern that he was knocked breathless. The ball was recovered by +Payne and it was the regulars' ball on the scrubs' thirty-three yard +line. Knapp broke through the scrub line for a twelve-yard gain and +a first down on the scrubs' twenty-one yard line. Not satisfied with +that, he made a further gain of three yards between left and tackle. A +forward pass failed, but on the fourth down Wynn dropped back and made +a drop-kick that sailed over the bar like a bird, scoring three points +for the regulars.</p> + +<p>This was equalled five minutes later when Nick also kicked a field goal.</p> + +<p>Both sides were fighting hard now, and the ball went back and forth, +mostly in the territory of the scrubs, till the period ended with the +score 10 to 3 in favor of the despised scrubs.</p> + +<p>There was plenty of cheering from the freshmen and the grammar school +boys, while the upper classmen were for the most part glum and silent.</p> + +<p>The face of Coach Garwin was as inscrutable as that of the Sphinx. +But he was not averse to seeing the regulars take their medicine—it +would be a good thing to have some of their overconfidence knocked out +of them—and it pleased him to see the kind of material he had on the +scrubs. The time might come when he would need it all.</p> + +<p>In the minute of rest between the first and second period Wynn passed +among his men, spurring them on to avoid the disgrace that threatened +of being beaten by the scrubs.</p> + +<p>Garry, too, improved the opportunity to give his jubilant mates a word +of warning.</p> + +<p>"Don't get too chesty, fellows," he admonished. "We've just started to +fight. The hardest part is yet to come. Seven points to the good is +seven points, but the game is young yet. They're more dangerous now +than they were before, because they know they've got to work to beat +us. Keep it up, fellows, keep it up!"</p> + +<p>The first period had ended with the ball only twenty yards away from +the scrubs' goal line and in the possession of the regulars.</p> + +<p>The latter started off with a savage rush that almost swept the scrubs +off their feet. Evidently Wynn's exhortations had had their effect. +Knapp went through for seven yards on the first down. Dittler tried +next but was thrown back for a loss of two. Knapp was called on again +to carry the ball, and justified the choice by getting through for +three more with the whole of the scrub team on his back. With only two +to go Wynn made a gain of four, the regulars thus holding possession of +the ball on the scrubs' eight-yard line.</p> + +<p>Garry called on his team mates desperately to brace. But the regulars +were too close now to be denied. Dittler plunged through for three, +added two more on the second try, and on the third Payne crossed the +coveted line for a touchdown. Thomas was called on to kick the goal, +but the ball hit one of the posts and was deflected. But the regulars +had added six points to their score and were only one behind the total +of the scrubs.</p> + +<p>For the rest of the period the fighting was fast and furious. At one +time the scrubs came dangerously near scoring when Rooster, who was +carrying the ball, was downed within ten yards of the regulars' goal. +But Payne kicked the ball out of danger, and the period ended without +further scoring, with the pigskin in the middle of the field.</p> + +<p>The twelve minutes of rest between the second and the third periods was +welcomed by both teams. They had been playing at the top of their speed +and were thoroughly winded.</p> + +<p>On the whole, honors had been even. Both teams had played good ball +considering that it was the first real game of the season. Fumbles +had been few and only two of them had been costly. Coach Garwin was +secretly elated, though his sleepy-lidded eyes betrayed little of his +real emotions.</p> + +<p>The scrubs sprawled out on the gymnasium floor, more exhausted perhaps +than the bigger and older boys on the regulars. But what they lacked +in breath they made up in exultation. They had held the regulars down! +They were a point ahead!</p> + +<p>"How dared we do it?" grinned Ted.</p> + +<p>"Mighty impudent of us, if you ask me," replied Rooster.</p> + +<p>"Did you see Sandy Podder biting his nails?" asked Nick. "Gee, I'd like +to win if for nothing else than to make that boob sore."</p> + +<p>"Lent Stewart seemed just about as grouchy," added Bill.</p> + +<p>"Let's make them grouchier yet," urged Garry. "Let's go in and lick the +tar out of the regulars. All we've got to do is to hold them safe and +the game is ours. That one little point we have looks to me as big as a +house."</p> + +<p>It looked that big to the regulars, too, though from a different angle, +and they started to wipe it out from the very beginning of the third +period.</p> + +<p>Thompson kicked off to Knapp, who returned twenty-two yards. Dittler +shot around the scrubs' right end for nine yards. A forward pass made +the yard that gave the regulars their distance. McCarty made a yard, +but Knapp lost ground on an attempted end run. Dittler shot through +the scrubs' right side for a five-yard gain. Knapp then punted to the +scrubs' twenty-five yard line, Rooster signaling for a fair catch.</p> + +<p>The scrubs failed to gain, and Rooster dropped back for a punt. The +regulars' linesmen hurried the kick, and the ball went up almost +straight in the air, netting the scrubs only ten yards and giving the +regulars the ball on the scrubs' twenty-nine yard line. On two plays +Wynn gained five yards. Then he broke loose and got the ball through to +the scrubs' fifteen-yard line.</p> + +<p>This was dangerously close, and the scrubs braced desperately. Dittler +failed to gain around the right end. Knapp lost ground on an attempted +run around left.</p> + +<p>It was third down with eleven yards to gain. Then Dittler went back to +try a forward pass. He was smeared, however, and the scrubs took the +ball on downs on their own twenty-five yard line.</p> + +<p>Tom Allison lost eight yards on an end run. Then he punted to Knapp, +who was downed in his tracks by Rooster before he could make a move. +Garry, aided by splendid interference by Bill, who bowled over his +opponents one after the other, made a run of thirty-eight yards, +bringing the ball well down in the enemy's territory.</p> + +<p>The scrubs gained only two yards on the first two downs. Then they were +penalized five yards for off-side play. An attempted forward pass was +incompleted and on the fourth down they made only two yards, the ball +going to the regulars.</p> + +<p>Then the latter began a steady march down the field. They were fighting +like mad to make a touchdown before the period ended. They wanted +to smother that one point lead to which the scrubs clung with such +desperate tenacity.</p> + +<p>Twice in succession the regulars made their distance, aided by a +splendid run of Benny Knapp's, who ran twenty-two yards before Bill +Sherwood downed him.</p> + +<p>Closer and closer they came to the scrubs' goal. The superior beef of +the older and better trained boys was beginning to tell. Their lighter +opponents fought frantically to hold them back. What they were fighting +for now was time.</p> + +<p>Twenty yards! Ten yards! And the regulars still held the ball!</p> + +<p>"Hold 'em, fellows, hold 'em!" gasped Garry, whose nose was bleeding +while one of his eyes was closing from the furious mix-ups in which he +had ever been foremost. "For the love of Pete, hold 'em!"</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XIII">CHAPTER XIII</h2> +</div> + +<h3><span class="smcap">In the Last Period</span></h3> + + +<p>With victory so near, the regulars declined to be held. Dittler plunged +through between right end and tackle for four yards. Wynn took the +ball—</p> + +<p>And just then the referee's whistle blew! The period had ended!</p> + +<p>"The score's still 10 to 9 in our favor! Gee, that's great!" gasped +Rooster, as he threw himself down on the ground to rest.</p> + +<p>Garry was too winded to say anything. He had almost reached the limit +of his endurance. That whistle seemed to him the sweetest music he had +ever heard.</p> + +<p>"We're still ahead," Nick agreed with Rooster, but with well-founded +anxiety in his tone. "But look where they'll be when the next period +begins. Only six yards to go and three downs to do it in."</p> + +<p>"We'll make that six yards look like six miles," declared Ted, with a +confidence in his tone that, however, he was far from feeling.</p> + +<p>On the bleacher seats Sandy Podder and Lent Stewart looked on with +eyes smouldering with discontent and apprehension.</p> + +<p>"Gee, I'd give fifty dollars to see the regulars knock 'em cold," +muttered Lent gloomily. "Lenox won't hold those scrubs if they down the +first string team."</p> + +<p>"That fellow Grayson certainly has luck," growled Sandy. "If he lost a +time-table, they'd give him the railroad."</p> + +<p>But the disgruntled soreheads had an opportunity to cheer within two +minutes after the fourth period began, for the regulars came out with a +fierce determination to make that six yards that alone separated them +from a touchdown. It would not do to throw away that chance in the very +shadow of the enemy's goal posts.</p> + +<p>For this desperate effort they chose their best material, Wynn, Knapp +and Dittler.</p> + +<p>Dittler came first, and, lowering his head, he plunged like a bull in +a hole made for him between guard and tackle. The play netted three +yards. Knapp came next, but Bill Sherwood threw him back for the loss +of a yard. Then Wynn took the ball and made two yards more.</p> + +<p>"Brace, fellows! Brace!" yelled Garry.</p> + +<p>The line stiffened. Dittler bucked it with all his might. There was a +furious mix-up, but when the mass was disentangled Dittler was over the +line with a yard to spare.</p> + +<p>There was frantic cheering from the upper classmen, which deepened in +volume when Wynn kicked the goal.</p> + +<p>16 to 10 in favor of the regulars and the final period well on its way!</p> + +<p>Now superior weight and age and condition began to tell. The scrubs +had almost shot their bolt. Their strength was ebbing, although their +courage still remained.</p> + +<p>Encouraged by having regained the lead, the regulars now put into play +all that they possessed. Almost from the kick-off the ball was in their +possession. They started down the field in a triumphal march. Time +after time they made their distance, and when they had come within +striking distance of the goal by a series of mass plays, a brilliant +run about the right end by Benny Knapp carried the ball over the goal +for another touchdown. Dittler kicked the goal and the score was 23 to +10 in favor of the regulars.</p> + +<p>"I guess they've got us," mourned Rooster.</p> + +<p>"Snap out of it!" returned Garry. "The game isn't over till the whistle +blows."</p> + +<p>One of Garry's eyes was closed now, but he made the other do the work +of two. When he got the ball a moment later he broke through for a +first down on the scrubs' forty-yard line. Nick added two yards and +Garry again made his way through for twelve yards taking the ball +beyond mid-field. Here, however, the scrubs were penalized fifteen +yards for holding, and Garry saw his gain go for nothing—less than +nothing.</p> + +<p>But this, far from discouraging him, only added to the fierce energy +of which he felt himself possessed. Grimy, bleeding, half blind, +again he got through the middle for fourteen yards. Tom Allison made +four yards on the first down. Then Garry shot around the left end +for a seventeen-yard gain. He was downed by Dittler on the regulars' +thirty-yard line. A moment later he again broke away for another first +down placing the ball on the regulars' eighteen-yard line.</p> + +<p>Nothing could hold him now. He was practically the whole team, though +Tom Allison and Pete Maddern gave him royal support. In two more tries +he made nine yards more. Here his team was penalized five yards for +holding.</p> + +<p>But in his present mood, fourteen yards counted for little to Garry +Grayson. Once more he plunged through the bewildered line of the +regulars and by a superb effort hurled himself over the goal line for a +touchdown. Nick kicked the goal.</p> + +<p>Just then the whistle sounded. The game was over and the regulars had +won by a score of twenty-three to seventeen!</p> + +<p>"Gee, but you gave us a battle!" laughed Ralph Wynn, as he helped +Garry with his bruised eye.</p> + +<p>Coach Garwin came up and grinned as he looked at Garry.</p> + +<p>"Somewhat disfigured, but still in the ring, I see, Grayson," he said. +"You played a good game and ran your team well. You've certainly given +the regulars something to think about. In this last quarter you did +about all the ground-gaining. They found you hard to stop. Keep it up! +Keep it up!"</p> + +<p>It was high praise from Al Garwin, who was usually chary of +words—especially words of praise—and Garry found enough in them to +compensate him for all his efforts.</p> + +<p>By this time the bleachers were empty and the crowd was spread over the +field, the freshmen and grammar school lads clustering about Garry and +his team, whom they cheered to the echo. Even some of the haughty upper +classmen condescended to clap Garry on the shoulder and congratulate +him on his showing.</p> + +<p>"Well, we had a moral victory anyway," Ted Dillingham comforted +himself, as the scrubs were slipping into their street clothes. "We +were beaten, but not disgraced."</p> + +<p>"If we'd had five periods instead of four, I bet we would have beaten +them anyway," declared Rooster. "That is," he added, "if Garry could +have kept up the pace he was going in the fourth. Gee, Garry, you were +as slippery as an eel!"</p> + +<p>"I had dandy interference, or I couldn't have made it," replied Garry. +"All you fellows were on your toes. But the score stands, and we're +licked. But one thing is certain. Those upper class fellows will never +hold us cheap again."</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XIV">CHAPTER XIV</h2> +</div> + +<h3><span class="smcap">Getting a Reprimand</span></h3> + + +<p>Ella Grayson gave a little squeal as Garry came into the living room +that afternoon. She had of course seen the game, as had every other +high school girl, but this was her first close view of her brother.</p> + +<p>"Garry Grayson!" she exclaimed. "Of all things! Mother, just look at +him!"</p> + +<p>Mrs. Grayson looked, and hurried with an exclamation to her son's side.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Garry, what has happened? Your nose! That eye! Have you been in an +accident?"</p> + +<p>Garry laughed as he flung his cap into a chair.</p> + +<p>"Don't worry, Mother," he said giving her an affectionate hug. "I never +felt better or happier in my life. Is dinner nearly ready? Gee, but I'm +hungry."</p> + +<p>"But, Garry, you haven't told me—"</p> + +<p>"Just been in a football game, Mother," Garry explained. "And I got my +share of the hard knocks. But it was a peach of a game. We scrubs sure +gave the regulars a tough fight. At one time it looked as though we +had them licked."