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+
+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 76086 ***
+
+
+
+
+
+                    GARRY GRAYSON'S FOOTBALL RIVALS
+
+                                  OR
+
+                   The Secret of the Stolen Signals
+
+                          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
+
+                          Copyright, 1926, by
+                           GROSSET & DUNLAP
+
+                    Garry Grayson's Football Rivals
+
+
+
+
+ [Illustration: GARRY TUCKED THE BALL UNDER HIS ARM AND TORE THROUGH.]
+
+
+
+
+                               CONTENTS
+
+
+                          I Falling from the Skies
+
+                         II A Close Call
+
+                        III The Wounded Aviator
+
+                         IV An Old Enemy
+
+                          V Into Empty Space
+
+                         VI Getting into Swing
+
+                        VII Picking the Team
+
+                       VIII Something Brewing
+
+                         IX Hitting the Line
+
+                          X Mysterious Happenings
+
+                         XI Under Suspicion
+
+                        XII Out of the Game
+
+                       XIII Tracing the Threads
+
+                        XIV Brought to Book
+
+                         XV A Merited Punishment
+
+                        XVI A Plot in the Making
+
+                       XVII Facing the Foe
+
+                      XVIII Crooked Work
+
+                        XIX Weaving the Web
+
+                         XX In Desperate Plight
+
+                        XXI Temptation
+
+                       XXII The Stolen Signals
+
+                      XXIII Almost a Tragedy
+
+                       XXIV Startling News
+
+                        XXV Going over the Top
+
+
+
+
+                    GARRY GRAYSON'S FOOTBALL RIVALS
+
+
+
+
+                               CHAPTER I
+
+                        Falling from the Skies
+
+
+"It won't be long now, fellows, before we get a chance at the old
+football," exulted Garry Grayson as he and his companions made their
+way through the woods about two miles from Lenox, their home town.
+
+"The season can't come too quickly to suit me," returned Rooster Long,
+as he avoided a spreading root that threatened to trip him. "Gee, my
+foot is fairly itching for the feel of the pigskin!"
+
+"And now that we're no longer lowly freshmen, we may have a look in for
+the regular team," remarked Nick Danter.
+
+"Here's hoping," put in big Bill Sherwood. "Of course, to be on the
+scrubs is better than nothing, but I'm good and tired of being the
+doormat for the first-string fellows."
+
+"I guess we all are," observed Ted Dillingham. "One thing is certain,
+anyway. They can't keep Garry off the regulars after the way he played
+in that game that won the championship for Lenox High. Gee, that was
+some football playing, I'll tell the world!"
+
+"It isn't a cinch for anybody," declared Garry soberly. "But so many of
+the old stars graduated in June that there'll be a good many places to
+be filled. There's Dittler, for instance--"
+
+"And that boy will certainly be missed!" exclaimed Nick Danter. "The
+whole backfield was built around him. When it came to bucking the line
+and skirting the ends, there wasn't a player in the High School League
+that could give him any points."
+
+"Right you are," agreed Garry. "The boy was a wonder. Minter, too, was
+no slouch, and they don't come any better than Payne. Both of them are
+gone, and it will be mighty hard work to fill their shoes."
+
+"But the biggest loss of all is Ralph Wynn," asserted Rooster Long.
+"Look at the way he ran the team. Used his brains every minute. Many's
+the game he's won by quick thinking. He had the beef, too, and the
+speed. It won't look like the same old team with the captain gone."
+
+"It's a blow to the school and the team," Bill acquiesced. "But that's
+all in the game. The other schools will have lost some of their stars,
+too; so in the long run things will about even up."
+
+"We've got one bit of luck, anyway, in having Mr. Phillips as our
+coach," put in Ted Dillingham.
+
+"That's right," agreed Garry heartily. "At first it looked as though he
+was going to have hard work in filling Coach Garwin's place, but the
+way Mr. Phillips brought the team through to the championship showed
+that he was there with the goods."
+
+"You said a mouthful that time," agreed Nick.
+
+"Luck for Garry that old Shrugg did the disappearing act when he did,"
+remarked Ted with a grin. "That English prof sure had it in for one
+fellow on the scrubs."
+
+"And all because of a muddy football!" laughed Bill Sherwood, referring
+to an unfortunate occasion when Garry Grayson, quite by accident, had
+kicked a ball heavy with mud into the face of Trompet Shrugg, thereby
+ruffling that gentleman's temper as well as bespattering his immaculate
+waistcoat.
+
+"Speaking of mud," put in Rooster, glancing skyward, "it sure looks as
+though we were going to have plenty of it before long. See that row of
+banked-up clouds?"
+
+"Just wind clouds," scoffed Garry, giving Rooster a poke in the ribs
+with a four-foot branch he had picked up from the ground.
+
+Rooster grabbed the end of it and a spirited tussle ensued. By the time
+Garry had succeeded in wresting the improvised weapon from his friend's
+grasp the sky was definitely overcast with heavy clouds. The prophecy
+of storm seemed about to be fulfilled.
+
+"Never knew it to fail just when we'd planned to catch some fish and
+have a good time," grumbled Nick Danter, as he looked disconsolately at
+his fishing rod.
+
+"Oh, stop your grouching," counseled Rooster. "We're close to the creek
+now and we'll have plenty of time to catch a mess before it rains.
+Those clouds may blow over. Anyway, we've got a better chance to make a
+catch on a cloudy day."
+
+"Righto," asserted Garry. "I'm for the fish every time. A few drops of
+rain won't hurt us, anyhow."
+
+"It may make the wood too wet to burn, though," observed Ted
+Dillingham. "And there's no fun catching fish if you can't cook them."
+
+"I guess we can rake enough dry brush together for a fire," predicted
+Bill hopefully.
+
+"You fellows are talking as though we had a mess already," laughed
+Nick. "Perhaps we won't have a nibble."
+
+"We won't, eh?" scoffed Ted. "Just watch me land 'em! Say, who's got
+that can of worms?"
+
+Rooster Long produced that highly necessary adjunct to a fishing
+excursion, and the boys hastened their steps down the narrow woods path
+that led to the stream.
+
+It was by no means their first visit to the spot. The creek was an
+inlet to Bass Lake and abounded in fish that had many times had their
+numbers depleted by the young fishermen.
+
+"The fellows that don't catch any will have to build the fire,"
+pronounced Garry Grayson, as he got his tackle ready. "Is that a go?"
+
+"Seems like rubbing it in," returned Rooster, grinning. "But you can't
+bluff me. Bet I land the first one."
+
+"And I'll get the biggest one," predicted Ted.
+
+"Brag's a good dog, but Holdfast's a better," remarked Bill Sherwood,
+with a superior air, as he baited his hook.
+
+Nick said nothing, but his line hit the water first and was grabbed
+almost immediately by a hungry perch that the boy landed in fine style.
+
+"I'll let the fish do my talking for me," and he grinned tantalizingly
+as he displayed his catch.
+
+"If it can talk more like a fish than you do, it's pretty good,"
+Rooster came back at him.
+
+A few minutes later Garry landed a still bigger perch. Then Ted caught
+a catfish and Bill captured a bass. Other fish were captured from time
+to time, but luck constantly eluded Rooster Long, though several times
+he sought what he thought might be better positions for his purpose.
+
+At the end of twenty minutes Garry counted their catch.
+
+"Nine in all," he announced. "That's more than we can eat, and I'm as
+hungry as a wolf. Rooster's the goat. Come, varlet," he commanded,
+addressing that youth, "rustle us some brushwood and make a fire for
+your betters."
+
+Rooster picked up a fish and threw it at him, but Garry dodged and the
+fish caught Ted Dillingham square in the mouth.
+
+"Say!" sputtered that young lad indignantly, as he used his
+handkerchief vigorously, "why don't you hit what you aim at? Are you
+cross-eyed? Think I want my fish raw?"
+
+"There, there, Ted," said Garry soothingly, "you ought to be glad to
+suffer for a friend. Think of how much worse you'd have felt if it had
+hit me."
+
+"Not on your life I wouldn't!" grumbled Ted, still plying his
+handkerchief. "I'll smell that fish all day."
+
+"I don't see why," remarked Bill innocently. "It's perfectly fresh."
+
+"Not half as fresh as some fellows I know," retorted Ted, as he looked
+about for something to throw at his tormentors.
+
+But they laughingly scurried out of reach and then turned to cleaning
+the fish. By the time Rooster had the fire going, the fish were ready,
+and soon the delicious aroma whetted still further the young appetites
+that needed no sharpening.
+
+They had brought cocoa with them in two milk bottles and this they
+heated in an old saucepan that Garry Grayson's mother had loaned to
+them for such occasions. There were plenty of sandwiches, besides
+buttered rolls and jam. The feast was one fit for a king, the boys
+thought, as they munched fish and rolls and drank cocoa out of tin cups.
+
+"This is the life!" sighed Rooster Long contentedly. "And this fish,"
+with another huge bite, "sure is the berries."
+
+"Keep still a minute!" cried Bill Sherwood. "What's that?"
+
+Complete silence fell upon the group, broken only by the crackling of
+the fire. Then through the quiet came a humming sound like the whirring
+of a powerful motor.
+
+"It's either a car burning up the road--" began Ted.
+
+"Or an airplane," finished Garry. "Sounds more like one of those birds
+to me."
+
+"It's an airplane, all right," declared Bill. "And it sounds as though
+it were right overhead."
+
+The whir of the motor grew to a roar, and the boys, starting to
+their feet and staring up through the trees, saw the great man-made
+bird sweep nearly overhead, coming for a moment between them and the
+lowering sky.
+
+As they watched, the plane appeared to waver, then make a dart downward.
+
+The boys cried out in alarm.
+
+But in a moment the pilot seemed to have recovered control, and
+the great machine winged its way upward, engine once more purring
+rhythmically.
+
+"That guy's got engine trouble, all right," declared Nick Danter, with
+a shake of his head.
+
+"I'd sure hate to take a dip like that," remarked Rooster, filling his
+tin cup again. "Apt to scramble your brains--"
+
+"Providing you have any," grinned Garry. "Say, listen, old boy, sling
+over another of those rolls, will you?"
+
+Rooster obeyed, then turned to Bill Sherwood.
+
+"I've been meaning to ask you, Bill," he said, "how Frank was getting
+along."
+
+"Fine," replied Bill, his face beaming. "Guess the old boy has learned
+his lesson. Buckling down to his work like a dog at a bone. And home--"
+He paused, and then added with a grin: "Is once more home. Frank sure
+did upset us all for a while."
+
+"There's another fellow who should have learned his lesson too," put in
+Ted, his brows knitting into a scowl. "And that's Sandy Podder."
+
+"Not a bit of it!" declared Nick. "You'd have a hard time knocking
+anything into that guy's thick skull. He was scared for a while, of
+course, at the close squeak he had in that Gyp Mooney robbery; but
+now he's getting into his stride again. I hear all sorts of things
+about his goings on. He's got it in for you too, Garry, good and
+plenty--don't make any mistake about that."
+
+Garry Grayson shrugged.
+
+"I'm not lying awake worrying about it, you bet," he rejoined
+carelessly.
+
+"Just the same, what Nick says is right," said Bill, poking at the
+fire with a long stick. "It was your father, Garry, who showed him up
+in that last rough stuff he tried to pull, and you yourself got the
+information from Jerry Cox that put him on the fritz. Sandy Podder
+isn't the fellow to forget anything like that. Take it from me, he'll
+get even if he can."
+
+"Well, let him try it," said Garry cheerfully. "We've outwitted that
+rascal several times already, and I guess we can again, if we have to.
+But say, fellows, here comes the rain."
+
+A splash fell on the embers of their fire, followed by another and yet
+another.
+
+The boys jumped to their feet, hastily gathering up the remnants of
+their feast, their rods, and can of bait.
+
+"Guess we'll have to run for it," conjectured Rooster. "From the look
+of the sky it'll soon be coming down in bucketfuls."
+
+"How about Peeble's cabin?" Nick suggested, referring to a tumbledown
+hut in the woods whose former owner had long since passed into the
+great beyond, leaving his earthly habitat to the mercy of wind and
+storm.
+
+Poor as it was, it would yet afford some shelter from the rain, and, as
+soon as they had looked to the remnants of their fire, the boys turned
+their steps toward it.
+
+They had barely reached it and slammed the rickety door to behind them
+when the storm broke in fury, dashing upon the leaky roof and beating
+at the dirty, cracked windows.
+
+Through the largest hole in the roof, the rain was beginning to drip
+in an ever-increasing stream.
+
+"Hey, there's a shower bath for you, Garry!" cried Rooster, and held
+his chum beneath the trickle.
+
+Garry dodged the unwelcome shower and in retaliation grabbed Rooster
+and held him beneath the stream, which coursed chillingly down the
+hapless Rooster's back.
+
+Rooster howled, and with a convulsive effort freed himself from Garry's
+grasp, at the same time butting his head against the ribs of his
+adversary.
+
+In the laughing scrimmage, both boys went down and rolled over and over
+on the rotting floor of the cabin, to the huge delight of their chums.
+
+"Soak him, Garry!"
+
+"Attaboy, Rooster!"
+
+"Go to, you fel--"
+
+The words were interrupted by a rending crash, and the next moment it
+seemed as though the universe had come down about their ears!
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER II
+
+                             A Close Call
+
+
+Borne down to the floor, blinded, dazed, the boys lay half buried
+beneath the wreckage, the rain beating down upon them, soaking them
+through and through.
+
+What had happened? What was it that had come crashing down upon them
+from the sky, bringing destruction in its wake?
+
+This question Garry Grayson asked himself confusedly as he rubbed his
+bruised head and tried painfully to extricate himself from the mass of
+wreckage.
+
+He pulled one leg from beneath some boards and found with relief that
+he could move it. Encouraged by the test, he tried the other one.
+
+"Nothing broken," he muttered. Then, his head clearing, he looked
+around him fearfully for his companions.
+
+Rooster and Nick were emerging slowly, bewilderedly, from a pile of
+wreckage. Bill was sitting on the floor, head buried in his arms, so
+dazed that he did not know what was going on around him.
+
+All this Garry took in at a glance. And he saw also what it was that
+had crashed down upon them from the sky, almost completely demolishing
+Peeble's little cabin.
+
+For an airplane, or what remained of one, was perched upon the
+wreckage, its damaged wings half supported by the tough, bending boughs
+of trees on either side of the ruined hut.
+
+Garry looked about him for the pilot, and saw at some distance a
+pitiful, huddled figure that showed no signs of life.
+
+He staggered to his feet and was about to go to the aid of the
+unfortunate fellow when a horrible thought stopped him.
+
+Rooster and Nick were safe. Bill was rubbing his head as though his
+addled brains were getting ready to function again.
+
+But Ted Dillingham! Where was Ted?
+
+He was nowhere in sight. Garry rushed forward to a place where the
+timbers lay thickest, imagining Ted crushed, mangled, perhaps dead.
+Even as he did so, there came an explosion, and a darting, red flame
+shot out beneath the battered body of the airplane.
+
+Fire! And somewhere beneath the wreckage lay Ted at the mercy of the
+flames!
+
+Garry yelled hoarsely to his befuddled companions.
+
+"Ted is under there somewhere!" he cried. "Come on, boys! Work fast!
+We've got to get him out!"
+
+His chums' heads cleared like magic, and the boys worked with feverish
+haste while the fire crept ever closer. They called Ted's name over and
+over again as they tore at the rough boards, searching for him.
+
+At last came a faint answer, and their efforts were redoubled. At last
+they found Ted, pinned helplessly beneath a pile of boards, only his
+head visible!
+
+"Hurry, fellows, hurry!" cried Garry in agony. "Quick, before the fire
+gets at him!"
+
+Garry Grayson, now fourteen years old, had been born and brought up in
+Lenox, a thriving town with a population of about fifteen thousand.
+His father was Joseph S. Grayson, a prominent lawyer of the town and a
+leader in all its civic activities. Mrs. Grayson was a sweet, wholesome
+woman, intensely proud of her son Garry and his twin sister, Ella, a
+merry, pretty girl, whose chief delight was in teasing her brother, of
+whom, however, she was extremely fond. The family lived in a handsome
+home at the corner of Hill and Maple Streets in a choice residential
+section of Lenox.
+
+Garry was strong and well built for his age, and a natural leader in
+all boyish sports, especially football, of which he was an ardent
+devotee. He had a frank, sunny face and a manly, straightforward
+disposition. Chief among his friends were Nick Danter and Ted
+Dillingham, whose respective fathers were partners in the largest
+department store in Lenox, Rooster Long and Bill Sherwood. They had
+been drawn together by mutual liking, and this friendship had been
+further cemented by the interest that all took in the game of football.
+
+But if Garry had many warm friends, he also had some enemies, of whom
+the principal one was Sandy Podder, a loose-principled, dissipated
+youth somewhat older than Garry and his chums, with whom Garry had
+frequently come in conflict, due to Sandy's low tricks and scheming. To
+these were added Chat Johns and Bud Warding, bullies of the same stripe
+who had been in Garry's class at the Hill Street Grammar School. Later
+came Lent Stewart, son of a rich broker, who, despite the fact that
+Garry had once saved him from drowning, was unfriendly and found in
+Sandy Podder a congenial pal and abettor of his plans.
+
+How Garry's enthusiasm for football prompted him to organize a team
+in his grammar school; the trials and tribulations of the eleven as
+it was gradually licked into shape; how Garry thwarted the plans of
+Sandy Podder and some traitors in his own school; what difficulties
+he met and what obstacles he surmounted before he led his team to
+victory over the other grammar schools of the town--all these and other
+adventures are narrated in the first volume of this series entitled:
+"Garry Grayson's Hill Street Eleven; or, The Football Boys of Lenox."
+
+The next fall Garry entered the Lenox high school, accompanied by Nick,
+Ted, Rooster and Bill. Here they found themselves bucking against the
+tradition that no freshman could be permitted to play on the regular
+football team. They did get places, however, on the scrubs, and gave
+the regulars all they could do to hold their own.
+
+Sickness depleted the Lenox High regular team. That gave Garry his
+chance, and how his wonderful playing helped Lenox to the championship
+of the High School League is fully told in the second book of the
+series, entitled: "Garry Grayson at Lenox High; or, The Champions of
+the Football League."
+
+Now to return to the frantic boys as they tossed the boards aside to
+free their imprisoned comrade while the flames crept ever nearer.
+
+"Buck up, Ted, old boy," Garry cried cheerfully. "We'll have you out of
+there now in a jiffy."
+
+"I know you will," replied Ted gamely in a tone of confidence that he
+was far from feeling.
+
+Now the rain, at which they had so grumbled a little while before, did
+them a good turn. Under the torrents that were by this time falling,
+the hastening fire began to relax some of its speed. It was this alone
+that made it possible for them at last to drag their comrade from under
+the last of the boards and carry him out into the open air. And never
+was the cool air so sweet as at that moment!
+
+"Are you hurt anywhere, Ted?" asked Garry anxiously, as they propped
+the lad up against a tree.
+
+"N-no, I guess not," gasped Ted, trying hard to summon up a smile.
+
+Garry ran his hands over Ted's arms and legs and was infinitely
+relieved to find that no bones were broken.
+
+"You see some of the boards formed a sort of tent over me so that I
+didn't get the full weight of the timbers," explained Ted.
+
+"He's all right, fellows. We'll leave him here till he gets his breath
+back while we go and look after the pilot," announced Garry.
+
+"I'm going too!" exclaimed Ted, seeing for the first time the still
+figure of the pilot. But an attempt to get to his feet showed him that
+first he must get a little rest and regain his strength, for his had
+been no light experience.
+
+The others hurried over to the limp form of the aviator. He lay in a
+crumpled heap, and as the boys bent over him they feared for a moment
+that the worst had happened; that he was dead.
+
+Big Bill Sherwood turned him over on his back, pulled open his leathern
+jacket, and slipped a hand within his shirt. The boys looked on with
+hearts stirring with fear and pity.
+
+Slowly a relieved smile stole over Bill's face.
+
+"I can feel his heart thumping," he said. "The poor fellow's a long way
+from being dead yet."
+
+As though to prove the truth of the statement, the man opened his
+eyes and stared vacantly around him. Then he sat up suddenly, freeing
+himself from Bill's supporting arm.
+
+"The wires!" he cried, wildly. "One is broken. I must fix it, quick!
+Quick!" Then with a groan: "Too late! Too late!" He was evidently
+recalling the fearful moment of the plunge. "She's falling! Those
+trees! How close they are! The trees!"
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER III
+
+                          The Wounded Aviator
+
+
+The man's words died off into silence, and the black sea of
+unconsciousness again surged up to meet him.
+
+"Can it be that he's dead?" asked Rooster Long in an agitated voice, as
+he and his companions stared down upon the white, set face of the pilot.
+
+"Chafe his hands and wrists," directed Garry, and he himself set the
+example.
+
+There in the pouring rain, themselves aching because of their bruises,
+the boys worked over the stranger until they were finally rewarded by
+signs of returning consciousness. Ted, having regained some of his own
+strength, now joined his companions in doing what they could for the
+aviator.
+
+The man opened his eyes and a glimmer of understanding came into them.
+He tried to sit up, but fell back with a groan.
+
+"Who are you?" he asked the boys.
+
+"We were in the hut when your airplane landed on it," Nick Danter
+replied. "There isn't much left now of hut or airplane either," he
+added.
+
+The aviator pressed a hand to his aching head.
+
+"Was any one badly hurt?" he asked.
+
+"Only yourself, except for a few bruises we got," replied Garry. "You
+certainly got the worst of it."
+
+The stranger nodded and smiled with an air of relief.
+
+"I'm lucky to be alive at all after that nose dive," he said, his face
+clouding as he looked toward the wrecked plane.
+
+"How did it happen?" asked Rooster eagerly.
+
+"If you will prop me up against that tree--thanks, that's much better.
+Why," turning to Rooster, "I hardly know how it happened myself, young
+fellow. I had been having engine trouble for some time, then two of the
+wire struts broke. That's about all I remember just now."
+
+"You flew over here just a little while ago, didn't you? Isn't yours a
+mail plane?" asked Ted.
+
+The aviator nodded.
+
+"Yes, to both questions," he replied. "I turned back finally, intending
+to land at the airdrome over in Wimbledon and overhaul the engine. Then
+the storm caught me, there was too much strain on the gear, some of
+the wires gave way, and--here I am. Sorry I had to involve you in my
+misfortunes, though," he added, looking more closely at the boys. "Are
+you sure you're not badly hurt?"
+
+"We're all here and can speak for ourselves," replied Garry. "We're
+none the worse except for bruises. Do you feel better now?" he asked
+anxiously, as the spasm of pain crossed the face of the aviator.
+
+"The trees broke my fall. I guess I'm all right except my legs. One of
+them hurts pretty badly. If you will help me get up--"
+
+The boys sprang to him. Garry and Bill between them helped him to his
+feet. He leaned heavily upon his young assistants, and a groan forced
+its way between his clenched teeth.
+
+"My left leg is useless, I'm afraid," he said. "I can't bear my weight
+upon it."
+
+"We'll have to get a car to take you into town," said Garry. "I'll go
+to the nearest farmhouse and telephone for a doctor."
+
+"Wait a minute," called the aviator, as Garry turned away. "My boy is
+staying with friends not far from here. If you will call up the house
+of these people, my son will come for me with his car."
+
+"Good!" replied Garry. "And now what's the number?"
+
+"Milford 7085. Ask for Cal Yates. I'm Ross Yates," he added, with a
+faint smile, as the boys gently lowered him to the ground again, "World
+War aviator, at your service."
+
+Rooster went with Garry, the two plodding through the driving rain to
+the nearest house, which was fully half a mile away. There they got
+permission to use the phone, called the number given by the aviator,
+and were lucky enough to find Cal Yates in.
+
+The latter was frankly alarmed, even when Garry assured him that there
+did not seem to be anything serious the matter with his father.
+
+"Tell dad I'll step on the gas and get there in breakneck time," said
+young Yates. "Thank you for calling me. See you later. S'long."
+
+The receiver slammed up on the hook. Garry grinned at Rooster.
+
+"Cal Yates is on his way. A speed boy, or I miss my guess," he hazarded.
+
+"He can't be too speedy, either for his father's sake or ours,"
+returned Rooster.
+
+Cal Yates justified Garry's opinion of his speediness by appearing at
+the scene of the accident in an incredibly short time after receiving
+the telephone message.
+
+He arrived in a low-slung racing car, painted a light blue and adorned
+with a gold stripe. The seat and steering wheel were so low that the
+driver had fairly to lie on his back as he guided the car along.
+
+Despite the gaudiness of the car and the boy's own air of
+sophistication, Cal seemed to be a likable young fellow and the boys
+took to him at once.
+
+He brought his car to a sudden standstill as the boys hailed him from
+the side of the road. He wriggled clear of the imprisoning steering
+wheel and approached them eagerly.
+
+"I say, dad isn't badly hurt, is he?" he asked with great anxiety. "You
+weren't trying just to let me down easy?"
+
+"Not a bit of it," Garry assured him. "Come along and see for yourself."
+
+Cal Yates followed, and they led him to the spot where his father lay.
+The latter was much stronger now and greeted his son jovially.
+
+"Ahoy there, shipmate!" he called. "The old ship ran afoul of a rock,
+but the captain's far from being a dead one yet. Don't look so stirred
+up, son," as he saw tears mist the lad's eyes. "Except for something
+the matter with my left leg, I'm as good as ever."
+
+"Say, Pater, but you gave me a scare!" The young fellow knelt beside
+his father, feeling him over to see that no bones were broken. "What
+ever made you do a nose dive, anyway? Didn't know you went in for such
+things.
+
+"Dad was an ace in the World War, you know," Cal went on, turning to
+the boys, "and what he did to the enemy was a sin and a shame! Shot
+down about thirty planes--didn't you, Pater?--to say nothing of those
+that fell in the enemy's lines. As a matter of fact," he added with a
+quizzical smile, "dad won the war, though he's so modest he doesn't
+want to tell people about it."
+
+Mr. Yates laughed, inadvertently moved his leg and groaned. Instantly
+his son was all penitent concern.
+
+"Here I go, blabbing my fool head off when I ought to have you in the
+car by this time. Where do we go from here, Dad? To the doctor's?
+There's a good one near where I'm staying."
+
+"There's a fine hospital in Lenox, if you want to take him there,"
+suggested Garry.
+
+"Thanks. But I guess I'd better go right to the house where Cal's
+staying," replied the aviator. "They're relatives of mine, and I can
+have the doctor see me there. I imagine it wouldn't do any harm for you
+boys to have the doctor look you over, too."
+
+"Oh, we're all right," Bill Sherwood hastened to assure him.
+
+"A good night's rest, and we'll be as fine as silk to-morrow morning,"
+added Nick.
+
+Up to this time Cal Yates had appeared to have eyes only for his
+father. Now he regarded the boys with interest.
+
+"Were you in the big smash-up too?" he asked.
+
+For answer the boys led him to the plane atop the ruined hut, and told
+him briefly what had happened.
+
+"Wriggling snakes! It's a wonder you weren't all squashed to a jelly,"
+cried Cal. "You came within an ace of going into kingdom come, I'll
+tell the world!"
+
+Although the boy was eager to get his father away and under the
+doctor's care, Mr. Yates insisted that they should give him some
+description of the injuries to the plane. They looked over it carefully.
+
+"How about it?" called Mr. Yates. "Does it seem as though there were
+any use in salvaging it? Or is it ready for the junk heap?"
+
+"Of course it's pretty badly battered, but it looks to me as though it
+were worth repairing," stated Garry.
+
+"Sure thing, Dad," said Cal Yates airily. "With a new body, a couple of
+wings and a patch or two on the engine, the old boat ought to be almost
+as good as ever. And the mail bags are safe, all right. But you're the
+one to be salvaged first. Hold hard, and we'll have you in the car in a
+jiffy."
+
+So saying, he and Bill Sherwood crossed hands to form a seat, and the
+other boys helped the injured man into this improvised litter.
+
+But the journey to the road and the car was a slow and painful one.
+When finally Mr. Yates, pale-faced and grim-lipped, was placed in the
+seat beside his son, the latter turned to the boys.
+
+"Cram yourselves on the old bus some way," he said. "The place I'm
+staying is between here and the town, and I can give you a lift that
+far, anyway. I'll have to drive slowly on account of poor dad, so there
+won't be any danger of your getting jolted off. All ready? All right.
+Let's go!"
+
+With the boys on the running boards, Cal started the motor of his
+flashy car, swung it in the right direction, and drove carefully along
+the road toward town.
+
+On the way he kept up a running fire of light chatter, more, as the
+boys thought, to distract his father's attention from the pain he
+suffered than from a desire for conversation.
+
+"Had a sort of smash-up myself this morning," he volunteered. "A guy
+with sandy hair and the meanest eyes I ever saw ran into me full tilt
+and then had the nerve to say I did it. His name I found out is Sandy
+Podder. Know him?"
+
+"Do we?" chuckled Ted. "I'll say we do!"
+
+"Well, I was going along nice and easy--no more than fifty-five or
+sixty, I should say," resumed Cal, "when this guy came dashing around
+a curve of the road right at me. We both swerved and turned quickly so
+that only our mudguards were bent. But it was a close call, and I have
+it in for that Podder chap, believe me!"
+
+The Lenox boys exchanged glances.
+
+"Any time you need any help, let us know," Garry suggested, and Cal
+Yates laughed.
+
+"You're on," he said. "I only wish I'd had you along this morning for
+witnesses. I could prove that Podder was on the wrong side of the road
+anyway and make him pay for a new mudguard. As it is," gloomily, "it's
+only my word against his, and that wouldn't go far in a court of law."
+
+By this time they had almost reached the house that was Cal's
+destination. Rooster suddenly tapped Cal on the shoulder and pointed
+toward a car that had just turned a corner and was sweeping down toward
+them.
+
+"Speaking of skunks," he grinned, "there's Sandy Podder now!"
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER IV
+
+                             An Old Enemy
+
+
+Sandy Podder was the last person Garry and his chums cared to see at
+that moment, torn and ragged as they were from their experience in the
+hut and with their muddy clothes hanging on them soddenly.
+
+But Sandy saw them and did not miss the opportunity of jeering at them.
+He purposely passed so close to Cal's car as to splash more mud on them
+and narrowly missed sweeping them from the running board. So slender
+was the margin that Cal was forced partly to climb the grassy bank on
+the farther side of the road to prevent being run down.
+
+Yates shook his fist wrathfully after the disappearing car. He turned
+and saw that the sudden swerve he had been forced to make had almost
+thrown his father from his seat. The jolt had meant agony for the
+wounded man. Cal Yates muttered furiously beneath his breath as he
+stopped the car and helped his father to a more comfortable position.
+
+"If it wasn't for you, Dad," he exclaimed, "I'd beat it back after
+that skunk and whale him within an inch of his life! After I've got you
+fixed, I'll do it, too! See if I don't!"
+
+They reached the house, and the boys helped carry the wounded man
+inside, where he was received with the tenderest consideration and
+the doctor phoned for at once. Then the Lenox boys left, followed by
+repeated thanks, promising to call soon to see how the wounded aviator
+was getting along.
+
+"We're sort of brothers-in-arms now," grinned Cal, as he bade the other
+boys good-bye. "United for the downfall of one Sandy Podder. See you
+again soon. S'long."
+
+At the Grayson house the chums parted. They were sore and bruised,
+eager for rest and a change to dry clothing.
+
+"Meet you in the practice lot to-morrow, fellows," Garry called at
+parting. "We'll need to get in some good practice, or Mr. Phillips
+won't be able to see us with a telescope when it comes to making up the
+team."
+
+There was a good deal of excitement in several Lenox homes that night.
+Mothers exclaimed at the sight of their tramplike young sons, and then
+listened with bated breath as the boys told of the narrow escape they
+had had either from being crushed by the airplane or being burned to
+death.
+
+Garry's mother was no exception, and Ella forebore to tease, in her
+relief at having her brother returned to her safe and sound. Mr.
+Grayson himself was scarcely less moved.
+
+"Ross Yates," remarked Mr. Grayson later, when they had become calmer.
+"I used to see that name frequently in the papers during the war.
+He was one of the most daring of the American aces and must have a
+trunkful of decorations. I'm glad you were able to be of service to
+him."
+
+It was a rather sorry-looking bunch of football players that met in the
+lot back of Garry's home the following day. Their bruises were still
+sore and irritating, despite hot baths and vigorous massaging.
+
+"We're a fine bunch of cripples," declared Bill Sherwood, flexing his
+lame right arm experimentally. "A team from an old men's home could put
+it all over us."
+
+"If Mr. Phillips could see us now, he'd have the jolt of his life,"
+asserted Garry. "We've got to get the stiffness out of our joints some
+way. So come on--let's snap into it."
+
+As he spoke, Garry Grayson whipped the ball to Nick. The latter was
+ruefully rubbing a sore knee. He saw the ball too late, made a frantic
+grab at it, and missed.
+
+A chorus of jeers greeted him, as he limped off sheepishly in pursuit
+of the ball.
+
+"Attaboy! The best miss I ever saw," gibed Ted.
+
+"If Mr. Phillips had seen that, he'd have given you Ralph Wynn's place
+right off the bat," added Rooster Long. "That's the kind of captain we
+need to put pep into the team."
+
+"Some one make that rooster stop crowing," grunted Nick, and,
+forgetting his stiff knee, met the ball with his foot in a masterly
+punt that, aimed for Rooster's head, hit him in the stomach and all but
+knocked him over.
+
+"Anyway, I know enough to hang on to the ball," retorted Rooster,
+hugging the pigskin. "Which is more than some so-called football
+players can say for themselves."
+
+"Say, are we playing football or having a kidding match!" cried Garry
+impatiently. "Pass me that football, Rooster. I want to find out."
+
+After that they settled down to an hour of strenuous practice.
+
+They brushed up on the signals, Garry giving the same set over and over
+again until the play was made like clockwork, the swift punt, feint, or
+forward pass timed to the fraction of a second.
+
+In the interest aroused by the play sore muscles were ironed out
+magically, and at the end of an hour's time the boys had almost
+forgotten that there was anything wrong with them.
+
+Rooster was practicing a place kick. Garry thought he was sending the
+ball too high, and told him so.
+
+"By the time that pigskin lands, the other fellows will be all set for
+it," Garry contended. "They will have time to plan a counter-attack and
+our play will be spoiled. Anybody'd think you were trying to kick the
+clouds out of position."
+
+"Say, listen, Garry," Rooster protested. "I couldn't kick that high.
+Honest I couldn't. You give me altogether too much credit. I can feel
+the blushes coming."
+
+"Not a bit too much credit," grinned Garry. "Throw over the pigskin and
+I'll give you an example of how that kick looked to me. Then you can
+see how much too high it was."
+
+Reluctantly Rooster surrendered the ball. Nick held it in position and
+Garry swung back his foot.
+
+Plunk! The toe of Garry's shoe met the pigskin with a hollow sound
+that was music in the ears of his chums. All the force of his body
+was behind the kick, and the boys watched the ascent of the ball with
+interest.
+
+High, high, higher it sailed.
+
+"That's a sky ball, sure enough, Garry," chuckled Ted, then broke off
+and stared in amazement.
+
+The ball, ever mounting, was directly over the roof of a house near the
+field. As the boys watched, it settled gently and landed on the top of
+the chimney!
+
+"Jumping Jupiter! Now you've gone and done it, Garry!" cried Nick
+Danter.
+
+"Cock-a-doodle-doo!" crowed Rooster. "I may be a high kicker, Garry, my
+lad; but I've never aimed for a chimney top yet."
+
+"Some peachy kick," grinned Bill. "How in the world did you do it, old
+boy!"
+
+Garry, staring at this new achievement, shook his head.
+
+"You can search me!" he muttered. "Though you've got to admit it's a
+high kick," he added, with a grin. "The question now is--how are we
+going to get the ball down again!"
+
+"Yeah, that's the question," said Rooster, coming to stand by Garry
+and squinting up at the football. "If we had wings now, it would be
+perfectly simple."
+
+"It's simple, anyway," rejoined Nick. "Some one go to the door of that
+house and ask to be allowed to go on the roof. Once there, the rest is
+easy."
+
+"Yes, once there," admitted Garry, scratching his head in perplexity.
+"It's plain to be seen that you don't know who owns that house."
+
+"Well, who does!" asked Ted, puzzled.
+
+"An old crab who's likely to set his dog on us for trespassing,"
+explained Garry. "He hates all sorts of sports on principle, and
+especially football. It's old Jacob Fish, the retired banker. He was in
+to see my dad about it once, and said that if he had his way he'd make
+a law forbidding football practice so close to private dwellings. To
+shut him up, dad told him that he would be personally responsible for
+any damage we might do."
+
+The boys looked thoughtful.
+
+"That sure complicates matters," affirmed Rooster. "But we've got to
+get that ball, whatever happens."
+
+"Sure we have," agreed Garry. "But we might as well be foxy. I've got
+an idea."
+
+"Hold on to it," begged Nick.
+
+"Shoot and let us know the worst," urged Ted.
+
+"We've got a ladder back of our house," explained Garry, growing more
+confident as his plans took shape. "If I can get that around to old
+Fish's house without being seen, I can climb up the back to the roof."
+
+"Simple as rolling off a log," admitted Nick.
+
+"Let's hope you don't roll off the roof," grinned Rooster, but Garry
+had already started off full tilt for the house.
+
+The other boys went with him and helped him with the greatest caution
+to carry the ladder around to the back of the retired banker's house.
+
+Having accomplished this without discovery, they felt elated. It would
+take only a few seconds now to climb the ladder, scramble up the
+sloping roof, and toss the recovered treasure into the field.
+
+They placed the ladder very cautiously against the house, making as
+little noise as possible. Rooster and Bill held it steady, while Garry
+swarmed up it like a monkey.
+
+He reached the roof and paused there to wave his hand at his chums.
+Then he made his way up the slope and soon reached the top. He gripped
+the chimney and reached for the ball.
+
+Meanwhile, his chums had been watching his movements with such interest
+that they did not hear the stealthy steps of Jacob Fish until he was
+nearly upon them.
+
+Then he jumped round the side of the house, his grizzled whiskers
+quivering with anger. He shook his fist at Garry.
+
+"What are you doing there, you young scamp?" he shrilled. "You get off
+my roof!"
+
+
+
+
+                               CHAPTER V
+
+                           Into Empty Space
+
+
+Garry Grayson obeyed the command of Mr. Fish, but not in the way that
+the man had intended he should.
+
+He had dislodged the pigskin and was slipping cautiously down the roof
+to the ladder when the rasping cry of the old fellow startled him and
+made him lose his balance.
+
+He slipped, tried to recover himself, overbalanced in the other
+direction, and fell, rolling over and over toward the edge of the roof!
+
+With a yell of alarm, Bill, Rooster, Nick, and Ted rushed around to
+the spot where Garry seemed destined to fall. Jacob Fish himself was
+alarmed, for, much as he hated the young folks of the vicinity, he had
+had no idea of precipitating a fall.
+
+As for Garry, the nightmare moment of losing his balance and that swift
+descent to the gutter of the roof seemed to occupy an eternity of time.
+
+His clutching hands gripped empty air. He was utterly powerless to
+prevent the fall that must follow. He breathed a prayer, braced
+himself, felt all solid substance give way beneath him!
+
+Then he became conscious of the branches of a great tree that rushed up
+swiftly toward him, as though to strike him in the face.
+
+Instinctively Garry reached out and his clutching fingers caught
+something that bent and gave beneath his weight but did not break. It
+was a stout branch of an old cedar tree that grew close beside the
+house.
+
+Garry hung on with all the strength of his lithe young arms and drew
+himself into a safer position nearer the trunk, where he sat panting
+and marveling at his narrow escape.
+
+Almost simultaneously with his first slip the football that he had
+pushed from the chimney had come down near the house, bouncing plump on
+Jacob Fish's bald head.
+
+At this indignity the old man's rage broke all bounds, and not having
+Garry within reach to sate his vengeance, he made a dash for the other
+boys, who promptly took to their heels, having first assured themselves
+that Garry was safe in the tree.
+
+"And they leave me to face the music!" muttered Garry. "Just wait till
+I get hold of them!"
+
+He had started to descend to the ground when the raucous voice of Jacob
+Fish halted him abruptly. The old man was fairly boiling over with
+rage. That a despised football should have descended upon his head was
+the crowning insult. It was past bearing. He shook his fist at Garry.
+His eyes glared at him.
+
+"You stay up in that tree, you young blackguard!" he roared. "I've got
+you dead to rights. You will sneak up on my roof, will you! You will
+bounce a football on my head, will you!"
+
+"It was an accident," began Garry.
+
+"Don't talk to me!" roared the furious man. "I'll have none of your
+insolence, you young upstart. Stay where you are," he commanded, as
+Garry again started to descend the tree.
+
+"I'm not a monkey. I can't hang on to the branch of a tree all the rest
+of my life," responded Garry, whose own temper was beginning to be
+ruffled by the old man's unreason.
+
+"None of your impudence!" shouted Fish. "You try to come down out of
+that tree, young man, before I'm ready you should and you'll be sorry."
+
+"I'm coming just the same," declared Garry, at the same time coming
+down another foot or two.
+
+He hesitated, however, as a roar came from the enraged man. The latter
+was running with surprising agility for one of his age toward a large
+doghouse that stood a little way back in the yard.
+
+Fish's police dog was the terror of the neighborhood, and more than
+one anxious parent of small children had threatened to do away with so
+vicious an animal.
+
+Jacob Fish whistled to the dog, who came out from the kennel and
+stretched himself in leisurely, graceful fashion. He was a beautiful
+animal, but as fierce with strangers or those he hated as his master
+was. In fact, there were many who said that the venom of old Jacob
+Fish had entered into the dog and made him far fiercer than nature had
+originally intended.
+
+Now the old man released the dog from the chain that held him to the
+kennel and pointed to the tree.
+
+"Watch him, Roy! Don't let him get down! Hold him there!"
+
+Garry looked down at the snarling dog and its snarling master. Slowly
+a smile crept over his face. He was about to play a joke on old Jacob
+Fish and the prospect pleased him immensely.
+
+For, as it happened, the police dog and Garry were firm friends. Garry
+had been attracted by the beauty of the animal when Fish had first
+bought him. And as the lad had a great love for dogs, he determined to
+get on good terms with Roy.
+
+So, frequently when he had passed the Fish house he had spoken
+wheedlingly to the dog behind the fence, until the brute came to know
+him and even thumped his tail once or twice in acknowledgment of a
+friendly feeling.
+
+Thus encouraged, Garry had gone further, sometimes tossing Roy special
+tidbits that he had brought from his own table until the dog had been
+completely won over and permitted Garry to caress his head through the
+pickets of the fence.
+
+Naturally, Garry had been careful to keep these advances from the
+steely eye of Mr. Fish, so that the latter had not the slightest
+inkling of the friendship that existed between his savage dog and the
+hated "Grayson boy."