</p> + +<p>"I suppose the next thing you'll have is a cauliflower ear," remarked +Ella, as their mother hurried off to find a soothing lotion with which +to dress the boy's hurts.</p> + +<p>"I heard something about your football game on my way home," remarked +Mr. Grayson, who entered the house a few minutes later. "I heard, +too, who made the touchdowns for the scrubs. Seems to me his name was +Grayson or something like that."</p> + +<p>Garry flushed and Ella giggled.</p> + +<p>"I think Garry's cut out for an editor," she said. "He's always saying +'we' when it ought to be 'I'."</p> + +<p>"The other fellows played as hard as I did," declared Garry. "If it +hadn't been for the interference I had, I wouldn't have made the +touchdowns. The whole team fought like tigers."</p> + +<p>"Well, I'm glad you made a good showing," said his father. "It's fine +to win, of course: but, after all, the main thing is to play the game, +play it honorably, squarely and with all your might. And from all I've +heard that's the way you played it to-day."</p> + +<p>"But look at his nose and his eye!" said Mrs. Grayson.</p> + +<p>"I guess his injuries won't be fatal," laughed Mr. Grayson.</p> + +<p>"I'm going to take a snapshot of him and show it to the girls," said +Ella, making a dive for her camera.</p> + +<p>"Not on your life you won't!" returned Garry, as he forestalled her and +held the instrument out of her reach until she promised to be good.</p> + +<p>On Monday morning the school was agog with interest over the result +of the Saturday game. The stock of Lenox High football went up with a +bound. Up to that time there had been a good deal of pessimism as to +the standing of Lenox in the High School League, owing to the loss of +Greb and other stars. But now it began to look as though Lenox would +have a good store of reserve material to draw on for the hot contests +that were promised in the future.</p> + +<p>There were six teams in the High School League of which Lenox was a +member. All of them were within a radius of thirty miles, so that there +was not much traveling to be done, and almost the entire membership of +the schools that were playing on any particular day could be depended +on to be on hand to cheer their favorites. The rivalry between the +different teams was intense, and feeling ran high whenever the teams +clashed.</p> + +<p>Besides Lenox, there were the Wimbledon, Pawling, Bass Lake, Greenfield +and Thomaston high schools represented in the league. Of these, +Greenfield was the most to be feared, and they had always given Lenox +the hardest opposition. After Greenfield came Pawling. The others also +were, as Ralph Wynn said, "not to be sneezed at," and no game was +counted as surely in Lenox's hands until the referee's whistle blew.</p> + +<p>Just now Coach Garwin was "pointing" the team for the Greenfield game. +Of course, he wanted as many of the others too as his team could win, +but he recognized Greenfield as his strongest opponent. Reports that +had come to him indicated that Greenfield had retained most of its +former stars, and in addition had added a fullback who was said to be a +wonder.</p> + +<p>So, with this struggle in view, it was no wonder that the coach was +elated by the showing made by his scrubs. He knew now that, in case of +injury to any of his regulars, he had a second line to draw from that +would be almost or quite as good as the boys they replaced.</p> + +<p>He smiled pleasantly at Garry as he met the lad on the school steps, +but made no reference to the Saturday game. No one under his control +was going to get a swelled head if he knew it.</p> + +<p>Garry's nose was still swollen, and his eye had a purple ring around +it.</p> + +<p>"Gee, but you wouldn't take a beauty prize just now," chuckled Ted.</p> + +<p>Trompet Shrugg eyed Garry sourly as the lad entered his room. He seemed +about to speak, but for the moment restrained himself.</p> + +<p>During the first quarter of an hour lessons went on as usual. But it +was noticeable that the teacher was fidgeting and most of the time kept +his eye on Garry's disfigured face. At last he seemed to have reached a +resolution and rapped on the desk for attention.</p> + +<p>"It is of course my chief duty to teach you English," he said to the +expectant boys, who sensed that something unusual was coming. "But it +is also my duty, as I conceive it, to oversee your conduct. And from +that duty I shall not flinch. I am surprised—perhaps I should say I +am disgusted—that one of your number should have been engaged in an +unseemly brawl. It would seem to me to be only common decency that he +should not intrude his presence here until the shameful evidence of +that brawl has disappeared."</p> + +<p>He paused and fixed his eyes on Garry.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XV">CHAPTER XV</h2> +</div> + +<h3><span class="smcap">An Unexpected Ally</span></h3> + + +<p>Garry Grayson flushed to the ears. The attack was so venomous, so +unwarranted, that he was hardly able to believe that he had heard +aright. His eyes blazed as they encountered Trompet Shrugg's.</p> + +<p>His comrades were equally amazed. Their impulse was that of +indignation. The second was to laugh. Knowing the real reason for +Garry's disfigured appearance, the mistake of Mr. Shrugg in attributing +it to a brawl seemed to them comical.</p> + +<p>"This is no laughing matter," said the teacher sternly, as a ripple of +amusement ran around the class. "Rowdyism is a thing to be condemned +severely."</p> + +<p>Garry by a great effort had gained a measure of self-control.</p> + +<p>"I suppose you are referring to me, Mr. Shrugg," he said, rising and +trying to speak respectfully.</p> + +<p>"I am mentioning no names," said Trompet Shrugg primly. "Any one that +the shoe fits can put it on."</p> + +<p>"But I think that you must have meant me," persisted Garry, "because I +am the only one in the class that has a swelled nose and a black eye."</p> + +<p>"Well, you are correct in assuming that you were the boy I had in +mind," snapped the teacher. "And I do not hesitate to say again that +such conduct is disgraceful."</p> + +<p>"What conduct?" asked Garry.</p> + +<p>"Fighting," replied Shrugg.</p> + +<p>"What makes you think that I have been fighting?" asked Garry.</p> + +<p>"Your appearance shows it. And what is more, I want no impudence from +you, Grayson. I am not here to be subjected to cross examination."</p> + +<p>"I am not impudent," replied Garry. "I only want to say that you +are mistaken. I have not been fighting. I got these injuries in the +football game on Saturday."</p> + +<p>Trompet Shrugg was so taken aback that for a moment he did not know +what to say. He looked so discomfited, so disconcerted at the way his +spite had proved a boomerang that a roar of laughter that could not be +quelled rose from the class.</p> + +<p>The teacher rapped angrily on his desk for order.</p> + +<p>"If that be true," he said, "it simply confirms the opinion I have +always entertained of the brutality of football. It is nothing less +than organized fighting, and it's unworthy of our civilization. That +will do, Grayson. You may take your seat."</p> + +<p>At this moment the door opened and Mr. Allen, the principal, entered on +his daily tour of inspection of the classes. He was a genial man and +very popular with the boys. He was also a great friend of Mr. Grayson's +and often visited at his home.</p> + +<p>His eye lighted on Garry, who was just taking his seat.</p> + +<p>"Hello, Garry," he said quizzically. "You look as though you had been +through the wars."</p> + +<p>"I got roughed up a little in the football game on Saturday," replied +Garry, grinning.</p> + +<p>Mr. Allen threw back his head and laughed.</p> + +<p>"Well, they're honorable scars," he remarked. "I saw part of that game, +and was especially struck by the way you made that last touchdown. +It was splendid work, and I hope you'll keep it up. I want to say to +all you boys that football is a great game. Any one with red blood in +his veins can't help liking it. It develops courage, self-reliance, +discipline and quick thinking—all the qualities that go into the +making of the best type of manhood. I am sure that Mr. Shrugg will +agree with me in this. Of course you must not let it interfere with +your studies. Scholarship comes first. But as long as you maintain a +good rank in your studies you can't do anything better in the hours +devoted to pastime than to play good hard football, the harder the +better. An occasional black eye won't do you any harm. It's a badge of +honor, as in Garry's case."</p> + +<p>During this talk, Trompet Shrugg's face was a study. Chagrin, +embarrassment, consternation chased themselves across his features. As +for the boys, they nearly choked in restraining their mirth.</p> + +<p>Of course, had Mr. Allen had any idea of what had preceded his +entrance, he would have foregone his eulogy on football for the sake +of discipline and to spare the feelings of the teacher. But, wholly +unaware of the situation, he made one or two more routine inquiries and +left the room.</p> + +<p>Study was resumed, but the work of the rest of that hour did not amount +to much. Mr. Shrugg's face was as red as a peony. His pettiness had met +with a just reward. The persecution he had heaped on Garry had returned +to plague him. Never had the teacher felt such relief as when the gong +sounded the signal of dismissal.</p> + +<p>The boys poured out into the hall and then for the first time dared +to give vent to their emotions. Peals of laughter echoed through the +corridors, and the sound of it penetrated to the room in which Trompet +Shrugg sat.</p> + +<p>"Did you ever see such a face?" gurgled Ted Dillingham.</p> + +<p>"And to think Mr. Allen should have come in just at that minute!" +rejoiced Rooster. "Garry, you old rascal, I'll bet you had it all +cooked up in advance!"</p> + +<p>"Not guilty," declared Garry with a grin. "But it sure was a bit of +good luck for me."</p> + +<p>"I guess that ends Shrugg's riding you," conjectured Pete Maddern. "He +won't dare rag you any more."</p> + +<p>"Things were getting to such a pass that I'd just about made up my mind +to draw up a round robin to Mr. Allen and get all the fellows to sign +it," put in Tom Allison.</p> + +<p>The story spread like wildfire through the school, and was greeted +everywhere hilariously, for Trompet Shrugg had succeeded in making +himself intensely unpopular. That Mr. Allen himself eventually heard +of the incident no one knew for a certainty, but events that followed +shortly afterward indicated that he had.</p> + +<p>The first game of the league season—that with Wimbledon—was now +rapidly approaching and the boys were looking forward to it eagerly. +That team had usually put up a stiff fight, and the year before Lenox +had beaten it only by a lucky field goal as the last quarter was +nearing its end.</p> + +<p>Coach Garwin did not hold it cheaply—indeed, he never made that often +fatal error in regard to any games on the schedule—and he drove his +boys on remorselessly in practice. By this time they had become pretty +well seasoned, and the coach had no hesitation in making them go the +limit.</p> + +<p>He compelled the scrubs, too, to be on their toes all the while. Not +that the second string men needed any urging. The close call they had +given the regulars in the first game was ever present with them, and +they were frantically eager to win a game from their opponents.</p> + +<p>Victory, however, never came as close to them as it had in that first +game. The regulars then had been over confident and had come near +paying the penalty. Now that they knew the stuff the scrubs were made +of, the regulars went in every time expecting a stiff struggle, and +their superior weight carried them through to triumph.</p> + +<p>"Looks less likely than ever that we'll get on the first team this +year," mourned Rooster.</p> + +<p>"You never can tell," replied Garry, with his unconquerable optimism. +"I don't wish the regulars any bad luck, but accidents are likely to +happen at any time. Sometimes three or four fellows are knocked out in +a single quarter, and then our chance may come. All we've got to do is +to keep on plugging with all our might."</p> + +<p>There was no doubt that Garry himself was putting that principle in +practice. He was out almost every day on the field working to his +utmost. He was among the first to get on the playing oval and among the +last to leave. And very frequently he and some of the Hill Street bunch +would get together after supper and practice in the lot back of his +house until darkness forced them in.</p> + +<p>He was happier now than he had been at any other time since school +opened. His persecution by Trompet Shrugg had greatly diminished. Ted +conjectured that some one had "put a flea in the old boy's ear," as he +disrespectfully phrased it. More likely it was the recollection of the +humiliation he had suffered when Mr. Allen had unwittingly spiked his +guns that made the teacher of English more careful in his dealings with +Garry.</p> + +<p>On the day set for the Wimbledon game Garry was as hard as nails and +ready for the call, if the call should come.</p> + +<p>The game was to be played at Lenox, which gave a slight edge to the +home team. They were on familiar ground, and the larger part of the +crowd would be rooting for them.</p> + +<p>But Wimbledon was only eight miles away, and practically the whole +school came over to encourage their football team, most of them +bringing horns and cowbells along with which they were prepared to make +a din whenever the occasion required.</p> + +<p>Garry, with his comrades of the scrubs, was on the side lines with a +blanket thrown over his shoulders. As the Wimbledon boys romped out on +the field for practice, he had a good chance to size them up.</p> + +<p>What he saw made him a trifle uneasy, for the visitors were a husky +bunch and showed up extremely well in their ten minutes of practice. To +his eyes they seemed trained to the minute and to have somewhat more +"beef" in their line than the Lenox boys.</p> + +<p>Lenox won the toss and elected to kick off. The teams lined up on the +home forty-yard line, and Wynn sent the ball hurtling down the field +for thirty-five yards. Beebe, the red-headed fullback of Wimbledon, ran +the ball back for five yards before he was downed, and the game was on.</p> + +<p>The teams lined up for the scrimmage, with Wimbledon having the ball. +Johnston, their left halfback, plunged through left guard and tackle +for a gain of four yards. Beebe tried the other side and made two more, +and on the next down went through for five, making the distance with a +down to spare.</p> + +<p>It was an auspicious beginning for the visitors, and the yells and +cowbells of their rooters drowned all other sounds.</p> + +<p>"First blood for Wimbledon!"</p> + +<p>"Show these fellows where they get off."</p> + +<p>"Wimbledon, Wimbledon! Our team weighs a ton!" they chanted in chorus.</p> + +<p>But their yells died down a moment later when Wynn intercepted a +forward pass and made a pretty run of twenty-two yards around the +Wimbledon right end.</p> + +<p>Now the Lenox backs got in their work. Dittler bucked the line for two +yards. Wynn went through for three. Knapp was good for two more, and +then Dittler again took up the Lenox burden for four more.