+
+Jacob Fish rubbed his skinny hands together with satisfaction as he
+viewed the situation.
+
+"Now you'll stay there until I choose to let you come down," he
+gloated, "and that'll be some time yet, I'm telling you. You'll have
+to go without your supper, and you'll have time to think over what a
+graceless scamp you are."
+
+Garry said nothing.
+
+Jacob Fish enjoyed his triumph for a few moments, and then, as the
+chill evening air struck his bare head uncomfortably, he moved toward
+the house.
+
+"I'll be watching you from the window," he said as he moved away. "But
+Roy will stay here to bear you company. I guess he'll hold you for a
+while. He he!" And he cackled shrilly.
+
+He went inside the house, and a moment later Garry saw him at a
+window, where he had settled himself comfortably to enjoy the boy's
+discomfiture.
+
+Garry lowered himself to a branch only a few feet over the dog's
+snapping jaws. The beast growled ominously.
+
+"Hello, Roy!" Garry said, in the caressing tone he had always used
+toward the animal. "What's the matter with you, old fellow! Don't you
+know a friend when you see one?"
+
+At sight and sound of him Roy seemed puzzled. The deep growl died in
+his throat. His ears cocked forward inquiringly. He stepped about the
+tree daintily, mincingly, as though about to play.
+
+Garry, from the corner of his eye, saw that the change in the dog's
+attitude had not been lost upon its master. Jacob Fish had started from
+his chair and was staring bewilderedly at the two.
+
+But Garry now was willing to stake all on a chance. He dropped quickly
+to the ground and went up to Roy, putting his hand on his head in
+friendly fashion.
+
+"Good old boy!" he said. "I knew you wouldn't go back on a friend.
+Thoroughbreds never do."
+
+Roy snuggled up closer to him and rubbed against him.
+
+With a face purple with suppressed fury, Jacob Fish threw up the window.
+
+"Wh-what does this mean!" he sputtered. "Leave my dog alone, you young
+scoundrel! Get out of here before I put you out."
+
+"I'm going," said Garry calmly.
+
+"You'd better!" shouted the man. "G-get out before I lose my t-temper."
+
+Garry thought to himself that that temper had been lost some time
+before. He gave a final pat to the dog's head and started toward the
+gate.
+
+His foot struck against something, and seeing that it was the football,
+he picked it up and got out into the street. As he rounded the tall
+hedge that closed in the Fish grounds he came face to face with his
+twin sister, Ella, and her chum, Jane Danter.
+
+"Oh, Garry," giggled Ella. "We saw you in the tree and thought you were
+a new kind of bird. My, but you did look funny!"
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER VI
+
+                          Getting into Swing
+
+
+"I probably looked lots funnier than I felt," replied Garry Grayson to
+his sister, reddening sheepishly.
+
+"You were having some trouble with that awful Fish man, weren't you?"
+asked Jane Danter, as the three walked down the street together.
+
+"Trouble's no name for it!" answered Garry. "It looked for a while as
+though I were treed for fair. And all for the sake of this pigskin!"
+
+"What had the football to do with it?" asked Ella. "Do tell us about
+it, Garry. We're awfully curious to know how you got in that tree!
+Aren't we, Jane?"
+
+Jane nodded.
+
+"Well, you see," began Garry gravely, "I rather felt the need of some
+setting up exercises--"
+
+"Yes, you did, after having an airplane fall on you yesterday!" scoffed
+his twin.
+
+"Nick was telling me about that," put in Jane. "It must have been
+thrilling."
+
+"Well, it might have been," responded Garry doubtfully; "only we didn't
+happen to think of it that way--"
+
+"But what happened just now in Mr. Fish's cedar tree?" Ella broke in
+impatiently. "That's what I'm waiting to know."
+
+"Patience, little one," soothed Garry. "I was trying to tell you. I
+wanted some exercise. My daily dozen isn't enough for me. So first of
+all, I kicked the football to the top of old Fish's chimney--"
+
+"Garry Grayson! You never!" cried both girls together.
+
+"Sure! It was easy. Some time I'll show you how I did it. And of course
+then I had to go for it. So we fellows dragged a ladder to the back of
+the Fish house--"
+
+"How did you dare?" cried Jane. "I'd have been afraid of that awful
+dog."
+
+"I'll tell you about him later," chuckled Garry. "Anyway, I got up the
+ladder and on to the roof and was just pushing the football off the
+chimney when old Fish yelled at me--"
+
+"And you jumped!" gasped Ella.
+
+"No," corrected Garry. "I rolled--right off the roof and into the
+branches of the cedar tree."
+
+"Garry! You never!"
+
+"I did," insisted Garry, as though the feat were something to be proud
+of. "I couldn't do it again if I tried. But this time I did. I don't
+know whether a branch caught my hand or my hand caught a branch, but,
+anyway, there I was, swinging in the air right over old Jacob's head."
+He then gave the particulars of what had followed.
+
+The picture of the malevolent old fellow's thwarted rage provoked
+the girls to glee, but Ella had a word of warning for her brother,
+nevertheless.
+
+"Roy may not bite you, but old Fish will if he gets a chance," she
+said, as she turned into her gate with Jane. "Next time you want
+exercise, you'd better kick your old football on some one else's
+chimney."
+
+Garry privately thought this was very good advice, though he outwardly
+scoffed at it. Jacob Fish, as hard as granite and already disliking
+boys in general, would have a private grudge against him especially and
+would do him mischief if he could.
+
+Garry's chums had been hovering around, waiting for him to get free
+from the girls, and now they descended upon him.
+
+"You're a fine bunch of quitters, you are!" Garry accosted them with
+mock indignation. "Take to your heels at the first sign of trouble!
+What kind of a way is that to treat a pal, I'd like to know!"
+
+"You were up a tree anyway, Garry," was Rooster's defense. "We knew you
+were safe."
+
+"I was up a tree, all right," conceded Garry.
+
+"Old Fish sure looked dangerous," put in Ted Dillingham.
+
+"And so did his dog," laughed Bill. "We took one look at that canine's
+face and judged it was time for us to do the vanishing act."
+
+They decided that discretion was the better part of valor and that
+practice near the house of Jacob Fish had better be relinquished for a
+time. The next time, Roy might not prove to be so amenable to friendly
+advances.
+
+"Suppose we run up to the house where Ross Yates is staying and see
+how he is getting along," suggested Garry, when the boys came together
+again the next day.
+
+"Good idea," pronounced Bill, and as the others were of the same mind
+the lads started at once.
+
+Naturally the subject of their conversation was their adventure of the
+previous afternoon, and Garry was compelled to tell in more detail how
+he had wheedled Roy and outwitted Roy's master. The story was told to
+the accompaniment of boisterous laughter, and it was only when their
+mirth was exhausted that a more serious aspect of the case appealed to
+them.
+
+"You made him look foolish, Garry, and a man like Fish will never
+forgive that," said Rooster. "You've made an enemy for life."
+
+"Well, you can bet that I'm not going to lie awake at night worrying
+about it," laughed Garry.
+
+On reaching their destination the chums were told that Ross Yates was
+getting along as well as could be expected. His left leg had been badly
+twisted and several of the tendons torn, so that when he recovered
+he might have a slight limp. He was suffering also from some minor
+internal injuries and from shock. In a week's time it would probably be
+possible for him to see visitors. Cal, they found, was out somewhere in
+his car.
+
+The boys promised to call again about a week later, and left the house,
+much relieved to find that nothing serious was wrong with the man for
+whom they had conceived a great respect and liking.
+
+"I wonder if Cal Yates found Sandy Podder and gave him the thrashing he
+promised," remarked Bill, as they were on their way back to town.
+
+"I'd like to have been on the spot if he did," laughed Rooster. "And
+I'd have liked to hand that bird a few wallops on my own account."
+
+"We all have a score to settle with him," affirmed Garry. "They say
+everything comes to him who waits, and perhaps our chance will come."
+
+As the time drew nearer for the fall opening of the Lenox schools, the
+football enthusiasts in the high school speculated with increasing
+eagerness upon the probable choice of boys to fill the vacancies on the
+first eleven.
+
+Garry Grayson thought of little else, and Ella more than once
+complained that their house was being changed into a gridiron.
+
+"It's a wonder he doesn't ask you to pass the pigskin instead of the
+pork," she said aggrievedly to her father, as he was carving a fresh
+ham. "The other night he did ask for dummies instead of dumplings. His
+case is getting serious, Dad. I think you ought to have him consult a
+specialist."
+
+"I'm not worrying very much," responded Mr. Grayson, with a smile.
+"It's only a pronounced case of footballitis, and that seldom has fatal
+results."
+
+The opening day of school came at last, and the other boys were in high
+spirits as they stopped on their way for Garry, who was already waiting
+for them at the gate. There was a tang in the air that suggested
+football weather, and as they swung along the street they felt in fine
+fettle.
+
+"I wonder when we'll get the first football call," conjectured Rooster
+Long. "Ought to be pretty soon, I should think. The game with Pawling
+comes early in the season, and it will take considerable whipping into
+shape to get the team ready for it. Those fellows are hard nuts to
+crack."
+
+"Can't come too soon to suit me," replied Garry, as he tossed his books
+into the air and caught them by the strap as they came down. "I never
+felt in better shape at the opening of the season. I'm just crazy to
+get out on the field."
+
+When they reached the high school they found the campus already
+thronged with students. From several groups friendly greetings were
+shouted to the newcomers, and they responded in kind.
+
+Two of the first they ran up against were Tom Allison and Pete Maddern.
+
+"Great to see you back, fellows!" exclaimed Tom heartily. "It will be
+fine to round up the old gang and get out on the field. Make believe we
+won't make the other teams in the league sit up and take notice this
+year!"
+
+"We'll run rings around every bunch in it," declared Rooster without
+regard to modesty. "The rest of those poor misguided guys won't even
+have a look in."
+
+"Probably that's just what they're saying about us," laughed Garry. "If
+we win the championship again this year, we'll have to work hard for
+it."
+
+As Garry spoke, Sandy Podder and Lent Stewart happened to be passing.
+They eyed the group of friends malevolently, and then looked at each
+other with a grin.
+
+"There are those fake heroes spouting again," growled Sandy, in a voice
+designedly loud enough to reach those for whom it was intended. "To
+hear them talk you'd think they were the whole cheese."
+
+"Ain't it the truth!" drawled Lent. "Lenox never knew anything about
+football until they came here."
+
+"Say, listen, Sandy Podder! And you, Lent Stewart!" Garry whirled on
+his heel and regarded the two contemptuously. "Whenever either of you
+two fellows makes the Lenox team or does anything worth while for the
+school, it will be time for you to talk. Until then you'd better sing
+small. Get me?"
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER VII
+
+                           Picking the Team
+
+
+Sandy Podder and Lent Stewart scowled savagely at Garry's retort. They
+tried to reply, but their snarling response was drowned in the laughter
+of the bystanders.
+
+"Attaboy, Garry!"
+
+"Poor old Lenox with Sandy Podder on the team!" chortled Bill Sherwood.
+
+"You, Lent," called a tormentor, as the two cronies, chagrined and
+furious, hurried away, "going to answer the football call? Better let
+us break the news gently to Mr. Phillips so that he won't die of joy."
+
+For some time after Sandy and Lent had disappeared the campus rang with
+jests at their expense. But the sound of the gong put an end to the
+merriment, and the students of Lenox High filed into its corridors for
+another year of work and play.
+
+As Garry and his chums reached their classroom they were still
+discussing the run-in with their enemies.
+
+"You made a wise crack there, Garry," Nick Danter chuckled. "It sure
+got under their skin. But I didn't like the looks in the eyes of those
+fellows as they passed you. They'll plan some dirty trick to get even
+with you."
+
+Then began the round of lessons and the getting acquainted with new
+classes and new teachers.
+
+Garry Grayson and his chums had Mr. Phillips in English again, and were
+heartily glad of that. The latter gave them a cordial greeting when
+they entered his class, and at the close of the period detained them
+for a moment.
+
+"Feeling fit?" he asked with a smile, as he looked at their sturdy
+figures and bronzed cheeks.
+
+"Fine as silk," answered Garry, and the others nodded assent.
+
+"I'm going to post the bulletin in a day or two," said Mr. Phillips. "I
+want to get you football boys out on the field early. We've got some
+heavy work before us."
+
+The boys were not so favorably impressed by their Latin teacher. This
+was a tall, severe looking gentleman, who answered to the name of
+Blythe.
+
+"Though where he got that handle is a mystery," Rooster whispered to
+Garry at a moment when the teacher's eye was off him. "I never saw any
+one who looked less blithe in my life."
+
+Two days went by before the eagerly anticipated football call was
+posted on the board. That afternoon, as soon as the boys were released
+from their studies, they flocked to the gymnasium to learn their fate.
+
+For Garry and his chums the ban of the first year was now removed. They
+were no longer freshmen and as such tacitly barred from eligibility to
+the first team. Tradition, as Ted inelegantly put it, was "nix" for
+them now. The bars were down. Merit was the only thing that counted,
+and Garry and his chums had as good a chance of making the team as any
+boys in school.
+
+Now the great, the all-important question was, what choice would Mr.
+Phillips make? Who among the scrubs of last year would be selected to
+fill those vacancies on the first team?
+
+"Remember how Ralph Wynn talked to us last year?" asked Bill.
+
+"Do we remember?" repeated Rooster. "How he told us that we had no
+chance to make the first team because we were freshmen, mere worms of
+the dust, so to speak."
+
+"Look at the bunch of youngsters coming," said Nick, as a noisy crowd
+poured into the gymnasium. "Looks as though Mr. Phillips would have
+plenty to choose from."
+
+"Most all of them are freshmen," remarked Bill condescendingly. "I
+suppose each one expects to be made captain of the regulars the first
+crack out of the box."
+
+Then they all laughed, remembering their own great ambitions the
+preceding year.
+
+"It isn't so long ago that we were freshmen ourselves," observed Ted
+Dillingham. "But to hear us talk, you'd think we were seniors, at the
+very least."
+
+"Here comes Coach Phillips!" some one cried, and the boys turned to see
+the teacher of English entering the gymnasium.
+
+There was an excited murmur from the boys. All braced instinctively,
+trying to look very stalwart and determined, so that when the coach's
+eyes turned upon them he would know at once that he had found a
+treasure, and they scanned his face as though they hoped to find in its
+expression some key to their fate.
+
+Mr. Phillips looked them over smilingly.
+
+"I see you've turned out in fine style," he said. "Plenty of beef among
+you, too; and that's good. I'll need a bunch of huskies this year."
+
+He paused for a moment, scanning them collectively and individually
+before proceeding.
+
+"As you all know," he continued, "the June commencement crippled our
+first team quite seriously. The man we shall miss most is, of course,
+Ralph Wynn, our former captain and quarterback."
+
+There was a stir among the boys, and many of the upper classmen nodded
+acquiescence.
+
+"We'll have a hard time replacing him, sir," said McCarty, right guard
+of the regulars.
+
+"I grant that," replied Mr. Phillips. "But we will do it. There is
+as good material now at Lenox as the school ever had. Our job is to
+develop it and mold it into a good fighting team that we'll be proud of.
+
+"Now," he went on briskly, "I'm not going to make any change in the
+lineup at present, as far as the old players are concerned. They did
+so well last year in the positions they occupied that I think to shift
+them would weaken the team. That doesn't mean, of course, that they
+will continue to be fixtures if they fall down on the job. But for the
+present they keep their places.
+
+"I will name them now, and as I do so I want them to stand to one side
+so that we may see clearly the members of our reorganized team."
+
+There was an increased tension in the air as Mr. Phillips took a
+notebook from his pocket and opened it. The critical moment was
+approaching.
+
+Mr. Phillips began to read.
+
+"Walker, center. Painter, left guard."
+
+The boys named stood apart, and the freshmen looked on them with
+envious eyes, so great and awesome did these veterans of the gridiron
+appear to them.
+
+"Benny Knapp, you will play left half again," Mr. Phillips continued.
+"McCarty will be at right guard and Aleck Anderson will take his old
+position at right tackle. Ollie Scarsdale, you will take left end. Dick
+Thomas, right end. There we have our seven, all that are left of last
+year's eleven."
+
+Again Mr. Phillips paused and looked the aspirants over with a
+quizzical smile.
+
+"That leaves still four positions to fill," he said. "From the looks of
+you boys I imagine you are pretty anxious to know who is going to have
+them. Am I right?"
+
+Laughter greeted the question, followed by a dead and tense silence.
+Mr. Phillips smiled and hurried to the point.
+
+"All right. I won't keep you in suspense any longer," he said. "The
+positions still to be filled are those of fullback, right halfback,
+left tackle and last, but decidedly not least, quarterback, with which
+in this case will go the title of captain."
+
+A murmur ran through the crowd of boys. The coveted position of captain
+and quarter! Who among their number was to be the lucky one?
+
+Garry exchanged excited glances with his chums, and then riveted his
+attention upon the czar of their destinies as the latter again spoke.
+
+"Because of the splendid record Long made last year, I am going to put
+him in as fullback."
+
+Over Rooster's face spread a beatific look blended with incredulity.
+Pushed forward by less fortunate comrades, he stammered:
+
+"Th-thanks, Mr. Phillips," and stepped over proudly to the lineup of
+regulars.
+
+"Don't thank me yet," warned the coach. "There will be half a dozen
+good fellows fighting for your job and crowding close on your heels.
+You will have to fight to hold that position."
+
+"Next," he said, and fixed his eyes on Tom Allison, "I'm putting you
+in, Allison, at left tackle. Think you can make good there?"
+
+"Gee, Mr. Phillips, I'll try!" Tom promised and, face shining, moved
+over to the regulars.
+
+Only two positions left!
+
+The boys exchanged glances and shifted about uneasily. The suspense was
+becoming unbearable.
+
+"Some one's got to be left out," Bill whispered in Garry's ear. "I've
+got a hunch this is my unlucky day."
+
+Mr. Phillips was speaking again.
+
+"That leaves only two positions to be filled," he said. "But they are
+the extremely important ones of right half and quarter. There are two
+or three players on the scrubs of last year whom I have considered for
+right halfback, but my choice has finally been made. I have decided--"
+He paused, and the gymnasium was so silent that one might have heard a
+pin drop. "I have decided," he repeated, "to give Nick Danter a chance
+to show what he can do in that position."
+
+Nick was popular with the boys, and a murmur of satisfaction came from
+the crowd.
+
+"Rah, Nick. Show them what you're made of, boy," called out Pete
+Maddern.
+
+"He'll have to show us," remarked Mr. Phillips gravely. "And so will
+all the rest of you that are chosen. These positions that I have given
+you are only temporary--remember that--and to hold them you've got to
+make good.
+
+"Now for quarterback and captain," he went on, "I have chosen a boy who
+did some brilliant work for the team last year. At that time he was
+captain and quarterback of the scrubs. This year he will be captain
+and quarterback of the regulars. Stand up, Garry Grayson!"
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER VIII
+
+                           Something Brewing
+
+
+The last words of the coach were almost lost in a tumultuous roar from
+Garry Grayson's friends--and there was no one in that crowd who was not
+his friend--that echoed back from the walls of the gymnasium.
+
+"Garry Grayson! Garry Grayson!" they cried.
+
+"Hurrah for the new captain!"
+
+"Yea, Garry! Go to it, old boy!"
+
+Coach Phillips presently silenced the uproar with a wave of his hand.
+
+"I see that my appointment meets with approval," he laughed. "If Garry
+Grayson makes as good a captain of the first team as he did of the
+scrubs, I don't think we'll have any reason to complain. And now let's
+get down to business again."
+
+As Garry, flushed and happy, took his stand with the regulars, his
+first wild thrill of elation was dampened by a sober second thought.
+
+Bill Sherwood and Ted Dillingham had been left out!
+
+Of course, all could not hope to make the first team. Still, it was
+hard on old Bill and Ted. Garry looked at them covertly and could see
+that they were trying hard to hide their disappointment.
+
+Mr. Phillips had finished with the regulars--at least for the present.
+Now he began briskly to form the scrub team.
+
+Pete Maddern was made captain in Garry's old place. Bill and Ted
+retained their former positions at center and left end respectively. To
+fill the positions left vacant by the promotion of Rooster, Tom, and
+Nick, three promising players were chosen from the applicants.
+
+Those who had not been chosen tried hard to hide their disappointment
+under a brave exterior while Mr. Phillips gave them a short,
+encouraging talk.
+
+"Those whose names I have not called to-day need not give up hope of
+making the team," he said. "A number of things may happen--in fact, are
+bound to happen--during a strenuous football season that will result in
+a hurry call for recruits. So keep yourselves in readiness to fill in
+at a moment's notice.
+
+"As for you boys who are to represent Lenox High on the gridiron, every
+single one of you will have to work his hardest to prove himself worthy
+of the position. There are good boys on the scrubs just waiting to jump
+into your shoes, and they'll do it at the least excuse you give them."
+Here a faint cheer went up from members of the second team.
+
+"Now, as you all know," the coach added, his eyes traveling over the
+alert faces of the first-string boys, "the game with Pawling is only
+a short time away. We'll have to dig our toes in and work hard to get
+ready for it. And as the first possible moment is not too soon to
+start, I want you all to report for practice to-morrow afternoon."
+
+There was another cheer at this, and then all thronged out tumultuously.
+
+"Gee, Garry, there's luck for you, old boy!"
+
+It was Ted who spoke, as Garry's bunch were out on the campus, books
+slung over shoulders, eagerly discussing the organization of the teams.
+Nick and Rooster were wildly elated, and Ted and Bill strove hard to
+hide their own chagrin and disappointment and enter heartily into the
+triumph of their intimates.
+
+"Lucky, maybe--but deserved luck," Bill added to Ted's statement.
+"After Garry's work on the gridiron last year, he rates a place on the
+regulars."
+
+"But quarter and captain! I'll tell the world that's some lofty perch,"
+cried Nick gleefully. "With Garry leading the charge there isn't a team
+in the league that can stand against us."
+
+"Easy on that stuff," laughed Garry. "Your own position isn't such a
+slouch, if it comes to that."
+
+"I'll say it isn't," agreed Nick, still half incredulous of his good
+fortune. "When he called my name for the backfield I thought he must
+mean some one else and had got the names mixed."
+
+"There's modesty for you!" jeered Rooster.
+
+It was only on their way to school the following morning that the boys
+thought of Garry's triumph in relation to Sandy Podder and his cronies.
+
+"Make believe that fellow won't be ready to bite nails when he finds
+out that his best enemy is captain of the Lenox team," chuckled
+Rooster. "I'll bet there'll be a fine old gnashing of teeth, Garry, my
+lad."
+
+"As long as he only gnashes them I shan't worry," laughed Garry. "And
+if he tries to bite, he'll find out perhaps that I have teeth of my
+own."
+
+"And what's even more important," put in Nick, "a good strong fist that
+knows what it's made for."
+
+Practice started off with a bang that afternoon. If Mr. Phillips had
+had any doubt about the spirit of the boys, it was speedily dissipated
+by the way they went at their work. As a matter of fact, he had to
+hold them in rather than use the spurs, for he wanted to get them
+into shape gradually with a minimum of lameness and bruises caused by
+overwork so early in the season.
+
+That day was devoted chiefly to group practice. Walker at center did
+some one-man blocking that won commendation from the coach. Tom Allison
+also justified his position in the line by his fine work at tackling.
+The backfield practiced punting, place kicking, and forward passing,
+while the ends did good work in getting down the field under punts.
+
+The scrubs were on their mettle too, and showed such good stuff that
+the regulars were spurred on to still greater effort.
+
+A tackling dummy had been rigged up in one corner of the field, and the
+boys assailed it in turn with so much vim and vigor that arnica was
+sure to be in request that night to soothe their numerous bruises.
+
+If the first day of practice was eminently satisfactory, those that
+followed were no less so. Mr. Phillips led his teams on steadily,
+gradually increasing his driving power until the boys were working at
+their limit. The fights between the regulars and the scrubs had almost
+the fierceness of games with rival schools.
+
+Garry had slipped easily into Ralph Wynn's old position, and was
+developing a quality of leadership that filled the coach with
+optimism. Ralph had been a great leader, but Mr. Phillips thought he
+saw in Garry the makings of a still greater one. Under his handling the
+team was being developed into a swiftly moving, formidable fighting
+machine that promised to maintain or exceed the best traditions of
+Lenox High.
+
+"It looks like a good season for Lenox," the coach said to the boys at
+the end of an especially hard afternoon's practice. "That's all for
+to-day, boys. Go home and get some rest. You've earned it. You're on
+edge now, and I don't want you to go stale."
+
+This was just three days before the first game with Pawling, which was
+scheduled to take place on the latter's grounds.
+
+On the way home the boys were hilarious.
+
+"We'll wipe up the ground with them!" cried Rooster Long exultantly.
+"The way we're working now they won't have a chance."
+
+"Cock-a-doodle-doo!" jeered Nick. "Don't count your chickens before
+they're hatched, Rooster, my lad. In other words, don't crow till we've
+won."
+
+"Your team is in good fighting condition too, Bill," said Garry. "You
+certainly gave us a run for our money this afternoon. And you blocked a
+pretty slick play of mine, too," he added, with a grin. "I was so sore
+I could have slugged you."
+
+Bill chuckled.
+
+"No favoritism, Garry, old boy," he said. "Just because you and Nick
+and Rooster have made the first team, you needn't expect I'm going
+to hold back my good right arm when it's good for a tackle. Well,
+here's where I leave you," he continued, turning down a side street.
+"I promised dad I'd stop at the hardware store and buy him a new
+monkey wrench for his tool kit. Some one lost his old one, and he's
+unreasonable enough to suspect me. So long. See you all to-morrow."
+
+On his way to the store Bill had to pass a double garage belonging to a
+friend of Sandy Podder's, the doors of which opened on a side street.
+
+Bill heard the sound of voices from the further side of the garage and
+stopped instinctively as he heard a familiar name.
+
+"What do you know about Garry Grayson's getting Ralph Wynn's place on
+the team?" said a voice. "Getting pretty well up in the world, that
+young rooster is."
+
+"Thinks he's too all-fired important," growled another voice, which
+Bill recognized as that of Sandy Podder. "It's up to us to take him
+down a peg or two."
+
+"Yeah?" There was a faint jeer in the other voice. "I've heard that
+before. But who's going to do it?"
+
+"I am, that's who!" There was a ferocity in the tone that chained
+Bill's attention. "I'm sick of the airs that fellow gives himself. He
+gives me a pain in the neck. I've got a lot of old scores to even up
+with him, and I'm going to get even pretty quick."
+
+"You sound as though you had some kind of a plan." There was curiosity
+in the voice of Sandy's companion. "If it's the kind of stuff you've
+already pulled--"
+
+"This scheme is bound to work." There was confidence in Sandy's tone.
+"It's a pip. Now listen and I'll tell you how you can help--"
+
+Bill crept closer to the garage, intent on losing no detail of the
+plot. But just at that moment the door of the house to which the garage
+belonged opened and a woman stood on the threshold.
+
+"Lent!" she called. "Come here! I want you to do something for me."
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER IX
+
+                           Hitting the Line
+
+
+Sandy Podder uttered an exclamation of disgust that was heartily echoed
+by Bill. Here, Bill was on the point of hearing something that would
+enable him to put Garry Grayson on his guard, and all his plans were
+spoiled by this untimely interruption.
+
+He stole silently from the shadow of the garage and went off whistling
+down the street as though he had just at that moment turned the corner.
+
+It would be unfortunate if Sandy were to suspect himself overheard just
+then. It might put him on his guard and make the discovery of his plot
+more difficult.
+
+Bill Sherwood was worried. He felt that Sandy would stop at nothing to
+get even with the boy he hated and longed to see humbled.
+
+"I won't say anything to Garry about it till after the Pawling game,
+anyway," he decided, as he absently bought and paid for the monkey
+wrench. He slipped the purchase into his pocket and forgot about his
+change until the grinning hardware man called him back for it.
+
+"I haven't anything definite anyway, and it might upset Garry a little
+and put him off his form," ran on the boy's thoughts when he was once
+more in the street. "Time enough later on when we've got the game
+safely bagged. Gee!" with a scowl, "it's a wonder the fellows don't get
+together and run that Sandy Podder and Lent Stewart out of town!"
+
+The next two days passed without any outbreak on the part of Sandy and
+his cronies, and Bill began to hope that Sandy's plot, like so many of
+that fellow's plans, had proved to be unworkable when it came up for
+further consideration.
+
+The day of the Pawling game was favored with beautiful football
+weather. The sun was shining, but there was a decided chill in the air
+that was welcome to the young athletes, who would soon be drenched in
+perspiration as they fought for the glory of their respective schools.
+
+"Rumors have been coming from time to time that the Pawling team has
+been going great guns in practice, so I hope it is with no expectation
+of a cinch that your Lenox team is going over to Pawling," remarked
+Garry's father to him the night before the first league game was to be
+played.
+
+"Not on your life, Dad! We'll have a fight on our hands."
+
+A large delegation of their rooters journeyed over to the Pawling
+grounds with the team on the day of the game. Garry's feeling that a
+hard contest awaited them was not diminished by the way Pawling showed
+up in practice.
+
+A deafening roar arose from the stands as the teams came out for the
+game. Most of its volume was due, of course, to the Pawling supporters,
+who outnumbered the Lenox rooters three to one. But Lenox showed up
+strongly in the shouting nevertheless, and its cheer leaders performed
+all sorts of acrobatic feats before the stands as they rallied their
+cohorts to further efforts.
+
+"Pawling! Pawling! Send them home bawling," yelled the home partisans.
+
+"Lenox! Lenox! Len, Len, Len!" came back in thunderous defiance. "You
+licked them last year! Now lick them again!"
+
+Pawling won the toss and elected to kick off. Brewster sent the ball
+whirling down the field for thirty yards. Rooster ran it back for ten
+before he was downed, and the ball was Lenox's on its own forty-yard
+line.
+
+Walker snapped back the ball to Garry, who passed it to Rooster, and
+the latter plunged through a hole between left end and tackle for four
+yards. Tom Allison took the ball on the next try and gained one more.
+Nick Danter ploughed through for a gain of three and on the next
+attempt pulled off four more, Lenox making its yardage on downs with
+something to spare and still retaining possession of the ball.
+
+"Gee, that line's as full of holes as a piece of Swiss cheese," panted
+Nick to Garry.
+
+"Don't kid yourself," warned Garry. "They may take a brace at any
+minute."
+
+Garry himself went through guard and tackle for four yards. Tom Allison
+had the next try, but was thrown back for a loss of two. Rooster Long
+made three between left tackle and end. With five to go on the fourth
+down, Garry shot a pass to Nick, who skirted the end for six yards
+before he was tackled and thrown.
+
+Again Lenox had made its distance, and the enemy's goal had become
+perceptibly closer. But now Pawling had begun to find itself and put
+up a stiffer resistance. On the next four downs Lenox gained but six
+yards, and the ball passed into the possession of Pawling.
+
+Here the whole aspect of the game changed in a moment. After two downs
+that gained but three yards, Tucker, the fullback of the Pawling team,
+drove the ball whirling through the air for a magnificent punt of over
+sixty yards that sent it rolling over the Lenox goal line. It was put
+in play on Lenox's twenty-yard line and in the visitors' possession.
+
+This was bad enough, but as misfortunes never come singly, Lenox was
+penalized for clipping and had to go back to its one-yard line, though
+still retaining the ball.
+
+It was entirely too close for comfort from the Lenox viewpoint, and
+Rooster promptly punted out of danger to the thirty-yard line where
+the ball was gathered in by Beebe. Pawling failed to make its distance
+against the desperate resistance of Lenox, and the ball passed to the
+latter, which twice made its yardage on downs, bringing the ball to
+the middle of the field. Then Garry completed two passes to Nick, who
+carried the ball to the Pawling twenty-yard line. Then there was an
+exchange of punts that left the ball in practically the same position.
+A pass to Rooster was uncompleted, and the period ended with the ball
+in Pawling's possession on its own thirteen-yard line.
+
+Neither side had scored, although at various times the goal of each had
+been in danger. But the advantage remained with Lenox, as the ball was
+close to the enemy's line and for most of the quarter had been in the
+Pawling territory.
+
+"Too bad that we didn't have two minutes longer," panted Nick, as the
+warriors of the respective teams were trying to get their breath in the
+brief minute between periods.
+
+"Righto," assented Garry. "But I think we have their number, Nick.
+They've got a good team, but we have a better one. We're just as good
+on the defense and better on the offense, and this next quarter is
+going to prove it."
+
+When the period opened, Dorr, of Pawling, kicked out of danger and
+Rooster ran the ball back to the forty-five yard line. On the next
+play Garry made a brilliant run through a broken field, with splendid
+interference by Nick and Tom, and landed the ball on the Pawling
+twenty-seven yard line. Rooster gained five yards through center, and
+then Nick tried for a field goal. He missed, and Tucker ran the ball
+back to his own fifteen-yard line.
+
+Twice Pawling tried to gain through the line, but failed. Then a long
+punt by Dorr carried the ball to the Lenox thirty-five yard line.
+Rooster returned the punt, and the ball was Pawling's on its own
+five-yard line. Tucker then kicked out of danger, and Nick grabbed the
+ball on Pawling's thirty-yard line.
+
+Knapp tried for a field goal, but the ball went short. Pawling failed
+to gain through the line in two attempts. Tucker fumbled on the next
+play but recovered the ball, and then Pawling punted out.
+
+After this a beautiful forward pass, Garry to Knapp, gained twenty
+yards through left tackle. Then the stands were electrified when Garry
+put a cannon shot over to Nick and the latter went over the Pawling
+line for the first touchdown of the game. Rooster missed the kick, and
+the score was 6 to 0 in favor of the visitors.
+
+It was Lenox's chance to yell, and they split the air with their
+tumultuous cheers.
+
+    "Lenox! Lenox! Len, Len, Len!
+      You've licked them once,
+    You'll lick them again.
+      Lenox! Lenox! Len, Len, Len!"
+
+Lenox kicked off, and then a fine forward pass, Jackson to Dorr,
+brought the ball to the Lenox thirty-five-yard line. The same
+combination put over another pass, gaining five yards around right end.
+Encouraged by this, Pawling resorted again to the aerial game, but two
+more attempts were uncompleted. On a fake pass Tucker was thrown for a
+loss, and Lenox took the ball on Pawling's thirty-five-yard line.
+
+Lenox was penalized five yards for offside, but then Rooster made it
+first down on the Lenox thirty-eight-yard line. Nick failed to gain
+through center. He punted for fifty-seven yards, and it was Pawling's
+ball on their own twenty-yard line. Tucker made two attempts to make
+end runs on fake passes, but his gains were trifling. Then Pawling
+kicked out of danger and Lenox tried for a placement kick. It was
+blocked by Dorr, and the period ended with the ball in midfield and
+the score still 6 to 0 in favor of Lenox.
+
+It had been a ding-dong quarter, and through most of it the spectators
+in the stands had been on their feet, yelling their heads off, as first
+the one and then the other of the teams had the advantage. But the
+Lenox partisans had the edge in howling, for their team had drawn first
+blood, and those six hard-earned points looked as big as a mountain.
+
+The weary warriors of both sides welcomed the fifteen minutes' rest
+with sighs of relief. They had played at top speed, and the strain on
+nerve and muscle had been tremendous.
+
+Mr. Phillips was beaming as he looked over his boys, sprawled on the
+floor of the clubhouse, grimy, battered, bruised, but happy in having
+gained the lead.
+
+"You've done well, boys," he commended them. "But remember, the game is
+only half over, and anything is liable to happen in football. Those six
+points look pretty big to you, but don't forget that a single touchdown
+by the other side will wipe out your lead and leave the game where it
+started. And if the try for goal succeeds after the touchdown, they'll
+be ahead of you. Get after them right from the start of the next
+quarter. Plough into them. Rip 'em up. You've got the stuff, and you
+can do it if you will."
+
+"We'll do it, sir," promised Garry.
+
+"They'll think a cyclone struck them," put in Rooster.
+
+"All right, if you insist on the cyclone," and Mr. Phillips smiled.
+"But a fairly stiff gale will do the trick. Go to it now and give them
+some championship stuff, the same kind that won the flag for Lenox last
+year."
+
+Lenox kicked off, Knapp sending a long one down the field that Tucker
+ran back for eight yards before he was downed. The ball was Pawling's
+on its thirty-yard line. Two line plunges failed to gain for Pawling.
+Then Tucker punted and the ball was Lenox's on its thirty-three yard
+line.
+
+A plunge through center netted two yards. Another by Nick through guard
+and left tackle was good for three more. Rooster, however, was thrown
+back for a loss of three, and on the next down Scarsdale punted and
+Dorr ran it back to Pawling's thirty-six-yard line.
+
+The Pawling backs got into their stride now and developed an attack
+that for a time seemed irresistible. Berry hit the line for six, and in
+the next try made it six more. Tucker took it through for two and then
+on a superb pass, Jackson to Dorr, the latter whizzed around right end
+and dodged through almost the entire Lenox team for a touchdown. Berry
+kicked the goal and the score was Pawling 7, Lenox 6.
+
+In the twinkling of an eye the situation had been reversed, and the
+lead of Lenox had gone glimmering. Bedlam reigned in the Pawling
+section of the stands.
+
+"Pawling! Pawling! Send 'em home bawling."
+
+"You've got them rattled!"
+
+"Make it a massacre!"
+
+"Who said they were champions?"
+
+The Lenox rooters hurled back a stout defiance, but it was almost lost
+in the uproar that came from the partisans of the home team.
+
+"Looks as though the cyclone got mixed and hit the wrong fellows,"
+muttered Rooster.
+
+"Never mind," replied Garry cheerily. "We're due for the next break.
+We've just begun to fight. Snap into it."
+
+The rest of the quarter was a seesaw with no material advantage for
+either team. Lenox had braced, and their line was like a stone wall.
+Finding attempts here were fruitless, Pawling resorted to aerial
+attacks, but most of these were uncompleted. At the very end of the
+period a punt by Garry sent the ball far into enemy territory and
+Tucker ran it back to the Pawling thirty-yard line.
+
+Only one quarter remained to play, and Garry spent the minute between
+periods in bracing up his team.
+
+"Here's the dope, fellows," he said. "It's a cinch now that Pawling
+will play for time. All they've got to do is to hold us down and the
+game is theirs. But it's always a weakness to take the defensive. It's
+the fellow on offense who wins, the fellow with a punch, the fellow who
+doesn't know when he's beaten. That's us. We're going in like wildcats.
+We're going to tear the hide off of them. Are you with me?"
+
+"You bet we are!" went up a roar, inspired by the indomitable spirit of
+their leader.
+
+As the period opened with the ball in Pawling's possession on its own
+thirty-yard line, the home team tried two line plunges without effect.
+Tucker punted to Lenox's twenty-five-yard line. Nick shot through
+center for six yards, and on the next play, Rooster punted, the ball
+being partly blocked and going to Pawling on its forty-three-yard line.
+
+Pawling gained three yards on two downs, but fumbled on the next
+play, and it was Lenox's ball on their thirty-yard line, Lenox being
+penalized ten yards for offside play.
+
+Back and forth went the ball, each side trying desperately to get
+possession of it, but neither being able to make any consistent gains
+once they had it. The time was going fast and every tick of the
+referee's watch was worth something to Pawling, who had only to retain
+its present lead to win.
+
+"But we've got to win!" Garry kept muttering to himself. "We've just
+got to win!"
+
+Lenox got the ball on their own forty-three-yard line, with five
+minutes left to play.
+
+Garry stiffened.
+
+Walker snapped the hall back to him. Garry tucked it under his arm and
+tore through Cooper and Wagner, the Pawling right end and tackle, for
+sixteen yards.
+
+And then began one of the fiercest exhibitions of line plunging that
+had ever been seen on the grounds of the High School League.
+
+Through the line Garry went again for seven. Another plunge netted him
+eight with almost the whole Pawling team piled up on him.
+
+Garry was playing like one possessed. His blood was up. He was fighting
+like a tiger. And the Lenox stands were shaking now with the roars of
+the excited rooters.
+
+Once more Garry took the ball, and, with his linesmen giving him superb
+help, went through for six more.
+
+The Pawling boys were clearly rattled.
+
+    "Lenox! Lenox! Len, Len, Len!
+      We licked them once,
+    We'll lick them again!
+      Lenox! Lenox! Len, Len, Len!"
+
+The chant came to Garry like a bugle call and cleared his swimming
+brain. Lenox was calling to him. Lenox was depending on him.
+
+Again Garry took the ball and hit the line like a thunderbolt. It bent,
+buckled and broke, and the fighting Lenox quarterback went through for
+eleven.
+
+He was sore, bruised, and dizzy. One eye was nearly closed by the
+roughing he had got in his repeated plunges. But through the other eye
+he could see the Pawling goal now only nine yards away.
+
+Could he make it? He _must_ make it! And he must make it quickly, for
+the time was getting terribly short.
+
+"Back me up, fellows!" he panted to his linesmen. "For the love of
+Pete, back me up!"
+
+Into the line he plunged once more with a fury that would not be
+denied. On and on he bored, panting, gasping, twisting, dodging, and
+went over the Pawling line for a touchdown!
+
+
+
+
+                               CHAPTER X
+
+                         Mysterious Happenings
+
+
+When the pile was untangled, Garry Grayson rose to his feet with all
+the breath knocked out of him. He stood there gasping while Rooster
+kicked the goal, making the score 13 to 7 in favor of Lenox.
+
+Before the ball could again be put in play the referee's whistle blew
+and the game was over.
+
+The Pawling team, game in defeat, lined up and cheered the victors, who
+responded in kind, and then the boys broke for the clubhouse to escape
+the throng that swarmed down on the field from the Lenox section,
+intent on mauling and pounding their heroes. Garry was caught up in the
+swirl and carried round the field on the shoulders of his hilarious
+schoolmates, who only relinquished him reluctantly at the door of the
+clubhouse.
+
+Once inside, Garry was the center of congratulations from his comrades
+on the team, who were frenzied with joy.
+
+"Gee, Garry, how did you do it?" asked Nick, clapping him on the back.
+
+"You went through that whole Pawling team like a knife through butter!"
+exclaimed Rooster.
+
+"They couldn't have stopped him with an axe," jubilated Tom Allison, as
+he reeled off some steps of a snake dance. "It wasn't football; it was
+magic."
+
+Mr. Phillips was less demonstrative than Garry's comrades, but his face
+was radiant with satisfaction as he put his hand on Garry's shoulder.
+
+"Well done, Grayson," he said cordially. "That was the finest example
+of line bucking I've ever seen outside of a college game. It took nerve
+and determination of a high order, and you deserve the thanks of the
+school."
+
+For several days after the game with Pawling Garry and his mates went
+around in a mood of exaltation. They had got the jump on the season by
+winning the first game. They were confident of other victories to come.
+There was not a cloud in their sky.
+
+Then things began to happen, mysterious things that disturbed both
+teachers and students and filled the school with a vague unrest.
+
+One morning Professor Blythe entered his orderly classroom to be
+confronted with a piece of malicious mischief that filled him with
+indignation.
+
+A large map of the ancient Roman Empire hung along one side of the
+room. It was a fine and costly one, and was known to be highly prized
+by the Latin teacher.
+
+Over the face of the map were large blotches of ink, obscuring the
+names of cities and outlines of countries. The miscreants, whoever they
+were, had done their work thoroughly. The costly map was ruined.
+
+The excitement attendant upon this act of vandalism had scarcely
+abated when another sensation claimed the attention of the school.
+Several electric fans had been taken apart and essential parts had been
+spirited away, leaving the devices useless.
+
+Mr. Allen, the principal, called a special assembly of all the students
+of the school and voiced a strong warning to the boys and girls under
+his control.
+
+"This atrocious conduct must stop--and shall," he finished
+impressively. "Any student who injures or tampers with property
+belonging to the school is no better than a thief. Lenox has never
+tolerated and never will tolerate acts of malicious mischief. The
+offenders, when discovered, will be dealt with as they deserve."
+
+After practice on the field that afternoon, Rooster, Bill and Garry
+strolled out for a walk in the country adjoining Lenox to discuss the
+recent and unpleasant developments at the school.
+
+"It's got to a point where everybody suspects his neighbor," remarked
+Rooster.
+
+"I only hope whoever's at the root of the trouble will take warning and
+stop in time," observed Garry thoughtfully. "These practical jokers
+think they're smart, but after all they're only nitwits."
+
+"Talking about jokes, look at that poor old cow," said Rooster,
+pointing toward a field they were just passing. "I'll bet anything she
+thinks the joke's on her."
+
+Dusk was falling thickly. Bill and Garry followed the direction of
+Rooster's pointing finger, but it was Garry who first discerned what he
+meant.
+
+"Poor old bossy!" he laughed. "Her gate had been blocked up by some
+fallen rails and she can't get home. Listen to her moo."
+
+"Wants to be milked," said Bill, climbing the fence and jumping into
+the pasture, with Rooster and Garry at his heels.
+
+The cow welcomed their coming with a deep, pleading moo. They could see
+that the beast was suffering, for it was long past milking time.
+
+"We'll get you out of your trouble in a jiffy, old girl," promised
+Garry. So he and his mates set to work and soon had the passage
+cleared.
+
+The cow mooed gratefully and lumbered on her way, while the boys turned
+back to the road. As they did so, they saw three figures flit by in the
+dusk.
+
+There was something familiar about those three figures, enveloped
+though they were in the semi-gloom. But when the boys reached the
+highway the road was clear before them as far as they could see.
+
+"They've disappeared in a hurry," remarked Rooster. "I could have sworn
+that fellow on the outside was Sandy Podder. Walked like him, sort of a
+lazy slouch, hands in pockets, and now he and the fellows with him have
+done the vanishing act."
+
+"Easy enough to be mistaken about identity in the dusk like this," said
+Garry carelessly. "Likely enough it wasn't Sandy at all."
+
+"Speaking of that gink reminds me," put in Bill, and he went on to
+tell them of the conversation he had heard a few days before near the
+Stewarts' garage.
+
+"I was as sore as a boil that I couldn't get on to what they were
+cooking up," he said, "but Lent's mother came along and I had to beat
+it. Whatever it was, Sandy seemed to be pretty sure it would work.
+Sandy said it was a pip."
+
+"A pip?" laughed Garry. "All his schemes are pips to Sandy. It's only
+when he tries to put them in practice that they fall down. I guess this
+last one will meet the fate of all the others."
+
+He might not have been so carefree had he known that Sandy Podder,
+Lent Stewart, and Chat Johns were at that very moment within earshot.
+As Garry and his chums passed an old deserted barn at the side of
+the road, the three plotters peered around a corner of it, grinning
+gloatingly. Inspiration had come to Garry's enemies, and they were
+about to make the most of it. Meanwhile, all unsuspecting, Garry, Bill,
+and Rooster wended their way home to good suppers and later a dreamless
+night's sleep.
+
+Arriving at school the next morning, they entered their Latin room to
+find pandemonium broke loose.
+
+Boys were laughing, shouting, jumping on desks to get a better look at
+the creature that undeniably held the center of the stage. This, Garry
+ascertained a moment later, was a cow, a great sleek meek-eyed cow!
+
+"Jumping Jupiter!" cried Rooster. "How did that get here?"
+
+"She came to pay us a morning call," replied Tom Allison, spying his
+friends and elbowing his way toward them.
+
+"We're going to take her out on the campus and have fresh milk for
+lunch," added Pete Maddern, with a grin. "Get your tin cups ready,
+boys."
+
+"But how did she get here?" asked Garry bewilderedly.
+
+"That's what I should like to know," said a grim voice in the doorway.
+
+The voice belonged to Mr. Blythe, and the students scattered before his
+indignant approach.
+
+They formed such a comical contrast, the soft-eyed, bewildered cow and
+the grim, wrathful man as they exchanged look for look, that laughter
+broke in a wave over the room.
+
+Mr. Blythe turned fiercely upon the boys.
+
+"This is no laughing matter," he cried. "I am sorry that any student of
+mine finds it so. It is an outrage and shall be reported at once to the
+principal."
+
+"The cow or the outrage?" Rooster whispered to Garry, but the latter
+nudged him to be silent.
+
+"Old Blythe's on the rampage," he warned. "Better lie low."
+
+"Take this animal outside," commanded the teacher irately. "Drive her
+out! Drive her out! Shoo!"
+
+Again laughter assailed the boys. It doubled them up until they were
+breathless and weak from glee. However, at another stern command from
+the teacher some of them got behind the animal, some of them before, in
+an attempt to urge the cow from this unfamiliar stamping ground.
+
+But bossy was scared now, and hard to move. Garry finally had an idea.
+He went out to the campus and returned with a handful of grass. Amid
+much hilarity he lured the animal inch by inch, step by step toward the
+front door.
+
+The progress was marked by great pomp and ceremony, fully half the
+students of the school watching it while they howled with laughter.
+Order was for a time completely suspended and chaos reigned.
+
+Arrived at the front door, the cow refused to go further, even for the
+tempting fodder in Garry's hand. It was necessary, therefore, for some
+half dozen boys to get behind and push.
+
+"Step on the accelerator," cried a wag, and again there was a gleeful
+outburst.
+
+Urged on irresistibly, the reluctant creature finally stepped out into
+the open. She had scarcely appeared there before a wrathful farmer came
+rushing up, declaring that he had searched over half of Lenox for his
+property. He took charge of the cow and led her off.
+
+Once more back in their classrooms, the "joke" assumed more serious
+proportions. With the cow removed, the boys could see that this
+incident of the animal's appearance in the schoolhouse had probably
+been conceived and carried out by the same mischief-makers who had
+ruined Mr. Blythe's map and tampered with the electric fans.
+
+"There's bound to be a big row over this," predicted Bill, as he
+and Garry were selecting the books they would need for the morning
+period. "Mr. Allen won't let this pass. He'll probably make a thorough
+investigation, and if he finds the fellows who planted that cow here, I
+feel sorry for them, that's all."
+
+Bill Sherwood was right about the course the principal would take.
+Mr. Blythe entered an indignant protest at the office, and Mr. Allen
+promised to discover and punish the offenders if such a thing were
+possible.
+
+"I will question each pupil separately," he declared, "and I am
+confident I shall have a clue to the rascals before school closes this
+afternoon."
+
+This he did, beginning with the lower classes and progressing steadily
+towards the higher grades.
+
+It was a long and tedious business, but it was evident to the least
+observant of the students that Mr. Allen was in deadly earnest about
+the matter and determined to get at the root of it.
+
+About mid-morning the principal entered Garry's class. When it came to
+the latter's turn to be questioned he answered in a straightforward
+manner that he knew nothing about how the cow happened to be in the
+classroom that morning. The same answer was given as regarded the map
+and the fans.
+
+Rooster, Bill, Nick, and Ted answered in the same way, as did all the
+other boys in that class.
+
+"I am forced to take your word in this matter," said the principal,
+when the questioning was over. "But if I find that any of you have
+deceived me or have withheld information that might lead to the
+detection of the boys I seek, the punishment meted out to you will be
+far more severe than I had originally intended. Is there any one of
+you--" he paused and looked sternly about the attentive class--"who
+remembers something he would like to say to me."
+
+There was dead silence. Mr. Allen spoke to the teacher in a low tone
+and went from the room.
+
+Thus he went from class to class until he reached the junior grades. In
+these were included Sandy Podder and Lent Stewart.
+
+The principal's examination, so far vain, took on an added impetus when
+he questioned Sandy Podder.
+
+"Do you know anything of this, Podder?" Mr. Allen asked, almost
+perfunctorily.
+
+Sandy hesitated. The hesitation was noticed and the class became
+immediately interested.
+
+"Why--I--I--don't know anything very certain, Mr. Allen," Sandy said,
+with apparent reluctance.
+
+The worried frown on the principal's face deepened.
+
+"Tell me what you do know," he commanded.
+
+"Why, it's--it's only that I happened to see some boys with a cow last
+night." Sandy spoke still more reluctantly, as though the facts were
+being drawn from him against his will.
+
+"You did?" The principal's look became interested, intent. "Can you
+give me the names of those boys?"
+
+"Why, I hardly know. I couldn't be sure. You see, it was nearly dark--"
+
+"But you think you know the names of those boys, don't you?" Mr. Allen
+interrupted abruptly. "Speak out, Podder. I must know the truth."
+
+"Well, then," replied Sandy, still with well-simulated reluctance,
+"I heard those boys talk, and I am sure that one of them was Garry
+Grayson."
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER XI
+
+                            Under Suspicion
+
+
+At the mention of Garry Grayson's name there was a startled murmur
+among the students. Mr. Allen was himself surprised, but kept an
+impassive face. He looked closely at Sandy Podder.
+
+"Did you recognize any of the other boys that you say were with
+Grayson?" he asked.
+
+"I think Bill Sherwood and Rooster Long were with him," Sandy returned,
+still with the air of having these things wrung from him. "Though of
+course," apologetically, "as I said before, it was impossible for us to
+tell exactly."
+
+"Us," said the principal sharply. "Then there were others with you when
+you made this discovery."
+
+Sandy nodded, and under the gravity of his expression lurked a smirk of
+triumph.
+
+"Lent Stewart, of the Lenox High boys, and Chatwood Johns, one of the
+boys of the town," he said.
+
+Lent Stewart, being in the classroom, was questioned immediately. Of
+course he upheld Sandy's statement. He could not be sure, but he
+thought that the boys with Grayson were Bill Sherwood and Rooster Long.
+But as regards Garry, he was reasonably certain, for he had recognized
+his voice.
+
+"You say they were seen with a cow," the principal went on. "What were
+they doing with it?"
+
+"We didn't stay to see," replied Sandy, still reluctantly. "But it
+looked as though they were leading it somewhere."
+
+"H'm!" The principal stood for a while in deep thought. Then he looked
+at Sandy from beneath level brows. "Is that all you have to tell me?"
+
+"Yes, sir," answered Sandy, with apparent frankness. "That's all."
+
+"And it's enough," he said to himself, as, with a resolute gesture,
+the principal turned away. "If that swell-headed Garry Grayson and his
+friends don't get what's coming to them, I miss my guess. Old Allen's
+fighting mad."
+
+But here Sandy was wrong. Mr. Allen was not fighting mad. Instead he
+was sad and sorely worried.
+
+He had known Garry since the latter was a baby. He knew something of
+the splendid records the lad had made both in his studies and on the
+athletic field. He knew Rooster Long and Bill Sherwood also as clean,
+straight-shooting lads, who had up to that time been a credit to Lenox
+High. It seemed impossible that boys like these could be guilty of
+the malicious mischief that had set the whole school by the ears and
+seriously interfered with discipline.
+
+And yet he knew--none better--that at a certain age boys were apt to
+mistake lawless practical joking for legitimate humor. Their judgment
+was not yet fully formed. Youthful effervescence had to be reckoned
+with. It might be so in the case of Garry and his friends, and it was
+his duty to question them and try to get to the bottom of the matter.
+
+When Garry, Bill, and Rooster were summoned to the principal's office
+they wondered somewhat at the summons, but were not seriously alarmed.
+But the principal's first question warned them that there was something
+in the wind.
+
+"I have heard that you three boys were seen in a pasture on the
+outskirts of Lenox last night," Mr. Allen began without preface. "Is
+that true?"
+
+"We certainly were in a pasture just about dark last evening," Garry
+replied frankly. "But whether any one saw us there or not we can't
+tell. Some people, though, passed us on the road."
+
+Mr. Allen looked at the boys steadily for a moment, and then asked with
+significant emphasis.
+
+"What were you doing with the cow you found in the pasture?"
+
+A glance of amazement passed between the boys, a look not lost on Mr.
+Allen.
+
+"Her gate was closed up," Bill answered quickly. "We opened it so that
+the cow could get through."
+
+"It was long past milking time and the cow wanted to go home," added
+Rooster.
+
+"H'm!" said Mr. Allen thoughtfully. "Then you admit that you were in a
+pasture with a cow last night. Why is it that you did not tell me about
+that when I questioned you earlier in the day?"
+
+"I suppose because we didn't think it was important," replied Garry.
+"You asked us whether we knew how the cow got into the Latin room, and
+we told you the truth."
+
+"Do you say again that you don't know who brought the cow to the
+classroom?" asked Mr. Allen, looking at them keenly.
+
+"On our word of honor we don't know any more about that than you do,
+sir," replied Garry earnestly, and Bill and Rooster nodded their
+acquiescence.
+
+"That will do for the present." The words were accompanied by a gesture
+of dismissal.
+
+Feeling the futility of making any further attempts at defense, the
+boys had no alternative but to leave the office. They were under a
+cloud, and they knew it. While they smarted under a sense of injustice,
+they asked themselves and each other who could have told Mr. Allen of
+that innocent incident of their being with the cow the evening before.
+
+Innocent it surely was, prompted purely by their kindness of heart. But
+they were acutely conscious that it had been extremely unfortunate that
+the day before the cow appeared in the classroom they had been seen
+with a cow in the pasture.
+
+"Not guilty, but how can we prove it?" asked Rooster disconsolately.
+
+"Who told Mr. Allen that we were there?" pondered Bill.
+
+"You fellows are thick," declared Garry. "Sandy Podder is the answer."
+
+The others nodded a quick assent.
+
+Those three boys, only half seen through the dusk! Rooster thought he
+had recognized Sandy Podder. Now in the light of after events, the boys
+were sure he had. Who but Sandy Podder or one of his cronies would care
+to implicate them by reporting their where-abouts the evening before?
+Any one else passing along the road would have seen, despite the dusk,
+that their business there was simple enough.
+
+A little later their suspicion was confirmed when on the dismissal of
+the classes, they learned of the principal's interrogation of Sandy and
+Lent and the answers they had given.
+
+"Pretended to be awfully sorry that he had to give his evidence, too,"
+reported Ollie Scarsdale, who was in the same grade with Sandy. "Yet I
+saw him grinning afterward and whispering to Lent Stewart. He thinks
+he's got you in Dutch all right."
+
+"There's Sandy's pip," remarked Bill later, when the boys were
+discussing the matter among themselves.
+
+"It's a dirty put-up job!" cried Rooster hotly.
+
+"Of course it is," agreed Garry. "He and Stewart thought they saw a
+chance to get us in bad by producing circumstantial evidence, and you
+can trust them not to overlook a chance like that. Oh, if we hadn't
+taken that walk last night! As it is, we've played right into their
+hands!
+
+"Anyway, we know, if no one else does, that we didn't bring the cow
+into the school," he continued, trying to put as cheerful a face as
+possible on the matter. "They can't prove something on us that we
+didn't do."
+
+If he could have known that even as he was speaking, Mr. Allen was
+reading an anonymous note that had been dropped mysteriously on
+his desk while he was out of the room, Garry might have found his
+determined cheerfulness severely shaken.
+
+For these are the words that Mr. Allen read over and over again, his
+brow wrinkled in anxious thought:
+
+    "This note is written in the interest of Lenox High. If you want to
+    know who spattered the map, spoiled the fans, and took the cow into
+    the school, ask Grayson, Sherwood and Long. They know."
+
+The note was typewritten on ordinary paper and bore no signature. There
+was absolutely no clue to the writer.
+
+Contemptuous as he usually was of all anonymous documents, the message
+impressed the principal in spite of himself.
+
+"If those three boys are guilty, I'll find evidence of it," he said to
+himself, with a grim tightening of his lips. "This nonsense has gone
+far enough."
+
+But it seemed that the "nonsense" was to go still farther.
+
+An anonymous letter was published in the next morning's edition of the
+town paper. It was a venomous missive and alleged that "wild parties"
+were occasionally staged at Lenox High. It was hinted also that it
+might be worth the while of any one sufficiently interested to examine
+the desks of the some of the students in the school.
+
+The paper went on to say that, although usually averse to publishing
+anonymous communications, recent acts of vandalism in the high school
+seemed to justify it in making an exception of this case.
+
+    "Lenox High has hitherto enjoyed an enviable reputation," the
+    article added. "It is sincerely hoped by the citizens of Lenox that
+    those who are attempting to tarnish that reputation may soon be
+    brought to book. In our opinion, no zeal should be spared toward
+    the accomplishment of this end."
+
+Wrathfully Mr. Allen read the article. His administration of the
+school that far had been very successful. He was responsible for its
+management. If the things that were hinted at proved to be true, it
+would be a serious reflection on the discipline of the school.
+
+Upon reaching the office he at once wrote a note and sent it around to
+all the teachers, instructing them to search the desk of each pupil
+personally and report to him at once.
+
+The order was carried out at once, and with astonishing results.
+
+In the desks of Garry Grayson, Bill Sherwood and Rooster Long three
+squat flasks were found, hip flasks, each containing a small amount of
+liquor! No other desk offered anything incriminating.
+
+The hapless trio were thunder-struck. The other members of their class
+were utterly bewildered. They could not believe it; did not want to
+believe it. Yet there was the evidence, those three evil smelling
+flasks with their wretched contents. The evidence seemed overwhelming.
+
+"We're done!" groaned Bill, after class had been dismissed and they
+were awaiting with dread a summons to the office. "We've been framed,
+all right, and I only wish I could get hold of the fellow who did it."
+
+"We've got to think how to get out of this jam first," said Garry.
+"Keep still, fellows, and let me think."
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER XII
+
+                            Out of the Game
+
+
+All of Garry Grayson's thinking promised to be of little use at this
+juncture. The net of circumstantial evidence closed tightly about him
+and his friends, and try as he did he could find no way out of it.
+
+Their friends--and they were many--were loyally with them, but since
+they could not explain away the strong evidence of those hip flasks,
+their friendship was of little practical assistance.
+
+Mr. Allen, put on his mettle by that article in the morning paper and
+furious to find the unpleasant insinuations in it substantiated by what
+seemed substantial proof, permitted the full weight of his wrath to
+fall upon the helpless lads.
+
+He listened grimly to their protestations of innocence. Then he
+announced his verdict. The three were to be suspended, summarily barred
+from Lenox High for three months, as a warning to the other students of
+the school.
+
+It was a terrible blow to the boys. Naturally it was very disturbing
+to their parents, who were firmly convinced that their sons were
+being wronged. They went to Mr. Allen and urged that the sentence be
+modified, at least until the boys could have a chance to unravel the
+plot they felt had been woven about them.
+
+More than this, most of the teachers of the school in conference with
+their superior privately advised leniency, especially in view of
+the unspotted records of the boys up to that time. Mr. Phillips was
+especially urgent in asking for a lighter sentence. He admitted the
+weight of the evidence was against them, but assured Mr. Allen that
+nevertheless he was convinced that the boys were innocent and that in
+due time that innocence would be established.
+
+By this time the principal's wrath had cooled somewhat; his certainty
+of their wrongdoing was wavering; his own liking for the accused
+boys reasserted itself; and he finally agreed to revoke his order of
+suspension.
+
+However--and this was almost as much a blow to the boys as actual
+suspension--the final punishment meted out by Mr. Allen barred the lads
+from all participation in athletic games for the rest of the term.
+
+"I'd rather be suspended!" burst out Rooster savagely. "Can you imagine
+sitting on the sub bench and watching Lenox lose?"
+
+"Wake up, feller, you're dreaming," growled Bill. "You don't suppose
+we'll get as far as the sub bench, do you? We've been barred from the
+field altogether, except as spectators in the stands."
+
+"Even the humble sub has it all over us," muttered Garry bitterly.
+"I've tried to be cheerful about this, but it certainly looks as though
+we were licked at last."
+
+"Say, Garry, where do you get that stuff?" said Nick Danter, in an
+attempt to cheer up his chum. "You won't be licked until you're dead.
+We'll find a way to get you and Bill and Rooster back on the gridiron
+some way! Suffering cats!" he added angrily, "I wish old Allen were
+further. How does he expect we're going to win against Thomaston and
+the game only a few days off? Without you, we're sure to lose."
+
+"Oh, no, you're not." With difficulty Garry raised himself from the
+depths of gloom. "You're not beaten till you think you are, Nick. It's
+your job and the job of the other fellows on the team to go in and win
+despite the handicap. You see, Rooster and I are conceited enough to
+call it a handicap," he added, with a sorry attempt at a grin.
+
+"Can't be done, Garry! Can't be done!" declared Nick moodily. "Not at
+such short notice, anyhow. You know we expect a hard fight against
+Thomaston under any conditions. Their team is mighty strong. They've
+lost hardly any of their old stars through graduation. And as far as
+our team is concerned, with you and Rooster counted out, the boys are
+in for an awful slump. I don't believe that anything Mr. Phillips can
+do will pull them out of it."
+
+"Just the same, if any one can, Mr. Phillips will!" exclaimed Garry,
+brightening at mention of the English teacher. "There's one fine man!
+He doesn't believe we did any of the things charged against us."
+
+"Neither does any one else in the school, if the truth were told,"
+asserted Ted. "I don't think Mr. Allen himself really believes it. He
+has to keep discipline though, and in the face of the circumstantial
+evidence against you he had to do something."
+
+When the day came for the game with Thomaston, which was to take place
+on the Lenox grounds, Garry, Rooster, and Bill thought at first that
+they would not go at all. But the call of the gridiron was too strong
+to be resisted. They could at least cheer for the old team, even if
+they could not play on it.
+
+Their entrance into the stands was attended with an ovation on the part
+of their fellow students that warmed their hearts. Hands were thrust
+out to grasp theirs and many were the words of sympathy spoken. Most of
+the students were almost as sore as Garry himself at his banishment
+from the game, and with him out they could see nothing but defeat for
+Lenox.
+
+Their gloomy anticipations were fulfilled to the uttermost, for that
+afternoon Lenox went down to the worst defeat it had experienced since
+it had been a member of the league.
+
+With Garry gone, his former mates were like a ship without a rudder.
+Mr. Phillips had done the best he could to strengthen the team. Pete
+Maddern had been put in Rooster's place and Benny Knapp had taken
+Garry's, while Rankin had been called on to fill Knapp's place in the
+backfield. It was the best that could be done under the circumstances,
+but it was not good enough to avert an overwhelming defeat.
+
+For Benny got mixed in his signals, often with fatal results. The whole
+team became confused, not knowing what to expect from their leader.
+Thomaston took full advantage of the mistakes and made the game a
+massacre.
+
+Only once did Lenox score, when the Thomaston fullback fumbled and
+Nick scooped up the ball and went over the line for a touchdown. But
+Thomaston scored almost at will. They rode easily to victory while
+Lenox was smothered at every turn.
+
+Six times Thomaston battered its way through the line for touchdowns.
+When they wearied of this, they resorted to the aerial game, while the
+Lenox overhead defense collapsed. Four times Thomaston scored through
+the air on two passes of fifty yards each, one of fifty-four and a
+fourth of twenty-seven.
+
+Under this fierce attack the entire Lenox team became like a mass of
+huddled sheep. The game had become a joke. When at last the referee's
+whistle sounded an end to the slaughter, Thomaston had triumphed by a
+score of 63 to 6.
+
+The Lenox rooters sat through it all, glum and dumbfounded, while the
+Thomaston supporters chortled with glee. Lenox had taken a shameful
+beating.
+
+Sick at heart, Garry watched his chance, and when his comrades were not
+looking slipped away by himself. He was in no mood for conversation. He
+wanted to be alone in his misery until he could get a grip on himself.
+To have to sit there and watch his team lose! To feel without conceit
+that in ten minutes on the field he could have turned the tide of
+battle! To know this, and yet to sit there in silent agony seeing the
+team disgraced! It was more than he could bear.
+
+Wandering along blindly, his head full of unhappy thoughts, Garry heard
+himself suddenly accosted. The voice was a familiar one and, looking
+up, Garry saw Cal Yates' car parked at the curb. Cal was grinning
+at him amiably. "What's the matter that you can't recognize an old
+friend," chirped Cal. "Come on, jump in and we'll go for a ride."
+
+Garry hesitated, was about to refuse, then suddenly acquiesced.
+He liked Cal Yates and hardly cared to offend him by refusing the
+invitation. Then, too, it would be a change and might drive away some
+of the gloom that enwrapped him.
+
+As Garry put a leg over the car door and slumped down in the seat
+beside him, Cal regarded him slyly out of the corner of his eye.
+
+"Think I can guess the reason for your doleful dumps," Cal said with a
+jerk of his head back toward the field. "I was at the game. Thomaston
+certain walked all over you."
+
+Garry nodded glumly.
+
+"My hands were tied," he said. "Rooster and I had to sit there and
+watch them get licked."
+
+"Pretty tough!" murmured Cal sympathetically.
+
+There was a moment of silence while the car purred rhythmically along
+the road. Then Cal spoke suddenly and with a resolution not familiar to
+him.
+
+"See here," he blurted out. "I like you, and I've reason to be grateful
+to you for what you did for my dad when he needed help. Besides, I
+don't like to see a fellow framed."
+
+Garry looked at him curiously.
+
+Cal was silent again as he manipulated the car about a corner and swung
+off on a road leading into the country. Here he slowed the car to an
+ambling pace and turned half about to face Garry.
+
+"Because that's what you've been," he said, continuing from the point
+where he had left off. "Framed!"
+
+"Don't I know it?" Garry spoke bitterly. "We fellows never had hip
+flasks, never even thought of them until they were found in our desks.
+If that isn't framing, what is?"
+
+Cal pondered a moment.
+
+"I don't like to mix in any one else's business," he said slowly.
+"But--" He paused.
+
+"If you know anything, spill it," urged Garry eagerly.
+
+"I will," said Cal briskly. "I'll tell you when and where you were
+framed and who did it!"
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER XIII
+
+                          Tracing the Threads
+
+
+Garry Grayson's heart gave such a bound that it almost seemed to turn
+over.
+
+"Tell me! Tell me!" he cried.
+
+"That interests you, does it?" returned Cal, with grin. "I thought it
+would. Now listen, Garry, and I'll tell you what I know about this.
+
+"I was out with some of my friends a short time ago," he went on. "We
+stopped at a roadhouse for a bite to eat. Sandy Podder, Lent Stewart,
+and another fellow I didn't know were sitting at a table near us. The
+whole bunch of them had hip flasks--"
+
+Garry uttered an involuntary exclamation, and Cal glanced at him
+quizzically.
+
+"Yeah," he continued, "and by the time we had finished dinner that
+bunch was pretty wild. When we got up to go we saw the landlord of
+the place go and join Sandy and his bunch at their table. They began
+talking in a low voice so that we couldn't hear anything they said,
+except here and there a word.
+
+"After we got out to the car, I found that I had left my cap behind
+and went back for it. Here's where the interesting part comes in."
+
+Cal paused and watched the road thoughtfully for a few seconds where it
+turned and twisted before them.
+
+"For the love of Pete, go on!" cried Garry.
+
+"I'm coming to it," grinned Cal. "Well, you see by this time it was
+pretty late, and there was no one in the dining room of the place but
+Podder and his gang--"
+
+"And the landlord," put in Garry.
+
+"And the landlord," repeated Cal gravely. "He's a very important person
+in the tale, as you'll see. As I opened the door I happened to hear
+your name mentioned. You see they thought they were alone and were not
+so careful to keep their voices lowered.
+
+"'We'll plant the flask in Garry Grayson's desk,' I heard Sandy say.
+
+"'And in Rooster Long's and Bill Sherwood's too,' said Stewart. 'Might
+as well make a good job while we're about it.'
+
+"'It will be kissing good-bye to three flasks and a pint of good
+liquor,' said Sandy, grinning foolishly, 'but we won't grudge 'em that,
+will we, fellows?'"
+
+Garry's hands clenched until the nails bit into the palms.
+
+"Go on!" he cried.
+
+"Well, that's about all," said Cal. "I went in and got my cap, and
+they looked at me as if I were some sort of a crook--"
+
+"The dirty crooks themselves!" muttered Garry, scowling.
+
+"You said it," agreed Cal cheerfully. "I didn't think much about
+it--supposed, in fact, that the fellows were so fuddled they didn't
+know what they were doing and that nothing would come of it until I
+heard in a roundabout way that you fellows were accused of some sort
+of tomfoolery in school. Then when I found that you'd been barred from
+athletics because of those hip flasks that had been planted in your
+desks--well, I felt it was about time that little Cal stepped in and
+told what he knew."
+
+"Say, Cal, I don't know how I can thank you for this!" Garry's face was
+radiant and his eyes gleamed with sudden determination. "I've got to
+get this thing to Mr. Allen right away."
+
+Cal nodded.
+
+"Mr. Allen may not think my story is proof enough. He knows, or can
+find out, that I'm friendly with you because of the way you helped my
+father, and he may think I'm just cooking this up to get a pal out
+of trouble. I've thought of that, and so I'm going to help you to
+corroborate my evidence."
+
+"How's that?" asked Garry eagerly.
+
+"I'm going to take you right now to the roadhouse and try to scare the
+landlord into telling what he knows about this plot."
+
+"Do you suppose he'll do it?" asked Garry.
+
+"He won't want to do it. I know that much," replied Cal. "But I think I
+can put a flea in his ear that will make him be good. At any rate, I'm
+going to try it."
+
+"Good!" exclaimed Garry, all his despondency gone. Hope coursed through
+his veins like wine. Every moment's delay seemed unbearable to him.
+
+"You're a friend worth having, Cal," he cried jubilantly. "And now you
+wouldn't mind stepping on the gas a bit, would you?"
+
+Cal laughed and complied.
+
+"Eager on the scent now, aren't you? Thought maybe you'd be when you'd
+heard my story. But the place isn't far off and we'll be there in a
+jiffy."
+
+So saying, Cal Yates turned a curve in the road, skidding merrily on
+two wheels.
+
+There was a yell of fright, and three burly tramps stepped to one side
+with surprising quickness.
+
+Cal turned to the scowling men.
+
+"Sorry," he called out. "Didn't see you coming. Glad I didn't hit you.
+S'long!"
+
+For answer, one of the tramps picked up a big stone and hurled it at
+the car, but the speed at which it was going disturbed the fellow's
+aim, and the car went by undamaged.
+
+"Surly brute, isn't he?" asked Cal indignantly. "Any one might think we
+were trying to run him down on purpose. If that stone had hit one of
+us, it sure would have done some damage."
+
+They had gone a few hundred feet further when something went wrong with
+the car. Cal drew it up by the roadside and got down to investigate. A
+few moments went by. Then came a sharp cry from Garry.
+
+"Look out!" he called.
+
+Cal looked up just in time see a stick in the hands of one of the
+tramps who had followed them descending toward his head. He dodged, and
+the tramp, almost overbalanced by missing his stroke, stumbled forward,
+and in the attempt to save himself dropped the stick.
+
+Instantly Cal picked it up and gave the man a poke with it in the pit
+of his stomach. The man doubled up and sat down promptly, gasping for
+breath and with all the fight knocked out of him for the moment.
+
+Simultaneously with his cry of warning to Cal, Garry had jumped from
+the car. As he did so, the other two tramps rushed toward him.
+
+Against the three of them it would have fared hard with the boys if at
+that moment a car full of schoolboys who had been to the game had not
+swept around the bend of the road. They took in the unequal struggle in
+an instant, stopped the car and swarmed down from it.
+
+At these unexpected reinforcements the tramps, seeing themselves much
+outnumbered, made off at good speed, never once stopping to look behind
+them.
+
+The newcomers, who took it all as a lark, shouted lustily and pursued
+the fleeing rascals until the latter were lost in the woods near by.
+Then they returned, waved aside laughingly the thanks of Garry and Cal,
+jumped into their waiting car and sped away.
+
+Garry turned to Cal, grinning and wiping the dust from his clothes.
+
+"That was a lucky interruption for us," he said.
+
+"Surest thing you know," agreed Cal.
+
+They resumed their trip, and before long drew up at a roadhouse that
+stood a little back from the highway.
+
+"Ready for the next act?" asked Cal.
+
+"More than ready--eager," returned Garry.
+
+They went quietly around to a side door of the building. Cal appeared
+to know his way about very well.
+
+"The eats are good here," he explained, "and I've often dropped in
+when I've been coming home from a spin. Only for the eats though,
+for I never touch anything stronger than tea or coffee for liquid
+refreshment."
+
+"Don't seem to be doing much business now," volunteered Garry, as he
+looked about.
+
+"The dinner crowd hasn't begun to come yet," replied Cal. "It's a good
+time to find Jake unoccupied. Come on. I think I'll know where to
+locate him."
+
+Jake, Garry conjectured, was the proprietor of the place.
+
+Cal opened the side door with an air of assurance and stepped into
+a large kitchen. The cook and two helpers were already busied with
+preparations for dinner. Cal greeted them jovially.
+
+"Want a word with Jake in private, Jerry," he said, and favored the
+cook with a wink. "Where shall I find him?"
+
+Jerry, a big fat man with a chef's hat on his head, jerked the hat
+toward a door at the further end of the kitchen.
+
+"In his office. Go on in. He's always glad to see old customers."
+
+Cal crossed the kitchen swiftly, Garry at his side.
+
+He swung open a door, crossed a small passageway, then opened another
+door.
+
+Tilted back in his chair with his feet on a desk sat a fat, greasy,
+little man with an expression of lazy contentment on his face.
+
+As Cal and Garry stepped into the room the man made as though to rise,
+but Cal waved him back with a careless gesture.
+
+"Don't get up, Jake," he said, "This is a friend of mine, Garry
+Grayson." A nod of his head indicated Garry. "We've come to make a
+little call, Jake, but we won't stay more than a few minutes. How's
+business?"
+
+"Great!" The greasy little man indicated two chairs, one on either side
+of the desk, and waved his guests into them. "Effery day ve got a crowd
+vould make you sit up und take notice. Eet is such a pleasure to see
+how der people like my liddle place. Bisness gets better effery day."
+
+"That's good. Nice little place you have here, Jake," said Cal gravely.
+"You must be pretty well attached to it by this time."
+
+"Sure, I like my liddle place. I build it up myself und make of it a
+bisness what pulls in der money hand over fist. Sure, I like it."
+
+"And in that case, of course," Cal said carelessly, but watching the
+proprietor as a cat does a mouse, "it would break your heart to have it
+closed up, wouldn't it, Jake?"
+
+The eyes of the little man narrowed suddenly until they seemed mere
+slits in his greasy face. Slowly he removed his feet from the desk, his
+eyes holding Cal's.
+
+"What foolishment iss you talking?" he demanded coldly.
+
+"Now listen, Jake." Cal assumed an easy air as he bent over the desk,
+one elbow resting on it. "We, Garry Grayson and I, want this to be just
+a friendly little chat. It's your fault if it takes an unfriendly turn.
+That right, Garry?"
+
+Garry nodded. His eyes had narrowed too. He was watching the man behind
+the desk intently.
+
+"So, Jake, that being understood, suppose we come down to cases,"
+continued Cal lightly.
+
+"Vot you mean by cases?" asked Jake, with symptoms of growing
+belligerence. "Vot iss it you vant of me?"
+
+"Something very simple, Jake; very simple." Cal's tone was soothing.
+"Garry Grayson here finds himself in a jam, so to speak, a nasty mess,
+and all along of some hip flasks that were planted in the desks of
+him and two of his chums. This dirty trick was pulled by a couple of
+fellows who hate him and want to run him out of the Lenox High school.
+You know those fellows, Jake. They come here often."
+
+"Vell," replied Jake guardedly. "Vot if they do?"
+
+"Because," explained Cal, "the dirty work of these fellows has caused
+Garry Grayson and two of his friends to be barred from athletics in the
+school. It has put them in Dutch. Now, I like these boys a lot, Jake,
+and I'm not going to stand by and see them framed. I happen to know who
+framed them, and I happen to know that you know too. With your help,
+Jake, I'm going to show up those fellows for what they are."
+
+"Mit my help, yes?" queried Jake, in a soft voice. "I dink nod. I do
+not dell on my customers."
+
+"I see," said Cal quietly. "Then you'd rather have your customers tell
+on you?" As the little man whirled upon him, Cal continued quickly:
+"Now listen, Jake. I think you're going to help me get Grayson and his
+friends clear of this mess, and I'll tell you why."
+
+"For vy?" questioned the little man barely above a whisper that
+suggested the hiss of a snake.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER XIV
+
+                            Brought to Book
+
+
+"Because, Jake, old boy," replied Cal Yates to the man's question, "I
+happen to know where Sandy Podder and his friends got those hip flasks.
+And what's more important, oh, much more important, Jake! I know
+where they got the contents of those flasks and where they or anybody
+else, if they give the password, can get a lot more of the same stuff
+whenever they like."
+
+Cal leaned back in his chair and met the furious stare of the little
+man with a laugh.
+
+"Honest now, Jake," he said, "you wouldn't want me to tell all I know
+about this place, would you?"
+
+The proprietor's face was a study. It turned a yellowish-green. He was
+clearly flabbergasted.
+
+"I keep a respec'able place," he muttered.
+
+"I grant it's much better than the general run of roadhouses. For one
+thing, the food is excellent," replied Cal. "But all the same, Jake,
+none of your customers have been known to die of thirst. I know what's
+in the tea cups on the tables. My eyes are good and so is my nose. Now
+get me right. I've no desire to poke my nose into your business. But
+I'm out to see justice done to Garry Grayson here, and I'm going to do
+it if it takes a leg or takes your license."
+
+The greasy face grew still moister with perspiration at the mention of
+the word "license."
+
+"Und it's me dot thought you vos a friend ov mine," Jake wailed. "Und
+now you drying to ruin mine bisness."
+
+"Nothing of the kind, Jake," denied Cal. "There are worse fellows than
+you. I've got some mighty good meals in this place. I'm not asking you
+to do anything that isn't right. I'm just asking you to help get my
+friend out of a mess. You know it isn't right that any one should be
+framed."
+
+"No," admitted Jake, "I vouldn't frame no one mineself. But vot udders
+do I cannot help. Who iss dis young feller dot I should get mixed up in
+his drubbles?"
+
+"I'll tell you who he is," replied Cal. "He's the son of a lawyer,
+Joseph S. Grayson of Lenox. Do you know him?"
+
+"Der vun what sent Gyp Mooney to jail?" exclaimed Jake.
+
+"The same," assented Cal. "And the one who closed up Gyp's poolroom,"
+he added significantly. "Oh, he's a wonder at closing up places when he
+gets started. I'd hate to have him close up yours, Jake."
+
+The perspiration now stood in great beads on Jake's brow, and his hands
+closed and unclosed nervously.
+
+"Listen!" he said. "I vould help dis Grayson, who seems to be a nice
+young feller, but vot kin I do? Vot do I know about dose hip flasks? I
+seen dem here, yes. Mine customers bring dem vid dem. But vot does dot
+prove about der framing?"
+
+"I'll tell you what you know about this particular case," replied Cal.
+"Sandy Podder and his bunch were in here about a week ago. I'd been
+having a bite here, and went out when I'd finished. But I had forgotten
+my cap, and when I came back for it Sandy and his pals were boasting
+about how they were going to plant hip flasks with liquor in them in
+the desks of Garry Grayson and his friends. You were sitting at the
+table with them and heard every word. Now wait a minute, Jake," as the
+man started to protest. "I see by your eyes that you're going to say
+you didn't hear them. Take a fool's advice and don't say it. I know you
+heard them."
+
+The little man sank back in his seat with a groan.
+
+"Vot you want me to do?" he asked.
+
+"Just this," replied Cal, bending forward and tapping the desk
+impressively. "I'm going with my friend here to Mr. Allen, the
+principal of the high school. I'm not going to tell him a single word
+about your selling liquor in this place. But I am going to tell him
+what I heard Sandy Podder and his pals say about framing Grayson and
+his friends.
+
+"Now, Mr. Allen may think that, since I'm a friend of Garry's, I'm
+getting up the whole thing to help him out of a mess. He may want some
+one else's word to back up mine. Yours is going to be the word to do
+that."
+
+"I vill be ruint!" groaned Jake.
+
+"Not at all," Cal reassured him. "The whole thing will be kept under
+our hats. I'll get Mr. Allen's word for that. Your talk with him will
+be in private. All he wants to know, all he cares to know just now, is
+the truth about this framing. Once he feels sure of this, he'll call
+Sandy Podder and his pals in and worm the truth out of them. They're
+yellow, and each will probably squeal on the other in the hope of being
+let down easy. But your name will be kept out of it. How about it,
+Jake? Is it a go?"
+
+Jake nodded his head.
+
+"You haf me by der neck," he said glumly. "I can nudding else do."
+
+"Atta boy!" said Cal rising. "Come along, Garry. We'll just be able to
+get back to town by dinner time. S'long, Jake."
+
+"Cal, you're a wonder," said Garry, when they were once more seated in
+the car. "The way you handled that fellow couldn't have been beaten."
+
+"Not so bad, not so bad," chuckled Cal, as he stepped on the gas. "I
+thought I could make Jake listen to reason. He isn't such a bad old
+skate at that."
+
+"Well, I can never thank you enough," declared Garry warmly. "You've
+lifted a thousand tons from my mind."
+
+"More than I ever lifted before," grinned Cal. "I must be a regular
+strong man. But I'm glad if I've been able to pay in a little way the
+debt I owe you on account of my father."
+
+"How's he getting along, by the way?" asked Garry, as they sped along
+at a rapid rate.
+
+"Fine as silk," replied Cal. "He's getting around all right now. Limps
+a little, but the doctor says that his leg will be just as good as the
+other one before long."
+
+"That's fine and dandy!" said Garry.
+
+Before long they reached Garry's home. Garry pressed his friend to come
+in and have dinner with the family, but Cal had another engagement and
+could not accept the invitation at that time, though he promised to do
+so before long.
+
+"Now what about Mr. Allen?" asked Cal, as he prepared to depart. "I
+suppose you want this thing to be cleared up right off the bat."