</p> + +<p>Lenox had made the distance and still had the ball, with the Wimbledon +goal only about nine yards away.</p> + +<p>This time the Lenox rooters had their turn at yelling, and it made that +of the Wimbledon partisans seem weak in comparison.</p> + +<p>But now the staying qualities of the visitors was put to the test, and +they responded gamely. With their goal in danger, they put up a furious +resistance. Dittler, on the first down, was thrown back for a loss of +three yards. Knapp was good for only two. Wynn duplicated this with +two more.</p> + +<p>With eight yards to go on the fourth down, Lenox tried a forward pass. +But a magnificent leap of Beebe's intercepted it and the prospect of a +touchdown went glimmering.</p> + +<p>Beebe dropped back and kicked the ball nearly to the middle of the +field. Knapp ran it back for eight yards, and the teams lined up for +the scrimmage, with Lenox in possession of the ball.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XVI">CHAPTER XVI</h2> +</div> + +<h3><span class="smcap">Fighting Mad</span></h3> + + +<p>For the rest of that first period it was a case of seesaw, first one +and then the other of the teams getting the ball, but neither being +able to make any notable advance. The referee's whistle ended the +period with the ball in the middle of the field. The quarter had +demonstrated nothing more than that the teams were unusually well +matched.</p> + +<p>"Doesn't look like a walkover for either one," remarked Rooster to +Garry, while the panting warriors tried to get their breath in the +brief minute of space between the first and second periods.</p> + +<p>"Righto," responded Garry. "Our boys have got their work cut out for +them, if they expect to win. That red-headed Beebe is a terror. He's as +good as any two of their other men."</p> + +<p>"He's there with the goods all right," admitted Nick. "But he isn't a +bit better than Dittler, although I think he's a trifle heavier."</p> + +<p>"It's a mighty good scrap so far," observed Bill. "May the best team +win. Provided, of course," he added with a grin, "that team is Lenox."</p> + +<p>"That goes without saying," agreed Garry.</p> + +<p>In the next quarter Wimbledon resorted to an aerial game and relied +more on forward passes than mass play. It was soon evident that they +had been well coached in this feature of the game, and for a time they +gained ground consistently.</p> + +<p>Steadily they advanced the ball down the field until they got within +striking distance of the home team's goal. Then Lenox gained possession +of the ball and showed that they too could do some forward passing +themselves.</p> + +<p>Wynn took the ball for a brilliant run of twenty yards about right end, +very narrowly escaping being forced out of bounds. Dittler, not to be +outdone, made eighteen more yards around left. Twice following this, +Lenox, by hard line smashing, made their distance on downs.</p> + +<p>It was classy work, and it set the Lenox rooters to yelling +vociferously in the stands. A moment later the noise became pandemonium +when Benny Knapp dropped back and kicked a field goal, scoring the +first three points of the game.</p> + +<p>"Here's where we get them!" yelled Bill Sherwood bringing his big hand +down with a resounding slap on Garry's knee.</p> + +<p>"For the love of Pete, keep that big ham off me!" ejaculated Garry, as +he rubbed the spot. "Do you want to cripple me! Yes, it does look good, +but the game is young yet. Those Wimbledon guys will take a lot of +beating."</p> + +<p>That Bill had been premature in his exultation was shown a few moments +later when Beebe, his red head shining in the sun, intercepted a +forward pass and by a superb exhibition of running carried it for forty +yards across the Lenox line for a touchdown.</p> + +<p>Johnston kicked the goal and the score was 7 to 3 in favor of +Wimbledon. And now the horns and cowbells set up a din that could be +heard a mile away.</p> + +<p>"Tough luck!" groaned Rooster.</p> + +<p>"Luck, nothing!" returned Nick. "That red-headed rascal earned every +inch he covered. His mates gave him good interference, too! We've got +to hand it to them, much as we hate to. That was good football, and +nothing else."</p> + +<p>Wimbledon seemed to have taken on a new lease of life, now that they +had the lead. As though to show that there was nothing like a fluke +in the first touchdown, they made another in the last minute of the +quarter, Johnston this time being the happy warrior to scoop up the +ball when Knapp fumbled and scamper like a jack rabbit over the goal +line.</p> + +<p>Marsden's try for goal failed, but the Wimbledon rooters made little of +that. Six more points had been safely stowed away and they were wild +with enthusiasm. The Lenox partisans, glum and silent, breathed sighs +of relief as the whistle blew.</p> + +<p>"Ten points ahead and the game half over!" muttered Ted disconsolately.</p> + +<p>"They're outplaying us," growled Nick. "They were like wild men in that +quarter. We'll be lucky if they leave us our shirts."</p> + +<p>"Snap out of it," admonished Garry. "There's plenty of time left to +win."</p> + +<p>"I wonder what Coach Garwin's saying to the boys," remarked Bill, as he +looked toward the gymnasium where Wynn's battered warriors were resting +and wondering what had hit them.</p> + +<p>"What he's saying is plenty," returned Nick. "He's got the finest +command of language of any one I know. He's got the boys raw and +bleeding by this time."</p> + +<p>That Al Garwin had been doing something of the kind was evident when +the Lenox team trotted out for the third quarter. The players' faces +were red and the glint of rage was in their eyes.</p> + +<p>"I can almost hear them gnashing their teeth," commented Bill.</p> + +<p>"So much the better," remarked Garry. "The coach has told them they +were dubs. They're going to show him that he didn't know what he was +talking about."</p> + +<p>That Al Garwin's tongue had rasped the boys to the quick was made +evident from the start. Beebe kicked off for thirty yards and Dittler +signaled for a fair catch. He made it and the ball was in the +possession of Lenox on their own thirty-yard line.</p> + +<p>Then the home team commenced a triumphal march down the field. Their +line smashing was irresistible. Again and again they made their +distance, despite the frantic opposition put up by Wimbledon. And +seeing the spirit and power that animated his boys, Wynn kept to the +bucking game.</p> + +<p>Through they went, now on the left and again on the right side. All the +players of the opposition looked alike to them. The Lenox boys plunged, +smashed, bored their way through, while their rooters in the bleachers +went mad.</p> + +<p>On their ten-yard line Wimbledon braced desperately. But it was of no +use. Dittler went through for three, Knapp for four more, and Minter +capped the plays when he tore through guard and left tackle for a +touchdown.</p> + +<p>Garry and his fellow scrubs were pounding each other and babbling +incoherently.</p> + +<p>"I guess our boys are poor!" chortled Garry. "Oh, yes, they're poor! +Did you ever see such line bucking?"</p> + +<p>"If they only keep that up, it will be a massacre," rejoiced Bill +Sherwood. "They'll simply snow them under."</p> + +<p>But joy was of short duration. Out once more in the middle of the +field, Wynn passed the ball to Knapp, who started off to skirt right +end, but slipped as he dodged to evade a tackler and fell heavily, the +ball shooting out from his arm with the impact.</p> + +<p>The irrepressible Beebe, who had so often that day blighted the hopes +of Lenox, was on the ball like a hawk and scooted down the field for +a magnificent run of forty-two yards for Wimbledon's third touchdown. +Johnston kicked the goal and the score was 20 to 10 in favor of the +visitors.</p> + +<p>"They have all the breaks," groaned Rooster, though his voice could +scarcely be heard in the terrific din that rose from the Wimbledon +section of the stands.</p> + +<p>"That fellow Beebe must have a rabbit's foot in his pocket," gloomed +Nick.</p> + +<p>"He's got brains in his head, you mean," amended Garry, "to say nothing +of speed in his feet. That fellow can ran rings around a streak of +lightning."</p> + +<p>For the rest of that period the fighting was furious on both sides, but +neither made an additional score.</p> + +<p>When their brief breathing spell ended, Lenox came out determined to +do or die. That they were more likely to die than do was indicated by +the score. But they were a fighting bunch and at least would sell their +lives dearly.</p> + +<p>Wimbledon, fairly content with what she had gained and confident that +her lead could not be overcome in the short time remaining for play, +resorted to a defensive game that was more cagey than sportsmanlike. +All that she had to do was to prevent any further scoring by Lenox and +the game was hers.</p> + +<p>But Lenox, on the other hand, threw caution to the winds and battered +furiously at the enemy's line. Again and again she threw herself +against that line and would not be denied. The first time the Lenox +boys got possession of the ball they made their distance on downs with +two yards to spare.</p> + +<p>Again they lined up for the scrimmage and the ball was passed to +Dittler for a plunge between left end and tackle. He went through like +a bull for four yards before he went down with almost all the Wimbledon +team on top of him.</p> + +<p>When the pile was disentangled, Dittler did not rise, and after he +had been helped to his feet it was found that his right ankle had +been so severely strained that he could hardly bear his weight on it. +Consternation reigned in the Lenox ranks, for Dittler was one of the +pillars of the team.</p> + +<p>"There goes the game!" mourned Nick.</p> + +<p>"They had little enough chance before," groaned Ted. "They haven't any +at all now."</p> + +<p>"Just when the boys were going like a house afire!" grumbled Rooster.</p> + +<p>Time was called while Dittler was assisted from the field amid the +sympathetic applause of the rooters, not excluding those from Wimbledon +who knew a good sportsman when they saw one.</p> + +<p>"I wonder whom they'll put in his place," murmured Tom Allison.</p> + +<p>"Search me," replied Pete Maddern. "He'll have to be good to fill +Dittler's shoes."</p> + +<p>Coach Garwin walked over to the group.</p> + +<p>"Get in there, Grayson," he directed.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XVII">CHAPTER XVII</h2> +</div> + +<h3><span class="smcap">Winning His Spurs</span></h3> + + +<p>Like a flash Garry Grayson threw off his blanket and sped out into the +field. His heart was beating like a triphammer. He was really playing +on the first team! He was playing in the place of Dittler, a star! +Could he really fill the position? Or would he fall down on the job?</p> + +<p>A shout of encouragement went up from the Lenox rooters as he took his +place.</p> + +<p>"Grayson! Grayson! Go to it! Eat 'em up! Turn 'em inside out! Lenox +forever!"</p> + +<p>Two voices were lacking in this chorus. Sandy Podder and Lent Stewart +fumed and growled when they saw who had been chosen as a substitute.</p> + +<p>"That four-flusher!" snapped Sandy. "Now the game's gone for fair."</p> + +<p>"Garwin must be off his nut," declared Stewart. "Picking out a freshman +when he's got lots of better material."</p> + +<p>For the second down Knapp was chosen to carry the ball. But the +Wimbledon line, more certain of victory than ever now that such a +formidable enemy as Dittler had been removed, threw Benny back for a +loss of two yards.</p> + +<p>On the next snapback Wynn passed the ball to Garry, and, lowering his +head, the recruit from the scrubs went through like a catapult. He was +fresh while his adversaries were panting, and he hit the line with such +force that he made seven yards before he was downed.</p> + +<p>With fourth down and only one yard to make for the distance, Wynn again +gave the ball to Garry, and this time he made four yards with almost +the whole Wimbledon team piled up on him.</p> + +<p>Cheers went up from the Lenox rooters and the cowbells of the Wimbledon +men remained silent.</p> + +<p>"Fool's luck!" growled Sandy.</p> + +<p>"The Wimbledon fellows thought so little of him that they didn't try +hard enough to stop him," returned Lent. "He'll get his the next time +he tries it."</p> + +<p>Again the teams lined up for the scrimmage. Minter made two yards +between right guard and tackle. Knapp went through for one more. The +Wimbledon line had braced and Wynn signaled for a forward pass.</p> + +<p>The ball was snapped back to him and he made the throw to Garry, who +was running at full speed toward the right of the line. The pass was +beautifully timed and Garry gathered it in on the run and, with Minter +and Knapp as his interference, ran like a deer down the field.</p> + +<p>Red-headed Beebe made a rush for him, but Garry straight-armed him and +ran on. Minter blocked Johnston neatly just as he was on the point of +diving for the runner.</p> + +<p>On, on, Garry went, squirming, dodging, twisting, slipping through the +ranks of his enemies like a ghost. Out of the corner of his eye he saw +Beebe, who was at his left, launch himself at him. At the same moment +Garry hurled himself through the air, and, evading Beebe's outstretched +arms, came down with a thump just across the line for a touchdown.</p> + +<p>A thunder of yells from the Lenox rooters swept across the field as +Garry, flushed and panting, rose to his feet.</p> + +<p>Minter kicked the goal, and the score was 20 to 17 in favor of the +visitors.</p> + +<p>A field goal by Lenox would tie the score. A touchdown would win, +provided they kept Wimbledon from increasing its tally.</p> + +<p>But the time was now perilously short.</p> + +<p>Both teams were wound up to the highest fighting pitch. Every inch +that was gained had to be fought for. Again and again attempts to buck +the line by either team proved unavailing, and the ball changed hands +repeatedly.</p> + +<p>With only three minutes left for play, Johnston fumbled the ball and +Garry pounced on it and ran for a gain of twenty-three yards, bringing +the ball within eight yards of the Wimbledon goal.</p> + +<p>But with victory almost in sight and the Lenox fans shouting like mad, +the referee ordered the ball brought back and in addition penalized the +Lenox team. One of their team had been off-side, and the run went for +nothing—even less than nothing.</p> + +<p>Lenox's case was almost desperate then, but still the team fought on. +With but one minute left for play, Wynn tried for a goal from the +Wimbledon thirty-five yard line.</p> + +<p>The ball soared through the air like a bird, and for one breathless +minute it seemed as though it were going over the bar. But it struck +the right goal post and bounded back in the field where Beebe fell upon +it, and before it could again be put in play the referee's whistle blew +and the game was over.</p> + +<p>Wimbledon had conquered by a score of 20 to 17!</p> + +<p>The Lenox boys were game, and lined up and gave three cheers for the +victors. Wimbledon, who knew that they had been in a fight, responded +with three more cheers, and then the teams retired to their respective +quarters.</p> + +<p>Sandy Podder was jubilant, though he did not dare show it.</p> + +<p>"Gosh, I would have been sore if that kid had made another touchdown!" +he whispered to Lent.</p> + +<p>"Y-e-e-s," responded Lent dubiously. "But it would have won for Lenox."</p> + +<p>"Lenox be hanged!" replied Sandy, "I'd rather she'd lose than have +Grayson win it for her."</p> + +<p>Garry's chums crowded around him, patting him, thumping him until he +was sore.</p> + +<p>"Gee, but you were wonderful, Garry!" exclaimed Ted.</p> + +<p>"Those runs of yours were peaches," put in Rooster.</p> + +<p>"If that game had only lasted ten minutes longer!" groaned Nick.</p> + +<p>Others now came forward to congratulate the scrub player.</p> + +<p>"You did dandy work, Grayson," was Ralph Wynn's tribute.</p> + +<p>"Well played, my boy," Coach Garwin contented himself with saying, +at the same time placing his hand on the boy's shoulder. "I made no +mistake in sending you in."</p> + +<p>"But we lost the game," mourned Garry, as, later on, he was walking +home with his chums. "The first game of the league season, too! I was +hoping we'd get the jump on them."</p> + +<p>"It was too bad," agreed Bill. "But if Lenox was beaten she was not +disgraced. The boys played great football in the last half."</p> + +<p>"There'll be a different story to tell next time," predicted Rooster.</p> + +<p>"Too bad Dittler was hurt though," said Tom Allison. "He's one of the +best men on the team."</p> + +<p>"As it happened, though, he wasn't missed," declared Pete Maddern. +"Garry more than made up for him."</p> + +<p>"That's because I was fresh while he was tired," protested Garry. "He +can run rings all around me."</p> + +<p>"You're the only fellow in Lenox that thinks so then," put in the loyal +Ted.</p> + +<p>The coach had a heart to heart talk with the members of the team the +next school-day afternoon. He went over the game in detail, pointing +out a mistake here, giving full credit for a good play there, and +making the boys wonder how on earth he had managed to see so many +things with those sleepy eyes of his.</p> + +<p>"On the whole you played a fair game of ball," he summed up. "But +no game is really good unless it's good enough to win. Don't kid +yourselves into thinking that the other fellows had the breaks of the +game. That's the excuse of faint hearts. You had as many breaks as they +did. They won the game on its merits. That's the way I want you to win +the next one. And every one of you fellows has got to work like the +mischief if you want to hold your jobs."</p> + +<p>Garry was not present at this gathering, and for a sufficient reason.</p> + +<p>Trompet Shrugg had been in an execrable humor that day. He was usually +grumpy, but now he was ferocious. For some reason, which the boys +could not fathom, he had apparently thrown discretion to the winds. He +distributed stings and sarcasms with a liberal hand—or rather, tongue.</p> + +<p>"The old boy's as full of poison as a rattlesnake," whispered Ted to +Garry.</p> + +<p>"And seems as if he was in a hurry to get rid of it all at once," +replied Garry.</p> + +<p>The teacher caught the motion of Garry's lips.</p> + +<p>"Talking again in class, Grayson?" he snapped. "You'll stay and write a +composition of fifteen hundred words this afternoon."</p> + +<p>"Stung!" Garry muttered forlornly to himself.</p> + +<p>So it was that he rejoined his chums only as they were coming from the +gymnasium after the talk by Mr. Garwin.</p> + +<p>"So the old crab got you, did he?" said Bill consolingly, as he threw +his arm around Garry's shoulder. "But don't care, old-timer. It's the +last time."</p> + +<p>"No such luck," returned Garry moodily. "He'll ride me till the end of +the term."</p> + +<p>"I said it was the last time," repeated Bill.</p> + +<p>Something in his voice made Garry look at him quickly.</p> + +<p>"What do you mean?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"Trompet Shrugg leaves to-morrow," replied Bill.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XVIII">CHAPTER XVIII</h2> +</div> + +<h3><span class="smcap">Like a Thunderbolt</span></h3> + + +<p>Garry Grayson stared at Bill as though he could not believe his ears.</p> + +<p>"Wh-h-at?" he stammered.</p> + +<p>"Don't roll your eyes like a dying fish," admonished Bill "Trust old +Doc Sherwood. He knows. And if you feel like crying, you can weep on my +shoulder."</p> + +<p>"Bill knows what he's talking about," broke in Ted, who, with a number +of other boys, had been watching Garry's face with amusement as the +news was imparted to him. "It's straight goods. This is old Shrugg's +last day in Lenox."</p> + +<p>"Glory, hallelujah!" cried Garry, throwing his bundle of books in the +air and catching it dexterously on its return. "That's the best news +I've heard since school opened! It seems too good to be true! How did +you find it out?"</p> + +<p>"Just got the tip from Ralph Wynn," replied Nick. "And it came straight +to him from Mr. Allen, too! Oh, it's true all right! That's the reason +that Shrugg was so full of gall to-day. It was his last chance to work +it off."</p> + +<p>"Where's he going?" asked Garry.</p> + +<p>"He's got a position away off in the upper part of the State," put in +Rooster. "It seems that this thing's been brewing for some time. Mr. +Allen and the school board have heard so many complaints of Shrugg's +tyrannical methods that they decided to get rid of him, though they let +him stay until he could get himself fixed. But now we're through with +him."</p> + +<p>"I feel sorry for the poor dubs that will be under him," put in +Rooster. "Our gain will be their loss."</p> + +<p>"Oh well," returned Nick, "why should we have to take all the bad +medicine?"</p> + +<p>"I wonder whom we'll get in his place," conjectured Garry. "Though it +doesn't much matter. Any change is bound to be for the better."</p> + +<p>Garry's chums looked grinningly at each other.</p> + +<p>"Shall we tell him!" asked Rooster.</p> + +<p>"Better go slow," admonished Ted.</p> + +<p>"He oughtn't to have two shocks in one day," added Nick.</p> + +<p>"Let me see," said Bill, assuming a professional air and feeling +Garry's pulse. "Hum! Hum! A little fast, but not dangerously so. Yes, I +think it will be safe to tell him. Trust old Doc Sherwood. He knows."</p> + +<p>Garry made a pass at him, and Bill ducked with a loss of his +professional dignity.</p> + +<p>"Quit your kidding," demanded Garry. "Spill it. Who's coming in +Shrugg's place?"</p> + +<p>"Mr. Phillips," replied Ted.</p> + +<p>Garry's heart gave a bound and his face became radiant.</p> + +<p>"Not our Mr. Phillips of the Hill Street school?" he exclaimed.</p> + +<p>"That's the one," Nick assured him. "You'll see him at the desk when we +go into the English class to-morrow morning. Shrugg shakes the dust of +Lenox from his shoes to-night."</p> + +<p>"What a change it will be to have a regular fellow for a teacher!" +exulted Garry.</p> + +<p>"And as good a scholar as Shrugg ever was," put in Rooster. "I +understand he was a star in his classes at Amherst, as well as on the +football team."</p> + +<p>"I'm glad, too, for Mr. Phillips's own sake as well as ours," remarked +Ted. "It will be promotion for him to come from a grammar school to a +high school. He'll be a professor in a big college before he's through."</p> + +<p>"Let's hope that won't be until we get out of high," put in Garry. +"Gee, I feel as though some one had given me a million dollars!"</p> + +<p>"We sha'n't hear any more about the brutality of football," laughed +Bill. "You've got through being a disgraceful brawler, Garry."</p> + +<p>"You can intrude yourself now into the society of gentlemen without +feeling out of place," added Rooster, grinning.</p> + +<p>The boys were early in their places in the English class the following +morning, and when Mr. Phillips entered there was a ripple of applause +that swelled in volume as other pupils followed the lead of the former +Hill Street boys. It was a sincere tribute, and Mr. Phillips flushed +with pleasure as he bowed and took his seat.</p> + +<p>He made no formal speech, simply expressed his thanks at the welcome +and his hope that he and the boys would enjoy their studies together +and that his pupils would feel free to come to him with any of their +problems, whether bearing on the lessons or not. There was no stiffness +nor pedantry about him, and coming after the primness of Trompet +Shrugg, the contrast was refreshing. In that little two-minute talk he +got close to all the boys in the class, and it was evident that the +English class, instead of being dreaded as before, was to be looked +forward to with pleasure.</p> + +<p>At the close of the hour he held an impromptu reception as the former +Hill Street boys crowded around him.</p> + +<p>"Gee, but we're glad to see you here, Mr. Phillips," said Garry, his +face shining with pleasure, and his comrades expressed themselves with +equal warmth.</p> + +<p>"You can be sure that I am very glad, too, to have so many of my old +pupils in the class," responded Mr. Phillips warmly, as he shook hands +with each. "I could see from the work you did this morning that all of +you have kept well up in your studies. That's fine. You look, too, as +though you were in fine physical condition. I suppose with some of you +a part of that is due to football."</p> + +<p>"We fellows who play are at the game whenever we get a chance," replied +Garry, with a smile.</p> + +<p>"I've kept track of you in that to some extent," said Mr. Phillips. "I +saw that game with Wimbledon, and I was proud of the way you played, +Garry, when you were called on to take the place of Dittler. And I saw +you boys when you came so near to taking a game from the regulars. You +all did good work."</p> + +<p>"That's because we had such a good coach when we were in Hill Street," +declared Garry.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I don't know about that," laughed Mr. Phillips. "What little I did +wouldn't have amounted to much if I hadn't had such good material to +work with."</p> + +<p>"But after all we're only on the scrubs," put in Rooster, with a wry +face.</p> + +<p>"That's a great deal in itself," replied Mr. Phillips. "You're right +in line for promotion to the regulars. Of course you couldn't expect to +make the regulars the first year, no matter how well you played. That's +a tradition of high school and college that's very strong and seldom +broken. But I look for all of you to be first string boys before you +finish your course."</p> + +<p>"Here's hoping," said Garry, and after a little further talk on general +matters the boys took their leave.</p> + +<p>The next morning, as Garry Grayson was eating breakfast, he heard a +startled exclamation from his father, who was glancing over the morning +paper.</p> + +<p>"What's the matter, Dad?" asked Garry, laying down his knife and fork.</p> + +<p>"Matter enough," replied Mr. Grayson gravely. "Frank Sherwood has been +arrested!"</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XIX">CHAPTER XIX</h2> +</div> + +<h3><span class="smcap">Garry Gets a Shock</span></h3> + + +<p>At his father's announcement Garry Grayson was startled and horrified.</p> + +<p>"Frank Sherwood, Bill Sherwood's brother?" he gasped.</p> + +<p>"That's the one," replied Mr. Grayson.</p> + +<p>"What was he arrested for?" asked Garry. "Speeding?"</p> + +<p>"Far worse than that," was the answer.</p> + +<p>"Worse?"</p> + +<p>"He's charged with theft."</p> + +<p>"What?" fairly shouted Garry. "Theft? Frank Sherwood a thief? Oh, Dad, +he can't be! He's been wild and has been running around with that +poolroom gang, but he'd never do anything like stealing!"</p> + +<p>"I hate to believe it myself," replied his father. "I used to like +Frank a lot. And of course a charge isn't proof. But he's been arrested +just the same. He's to have a preliminary examination in the police +court this morning."</p> + +<p>"Poor Mr. and Mrs. Sherwood!" exclaimed Mrs. Grayson. "Their hearts +will be broken over this."</p> + +<p>"And poor Bill," mourned Garry. "He won't be able to hold his head up. +He thinks the world of Frank."</p> + +<p>"I'm heartily sorry," declared Garry's father. "The Sherwoods are among +the best people of the town. It's too bad Frank ever got in with that +poolroom gang. You can't keep bad company and stay clean. Mooney's +place ought to be closed up," he added, with a grim tightening of his +lips. "I'm going to get the decent people of the town together and see +if it can't be done. Mooney is an unprincipled scoundrel."</p> + +<p>"What is it they say Frank stole?" asked Garry, whose appetite for +breakfast had vanished utterly.</p> + +<p>"The paper doesn't give many details," replied his father. "Those +will probably come out in the hearing this morning. The case concerns +the disappearance of that three thousand dollars or thereabouts that +belonged to Mr. Podder."</p> + +<p>"Mr. Podder!" exclaimed Garry. "Why, I know something about that +matter, Dad! And so do you! Rooster told me about it last fall. Mr. +Long gave the money to Sandy to take to his father in pay for some +horses Mr. Long had bought of Mr. Podder. Sandy says he stopped at the +poolroom on his way home, hung up the coat containing the envelope with +the money in it while he shot a game or two at pool, and when he put on +his coat again he found only the empty envelope, with the money gone. +He was scared, and told his father that Mr. Long hadn't given him the +money.</p> + +<p>"I don't know whether his father believed him or not, but at any rate +he tried to get the money again from Mr. Long and said he'd sue him +if it wasn't paid. But as luck would have it, Mr. Long had a witness +in Rudolph, the gypsy, that he'd paid the money to Sandy, and so the +matter ended. Or I thought it had ended."</p> + +<p>"Amos Podder isn't the kind to pocket a loss of that sort if he can +help it," replied Mr. Grayson thoughtfully. "He's probably been +investigating, and at last he's fixed the thing on Frank Sherwood."</p> + +<p>"I don't believe that Frank had anything to do with it!" declared +Garry heatedly. "I'll bet the Podders are charging Frank with it just +because they know the Sherwoods are well off and will pay the money to +get Frank out of trouble. I wouldn't trust either of those Podders any +further than I could see them."</p> + +<p>"I don't know that I would myself," responded Mr. Grayson. "I hope +you're right and that Frank is innocent. We'll know more about it +after the examination this morning."</p> + +<p>Garry's heart was heavy when he met his chums on the way to school that +morning. A quick glance told him that Bill was not among them.</p> + +<p>The rest of the bunch had learned of the matter too, and were as much +upset over it as Garry himself.</p> + +<p>"I don't believe a word of it," said Nick Danter.</p> + +<p>"Nor I, either," echoed Rooster. "Frank may have been wild, but he's no +thief."</p> + +<p>"That dirty crook, Sandy Podder, is at the bottom of this!" pronounced +Ted.</p> + +<p>"Anything he's connected with smells bad," declared Garry. "Probably +the chase was getting hot and he picked on Frank as the goat. I'd like +to wring his neck!"