+
+"You bet I do!" exclaimed Garry. "I'll see Mr. Allen in the morning and
+make an appointment, if I can, to see you at his office right after
+school closes. I'll 'phone you at noon about it. That suit you?"
+
+"Right down to the ground," replied Cal. "Good-bye, old chap, and don't
+take any bad money. S'long."
+
+The joy in the Grayson family when Garry repeated to them at the table
+the events of the afternoon can be imagined. They had all been immersed
+in gloom because of Garry's predicament, had never for an instant
+doubted his innocence, and had writhed under the sense of bitter
+injustice.
+
+Now Mrs. Grayson's eyes were full of happy tears as were Ella's, and
+Mr. Grayson's voice was husky as he threw his arm over the boy's
+shoulder.
+
+"You've had a hard time of it, my boy," he said, "and I know just how
+you must have felt. But wrong can't triumph for long, and now you've
+been vindicated. Let me know when you've made the appointment with Mr.
+Allen, and I'll run up and join you there."
+
+"Rooster," said Garry the next morning, as he met his chums on the way
+to school. "How would you like to get back on the eleven?"
+
+"Swell chance!" grunted Rooster.
+
+"Better chance than you think," replied Garry, his eyes dancing.
+
+"What do you mean?" came from the crowd in a chorus, as they gathered
+about him.
+
+"Never mind what I mean," replied Garry, with a portentous air of
+mystery.
+
+"Cut out that Sphinx stuff or I'll slug you," cried Bill. "Tell us what
+you mean!"
+
+"Not yet," laughed Garry happily. "I'm beautiful but dumb."
+
+"Dumb is right," agreed Ted heartily. "The less said about the beauty
+the better. Be a good fellow, Garry, and spill it."
+
+"Be patient, little ones," retorted Garry aggravatingly. "All in good
+time. If you behave yourselves, I may let you into a secret, say about
+five o'clock this afternoon. Until then my lips are sealed."
+
+"Your lips may be split unless you come across," threatened Nick,
+making a playful pass at him.
+
+But no amount of wheedling could get anything further from Garry, and
+his chums passed the rest of the school day in wondering what could be
+the explanation of the mystery. But that it was something good, they
+felt assured, and that enabled them to possess their souls in more or
+less patience.
+
+When the morning lessons were over Garry called upon Mr. Allen in the
+latter's office. The principal was bending over his desk, busy with a
+mass of reports. He looked up as Garry entered.
+
+"What is it, Garry?" he asked, as he pushed back his papers and slewed
+his chair around.
+
+"If you please, Mr. Allen," responded Garry, "I would like to make an
+appointment with you for my father and me to see you here after classes
+to-day."
+
+"Why, of course," replied Mr. Allen, a little surprised, as he looked
+at the flushed, eager face of the boy. "Would you mind telling me what
+it is about?"
+
+"It's about that hip-flask business," responded Garry. "I've found out
+who put them in my desk, as well as those of Bill Sherwood and Rooster
+Long."
+
+"You have?" and now it was the principal whose voice was eager.
+
+Mr. Allen had never felt easy in his mind over the penalty inflicted on
+the accused boys. He did not see how he could have acted other than he
+had, considering the weight of circumstantial evidence. The discipline
+of the school had to be maintained. But deep down in his heart he could
+not believe that Garry Grayson had lied to him. So his relief at a
+promised clearing up of the mystery was almost as great as that of the
+boys themselves.
+
+"Yes, sir," Garry replied to the principal's question.
+
+"Who did it?" asked Mr. Allen. "Anybody connected with the school?"
+
+Garry nodded his head.
+
+"But I wish you wouldn't ask me who they are just now, if you please,
+Mr. Allen," he said. "I don't want you to take my word for it." Here
+the principal flushed a little. "I'll let somebody else tell the story.
+Will it be all right to bring a couple of witnesses with me?"
+
+"Perfectly right," replied Mr. Allen heartily. "And I want to tell you,
+Garry, that nobody will be more delighted than I if their story clears
+you of all connection with the matter."
+
+Garry thanked the principal and was off to telephone Cal Yates. The
+latter was at home, and agreed to go out in his car, get Jake, and
+bring him along.
+
+Promptly at the appointed time, Garry and his father, together with Cal
+Yates, were gathered in Mr. Allen's office. Jake was waiting outside,
+since Cal had promised to secure from Mr. Allen a pledge that Jake's
+name would be kept out of the matter as far as possible.
+
+"Now, Garry," said Mr. Allen, as he settled down in his chair, "you
+have the floor. Bring on your witnesses."
+
+"This is the first one," said Garry, introducing Cal.
+
+The latter plunged at once into the story, telling the facts clearly
+and convincingly. Mr. Allen was visibly impressed. He put a number of
+questions, all of which were answered frankly and without the slightest
+hesitation.
+
+"Now for the other witness," he said.
+
+Then Cal told of the presence of Jake outside and of his anxiety to
+avoid publicity.
+
+Mr. Allen conferred in low tones with Mr. Grayson, and then gave the
+required promise. Jake was brought in and, with much twisting and
+squirming, confirmed Cal's story. He was an unwilling witness, and for
+that reason his statements carried the more weight.
+
+The next morning a messenger from the principal came into the junior
+class in Latin and spoke to Mr. Blythe in a whisper.
+
+"Podder and Stewart," announced the Latin teacher, "you will report at
+once to Mr. Allen in his office!"
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER XV
+
+                         A Merited Punishment
+
+
+Sandy Podder and Lent Stewart looked at each other and turned pale.
+They rose and left the room, followed by curious eyes.
+
+Mr. Allen was alone in his office. He motioned them to seats. Then he
+sat there, looking from one to the other with glances that seemed to
+bore them through. They alternately flushed and paled and fidgeted in
+their seats.
+
+"Podder and Stewart," he suddenly shot at them, "why did you put those
+hip flasks in the desks of Grayson, Long, and Sherwood?"
+
+It was like the explosion of a bomb. The guilty students jumped
+convulsively. They tried to speak, but no words came. At last Sandy
+found his voice.
+
+"Wh-wh-what do you mean, Mr. Allen?" he stammered.
+
+"You know what I mean," thundered Mr. Allen, rising to his feet and
+towering over them. "Lying is useless. I have the facts. I know the
+plot from beginning to end. Why did you put those hip flasks in the
+desks of Grayson, Long, and Sherwood? Out with it now! Out with the
+truth!"
+
+He was so sure, so positive, so unbending, that the boys' hearts
+turned to water. They quailed before those boring eyes. Their guilty
+consciences gave them no support. Lies were only broken reeds. In
+confession seemed to lie their only hope.
+
+Sandy was the first to break.
+
+"It--it was only a joke--" he stuttered.
+
+"A joke!" repeated Mr. Allen with biting scorn. "Then you did do it,
+Podder? And you too, Stewart?"
+
+The fat was in the fire now, and they nodded their heads, averting
+meeting the principal's blazing eyes.
+
+"And the bringing of the cow to the classroom, the spattering of the
+map, and the spoiling of the electric fans," continued Mr. Allen,
+pressing his advantage relentlessly. "You did that too? Come clean now!"
+
+Sandy and Lent were so wilted that they had no strength for further
+denial and nodded miserably.
+
+"We weren't the only ones, though," said Sandy, hoping he might gain
+some immunity by implicating others. "There was Chat Johns and Aleck
+Anderson."
+
+"Anderson, you say?" said Mr. Allen. "I'll deal with him. Johns is not
+a member of the school, and I have no jurisdiction over him."
+
+He sat down, wearied from the strain of his emotions, but infinitely
+relieved because of having elicited the truth. The guilty consciences
+of the culprits had been his best helpers, and he had not needed to
+bring witnesses or thrust Jake's name into the matter.
+
+"So it was a joke, was it!" he said, scathingly. "A joke to weave such
+a dastardly plot about innocent comrades! A joke to see them punished
+for something they knew nothing about! A joke to lie to me! Well, it's
+the last joke you'll play in this school. We have no place here for
+your peculiar brand of humor. Go!"
+
+They went out like whipped dogs.
+
+Later Mr. Allen sent for Anderson. He was a surly sort of fellow,
+a member of the football team, but one who had always cherished an
+envious grudge against Garry Grayson because of the sudden rise of the
+latter to football prominence. Anderson was a senior, had played for
+three years with the team, counting the current season, and had fondly
+hoped that, following the departure of Ralph Wynn, he might be chosen
+captain. To have Garry, a sophomore, placed over himself, a senior, had
+galled him to the quick.
+
+"I know everything, Anderson," Mr. Allen said to him curtly, as he
+entered the office. "Sandy Podder and Lent Stewart have confessed
+to their part and yours in planting the hip flasks in the desks of
+Grayson, Long, and Sherwood. What have you to say for yourself? Think
+well before you speak."
+
+Utterly taken aback by the suddenness of the attack, confused and
+flabbergasted, not knowing whether it were safer to deny or to tell the
+truth, Anderson kept silent, his face as pale as death.
+
+"Silence is confession," remarked Mr. Allen after a moment's pause. "Do
+you admit it?"
+
+Shamefacedly, Anderson nodded.
+
+"That will do," said Mr. Allen. "You may go."
+
+Ever since the conference of the day before Garry had been besieged by
+his chums to tell them what he had meant by his cryptic utterances. But
+Mr. Allen had requested him to say absolutely nothing until he gave him
+permission. So Garry perforce kept silent, despite all the baiting of
+his friends.
+
+"Can't do it, fellows," he said. "You'll hear soon enough. But look at
+my face."
+
+"Why should we have to?" snorted Rooster. "What have we done?"
+
+"Not much to look at," remarked Ted, eying Garry critically.
+
+"Do I look downhearted?" asked Garry, disregarding the gibes. "Am I
+weeping bitter tears? All I can tell you is to keep your eyes and ears
+open. Something's going to break, and you won't be sorry when it does."
+
+Following his interview with Aleck Anderson, Mr. Allen called a
+conference of his teachers at noon. At the afternoon sessions of the
+various classes the students were told that they were all to gather
+in the assembly room to hear a statement by the principal as soon as
+school work was over for the day.
+
+The pupils poured into the assembly room, buzzing like so many bees,
+agog with curiosity. But the noise subsided like magic when Mr. Allen
+came from his office and advanced to the front of the platform.
+
+"I have called you together this afternoon," he said, "to right a wrong
+and do justice."
+
+He paused for a moment and the silence was almost painful.
+
+Garry's heart gave a bound. Involuntarily his eyes swept the audience.
+Sandy Podder and Lent Stewart were nowhere to be seen.
+
+"You all know," Mr. Allen went on, "of the recent happenings that have
+taken place in Lenox High and have brought discredit on the school.
+Reports have been current of wild parties here. Hip flasks have been
+found in desks. An animal has been brought into the classroom. A wall
+map has been bespattered with ink. The electric fans have been put out
+of commission.
+
+"Such acts of vandalism could of course not be tolerated. An inquiry
+was set on foot and circumstantial evidence seemed to point to three
+boys as guilty. Those boys had always up to that time maintained a good
+record in the school. But the evidence was strong, and in addition was
+strengthened by the personal testimony of certain other pupils of the
+school. No other course seemed open to the officers of the school than
+to inflict punishment. That punishment consisted in barring them from
+all athletic activities for the remainder of the term.
+
+"I want to say to you all that that punishment was unjust. Those boys
+are innocent. Grayson, Long, and Sherwood, stand up."
+
+Garry, Rooster, and Bill rose to their feet.
+
+Instantly there was a wild outburst of cheering. Again and again it
+rose and swelled into a roar that seemed as though it would never stop.
+The boys who were nearest reached over and pounded the trio on the
+back, yelling like maniacs. All semblance of order was for the moment
+abandoned. If Garry, Bill, and Rooster ever had had any doubt as to how
+they stood with their comrades, they could have none now.
+
+Mr. Allen made no effort to subdue the outburst. He stood there
+smiling and let it run its course. Then when it had subsided he raised
+his hand for attention.
+
+"I want to tender to you boys, on behalf of the officers of the
+school," he said, addressing the three, "our heartfelt apologies for
+the wrong that was done you."
+
+Again wild cheering ensued.
+
+"Now just one word more, and it is with profound regret that I have to
+say it," went on Mr. Allen, as Garry, Bill, and Rooster, blushing but
+happy beyond all words, took their seats. "I know not only that these
+boys are innocent of the charges brought against them, but I know who
+the guilty ones are. This time there is no doubt. I have their own
+confessions.
+
+"Had they simply done these things in a spirit of mischief, without
+seeking to cast the blame on others, it would have been bad enough.
+Still, that might have been punished by suspension. But they
+deliberately plotted to involve others in misery and disgrace. For
+that, the only fit punishment is expulsion.
+
+"Podder, Stewart, and Anderson are no longer pupils of this school."
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER XVI
+
+                         A Plot in the Making
+
+
+There was a gasp of surprise and a buzzing as of innumerable bees as
+Mr. Allen uttered the last fateful words and intimated with a wave of
+the hand that assembly was dismissed.
+
+Once out of the building, Garry, Bill, and Rooster became the center
+of an excited throng of schoolmates, who congratulated them and mauled
+them as they laughingly milled about them.
+
+None were more enthusiastic than the members of the football team, who
+had been terribly depressed since the Waterloo they had received at the
+hands of Thomaston. The drubbing they had then suffered had largely
+taken the heart out of them, and all hope of another championship had
+been resigned.
+
+Nor had they been at a loss as to the reason for the defeat. Thomaston
+had been no stronger than Pawling, and yet Lenox had beaten Pawling.
+But Garry Grayson had led them in the Pawling game, and in the
+Thomaston game he had been absent. That spelled all the difference
+between victory and defeat.
+
+But their joy in Garry's vindication, which of course carried
+reinstatement on the football team along with it, was tempered somewhat
+by the loss of Aleck Anderson. Whatever his faults, he had been a
+strong player at tackle, and his dismissal from the school created a
+hole that it would be hard to fill.
+
+As for Sandy Podder and Lent Stewart, no sympathy at all was felt for
+them, except perhaps by a few of their own ilk, of whom some specimens
+were left in the school.
+
+After the tumult had subsided and most of the boys had dispersed, Mr.
+Phillips approached Garry, where he stood with a group of his friends,
+and heartily shook his hand.
+
+"I am more delighted than I can say by your vindication, Grayson, and
+yours as well, Long and Sherwood," he said. "It simply shows that in
+the long run right is bound to win. I want to say that never for a
+moment, even when things looked blackest, have I believed you guilty."
+
+"Thank you, Mr. Phillips," said Garry, while his comrades echoed him.
+"I've heard how hard you fought to lift my sentence of suspension or
+have it changed to a lighter one. Even at that, it's been pretty tough
+to be barred from athletics."
+
+"Tough on the team too," returned Mr. Phillips, with a smile. "But
+that's all in the past now. The team will take on new life now with
+you and the others back in their places. We've missed you, Long, at
+fullback. The only one who won't go back to his position is Sherwood."
+
+There was a moment of consternation at this announcement, and Bill was
+appalled.
+
+"Why, Bill's been cleared of the charges too!" put in Garry anxiously.
+
+"All the same," said Mr. Phillips soberly, though his eyes twinkled,
+"he isn't going back to his old place on the scrubs. I want him on the
+regulars."
+
+"What?" cried Bill, hardly able to believe his ears.
+
+"That's right," rejoined Mr. Phillips. "You'll take Anderson's place at
+right tackle."
+
+"Glory hallelujah!" cried Garry, fairly hugging big Bill in his delight.
+
+"Think you can fill the place, Sherwood?" asked the coach.
+
+"Gee, I'll try to, Mr. Phillips, and thanks for the chance!" replied
+Bill. "I'll work my head off, you can bet on that!"
+
+"I believe you," replied Mr. Phillips. "But we'll all have to work our
+heads off, if we win our next game with Greenfield. Those boys are
+going great guns this year, from all I hear. Be out on the field for
+practice to-morrow afternoon, and we'll do our best to redeem ourselves
+for that defeat by Thomaston."
+
+There was immense jubilation on the part of Garry and his chums after
+Mr. Phillips had left them.
+
+"Gee, but this is my lucky day!" exulted Bill. "To be freed from those
+charges and then, as if that wasn't enough, to get a place on the
+regulars!"
+
+"Was I right in saying that when the thing did break you fellows
+wouldn't be sorry?" beamed Garry.
+
+"You had the goods!" admitted Nick. "Though how you got them beats me,"
+he added. "I'm still all in a daze. Mr. Allen said that those skunks
+had confessed. But why did they confess? We know that they didn't do it
+of their own accord. They'd have lied out of it if they could. He must
+have had them so dead to rights that lying wouldn't do them any good."
+
+"That's what's been puzzling me too," put in Rooster. "You must know
+the reason, Garry. What was it?"
+
+"Yes, you had the advance information," declared Ted. "Out with it, old
+boy. Spill it!"
+
+"I can't," replied Garry. "Cross my heart and hope to die, fellows, I
+can't. It would bring others in that we've promised should be kept
+out of it. A clue was given me by a fellow that we all know. He and I
+followed it up, and the whole thing came out. It was a dead open and
+shut certainty, and Sandy and his bunch couldn't get out of it. The
+only thing I didn't know was that Anderson was mixed up in it. That
+came out later. I suppose Sandy, likely enough, peached on him with
+the hope of saving his own skin. But all that doesn't matter. The only
+thing that counts is that we've been reinstated and that bunch has got
+what was coming to them."
+
+The practice the next day was such as to fill Mr. Phillips with
+satisfaction. With Garry and Rooster back on the team it played as
+though inspired. And Bill Sherwood outdid himself at his new position.
+His tackling was savage and spectacular, and before the play was half
+over it was evident that Aleck Anderson would not be missed.
+
+The game with Greenfield was coming on apace. It was the third game on
+the Lenox schedule, and it promised to be one of the hardest ones.
+
+Thus far Lenox had played two of the five games with the teams that,
+besides themselves, constituted the High School League. They had beaten
+Pawling and been defeated by Thomaston. Greenfield was next, and then
+would follow the games with Bass Lake and Wimbledon in that order.
+
+That they could beat Bass Lake, Lenox felt reasonably certain.
+Greenfield would be a harder nut to crack. And harder yet probably
+would be the final game with Wimbledon, the team that had given Lenox
+its only defeat the year before and this year was reported to be
+stronger than ever. Wimbledon had already won both games it had played,
+and by impressive scores. So, while Lenox held none of its opponents
+cheap, it had the feeling that Wimbledon was the team it would have to
+beat if it again carried off the championship.
+
+Practice went on unremittingly under the driving force of Mr. Phillips.
+A weakness was lopped off here, a crudity there, until the team
+developed into a smoothly working, hard-fighting one that no opponent
+could beat without putting up a tremendous battle.
+
+"No more sixty-three to six scores this season!" chuckled Nick after a
+day of sparkling practice.
+
+"Not unless we're on the big end of the score," returned Garry. "I
+guess we got all the bad football out of our systems in that Thomaston
+game."
+
+"No more traitors on the team, anyway," stated Rooster.
+
+"N-no," replied Bill hesitatingly. "That is, I hope not."
+
+"What do you mean by that?" asked Garry quickly. "You hope not! Don't
+you know there aren't!"
+
+"I'm sure there are none on the regulars," replied Bill. "But I feel a
+little leary about one fellow on the scrubs."
+
+"Who is that?" demanded Garry.
+
+"Well, perhaps I ought not to say it," responded Bill. "Mind, fellows,
+this is in strict confidence. I may be all wrong. But haven't you
+noticed something a little queer about Ed Bixby at right tackle?"
+
+Garry pondered for a moment.
+
+"Not especially," he replied slowly, "except that he seems to forget
+himself sometimes and resorts to dirty football. He's roughed me a good
+deal lately when I've come in contact with him, but I laid that to his
+eagerness to win."
+
+"Maybe," admitted Bill. "As I say, I may be wrong. But what struck me
+is that he doesn't resort to those tricks except when he's up against
+you. He's all right with the other fellows, plays hard but plays fair.
+But he gives you the knee whenever he can. And when he tackles you he
+slams you to the ground as hard as he can. Looks as though he were
+trying to put you out."
+
+"I remember he slugged me yesterday," replied Garry. "But I thought he
+had lost his temper in the excitement of the game and I let it go at
+that."
+
+"By itself, it might not prove anything," replied Bill. "But he was a
+great pal of Anderson's, and several times lately I've seen Ed with
+him in the street, their heads together and both talking earnestly. Of
+course, that may mean nothing. Then again, it may mean a good deal.
+Anderson, of course, is as sore as a boil at you, and if you could be
+put out of the game it would be pie for him and the bunch he trains
+with, Sandy Podder, Lent Stewart, and Chat Johns. I just wanted to put
+a flea in your ear, old boy, so that you'd be on your guard."
+
+That afternoon on their way home Bill and Garry met Frank Sherwood,
+Bill's brother.
+
+The change in Frank since he had been cleared of the charge of theft,
+falsely brought against him by Gyp Mooney and Sandy Podder, was
+amazing. He had learned his lesson and had cut loose entirely from
+his former wild associates. He had recovered all of his old pep and
+ambition and was making remarkable advance in his studies in the
+medical school, from which he had run down to spend the week end with
+his family.
+
+"How are you, Garry?" Frank greeted him.
+
+"Fine," replied Garry as they shook hands. "I needn't ask how you are.
+You look like a million dollars."
+
+"I'm feeling fit and studying hard," smiled Frank. "I'm mighty glad to
+learn that you and Bill have got out of your trouble at the school. It
+was a dirty trick those fellows played on you, and I'm glad they got
+what was coming to them. I've no more reason to love Sandy Podder than
+you have."
+
+"I know you haven't," replied Garry, with a smile.
+
+"All the same," went on Frank, "you want to keep your eyes peeled.
+Those fellows will do you mischief if they can."
+
+"On general principles I suppose they would," replied Garry.
+
+"But I've got something more specific than general principles to go
+on," warned Frank. "I saw Sandy and a pal of his on the train by which
+I came in this morning."
+
+"You did?" returned Garry, with a quickening of interest.
+
+"Yes," replied Frank. "They got on at a way station, came in at the
+back of the car I was in, went past me and took the seat right in front
+of me. They didn't notice me, but I knew Sandy at once. I ought to know
+him," he added grimly. "But what I'm getting at is this. They got to
+talking together earnestly. I didn't pay any attention until I heard
+them speak your name, Garry. That interested me, especially as they
+were calling you all the names in the calendar."
+
+"I can imagine some of them," laughed Garry.
+
+"Swellhead was the mildest of them," stated Frank. "I put my paper up
+in front of me so if they turned around they wouldn't know who I was.
+They were talking rather low, and what with that and the rattle of the
+train I couldn't get many connected sentences. But I got enough to know
+that they were trying to put a raw deal over on you."
+
+"That's their favorite outdoor sport," said Garry dryly. "Did you get
+any dope on what it was this time?"
+
+"Not clearly," replied Frank. "But I caught certain phrases. 'Big
+bets' was one of them. 'The Wimbledon game' was another. Then there
+were 'sure thing,' 'all fixed,' 'can't lose.' And I heard the names of
+Anderson and Bixby. I don't know who they are. Do you?"
+
+Bill and Garry looked at each other significantly.
+
+"We know them," replied Bill. "Anderson was fired from Lenox High along
+with Sandy Podder and Lent Stewart. Bixby is still there."
+
+"Well, that's about all I heard," went on Frank. "But Garry's name came
+in so often that I felt sure they were cooking up something especially
+against him. I made up my mind I'd give you the tip. Those fellows are
+bad medicine."
+
+"Thanks very much, Frank," said Garry warmly. "I'll sure be on the
+watch."
+
+They changed the subject then, and after a little more conversation
+Frank went on, leaving Bill and Garry in an especially thoughtful mood.
+
+"So, maybe after all it wasn't a mare's nest that I uncovered this
+morning," remarked Bill, as they walked on.
+
+"Looks that way," admitted Garry. "There may be some one else in the
+school that'll have to be thrown overboard. Why can't fellows be
+decent? Why should there be such things as traitors?"
+
+"Why should there be such things as skunks and snakes and mosquitoes?"
+Bill answered. "But there are, just the same. We've just got to grin
+and bear them."
+
+"Not on your life!" cried Garry, clenching his fists. "We've got to
+fight them!"
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER XVII
+
+                            Facing the Foe
+
+
+That Bill Sherwood had not been wholly wrong in his suspicions seemed
+to be proved a few days later.
+
+The practice had been unusually animated, the regulars trying to
+down the scrubs by as big a score as possible and the scrubs in turn
+fighting desperately to defend their goal line.
+
+Garry had the ball, and was plunging through a hole that Bill and
+Scarsdale had made for him between right end and tackle. In doing so he
+came in contact with Bixby, who butted him full in the face with his
+head.
+
+The blow was such a savage one that Garry went down like a steer hit by
+an axe, blood pouring from his nose. For a moment he lost consciousness.
+
+Time was called while his comrades rushed to him and helped him to his
+feet. Through his dazed eyes Garry caught sight of Bixby and tried to
+get at him, but his mates restrained him.
+
+Mr. Phillips rushed out on the field while Garry was struggling to free
+himself.
+
+"What is the meaning of this?" he asked sharply of Bixby. "What kind of
+tactics are those to use on the football field?"
+
+"It was an accident," muttered Bixby. "I miscalculated when I dived for
+him."
+
+"Accident nothing!" roared Bill. "You butted him deliberately! I saw
+you! You tried to knock him out!"
+
+"Nothing of the kind," retorted Bixby, but his eyes lowered as they
+tried to meet Bill's.
+
+"Get off the field, Bixby," commanded Mr. Phillips quietly. "This isn't
+your first offense. I've noticed several times lately you've tried to
+rough Grayson, though he's said nothing about it. Selleck, you take
+Bixby's place."
+
+"Didn't think this was a game for ladies," sneered Bixby, as he slunk
+away.
+
+"It isn't," replied Mr. Phillips. "But it is a game for gentlemen, not
+rowdies. There'll be no dirty tactics on the field while I have charge
+of the Lenox High athletics. You're out of the game for the rest of the
+season."
+
+"Well," said Bill a little later, as he and Garry were strolling
+homeward, "was I right or wasn't I in that hunch of mine?"
+
+"It was a good hunch all right," agreed Garry. "That was no accident.
+I saw the look in Bixby's eyes as he charged at me. He aimed his head
+right at my face. Gee, but my nose is sore!" he added, as he tenderly
+rubbed that bruised feature. "It's half again its usual size."
+
+"Hello!" Ella greeted him as he came in that afternoon. "How handsome
+you look, Garry. If only Jane Danter could see you now she'd rave over
+you."
+
+"Never mind the looks," returned Garry, as he threw his cap on a chair.
+"And as for raving, there's always plenty of that when you're around."
+
+He could not be quite so flippant with his mother, however, who was
+rather alarmed when she saw the size to which the swelling had attained
+and insisted on his going at once to the family doctor to make sure
+that the nose was not broken.
+
+The doctor reassured him on that point, much to the relief of the whole
+family. To tell the truth, Garry himself had been greatly concerned.
+He, naturally, did not want his appearance marred by a broken nose,
+but, he reflected, if it had been broken, it would have kept him out of
+the game for the season. Was it possible, he asked himself, that Bixby
+had had that in mind when he catapulted into him?
+
+The next morning Bill complacently exhibited a pair of skinned
+knuckles.
+
+"Where did you get those?" asked Ted Dillingham interestedly.
+
+"Ask Ed Bixby," grinned Bill. "I ran across him last night, and we had
+a little argument. My knuckles are skinned and his eyes are blacked. If
+you can put two and two together, you can guess what happened. Take a
+look at him to-day in class."
+
+Selleck, who took Bixby's place on the scrubs, proved to be a capable
+player, and practice proceeded with redoubled energy right up to the
+day set for the Greenfield game.
+
+That was scheduled to take place on the Greenfield grounds, and a big
+crowd of Lenox rooters went over with their team to cheer it on to
+victory. They were enthusiastic fans, too, for the work of the team
+since Garry's return had inspired them with high hopes.
+
+Greenfield was not lacking a whit in confidence, for it had in mind the
+overwhelming defeat that Lenox had suffered at the hands of Thomaston,
+and expected to ride roughshod over the visitors.
+
+The day itself was the coldest that far of the season. Though
+mid-October, it seemed more like December. Flurries of snow fell
+fitfully at intervals throughout the morning, and a bitter wind chilled
+one to the marrow. But it would require more than cold weather to keep
+the partisans of either team from the field, and by the time the game
+began the stands were fully as crowded as usual.
+
+"That snow's a good omen," chuckled Bill. "It means that we're going to
+snow Greenfield under."
+
+"Likely enough they'd put it the other way," laughed Garry. "Old Jack
+Frost won't have much to do with this game. We've got to do the work."
+
+Jack Frost, however, had this much to do with the game, that he made
+it a running game. The gale that swept over the gridiron prevented any
+extensive attempts at forward passing, and made punting so dubious that
+it was not resorted to any oftener than necessary.
+
+"Here's where our backs come in," muttered Garry to himself, as he took
+account of the weather conditions. "They'll have to do most of the
+work."
+
+Lenox won the toss and elected to kick off. Rooster sent the ball
+whirling down the field for thirty yards. Myers got the ball and ran it
+back for three yards before Bill downed him. The game was on, with the
+ball in Greenfield's possession on its thirty-three-yard line.
+
+Risley, their left halfback, plunged through the line for a gain of
+three. Clark, their fullback, made two more between left tackle and
+end. Myers met a stone wall and was thrown back for the loss of a yard.
+With only one down left and six to go, Greenfield tried a forward pass
+which resulted in only a four-yard gain, and the ball was Lenox's on
+the Greenfield forty-one-yard line.
+
+Garry sent Rooster through for a gain of three on the right side of
+the Greenfield line. Nick tried it on the left, but was halted without
+gain. Knapp pulled off five on his next plunge between right tackle
+and end. With two to go on the fourth down Rooster bored between left
+tackle and guard for just enough to make the distance and retain the
+ball.
+
+But Garry had learned something from those downs. That was that
+Greenfield was strong on the left, where there was plenty of beef, but
+considerably weaker on the right where the trio were much lighter. And
+from that moment he commenced a vicious attack on the right, hammering
+away at it mercilessly.
+
+Down the field Lenox went until it was within nine yards of the enemy's
+goal. There Greenfield braced for a desperate resistance. But though
+they twice threw back the Lenox plungers without a gain, Garry on the
+third down took the ball himself, plunged through the line like a bull,
+with the whole Greenfield team trying to stop him, and put the ball
+over the line for the first touchdown of the game. Rooster kicked the
+goal and the score was 7 to 0 in favor of the visitors.
+
+The Lenox rooters roared their applause while the Greenfield partisans
+sat glum and silent and filled with consternation. What magic was this?
+Was this the team that Thomaston had walked all over two weeks before?
+
+But worse--from the Greenfield viewpoint--was to come. The ball had
+scarcely been put in play again before Nick picked up a fumbled
+ball, skirted the right end, and, running like a deer, with superb
+interference from Bill and Knapp, carried it over the line for another
+touchdown. Garry booted the goal for the extra point, and now Lenox was
+fourteen to the good.
+
+Only once through that period did Greenfield threaten. That was when
+Greenfield, with Clark doing most of the ball-carrying, tore through
+the Lenox forwards for three first downs and an advance from the
+Greenfield twenty-three-yard mark to the forty-one-yard line of Lenox.
+But that was as far as they got. Henderson fumbled a bad pass from
+center and lost twelve yards in consequence, and before they could get
+going again the referee's whistle signaled the end of the period.
+
+"What was it I said about Greenfield being snowed under?" gurgled Bill,
+as the weary warriors took their brief rest before again plunging into
+battle.
+
+"I don't know about being snowed under, but they're certainly whitened
+up a bit," laughed Garry. "But that may be because they started the
+game thinking we'd be too easy. They know better now, and they may take
+a brace."
+
+"I don't believe it," scoffed Rooster. "We've got 'em going. It's
+simply Lenox's day, and they haven't got a chance."
+
+It seemed as though Rooster were right, for touchdowns came thick and
+fast as soon as the second period opened. Lenox, taking the leather on
+its forty-five-yard strip after the kick-off, started in immediately on
+its line crushing operations. Again and again the backs went through
+that fatally-weak right side of the Greenfield line. A thirteen-yard
+gain by Rooster around the end and a twelve-yard smash by Knapp brought
+the ball within striking distance of the enemy goal, and then in two
+successive tries Nick carried it across. Four minutes later another
+followed, Knapp making twenty-one yards off right tackle and Garry
+streaking through the Greenfield forwards for thirty-four yards and
+falling over the line. On both occasions Bill kicked the goal.
+
+The Greenfield team was now thoroughly demoralized, and their rout
+became complete when Garry once more took it over after he had thrown
+a runner for a fifteen-yard loss and blocked a punt. Rooster failed on
+the kick for point, but a trifle like that counted for little, and the
+total score was now 34 to 0 in favor of the visitors.
+
+Greenfield had a glimmer of hope when they got one of their kick-offs
+on the Lenox eighteen-yard line after Knapp had played tag with the
+leather. But four downs failed to gain the distance and Rooster kicked
+the ball to the middle of the field, where it was when the period ended
+with the score unchanged.
+
+Mr. Phillips came to Garry as the jubilant team was resting between
+periods.
+
+"I think," he said, "that here is a chance for the substitutes to get a
+little practice in a regular game. I want to save the regulars as far
+as possible for the games yet to come. It looks as though we had the
+game won, though nothing is certain in football. But if we find that
+Greenfield is threatening, we can easily put the regulars back again
+and they'll be all the better for a little rest. What do you think?"
+
+"I guess that will be all right," assented Garry. "We can put in the
+whole scrub team, if you wish. They'll be tickled to death to have the
+chance, and it looks safe enough."
+
+"No," returned Mr. Phillips, "I don't want to go as far as that. You
+and the backs had better stay in to steady the others, but I'll put in
+an entirely new string of linesmen."
+
+So the scrubs poured in to show what they could do, determined if
+possible to show up the regulars by bettering their score.
+
+But in this they reckoned without their host. The Greenfield team,
+stung to the quick by the slur implied by putting in second-string
+men against them, braced up and played like furies. The substitutes
+found that they had their hands full in trying to hold their own. They
+did hold it, however, in the third quarter, but in the final period
+Greenfield escaped the disgrace of a whitewash by pushing one of their
+backs over for a touchdown.
+
+This, however, was as far as they got. And in the last three minutes
+of play Garry once more touched off the fireworks when he scooped up
+a fumbled ball, bolted around the right end, and came to earth only
+after he had once more planted the ball over the enemy's line, to a
+thundering chorus from the Lenox stands:
+
+    "Lenox! Lenox! Len, Len, Len!
+      Look, oh, look at that boy run!
+    Our Garry Grayson!
+      Lenox! Lenox! Len, Len, Len!"
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER XVIII
+
+                             Crooked Work
+
+
+"Well, we've redeemed ourselves," stated Garry Grayson, as, dusty and
+begrimed, he ran with his comrades for the clubhouse.
+
+"We sure have!" chortled Nick. "We stood those fellows on their heads
+good and proper. They don't know yet how it happened."
+
+It was a hilarious crowd that journeyed back to Lenox, taking with them
+metaphorical scalps to hang on their wigwam.
+
+"Did you see some of our old friends in the stands?" queried Ted.
+
+"I thought we had lots of them," replied Garry, "judging by the
+cheering."
+
+"So we did," agreed Ted. "But the friends I mean are the kind that
+would like to see you skinned alive."
+
+"Oh, you mean Sandy Podder and his pals?" replied Garry. "No, I was too
+busy playing to notice them. Of course they were rooting for Lenox," he
+added, with a grin.
+
+"Praying that you would break your leg, most likely," put in Rooster
+Long. "It was a cold day for everybody, but I imagine it must have
+been especially chilly for Sandy and his bunch. How they'd have liked
+to see us torn to bits by Greenfield!"
+
+"Too bad we couldn't oblige them, but we needed that game in our
+business," laughed Garry. "I wonder how the Pawling-Wimbledon game came
+out to-day."
+
+"Here's hoping that Pawling won!" exclaimed Rooster. "That would take
+down Wimbledon's chestiness a bit. They're already figuring on getting
+the pole for the pennant."
+
+To the Lenox team's great satisfaction, the boys learned on arriving in
+the home town that Pawling had indeed defeated Wimbledon, but by the
+close score of 10 to 9.
+
+"Must have been a pretty tough fight," commented Garry. "But one point
+is as good as fifty, as long as it's on the right side. Now we stand on
+even terms with Wimbledon with two won and one lost. It looks as though
+our game with Wimbledon will decide which school gets the flag."
+
+There was no practice the next Monday afternoon at Lenox, for Mr.
+Phillips decided that his weary warriors had well earned a rest. But he
+asked Garry to see him after the close of school.
+
+"I've been thinking, Grayson," began Mr. Phillips when they were alone
+together, "that it might be a good thing if we changed our system of
+signals."
+
+Garry looked at him in surprise.
+
+"Why, what's wrong with them?" he asked.
+
+"Nothing at all," replied Mr. Phillips. "They're about as good and
+scientific a system as can be devised. All the same, I think it might
+be a good idea to change them."
+
+"Why, of course it's just as you say, Mr. Phillips," Garry replied.
+"But don't you think it may get the fellows a little mixed? They're so
+used to the old ones now that it's come to be second nature to obey
+them. They don't need to think; it comes to them by instinct. And
+everything's been working as smooth as silk so far. They've got them
+down fine."
+
+Mr. Phillips pondered for a moment.
+
+"There's something in what you say," he conceded, "and I want to make
+sure of that Bass Lake game, so that we may be certain of meeting
+Wimbledon in the final struggle. I'll tell you what we'll do. We'll
+compromise. We'll let the old system stand until after we've played
+Bass Lake. But for Wimbledon we'll have a brand new set."
+
+Garry racked his brain to find what Mr. Phillips was driving at. He
+could see nothing but risk in the plan.
+
+"Got you guessing, has it, Grayson?" he asked, with a quizzical smile.
+"I don't wonder. On the face of it, it doesn't look so good. But you
+must believe that I have a good reason. I'll tell you just what it is
+when I get more definite information. Don't say anything to the other
+boys about this interview until I give the word."
+
+With this Garry had to be content. But he was sorely perplexed as he
+wended his way homeward, pondering on what Mr. Phillips had said.
+
+The signals they had been using had been so dinned into the players'
+heads that it had become second nature to obey them. This was as it
+should be. In a hot fight where a play had to be timed to a fraction of
+a second, there was no time to debate the meaning of a signal.
+
+If now the old ones were thrown into the discard and a new set
+substituted, he foresaw trouble and confusion. The old and the new
+would struggle for the mastery. What on earth could Mr. Phillips be
+thinking about?
+
+But there must be a reason, and a good one. Garry had implicit
+confidence in the coach. He knew he would not take this risk unless a
+greater risk threatened. What was that greater risk?
+
+It came to him in a flash!
+
+The greater risk would be if the opposing team should get to know the
+Lenox signals. Then they would be able to anticipate every play. They
+would know who was to buck the line, who was to carry the ball around
+the ends, what would be the signal for the forward pass--everything, in
+fact, that it was to the interest of Lenox that they should not know!
+
+No team, however good, could hope to stand up against a handicap like
+that. It would be beaten before it began to play.
+
+Then another thought came to Garry. Mr. Phillips had yielded very
+easily to the retention of the old signals until after the Bass Lake
+game. Then it was not that team that he was feeling uneasy about! But
+he had been adamant in his determination to change the system before
+the Wimbledon game. It was Wimbledon then that loomed big in the
+coach's thought.
+
+Had Wimbledon caught on to Lenox signals? Garry wondered. Had its
+scouts been on the watch? Garry dismissed this thought almost as soon
+as it was formed. No strangers were allowed on the Lenox grounds during
+practice, and even if one were hiding somewhere under the stands, he
+could not get near enough to the players to hear or understand the
+signals.
+
+Besides, it would have been a hideously unsportsmanlike thing to do,
+and there had never yet been any scandal of that kind in the High
+School League.
+
+Still, Mr. Phillips seemed afraid that Wimbledon had got the signals
+or might get them. But it could get them only if they were offered to
+it. And they could be offered only by those who knew them. And none
+knew them except the Lenox players, the regulars, and the scrubs.
+
+Ah! Garry started. There was the rub! Some one else did know them!
+Former players on the Lenox team knew them. Aleck Anderson knew them!
+Ed Bixby knew them!
+
+Then the story of Frank Sherwood came back to his mind. What were those
+phrases Frank had overheard? "Big bets," was one of them. "Wimbledon
+game" was another. Then there were "sure thing," "all fixed," and
+"can't lose." And the names of Anderson and Bixby had been mentioned.
+
+As all these things came back to him Garry felt sure that he had found
+the key to the puzzle. His heart burned with indignation. It would have
+done him a lot of good if he could have sought out his chums and talked
+the matter over with them. His burden would have been lighter if it
+could have been shared. But Mr. Phillips' injunction had been strict
+that he should say no word to any one until he gave permission.
+
+But after all there was a silver lining to the cloud. In some way, Mr.
+Phillips had learned something of what was in the wind. Lenox would not
+be caught unawares. A grim smile came to Garry's lips as he thought of
+the consternation of the conspirators when they should find that all
+their plans had come to nothing.
+
+After the one day of rest that Mr. Phillips had given his teams,
+practice went on hard and steadily for the Bass Lake game. Bass Lake
+was not as strong as Greenfield, and Lenox had beaten the latter by a
+decisive score. In theory, then, it ought to be easier to beat Bass
+Lake by an even larger margin.
+
+But no one knew better than Garry how deceptive were comparative
+scores. The team that played like chumps one day might play like
+champions on another. Nothing must be taken for granted in football.
+
+So by precept and example Garry drove on his team until, when the day
+came for the Bass Lake game on the Lenox grounds, his team was at the
+top of its form.
+
+It was well that it was, for Bass Lake put up a plucky and surprisingly
+good game. During most of the afternoon it provided stubborn opposition
+to the fast moving backs of the Lenox team.
+
+Lenox made a good start, Rooster galloping around the offensive in the
+first period and tearing through the line for eight yards, and then
+on a double pass making a twenty-four-yard gain around left end. This
+gallop availed little, however, as Lenox was forced to punt out. But
+when Lenox got the ball again Nick went around the left wing for twenty
+yards, and then on a beautiful forward pass, Knapp to Bill, the ball
+was carried to the Bass Lake fifteen-yard line. Tom plunged through
+for three yards, and then Garry carried it for the remaining twelve,
+scoring the first touchdown of the game. Rooster kicked the point and
+the score was 7 to 0 in favor of Lenox.
+
+After the kick-off Bass Lake braced, and the ball passed alternately
+from side to side, being in midfield when the quarter ended.
+
+Soon after the second period opened Cassidy put new cheer into the
+Bass Lake rooters by scoring a field goal from the twenty-five-yard
+line. Encouraged by this, the visitors' line stiffened and held Lenox
+scoreless through the period.