</p> + +<p>Garry went through his work mechanically that morning, and the sight of +Bill's empty seat sent a stab through his heart every time he looked at +it.</p> + +<p>He knew that his father had planned to attend the examination that +morning, and he could hardly wait till evening for his return. The +moment Mr. Grayson entered the house Garry opened a fire of questions +on him.</p> + +<p>"What about that matter of Frank Sherwood, Dad?"</p> + +<p>Mr. Grayson shook his head.</p> + +<p>"It doesn't look good," he replied, as he hung his hat on the rack and +came into the living room.</p> + +<p>Garry's heart sank.</p> + +<p>"You don't mean that they proved anything against him?"</p> + +<p>"Not proved as yet," was the reply. "But there was enough evidence to +justify the judge in holding Frank for trial. Of course, this was only +a preliminary examination, and the evidence may be disproved when the +real trial comes."</p> + +<p>"Just what did they say against him?" asked Garry.</p> + +<p>"Well," replied Mr. Grayson, "two witnesses testified that they had +seen Frank take an envelope from Sandy's coat, open it, transfer +something from it, and put the envelope back again."</p> + +<p>"Who said that?" asked Garry.</p> + +<p>"Gyp Mooney, the proprietor of the poolroom, and Piker Anson, as I +believe he is called," replied Mr. Grayson.</p> + +<p>"Those bums!" exclaimed Garry hotly. "I wouldn't hang a yellow dog on +anything they might say."</p> + +<p>"They've got an evil reputation, right enough," admitted Garry's +father. "But when a theft takes place in a resort like Mooney's that's +about the only kind of witnesses you expect to have. Unless it's +refuted, their testimony goes for what the jury thinks it's worth. +Then, too, there was Sandy Podder—"</p> + +<p>"Oh, that sneak testified against him too, did he?" sneered Garry.</p> + +<p>"Yes," replied Mr. Grayson. "But he was very cautious in his testimony. +He said he remembered seeing Frank hovering about the place where the +coat was hanging, but thought nothing of it at the time. All he really +knew, he admitted, was that the money was in the envelope when he hung +the coat up and wasn't there when he put it on again. Sandy impressed +me all through as knowing more about the matter than he cared to tell."</p> + +<p>"You bet he does!" declared Garry. "He's yellow right down to the +ground. But what did Frank have to say to all this?"</p> + +<p>"Denied the theft utterly," replied Mr. Grayson. "Said he knew nothing +at all about it. He admitted that he was in the poolroom that night. +Also admitted that Sandy was in his shirt sleeves, so that his coat +must have been hanging somewhere. But he denied emphatically that he +had taken the money."</p> + +<p>"Well, why, then, didn't the judge let him go?" asked Mrs. Grayson. +"His testimony ought to be as good as that of those worthless fellows."</p> + +<p>"You forget, my dear, that a man charged with crime will almost always +deny it," replied her husband. "Against the direct testimony of two +men, however worthless, who swore they saw him take the money, and the +indirect testimony of still another witness who remembered that he +had acted suspiciously, the judge had no recourse but to hold Frank. +And that's what he did. Mr. Sherwood furnished bail, and the boy was +released from custody. His trial comes up a few weeks from now."</p> + +<p>There was a sad silence in the Grayson living room. All were thinking +of the terrible heartache that must be the lot of the Sherwood family. +Garry especially was thinking of poor Bill.</p> + +<p>It was Garry who broke the silence.</p> + +<p>"What did you think of it, Dad?" asked Garry. "You've seen a lot of +accused people on the witness stand. Did Frank act to you as if he were +guilty or innocent?"</p> + +<p>Mr. Grayson for once relaxed his usual lawyer's caution.</p> + +<p>"Innocent," he stated emphatically. "His face, his actions, his talk, +all impressed me that way. I think he's the victim of a conspiracy. I'm +going to try to prove it, too, for Mr. Sherwood has put the case in my +hands."</p> + +<p>"Hooray!" shouted Garry, who had unbounded faith in his father's +ability. "Then you'll get Frank off sure!"</p> + +<p>"I hope to," replied Mr. Grayson, smiling at his son's enthusiasm. "But +one never knows what a jury may do," he added soberly. "I'll do my best +to establish Frank's innocence, and I hope enough will develop in the +course of the trial to put those poolroom rats out of business."</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XX">CHAPTER XX</h2> +</div> + +<h3><span class="smcap">Hard Luck</span></h3> + + +<p>Bill Sherwood turned up the next morning, his face drawn and pale, his +steps lagging and dispirited.</p> + +<p>His chums gathered eagerly around him and gave him the warmest of +welcomes.</p> + +<p>"Still willing to speak to me, eh?" he said, looking at them +shamefacedly and with a wan attempt at a smile.</p> + +<p>"Look here, Bill Sherwood!" exclaimed Garry, as he threw an arm over +his friend's shoulder. "If you ever say a thing like that again, I'll +slug you, big as you are. You're the best old pal that ever lived, and +we're with you till the cows come home. Aren't we, fellows?"</p> + +<p>"You bet we are!" came from the group in chorus.</p> + +<p>"Snap out of it, old boy," admonished Nick affectionately. "Everything +will turn out all right."</p> + +<p>"We know that they're trying to frame Frank," put in Ted. "They might +do that to any one of us."</p> + +<p>"It's all that sneaking Sandy Podder and his crowd!" declared Rooster. +"I know what they are! They tried to cheat my father last fall, but +they didn't get away with it. And they won't get away with this, +either."</p> + +<p>"Not on your life they won't!" exclaimed Garry. "And now, Bill, forget +all about it. We're not going to think of it or speak of it. Before +this thing's over we'll get that Sandy Podder by the nape of the neck +and shake the truth out of him. Trust my dad for that."</p> + +<p>Such a welcome as this was balm to poor Bill's wounded feelings and +heartened him immensely. From that time on the subject was avoided, and +the bunch settled down to their lessons and their football practice.</p> + +<p>Although they did well in the former, the latter was foremost in their +thoughts, for the game with the Bass Lake high school was coming on +apace and the Lenox boys were consumed with a frantic desire to win. +The loss of the Wimbledon game rankled. It had been a blot on their +escutcheon. It must be wiped out, and they had determined to do this by +making Bass Lake their victims.</p> + +<p>But here hard luck intervened and threatened for a time to do all the +victimizing.</p> + +<p>An epidemic both of measles and mumps broke out in Lenox. As a rule, +these attacked the younger pupils in the schools, but they became so +virulent in the Cherry Street school that the whole institution was +closed for a couple of weeks.</p> + +<p>Most of the high school students were immune because they had already +had these diseases in earlier years. Still, there was a comparatively +large number there that suffered, and the classes were considerably +reduced in size.</p> + +<p>Mumps and measles rarely have a serious result, and are regarded +more as nuisances than as real afflictions. Garry and his especial +chums viewed the matter lightly enough until the football teams were +threatened. Then indeed their faces grew long and they were affected +with something akin to panic.</p> + +<p>Bass Lake had no such visitation, and their boys were going along +strongly in practice. But in Lenox Hick Dabney, right guard of the +scrubs, was taken down with the mumps and Pete Maddern had an attack +of measles. Tom Allison, too, had one or the other coming on and was +compelled to stay at home.</p> + +<p>Substitutes were found for their places, but none so good as those they +replaced, and the scrub line was seriously weakened. Still this would +not have mattered greatly had the regulars remained intact.</p> + +<p>Dittler had recovered from his sprained ankle and was as good as ever. +But Walker, the heavy center, and Minter, the right halfback, were out +of the game temporarily, the one by mumps and the other by measles, +and even if they recovered in time for the game they would be in too +weakened a condition to play.</p> + +<p>This left two big holes in the team that Coach Garwin plugged up with +Rankin and Bellows, two boys of the junior class who had played well on +the last year's team but had left the preceding June, not expecting to +return. Their plans had been changed, however, and they had returned +several weeks after the term opened to complete their course. They were +good players, but had lost several weeks of practice, and even at their +best were not as good as Walker and Minter.</p> + +<p>But the schedule had to be met regardless of mumps and measles, and +when the appointed day came the coach took his weakened team over to +Bass Lake where the game was to be played. The distance was not far, +and almost the whole pupil body of Lenox High went over to cheer their +favorites.</p> + +<p>The Bass Lake boys showed up full of pep and ginger in practice, and it +was apparent to the visitors that a hard game was in prospect.</p> + +<p>But they buckled to the task with determination, and for the first +quarter held their opponents even. Lenox seemed once on the verge of +scoring, when by repeated rushes down the field she had come within +twelve yards of the Bass Lake goal line. But on the next down a fumble +by Rankin gave the ball to Houston of the home team, who promptly +kicked it out of danger, and the period ended scoreless for either +team. The second quarter told a different story. For ten minutes of +play the battling lines swayed back and forth with neither having a +pronounced advantage. Then with the quickness of a kaleidoscope things +changed.</p> + +<p>Bartlett, the right half of the Bass Lake team, emerged with a rush +from the mass of grappling combatants, skirted the right end, and with +a magnificent run of forty-two yards carried the ball over the Lenox +line for a touchdown amid the terrific cheering of his mates. Ashley +kicked the goal and seven big juicy points went up on the Bass Lake +score!</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXI">CHAPTER XXI</h2> +</div> + +<h3><span class="smcap">Plunging Through</span></h3> + + +<p>"Gee, but that's tough!" muttered Garry Grayson, as he sat on the side +lines muffled in his blanket and looking at the score just marked up +for Bass Lake.</p> + +<p>"The team surely misses Walker and Minter," grumbled Nick.</p> + +<p>"Right you are," agreed Ted Dillingham. "If Rankin hadn't made that +fumble, we'd have scored, sure. And if Bellows had made the right kind +of a tackle, he could have downed Bartlett."</p> + +<p>"Stop your grouching and look at that!" cried Rooster Long excitedly. +"Go it, old boy, go it!"</p> + +<p>The yell was directed at Dittler, who had made a superb leap in the +air and intercepted a forward pass. Now he was legging it down the +field like a jack rabbit, aided by splendid interference on the part +of Knapp and Wynn. Bartlett made a dive for Dittler, but the latter +straight-armed him and, dodging Ashley on the other side, made a +touchdown. Wynn kicked the goal and the score was tied!</p> + +<p>The Lenox rooters made the welkin ring, and the subs on the sidelines +performed an Indian snake dance.</p> + +<p>"That, Abe, is something else again!" chortled Garry. "What a pair of +legs that boy has!"</p> + +<p>"He didn't run, he flew," exulted Rooster. "It would have taken an +airplane to catch him."</p> + +<p>Neither side scored in the remaining minutes of play, and when the +teams trotted off to the clubhouse for the rest between halves honors +were even.</p> + +<p>Coach Garwin had been doing some hard thinking during that second +quarter. He knew that there were two weak spots in his team that needed +to be plugged, center and right halfback. In addition to the faults +that the boys on the side lines had noted, he had detected others that +they had failed to see.</p> + +<p>Rankin at center had been too inaccurate in passing and too slow in +charging. Moreover, he was excited, and several times had lost his head +at critical moments.</p> + +<p>Bellows at halfback had lacked speed in getting down field under a punt +in the second or third wave. Also he hesitated at times when he should +have been off like a shot.</p> + +<p>"No, they won't do. Not in this game, at least. They are short on +practice," decided the coach.</p> + +<p>He looked over the bunch of subs. There was big Bill Sherwood, a bit +heavier than Rankin and experienced in playing center. He would take a +chance on him.</p> + +<p>For right halfback he hesitated for a moment between Garry Grayson +and Rooster Long. He had more confidence in the former, and had the +game been at a critical stage would have chosen him. But it was a tie, +with two quarters yet to play. Besides, he wanted to see how Rooster +would bear himself in a regular league game. Garry had already proved +himself. Rooster was an unknown quantity. He would try him, anyway, +and if he failed to make good, there was Garry ready to jump into the +breach.</p> + +<p>So he called on Bill and Rooster to go in at center and right half +respectively, and they galloped joyously into the fray.</p> + +<p>In that third quarter they justified Al Garwin's choice. They were +fresh, ambitious, eager. Here was the chance for which they had hardly +dared to hope, and now that they had it they were determined to make +the most of it.</p> + +<p>Bill snapped the ball accurately and was like a bull on the charge and +on defense. Rooster's nimble feet made him a great ground gainer. The +rest of the team, feeling that the weak places had been plugged, took +on a new lease of life.</p> + +<p>Steadily, against fierce opposition, they advanced down the field until +they were within eighteen yards of the Bass Lake goal. Then, on a +delayed pass that bewildered their opponents for a moment, Rooster got +the ball and skirted the left end for a touchdown.</p> + +<p>A burst of frenzied cheering from the Lenox rooters greeted the feat.</p> + +<p>"That's going some!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, you Rooster!"</p> + +<p>"Cock-a-doodle-doo!"</p> + +<p>Knapp missed kicking the goal by the merest fraction of an inch, and +the score was 13 to 7 in favor of Lenox.</p> + +<p>But the Bass Lake boys were far from beaten, and before the period +closed they had evened the score and more, for an unfortunate fumble by +Payne enabled Ellis to scoop up the ball on the run and make a splendid +run of twenty-two yards that carried him over the Lenox goal line. +The try for goal was successful, and Bass Lake was ahead by the scant +margin of one point, and the period ended with that score unchanged.</p> + +<p>"Not so good," muttered Garry, who had been in the seventh heaven of +delight when Rooster had made his touchdown.</p> + +<p>"Only one point ahead, but that means an awful lot at this stage of +the game," mourned Nick Danter.