+
+In the third quarter was shown some of the prettiest line smashing of
+the game. Little forward passing was attempted, owing to the high wind
+that had arisen and made accuracy difficult.
+
+Back and forth the lines surged, each side making gains through the
+line, only to lose them when the other side got the advantage.
+
+It was nip and tuck, and the spectators in the stands were on their
+feet cheering in turn as their side seemed to have the upper hand. But
+for most of the time it was the case of an irresistible force meeting
+an immovable body, and the quarter ended with the score still 7 to 3 in
+favor of Lenox.
+
+"Not such a cinch as we expected," panted Garry, in the brief breathing
+space between quarters.
+
+"You said it!" returned Rooster. "We've got those fellows beaten, but
+they don't know it."
+
+Some time was yet to elapse before Bass Lake knew it. They fought like
+tigers for the first ten minutes of the last period, and once came
+within striking distance of the Lenox goal.
+
+But then Lenox put forth all its strength and began the march down the
+field. Spectacular line bucking and end running by Garry, Nick, and
+Rooster landed the ball on Bass Lake's sixteen-yard line. Bill went
+through for five yards and a pass from Garry to Tom netted five more.
+
+Here Lenox, however, was penalized five yards for offside play. But
+with the goal only eleven yards away, Lenox would not be denied. Nick
+went through for three. Bill tore between left end and tackle for five.
+Then, with one desperate plunge, Garry carried the ball over the line
+for the second touchdown. Nick tried for point, but the wind baffled
+him, and before the ball could again be put in play the whistle blew
+for the end of the game, and Lenox had triumphed by 13 to 3.
+
+It had been a rattling game, and Bass Lake, though beaten, was not
+disgraced. The breaks of the game had been about equally divided, and
+neither side could accuse Lady Luck of partiality. Lenox had conquered
+because it was the better team, but the margin was not much to brag
+about or to fill Lenox with over-confidence.
+
+"And now for the Wimbledon game!" cried Rooster hilariously. "That
+team's our next victim!"
+
+"Cherry pie!" predicted Bill.
+
+"People have strangled on the pits in cherry pie," warned Garry.
+
+"Wimbledon game." "Big bets." "All fixed." "Can't lose."
+
+Garry shook himself impatiently. Why did those phrases persist in
+haunting him?
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER XIX
+
+                            Weaving the Web
+
+
+Sandy Podder had a most distressing time of it, following his expulsion
+from the school. He was filled with shame and humiliation at the public
+disgrace. But far stronger than these emotions was the rage he felt at
+Garry Grayson because of the latter's vindication. Sandy had thought
+his scheme perfect. He could not see how it could slip a cog. Yet that
+it had slipped was only too evident. Now he, Sandy, was held up to
+public reprobation, while Garry was riding on the crest of the wave.
+
+He cudgeled his brain to find the reasons of his failure. Had his
+accomplices betrayed him? He dismissed this thought promptly. They
+could not double-cross him without giving themselves away. They were
+as deep in the mud as he was in the mire. All their interest lay in
+keeping the secret.
+
+Could it have been Jake? He had been so befuddled on that night at the
+roadhouse that he could not remember clearly what had happened there.
+But he had a dim recollection of boasting to Jake of what he and his
+pals were going to do to Garry Grayson. He questioned Jake, but that
+individual was blandly innocent.
+
+"I know nuddings," he said. "Vot you dink, dot I gif such a good
+customer de rinky-dink?"
+
+The atmosphere in the Podder home did not contribute to Sandy's
+comfort. His father was bitterly angry, and let no chance pass to
+remind Sandy that he was a thorn in the flesh. He threatened to make
+him go to work, a terrible threat to Sandy. His mother, too, was
+exasperated at him and took no pains to hide it.
+
+So about all the comfort that Sandy got was in consorting with his
+pals, who were in equally bad case, Lent Stewart and Aleck Anderson. On
+occasion Bixby joined them in their conferences. He was still a member
+of the school, but terribly sore at having been barred from athletics
+and thoroughly in sympathy with the trio, and his hatred of Garry was
+almost as keen.
+
+At first Aleck Anderson was inclined to be a little offish, for he had
+an idea that Sandy had dragged him in unnecessarily, which was indeed
+the fact. But Sandy falsified glibly and was backed up by Stewart.
+
+"You don't think I'd go back on an old pal, do you?" he said
+wheedlingly to Aleck. "Not on your life! Old Allen had the goods on
+all three of us, though it keeps me awake nights wondering how he got
+it."
+
+"It doesn't matter how he got it," growled Aleck, mollified and
+half-convinced by Sandy's statement and Stewart's corroboration. "The
+fact is that he got it, and I haven't any use for postmortems."
+
+"Well," said Sandy, "are we going to take it lying down?"
+
+"Might as well lie down as stand up," returned Aleck Anderson
+disconsolately. "We're licked, anyway."
+
+"Come out of your trance," counseled Sandy. "I've got a bully idea to
+get even."
+
+"I hope it's better than most of your ideas," put in Lent ungraciously.
+"The last one was a frost."
+
+"Everybody flivvers once in a while," Sandy defended himself. "I never
+noticed that you were such a much. But listen now. What would make that
+swell-headed Garry Grayson feel worse than anything else?"
+
+The others considered for a moment.
+
+"To have Lenox beaten for the championship," replied Lent Stewart.
+
+"Exactly!" agreed Sandy. "Now I've got a plan to make Lenox lose and
+make Garry Grayson as sore as a boil, and while we're about it we can
+pick up quite a pile of cash on the side."
+
+"How are you going to do it?" asked Aleck unbelievingly. "Going to
+break Garry's legs? Bixby already has tried to break his nose, but
+didn't get away with it."
+
+"No such rough stuff," replied Sandy. "I'm using my brains."
+
+Lent Stewart grunted uncomplimentarily.
+
+"That's what I said," declared Sandy, flashing a dirty look at his pal.
+"Brains! Look here. Wimbledon is the big game, isn't it? We'll leave
+out Bass Lake, for Lenox can win that with a team of cripples. But
+Wimbledon is the team that Lenox has got to beat for the championship.
+Am I right?"
+
+The others nodded assent.
+
+"Well then," went on Sandy, "the teams are pretty well matched as they
+stand. It's a toss-up as to which will win. Now suppose that Wimbledon
+got hold of Lenox's signals. What would happen then?"
+
+His companions started violently as the idea hit them.
+
+"Wimbledon would have a walkover," declared Aleck Anderson.
+
+"She'd score all the touchdowns she wanted," agreed Lent. "There'd be a
+slaughter."
+
+"Sure she would!" affirmed Sandy, proud of the impression his dastardly
+suggestion had made. "And if we put up all the money we could rake
+together on Wimbledon, we'd cop off a pile. We couldn't lose!"
+
+There was silence for a few moments, while the boys ruminated on the
+possibilities involved in the scheme.
+
+"But suppose we did offer Wimbledon the signals and they refused to
+take them?" suggested Aleck. "They might do that, you know."
+
+"Do you suppose we're going to call a mass meeting and offer them to
+Wimbledon in public?" sneered Sandy. "We'll have to sound out some one
+of the team, the one that would be likeliest to fall for it. Do you
+know any of the members of the team?"
+
+"I know them by sight, of course," replied Aleck Anderson. "But there's
+only one of them that I know well enough to talk to. I met him on my
+summer vacation. That's Bill Sykes, the captain of the team."
+
+"Captain, is he?" said Sandy quickly. "Better and better! How is he
+fixed--financially I mean?"
+
+"Poor as a church mouse," relied Anderson. "He was working as a waiter
+at the hotel where I was staying. He does some work during every
+vacation to help support himself, and even helps the janitor a bit
+around the high school during the school terms. But what has that got
+to do with it?"
+
+"It has everything to do with it!" replied Sandy jubilantly. "A few ten
+dollar bills would make him open his eyes. We could give him a slice of
+our winnings. And he needn't feel that he's doing anything wrong," the
+rascal added with specious sophistry, "for he'd only be helping his own
+school along. I tell you, Aleck, if you only put it to him right, the
+thing's as good as done!"
+
+They discussed the matter further, perfecting the details. Then they
+parted, convinced that the scheme would work.
+
+A couple of days later when they met again Aleck Anderson had a long
+face, and the other conspirators saw at once that something had
+happened.
+
+"What's the matter?" queried Sandy anxiously.
+
+"You look as though you had been to a funeral," commented Lent.
+
+"I'm afraid our cake is dough," replied Aleck, as he sat down
+disconsolately on a box in the Stewarts' garage, which was their usual
+place of meeting.
+
+"Why?" asked Sandy Podder. "Wouldn't Sykes fall for it?"
+
+"I haven't had a chance to see him yet," replied Aleck. "No, it isn't
+that. It's something that happened a little while ago when I was
+walking with Ed Bixby."
+
+"What was it?" fumed Sandy. "Get to the point. Has that boob been
+spilling the beans?"
+
+"Not on purpose; but I'm afraid he's done it just the same," explained
+Anderson. "You see it was this way. I had just met him and we were
+walking along, paying no attention to anybody. Then Bixby up and asked
+me:
+
+"'How about those signals, Aleck? Have you fixed it up with Wimbledon
+yet?'"
+
+"And just at that minute Mr. Phillips came around the corner and almost
+bumped into us!"
+
+A cry of consternation burst from the lips of his companions.
+
+"Mr. Phillips!" groaned Lent.
+
+"Did he hear what Bixby said?" asked Sandy, his face a yellowish-green.
+
+"I'm afraid he did," admitted Anderson. "He was going to speak to us,
+to say 'good afternoon' I suppose, but he stopped short with his mouth
+wide open. Then he looked at us as though we were snakes or something
+and marched on without saying a word. The game's up! We're done!"
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER XX
+
+                          In Desperate Plight
+
+
+There was a moment of panic-stricken silence as Aleck Anderson's words
+sank in. Sandy was the first to speak.
+
+"Of all the rotten fools!" he burst out. "You fellows ought to have a
+guardian."
+
+"That's enough of that," replied Aleck hotly. "Another crack like that
+and I'll give you a belt in the jaw."
+
+Sandy quailed before the threat, for he was a physical as well as a
+moral coward.
+
+"Come, come now," put in Lent soothingly. "There's no use of either one
+of you fellows going on like that. We're all in the same boat. Let's be
+sensible and cool off."
+
+"We'll have plenty of time to cool off," grumbled Aleck, resuming the
+seat from which he had risen. "In fact, that's all we've got left to
+do. We're through!"
+
+"I'm not so sure of that," vouchsafed Sandy. "In the first place, we're
+not dead sure that Phillips heard you. If he didn't, we're just where
+we were."
+
+"Don't kid yourself," relied Aleck "I know from his actions and the
+look in his eye that he heard us, all right."
+
+"Well, admit that he did," went on Sandy. "What do you suppose will be
+the first thing that he'll do?"
+
+"Change the signals, of course," affirmed Anderson. "Then the old ones
+will be no good. We'll have nothing to bargain with."
+
+"Not unless we get the new ones," said Sandy.
+
+Aleck guffawed.
+
+"Swell chance!" he said scornfully. "Do you suppose they're going to
+publish them in the town paper?"
+
+"Don't talk rot," adjured Sandy irritably. "There ought to be some way
+for us to get them on the quiet."
+
+"Ought!" sneered Aleck "You're talking like a ham sandwich. They'll
+watch over those signals like a mother over her baby. No one outside
+the team can get near the field."
+
+"Ed Bixby--" began Lent Stewart.
+
+"Ed Bixby neither," snapped Aleck "You know as well as I that he's
+barred from athletics for the season."
+
+"I wasn't thinking of the field," put in Sandy.
+
+"What were you thinking of then?" asked Aleck
+
+"The gymnasium," replied Sandy. "That's where Phillips will bring up
+the matter of the changes. Now we know how that gymnasium's laid out.
+Look here. Listen!"
+
+The three boys had their heads together for a long time after that, and
+when they separated they were in a far more cheerful mood than they had
+been an hour before.
+
+The day after the Bass Lake game, Mr. Phillips called his charges
+together in the gymnasium of the school.
+
+"You've done well, boys, in beating Bass Lake," he said. "But of course
+you've heard that Wimbledon won again yesterday, leaving you still neck
+and neck, each having three victories and one defeat. So your game with
+Wimbledon will decide the championship, as no other team has as good a
+record.
+
+"We'll lick 'em!" cried the irrepressible Rooster.
+
+"Cock-a-doodle-doo!" called a voice, and there was a general laugh.
+
+Mr. Phillips smiled.
+
+"I'd rather hear a crow than a groan," he said. "I want you to go
+into that fight determined on victory, as long as that doesn't breed
+over-confidence. Now what I called you together for to-day is something
+out of the ordinary. We're going to change our signals for the
+Wimbledon game."
+
+There was a general gasp of astonishment. The boys looked at each other
+in consternation.
+
+"Take it all back," whispered Rooster to Garry. "Wimbledon will tie us
+up in knots."
+
+"No," smiled Mr. Phillips, reading aright the glances interchanged. "I
+haven't taken leave of my senses. I know what a serious thing it is to
+adopt an entirely new system just a little while before an important
+game. But I am also sure that it would be a much more serious thing if
+we didn't. In a choice between two evils, I've had to take the lesser."
+
+Garry, of course, with his advance information, had not been taken by
+surprise like the others. But he was sorely regretful, just the same.
+He had been hoping that Mr. Phillips on reflection would see his way
+clear to retain the old signals. That he had not done so showed that
+the danger, whatever it was, was still imminent.
+
+"Now," went on the coach, "I've worked out the new system, and we'll
+run off the plays under them this afternoon. I think you'll catch on
+readily, but it will need incessant practice to get them into your
+minds so that your response will be automatic. And I want to warn you
+boys against saying a word to anybody about the change. That is vital.
+Don't even speak to any one in your own families about it, as some one
+of them might inadvertently mention it, and I wouldn't for the world
+have it get abroad. Now listen to me while I go over them."
+
+For the next half hour the coach discussed and illustrated the new
+system, going over each play again and again until he was sure the boys
+understood.
+
+"That will do for theory," he said at last. "Now we'll go out on the
+field and put them into practice."
+
+The teams swarmed out after the coach and silence reigned in the
+gymnasium.
+
+Not for long, however. Slowly, very slowly, the door of an old closet,
+used by the janitor to store odds and ends, was pushed open. A face
+appeared at the opening, and shifty eyes glanced about the deserted
+room.
+
+"All clear," came in a whisper.
+
+Two boys emerged from the closet and slipped up the stairs into a
+corridor of the school and thence through the front door into the
+street.
+
+They were Aleck Anderson and Bixby!
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER XXI
+
+                              Temptation
+
+
+When the football practice was over and the boys were on their
+way home, Garry Grayson's friends were in a ferment of wonder and
+excitement.
+
+"Now what do you know about that!" exclaimed Rooster. "Changing signals
+just before the game with Wimbledon!"
+
+"Committing suicide, if you ask me," grumbled Nick Danter.
+
+"Came like a thunder clap," declared Bill. "Knocked me all of a heap. I
+have to pinch myself to find out whether I'm dreaming."
+
+"You don't seem especially disturbed about it, Garry," said Ted, giving
+the quarterback a poke in the ribs.
+
+"I wasn't so surprised as the rest of you because Mr. Phillips had
+spoken to me before about it," replied Garry. "But I'm sure upset, just
+the same. It is going to make our work mighty hard."
+
+"You knew, and you wouldn't tell us!" exclaimed Nick. "A clam hasn't
+anything on you!"
+
+"I wanted to badly enough, but Mr. Phillips told me to keep it under my
+hat until he was ready to spring it," replied Garry.
+
+"But what on earth is the reason?" asked Rooster Long perplexedly.
+
+"There can be only one reason," answered Garry, "and that is that
+he thinks Wimbledon has our signals or may get them. So he wants to
+double-cross them."
+
+"Get our signals?" cried Bill, in astonishment. "Have they been sending
+any of their scouts around?"
+
+"I don't think so," replied Garry. "At least, I haven't noticed any
+snooping going on. No, if Wimbledon's got them, it's because somebody
+in Lenox, somebody familiar with the signals, has given or sold them to
+her."
+
+"What?" exclaimed Nick, in horror. "Do you mean to say there's any one
+connected with Lenox High who would stoop to such a dirty trick as
+that? Why, if they did, they ought--they ought to be--" Nick stuttered
+and hesitated, unable to think of any punishment he considered severe
+enough.
+
+"Sure!" agreed Garry. "And that, whatever it is, would be letting them
+off easy. I'll bet my hat, though, that something like that is the
+explanation. Mr. Phillips got next to it in some way, though I don't
+know how, and he's trying to balk the scheme."
+
+"I'll bet Sandy Podder and Lent Stewart are at the bottom of it!"
+exclaimed Bill Sherwood.
+
+"I wouldn't put it past them," said Rooster. "But they don't know the
+signals well enough to give them away. They haven't played football
+since they've been at Lenox High."
+
+"No, but some of their pals have," put in Ted. "Could it be that--" He
+stopped as though reluctant to voice his thought.
+
+"I know what name you were going to say," Bill remarked. "Aleck
+Anderson. He's as sore as a boil, I know; but I hate to think he'd do a
+thing like that."
+
+"So would I," said Garry. "But he's been with Sandy and Lent an awful
+lot of late. And you remember, Bill, that when Frank told us of the
+talk he overheard between Sandy and Lent he said they mentioned the
+names of Aleck and of Ed Bixby."
+
+"Bixby, too," mused Ted. "Is he tarred with the same brush?"
+
+"Well, we don't know," replied Garry. "And since we don't, perhaps it's
+fairer to leave their names out of it until we have something definite.
+Anyway, it doesn't matter. We've put a spoke in their wheel by changing
+the signals. The old ones aren't worth a rap now, and if Wimbledon
+relies on them, she's bound to get stung. Say, wouldn't it be a joke
+if Wimbledon decided to count on them?" he added with a chuckle. "Can't
+you see those fellows running around like chickens with their heads cut
+off, wondering what had gone wrong with the dope?"
+
+The picture conjured up was an amusing one and provoked the laughter of
+the boys. But the laughter would have been much less hearty had they
+been able to see who were in the Stewarts' garage at that moment and
+hear what was going on.
+
+Sandy and Lent had entered it early that afternoon, and for an hour or
+so had been walking the floor and biting their nails with impatience.
+
+"Do you think they'll put it over?" asked Sandy nervously.
+
+"I think likely," replied Lent reassuringly. "I think the chances are
+ten to one. Still, you never can tell. The janitor might have gone to
+that closet at any time to get some of his things. I hate to think what
+would happen to Aleck and Bixby if they were discovered there while the
+teams were in the gymnasium. What the players would do to them would be
+a plenty."
+
+A little later three taps came on the door. It was the long awaited
+signal, and Sandy unlocked the door eagerly. Aleck and Bixby came in
+breathlessly.
+
+"Well, did you get them?" asked Sandy, with feverish anxiety, as he
+locked the door again and turned toward them.
+
+"Surest thing you know!" replied Aleck, as he took a notebook from his
+breast pocket and displayed pages scrawled over with figures.
+
+"Like taking candy from a baby!" gloated Bixby. "Old Phillips never
+thought of looking in the closets before he began his talk. Gee, I was
+sweating, though, for fear he would! If he had--phew!"
+
+Sandy looked exultingly at the figures.
+
+"Sure they're right?" he asked.
+
+"Dead sure," replied Aleck. "We didn't have any trouble in hearing all
+he said. And he went over them again and again to make sure the fellows
+understood. You can gamble on it that they're correct."
+
+"Bully!" exclaimed Sandy. "Now we're all set. This time Garry Grayson
+will get all that's coming to him! Now the next thing to do is to see
+Bill Sykes."
+
+"Who's going to do it?" asked Aleck.
+
+"Why, you'd be the best one for that," replied Sandy. "You know him and
+we don't."
+
+"Then if he doesn't fall for it, I'd be left holding the bag," objected
+Aleck. "If he chose to blab, the whole blame would be laid on me. Not
+on your life! We're all in this together, and you fellows will have
+to come along. I'll introduce him to you, and you, Sandy, can do
+most of the talking. It's your scheme, and besides you can talk more
+convincingly than I can," he added.
+
+Sandy fell for the flattery and swelled up like a pouter pigeon.
+
+"All right," he agreed. "I'll get my car, and we'll go over to
+Wimbledon to-morrow afternoon. You 'phone him in the meantime, Aleck,
+and make an appointment for him to meet us at the hotel. We'll give him
+a swell supper and then we'll take him for a ride. Then we'll spring
+the thing on him and try to put it over."
+
+The next afternoon the four conspirators rode over to Wimbledon in
+Sandy's sporty car and put up at the hotel. They had to wait awhile
+for their expected guest, who arrived a little later, and somewhat
+breathlessly apologized for being late, explaining that he had had some
+work to do at the school. As they already knew from Aleck Anderson that
+he aided the janitor at times, they understood.
+
+Bill Sykes was a muscular, stocky individual, a good football player
+and captain of the eleven. That money was scarce with him, however, was
+evident from his worn and shabby coat and the trousers that were frayed
+at the bottom. It was plain that he had hard work to get along.
+
+Aleck greeted him cordially.
+
+"Hello, Bill!" he said, as they shook hands. "How's tricks?"
+
+"Oh, so-so," answered Bill. "Plenty of hard work and little to show for
+it."
+
+"A little easy work and a good deal to show for it would be better,
+would it?" laughed Aleck. "Well, perhaps we can put you in the way of
+it. I want you to meet my friends," and he introduced his companions.
+
+Sandy was especially effusive. No business, though, till after supper,
+had been the decision, so he said:
+
+"Let's go in and get a swell feed and take a little ride afterward."
+
+The supper was an especially good one, and in paying for it Sandy
+ostentatiously displayed a considerable roll of bills. This, together
+with the natty car, produced an impression on Bill Sykes, who seldom
+saw money in quantity.
+
+Following the meal they rode out on the country roads, and when they
+came to a secluded, quiet spot Sandy drew the car off the side of the
+road and stopped.
+
+"Like to make a little coin, Bill?" he asked without further preamble.
+
+"Who wouldn't!" answered Bill Sykes.
+
+"That's right," returned Sandy. "It's what we're all after. Well, I
+think I can show you how to do it and at the same time do your school
+a good turn."
+
+"Just what do you mean?" asked Sykes, puzzled.
+
+"It's this way," explained Sandy. "You want to see Wimbledon lick
+Lenox, don't you?"
+
+"Of course I do," replied Bill.
+
+"So do I," Sandy spat out venomously. "Lick the tar out of her!"
+
+"It won't be any cinch though," observed Bill.
+
+"It would be a cinch though, wouldn't it, if you knew the Lenox
+signals?"
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER XXII
+
+                          The Stolen Signals
+
+
+Bill Sykes sat up with a jerk, while Sandy and his companions watched
+him narrowly.
+
+"If we could get the Lenox signals!" he exclaimed. "Of course it would
+be a cinch. But how on earth could we get them? They hold them tighter
+than a miser grips a dollar."
+
+"I've got them right here in my pocket," replied Sandy, tapping his
+coat.
+
+"But--but--I don't understand," stammered Bill Sykes, looking from one
+to the other in a bewildered manner. "How did you get them? Why do you
+bring them to me? What's the big idea, anyway?"
+
+"Never mind how we got them," replied Sandy. "The fact is, I have them.
+And I'm offering them to you free, gratis, for nothing. As to the big
+idea, it's this. Lenox High has done us dirt. It's thrown three of us
+out just on account of a bit of a lark. It's barred another of us from
+athletics just because he roughed it a little with that boob, Garry
+Grayson. Is it any wonder we're sore? Who wouldn't be that had any
+spirit? We want to get even with the school that's treated us that way,
+and we don't know anything that would hit it harder than to have the
+team it's so proud of beaten by Wimbledon. There you have the whole
+thing."
+
+"I can see why you feel sore," said Bill slowly. "But as to my taking
+the signals, I--I don't know. It's a thing that isn't done. It doesn't
+seem sportsmanlike."
+
+"Oh, cut out that sportsmanlike stuff," counseled the tempter. "You
+want to win, don't you? You're looking out for the best interests of
+Wimbledon, aren't you? Don't be too namby-pamby. It never got any one
+anywhere. You owe it to your school to do everything you can to win.
+Lenox would do it quickly enough, if the situation were reversed."
+
+"Besides," put in Lent, "it isn't as if you yourself had deliberately
+set to work to get the signals. Some people might criticize you, if you
+did that. But when they're handed to you on a silver tray, as it were,
+you'd be just a plain fool not to take them. There's such a thing as
+standing up so straight that you fall over backward."
+
+"It would be different, too, if we were asking you to sell us
+Wimbledon's signals," put in Sandy. "Then it would be all right for you
+to refuse to hurt your own school. But we're not asking you to hurt
+Wimbledon. We're giving you a chance to help her."
+
+Seeing that his sophistry was having some effect, Sandy played his
+trump card.
+
+"Not only will you be helping your school, but you'll be helping
+yourself financially," he said. "I don't mind telling you that my
+friends and I are going to put up all the money we can rake together
+on Wimbledon to win, and we'll see that you get a good slice of all
+the cash that we pull in. To show you that I'm not bluffing--" here he
+pulled a roll of bills from his pocket and took off several--"here's
+twenty-five dollars on account. That's only a fraction of what you'll
+get, if you put this thing through."
+
+He laid the bills on Bill Sykes's lap. It was a strong temptation to
+a boy who was compelled to count every cent he spent. Bill succumbed,
+after several minutes' hesitation, compromising with his conscience
+by telling himself that, after all, he was helping his school. Sandy
+grinned evilly in the semi-darkness.
+
+Then followed a discussion on ways and means. Bill thought he could
+get two or three of his team to help him utilize the signals, simply
+telling them that he had happened accidentally to learn them and that
+it would be no harm to use them for Wimbledon's advantage.
+
+So it was a hilarious group of plotters that, after putting Bill Sykes
+down at his home, rode back to Lenox.
+
+"Trust little Sandy!" gloated that young fellow, as he bade his pals
+good-night. "When he starts a thing, he finishes it."
+
+In the meantime, Garry and his team, blissfully unconscious of the
+danger threatening them and confident that they had spiked the enemy's
+guns by the change of signals, were working incessantly at practice.
+And work it was, for the old signals would keep constantly obtruding
+themselves into the new.
+
+For a few days there was endless confusion, but gradually the kinks
+were straightened out, and by the end of the week the new system was
+working fairly well. Still, there was much apprehension in Garry's mind
+as to what might happen in the heat of the actual game that was now
+only a short time away. Also, his rage at the rascals whose actions had
+made all this change necessary rose at times to a white heat.
+
+The day before the game with Wimbledon was to take place Garry was
+stopped on the street by a boy whose face seemed familiar, but whom he
+could not place at the moment.
+
+"You're Garry Grayson, aren't you?" the boy asked.
+
+"Yes," replied Garry. "And you--oh, I know now who you are! You're Joe
+Brench, quarterback of the Wimbledon team. I played against you last
+year. Friendly enemies?" he added, with a grin.
+
+"Yes," replied Joe, with an answering smile. "And I suppose we'll play
+against each other again to-morrow. It was that, in fact, I came over
+to see you about."
+
+"Is that so?" asked Garry guardedly. "What's up? Going to call the game
+off or anything?"
+
+"No, not that," replied Joe. "It was--it was--Oh, I hardly know how
+to begin. Look here, Grayson!" He braced and spoke decidedly. "I want
+Wimbledon to beat the life out of Lenox to-morrow. But I want it to be
+done fairly and squarely--on the level. I--"
+
+"Look out!" yelled Garry.
+
+Down the hill at the foot of which the boys were standing came plunging
+a runaway automobile. The boys had been so engrossed in their talk that
+they did not notice it until it was nearly upon them.
+
+Joe Brench was standing squarely in its path. Like a flash Garry
+grabbed him and pulled him partly out of the way. Not far enough,
+however, for the car struck Joe's legs and threw him violently to the
+ground.
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER XXIII
+
+                           Almost a Tragedy
+
+
+The shock of the blow from the runaway car was so great that Joe Brench
+was rendered unconscious. If Garry had not acted as swiftly as he had,
+there was little doubt that the boy would have been instantly killed.
+
+A crowd was already following the car, and in response to Garry's
+shouts others came running from all directions. Some one called up the
+hospital, and in a few minutes an ambulance came tearing up.
+
+The surgeon knelt down and examined the injured boy, whose head Garry
+was holding on his knee.
+
+"Leg broken and a bad gash in the head, received when he fell," he
+announced after a moment. "Don't think the skull is fractured though.
+Can't tell yet whether he has any internal injuries. We'll get him to
+the hospital at once."
+
+He administered what immediate aid was necessary, and then, with the
+help of the bystanders, got the boy into the ambulance and was off.
+
+The car in its wild gyrations had come up against a tree, and now lay
+in the street, almost a wreck.
+
+"Whose car is it?" asked one of the crowd.
+
+"It's Sandy Podder's," answered a small boy who had seen the car start
+on its wild journey and now came up breathless. "He left it in front of
+Bagley's store at the top of the hill while he went inside."
+
+"H'm! I'd rather it was his car than mine that hit that boy," remarked
+a bystander. "He'll have a pretty penny to pay for damages."
+
+"Damages, nothing!" snarled Sandy himself, who at that moment arrived,
+wild-eyed and pale from his run down the hill. "Some boys must have
+started the car. Could I help that? You're talking through your hat."
+
+But this was contradicted a minute later when the storekeeper himself
+came running up. He had seen the whole affair from start to finish.
+
+"Young Podder can say what he likes," the storekeeper said to a group
+that gathered about him. "No boy touched the car. It began to move
+before Sandy got ten feet away from it. It was standing on an incline,
+and it must have been that he hadn't set his brakes right. It's lucky
+Mr. Podder is rich. He'll have to shell out something before he gets
+quit of this business."
+
+The accident had been a great shock to Garry. One moment he had been
+talking to Joe, who was as vital and vigorous as himself. The next
+moment that boy had been stricken down--fatally, for all Garry knew.
+Garry's head was swimming and his nerves were in a jangle. But he
+had saved Joe from instant death, anyway. For that he was profoundly
+thankful.
+
+As Garry gradually acquired control of himself his thought recurred to
+what Joe had been saying when the accident happened. What had the boy
+meant when he spoke of his wanting to beat Lenox, but do it "fairly and
+squarely--on the level"?
+
+Had he learned that some of the Wimbledon team had the Lenox signals
+and had he revolted at the thought and determined that Lenox should
+have a fair chance to win or lose on the merits of the game it played?
+Was that the explanation of his queer errand?
+
+Garry's heart warmed toward the boy. He was square, at any rate, an
+honest foe. Of course, thought Garry to himself, Wimbledon, if it
+had any of the Lenox signals at all, had only the old ones that had
+now been discarded. Joe's errand, however well intentioned, had been
+needless. There was nothing to worry about as far as the signals were
+concerned. How lucky it was that Mr. Phillips had changed the old ones
+for the new! And how disconcerted the conspirators would be when they
+found that all their trickery had availed nothing!
+
+In the evening Garry called up the hospital and inquired about Joe
+Brench. He was infinitely relieved when he learned that the injuries,
+though serious, were not fatal. The broken leg was the principal
+damage. There appeared to be no internal injuries. The boy had been
+delirious for a time, but was now resting quietly. Yes, Garry could
+probably see him for a few minutes the next morning. But he must not
+stay long and must not say anything to excite him.
+
+So about eight o'clock the next morning Garry called at the hospital
+and was led by a nurse to the bed on which Joe Brench lay.
+
+The sick boy smiled up at Garry gratefully as the latter sat down in a
+chair at the side of the bed.
+
+"You're a bully scout," he murmured. "They tell me if you hadn't
+snatched me out of the way as quickly as you did, I'd have been killed,
+sure."
+
+"I wish I'd been able, Joe, to pull you out of the way altogether,"
+replied Garry. "But you'll be all right now, they tell me here. It's
+only a matter of patience till your leg mends."
+
+"Remember what I was saying to you when the car came along?" asked Joe.
+
+"Oh, something about the game between Wimbledon and Lenox," replied
+Garry lightly. "But let that go now. You can tell me some other time."
+
+"But some other time will be too late," replied Joe. "I want that game
+to be an honest one. And it won't be as it stands now."
+
+"Why not?" asked Garry.
+
+"Because," said Joe, "Wimbledon has got your signals. Two or three of
+the fellows are going to profit by them. They tried to get me to go
+in with them, but I put them off. But the more I thought of it the
+crookeder it seemed, and I couldn't stand for it. I want Wimbledon to
+win, but win honestly. I hate dirty football."
+
+"So do I," replied Garry. "Now, Brench," he added, with a smile, "let
+me tell you something. Those signals that Wimbledon has are old ones.
+They're no good. We've thrown them into the junk heap and have taken up
+a complete new system. So we shan't worry. It's the crooks that will
+get left."
+
+"No, no!" exclaimed Joe. "You're all wrong! They've got the new ones!"
+
+"What?" cried Garry, hardly able to believe his ears. "They can't have!
+It's impossible!"
+
+"Sure as shooting!" affirmed Joe. "Listen! I heard Bill Sykes telling
+one of the fellows about it. Those fellows who did this dirty work did
+intend to give away the old signals, but they got a tip that they were
+suspected. They guessed you'd call in the old ones and get new ones. So
+two of them hid in a closet in the gymnasium the day your coach went
+over the new signals, and they heard every word he said. They copied
+the new signals and--wait! What's your hurry?"
+
+But Garry had already bolted from the room and was going down the
+stairs four steps at a time.
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER XXIV
+
+                            Startling News
+
+
+Garry Grayson's head was in a whirl as he ran along. Surprise was one
+element in his perturbation. Anger at the scoundrelism that dogged his
+steps was another. Chagrin was there, too, at the narrow escape from
+being outwitted by the conspirators.
+
+He and his mates had been chuckling about the way Wimbledon would be
+flabbergasted when it tried to use the stolen signals, only to find
+that they were not being employed by Lenox at all. Now the laugh was
+on Lenox. It would have run its head right into the trap and gone down
+to certain defeat had it not been for Joe Brench's scorn of underhand
+methods.
+
+As fast as his legs could carry him, Garry ran for Mr. Phillips's
+house. Luckily the coach was at home, and Garry was ushered into his
+study. Mr. Phillips looked up in surprise and some alarm as the boy
+came in, flushed and breathless.
+
+"What's up, Grayson?" he asked quickly.
+
+"Enough," answered Garry, as he took the chair Mr. Phillips indicated.
+"Wimbledon has our signals--the new ones--and is planning to use them
+this afternoon!"
+
+Mr. Phillips was shaken out of his usual calm.
+
+"What?" he exclaimed. "Are you sure? Don't you mean the old ones?"
+
+"No, the new ones," repeated Garry. "The ones we've been practicing on
+the last two weeks. There's no mistake, Mr. Phillips. I got it straight
+only a few minutes ago."
+
+He then narrated his interview with Joe Brench. The coach listened
+intently, putting in a question here and there.
+
+"Of all the undiluted rascality!" he exclaimed, rising and pacing the
+floor. "Who would have believed that those fellows would go as far as
+that? It seems incredible. Why didn't I have the gymnasium searched
+before I gave you the new set of signals?
+
+"Oh, well," he went on, "what's done is done. We're lucky, anyway, to
+get the tip even at this late hour. Now let me think."
+
+He bowed his head on his hands for a few minutes while Garry watched
+him anxiously.
+
+"There's just one thing to do," pronounced Mr. Phillips at last. "We'll
+go back to the old signals."
+
+Garry started.
+
+"I suppose that is the only thing to do," he assented dubiously. "But
+of course we've been trying to forget those for the last two weeks,
+and we've got no time now to practice the old ones again. I'm afraid
+the fellows will get all mixed up."
+
+"I'm afraid so too," admitted Mr. Phillips. "But it's the only thing
+left for us to do. It would be suicide to use the new ones that
+Wimbledon knows. And we've got to remember that if our boys get
+confused, Wimbledon, too, is apt to get rattled when she finds we're
+not using the signals to which she's been tipped off. So maybe it will
+be a standoff. At any rate, it's our only chance.
+
+"Now just one thing more, Grayson. Don't say a word about this to any
+of the team. They might let it leak out inadvertently. I'll give them
+their instructions just before they go out on the field. And don't get
+too discouraged over the outlook. True, the boys have been practicing
+the new signals for the last two weeks. But, remember, they've been
+familiar with the old ones for two years, and the force of old habit
+will assert itself, if they set themselves earnestly to the work."
+
+Garry drew what comfort he could from this and hurried home to get a
+light lunch before he repaired to the field for the decisive struggle
+of the season. He was glad, anyway, that the game was to take place
+on the Lenox grounds. That ought to count for something in the home
+team's favor.
+
+Whatever apprehension he felt, he concealed under a bright exterior,
+and to all appearances was his usual confident, aggressive self as he
+chatted with his comrades in the gymnasium. Also, he had searched every
+closet before Mr. Phillips appeared on the scene.
+
+"All ready to whip Wimbledon, boys?" asked the coach cheerily.
+
+A roar of assent rang through the gymnasium. The boys were in high
+feather, and showed it.
+
+"Good!" said Mr. Phillips. "Go in and wipe up the earth with them.
+You're trained to the minute. I've never seen you in better form."
+
+He paused for a moment.
+
+"I'm going to say a thing that may surprise you," he went on, "but you
+must believe that I know what I'm doing and that it's for the best.
+We'll use the old signals in this game."
+
+There was a gasp of surprise that had in it a suggestion of panic. The
+players looked at each other in amazement.
+
+"Steady, boys," counseled the coach. "You heard me. Put the new signals
+out of your mind. Build up a blank wall between your mind and them. You
+can do it! After all, the old ones are far more familiar. They'll come
+back to you instinctively. Do as I say and you'll win. Out with you now
+on the field!"
+
+"Come along, fellows!" called Garry, and trotted out, followed by his
+more or less dazed comrades.
+
+For ten minutes they practiced falling on the ball and running through
+the old signals. Then, as the moment for the game approached, Garry
+gathered his boys together and indicated a certain point in the crowded
+stands.
+
+Their eyes followed his and rested on Sandy, Lent, Aleck Anderson, and
+Ed Bixby. The quartet was in a hilarious mood.
+
+"See those fellows?" cried Garry. "They've bet on Wimbledon. They're
+rooting for us to lose. Are you going to let them gloat over us?"
+
+"No!"
+
+Garry could have made no more timely appeal to the fighting spirit of
+his team.
+
+"All right, then," commanded their captain grimly. "Go in and wipe that
+smirk off their faces!"
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER XXV
+
+                          Going over the Top
+
+
+A tremendous crowd was present, one larger than had attended any of
+the league games that season. It looked as if all Wimbledon had come
+over to cheer on its team. And the Lenox stands were crowded with
+enthusiastic students and people of the town, the bright dresses of the
+girls adding a pretty splash of color.
+
+Before the stands the rival cheer leaders danced up and down like so
+many acrobats. A brass band played sprightly airs, that were, however,
+often drowned by the discord of cowbells, with which both sides were
+liberally equipped. The crowd was out for fun and excitement, and it
+got it within the first ten seconds of play.
+
+Wimbledon won the toss and elected to kick off. Sykes sent the ball
+whirling down the field. Garry leaped high into the air and collared
+the ball. Then, like a streak of lightning, he tore down the field,
+squirming, dodging and twisting, and before the astounded spectators
+could guess what had happened he had landed the ball behind the line
+for a touchdown.
+
+It was the most scintillating play that had occurred on the league
+grounds that season. The crowd gaped in astonishment. Then Lenox woke
+up and promptly went insane. Cowbells jangled, caps were tossed into
+the air, and the air was rent with shouts, in which the girls mingled
+their shrill treble.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"Grayson! Grayson! Grayson!"
+
+"Did you ever see such running?"
+
+"No jack-rabbit has anything on him!"
+
+"And that's my brother," murmured Ella happily to Jane Danter.
+
+Half the beauty of the play lay in its unexpectedness. The ordinary
+thing would have been to run the ball back as many yards as possible
+before being downed. But Garry had glimpsed an opening, and, with him,
+to see was to act.
+
+Nick kicked the goal, and seven points were chalked up to the credit of
+Lenox.
+
+But Wimbledon, though flustered for a moment, soon got back its nerve.
+
+"Let 'em crow!" growled Sykes to Farnum, the right half, and Chambers,
+the left half, who were in with him on the secret of the stolen
+signals. "It won't be long before we have them standing on their heads."
+
+Wimbledon got the ball on the kick-off and lined up for the scrimmage.
+Farnum tore through right end and tackle for three yards. A plunge by
+Sykes netted two more on the left. Chambers made two more between guard
+and center, but when he tried to repeat was thrown back by Walker for a
+loss, and the ball went to Lenox on downs.
+
+Big Bill Sherwood lowered his head and plunged through for five yards.
+Nick took the ball next and made three. On the next play Garry himself
+tore through for four, making their distance with a down to spare.
+
+If Wimbledon was especially strong anywhere, it was in the line, where
+they had more beef than Lenox. The ease with which the distance had
+been made was a surprise to the Wimbledon rooters, who shouted hoarse
+demands for their line to brace. It was a surprise too to Sykes and his
+confederates.
+
+But it was no surprise to Garry Grayson, who chuckled in his sleeve.
+The signals he had called had been misinterpreted by the fellows who
+were in the secret on the other side. Where they had looked for an
+attack through the left, it had been made on the right, and vice versa.
+Consequently, the Wimbledon players massed where it would do no good,
+and left their line thin at the real point of attack.
+
+But the visitors braced savagely on the next play, and for a time held
+their own. Nick and Rooster pierced the line for small gains only,
+and Knapp was forced to punt. He boomed the ball away to Ford, the
+Wimbledon quarterback. He caught the ball on his ten-yard line, but
+succeeded in running it back only three yards before he was downed hard
+by Bill Sherwood.
+
+On Wimbledon's first play there was a fumble, and Chambers fell on the
+ball on his own three-yard line. From behind his goal line he tried
+to throw a forward pass to Chambers, but it was intercepted by Tom
+Allison, who was forced out of bounds on Wimbledon's twenty-five-yard
+line.
+
+Sherwood jammed his way through the line for three yards. Nick tried to
+bore through between right end and tackle, but was thrown for the loss
+of a yard. Knapp made but two on the left of the line.
+
+With fourth down and six yards to go, Garry signaled that he himself
+would carry the next ball. On the new system that Wimbledon was relying
+on, that signal stood for a forward pass. The Wimbledon backs fell
+back in consequence to kill the play. But Garry snatched the ball the
+instant it was passed back to him, tucked it under his arm, and was off
+like a rocket around right end. He straight-armed two tacklers and sped
+to the Wimbledon three-yard line before he was downed while the stands
+shook with the cheers of the Lenox rooters.
+
+With their goal line threatened, the visitors' line stiffened and held
+Knapp in his tracks on the first down. Rooster, however, made two. And
+then, with one mad plunge, Bill Sherwood bored through for the second
+touchdown of the game. Nick missed the point for goal and the score
+stood 13 to 0 in favor of Lenox.
+
+From the stands went up a booming chant:
+
+    "Lenox! Lenox! Len, Len, Len!
+      Put the skids under Wimbledon.
+    Show those ginks that you weigh a ton.
+      Lenox! Lenox! Len, Len, Len!"
+
+In the two minutes of play that remained no more scoring was done by
+either side, and the ball was in midfield when the period ended.
+
+"I guess we're bad, eh!" grinned Rooster to Garry, as the warriors
+of both sides lay sprawled on the ground for the brief rest between
+periods.
+
+"Their fellows seem to be badly rattled," remarked Nick, in a puzzled
+way.
+
+"Haven't you fellows tumbled yet?" chuckled Garry.
+
+"Tumbled to what!" asked Bill.
+
+"I guess I'll leave that to Mr. Phillips to tell you," grinned Garry.
+"All I'm saying now is that we're having a nice little demonstration
+that honesty is the best policy. But come along, fellows. Time's up!"
+
+Wimbledon had the ball, but when it failed to gain after two line
+smashes Chambers punted to the Lenox thirty-five-yard line.
+
+Nick cut loose on a run of fifteen yards around Wimbledon's left wing.
+Here again the signals in Wimbledon's possession wrought confusion, for
+they called for a run to the right and the Wimbledon line had swung
+round to head him off. Knapp was thrown for a loss on the next play,
+and then on a deceptive right end rush, Garry squirmed through the line
+for ten yards. Rooster punted over the Wimbledon goal line and the ball
+was brought back. Wimbledon failed to penetrate the Lenox line and
+Sykes resorted again to the kicking game.
+
+It was Lenox's ball on Wimbledon's thirty-eight-yard line, and twice
+Garry, who was fighting like a tiger, jammed his way through for two
+first downs. The Lenox backs kept up a persistent attack until Nick
+planted the ball on the visitors' ten-yard line.
+
+After Tom Allison had made a brilliant attempt to skirt the enemy's
+right end, he was forced out of bounds on Wimbledon's three-yard line.
+On the next play Rooster, on a fake to jump the left end, suddenly
+whirled and threw himself between guard and tackle for a touchdown.
+Nick kicked the goal and the score was 20 to 0 in favor of the home
+team!
+
+Amid the playing of the band, the jangle of cowbells and the frenzied
+shoutings of the Lenox rooters, four very pale and dispirited
+conspirators looked at each other with panic in their eyes.
+
+Sandy, his complexion a yellowish-green, hid his head in his hands and
+groaned miserably.
+
+"Nice thing you've let us in for!" gritted Lent Stewart savagely.
+
+"We're done, and done brown!" growled Aleck Anderson.
+
+"And I've put every cent I had on Wimbledon," snarled the glowering
+Bixby.
+
+"Aw, shut up!" Sandy came back at his baiters. "I'll lose more money
+than all the rest of you put together, if Wimbledon loses. I'll be
+stony broke and in debt too, for I've borrowed from everybody. Can I
+help it if Sykes isn't taking advantage of the signals I gave him?
+What's the matter with the fellow, anyway? He's had a dead cinch, if he
+only had played it right."
+
+"It's Lenox that had the cinch," snarled Aleck Anderson. "I've been
+watching the play, and I know. Lenox has got next to your scheme and
+has gone back to its old signals. You've been double-crossed, you big
+boob! Wimbledon's up in the air. You and your smart schemes! Why,
+Garry Grayson's got more brains in his little finger than you have in
+your head, you false alarm!"
+
+After Wimbledon had kicked off and Lenox had failed to make its
+distance in the first three downs, Rooster was forced to kick and the
+ball was Wimbledon's in midfield. Ford and Chambers got away a pretty
+forward pass, and it looked as though the visitors might accomplish
+something with their overhead attack. But the Lenox defense was too
+agile and smart. After Garry had dashed around the right end of the
+visitors for a twenty-yard gain, Nick hurled a ten-yard forward pass to
+Knapp, who shot headlong through the Wimbledon line for an eight-yard
+gain and brought the ball to the enemy's ten-yard line. Sherwood gained
+three yards. Nick made a bold attempt to get round the end for a score,
+but was forced out of bounds. Then Lenox made a bluff line play, and
+Tom Allison tossed a pretty forward pass to Garry, who was behind
+the line waiting for the ball, and Garry shot through for another
+touchdown. Bill kicked the goal while the Lenox stands went crazy.
+
+Stung to desperation, Wimbledon made a stiff defense after that, and
+the period ended with the score 27 to 0 in favor of the home team!
+
+While his team had been piling up points Mr. Phillips had been coming
+to a decision. He had watched every play with the eyes of a hawk.
+
+He had hoped that on reconsideration Wimbledon, or those of the team
+who had been let into the secret of the Lenox signals, would finally
+decide to throw them into the discard and play straight, honest
+football. But as the game progressed he noted that they were depending
+upon their illegitimate knowledge, or supposed knowledge. He could tell
+by the way the Wimbledon men swayed to the right or the left at given
+signals and by the confusion that resulted when the expected play had
+not come off that they were using the code that Sandy had slipped to
+them.
+
+That they should suffer from their unsportsmanlike conduct was
+perfectly proper. Lenox was playing straight football. If Wimbledon
+tried crooked work and slipped up in the attempt, she was only getting
+what was coming to her.
+
+But Wimbledon! Ah, there was the rub! The school was not crooked. The
+coach was not crooked. Probably only two or three of the team had been
+taken into the secret. The rest of the boys were probably playing
+honest ball. It seemed too bad that they should all suffer from the
+dishonest scheme of a few.
+
+So at the first opportunity he had--the fifteen minutes' rest between
+halves--Mr. Phillips decided on an unusual but a generous thing.
+
+He sought out Adams, the Wimbledon coach, an old acquaintance with whom
+he was on the friendliest terms.
+
+"Hello, Phillips!" Adams greeted him, summoning up a wry smile. "Your
+boys are certainly putting it all over us to-day. Have you come to
+gloat over me?"
+
+"Nothing like that, Adams," said Mr. Phillips, with an answering smile
+as he grasped the other's extended hand. "Simply to give you a tip.
+You're a mighty good football man. Haven't you noticed something queer
+about the playing of some of your boys?"
+
+"Yes, I have," replied Adams soberly. "I've been trying to figure
+it out. The linesmen have been all right, but the backs have played
+like simpletons. I can't understand it. Usually, they've been my most
+dependable men."
+
+"And probably would have been to-day," replied Mr. Phillips, "if they'd
+been playing straight football."
+
+"What do you mean by that?" asked Coach Adams quickly, a frown
+beginning to gather.
+
+"Now don't go up in the air, Adams," Mr. Phillips adjured him. "I'm
+risking a sure victory in telling you this. If I kept still, we'd
+probably beat you by fifty to none. But I want to keep the game clean.
+Now here's the story," and in a few brief sentences he told the tale
+of the stealing of the signals by Sandy Podder's gang. As Mr. Adams
+listened the frown upon his brow became a thunder cloud.
+
+"It's certainly kind of you to tell me this," he said warmly, when Mr.
+Phillips had finished. "And you can bet there's going to be a shakeup
+in my team!" he added.
+
+He hurried off, and when, a few minutes later, the teams lined up
+again, Sykes, Chambers, and Farnum were missing.
+
+Now the Lenox boys found that they had their hands full. Whether the
+Wimbledon coach had told his players of the dereliction of their mates
+or had simply left them to their own suspicions, was not known by Mr.
+Phillips; but in any event the Wimbledons had been roused to a pitch of
+ferocity that for a few minutes took the players on the home team off
+their feet.
+
+Wimbledon's first play when they got the ball resulted in a
+twenty-five-yard gain by Reulbach around the Lenox left end. One
+forward pass failed, but another, Gray to Weston, gave Wimbledon a net
+gain of forty yards, bringing the ball to the Lenox eight-yard line.
+Booth smashed through for five yards. Briggs was halted in his tracks.
+But on the next try, Weston plunged through for Wimbledon's first
+touchdown of the game. Reulbach kicked the goal, and Wimbledon had
+escaped a whitewash.
+
+But it was soon evident that they were not going to be satisfied with
+that. Encouraged by the howls of their rooters--the first there had
+been any occasion for so far--the Wimbledons played like wild men.
+Three times in succession they made their distance by line smashing.
+Then Acland snatched a forward pass out of the air and by a magnificent
+run around right end crossed the line for another touchdown. The try
+for point succeeded, and Wimbledon now had fourteen points.
+
+Lenox had been resting too securely on its laurels. Its easy time in
+the first half had inspired it with over-confidence. Now it began to
+wake up and play the ball of which it was capable. The Lenox line,
+stung by Garry's furious charge that it was as full of holes as Swiss
+cheese, became a stone wall against which the Wimbledon cohorts broke
+in vain.
+
+But misfortunes--as viewed by Lenox--never come singly, for just as
+the Wimbledon flood had seemed to be stayed a break of the game came
+to their aid. Lenox had begun a march down the field that threatened
+to bring them within striking distance of the hostile goal. They had
+reached the twenty-yard line when McCarty fumbled, and Reulbach,
+pouncing on the ball like a hawk, sped like a meteor down the field
+with all the Lenox team pounding at his heels and went over the line
+for another touchdown, the third for Wimbledon in that period.
+
+The scoring for the quarter ended then and there, and until the
+referee's whistle blew the lines swayed back and forth nearly in
+midfield.
+
+It had been a notable comeback for Wimbledon, which was now only six
+points behind. It was their rooters' turn to howl, and they made the
+most of it:
+
+    "Wimbledon! Wimbledon!
+    You've got Lenox on the run.
+    Keep it up, it's lots of fun.
+    Wimbledon! Wimbledon!"
+
+Sweet music for the visiting team, but rank discord to Garry Grayson
+and his mates.
+
+"They'll be singing to a different tune before the game's over,"
+predicted Garry. "Wake up, fellows! Tear into 'em! Rip 'em up the back!"
+
+Wimbledon made frantic efforts to get an overhead attack going through
+the fourth period. Ford and Weston formed one combination which tried
+in vain, and Acland and Reulbach made another. But the alert Lenox ends
+and secondary defense were usually out-guessing the Wimbledons in the
+efforts to execute their forward passes.
+
+Finding themselves thwarted, the Wimbledon boys resorted to line
+smashing tactics. But there was no Swiss cheese element now in the
+Lenox line. Holes were few and far between, and the contest grew so
+hard and furious that both sides were penalized for roughing. It was a
+ding-dong fight that set the crowd delirious.
+
+Five minutes had passed with the elevens pushing each other back and
+forth, each resorting to the punt when rushes and forward passes
+were smeared, when suddenly a Lenox pass was intercepted by Booth,
+the big left tackle of the Wimbledons, who leaped high into the air,
+gathered the ball under his arm, and with a clear field before him ran
+thirty-two yards to a touchdown. Reulbach kicked the goal, and for the
+first time in the game Wimbledon was ahead. She had twenty-eight points
+to Lenox's twenty-seven. Only one point, but with the last quarter
+nearing its close that one point loomed up like the Rock of Gibraltar.
+
+The noise now was deafening. All semblance of sanity had disappeared
+from the Wimbledon section. The Lenox stands were wrapped in a pall of
+gloom. All sat glum and silent.
+
+But if Garry was whipped, the news had not yet reached him. His blood
+was at fighting pitch. He was like a wildcat. He tore through the
+enemy's line like a battering ram. Most of the time he carried the ball
+himself. Once he plunged through for eleven yards, pulling most of the
+Wimbledon team along with him till he was down. Another time he netted
+thirteen. Lenox had got within eighteen yards of Wimbledon's goal line
+when a fumble by Knapp gave the ball to Wimbledon. Reulbach punted out
+of danger and the work was all to be done over again.
+
+And now only four minutes of time was left! Each passing second seemed
+to tick the doom of Lenox. It was Wimbledon's ball in midfield. Twice
+Wimbledon tried to gain through the line and was thrown back for losses.
+
+Then Reulbach punted. Bill Sherwood broke through and blocked the kick.
+Garry, who was at his side, clutched the rolling pigskin as it bounded
+slightly upward and was off down the field.
+
+On he raced, with Rooster and Nick at his side to block off would-be
+tacklers. On and on with the goal beckoning him. Booth plunged toward
+him, but Garry straight-armed him, while Rooster by a superb rolling
+block disposed of Reulbach and Nick went into Weston like a load of
+brick. On and on, slipping like a ghost through all who tried to stop
+him, raced Garry Grayson, and, summoning his strength in one last
+effort, threw himself over the Wimbledon line for a touchdown!
+
+Pandemonium broke loose in the Lenox stands. Yells went up in
+thunderous volume. People hugged each other and babbled incoherently.
+Ella threw herself into Jane's arms and sobbed happily. Jane herself
+was sniveling.
+
+And four rascals sat silent with pallor on their faces and rage in
+their hearts as the chant arose:
+
+    "Lenox! Lenox! Len, Len, Len!
+    Look at her most noble son!
+    See Garry Grayson run!
+    Lenox! Lenox! Len, Len, Len!"
+
+Rooster kicked the goal and Lenox had 34 points to Wimbledon's 28, and
+a moment later the referee's whistle ended the game.
+
+Once more Lenox had won the championship of the High School League.
+Garry was deliriously happy. He had upheld the honor of Lenox High.
+That was the most important thing. Secondary was the thought that he
+had thwarted the enemies who sought to overthrow him. They were down
+and out--for the present, at least.
+
+Would they stay down? That question is answered in the next book of
+this series, entitled: "Garry Grayson Showing His Speed; or, A Daring
+Run on the Gridiron."
+
+There was a great celebration of the victory in Lenox that night,
+bonfires, speeches, snake dancing, with Garry Grayson as the central
+figure. Cal Yates was there, as snappy and debonair as ever, and with
+him was his father, who had now almost completely recovered. Both
+were warm in their congratulations. Sandy Podder, Lent Stewart, Aleck
+Anderson, and Bixby were conspicuous by their absence.
+
+The next day Garry called on Joe Brench at the hospital and was glad to
+learn that his leg was mending nicely and that he would soon be about
+again.
+
+"It was a great thing you did for me that day, Garry," said Joe
+gratefully.
+
+"It was a great thing you did for Lenox High that day," replied Garry,
+grinning happily.
+
+
+                                THE END
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+     _"The Books you like to read at the price you like to pay."_
+
+                           _This Isn't All!_
+
+
+Look on the following pages and you will find listed a few of the
+outstanding boys' and girls' books published by Grosset and Dunlap.
+All are written by well known authors and cover a wide variety of
+subjects--aviation, stories of sport and adventure, tales of humor and
+mystery--books for every mood and every taste and every pocketbook.
+
+
+_There is a Grosset & Dunlap book for every member of your family._
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+                    GARRY GRAYSON FOOTBALL STORIES
+
+                          By ELMER A. DAWSON
+
+             Illustrated. Each Volume Complete in Itself.
+
+
+Garry Grayson is a football fan, first, last, and all the time. But
+more than that, he is a wideawake American boy with a "gang" of chums
+almost as wideawake as himself.
+
+How Garry organized the first football eleven his grammar school had,
+how he later played on the High School team, and what he did on the
+Prep School gridiron and elsewhere, is told in a manner to please all
+readers and especially those interested in watching a rapid forward
+pass, a plucky tackle, or a hot run for a touchdown.
+
+Good, clean football at its best--and in addition, rattling stories of
+mystery and schoolboy rivalries.
+
+    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.
+
+    GARRY GRAYSON'S WINNING KICK; or, Battling for Honor.
+
+    GARRY GRAYSON HITTING THE LINE; or, Stanley Prep on a New Gridiron.
+
+    GARRY GRAYSON'S WINNING TOUCHDOWN; or, Putting Passmore Tech on the
+    Map.
+
+    GARRY GRAYSON'S DOUBLE SIGNALS; or, Vanquishing the Football
+    Plotters.
+
+    GARRY GRAYSON'S FORWARD PASS; or, Winning in the Final Quarter.
+
+
+                GROSSET & DUNLAP, Publishers, NEW YORK
+
+
+
+
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 76086 ***
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+      Garry Grayson's Football Rivals | Project Gutenberg
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+<body>
+<div style='text-align:center'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 76086 ***</div>
+
+<div class="figcenter x-ebookmaker-drop">
+  <img src="images/illusc.jpg" alt="">
+</div>
+
+<hr class="chap">
+
+<div class="titlepage">
+
+<h1>GARRY GRAYSON'S FOOTBALL RIVALS</h1>
+
+<p>OR</p>
+
+<h2>The Secret of the Stolen Signals</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><br>
+<span class="smcap">Walter S. Rogers</span></p>
+
+<p>NEW YORK<br>
+GROSSET &amp; DUNLAP<br>
+PUBLISHERS</p>
+
+<p>Made in the United States of America</p>
+
+<p>Copyright, 1926, by<br>
+GROSSET &amp; DUNLAP</p>
+
+<p>Garry Grayson's Football Rivals</p>
+
+</div>
+
+<hr class="chap">
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+  <img src="images/illus.jpg" alt="">
+  <div class="caption">
+    <p>GARRY TUCKED THE BALL UNDER HIS ARM AND TORE THROUGH.</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">Falling from the Skies</span></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdr">II.</td> <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_II"><span class="smcap">A Close Call</span></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdr">III.</td> <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_III"><span class="smcap">The Wounded Aviator</span></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdr">IV.</td> <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_IV"><span class="smcap">An Old Enemy</span></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdr">V.</td> <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_V"><span class="smcap">Into Empty Space</span></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdr">VI.</td> <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_VI"><span class="smcap">Getting into Swing</span></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdr">VII.</td> <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_VII"><span class="smcap">Picking the Team</span></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdr">VIII.</td> <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_VIII"><span class="smcap">Something Brewing</span></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdr">IX.</td> <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_IX"><span class="smcap">Hitting the Line</span></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdr">X.</td> <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_X"><span class="smcap">Mysterious Happenings</span></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdr">XI.</td> <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_XI"><span class="smcap">Under Suspicion</span></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdr">XII.</td> <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_XII"><span class="smcap">Out of the Game</span></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdr">XIII.</td> <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIII"><span class="smcap">Tracing the Threads</span></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdr">XIV.</td> <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIV"><span class="smcap">Brought to Book</span></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdr">XV.</td> <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_XV"><span class="smcap">A Merited Punishment</span></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdr">XVI.</td> <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVI"><span class="smcap">A Plot in the Making</span></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdr">XVII.</td> <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVII"><span class="smcap">Facing the Foe</span></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdr">XVIII.</td> <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVIII"><span class="smcap">Crooked Work</span></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdr">XIX.</td> <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIX"><span class="smcap">Weaving the Web</span></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdr">XX.</td> <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_XX"><span class="smcap">In Desperate Plight</span></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdr">XXI.</td> <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXI"><span class="smcap">Temptation</span></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdr">XXII.</td> <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXII"><span class="smcap">The Stolen Signals</span></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdr">XXIII.</td> <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXIII"><span class="smcap">Almost a Tragedy</span></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdr">XXIV.</td> <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXIV"><span class="smcap">Startling News</span></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdr">XXV.</td> <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXV"><span class="smcap">Going over the Top</span></a></td></tr>
+</table>
+
+<hr class="chap">
+
+
+<h2>GARRY GRAYSON'S FOOTBALL RIVALS</h2>
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_I">CHAPTER I</h2>
+</div>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">Falling from the Skies</span></h3>
+
+
+<p>"It won't be long now, fellows, before we get a chance at the old
+football," exulted Garry Grayson as he and his companions made their
+way through the woods about two miles from Lenox, their home town.</p>
+
+<p>"The season can't come too quickly to suit me," returned Rooster Long,
+as he avoided a spreading root that threatened to trip him. "Gee, my
+foot is fairly itching for the feel of the pigskin!"</p>
+
+<p>"And now that we're no longer lowly freshmen, we may have a look in for
+the regular team," remarked Nick Danter.</p>
+
+<p>"Here's hoping," put in big Bill Sherwood. "Of course, to be on the
+scrubs is better than nothing, but I'm good and tired of being the
+doormat for the first-string fellows."</p>
+
+<p>"I guess we all are," observed Ted Dillingham. "One thing is certain,
+anyway. They can't keep Garry off the regulars after the way he played
+in that game that won the championship for Lenox High. Gee, that was
+some football playing, I'll tell the world!"</p>
+
+<p>"It isn't a cinch for anybody," declared Garry soberly. "But so many of
+the old stars graduated in June that there'll be a good many places to
+be filled. There's Dittler, for instance—"</p>
+
+<p>"And that boy will certainly be missed!" exclaimed Nick Danter. "The
+whole backfield was built around him. When it came to bucking the line
+and skirting the ends, there wasn't a player in the High School League
+that could give him any points."</p>
+
+<p>"Right you are," agreed Garry. "The boy was a wonder. Minter, too, was
+no slouch, and they don't come any better than Payne. Both of them are
+gone, and it will be mighty hard work to fill their shoes."</p>
+
+<p>"But the biggest loss of all is Ralph Wynn," asserted Rooster Long.
+"Look at the way he ran the team. Used his brains every minute. Many's
+the game he's won by quick thinking. He had the beef, too, and the
+speed. It won't look like the same old team with the captain gone."</p>
+
+<p>"It's a blow to the school and the team," Bill acquiesced. "But that's
+all in the game. The other schools will have lost some of their stars,
+too; so in the long run things will about even up."</p>
+
+<p>"We've got one bit of luck, anyway, in having Mr. Phillips as our
+coach," put in Ted Dillingham.</p>
+
+<p>"That's right," agreed Garry heartily. "At first it looked as though he
+was going to have hard work in filling Coach Garwin's place, but the
+way Mr. Phillips brought the team through to the championship showed
+that he was there with the goods."</p>
+
+<p>"You said a mouthful that time," agreed Nick.</p>
+
+<p>"Luck for Garry that old Shrugg did the disappearing act when he did,"
+remarked Ted with a grin. "That English prof sure had it in for one
+fellow on the scrubs."</p>
+
+<p>"And all because of a muddy football!" laughed Bill Sherwood, referring
+to an unfortunate occasion when Garry Grayson, quite by accident, had
+kicked a ball heavy with mud into the face of Trompet Shrugg, thereby
+ruffling that gentleman's temper as well as bespattering his immaculate
+waistcoat.</p>
+
+<p>"Speaking of mud," put in Rooster, glancing skyward, "it sure looks as
+though we were going to have plenty of it before long. See that row of
+banked-up clouds?"</p>
+
+<p>"Just wind clouds," scoffed Garry, giving Rooster a poke in the ribs
+with a four-foot branch he had picked up from the ground.</p>
+
+<p>Rooster grabbed the end of it and a spirited tussle ensued. By the time
+Garry had succeeded in wresting the improvised weapon from his friend's
+grasp the sky was definitely overcast with heavy clouds. The prophecy
+of storm seemed about to be fulfilled.</p>
+
+<p>"Never knew it to fail just when we'd planned to catch some fish and
+have a good time," grumbled Nick Danter, as he looked disconsolately at
+his fishing rod.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, stop your grouching," counseled Rooster. "We're close to the creek
+now and we'll have plenty of time to catch a mess before it rains.
+Those clouds may blow over. Anyway, we've got a better chance to make a
+catch on a cloudy day."</p>
+
+<p>"Righto," asserted Garry. "I'm for the fish every time. A few drops of
+rain won't hurt us, anyhow."</p>
+
+<p>"It may make the wood too wet to burn, though," observed Ted
+Dillingham. "And there's no fun catching fish if you can't cook them."</p>
+
+<p>"I guess we can rake enough dry brush together for a fire," predicted
+Bill hopefully.</p>
+
+<p>"You fellows are talking as though we had a mess already," laughed
+Nick. "Perhaps we won't have a nibble."</p>
+
+<p>"We won't, eh?" scoffed Ted. "Just watch me land 'em! Say, who's got
+that can of worms?"</p>
+
+<p>Rooster Long produced that highly necessary adjunct to a fishing
+excursion, and the boys hastened their steps down the narrow woods path
+that led to the stream.</p>
+
+<p>It was by no means their first visit to the spot. The creek was an
+inlet to Bass Lake and abounded in fish that had many times had their
+numbers depleted by the young fishermen.</p>
+
+<p>"The fellows that don't catch any will have to build the fire,"
+pronounced Garry Grayson, as he got his tackle ready. "Is that a go?"</p>
+
+<p>"Seems like rubbing it in," returned Rooster, grinning. "But you can't
+bluff me. Bet I land the first one."</p>
+
+<p>"And I'll get the biggest one," predicted Ted.</p>
+
+<p>"Brag's a good dog, but Holdfast's a better," remarked Bill Sherwood,
+with a superior air, as he baited his hook.</p>
+
+<p>Nick said nothing, but his line hit the water first and was grabbed
+almost immediately by a hungry perch that the boy landed in fine style.</p>
+
+<p>"I'll let the fish do my talking for me," and he grinned tantalizingly
+as he displayed his catch.</p>
+
+<p>"If it can talk more like a fish than you do, it's pretty good,"
+Rooster came back at him.</p>
+
+<p>A few minutes later Garry landed a still bigger perch. Then Ted caught
+a catfish and Bill captured a bass. Other fish were captured from time
+to time, but luck constantly eluded Rooster Long, though several times
+he sought what he thought might be better positions for his purpose.</p>
+
+<p>At the end of twenty minutes Garry counted their catch.</p>
+
+<p>"Nine in all," he announced. "That's more than we can eat, and I'm as
+hungry as a wolf. Rooster's the goat. Come, varlet," he commanded,
+addressing that youth, "rustle us some brushwood and make a fire for
+your betters."</p>
+
+<p>Rooster picked up a fish and threw it at him, but Garry dodged and the
+fish caught Ted Dillingham square in the mouth.</p>
+
+<p>"Say!" sputtered that young lad indignantly, as he used his
+handkerchief vigorously, "why don't you hit what you aim at? Are you
+cross-eyed? Think I want my fish raw?"</p>
+
+<p>"There, there, Ted," said Garry soothingly, "you ought to be glad to
+suffer for a friend. Think of how much worse you'd have felt if it had
+hit me."</p>
+
+<p>"Not on your life I wouldn't!" grumbled Ted, still plying his
+handkerchief. "I'll smell that fish all day."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't see why," remarked Bill innocently. "It's perfectly fresh."</p>
+
+<p>"Not half as fresh as some fellows I know," retorted Ted, as he looked
+about for something to throw at his tormentors.</p>
+
+<p>But they laughingly scurried out of reach and then turned to cleaning
+the fish. By the time Rooster had the fire going, the fish were ready,
+and soon the delicious aroma whetted still further the young appetites
+that needed no sharpening.</p>
+
+<p>They had brought cocoa with them in two milk bottles and this they
+heated in an old saucepan that Garry Grayson's mother had loaned to
+them for such occasions. There were plenty of sandwiches, besides
+buttered rolls and jam. The feast was one fit for a king, the boys
+thought, as they munched fish and rolls and drank cocoa out of tin cups.</p>
+
+<p>"This is the life!" sighed Rooster Long contentedly. "And this fish,"
+with another huge bite, "sure is the berries."</p>
+
+<p>"Keep still a minute!" cried Bill Sherwood. "What's that?"</p>
+
+<p>Complete silence fell upon the group, broken only by the crackling of
+the fire. Then through the quiet came a humming sound like the whirring
+of a powerful motor.</p>
+
+<p>"It's either a car burning up the road—" began Ted.</p>
+
+<p>"Or an airplane," finished Garry. "Sounds more like one of those birds
+to me."</p>
+
+<p>"It's an airplane, all right," declared Bill. "And it sounds as though
+it were right overhead."</p>
+
+<p>The whir of the motor grew to a roar, and the boys, starting to
+their feet and staring up through the trees, saw the great man-made
+bird sweep nearly overhead, coming for a moment between them and the
+lowering sky.</p>
+
+<p>As they watched, the plane appeared to waver, then make a dart downward.</p>
+
+<p>The boys cried out in alarm.</p>
+
+<p>But in a moment the pilot seemed to have recovered control, and
+the great machine winged its way upward, engine once more purring
+rhythmically.</p>
+
+<p>"That guy's got engine trouble, all right," declared Nick Danter, with
+a shake of his head.</p>
+
+<p>"I'd sure hate to take a dip like that," remarked Rooster, filling his
+tin cup again. "Apt to scramble your brains—"</p>
+
+<p>"Providing you have any," grinned Garry. "Say, listen, old boy, sling
+over another of those rolls, will you?"</p>
+
+<p>Rooster obeyed, then turned to Bill Sherwood.</p>
+
+<p>"I've been meaning to ask you, Bill," he said, "how Frank was getting
+along."</p>
+
+<p>"Fine," replied Bill, his face beaming. "Guess the old boy has learned
+his lesson. Buckling down to his work like a dog at a bone. And home—"
+He paused, and then added with a grin: "Is once more home. Frank sure
+did upset us all for a while."</p>
+
+<p>"There's another fellow who should have learned his lesson too," put in
+Ted, his brows knitting into a scowl. "And that's Sandy Podder."</p>
+
+<p>"Not a bit of it!" declared Nick. "You'd have a hard time knocking
+anything into that guy's thick skull. He was scared for a while, of
+course, at the close squeak he had in that Gyp Mooney robbery; but
+now he's getting into his stride again. I hear all sorts of things
+about his goings on. He's got it in for you too, Garry, good and
+plenty—don't make any mistake about that."</p>
+
+<p>Garry Grayson shrugged.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm not lying awake worrying about it, you bet," he rejoined
+carelessly.</p>
+
+<p>"Just the same, what Nick says is right," said Bill, poking at the
+fire with a long stick. "It was your father, Garry, who showed him up
+in that last rough stuff he tried to pull, and you yourself got the
+information from Jerry Cox that put him on the fritz. Sandy Podder
+isn't the fellow to forget anything like that. Take it from me, he'll
+get even if he can."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, let him try it," said Garry cheerfully. "We've outwitted that
+rascal several times already, and I guess we can again, if we have to.
+But say, fellows, here comes the rain."</p>
+
+<p>A splash fell on the embers of their fire, followed by another and yet
+another.</p>
+
+<p>The boys jumped to their feet, hastily gathering up the remnants of
+their feast, their rods, and can of bait.</p>
+
+<p>"Guess we'll have to run for it," conjectured Rooster. "From the look
+of the sky it'll soon be coming down in bucketfuls."</p>
+
+<p>"How about Peeble's cabin?" Nick suggested, referring to a tumbledown
+hut in the woods whose former owner had long since passed into the
+great beyond, leaving his earthly habitat to the mercy of wind and
+storm.</p>
+
+<p>Poor as it was, it would yet afford some shelter from the rain, and, as
+soon as they had looked to the remnants of their fire, the boys turned
+their steps toward it.</p>
+
+<p>They had barely reached it and slammed the rickety door to behind them
+when the storm broke in fury, dashing upon the leaky roof and beating
+at the dirty, cracked windows.</p>
+
+<p>Through the largest hole in the roof, the rain was beginning to drip
+in an ever-increasing stream.</p>
+
+<p>"Hey, there's a shower bath for you, Garry!" cried Rooster, and held
+his chum beneath the trickle.</p>
+
+<p>Garry dodged the unwelcome shower and in retaliation grabbed Rooster
+and held him beneath the stream, which coursed chillingly down the
+hapless Rooster's back.</p>
+
+<p>Rooster howled, and with a convulsive effort freed himself from Garry's
+grasp, at the same time butting his head against the ribs of his
+adversary.</p>
+
+<p>In the laughing scrimmage, both boys went down and rolled over and over
+on the rotting floor of the cabin, to the huge delight of their chums.</p>
+
+<p>"Soak him, Garry!"</p>
+
+<p>"Attaboy, Rooster!"</p>
+
+<p>"Go to, you fel—"</p>
+
+<p>The words were interrupted by a rending crash, and the next moment it
+seemed as though the universe had come down about their ears!</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 Close Call</span></h3>
+
+
+<p>Borne down to the floor, blinded, dazed, the boys lay half buried
+beneath the wreckage, the rain beating down upon them, soaking them
+through and through.</p>
+
+<p>What had happened? What was it that had come crashing down upon them
+from the sky, bringing destruction in its wake?</p>
+
+<p>This question Garry Grayson asked himself confusedly as he rubbed his
+bruised head and tried painfully to extricate himself from the mass of
+wreckage.</p>
+
+<p>He pulled one leg from beneath some boards and found with relief that
+he could move it. Encouraged by the test, he tried the other one.</p>
+
+<p>"Nothing broken," he muttered. Then, his head clearing, he looked
+around him fearfully for his companions.</p>
+
+<p>Rooster and Nick were emerging slowly, bewilderedly, from a pile of
+wreckage. Bill was sitting on the floor, head buried in his arms, so
+dazed that he did not know what was going on around him.</p>
+
+<p>All this Garry took in at a glance. And he saw also what it was that
+had crashed down upon them from the sky, almost completely demolishing
+Peeble's little cabin.</p>
+
+<p>For an airplane, or what remained of one, was perched upon the
+wreckage, its damaged wings half supported by the tough, bending boughs
+of trees on either side of the ruined hut.</p>
+
+<p>Garry looked about him for the pilot, and saw at some distance a
+pitiful, huddled figure that showed no signs of life.</p>
+
+<p>He staggered to his feet and was about to go to the aid of the
+unfortunate fellow when a horrible thought stopped him.</p>
+
+<p>Rooster and Nick were safe. Bill was rubbing his head as though his
+addled brains were getting ready to function again.</p>
+
+<p>But Ted Dillingham! Where was Ted?</p>
+
+<p>He was nowhere in sight. Garry rushed forward to a place where the
+timbers lay thickest, imagining Ted crushed, mangled, perhaps dead.
+Even as he did so, there came an explosion, and a darting, red flame
+shot out beneath the battered body of the airplane.</p>
+
+<p>Fire! And somewhere beneath the wreckage lay Ted at the mercy of the
+flames!</p>
+
+<p>Garry yelled hoarsely to his befuddled companions.</p>
+
+<p>"Ted is under there somewhere!" he cried. "Come on, boys! Work fast!
+We've got to get him out!"</p>
+
+<p>His chums' heads cleared like magic, and the boys worked with feverish
+haste while the fire crept ever closer. They called Ted's name over and
+over again as they tore at the rough boards, searching for him.</p>
+
+<p>At last came a faint answer, and their efforts were redoubled. At last
+they found Ted, pinned helplessly beneath a pile of boards, only his
+head visible!</p>
+
+<p>"Hurry, fellows, hurry!" cried Garry in agony. "Quick, before the fire
+gets at him!"</p>
+
+<p>Garry Grayson, now fourteen years old, had been born and brought up in
+Lenox, a thriving town with a population of about fifteen thousand.
+His father was Joseph S. Grayson, a prominent lawyer of the town and a
+leader in all its civic activities. Mrs. Grayson was a sweet, wholesome
+woman, intensely proud of her son Garry and his twin sister, Ella, a
+merry, pretty girl, whose chief delight was in teasing her brother, of
+whom, however, she was extremely fond. The family lived in a handsome
+home at the corner of Hill and Maple Streets in a choice residential
+section of Lenox.</p>
+
+<p>Garry was strong and well built for his age, and a natural leader in
+all boyish sports, especially football, of which he was an ardent
+devotee. He had a frank, sunny face and a manly, straightforward
+disposition. Chief among his friends were Nick Danter and Ted
+Dillingham, whose respective fathers were partners in the largest
+department store in Lenox, Rooster Long and Bill Sherwood. They had
+been drawn together by mutual liking, and this friendship had been
+further cemented by the interest that all took in the game of football.</p>
+
+<p>But if Garry had many warm friends, he also had some enemies, of whom
+the principal one was Sandy Podder, a loose-principled, dissipated
+youth somewhat older than Garry and his chums, with whom Garry had
+frequently come in conflict, due to Sandy's low tricks and scheming. To
+these were added Chat Johns and Bud Warding, bullies of the same stripe
+who had been in Garry's class at the Hill Street Grammar School. Later
+came Lent Stewart, son of a rich broker, who, despite the fact that
+Garry had once saved him from drowning, was unfriendly and found in
+Sandy Podder a congenial pal and abettor of his plans.</p>
+
+<p>How Garry's enthusiasm for football prompted him to organize a team
+in his grammar school; the trials and tribulations of the eleven as
+it was gradually licked into shape; how Garry thwarted the plans of
+Sandy Podder and some traitors in his own school; what difficulties
+he met and what obstacles he surmounted before he led his team to
+victory over the other grammar schools of the town—all these and other
+adventures are narrated in the first volume of this series entitled:
+"Garry Grayson's Hill Street Eleven; or, The Football Boys of Lenox."</p>
+
+<p>The next fall Garry entered the Lenox high school, accompanied by Nick,
+Ted, Rooster and Bill. Here they found themselves bucking against the
+tradition that no freshman could be permitted to play on the regular
+football team. They did get places, however, on the scrubs, and gave
+the regulars all they could do to hold their own.</p>
+
+<p>Sickness depleted the Lenox High regular team. That gave Garry his
+chance, and how his wonderful playing helped Lenox to the championship
+of the High School League is fully told in the second book of the
+series, entitled: "Garry Grayson at Lenox High; or, The Champions of
+the Football League."</p>
+
+<p>Now to return to the frantic boys as they tossed the boards aside to
+free their imprisoned comrade while the flames crept ever nearer.</p>
+
+<p>"Buck up, Ted, old boy," Garry cried cheerfully. "We'll have you out of
+there now in a jiffy."</p>
+
+<p>"I know you will," replied Ted gamely in a tone of confidence that he
+was far from feeling.</p>
+
+<p>Now the rain, at which they had so grumbled a little while before, did
+them a good turn. Under the torrents that were by this time falling,
+the hastening fire began to relax some of its speed. It was this alone
+that made it possible for them at last to drag their comrade from under
+the last of the boards and carry him out into the open air. And never
+was the cool air so sweet as at that moment!</p>
+
+<p>"Are you hurt anywhere, Ted?" asked Garry anxiously, as they propped
+the lad up against a tree.</p>
+
+<p>"N-no, I guess not," gasped Ted, trying hard to summon up a smile.</p>
+
+<p>Garry ran his hands over Ted's arms and legs and was infinitely
+relieved to find that no bones were broken.</p>
+
+<p>"You see some of the boards formed a sort of tent over me so that I
+didn't get the full weight of the timbers," explained Ted.</p>
+
+<p>"He's all right, fellows. We'll leave him here till he gets his breath
+back while we go and look after the pilot," announced Garry.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm going too!" exclaimed Ted, seeing for the first time the still
+figure of the pilot. But an attempt to get to his feet showed him that
+first he must get a little rest and regain his strength, for his had
+been no light experience.</p>
+
+<p>The others hurried over to the limp form of the aviator. He lay in a
+crumpled heap, and as the boys bent over him they feared for a moment
+that the worst had happened; that he was dead.</p>
+
+<p>Big Bill Sherwood turned him over on his back, pulled open his leathern
+jacket, and slipped a hand within his shirt. The boys looked on with
+hearts stirring with fear and pity.</p>
+
+<p>Slowly a relieved smile stole over Bill's face.</p>
+
+<p>"I can feel his heart thumping," he said. "The poor fellow's a long way
+from being dead yet."</p>
+
+<p>As though to prove the truth of the statement, the man opened his
+eyes and stared vacantly around him. Then he sat up suddenly, freeing
+himself from Bill's supporting arm.</p>
+
+<p>"The wires!" he cried, wildly. "One is broken. I must fix it, quick!
+Quick!" Then with a groan: "Too late! Too late!" He was evidently
+recalling the fearful moment of the plunge. "She's falling! Those
+trees! How close they are! The trees!"</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 Wounded Aviator</span></h3>
+
+
+<p>The man's words died off into silence, and the black sea of
+unconsciousness again surged up to meet him.</p>
+
+<p>"Can it be that he's dead?" asked Rooster Long in an agitated voice, as
+he and his companions stared down upon the white, set face of the pilot.</p>
+
+<p>"Chafe his hands and wrists," directed Garry, and he himself set the
+example.</p>
+
+<p>There in the pouring rain, themselves aching because of their bruises,
+the boys worked over the stranger until they were finally rewarded by
+signs of returning consciousness. Ted, having regained some of his own
+strength, now joined his companions in doing what they could for the
+aviator.</p>
+
+<p>The man opened his eyes and a glimmer of understanding came into them.
+He tried to sit up, but fell back with a groan.</p>
+
+<p>"Who are you?" he asked the boys.</p>
+
+<p>"We were in the hut when your airplane landed on it," Nick Danter
+replied. "There isn't much left now of hut or airplane either," he
+added.</p>
+
+<p>The aviator pressed a hand to his aching head.</p>
+
+<p>"Was any one badly hurt?" he asked.</p>
+
+<p>"Only yourself, except for a few bruises we got," replied Garry. "You
+certainly got the worst of it."</p>
+
+<p>The stranger nodded and smiled with an air of relief.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm lucky to be alive at all after that nose dive," he said, his face
+clouding as he looked toward the wrecked plane.</p>
+
+<p>"How did it happen?" asked Rooster eagerly.</p>
+
+<p>"If you will prop me up against that tree—thanks, that's much better.