</p> + +<p>After a brief minute of rest the opposing warriors were at it again. +For a time it looked as though neither team could gain. The ball passed +from one side to the other repeatedly, and most of the time remained +near the middle of the field.</p> + +<p>Then it seemed as though Lenox's hopes had indeed gone, for Wynn was +so badly knocked out in a collision with Bartlett that time had to be +called while he was assisted off the field.</p> + +<p>"That's curtains for us," muttered Ted.</p> + +<p>"And only six minutes left to play!" moaned Nick.</p> + +<p>"Get in there, Grayson," called the coach.</p> + +<p>Off went Garry's blanket, and he sped out into the field.</p> + +<p>A strange feeling came over the lad as he took Wynn's place. He was at +quarterback, his old position, the one in which he had led the Hill +Street school to the championship. The position fitted him like a glove.</p> + +<p>The confidence he showed in every move put new life into the Lenox +team. Bill at center was passing the ball to him, and they worked +together like the two blades of a shears.</p> + +<p>Lenox had the ball, and Rooster plunged through for four yards. Knapp +was good for two more. Dittler was thrown for no gain, but on the +fourth down Garry himself went through for four, just making the +distance.</p> + +<p>Now Lenox was within thirty yards of the enemy's goal. But the Bass +Lake boys had braced grimly and desperately. Knapp made but one yard on +the first down. Dittler gained three more, but on the next try he was +halted in his tracks.</p> + +<p>The time was growing perilously short. With six yards to go on the +fourth down against the stiffened resistance of the foe, Garry took a +desperate chance.</p> + +<p>Bill snapped the ball to him. Garry dropped back and kicked.</p> + +<p>The ball sped toward the Bass Lake goal twenty-eight yards away. At +first it looked as though it might go under the bar. But it rose as it +progressed and just cleared the bar.</p> + +<p>A field goal! Three points! Before the ball could again be put into +play the referee's whistle blew and the game was over with Lenox two +points to the good!</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXII">CHAPTER XXII</h2> +</div> + +<h3><span class="smcap">Forging Ahead</span></h3> + + +<p>The air resounded with cheers from the frantic Lenox rooters as they +poured down over the field, hoisted Garry on their shoulders, despite +his laughing protests, and carried him to the clubhouse. Their joy was +all the greater because their case had looked so hopeless that they had +resigned themselves to defeat.</p> + +<p>"A narrow squeak," commented Garry happily, as he was getting into his +street clothes.</p> + +<p>"But you made it!" exulted Nick. "And Rooster here and Bill covered +themselves with glory. Old Hill Street was in it to-day with both feet."</p> + +<p>It was a triumphal return that the Lenox boys made to their home town, +and their delight in the victory was increased when they learned +that Wimbledon had been defeated on the same day by Pawling, while +Greenfield, their most feared opponent, had had to lower its colors to +Thomaston. The first especially was balm to their spirits, as it seemed +a sort of vicarious revenge for the defeat that Wimbledon had handed to +Lenox.</p> + +<p>On the following Monday their high spirits took a sudden drop when they +learned that Mr. Garwin had suddenly been summoned out of town. There +was serious illness in his family, and it was impossible to predict +when he would be back.</p> + +<p>Gloom settled over the teams like a pall. But though his heart, equally +with others, was filled with consternation, Garry Grayson was the first +to see that the cloud had a silver lining.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Garwin was a crackajack coach," he said to his chums, as they were +excitedly discussing the matter. "No mistake about that. But what's the +matter with Mr. Phillips! They don't come any better than he is."</p> + +<p>"He's there with the goods, all right," agreed Nick.</p> + +<p>"But perhaps he won't be willing," came from Ted.</p> + +<p>"Trust him to do anything he can for the school," said Garry +confidently. "And he's a fiend for football. He doesn't think it's a +brutal game unfit for gentlemen."</p> + +<p>There was a general laugh at this reminder of the unlamented Trompet +Shrugg.</p> + +<p>"Of course we're only freshmen and we can't butt in," added Garry. +"Perhaps Mr. Garwin has already made arrangements for some one to take +his place. If he hasn't it's up to Ralph Wynn to take the first step."</p> + +<p>"Who's taking my name in vain!" said a jocular voice behind them, and +they looked up to see Ralph himself.</p> + +<p>"I'm the guilty wretch," answered Garry, smiling. "We were wondering +who was going to coach the team now that Mr. Garwin has gone."</p> + +<p>"Mr. Garwin arranged for that before he left," replied Ralph. "He +pressed an old friend of yours into the service."</p> + +<p>"You don't mean Mr. Phillips?" cried Garry eagerly.</p> + +<p>"No one else," answered Ralph, with a smile.</p> + +<p>Mr. Phillips took up the reins that same afternoon, when he gathered +the first and second teams together in the gymnasium. He gave them +a little talk full of hard sense and inspiration, paying a graceful +tribute to Mr. Garwin, whose shoes he said modestly he could not hope +to fill. It was a genial talk, but firm, and his hearers readily +guessed that there was an iron hand in the velvet glove. No one could +shirk and get away with it while he was at the helm.</p> + +<p>That the boys were going to support the new coach royally was evident +from the very start. They were full of pep and ginger in practice. The +two league games they had already played had gotten them into their +stride. Now many weaknesses were eliminated, many new plays perfected. +So when the day came for their match with Pawling they were at the top +of their form.</p> + +<p>From the first it was a battle of rush lines, and the aerial attack +seldom figured. Lenox proved to have the heavier, the more aggressive, +and the best-trained line. Pawling was very generally outplayed and +outrushed. Time and again the Lenox forwards would break through on +plays and repeatedly spoiled the Pawling cut-in dashes of its fast +backs whose end sweeps were blocked because of the Lenox drive into the +interference.</p> + +<p>Lenox gained the lead in the first quarter, when after about five +minutes of play, it staged a steady march down the field for a +touchdown, aided by two beautiful end runs by Dittler. Knapp kicked the +goal, and the home boys had got off to a flying start.</p> + +<p>That was all the scoring done in that period, but shortly after the +beginning of the second the visitors threw a scare into the home team +by advancing the ball as far as the Lenox eighteen-yard line. There +Lenox got possession of it, and although Knapp's kick was blocked the +visitors could not rush it over the line. A little later a fine run +back by Wynn put the ball on the Pawling fifteen-yard line, where the +visitors put up a stubborn defense and were finally saved when a +forward pass was incompleted in the zone.</p> + +<p>It was not until the third that Pawling scored. A Lenox pass was +intercepted, and the Pawling fullback drove ahead to the Lenox +twenty-yard line. Then Abbott, the visitors' quarterback, tossed a +forward pass over to the left and Wilson, sweeping in on the ball just +beyond the scrimmage, carried it over the line for a touchdown, tying +the score, and with the tally still unchanged the period ended.</p> + +<p>Knapp was limping when he came in for the minute's rest between +periods, and it developed that he had strained a tendon in the last +mix-up.</p> + +<p>Mr. Phillips's eye swept the line of substitutes on the bench and he +beckoned to Garry.</p> + +<p>"You take Knapp's place," he directed. "Remember that I'm depending on +you to break that tie."</p> + +<p>"I'll do my best," promised Garry, as he hurried out with the rest of +the team.</p> + +<p>Though the boy threw himself heart and soul into the struggle, no +special opportunity came to him until ten minutes of the period had +passed. Then Wynn threw a wide diagonal forward pass from his own +nineteen-yard line and well beyond scrimmage. The ball went off into +the open where Garry was uncovered and in the midst of several of his +own teammates. Garry received the ball on his own forty-one yard +line and streaked down the field on a gallop for a sixty-yard run, +outstripping Abbott by a hairbreadth and plunged over the line for a +touchdown. Wynn missed kicking the goal. But now the score was 13 to 7 +and only three minutes left for play.</p> + +<p>The Pawling boys were determined to die, if die they must, in the last +ditch. After several line plunges had failed to gain distance Wilson +made a gallant run of twenty-two yards where he was downed by Dittler. +Before the ball could be put in play the whistle sounded, and a second +victory was chalked up for Lenox.</p> + +<p>The fans went wild, and Garry had to make a run for the shelter of the +gymnasium to escape the mauling and pounding of the enthusiasts.</p> + +<p>"Johnny-on-the-spot as usual!" exulted Ted.</p> + +<p>"A bit of luck," said Garry modestly. "Most of the Pawlings were on the +other side, and I had almost a clear field."</p> + +<p>"They simply can't keep you off the regular team, if you keep on +playing that way," declared Rooster.</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes, they can for this first year, I'm afraid," answered Garry. +"That freshman tradition is mighty strong at Lenox. We're lowly scrubs +to be used in a pinch, but not good enough for the first string. +Gee, but I'd be glad of a chance to play in a full game from start to +finish!"</p> + +<p>"I'm afraid our chances are worse than ever now," put in Nick Danter +thoughtfully. "You see, Mr. Phillips may be especially leary in using +any of us on the regulars, because, since we were members of the old +Hill Street team, it might be thought a bit of favoritism."</p> + +<p>"That is, you think Mr. Phillips will stand up so straight that he'll +fall over backwards," said Garry. "Well, I don't. I think he'll do +just what he thinks is best for the team, no matter what any one says. +That's the kind of man he is."</p> + +<p>A few days later, as Bill and Garry were going along a rather secluded +street in the outskirts of the town, they saw, a little way ahead of +them, Sandy Podder and Lent Stewart, together with a crony of theirs +of the same stripe, Garry's old enemy, Chat Johns. Sandy turned at +the sound of footsteps, saw Garry and Bill, and then held a low but +animated discussion with his companions.</p> + +<p>"Let's get ahead of them," suggested Garry. "The very sight of them +makes me sick."</p> + +<p>"Same here," agreed Bill, and the two boys quickened their steps.</p> + +<p>As they passed the three cronies, Sandy remarked to Lent:</p> + +<p>"Aren't you glad you're not a thief, Lent?"</p> + +<p>"I sure am," was the reply. "I've no ambition to get behind the bars."</p> + +<p>"I'd hate even to have a thief in the family," put in Chat, with an +evil grin.</p> + +<p>The slur was so evidently directed at Frank Sherwood and was so wanton +and deliberate that Garry's blood boiled. Bill turned around like a +flash and approached the group, his eyes blazing.</p> + +<p>"You're a bunch of curs," he said hotly.</p> + +<p>"And that goes double," chimed in Garry, at a white heat.</p> + +<p>An ugly look came into the faces of the young rascals. They were not +only three to two, but, with the exception of Chat, were older and +heavier than either Bill or Garry.</p> + +<p>"I'll make you eat those words, Garry Grayson," threatened Sandy Podder.</p> + +<p>For answer Garry's fist shot out and caught Sandy full in the jaw.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXIII">CHAPTER XXIII</h2> +</div> + +<h3><span class="smcap">Jerry Intervenes</span></h3> + + +<p>At the same moment that Garry struck Sandy Podder, Bill tackled Lent +Stewart and gave him a blow that sent him staggering.</p> + +<p>The bullies recovered themselves in a moment, and, with Chat, were +about to rush on their opponents when a voice close at hand startled +them.</p> + +<p>"Three to two," said the voice of Jerry Cox, who had come around a +corner. "That doesn't seem exactly square. Count me in on this."</p> + +<p>"You keep out of this, Jerry Cox," snarled Sandy.</p> + +<p>"It's none of your funeral," growled Lent, sourly.</p> + +<p>"Seems to me that there'd have been flowers at your funeral, Lent +Stewart, if Garry Grayson hadn't saved your life," returned Jerry +coolly. "And now here you are trying to beat him up. Nothing doing, +Lent. You know I can lick you and perhaps help a bit in licking your +pals. So come along if you're ready."</p> + +<p>But the bullies were not at all ready. What had seemed easy had +suddenly become hard. They stood growling and disconcerted for a +moment, and then decided to move on.</p> + +<p>"I'll get square with you yet, Garry Grayson," called back Sandy.</p> + +<p>"Any time you like," replied Garry quickly. "Put a bit of arnica on +that jaw of yours. It sometimes helps."</p> + +<p>Jerry looked at Garry and Bill with a broad grin.</p> + +<p>"They're yellow clear through," he remarked. "Didn't like the game at +all when the chances were even. What was the trouble, anyway!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, they made a dirty crack and we came back at them," replied Garry +evasively. "It was mighty good of you to pitch in on our side."</p> + +<p>"I thought they were friends of yours," said Bill, though with less of +coldness in his tone than he had previously used in speaking to Jerry.</p> + +<p>"I've cut 'em out," replied Jerry soberly. "No more of that poolroom +gang for me. I was a fool for playing around with them as long as I +did. But I've got the right slant on things now and I'm hunting for a +real job, and when I get it, you bet I'm going to stick to it."</p> + +<p>"Anything special in view?" asked Garry cordially.</p> + +<p>"Not yet," answered Jerry. "But I'm looking for it with both eyes. +I need it badly, too, because there's been sickness at home and my +father's out of work. Well, so long, fellows, and good luck."</p> + +<p>He went away with a friendly wave of the hand. Garry and Bill looked at +each other.</p> + +<p>"Seems to have the right stuff in him, after all," admitted Bill.</p> + +<p>"Glad he's cut loose from that bunch," said Garry. "He sure proved a +friend in need just now, and I think it's up to us to find him and his +father jobs. I'll put it up to my dad and you speak to your father +about it. They know almost everybody in town, and they ought to be able +to help Jerry if any one can."</p> + +<p>Bill agreed to do this and later both fathers promised to do what +they could. The consequence was that within a week Jerry's father had +secured a position in Mr. Sherwood's large manufacturing establishment, +while Mr. Grayson got Jerry himself a place in a lumber concern down on +the river front.</p> + +<p>The young fellow was immensely grateful, and from that time on Garry +had no firmer friend in Lenox, outside of his own immediate chums.</p> + +<p>Lenox now had played three games on its football schedule and had but +two remaining, those with Thomaston and Greenfield, which were to be +played in that order. Like Lenox, the Greenfield team had lost but one +game, and its victories had been by scores much more impressive than +Lenox had been able to muster.</p> + +<p>Lenox therefore feared Thomaston much less. It was a good team—in +spots. And it also played well—in spots. It was an in-and-outer, +sometimes rising to great heights and again playing football far below +the high school standard.</p> + +<p>None the less, Mr. Phillips drove his team hard for the Thomaston game, +which was to be played on the enemy's grounds, and Lenox was in fine +fettle when it went over, determined to bring back the scalps of the +foe and fasten them on the Lenox wigwam.</p> + +<p>It proved to be the only game of the season in which Lenox did not have +to work hard to win. It was not a game. It was, rather, a massacre. The +Thomaston boys had one of their bad days and played like a lot of dubs. +Their passing was wild, their line bucking weak, their fumbles frequent.</p> + +<p>Lenox scored almost at will, making two touchdowns in the first period +and a touchdown and field goal in the second, while Thomaston never +came within striking distance of the Lenox goal.</p> + +<p>With the game securely stowed away, Mr. Phillips in the third period +took out his first string men with the exception of Wynn, Dittler, and +Knapp, and sent in substitutes from the scrubs.</p> + +<p>Pete, Tom, Nick, Ted, Rooster, Bill, Hick Dabney, and Garry were those +chosen, and they made the most of the opportunity. It was the first +time that so many of them had been used in any one game, and they went +in to play their heads off.</p> + +<p>The first string men resting on the side lines looked on patronizingly. +They told themselves that they had really won the game and it would do +no harm to let the scrubs take up the burden. Of course, they would not +do much, but it would give them exercise.</p> + +<p>Garry sensed their feeling and caught their condescending smiles.</p> + +<p>"Now, fellows," he exhorted, "let's show those first string boobs where +they get off. They've made twenty-four points. They're counting on +us to do not much more than hold Thomaston even. Let's give them the +surprise of their lives."</p> + +<p>This they promptly proceeded to do. They ran wild. Nothing could stop +them. Under the delighted eyes of Mr. Phillips and the now sober looks +of the first string men, they piled up touchdown after touchdown until, +when the last period ended, they had added thirty-five points to the +twenty-four already scored, making the final tally 59 to 0. It was the +worst Waterloo that Thomaston had ever encountered.</p> + +<p>The Lenox boys were filled with joy, and none more so than the +once-despised scrubs.</p> + +<p>"Just doormats, are we?" laughed Pete.</p> + +<p>"We've given them something to think of," chortled Tom Allison. "Did +you see their long faces while we were piling up the score?"</p> + +<p>"We put a dent in that freshman tradition, anyway!" exulted Nick.</p> + +<p>"And now for Greenfield!" exclaimed Garry, turning from the present to +the future. "That's the only obstacle left. If we hurdle that, we win +the championship."</p> + +<p>"And it will take some hurdling," predicted Nick. "They won't be the +pudding that Thomaston was to-day."</p> + +<p>That seemed more likely than ever when the boys learned that on that +same afternoon Greenfield had fairly smothered Bass Lake, the same team +that Lenox had beaten by only a scanty margin.</p> + +<p>The contest for the league pennant was now clearly defined. Lenox and +Greenfield had each won three games and lost one. The other teams +were out of the running. The Lenox-Greenfield game would decide the +championship.</p> + +<p>In the meantime Mr. Grayson was busy preparing to defend Frank +Sherwood in his trial for theft, which had been put on the docket for +an early date. The more the lawyer delved into it the more confident he +felt that Frank was innocent. Yet there was the definite evidence of +Mooney and Anson, each corroborating that of the other, and despite the +bad character of the men there was no knowing what effect it might have +on the jury.</p> + +<p>Jerry Cox had several times met Garry on the street, but each time the +latter had been accompanied by friends, so that Jerry had just spoken +to him and passed on.</p> + +<p>But one afternoon toward dusk Garry happened to be alone as he +encountered Jerry at the intersection of two streets.</p> + +<p>"Hello, Garry," Jerry greeted him. "How's tricks?"</p> + +<p>"Everything fine," replied Garry. "How are things going with you?"</p> + +<p>"Dandy," responded Jerry. "I like my work and the boss seems to like +the way I do it. At least, he hasn't fired me yet," he added, with a +grin.</p> + +<p>"My dad saw your boss the other day, and he said you were doing good +work," said Garry.</p> + +<p>"I'm doing my best," declared Jerry, "and I'm tickled to death to +get away from the poolroom gang. By the way, Garry, speaking of +poolrooms—" He hesitated.</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Garry encouragingly.</p> + +<p>"It's about that Frank Sherwood matter," went on Jerry slowly. "I've +been meaning to speak to you about it for some time, but have never +been able to catch you alone."</p> + +<p>Garry was all alert in an instant.</p> + +<p>"Do you know anything about that case?" he asked eagerly.</p> + +<p>"I know that Frank Sherwood didn't steal that money, and I can't stand +by and see a fellow framed for something he didn't do," replied Jerry.</p> + +<p>Jerry's words had the effect on Garry of an electric shock.</p> + +<p>"What's that?" he cried excitedly. "Tell me all you know! For the love +of Pete, Jerry, spill it! I was sure that Frank didn't take the money. +But do you know who did take it?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," replied Jerry. "It was Gyp Mooney himself."</p> + +<p>"Gyp Mooney!" exclaimed Garry. "The dirty crook! But are you sure? How +do you know?"</p> + +<p>"Well," said Jerry, "it was this way. I saw Mooney hanging around +Sandy's coat, but thought nothing of it. It was late and most of the +fellows had gone. I was leaving myself when I saw Sandy put on his +coat, feel in the pocket and turn pale. Then he called Mooney outside. +I was taking a short cut through the lot where there were plenty of +bushes, and it was dark. Sandy and Mooney were walking in the same +direction. They were arguing so angrily I thought there might be a +scrap coming, and I slowed up to see what might happen.</p> + +<p>"They stopped nearly opposite me, but didn't see me. Sandy was accusing +Mooney of having robbed him. Said he'd seen him taking something from +his coat. Mooney denied it, but Sandy insisted. Then Mooney turned +ugly. Seems he had a hold on Sandy. He knew of a barn that Sandy had +set fire to. Mooney said he'd have Sandy sent to jail for that if he +didn't keep quiet. Told Sandy that all he'd have to do would be to tell +his father Mr. Long hadn't put the money in the envelope. Then Mr. Long +would have to pay over again. Anyway, Podder was rich and could stand +it. If Sandy kept his mouth shut, Mooney would see that Sandy would get +a bit of the money for himself. If not, he'd tell about that barn fire +and Sandy'd go to jail.</p> + +<p>"So it ended that way. Sandy caved in. Mooney admitted he had taken +the money and that just as soon as it was safe he'd see that Sandy had +his bit. They went on then and I didn't hear anything further, but I +suppose Sandy told his father the story that Mooney had coached him to +tell."</p> + +<p>"I know he did!" cried Garry. "But Podder didn't get the money again +from Mr. Long! I suppose he's been trying to find out where the money +went, and the thing got so hot that Mooney got scared and cooked up +this thing about Frank Sherwood.</p> + +<p>"That's it, as sure as shooting," went on Garry. "They picked on Frank +as the goat, and Mooney got Piker Anson to back him up. That skunk +would swear to anything for ten dollars!</p> + +<p>"But come right along with me, Jerry, and see my father. He's in charge +of Frank's case, you know. Gee, but I'm glad I met you!"</p> + +<p>Jerry went along willingly. There was a long conference in the Grayson +home that night. At its conclusion Jerry Cox went away with a strong +injunction to keep tight-lipped till the trial.</p> + +<p>And Mr. Grayson's face was beaming.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXIV">CHAPTER XXIV</h2> +</div> + +<h3><span class="smcap">In the Thick of the Fight</span></h3> + + +<p>"I understand we have a great little detective among us," remarked +Ella, as Garry came down to breakfast the next morning.</p> + +<p>"Well, I got the clue, didn't I?" replied Garry, throwing out his chest +a little.</p> + +<p>"Yes, when the clue marched right up to you and asked to be taken in," +chaffed Ella.</p> + +<p>"Stop your scrapping, you two," commanded Mr. Grayson, with a +smile. "The fact is that what Garry found out yesterday is of great +importance. I'm sure that Jerry Cox is telling the truth. I tested him +in every possible way, turned him inside out, so to speak, and I'm sure +that his story will stand up under any cross examination. But I want +to warn you youngsters not on any account to let a syllable of this +get out. Mooney or Anson or any of that crowd mustn't get an inkling +of it. I want not only to clear Frank but to put those perjurers and +scoundrels where they belong. And that pest of a poolroom is going to +be put out of business."</p> + +<p>"Of course, I suppose you've let Frank and the Sherwoods know all about +it," remarked Garry.</p> + +<p>"Certainly," reported his father. "I went over there last night. You +can imagine the reception I got with such news to take them. I tell you +there is a happy family to-day."</p> + +<p>"Good old Bill!" exclaimed Garry. "It will be a new lease of life for +him."</p> + +<p>He met Bill that morning as he came along with the rest of the bunch. +It was indeed a transformed Bill, jolly, laughing, full of the highest +spirits. The rest of the boys noticed the change and wondered. But Bill +and Garry alone knew the secret of the change, and, though their lips +were sealed by promise, the look that passed between them spoke volumes.</p> + +<p>Football practice went on under a full head of steam. It was made all +the harder by Mr. Phillips because he feared that the easy victory +over Thomaston might give rise to false overconfidence and prompt a +let-down. So he drove the two teams ruthlessly until, when the day +arrived for the great game with Greenfield, the game that was to decide +the championship of the High School League, the Lenox boys were as hard +as nails.</p> + +<p>All but Ralph Wynn, their captain, quarterback, and main reliance, the +brains of the team!</p> + +<p>Ralph had been feeling under the weather for a day or two, and on the +fateful Saturday on which the game was to be played Lenox was stricken +with consternation by the news that Ralph had taken the mumps and was +confined to his bed.</p> + +<p>The school staggered under the shock. The team without Wynn was +like a ship without a rudder. It looked as though Greenfield would +have a walkover. She would have been hard to beat under the best +circumstances. Now her victory seemed certain.</p> + +<p>But the panic that shook the team did not extend to their coach. Not +that Mr. Phillips was not seriously disturbed, but he had been watching +the practice very closely for the past two weeks and felt that the +predicament was not a hopeless one.</p> + +<p>The teams were to gather that morning at ten o'clock for a brief +practice, just to run through the signals and limber up for the +afternoon game.</p> + +<p>They came together, regulars and scrubs, their hearts heavy and their +faces anxious. Mr. Phillips wasted no time in preliminaries and went +straight to the point.</p> + +<p>"Grayson," he said abruptly, "you play at quarterback this afternoon."</p> + +<p>Garry caught his breath and a murmur of surprise ran through the group +of players.</p> + +<p>"I'm as much a stickler for school tradition as any of you," Mr. +Phillips went on. "But there come times when tradition must go down +before common sense. Grayson is a freshman. But he knows football and +knows how to run a team. I want you regulars to give him as loyal +support as you have given to Wynn. Wynn himself would be the first to +ask it if he were here. I want you to whip Greenfield this afternoon. +That's all that counts. Will you do it?"</p> + +<p>The shout of assent that went up showed the spirit of the boys, and the +coach smiled.</p> + +<p>"I knew I could count on you," he said. "Now go in and win."</p> + +<p>The half hour of practice that followed was spirited and snappy. Garry, +his head in a whirl at first, soon got his bearings and ran the team in +a way that brought a glint of satisfaction to the eyes of the coach.</p> + +<p>That afternoon the Greenfield team came over chock full of confidence, +bringing a brass band with them to celebrate the expected victory. They +had heard that Ralph Wynn was out of the game and that a freshman was +to run the team.</p> + +<p>"A freshman! It is to laugh!" shouted one of Greenfield's rooters. +"Lenox must indeed be hard up! It's only a question now of the score +that Greenfield will run up! It'll be like taking candy from a baby!" +And with this many agreed, not all of them Greenfield rooters, either.</p> + +<p>But before the game had been long in progress it became evident that +the baby was quite a lusty youngster after all.</p> + +<p>Greenfield won the toss and elected to kick off. Kearny kicked to +Knapp, who came back eleven yards to the Lenox thirty-yard line. +Dittler made a yard through the Greenfield line. A forward pass by +Minter was grounded. Knapp kicked for forty-nine yards and the ball was +grounded on the Greenfield forty-yard line without a return.</p> + +<p>Two passes by Greenfield were knocked down. Wallace, the enemy +quarterback, kicked twenty-five yards, and Knapp was downed on the +Lenox forty-five yard line before he could take a step. Dittler cut +through left tackle and got away for forty-two yards before he was +driven out of bounds by Holcomb on Greenfield's thirteen-yard line. +Here, with their goal threatened, Greenfield took a mighty brace, and +three successive line plunges failed to gain an inch. On the fourth +down Payne tried for a field goal but his drop-kick was short. But +Garry recovered the ball on the Greenfield nine-yard line.</p> + +<p>Again Greenfield braced and two line smashes gained only two yards. +On the third down, Minter plunged between right guard and tackle but +was met so furiously that he was thrown back for a four-yard loss. On +the fourth down Lenox tried a forward pass but it was intercepted by +Rogers, who ran to the Greenfield thirty-yard line.</p> + +<p>Bush made two through the line and Wallace punted forty-five yards, +Garry being downed in his tracks on the Lenox twenty-two yard line.</p> + +<p>Knapp made three yards in two line smashes. Garry punted for +thirty-seven yards and Holcomb came back fifteen yards before he was +downed. He fumbled as he was tackled, and Lenox recovered on its +thirty-eight yard line.