+Why," turning to Rooster, "I hardly know how it happened myself, young
+fellow. I had been having engine trouble for some time, then two of the
+wire struts broke. That's about all I remember just now."</p>
+
+<p>"You flew over here just a little while ago, didn't you? Isn't yours a
+mail plane?" asked Ted.</p>
+
+<p>The aviator nodded.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, to both questions," he replied. "I turned back finally, intending
+to land at the airdrome over in Wimbledon and overhaul the engine. Then
+the storm caught me, there was too much strain on the gear, some of
+the wires gave way, and—here I am. Sorry I had to involve you in my
+misfortunes, though," he added, looking more closely at the boys. "Are
+you sure you're not badly hurt?"</p>
+
+<p>"We're all here and can speak for ourselves," replied Garry. "We're
+none the worse except for bruises. Do you feel better now?" he asked
+anxiously, as the spasm of pain crossed the face of the aviator.</p>
+
+<p>"The trees broke my fall. I guess I'm all right except my legs. One of
+them hurts pretty badly. If you will help me get up—"</p>
+
+<p>The boys sprang to him. Garry and Bill between them helped him to his
+feet. He leaned heavily upon his young assistants, and a groan forced
+its way between his clenched teeth.</p>
+
+<p>"My left leg is useless, I'm afraid," he said. "I can't bear my weight
+upon it."</p>
+
+<p>"We'll have to get a car to take you into town," said Garry. "I'll go
+to the nearest farmhouse and telephone for a doctor."</p>
+
+<p>"Wait a minute," called the aviator, as Garry turned away. "My boy is
+staying with friends not far from here. If you will call up the house
+of these people, my son will come for me with his car."</p>
+
+<p>"Good!" replied Garry. "And now what's the number?"</p>
+
+<p>"Milford 7085. Ask for Cal Yates. I'm Ross Yates," he added, with a
+faint smile, as the boys gently lowered him to the ground again, "World
+War aviator, at your service."</p>
+
+<p>Rooster went with Garry, the two plodding through the driving rain to
+the nearest house, which was fully half a mile away. There they got
+permission to use the phone, called the number given by the aviator,
+and were lucky enough to find Cal Yates in.</p>
+
+<p>The latter was frankly alarmed, even when Garry assured him that there
+did not seem to be anything serious the matter with his father.</p>
+
+<p>"Tell dad I'll step on the gas and get there in breakneck time," said
+young Yates. "Thank you for calling me. See you later. S'long."</p>
+
+<p>The receiver slammed up on the hook. Garry grinned at Rooster.</p>
+
+<p>"Cal Yates is on his way. A speed boy, or I miss my guess," he hazarded.</p>
+
+<p>"He can't be too speedy, either for his father's sake or ours,"
+returned Rooster.</p>
+
+<p>Cal Yates justified Garry's opinion of his speediness by appearing at
+the scene of the accident in an incredibly short time after receiving
+the telephone message.</p>
+
+<p>He arrived in a low-slung racing car, painted a light blue and adorned
+with a gold stripe. The seat and steering wheel were so low that the
+driver had fairly to lie on his back as he guided the car along.</p>
+
+<p>Despite the gaudiness of the car and the boy's own air of
+sophistication, Cal seemed to be a likable young fellow and the boys
+took to him at once.</p>
+
+<p>He brought his car to a sudden standstill as the boys hailed him from
+the side of the road. He wriggled clear of the imprisoning steering
+wheel and approached them eagerly.</p>
+
+<p>"I say, dad isn't badly hurt, is he?" he asked with great anxiety. "You
+weren't trying just to let me down easy?"</p>
+
+<p>"Not a bit of it," Garry assured him. "Come along and see for yourself."</p>
+
+<p>Cal Yates followed, and they led him to the spot where his father lay.
+The latter was much stronger now and greeted his son jovially.</p>
+
+<p>"Ahoy there, shipmate!" he called. "The old ship ran afoul of a rock,
+but the captain's far from being a dead one yet. Don't look so stirred
+up, son," as he saw tears mist the lad's eyes. "Except for something
+the matter with my left leg, I'm as good as ever."</p>
+
+<p>"Say, Pater, but you gave me a scare!" The young fellow knelt beside
+his father, feeling him over to see that no bones were broken. "What
+ever made you do a nose dive, anyway? Didn't know you went in for such
+things.</p>
+
+<p>"Dad was an ace in the World War, you know," Cal went on, turning to
+the boys, "and what he did to the enemy was a sin and a shame! Shot
+down about thirty planes—didn't you, Pater?—to say nothing of those
+that fell in the enemy's lines. As a matter of fact," he added with a
+quizzical smile, "dad won the war, though he's so modest he doesn't
+want to tell people about it."</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Yates laughed, inadvertently moved his leg and groaned. Instantly
+his son was all penitent concern.</p>
+
+<p>"Here I go, blabbing my fool head off when I ought to have you in the
+car by this time. Where do we go from here, Dad? To the doctor's?
+There's a good one near where I'm staying."</p>
+
+<p>"There's a fine hospital in Lenox, if you want to take him there,"
+suggested Garry.</p>
+
+<p>"Thanks. But I guess I'd better go right to the house where Cal's
+staying," replied the aviator. "They're relatives of mine, and I can
+have the doctor see me there. I imagine it wouldn't do any harm for you
+boys to have the doctor look you over, too."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, we're all right," Bill Sherwood hastened to assure him.</p>
+
+<p>"A good night's rest, and we'll be as fine as silk to-morrow morning,"
+added Nick.</p>
+
+<p>Up to this time Cal Yates had appeared to have eyes only for his
+father. Now he regarded the boys with interest.</p>
+
+<p>"Were you in the big smash-up too?" he asked.</p>
+
+<p>For answer the boys led him to the plane atop the ruined hut, and told
+him briefly what had happened.</p>
+
+<p>"Wriggling snakes! It's a wonder you weren't all squashed to a jelly,"
+cried Cal. "You came within an ace of going into kingdom come, I'll
+tell the world!"</p>
+
+<p>Although the boy was eager to get his father away and under the
+doctor's care, Mr. Yates insisted that they should give him some
+description of the injuries to the plane. They looked over it carefully.</p>
+
+<p>"How about it?" called Mr. Yates. "Does it seem as though there were
+any use in salvaging it? Or is it ready for the junk heap?"</p>
+
+<p>"Of course it's pretty badly battered, but it looks to me as though it
+were worth repairing," stated Garry.</p>
+
+<p>"Sure thing, Dad," said Cal Yates airily. "With a new body, a couple of
+wings and a patch or two on the engine, the old boat ought to be almost
+as good as ever. And the mail bags are safe, all right. But you're the
+one to be salvaged first. Hold hard, and we'll have you in the car in a
+jiffy."</p>
+
+<p>So saying, he and Bill Sherwood crossed hands to form a seat, and the
+other boys helped the injured man into this improvised litter.</p>
+
+<p>But the journey to the road and the car was a slow and painful one.
+When finally Mr. Yates, pale-faced and grim-lipped, was placed in the
+seat beside his son, the latter turned to the boys.</p>
+
+<p>"Cram yourselves on the old bus some way," he said. "The place I'm
+staying is between here and the town, and I can give you a lift that
+far, anyway. I'll have to drive slowly on account of poor dad, so there
+won't be any danger of your getting jolted off. All ready? All right.
+Let's go!"</p>
+
+<p>With the boys on the running boards, Cal started the motor of his
+flashy car, swung it in the right direction, and drove carefully along
+the road toward town.</p>
+
+<p>On the way he kept up a running fire of light chatter, more, as the
+boys thought, to distract his father's attention from the pain he
+suffered than from a desire for conversation.</p>
+
+<p>"Had a sort of smash-up myself this morning," he volunteered. "A guy
+with sandy hair and the meanest eyes I ever saw ran into me full tilt
+and then had the nerve to say I did it. His name I found out is Sandy
+Podder. Know him?"</p>
+
+<p>"Do we?" chuckled Ted. "I'll say we do!"</p>
+
+<p>"Well, I was going along nice and easy—no more than fifty-five or
+sixty, I should say," resumed Cal, "when this guy came dashing around
+a curve of the road right at me. We both swerved and turned quickly so
+that only our mudguards were bent. But it was a close call, and I have
+it in for that Podder chap, believe me!"</p>
+
+<p>The Lenox boys exchanged glances.</p>
+
+<p>"Any time you need any help, let us know," Garry suggested, and Cal
+Yates laughed.</p>
+
+<p>"You're on," he said. "I only wish I'd had you along this morning for
+witnesses. I could prove that Podder was on the wrong side of the road
+anyway and make him pay for a new mudguard. As it is," gloomily, "it's
+only my word against his, and that wouldn't go far in a court of law."</p>
+
+<p>By this time they had almost reached the house that was Cal's
+destination. Rooster suddenly tapped Cal on the shoulder and pointed
+toward a car that had just turned a corner and was sweeping down toward
+them.</p>
+
+<p>"Speaking of skunks," he grinned, "there's Sandy Podder now!"</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 Old Enemy</span></h3>
+
+
+<p>Sandy Podder was the last person Garry and his chums cared to see at
+that moment, torn and ragged as they were from their experience in the
+hut and with their muddy clothes hanging on them soddenly.</p>
+
+<p>But Sandy saw them and did not miss the opportunity of jeering at them.
+He purposely passed so close to Cal's car as to splash more mud on them
+and narrowly missed sweeping them from the running board. So slender
+was the margin that Cal was forced partly to climb the grassy bank on
+the farther side of the road to prevent being run down.</p>
+
+<p>Yates shook his fist wrathfully after the disappearing car. He turned
+and saw that the sudden swerve he had been forced to make had almost
+thrown his father from his seat. The jolt had meant agony for the
+wounded man. Cal Yates muttered furiously beneath his breath as he
+stopped the car and helped his father to a more comfortable position.</p>
+
+<p>"If it wasn't for you, Dad," he exclaimed, "I'd beat it back after
+that skunk and whale him within an inch of his life! After I've got you
+fixed, I'll do it, too! See if I don't!"</p>
+
+<p>They reached the house, and the boys helped carry the wounded man
+inside, where he was received with the tenderest consideration and
+the doctor phoned for at once. Then the Lenox boys left, followed by
+repeated thanks, promising to call soon to see how the wounded aviator
+was getting along.</p>
+
+<p>"We're sort of brothers-in-arms now," grinned Cal, as he bade the other
+boys good-bye. "United for the downfall of one Sandy Podder. See you
+again soon. S'long."</p>
+
+<p>At the Grayson house the chums parted. They were sore and bruised,
+eager for rest and a change to dry clothing.</p>
+
+<p>"Meet you in the practice lot to-morrow, fellows," Garry called at
+parting. "We'll need to get in some good practice, or Mr. Phillips
+won't be able to see us with a telescope when it comes to making up the
+team."</p>
+
+<p>There was a good deal of excitement in several Lenox homes that night.
+Mothers exclaimed at the sight of their tramplike young sons, and then
+listened with bated breath as the boys told of the narrow escape they
+had had either from being crushed by the airplane or being burned to
+death.</p>
+
+<p>Garry's mother was no exception, and Ella forebore to tease, in her
+relief at having her brother returned to her safe and sound. Mr.
+Grayson himself was scarcely less moved.</p>
+
+<p>"Ross Yates," remarked Mr. Grayson later, when they had become calmer.
+"I used to see that name frequently in the papers during the war.
+He was one of the most daring of the American aces and must have a
+trunkful of decorations. I'm glad you were able to be of service to
+him."</p>
+
+<p>It was a rather sorry-looking bunch of football players that met in the
+lot back of Garry's home the following day. Their bruises were still
+sore and irritating, despite hot baths and vigorous massaging.</p>
+
+<p>"We're a fine bunch of cripples," declared Bill Sherwood, flexing his
+lame right arm experimentally. "A team from an old men's home could put
+it all over us."</p>
+
+<p>"If Mr. Phillips could see us now, he'd have the jolt of his life,"
+asserted Garry. "We've got to get the stiffness out of our joints some
+way. So come on—let's snap into it."</p>
+
+<p>As he spoke, Garry Grayson whipped the ball to Nick. The latter was
+ruefully rubbing a sore knee. He saw the ball too late, made a frantic
+grab at it, and missed.</p>
+
+<p>A chorus of jeers greeted him, as he limped off sheepishly in pursuit
+of the ball.</p>
+
+<p>"Attaboy! The best miss I ever saw," gibed Ted.</p>
+
+<p>"If Mr. Phillips had seen that, he'd have given you Ralph Wynn's place
+right off the bat," added Rooster Long. "That's the kind of captain we
+need to put pep into the team."</p>
+
+<p>"Some one make that rooster stop crowing," grunted Nick, and,
+forgetting his stiff knee, met the ball with his foot in a masterly
+punt that, aimed for Rooster's head, hit him in the stomach and all but
+knocked him over.</p>
+
+<p>"Anyway, I know enough to hang on to the ball," retorted Rooster,
+hugging the pigskin. "Which is more than some so-called football
+players can say for themselves."</p>
+
+<p>"Say, are we playing football or having a kidding match!" cried Garry
+impatiently. "Pass me that football, Rooster. I want to find out."</p>
+
+<p>After that they settled down to an hour of strenuous practice.</p>
+
+<p>They brushed up on the signals, Garry giving the same set over and over
+again until the play was made like clockwork, the swift punt, feint, or
+forward pass timed to the fraction of a second.</p>
+
+<p>In the interest aroused by the play sore muscles were ironed out
+magically, and at the end of an hour's time the boys had almost
+forgotten that there was anything wrong with them.</p>
+
+<p>Rooster was practicing a place kick. Garry thought he was sending the
+ball too high, and told him so.</p>
+
+<p>"By the time that pigskin lands, the other fellows will be all set for
+it," Garry contended. "They will have time to plan a counter-attack and
+our play will be spoiled. Anybody'd think you were trying to kick the
+clouds out of position."</p>
+
+<p>"Say, listen, Garry," Rooster protested. "I couldn't kick that high.
+Honest I couldn't. You give me altogether too much credit. I can feel
+the blushes coming."</p>
+
+<p>"Not a bit too much credit," grinned Garry. "Throw over the pigskin and
+I'll give you an example of how that kick looked to me. Then you can
+see how much too high it was."</p>
+
+<p>Reluctantly Rooster surrendered the ball. Nick held it in position and
+Garry swung back his foot.</p>
+
+<p>Plunk! The toe of Garry's shoe met the pigskin with a hollow sound
+that was music in the ears of his chums. All the force of his body
+was behind the kick, and the boys watched the ascent of the ball with
+interest.</p>
+
+<p>High, high, higher it sailed.</p>
+
+<p>"That's a sky ball, sure enough, Garry," chuckled Ted, then broke off
+and stared in amazement.</p>
+
+<p>The ball, ever mounting, was directly over the roof of a house near the
+field. As the boys watched, it settled gently and landed on the top of
+the chimney!</p>
+
+<p>"Jumping Jupiter! Now you've gone and done it, Garry!" cried Nick
+Danter.</p>
+
+<p>"Cock-a-doodle-doo!" crowed Rooster. "I may be a high kicker, Garry, my
+lad; but I've never aimed for a chimney top yet."</p>
+
+<p>"Some peachy kick," grinned Bill. "How in the world did you do it, old
+boy!"</p>
+
+<p>Garry, staring at this new achievement, shook his head.</p>
+
+<p>"You can search me!" he muttered. "Though you've got to admit it's a
+high kick," he added, with a grin. "The question now is—how are we
+going to get the ball down again!"</p>
+
+<p>"Yeah, that's the question," said Rooster, coming to stand by Garry
+and squinting up at the football. "If we had wings now, it would be
+perfectly simple."</p>
+
+<p>"It's simple, anyway," rejoined Nick. "Some one go to the door of that
+house and ask to be allowed to go on the roof. Once there, the rest is
+easy."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, once there," admitted Garry, scratching his head in perplexity.
+"It's plain to be seen that you don't know who owns that house."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, who does!" asked Ted, puzzled.</p>
+
+<p>"An old crab who's likely to set his dog on us for trespassing,"
+explained Garry. "He hates all sorts of sports on principle, and
+especially football. It's old Jacob Fish, the retired banker. He was in
+to see my dad about it once, and said that if he had his way he'd make
+a law forbidding football practice so close to private dwellings. To
+shut him up, dad told him that he would be personally responsible for
+any damage we might do."</p>
+
+<p>The boys looked thoughtful.</p>
+
+<p>"That sure complicates matters," affirmed Rooster. "But we've got to
+get that ball, whatever happens."</p>
+
+<p>"Sure we have," agreed Garry. "But we might as well be foxy. I've got
+an idea."</p>
+
+<p>"Hold on to it," begged Nick.</p>
+
+<p>"Shoot and let us know the worst," urged Ted.</p>
+
+<p>"We've got a ladder back of our house," explained Garry, growing more
+confident as his plans took shape. "If I can get that around to old
+Fish's house without being seen, I can climb up the back to the roof."</p>
+
+<p>"Simple as rolling off a log," admitted Nick.</p>
+
+<p>"Let's hope you don't roll off the roof," grinned Rooster, but Garry
+had already started off full tilt for the house.</p>
+
+<p>The other boys went with him and helped him with the greatest caution
+to carry the ladder around to the back of the retired banker's house.</p>
+
+<p>Having accomplished this without discovery, they felt elated. It would
+take only a few seconds now to climb the ladder, scramble up the
+sloping roof, and toss the recovered treasure into the field.</p>
+
+<p>They placed the ladder very cautiously against the house, making as
+little noise as possible. Rooster and Bill held it steady, while Garry
+swarmed up it like a monkey.</p>
+
+<p>He reached the roof and paused there to wave his hand at his chums.
+Then he made his way up the slope and soon reached the top. He gripped
+the chimney and reached for the ball.</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile, his chums had been watching his movements with such interest
+that they did not hear the stealthy steps of Jacob Fish until he was
+nearly upon them.</p>
+
+<p>Then he jumped round the side of the house, his grizzled whiskers
+quivering with anger. He shook his fist at Garry.</p>
+
+<p>"What are you doing there, you young scamp?" he shrilled. "You get off
+my roof!"</p>
+
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_V">CHAPTER V</h2>
+</div>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">Into Empty Space</span></h3>
+
+
+<p>Garry Grayson obeyed the command of Mr. Fish, but not in the way that
+the man had intended he should.</p>
+
+<p>He had dislodged the pigskin and was slipping cautiously down the roof
+to the ladder when the rasping cry of the old fellow startled him and
+made him lose his balance.</p>
+
+<p>He slipped, tried to recover himself, overbalanced in the other
+direction, and fell, rolling over and over toward the edge of the roof!</p>
+
+<p>With a yell of alarm, Bill, Rooster, Nick, and Ted rushed around to
+the spot where Garry seemed destined to fall. Jacob Fish himself was
+alarmed, for, much as he hated the young folks of the vicinity, he had
+had no idea of precipitating a fall.</p>
+
+<p>As for Garry, the nightmare moment of losing his balance and that swift
+descent to the gutter of the roof seemed to occupy an eternity of time.</p>
+
+<p>His clutching hands gripped empty air. He was utterly powerless to
+prevent the fall that must follow. He breathed a prayer, braced
+himself, felt all solid substance give way beneath him!</p>
+
+<p>Then he became conscious of the branches of a great tree that rushed up
+swiftly toward him, as though to strike him in the face.</p>
+
+<p>Instinctively Garry reached out and his clutching fingers caught
+something that bent and gave beneath his weight but did not break. It
+was a stout branch of an old cedar tree that grew close beside the
+house.</p>
+
+<p>Garry hung on with all the strength of his lithe young arms and drew
+himself into a safer position nearer the trunk, where he sat panting
+and marveling at his narrow escape.</p>
+
+<p>Almost simultaneously with his first slip the football that he had
+pushed from the chimney had come down near the house, bouncing plump on
+Jacob Fish's bald head.</p>
+
+<p>At this indignity the old man's rage broke all bounds, and not having
+Garry within reach to sate his vengeance, he made a dash for the other
+boys, who promptly took to their heels, having first assured themselves
+that Garry was safe in the tree.</p>
+
+<p>"And they leave me to face the music!" muttered Garry. "Just wait till
+I get hold of them!"</p>
+
+<p>He had started to descend to the ground when the raucous voice of Jacob
+Fish halted him abruptly. The old man was fairly boiling over with
+rage. That a despised football should have descended upon his head was
+the crowning insult. It was past bearing. He shook his fist at Garry.
+His eyes glared at him.</p>
+
+<p>"You stay up in that tree, you young blackguard!" he roared. "I've got
+you dead to rights. You will sneak up on my roof, will you! You will
+bounce a football on my head, will you!"</p>
+
+<p>"It was an accident," began Garry.</p>
+
+<p>"Don't talk to me!" roared the furious man. "I'll have none of your
+insolence, you young upstart. Stay where you are," he commanded, as
+Garry again started to descend the tree.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm not a monkey. I can't hang on to the branch of a tree all the rest
+of my life," responded Garry, whose own temper was beginning to be
+ruffled by the old man's unreason.</p>
+
+<p>"None of your impudence!" shouted Fish. "You try to come down out of
+that tree, young man, before I'm ready you should and you'll be sorry."</p>
+
+<p>"I'm coming just the same," declared Garry, at the same time coming
+down another foot or two.</p>
+
+<p>He hesitated, however, as a roar came from the enraged man. The latter
+was running with surprising agility for one of his age toward a large
+doghouse that stood a little way back in the yard.</p>
+
+<p>Fish's police dog was the terror of the neighborhood, and more than
+one anxious parent of small children had threatened to do away with so
+vicious an animal.</p>
+
+<p>Jacob Fish whistled to the dog, who came out from the kennel and
+stretched himself in leisurely, graceful fashion. He was a beautiful
+animal, but as fierce with strangers or those he hated as his master
+was. In fact, there were many who said that the venom of old Jacob
+Fish had entered into the dog and made him far fiercer than nature had
+originally intended.</p>
+
+<p>Now the old man released the dog from the chain that held him to the
+kennel and pointed to the tree.</p>
+
+<p>"Watch him, Roy! Don't let him get down! Hold him there!"</p>
+
+<p>Garry looked down at the snarling dog and its snarling master. Slowly
+a smile crept over his face. He was about to play a joke on old Jacob
+Fish and the prospect pleased him immensely.</p>
+
+<p>For, as it happened, the police dog and Garry were firm friends. Garry
+had been attracted by the beauty of the animal when Fish had first
+bought him. And as the lad had a great love for dogs, he determined to
+get on good terms with Roy.</p>
+
+<p>So, frequently when he had passed the Fish house he had spoken
+wheedlingly to the dog behind the fence, until the brute came to know
+him and even thumped his tail once or twice in acknowledgment of a
+friendly feeling.</p>
+
+<p>Thus encouraged, Garry had gone further, sometimes tossing Roy special
+tidbits that he had brought from his own table until the dog had been
+completely won over and permitted Garry to caress his head through the
+pickets of the fence.</p>
+
+<p>Naturally, Garry had been careful to keep these advances from the
+steely eye of Mr. Fish, so that the latter had not the slightest
+inkling of the friendship that existed between his savage dog and the
+hated "Grayson boy."</p>
+
+<p>Jacob Fish rubbed his skinny hands together with satisfaction as he
+viewed the situation.</p>
+
+<p>"Now you'll stay there until I choose to let you come down," he
+gloated, "and that'll be some time yet, I'm telling you. You'll have
+to go without your supper, and you'll have time to think over what a
+graceless scamp you are."</p>
+
+<p>Garry said nothing.</p>
+
+<p>Jacob Fish enjoyed his triumph for a few moments, and then, as the
+chill evening air struck his bare head uncomfortably, he moved toward
+the house.</p>
+
+<p>"I'll be watching you from the window," he said as he moved away. "But
+Roy will stay here to bear you company. I guess he'll hold you for a
+while. He he!" And he cackled shrilly.</p>
+
+<p>He went inside the house, and a moment later Garry saw him at a
+window, where he had settled himself comfortably to enjoy the boy's
+discomfiture.</p>
+
+<p>Garry lowered himself to a branch only a few feet over the dog's
+snapping jaws. The beast growled ominously.</p>
+
+<p>"Hello, Roy!" Garry said, in the caressing tone he had always used
+toward the animal. "What's the matter with you, old fellow! Don't you
+know a friend when you see one?"</p>
+
+<p>At sight and sound of him Roy seemed puzzled. The deep growl died in
+his throat. His ears cocked forward inquiringly. He stepped about the
+tree daintily, mincingly, as though about to play.</p>
+
+<p>Garry, from the corner of his eye, saw that the change in the dog's
+attitude had not been lost upon its master. Jacob Fish had started from
+his chair and was staring bewilderedly at the two.</p>
+
+<p>But Garry now was willing to stake all on a chance. He dropped quickly
+to the ground and went up to Roy, putting his hand on his head in
+friendly fashion.</p>
+
+<p>"Good old boy!" he said. "I knew you wouldn't go back on a friend.
+Thoroughbreds never do."</p>
+
+<p>Roy snuggled up closer to him and rubbed against him.</p>
+
+<p>With a face purple with suppressed fury, Jacob Fish threw up the window.</p>
+
+<p>"Wh-what does this mean!" he sputtered. "Leave my dog alone, you young
+scoundrel! Get out of here before I put you out."</p>
+
+<p>"I'm going," said Garry calmly.</p>
+
+<p>"You'd better!" shouted the man. "G-get out before I lose my t-temper."</p>
+
+<p>Garry thought to himself that that temper had been lost some time
+before. He gave a final pat to the dog's head and started toward the
+gate.</p>
+
+<p>His foot struck against something, and seeing that it was the football,
+he picked it up and got out into the street. As he rounded the tall
+hedge that closed in the Fish grounds he came face to face with his
+twin sister, Ella, and her chum, Jane Danter.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, Garry," giggled Ella. "We saw you in the tree and thought you were
+a new kind of bird. My, but you did look funny!"</p>
+
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_VI">CHAPTER VI</h2>
+</div>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">Getting into Swing</span></h3>
+
+
+<p>"I probably looked lots funnier than I felt," replied Garry Grayson to
+his sister, reddening sheepishly.</p>
+
+<p>"You were having some trouble with that awful Fish man, weren't you?"
+asked Jane Danter, as the three walked down the street together.</p>
+
+<p>"Trouble's no name for it!" answered Garry. "It looked for a while as
+though I were treed for fair. And all for the sake of this pigskin!"</p>
+
+<p>"What had the football to do with it?" asked Ella. "Do tell us about
+it, Garry. We're awfully curious to know how you got in that tree!
+Aren't we, Jane?"</p>
+
+<p>Jane nodded.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, you see," began Garry gravely, "I rather felt the need of some
+setting up exercises—"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, you did, after having an airplane fall on you yesterday!" scoffed
+his twin.</p>
+
+<p>"Nick was telling me about that," put in Jane. "It must have been
+thrilling."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, it might have been," responded Garry doubtfully; "only we didn't
+happen to think of it that way—"</p>
+
+<p>"But what happened just now in Mr. Fish's cedar tree?" Ella broke in
+impatiently. "That's what I'm waiting to know."</p>
+
+<p>"Patience, little one," soothed Garry. "I was trying to tell you. I
+wanted some exercise. My daily dozen isn't enough for me. So first of
+all, I kicked the football to the top of old Fish's chimney—"</p>
+
+<p>"Garry Grayson! You never!" cried both girls together.</p>
+
+<p>"Sure! It was easy. Some time I'll show you how I did it. And of course
+then I had to go for it. So we fellows dragged a ladder to the back of
+the Fish house—"</p>
+
+<p>"How did you dare?" cried Jane. "I'd have been afraid of that awful
+dog."</p>
+
+<p>"I'll tell you about him later," chuckled Garry. "Anyway, I got up the
+ladder and on to the roof and was just pushing the football off the
+chimney when old Fish yelled at me—"</p>
+
+<p>"And you jumped!" gasped Ella.</p>
+
+<p>"No," corrected Garry. "I rolled—right off the roof and into the
+branches of the cedar tree."</p>
+
+<p>"Garry! You never!"</p>
+
+<p>"I did," insisted Garry, as though the feat were something to be proud
+of. "I couldn't do it again if I tried. But this time I did. I don't
+know whether a branch caught my hand or my hand caught a branch, but,
+anyway, there I was, swinging in the air right over old Jacob's head."
+He then gave the particulars of what had followed.</p>
+
+<p>The picture of the malevolent old fellow's thwarted rage provoked
+the girls to glee, but Ella had a word of warning for her brother,
+nevertheless.</p>
+
+<p>"Roy may not bite you, but old Fish will if he gets a chance," she
+said, as she turned into her gate with Jane. "Next time you want
+exercise, you'd better kick your old football on some one else's
+chimney."</p>
+
+<p>Garry privately thought this was very good advice, though he outwardly
+scoffed at it. Jacob Fish, as hard as granite and already disliking
+boys in general, would have a private grudge against him especially and
+would do him mischief if he could.</p>
+
+<p>Garry's chums had been hovering around, waiting for him to get free
+from the girls, and now they descended upon him.</p>
+
+<p>"You're a fine bunch of quitters, you are!" Garry accosted them with
+mock indignation. "Take to your heels at the first sign of trouble!
+What kind of a way is that to treat a pal, I'd like to know!"</p>
+
+<p>"You were up a tree anyway, Garry," was Rooster's defense. "We knew you
+were safe."</p>
+
+<p>"I was up a tree, all right," conceded Garry.</p>
+
+<p>"Old Fish sure looked dangerous," put in Ted Dillingham.</p>
+
+<p>"And so did his dog," laughed Bill. "We took one look at that canine's
+face and judged it was time for us to do the vanishing act."</p>
+
+<p>They decided that discretion was the better part of valor and that
+practice near the house of Jacob Fish had better be relinquished for a
+time. The next time, Roy might not prove to be so amenable to friendly
+advances.</p>
+
+<p>"Suppose we run up to the house where Ross Yates is staying and see
+how he is getting along," suggested Garry, when the boys came together
+again the next day.</p>
+
+<p>"Good idea," pronounced Bill, and as the others were of the same mind
+the lads started at once.</p>
+
+<p>Naturally the subject of their conversation was their adventure of the
+previous afternoon, and Garry was compelled to tell in more detail how
+he had wheedled Roy and outwitted Roy's master. The story was told to
+the accompaniment of boisterous laughter, and it was only when their
+mirth was exhausted that a more serious aspect of the case appealed to
+them.</p>
+
+<p>"You made him look foolish, Garry, and a man like Fish will never
+forgive that," said Rooster. "You've made an enemy for life."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, you can bet that I'm not going to lie awake at night worrying
+about it," laughed Garry.</p>
+
+<p>On reaching their destination the chums were told that Ross Yates was
+getting along as well as could be expected. His left leg had been badly
+twisted and several of the tendons torn, so that when he recovered
+he might have a slight limp. He was suffering also from some minor
+internal injuries and from shock. In a week's time it would probably be
+possible for him to see visitors. Cal, they found, was out somewhere in
+his car.</p>
+
+<p>The boys promised to call again about a week later, and left the house,
+much relieved to find that nothing serious was wrong with the man for
+whom they had conceived a great respect and liking.</p>
+
+<p>"I wonder if Cal Yates found Sandy Podder and gave him the thrashing he
+promised," remarked Bill, as they were on their way back to town.</p>
+
+<p>"I'd like to have been on the spot if he did," laughed Rooster. "And
+I'd have liked to hand that bird a few wallops on my own account."</p>
+
+<p>"We all have a score to settle with him," affirmed Garry. "They say
+everything comes to him who waits, and perhaps our chance will come."</p>
+
+<p>As the time drew nearer for the fall opening of the Lenox schools, the
+football enthusiasts in the high school speculated with increasing
+eagerness upon the probable choice of boys to fill the vacancies on the
+first eleven.</p>
+
+<p>Garry Grayson thought of little else, and Ella more than once
+complained that their house was being changed into a gridiron.</p>
+
+<p>"It's a wonder he doesn't ask you to pass the pigskin instead of the
+pork," she said aggrievedly to her father, as he was carving a fresh
+ham. "The other night he did ask for dummies instead of dumplings. His
+case is getting serious, Dad. I think you ought to have him consult a
+specialist."</p>
+
+<p>"I'm not worrying very much," responded Mr. Grayson, with a smile.
+"It's only a pronounced case of footballitis, and that seldom has fatal
+results."</p>
+
+<p>The opening day of school came at last, and the other boys were in high
+spirits as they stopped on their way for Garry, who was already waiting
+for them at the gate. There was a tang in the air that suggested
+football weather, and as they swung along the street they felt in fine
+fettle.</p>
+
+<p>"I wonder when we'll get the first football call," conjectured Rooster
+Long. "Ought to be pretty soon, I should think. The game with Pawling
+comes early in the season, and it will take considerable whipping into
+shape to get the team ready for it. Those fellows are hard nuts to
+crack."</p>
+
+<p>"Can't come too soon to suit me," replied Garry, as he tossed his books
+into the air and caught them by the strap as they came down. "I never
+felt in better shape at the opening of the season. I'm just crazy to
+get out on the field."</p>
+
+<p>When they reached the high school they found the campus already
+thronged with students. From several groups friendly greetings were
+shouted to the newcomers, and they responded in kind.</p>
+
+<p>Two of the first they ran up against were Tom Allison and Pete Maddern.</p>
+
+<p>"Great to see you back, fellows!" exclaimed Tom heartily. "It will be
+fine to round up the old gang and get out on the field. Make believe we
+won't make the other teams in the league sit up and take notice this
+year!"</p>
+
+<p>"We'll run rings around every bunch in it," declared Rooster without
+regard to modesty. "The rest of those poor misguided guys won't even
+have a look in."</p>
+
+<p>"Probably that's just what they're saying about us," laughed Garry. "If
+we win the championship again this year, we'll have to work hard for
+it."</p>
+
+<p>As Garry spoke, Sandy Podder and Lent Stewart happened to be passing.
+They eyed the group of friends malevolently, and then looked at each
+other with a grin.</p>
+
+<p>"There are those fake heroes spouting again," growled Sandy, in a voice
+designedly loud enough to reach those for whom it was intended. "To
+hear them talk you'd think they were the whole cheese."</p>
+
+<p>"Ain't it the truth!" drawled Lent. "Lenox never knew anything about
+football until they came here."</p>
+
+<p>"Say, listen, Sandy Podder! And you, Lent Stewart!" Garry whirled on
+his heel and regarded the two contemptuously. "Whenever either of you
+two fellows makes the Lenox team or does anything worth while for the
+school, it will be time for you to talk. Until then you'd better sing
+small. Get me?"</p>
+
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_VII">CHAPTER VII</h2>
+</div>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">Picking the Team</span></h3>
+
+
+<p>Sandy Podder and Lent Stewart scowled savagely at Garry's retort. They
+tried to reply, but their snarling response was drowned in the laughter
+of the bystanders.</p>
+
+<p>"Attaboy, Garry!"</p>
+
+<p>"Poor old Lenox with Sandy Podder on the team!" chortled Bill Sherwood.</p>
+
+<p>"You, Lent," called a tormentor, as the two cronies, chagrined and
+furious, hurried away, "going to answer the football call? Better let
+us break the news gently to Mr. Phillips so that he won't die of joy."</p>
+
+<p>For some time after Sandy and Lent had disappeared the campus rang with
+jests at their expense. But the sound of the gong put an end to the
+merriment, and the students of Lenox High filed into its corridors for
+another year of work and play.</p>
+
+<p>As Garry and his chums reached their classroom they were still
+discussing the run-in with their enemies.</p>
+
+<p>"You made a wise crack there, Garry," Nick Danter chuckled. "It sure
+got under their skin. But I didn't like the looks in the eyes of those
+fellows as they passed you. They'll plan some dirty trick to get even
+with you."</p>
+
+<p>Then began the round of lessons and the getting acquainted with new
+classes and new teachers.</p>
+
+<p>Garry Grayson and his chums had Mr. Phillips in English again, and were
+heartily glad of that. The latter gave them a cordial greeting when
+they entered his class, and at the close of the period detained them
+for a moment.</p>
+
+<p>"Feeling fit?" he asked with a smile, as he looked at their sturdy
+figures and bronzed cheeks.</p>
+
+<p>"Fine as silk," answered Garry, and the others nodded assent.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm going to post the bulletin in a day or two," said Mr. Phillips. "I
+want to get you football boys out on the field early. We've got some
+heavy work before us."</p>
+
+<p>The boys were not so favorably impressed by their Latin teacher. This
+was a tall, severe looking gentleman, who answered to the name of
+Blythe.</p>
+
+<p>"Though where he got that handle is a mystery," Rooster whispered to
+Garry at a moment when the teacher's eye was off him. "I never saw any
+one who looked less blithe in my life."</p>
+
+<p>Two days went by before the eagerly anticipated football call was
+posted on the board. That afternoon, as soon as the boys were released
+from their studies, they flocked to the gymnasium to learn their fate.</p>
+
+<p>For Garry and his chums the ban of the first year was now removed. They
+were no longer freshmen and as such tacitly barred from eligibility to
+the first team. Tradition, as Ted inelegantly put it, was "nix" for
+them now. The bars were down. Merit was the only thing that counted,
+and Garry and his chums had as good a chance of making the team as any
+boys in school.</p>
+
+<p>Now the great, the all-important question was, what choice would Mr.
+Phillips make? Who among the scrubs of last year would be selected to
+fill those vacancies on the first team?</p>
+
+<p>"Remember how Ralph Wynn talked to us last year?" asked Bill.</p>
+
+<p>"Do we remember?" repeated Rooster. "How he told us that we had no
+chance to make the first team because we were freshmen, mere worms of
+the dust, so to speak."</p>
+
+<p>"Look at the bunch of youngsters coming," said Nick, as a noisy crowd
+poured into the gymnasium. "Looks as though Mr. Phillips would have
+plenty to choose from."</p>
+
+<p>"Most all of them are freshmen," remarked Bill condescendingly. "I
+suppose each one expects to be made captain of the regulars the first
+crack out of the box."</p>
+
+<p>Then they all laughed, remembering their own great ambitions the
+preceding year.</p>
+
+<p>"It isn't so long ago that we were freshmen ourselves," observed Ted
+Dillingham. "But to hear us talk, you'd think we were seniors, at the
+very least."</p>
+
+<p>"Here comes Coach Phillips!" some one cried, and the boys turned to see
+the teacher of English entering the gymnasium.</p>
+
+<p>There was an excited murmur from the boys. All braced instinctively,
+trying to look very stalwart and determined, so that when the coach's
+eyes turned upon them he would know at once that he had found a
+treasure, and they scanned his face as though they hoped to find in its
+expression some key to their fate.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Phillips looked them over smilingly.</p>
+
+<p>"I see you've turned out in fine style," he said. "Plenty of beef among
+you, too; and that's good. I'll need a bunch of huskies this year."</p>
+
+<p>He paused for a moment, scanning them collectively and individually
+before proceeding.</p>
+
+<p>"As you all know," he continued, "the June commencement crippled our
+first team quite seriously. The man we shall miss most is, of course,
+Ralph Wynn, our former captain and quarterback."</p>
+
+<p>There was a stir among the boys, and many of the upper classmen nodded
+acquiescence.</p>
+
+<p>"We'll have a hard time replacing him, sir," said McCarty, right guard
+of the regulars.</p>
+
+<p>"I grant that," replied Mr. Phillips. "But we will do it. There is
+as good material now at Lenox as the school ever had. Our job is to
+develop it and mold it into a good fighting team that we'll be proud of.</p>
+
+<p>"Now," he went on briskly, "I'm not going to make any change in the
+lineup at present, as far as the old players are concerned. They did
+so well last year in the positions they occupied that I think to shift
+them would weaken the team. That doesn't mean, of course, that they
+will continue to be fixtures if they fall down on the job. But for the
+present they keep their places.</p>
+
+<p>"I will name them now, and as I do so I want them to stand to one side
+so that we may see clearly the members of our reorganized team."</p>
+
+<p>There was an increased tension in the air as Mr. Phillips took a
+notebook from his pocket and opened it. The critical moment was
+approaching.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Phillips began to read.</p>
+
+<p>"Walker, center. Painter, left guard."</p>
+
+<p>The boys named stood apart, and the freshmen looked on them with
+envious eyes, so great and awesome did these veterans of the gridiron
+appear to them.</p>
+
+<p>"Benny Knapp, you will play left half again," Mr. Phillips continued.
+"McCarty will be at right guard and Aleck Anderson will take his old
+position at right tackle. Ollie Scarsdale, you will take left end. Dick
+Thomas, right end. There we have our seven, all that are left of last
+year's eleven."</p>
+
+<p>Again Mr. Phillips paused and looked the aspirants over with a
+quizzical smile.</p>
+
+<p>"That leaves still four positions to fill," he said. "From the looks of
+you boys I imagine you are pretty anxious to know who is going to have
+them. Am I right?"</p>
+
+<p>Laughter greeted the question, followed by a dead and tense silence.
+Mr. Phillips smiled and hurried to the point.</p>
+
+<p>"All right. I won't keep you in suspense any longer," he said. "The
+positions still to be filled are those of fullback, right halfback,
+left tackle and last, but decidedly not least, quarterback, with which
+in this case will go the title of captain."</p>
+
+<p>A murmur ran through the crowd of boys. The coveted position of captain
+and quarter! Who among their number was to be the lucky one?</p>
+
+<p>Garry exchanged excited glances with his chums, and then riveted his
+attention upon the czar of their destinies as the latter again spoke.</p>
+
+<p>"Because of the splendid record Long made last year, I am going to put
+him in as fullback."</p>
+
+<p>Over Rooster's face spread a beatific look blended with incredulity.
+Pushed forward by less fortunate comrades, he stammered:</p>
+
+<p>"Th-thanks, Mr. Phillips," and stepped over proudly to the lineup of
+regulars.</p>
+
+<p>"Don't thank me yet," warned the coach. "There will be half a dozen
+good fellows fighting for your job and crowding close on your heels.
+You will have to fight to hold that position."</p>
+
+<p>"Next," he said, and fixed his eyes on Tom Allison, "I'm putting you
+in, Allison, at left tackle. Think you can make good there?"</p>
+
+<p>"Gee, Mr. Phillips, I'll try!" Tom promised and, face shining, moved
+over to the regulars.</p>
+
+<p>Only two positions left!</p>
+
+<p>The boys exchanged glances and shifted about uneasily. The suspense was
+becoming unbearable.</p>
+
+<p>"Some one's got to be left out," Bill whispered in Garry's ear. "I've
+got a hunch this is my unlucky day."</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Phillips was speaking again.</p>
+
+<p>"That leaves only two positions to be filled," he said. "But they are
+the extremely important ones of right half and quarter. There are two
+or three players on the scrubs of last year whom I have considered for
+right halfback, but my choice has finally been made. I have decided—"
+He paused, and the gymnasium was so silent that one might have heard a
+pin drop. "I have decided," he repeated, "to give Nick Danter a chance
+to show what he can do in that position."</p>
+
+<p>Nick was popular with the boys, and a murmur of satisfaction came from
+the crowd.</p>
+
+<p>"Rah, Nick. Show them what you're made of, boy," called out Pete
+Maddern.</p>
+
+<p>"He'll have to show us," remarked Mr. Phillips gravely. "And so will
+all the rest of you that are chosen. These positions that I have given
+you are only temporary—remember that—and to hold them you've got to
+make good.</p>
+
+<p>"Now for quarterback and captain," he went on, "I have chosen a boy who
+did some brilliant work for the team last year. At that time he was
+captain and quarterback of the scrubs. This year he will be captain
+and quarterback of the regulars. Stand up, Garry Grayson!"</p>
+
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_VIII">CHAPTER VIII</h2>
+</div>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">Something Brewing</span></h3>
+
+
+<p>The last words of the coach were almost lost in a tumultuous roar from
+Garry Grayson's friends—and there was no one in that crowd who was not
+his friend—that echoed back from the walls of the gymnasium.</p>
+
+<p>"Garry Grayson! Garry Grayson!" they cried.</p>
+
+<p>"Hurrah for the new captain!"</p>
+
+<p>"Yea, Garry! Go to it, old boy!"</p>
+
+<p>Coach Phillips presently silenced the uproar with a wave of his hand.</p>
+
+<p>"I see that my appointment meets with approval," he laughed. "If Garry
+Grayson makes as good a captain of the first team as he did of the
+scrubs, I don't think we'll have any reason to complain. And now let's
+get down to business again."</p>
+
+<p>As Garry, flushed and happy, took his stand with the regulars, his
+first wild thrill of elation was dampened by a sober second thought.</p>
+
+<p>Bill Sherwood and Ted Dillingham had been left out!</p>
+
+<p>Of course, all could not hope to make the first team. Still, it was
+hard on old Bill and Ted. Garry looked at them covertly and could see
+that they were trying hard to hide their disappointment.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Phillips had finished with the regulars—at least for the present.