</p> + +<p>Again Lenox plunged at the Greenfield line, Dittler going through for +three yards. A forward pass from Minter was grounded. Knapp found a +hole at left tackle and slid through for four. On the fourth down Garry +himself took the ball and went through for five yards, making the +distance and still keeping possession of the ball.</p> + +<p>On a crisscross play Dittler was thrown for a loss of three yards. +And just then the whistle blew and the period ended with the ball in +Lenox's keeping near mid-field.</p> + +<p>It had been a furious struggle, with honors about even. If anything, +Lenox had a slight edge, as most of the time the ball had been in the +enemy's territory and twice she had come within striking distance of +the Greenfield goal.</p> + +<p>The "baby" had come up to scratch, and roars of frenzied applause went +up from the Lenox rooters, led by their cheer leaders, who, dressed in +white, went through all sorts of acrobatic antics before the stands.</p> + +<p>Answering roars went up from the Greenfield section and their brass +band added to the tumult as the players, panting and breathless, took +their minute of rest, sprawled out on the turf.</p> + +<p>Garry was covered with dust, his nose bleeding, his hands scratched, +his chest heaving from his exertions.</p> + +<p>"Oh, look at Garry!" squealed Ella. "He's hurt!"</p> + +<p>"Hurt nothing!" retorted Jane Danter, her face flushed with excitement. +"He's as happy as a clam. Go it, Garry!" she called in her shrill +treble. "We're all rooting for you!"</p> + +<p>Garry looked at her and grinned. Jane sure was a nice girl.</p> + +<p>When play was resumed Lenox still had the ball and Garry punted fifteen +yards, the kick being partially blocked and Greenfield recovering the +ball on its own forty-five yard line. Lenox was off-side, and the +five-yard penalty brought the ball to the middle of the field. Wallace +knifed off tackle for ten yards for first down. A long pass, Bush to +Rogers, was completed for a thirty-yard gain, giving Greenfield first +down on the Lenox ten-yard line.</p> + +<p>Rogers went through for three yards. Bush added three more through +right guard. Holcomb smashed the line hard, but Lenox had braced +desperately and he gained only a yard. On the fourth down, Sayles +dropped back to the thirteen-yard line, and though the angle made the +feat seem impossible, sent the ball over the bar between the posts for +a field goal for the first three points of the game.</p> + +<p>Greenfield had drawn first blood and her rooters went crazy while their +band struck up "See, the Conquering Hero Comes!"</p> + +<p>"Let them cheer," called Garry to his mates, by no means dismayed. +"It's the last chance they'll have."</p> + +<p>In the Lenox stands there were downcast looks and heavy hearts. +Probably there were but two exceptions, Lent Stewart and Chat Johns. +There would have been three, but Sandy Podder was attending the trial +of Frank Sherwood, which was in progress that day.</p> + +<p>"Here's where that four-flusher gets his," muttered Lent, his eyes +glowing with ill-concealed elation.</p> + +<p>Kearny kicked off to Knapp, who fumbled and then came back for eleven +yards to the Lenox twenty-six yard line. Two line plays gained seven +yards, and on third down Garry broke through for twelve yards, with the +whole Greenfield line piled on his back.</p> + +<p>Having made its distance and more, Lenox again had the ball for first +down on its own forty-five yard line. Dittler went through tackle +for three yards and Knapp added four more through a big hole in the +Greenfield line. On a fake plunge and a pass, Dittler to Minter, Lenox +got within thirty yards of the Greenfield goal.</p> + +<p>Minter plowed through for four yards and Knapp added one more, but a +penalty for unnecessary roughness cost Lenox fifteen yards and pushed +it back to Greenfield's forty-yard line. Minter's pass over the center +of the line fell to earth untouched. Another long heave was battered +down by Bush.</p> + +<p>For the rest of that period the game was fast and furious, with first +one side and then the other having possession of the ball, and when the +first half of the game was over the score still remained at 3 to 0 in +favor of the invaders.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXV">CHAPTER XXV</h2> +</div> + +<h3><span class="smcap">Victory</span></h3> + + +<p>Though on the wrong side of the ledger, Garry still retained his +indomitable spirit.</p> + +<p>"Are we down-hearted?" he cried to his mates as they trotted off to +their quarters for the rest between halves.</p> + +<p>"No!" came in a roar from his comrades.</p> + +<p>"You bet we're not!" returned Garry. "We've just begun to fight!"</p> + +<p>The bruising battle had not been without its casualties. Knapp in +the last mix-up had twisted his leg and could barely more than limp. +Painter at right guard was badly winded. So Mr. Phillips picked Nick +Danter to take the place of Knapp and Rooster Long to fill the vacancy +at guard.</p> + +<p>The Greenfield ball carriers were unchanged, though two changes had +been made in the line.</p> + +<p>"Now, boys," was Mr. Phillips's last injunction after a short but +inspiring talk, "go out and eat those fellows up. They haven't a thing +you fellows haven't. I've watched their play, and I know. Get after +them and bring home the bacon."</p> + +<p>Garry kicked off to Bush, who came back eighteen yards to Greenfield's +thirty-three yard line. Rogers broke through the right side of the +Lenox line and ran twenty-four yards to Lenox's forty-three yard line +before he was downed. Greenfield failed to gain through the line and +Wallace was stopped without an advance on an attempted end run. Bush +punted to the Lenox twenty-yard line.</p> + +<p>Lenox made an ineffectual try on a line plunge by Dittler. Nick gained +a yard off tackle. Then he made a superb punt of forty-five yards, Bush +being thrown without a return. Rogers made a yard on a plunge, but a +pass from Wallace was intercepted by Garry on the Lenox forty-five yard +line.</p> + +<p>Dittler threw a pass into the ground. Minter fumbled on a line plunge +and Bush recovered for Greenfield on the Lenox forty-yard line. Wallace +failed to gain through the line. Bush swung wide around the end for a +five-yard gain. A Greenfield pass was battered down by Rooster. Another +Greenfield pass was completed, but Garry threw Wallace for the loss of +a yard and Lenox took the ball on its own thirty-six yard line.</p> + +<p>Two stabs at the line gained four yards for Lenox. Garry plowed through +the line for fifteen yards. An attempt by Dittler was stopped without +a gain and Lenox was penalized five yards for off-side play. Nick +gained three yards on a wide end run. While trying to get away a punt +Dittler slipped and Greenfield recovered the ball.</p> + +<p>Rogers was thrown for a four-yard loss by Rooster. A Greenfield +pass was grounded. Garry intercepted the next toss and reached the +Greenfield fourteen-yard line before he was downed.</p> + +<p>The visitors braced doggedly to defend their goal. Nick went through +center for two yards. Dittler made three more off tackle. A third +attempt by Minter resulted in no gain, and Garry dropped back for a +kick.</p> + +<p>The ball sailed through the air in a beautiful spiral and came down on +the other side of the bar, while pandemonium broke out in the Lenox +stands.</p> + +<p>Three points and the score was tied! Before the ball could be put again +in play the referee's whistle sounded the end of the quarter.</p> + +<p>While the stands fairly rocked with applause, Lent Stewart and Chat +Johns sat glum and silent.</p> + +<p>"If that fellow fell overboard, he'd come up with a fish in his mouth," +grumbled Lent.</p> + +<p>"The town won't hold him if he wins this game," growled Chat. "Gee, I +wish he'd break a leg," he added viciously.</p> + +<p>Ella and Jane fairly hugged each other, radiant with delight. And the +other girls who lent a splash of color to the Lenox stands were quite +as jubilant as the male rooters.</p> + +<p>"Now, fellows," adjured Garry, as his team again took the field, "on +your toes! That quarter we tied them. This quarter is where we lick +them."</p> + +<p>Rooster kicked off, Rogers returning the ball to Greenfield's +forty-yard line. Bush threw a pass to Holcomb for a fifteen-yard gain +and first down on Lenox's forty-five yard line. Rogers battered his way +through the line for five yards. He gained two more off tackle, but +Wallace was halted without a gain. A long Greenfield pass was grounded +and Lenox took the ball on its own thirty-eight yard line.</p> + +<p>Nick slid off tackle for two yards and then swung wide around the end +for two more. Dittler gained three off tackle and then Garry punted +the ball for twenty-six yards, the ball being downed on Greenfield's +thirty-five yard line.</p> + +<p>Rogers was driven out of bounds after gaining seven yards on a wide end +run. Wallace failed to advance and Bush was thrown back for the loss of +a yard. Rooster broke through and blocked Bush's kick, regaining the +ball for Lenox on the Greenfield twenty-nine yard line.</p> + +<p>Nick made four yards through tackle. Dittler was halted in his tracks. +A pass from Garry to Nick was completed for a five-yard gain. But +Nick's next attempt was thrown back for a loss of two yards.</p> + +<p>Greenfield got the ball then and, fighting desperately, made their +distance twice on downs, advancing the ball to their own forty-five +yard line while their rooters cheered their encouragement and the band +broke out in tumultuous strains.</p> + +<p>"Hold 'em, fellows!" panted Garry. "Hold 'em, for the love of Pete! +They mustn't get past! We've got to win for Lenox!"</p> + +<p>But Greenfield was now frantic for victory and put up a bitter fight. +Rogers plunged through tackle and end for three yards. But Bush was +thrown back for the loss of a yard and on his next try made but two.</p> + +<p>With fourth down and six yards to make the distance, Greenfield tried a +forward pass, Wallace to Rogers. But Garry leaped high in the air and +intercepted the ball. He tucked it under his arm and scurried down the +field, with Rooster, Nick and Dittler acting as his interference.</p> + +<p>How he ran! His feet seemed to have wings. The wind fairly whistled in +his ears.</p> + +<p>Rogers dived at him, but Garry straight-armed him and ran on. Nick +blocked off Wallace on the right while Rooster gave Bush a similar dose +on the left. And Garry kept on, on, his eyes fixed on the goal, while +the whole Greenfield team thundered behind him.</p> + +<p>And now Holcomb was the only one who stood between him and that coveted +line. The husky fullback darted toward him on a slant with arms +outstretched. He dived for Garry, but the latter dodged, and with one +last summoning-up of all his speed and strength hurled himself over the +Greenfield line for a touchdown!</p> + +<p>Then rose such yells as the Lenox field had never known. The home +rooters went mad. The boys shouted, the girls screamed with delight. +Caps were thrown in the air, some never to be recovered by their +frenzied owners. But that did not matter. Lenox had scored a touchdown!</p> + +<p>A moment later Rooster kicked the goal and the yells were repeated.</p> + +<p>With barely a minute left for play the game was cinched. The ball +passed back and forth a few times and the whistle blew.</p> + +<p>The score was 10 to 3, and Lenox had won the championship of the High +School League!</p> + +<p>The crowd swarmed over the field, and Garry was fairly smothered by his +admirers, all seeking an opportunity to touch and hug their idol.</p> + +<p>Finally, in the safety of the gymnasium, his mates surrounded him, and +there was a scene of enthusiasm that had never been paralleled in the +history of Lenox High.</p> + +<p>"What's the matter with Garry Grayson?"</p> + +<p>"He's all right!" came back in thundering chorus.</p> + +<p>Garry himself, though he bore his honors modestly, was elated beyond +words. Would he ever again find triumph so sweet? How that unspoken +question was answered will be told in the next book of this series, +entitled: "Garry Grayson's Football Rivals; or, The Secret of the +Stolen Signals."</p> + +<p>If there was any fly in the ointment of that great victory to Garry's +mind it was that Bill Sherwood had not been present to see the game and +rejoice in the triumph. Bill, of course, had been at Frank's trial.</p> + +<p>But that his chum was quite as happy as himself was evident to Garry +when Bill rushed to meet him as he was on his way home.</p> + +<p>"He's free!" cried Bill. "He's free! We've won! Frank's acquitted!"</p> + +<p>"Glory hallelujah!" shouted Garry, as he grasped Bill's hand so tightly +that the other winced. "That's bully, Bill! Bully! I knew Frank was +innocent. Tell me all about it."</p> + +<p>"You ought to have been there," cried Bill. "Gee, Garry, your father +was splendid. The way he tied Gyp Mooney and Piker Anson up in knots! +Jerry told his story and the other side couldn't make a dent in it. +Then Sandy broke down under cross examination and gave the whole thing +away. The jury freed Frank without leaving their seats. The judge +held Mooney and Anson for theft and perjury, and Sandy is held as a +material witness. Gee, Garry, I'm so happy that I don't know whether +I'm standing on my head or my heels!"</p> + +<p>"You're on your own big feet all right," laughed Garry. "Gee, this +news is all I needed to make it a perfect day! And now for the big +celebration to-night! The boys are going to have a blow-out that will +make Lenox howl!"</p> + + +<p class="ph2">THE END</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p class="ph2">GARRY GRAYSON</p> + +<p class="ph2">FOOTBALL STORIES</p> + +<p class="ph2">By ELMER A. DAWSON</p> + +<p class="ph2">12mo. Cloth. Illustrated.</p> + +<p class="ph2">GARRY GRAYSON'S HILL STREET ELEVEN<br> +OR THE FOOTBALL BOYS OF LENOX</p> + +<p class="ph2">GARRY GRAYSON AT LENOX HIGH<br> +OR THE CHAMPIONS OF THE FOOTBALL LEAGUE</p> + +<p class="ph2">GARRY GRAYSON'S FOOTBALL RIVALS<br> +OR THE SECRET OF THE STOLEN SIGNALS</p> + +<p class="ph2">GARRY GRAYSON SHOWING HIS SPEED<br> +OR A DARING RUN ON THE GRIDIRON</p> + +<p class="ph2">GARRY GRAYSON AT STANLEY PREP<br> +OR THE FOOTBALL RIVALS OF RIVERVIEW</p> + + + +<div style='text-align:center'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 75746 ***</div> +</body> +</html> + diff --git a/75746-h/images/cover.jpg b/75746-h/images/cover.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..fed4dd9 --- /dev/null +++ b/75746-h/images/cover.jpg diff --git a/75746-h/images/illus.jpg b/75746-h/images/illus.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..2b7666a --- /dev/null +++ b/75746-h/images/illus.jpg diff --git a/75746-h/images/illusc.jpg b/75746-h/images/illusc.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..03fcb15 --- /dev/null +++ b/75746-h/images/illusc.jpg diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b5dba15 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This book, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. 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