+Now he began briskly to form the scrub team.</p>
+
+<p>Pete Maddern was made captain in Garry's old place. Bill and Ted
+retained their former positions at center and left end respectively. To
+fill the positions left vacant by the promotion of Rooster, Tom, and
+Nick, three promising players were chosen from the applicants.</p>
+
+<p>Those who had not been chosen tried hard to hide their disappointment
+under a brave exterior while Mr. Phillips gave them a short,
+encouraging talk.</p>
+
+<p>"Those whose names I have not called to-day need not give up hope of
+making the team," he said. "A number of things may happen—in fact, are
+bound to happen—during a strenuous football season that will result in
+a hurry call for recruits. So keep yourselves in readiness to fill in
+at a moment's notice.</p>
+
+<p>"As for you boys who are to represent Lenox High on the gridiron, every
+single one of you will have to work his hardest to prove himself worthy
+of the position. There are good boys on the scrubs just waiting to jump
+into your shoes, and they'll do it at the least excuse you give them."
+Here a faint cheer went up from members of the second team.</p>
+
+<p>"Now, as you all know," the coach added, his eyes traveling over the
+alert faces of the first-string boys, "the game with Pawling is only
+a short time away. We'll have to dig our toes in and work hard to get
+ready for it. And as the first possible moment is not too soon to
+start, I want you all to report for practice to-morrow afternoon."</p>
+
+<p>There was another cheer at this, and then all thronged out tumultuously.</p>
+
+<p>"Gee, Garry, there's luck for you, old boy!"</p>
+
+<p>It was Ted who spoke, as Garry's bunch were out on the campus, books
+slung over shoulders, eagerly discussing the organization of the teams.
+Nick and Rooster were wildly elated, and Ted and Bill strove hard to
+hide their own chagrin and disappointment and enter heartily into the
+triumph of their intimates.</p>
+
+<p>"Lucky, maybe—but deserved luck," Bill added to Ted's statement.
+"After Garry's work on the gridiron last year, he rates a place on the
+regulars."</p>
+
+<p>"But quarter and captain! I'll tell the world that's some lofty perch,"
+cried Nick gleefully. "With Garry leading the charge there isn't a team
+in the league that can stand against us."</p>
+
+<p>"Easy on that stuff," laughed Garry. "Your own position isn't such a
+slouch, if it comes to that."</p>
+
+<p>"I'll say it isn't," agreed Nick, still half incredulous of his good
+fortune. "When he called my name for the backfield I thought he must
+mean some one else and had got the names mixed."</p>
+
+<p>"There's modesty for you!" jeered Rooster.</p>
+
+<p>It was only on their way to school the following morning that the boys
+thought of Garry's triumph in relation to Sandy Podder and his cronies.</p>
+
+<p>"Make believe that fellow won't be ready to bite nails when he finds
+out that his best enemy is captain of the Lenox team," chuckled
+Rooster. "I'll bet there'll be a fine old gnashing of teeth, Garry, my
+lad."</p>
+
+<p>"As long as he only gnashes them I shan't worry," laughed Garry. "And
+if he tries to bite, he'll find out perhaps that I have teeth of my
+own."</p>
+
+<p>"And what's even more important," put in Nick, "a good strong fist that
+knows what it's made for."</p>
+
+<p>Practice started off with a bang that afternoon. If Mr. Phillips had
+had any doubt about the spirit of the boys, it was speedily dissipated
+by the way they went at their work. As a matter of fact, he had to
+hold them in rather than use the spurs, for he wanted to get them
+into shape gradually with a minimum of lameness and bruises caused by
+overwork so early in the season.</p>
+
+<p>That day was devoted chiefly to group practice. Walker at center did
+some one-man blocking that won commendation from the coach. Tom Allison
+also justified his position in the line by his fine work at tackling.
+The backfield practiced punting, place kicking, and forward passing,
+while the ends did good work in getting down the field under punts.</p>
+
+<p>The scrubs were on their mettle too, and showed such good stuff that
+the regulars were spurred on to still greater effort.</p>
+
+<p>A tackling dummy had been rigged up in one corner of the field, and the
+boys assailed it in turn with so much vim and vigor that arnica was
+sure to be in request that night to soothe their numerous bruises.</p>
+
+<p>If the first day of practice was eminently satisfactory, those that
+followed were no less so. Mr. Phillips led his teams on steadily,
+gradually increasing his driving power until the boys were working at
+their limit. The fights between the regulars and the scrubs had almost
+the fierceness of games with rival schools.</p>
+
+<p>Garry had slipped easily into Ralph Wynn's old position, and was
+developing a quality of leadership that filled the coach with
+optimism. Ralph had been a great leader, but Mr. Phillips thought he
+saw in Garry the makings of a still greater one. Under his handling the
+team was being developed into a swiftly moving, formidable fighting
+machine that promised to maintain or exceed the best traditions of
+Lenox High.</p>
+
+<p>"It looks like a good season for Lenox," the coach said to the boys at
+the end of an especially hard afternoon's practice. "That's all for
+to-day, boys. Go home and get some rest. You've earned it. You're on
+edge now, and I don't want you to go stale."</p>
+
+<p>This was just three days before the first game with Pawling, which was
+scheduled to take place on the latter's grounds.</p>
+
+<p>On the way home the boys were hilarious.</p>
+
+<p>"We'll wipe up the ground with them!" cried Rooster Long exultantly.
+"The way we're working now they won't have a chance."</p>
+
+<p>"Cock-a-doodle-doo!" jeered Nick. "Don't count your chickens before
+they're hatched, Rooster, my lad. In other words, don't crow till we've
+won."</p>
+
+<p>"Your team is in good fighting condition too, Bill," said Garry. "You
+certainly gave us a run for our money this afternoon. And you blocked a
+pretty slick play of mine, too," he added, with a grin. "I was so sore
+I could have slugged you."</p>
+
+<p>Bill chuckled.</p>
+
+<p>"No favoritism, Garry, old boy," he said. "Just because you and Nick
+and Rooster have made the first team, you needn't expect I'm going
+to hold back my good right arm when it's good for a tackle. Well,
+here's where I leave you," he continued, turning down a side street.
+"I promised dad I'd stop at the hardware store and buy him a new
+monkey wrench for his tool kit. Some one lost his old one, and he's
+unreasonable enough to suspect me. So long. See you all to-morrow."</p>
+
+<p>On his way to the store Bill had to pass a double garage belonging to a
+friend of Sandy Podder's, the doors of which opened on a side street.</p>
+
+<p>Bill heard the sound of voices from the further side of the garage and
+stopped instinctively as he heard a familiar name.</p>
+
+<p>"What do you know about Garry Grayson's getting Ralph Wynn's place on
+the team?" said a voice. "Getting pretty well up in the world, that
+young rooster is."</p>
+
+<p>"Thinks he's too all-fired important," growled another voice, which
+Bill recognized as that of Sandy Podder. "It's up to us to take him
+down a peg or two."</p>
+
+<p>"Yeah?" There was a faint jeer in the other voice. "I've heard that
+before. But who's going to do it?"</p>
+
+<p>"I am, that's who!" There was a ferocity in the tone that chained
+Bill's attention. "I'm sick of the airs that fellow gives himself. He
+gives me a pain in the neck. I've got a lot of old scores to even up
+with him, and I'm going to get even pretty quick."</p>
+
+<p>"You sound as though you had some kind of a plan." There was curiosity
+in the voice of Sandy's companion. "If it's the kind of stuff you've
+already pulled—"</p>
+
+<p>"This scheme is bound to work." There was confidence in Sandy's tone.
+"It's a pip. Now listen and I'll tell you how you can help—"</p>
+
+<p>Bill crept closer to the garage, intent on losing no detail of the
+plot. But just at that moment the door of the house to which the garage
+belonged opened and a woman stood on the threshold.</p>
+
+<p>"Lent!" she called. "Come here! I want you to do something for me."</p>
+
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_IX">CHAPTER IX</h2>
+</div>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">Hitting the Line</span></h3>
+
+
+<p>Sandy Podder uttered an exclamation of disgust that was heartily echoed
+by Bill. Here, Bill was on the point of hearing something that would
+enable him to put Garry Grayson on his guard, and all his plans were
+spoiled by this untimely interruption.</p>
+
+<p>He stole silently from the shadow of the garage and went off whistling
+down the street as though he had just at that moment turned the corner.</p>
+
+<p>It would be unfortunate if Sandy were to suspect himself overheard just
+then. It might put him on his guard and make the discovery of his plot
+more difficult.</p>
+
+<p>Bill Sherwood was worried. He felt that Sandy would stop at nothing to
+get even with the boy he hated and longed to see humbled.</p>
+
+<p>"I won't say anything to Garry about it till after the Pawling game,
+anyway," he decided, as he absently bought and paid for the monkey
+wrench. He slipped the purchase into his pocket and forgot about his
+change until the grinning hardware man called him back for it.</p>
+
+<p>"I haven't anything definite anyway, and it might upset Garry a little
+and put him off his form," ran on the boy's thoughts when he was once
+more in the street. "Time enough later on when we've got the game safely
+bagged. Gee!" with a scowl, "it's a wonder the fellows don't get
+together and run that Sandy Podder and Lent Stewart out of town!"</p>
+
+<p>The next two days passed without any outbreak on the part of Sandy and
+his cronies, and Bill began to hope that Sandy's plot, like so many of
+that fellow's plans, had proved to be unworkable when it came up for
+further consideration.</p>
+
+<p>The day of the Pawling game was favored with beautiful football
+weather. The sun was shining, but there was a decided chill in the air
+that was welcome to the young athletes, who would soon be drenched in
+perspiration as they fought for the glory of their respective schools.</p>
+
+<p>"Rumors have been coming from time to time that the Pawling team has
+been going great guns in practice, so I hope it is with no expectation
+of a cinch that your Lenox team is going over to Pawling," remarked
+Garry's father to him the night before the first league game was to be
+played.</p>
+
+<p>"Not on your life, Dad! We'll have a fight on our hands."</p>
+
+<p>A large delegation of their rooters journeyed over to the Pawling
+grounds with the team on the day of the game. Garry's feeling that a
+hard contest awaited them was not diminished by the way Pawling showed
+up in practice.</p>
+
+<p>A deafening roar arose from the stands as the teams came out for the
+game. Most of its volume was due, of course, to the Pawling supporters,
+who outnumbered the Lenox rooters three to one. But Lenox showed up
+strongly in the shouting nevertheless, and its cheer leaders performed
+all sorts of acrobatic feats before the stands as they rallied their
+cohorts to further efforts.</p>
+
+<p>"Pawling! Pawling! Send them home bawling," yelled the home partisans.</p>
+
+<p>"Lenox! Lenox! Len, Len, Len!" came back in thunderous defiance. "You
+licked them last year! Now lick them again!"</p>
+
+<p>Pawling won the toss and elected to kick off. Brewster sent the ball
+whirling down the field for thirty yards. Rooster ran it back for ten
+before he was downed, and the ball was Lenox's on its own forty-yard
+line.</p>
+
+<p>Walker snapped back the ball to Garry, who passed it to Rooster, and
+the latter plunged through a hole between left end and tackle for four
+yards. Tom Allison took the ball on the next try and gained one more.
+Nick Danter ploughed through for a gain of three and on the next
+attempt pulled off four more, Lenox making its yardage on downs with
+something to spare and still retaining possession of the ball.</p>
+
+<p>"Gee, that line's as full of holes as a piece of Swiss cheese," panted
+Nick to Garry.</p>
+
+<p>"Don't kid yourself," warned Garry. "They may take a brace at any
+minute."</p>
+
+<p>Garry himself went through guard and tackle for four yards. Tom Allison
+had the next try, but was thrown back for a loss of two. Rooster Long
+made three between left tackle and end. With five to go on the fourth
+down, Garry shot a pass to Nick, who skirted the end for six yards
+before he was tackled and thrown.</p>
+
+<p>Again Lenox had made its distance, and the enemy's goal had become
+perceptibly closer. But now Pawling had begun to find itself and put
+up a stiffer resistance. On the next four downs Lenox gained but six
+yards, and the ball passed into the possession of Pawling.</p>
+
+<p>Here the whole aspect of the game changed in a moment. After two downs
+that gained but three yards, Tucker, the fullback of the Pawling team,
+drove the ball whirling through the air for a magnificent punt of over
+sixty yards that sent it rolling over the Lenox goal line. It was put
+in play on Lenox's twenty-yard line and in the visitors' possession.</p>
+
+<p>This was bad enough, but as misfortunes never come singly, Lenox was
+penalized for clipping and had to go back to its one-yard line, though
+still retaining the ball.</p>
+
+<p>It was entirely too close for comfort from the Lenox viewpoint, and
+Rooster promptly punted out of danger to the thirty-yard line where
+the ball was gathered in by Beebe. Pawling failed to make its distance
+against the desperate resistance of Lenox, and the ball passed to the
+latter, which twice made its yardage on downs, bringing the ball to
+the middle of the field. Then Garry completed two passes to Nick, who
+carried the ball to the Pawling twenty-yard line. Then there was an
+exchange of punts that left the ball in practically the same position.
+A pass to Rooster was uncompleted, and the period ended with the ball
+in Pawling's possession on its own thirteen-yard line.</p>
+
+<p>Neither side had scored, although at various times the goal of each had
+been in danger. But the advantage remained with Lenox, as the ball was
+close to the enemy's line and for most of the quarter had been in the
+Pawling territory.</p>
+
+<p>"Too bad that we didn't have two minutes longer," panted Nick, as the
+warriors of the respective teams were trying to get their breath in the
+brief minute between periods.</p>
+
+<p>"Righto," assented Garry. "But I think we have their number, Nick.
+They've got a good team, but we have a better one. We're just as good
+on the defense and better on the offense, and this next quarter is
+going to prove it."</p>
+
+<p>When the period opened, Dorr, of Pawling, kicked out of danger and
+Rooster ran the ball back to the forty-five yard line. On the next
+play Garry made a brilliant run through a broken field, with splendid
+interference by Nick and Tom, and landed the ball on the Pawling
+twenty-seven yard line. Rooster gained five yards through center, and
+then Nick tried for a field goal. He missed, and Tucker ran the ball
+back to his own fifteen-yard line.</p>
+
+<p>Twice Pawling tried to gain through the line, but failed. Then a long
+punt by Dorr carried the ball to the Lenox thirty-five yard line.
+Rooster returned the punt, and the ball was Pawling's on its own
+five-yard line. Tucker then kicked out of danger, and Nick grabbed the
+ball on Pawling's thirty-yard line.</p>
+
+<p>Knapp tried for a field goal, but the ball went short. Pawling failed
+to gain through the line in two attempts. Tucker fumbled on the next
+play but recovered the ball, and then Pawling punted out.</p>
+
+<p>After this a beautiful forward pass, Garry to Knapp, gained twenty
+yards through left tackle. Then the stands were electrified when Garry
+put a cannon shot over to Nick and the latter went over the Pawling
+line for the first touchdown of the game. Rooster missed the kick, and
+the score was 6 to 0 in favor of the visitors.</p>
+
+<p>It was Lenox's chance to yell, and they split the air with their
+tumultuous cheers.</p>
+
+<div class="poetry-container">
+<div class="poetry">
+  <div class="stanza">
+    <div class="verse indent0">"Lenox! Lenox! Len, Len, Len!</div>
+    <div class="verse indent2">You've licked them once,</div>
+    <div class="verse indent0">You'll lick them again.</div>
+    <div class="verse indent2">Lenox! Lenox! Len, Len, Len!"</div>
+  </div>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+<p>Lenox kicked off, and then a fine forward pass, Jackson to Dorr,
+brought the ball to the Lenox thirty-five-yard line. The same
+combination put over another pass, gaining five yards around right end.
+Encouraged by this, Pawling resorted again to the aerial game, but two
+more attempts were uncompleted. On a fake pass Tucker was thrown for a
+loss, and Lenox took the ball on Pawling's thirty-five-yard line.</p>
+
+<p>Lenox was penalized five yards for offside, but then Rooster made it
+first down on the Lenox thirty-eight-yard line. Nick failed to gain
+through center. He punted for fifty-seven yards, and it was Pawling's
+ball on their own twenty-yard line. Tucker made two attempts to make
+end runs on fake passes, but his gains were trifling. Then Pawling
+kicked out of danger and Lenox tried for a placement kick. It was
+blocked by Dorr, and the period ended with the ball in midfield and
+the score still 6 to 0 in favor of Lenox.</p>
+
+<p>It had been a ding-dong quarter, and through most of it the spectators
+in the stands had been on their feet, yelling their heads off, as first
+the one and then the other of the teams had the advantage. But the
+Lenox partisans had the edge in howling, for their team had drawn first
+blood, and those six hard-earned points looked as big as a mountain.</p>
+
+<p>The weary warriors of both sides welcomed the fifteen minutes' rest
+with sighs of relief. They had played at top speed, and the strain on
+nerve and muscle had been tremendous.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Phillips was beaming as he looked over his boys, sprawled on the
+floor of the clubhouse, grimy, battered, bruised, but happy in having
+gained the lead.</p>
+
+<p>"You've done well, boys," he commended them. "But remember, the game is
+only half over, and anything is liable to happen in football. Those six
+points look pretty big to you, but don't forget that a single touchdown
+by the other side will wipe out your lead and leave the game where it
+started. And if the try for goal succeeds after the touchdown, they'll
+be ahead of you. Get after them right from the start of the next
+quarter. Plough into them. Rip 'em up. You've got the stuff, and you
+can do it if you will."</p>
+
+<p>"We'll do it, sir," promised Garry.</p>
+
+<p>"They'll think a cyclone struck them," put in Rooster.</p>
+
+<p>"All right, if you insist on the cyclone," and Mr. Phillips smiled.
+"But a fairly stiff gale will do the trick. Go to it now and give them
+some championship stuff, the same kind that won the flag for Lenox last
+year."</p>
+
+<p>Lenox kicked off, Knapp sending a long one down the field that Tucker
+ran back for eight yards before he was downed. The ball was Pawling's
+on its thirty-yard line. Two line plunges failed to gain for Pawling.
+Then Tucker punted and the ball was Lenox's on its thirty-three yard
+line.</p>
+
+<p>A plunge through center netted two yards. Another by Nick through guard
+and left tackle was good for three more. Rooster, however, was thrown
+back for a loss of three, and on the next down Scarsdale punted and
+Dorr ran it back to Pawling's thirty-six-yard line.</p>
+
+<p>The Pawling backs got into their stride now and developed an attack
+that for a time seemed irresistible. Berry hit the line for six, and in
+the next try made it six more. Tucker took it through for two and then
+on a superb pass, Jackson to Dorr, the latter whizzed around right end
+and dodged through almost the entire Lenox team for a touchdown. Berry
+kicked the goal and the score was Pawling 7, Lenox 6.</p>
+
+<p>In the twinkling of an eye the situation had been reversed, and the
+lead of Lenox had gone glimmering. Bedlam reigned in the Pawling
+section of the stands.</p>
+
+<p>"Pawling! Pawling! Send 'em home bawling."</p>
+
+<p>"You've got them rattled!"</p>
+
+<p>"Make it a massacre!"</p>
+
+<p>"Who said they were champions?"</p>
+
+<p>The Lenox rooters hurled back a stout defiance, but it was almost lost
+in the uproar that came from the partisans of the home team.</p>
+
+<p>"Looks as though the cyclone got mixed and hit the wrong fellows,"
+muttered Rooster.</p>
+
+<p>"Never mind," replied Garry cheerily. "We're due for the next break.
+We've just begun to fight. Snap into it."</p>
+
+<p>The rest of the quarter was a seesaw with no material advantage for
+either team. Lenox had braced, and their line was like a stone wall.
+Finding attempts here were fruitless, Pawling resorted to aerial
+attacks, but most of these were uncompleted. At the very end of the
+period a punt by Garry sent the ball far into enemy territory and
+Tucker ran it back to the Pawling thirty-yard line.</p>
+
+<p>Only one quarter remained to play, and Garry spent the minute between
+periods in bracing up his team.</p>
+
+<p>"Here's the dope, fellows," he said. "It's a cinch now that Pawling
+will play for time. All they've got to do is to hold us down and the
+game is theirs. But it's always a weakness to take the defensive. It's
+the fellow on offense who wins, the fellow with a punch, the fellow who
+doesn't know when he's beaten. That's us. We're going in like wildcats.
+We're going to tear the hide off of them. Are you with me?"</p>
+
+<p>"You bet we are!" went up a roar, inspired by the indomitable spirit of
+their leader.</p>
+
+<p>As the period opened with the ball in Pawling's possession on its own
+thirty-yard line, the home team tried two line plunges without effect.
+Tucker punted to Lenox's twenty-five-yard line. Nick shot through
+center for six yards, and on the next play, Rooster punted, the ball
+being partly blocked and going to Pawling on its forty-three-yard line.</p>
+
+<p>Pawling gained three yards on two downs, but fumbled on the next
+play, and it was Lenox's ball on their thirty-yard line, Lenox being
+penalized ten yards for offside play.</p>
+
+<p>Back and forth went the ball, each side trying desperately to get
+possession of it, but neither being able to make any consistent gains
+once they had it. The time was going fast and every tick of the
+referee's watch was worth something to Pawling, who had only to retain
+its present lead to win.</p>
+
+<p>"But we've got to win!" Garry kept muttering to himself. "We've just
+got to win!"</p>
+
+<p>Lenox got the ball on their own forty-three-yard line, with five
+minutes left to play.</p>
+
+<p>Garry stiffened.</p>
+
+<p>Walker snapped the hall back to him. Garry tucked it under his arm and
+tore through Cooper and Wagner, the Pawling right end and tackle, for
+sixteen yards.</p>
+
+<p>And then began one of the fiercest exhibitions of line plunging that
+had ever been seen on the grounds of the High School League.</p>
+
+<p>Through the line Garry went again for seven. Another plunge netted him
+eight with almost the whole Pawling team piled up on him.</p>
+
+<p>Garry was playing like one possessed. His blood was up. He was fighting
+like a tiger. And the Lenox stands were shaking now with the roars of
+the excited rooters.</p>
+
+<p>Once more Garry took the ball, and, with his linesmen giving him superb
+help, went through for six more.</p>
+
+<p>The Pawling boys were clearly rattled.</p>
+
+<div class="poetry-container">
+<div class="poetry">
+  <div class="stanza">
+    <div class="verse indent0">"Lenox! Lenox! Len, Len, Len!</div>
+    <div class="verse indent2">We licked them once,</div>
+    <div class="verse indent0">We'll lick them again!</div>
+    <div class="verse indent2">Lenox! Lenox! Len, Len, Len!"</div>
+  </div>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+<p>The chant came to Garry like a bugle call and cleared his swimming
+brain. Lenox was calling to him. Lenox was depending on him.</p>
+
+<p>Again Garry took the ball and hit the line like a thunderbolt. It bent,
+buckled and broke, and the fighting Lenox quarterback went through for
+eleven.</p>
+
+<p>He was sore, bruised, and dizzy. One eye was nearly closed by the
+roughing he had got in his repeated plunges. But through the other eye
+he could see the Pawling goal now only nine yards away.</p>
+
+<p>Could he make it? He <i>must</i> make it! And he must make it quickly, for
+the time was getting terribly short.</p>
+
+<p>"Back me up, fellows!" he panted to his linesmen. "For the love of
+Pete, back me up!"</p>
+
+<p>Into the line he plunged once more with a fury that would not be
+denied. On and on he bored, panting, gasping, twisting, dodging, and
+went over the Pawling line for a touchdown!</p>
+
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_X">CHAPTER X</h2>
+</div>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">Mysterious Happenings</span></h3>
+
+
+<p>When the pile was untangled, Garry Grayson rose to his feet with all
+the breath knocked out of him. He stood there gasping while Rooster
+kicked the goal, making the score 13 to 7 in favor of Lenox.</p>
+
+<p>Before the ball could again be put in play the referee's whistle blew
+and the game was over.</p>
+
+<p>The Pawling team, game in defeat, lined up and cheered the victors, who
+responded in kind, and then the boys broke for the clubhouse to escape
+the throng that swarmed down on the field from the Lenox section,
+intent on mauling and pounding their heroes. Garry was caught up in the
+swirl and carried round the field on the shoulders of his hilarious
+schoolmates, who only relinquished him reluctantly at the door of the
+clubhouse.</p>
+
+<p>Once inside, Garry was the center of congratulations from his comrades
+on the team, who were frenzied with joy.</p>
+
+<p>"Gee, Garry, how did you do it?" asked Nick, clapping him on the back.</p>
+
+<p>"You went through that whole Pawling team like a knife through butter!"
+exclaimed Rooster.</p>
+
+<p>"They couldn't have stopped him with an axe," jubilated Tom Allison, as
+he reeled off some steps of a snake dance. "It wasn't football; it was
+magic."</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Phillips was less demonstrative than Garry's comrades, but his face
+was radiant with satisfaction as he put his hand on Garry's shoulder.</p>
+
+<p>"Well done, Grayson," he said cordially. "That was the finest example
+of line bucking I've ever seen outside of a college game. It took nerve
+and determination of a high order, and you deserve the thanks of the
+school."</p>
+
+<p>For several days after the game with Pawling Garry and his mates went
+around in a mood of exaltation. They had got the jump on the season by
+winning the first game. They were confident of other victories to come.
+There was not a cloud in their sky.</p>
+
+<p>Then things began to happen, mysterious things that disturbed both
+teachers and students and filled the school with a vague unrest.</p>
+
+<p>One morning Professor Blythe entered his orderly classroom to be
+confronted with a piece of malicious mischief that filled him with
+indignation.</p>
+
+<p>A large map of the ancient Roman Empire hung along one side of the
+room. It was a fine and costly one, and was known to be highly prized
+by the Latin teacher.</p>
+
+<p>Over the face of the map were large blotches of ink, obscuring the
+names of cities and outlines of countries. The miscreants, whoever they
+were, had done their work thoroughly. The costly map was ruined.</p>
+
+<p>The excitement attendant upon this act of vandalism had scarcely
+abated when another sensation claimed the attention of the school.
+Several electric fans had been taken apart and essential parts had been
+spirited away, leaving the devices useless.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Allen, the principal, called a special assembly of all the students
+of the school and voiced a strong warning to the boys and girls under
+his control.</p>
+
+<p>"This atrocious conduct must stop—and shall," he finished
+impressively. "Any student who injures or tampers with property
+belonging to the school is no better than a thief. Lenox has never
+tolerated and never will tolerate acts of malicious mischief. The
+offenders, when discovered, will be dealt with as they deserve."</p>
+
+<p>After practice on the field that afternoon, Rooster, Bill and Garry
+strolled out for a walk in the country adjoining Lenox to discuss the
+recent and unpleasant developments at the school.</p>
+
+<p>"It's got to a point where everybody suspects his neighbor," remarked
+Rooster.</p>
+
+<p>"I only hope whoever's at the root of the trouble will take warning and
+stop in time," observed Garry thoughtfully. "These practical jokers
+think they're smart, but after all they're only nitwits."</p>
+
+<p>"Talking about jokes, look at that poor old cow," said Rooster,
+pointing toward a field they were just passing. "I'll bet anything she
+thinks the joke's on her."</p>
+
+<p>Dusk was falling thickly. Bill and Garry followed the direction of
+Rooster's pointing finger, but it was Garry who first discerned what he
+meant.</p>
+
+<p>"Poor old bossy!" he laughed. "Her gate had been blocked up by some
+fallen rails and she can't get home. Listen to her moo."</p>
+
+<p>"Wants to be milked," said Bill, climbing the fence and jumping into
+the pasture, with Rooster and Garry at his heels.</p>
+
+<p>The cow welcomed their coming with a deep, pleading moo. They could see
+that the beast was suffering, for it was long past milking time.</p>
+
+<p>"We'll get you out of your trouble in a jiffy, old girl," promised
+Garry. So he and his mates set to work and soon had the passage
+cleared.</p>
+
+<p>The cow mooed gratefully and lumbered on her way, while the boys turned
+back to the road. As they did so, they saw three figures flit by in the
+dusk.</p>
+
+<p>There was something familiar about those three figures, enveloped
+though they were in the semi-gloom. But when the boys reached the
+highway the road was clear before them as far as they could see.</p>
+
+<p>"They've disappeared in a hurry," remarked Rooster. "I could have sworn
+that fellow on the outside was Sandy Podder. Walked like him, sort of a
+lazy slouch, hands in pockets, and now he and the fellows with him have
+done the vanishing act."</p>
+
+<p>"Easy enough to be mistaken about identity in the dusk like this," said
+Garry carelessly. "Likely enough it wasn't Sandy at all."</p>
+
+<p>"Speaking of that gink reminds me," put in Bill, and he went on to
+tell them of the conversation he had heard a few days before near the
+Stewarts' garage.</p>
+
+<p>"I was as sore as a boil that I couldn't get on to what they were
+cooking up," he said, "but Lent's mother came along and I had to beat
+it. Whatever it was, Sandy seemed to be pretty sure it would work.
+Sandy said it was a pip."</p>
+
+<p>"A pip?" laughed Garry. "All his schemes are pips to Sandy. It's only
+when he tries to put them in practice that they fall down. I guess this
+last one will meet the fate of all the others."</p>
+
+<p>He might not have been so carefree had he known that Sandy Podder,
+Lent Stewart, and Chat Johns were at that very moment within earshot.
+As Garry and his chums passed an old deserted barn at the side of
+the road, the three plotters peered around a corner of it, grinning
+gloatingly. Inspiration had come to Garry's enemies, and they were
+about to make the most of it. Meanwhile, all unsuspecting, Garry, Bill,
+and Rooster wended their way home to good suppers and later a dreamless
+night's sleep.</p>
+
+<p>Arriving at school the next morning, they entered their Latin room to
+find pandemonium broke loose.</p>
+
+<p>Boys were laughing, shouting, jumping on desks to get a better look at
+the creature that undeniably held the center of the stage. This, Garry
+ascertained a moment later, was a cow, a great sleek meek-eyed cow!</p>
+
+<p>"Jumping Jupiter!" cried Rooster. "How did that get here?"</p>
+
+<p>"She came to pay us a morning call," replied Tom Allison, spying his
+friends and elbowing his way toward them.</p>
+
+<p>"We're going to take her out on the campus and have fresh milk for
+lunch," added Pete Maddern, with a grin. "Get your tin cups ready,
+boys."</p>
+
+<p>"But how did she get here?" asked Garry bewilderedly.</p>
+
+<p>"That's what I should like to know," said a grim voice in the doorway.</p>
+
+<p>The voice belonged to Mr. Blythe, and the students scattered before his
+indignant approach.</p>
+
+<p>They formed such a comical contrast, the soft-eyed, bewildered cow and
+the grim, wrathful man as they exchanged look for look, that laughter
+broke in a wave over the room.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Blythe turned fiercely upon the boys.</p>
+
+<p>"This is no laughing matter," he cried. "I am sorry that any student of
+mine finds it so. It is an outrage and shall be reported at once to the
+principal."</p>
+
+<p>"The cow or the outrage?" Rooster whispered to Garry, but the latter
+nudged him to be silent.</p>
+
+<p>"Old Blythe's on the rampage," he warned. "Better lie low."</p>
+
+<p>"Take this animal outside," commanded the teacher irately. "Drive her
+out! Drive her out! Shoo!"</p>
+
+<p>Again laughter assailed the boys. It doubled them up until they were
+breathless and weak from glee. However, at another stern command from
+the teacher some of them got behind the animal, some of them before, in
+an attempt to urge the cow from this unfamiliar stamping ground.</p>
+
+<p>But bossy was scared now, and hard to move. Garry finally had an idea.
+He went out to the campus and returned with a handful of grass. Amid
+much hilarity he lured the animal inch by inch, step by step toward the
+front door.</p>
+
+<p>The progress was marked by great pomp and ceremony, fully half the
+students of the school watching it while they howled with laughter.
+Order was for a time completely suspended and chaos reigned.</p>
+
+<p>Arrived at the front door, the cow refused to go further, even for the
+tempting fodder in Garry's hand. It was necessary, therefore, for some
+half dozen boys to get behind and push.</p>
+
+<p>"Step on the accelerator," cried a wag, and again there was a gleeful
+outburst.</p>
+
+<p>Urged on irresistibly, the reluctant creature finally stepped out into
+the open. She had scarcely appeared there before a wrathful farmer came
+rushing up, declaring that he had searched over half of Lenox for his
+property. He took charge of the cow and led her off.</p>
+
+<p>Once more back in their classrooms, the "joke" assumed more serious
+proportions. With the cow removed, the boys could see that this
+incident of the animal's appearance in the schoolhouse had probably
+been conceived and carried out by the same mischief-makers who had
+ruined Mr. Blythe's map and tampered with the electric fans.</p>
+
+<p>"There's bound to be a big row over this," predicted Bill, as he
+and Garry were selecting the books they would need for the morning
+period. "Mr. Allen won't let this pass. He'll probably make a thorough
+investigation, and if he finds the fellows who planted that cow here, I
+feel sorry for them, that's all."</p>
+
+<p>Bill Sherwood was right about the course the principal would take.
+Mr. Blythe entered an indignant protest at the office, and Mr. Allen
+promised to discover and punish the offenders if such a thing were
+possible.</p>
+
+<p>"I will question each pupil separately," he declared, "and I am
+confident I shall have a clue to the rascals before school closes this
+afternoon."</p>
+
+<p>This he did, beginning with the lower classes and progressing steadily
+towards the higher grades.</p>
+
+<p>It was a long and tedious business, but it was evident to the least
+observant of the students that Mr. Allen was in deadly earnest about
+the matter and determined to get at the root of it.</p>
+
+<p>About mid-morning the principal entered Garry's class. When it came to
+the latter's turn to be questioned he answered in a straightforward
+manner that he knew nothing about how the cow happened to be in the
+classroom that morning. The same answer was given as regarded the map
+and the fans.</p>
+
+<p>Rooster, Bill, Nick, and Ted answered in the same way, as did all the
+other boys in that class.</p>
+
+<p>"I am forced to take your word in this matter," said the principal,
+when the questioning was over. "But if I find that any of you have
+deceived me or have withheld information that might lead to the
+detection of the boys I seek, the punishment meted out to you will be
+far more severe than I had originally intended. Is there any one of
+you—" he paused and looked sternly about the attentive class—"who
+remembers something he would like to say to me."</p>
+
+<p>There was dead silence. Mr. Allen spoke to the teacher in a low tone
+and went from the room.</p>
+
+<p>Thus he went from class to class until he reached the junior grades. In
+these were included Sandy Podder and Lent Stewart.</p>
+
+<p>The principal's examination, so far vain, took on an added impetus when
+he questioned Sandy Podder.</p>
+
+<p>"Do you know anything of this, Podder?" Mr. Allen asked, almost
+perfunctorily.</p>
+
+<p>Sandy hesitated. The hesitation was noticed and the class became
+immediately interested.</p>
+
+<p>"Why—I—I—don't know anything very certain, Mr. Allen," Sandy said,
+with apparent reluctance.</p>
+
+<p>The worried frown on the principal's face deepened.</p>
+
+<p>"Tell me what you do know," he commanded.</p>
+
+<p>"Why, it's—it's only that I happened to see some boys with a cow last
+night." Sandy spoke still more reluctantly, as though the facts were
+being drawn from him against his will.</p>
+
+<p>"You did?" The principal's look became interested, intent. "Can you
+give me the names of those boys?"</p>
+
+<p>"Why, I hardly know. I couldn't be sure. You see, it was nearly dark—"</p>
+
+<p>"But you think you know the names of those boys, don't you?" Mr. Allen
+interrupted abruptly. "Speak out, Podder. I must know the truth."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, then," replied Sandy, still with well-simulated reluctance,
+"I heard those boys talk, and I am sure that one of them was Garry
+Grayson."</p>
+
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XI">CHAPTER XI</h2>
+</div>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">Under Suspicion</span></h3>
+
+
+<p>At the mention of Garry Grayson's name there was a startled murmur
+among the students. Mr. Allen was himself surprised, but kept an
+impassive face. He looked closely at Sandy Podder.</p>
+
+<p>"Did you recognize any of the other boys that you say were with
+Grayson?" he asked.</p>
+
+<p>"I think Bill Sherwood and Rooster Long were with him," Sandy returned,
+still with the air of having these things wrung from him. "Though of
+course," apologetically, "as I said before, it was impossible for us to
+tell exactly."</p>
+
+<p>"Us," said the principal sharply. "Then there were others with you when
+you made this discovery."</p>
+
+<p>Sandy nodded, and under the gravity of his expression lurked a smirk of
+triumph.</p>
+
+<p>"Lent Stewart, of the Lenox High boys, and Chatwood Johns, one of the
+boys of the town," he said.</p>
+
+<p>Lent Stewart, being in the classroom, was questioned immediately. Of
+course he upheld Sandy's statement. He could not be sure, but he
+thought that the boys with Grayson were Bill Sherwood and Rooster Long.
+But as regards Garry, he was reasonably certain, for he had recognized
+his voice.</p>
+
+<p>"You say they were seen with a cow," the principal went on. "What were
+they doing with it?"</p>
+
+<p>"We didn't stay to see," replied Sandy, still reluctantly. "But it
+looked as though they were leading it somewhere."</p>
+
+<p>"H'm!" The principal stood for a while in deep thought. Then he looked
+at Sandy from beneath level brows. "Is that all you have to tell me?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, sir," answered Sandy, with apparent frankness. "That's all."</p>
+
+<p>"And it's enough," he said to himself, as, with a resolute gesture,
+the principal turned away. "If that swell-headed Garry Grayson and his
+friends don't get what's coming to them, I miss my guess. Old Allen's
+fighting mad."</p>
+
+<p>But here Sandy was wrong. Mr. Allen was not fighting mad. Instead he
+was sad and sorely worried.</p>
+
+<p>He had known Garry since the latter was a baby. He knew something of
+the splendid records the lad had made both in his studies and on the
+athletic field. He knew Rooster Long and Bill Sherwood also as clean,
+straight-shooting lads, who had up to that time been a credit to Lenox
+High. It seemed impossible that boys like these could be guilty of
+the malicious mischief that had set the whole school by the ears and
+seriously interfered with discipline.</p>
+
+<p>And yet he knew—none better—that at a certain age boys were apt to
+mistake lawless practical joking for legitimate humor. Their judgment
+was not yet fully formed. Youthful effervescence had to be reckoned
+with. It might be so in the case of Garry and his friends, and it was
+his duty to question them and try to get to the bottom of the matter.</p>
+
+<p>When Garry, Bill, and Rooster were summoned to the principal's office
+they wondered somewhat at the summons, but were not seriously alarmed.
+But the principal's first question warned them that there was something
+in the wind.</p>
+
+<p>"I have heard that you three boys were seen in a pasture on the
+outskirts of Lenox last night," Mr. Allen began without preface. "Is
+that true?"</p>
+
+<p>"We certainly were in a pasture just about dark last evening," Garry
+replied frankly. "But whether any one saw us there or not we can't
+tell. Some people, though, passed us on the road."</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Allen looked at the boys steadily for a moment, and then asked with
+significant emphasis.</p>
+
+<p>"What were you doing with the cow you found in the pasture?"</p>
+
+<p>A glance of amazement passed between the boys, a look not lost on Mr.
+Allen.</p>
+
+<p>"Her gate was closed up," Bill answered quickly. "We opened it so that
+the cow could get through."</p>
+
+<p>"It was long past milking time and the cow wanted to go home," added
+Rooster.</p>
+
+<p>"H'm!" said Mr. Allen thoughtfully. "Then you admit that you were in a
+pasture with a cow last night. Why is it that you did not tell me about
+that when I questioned you earlier in the day?"</p>
+
+<p>"I suppose because we didn't think it was important," replied Garry.
+"You asked us whether we knew how the cow got into the Latin room, and
+we told you the truth."</p>
+
+<p>"Do you say again that you don't know who brought the cow to the
+classroom?" asked Mr. Allen, looking at them keenly.</p>
+
+<p>"On our word of honor we don't know any more about that than you do,
+sir," replied Garry earnestly, and Bill and Rooster nodded their
+acquiescence.</p>
+
+<p>"That will do for the present." The words were accompanied by a gesture
+of dismissal.</p>
+
+<p>Feeling the futility of making any further attempts at defense, the
+boys had no alternative but to leave the office. They were under a
+cloud, and they knew it. While they smarted under a sense of injustice,
+they asked themselves and each other who could have told Mr. Allen of
+that innocent incident of their being with the cow the evening before.</p>
+
+<p>Innocent it surely was, prompted purely by their kindness of heart. But
+they were acutely conscious that it had been extremely unfortunate that
+the day before the cow appeared in the classroom they had been seen
+with a cow in the pasture.</p>
+
+<p>"Not guilty, but how can we prove it?" asked Rooster disconsolately.</p>
+
+<p>"Who told Mr. Allen that we were there?" pondered Bill.</p>
+
+<p>"You fellows are thick," declared Garry. "Sandy Podder is the answer."</p>
+
+<p>The others nodded a quick assent.</p>
+
+<p>Those three boys, only half seen through the dusk! Rooster thought he
+had recognized Sandy Podder. Now in the light of after events, the boys
+were sure he had. Who but Sandy Podder or one of his cronies would care
+to implicate them by reporting their where-abouts the evening before?
+Any one else passing along the road would have seen, despite the dusk,
+that their business there was simple enough.</p>
+
+<p>A little later their suspicion was confirmed when on the dismissal of
+the classes, they learned of the principal's interrogation of Sandy and
+Lent and the answers they had given.</p>
+
+<p>"Pretended to be awfully sorry that he had to give his evidence, too,"
+reported Ollie Scarsdale, who was in the same grade with Sandy. "Yet I
+saw him grinning afterward and whispering to Lent Stewart. He thinks
+he's got you in Dutch all right."</p>
+
+<p>"There's Sandy's pip," remarked Bill later, when the boys were
+discussing the matter among themselves.</p>
+
+<p>"It's a dirty put-up job!" cried Rooster hotly.</p>
+
+<p>"Of course it is," agreed Garry. "He and Stewart thought they saw a
+chance to get us in bad by producing circumstantial evidence, and you
+can trust them not to overlook a chance like that. Oh, if we hadn't
+taken that walk last night! As it is, we've played right into their
+hands!</p>
+
+<p>"Anyway, we know, if no one else does, that we didn't bring the cow
+into the school," he continued, trying to put as cheerful a face as
+possible on the matter. "They can't prove something on us that we
+didn't do."</p>
+
+<p>If he could have known that even as he was speaking, Mr. Allen was
+reading an anonymous note that had been dropped mysteriously on
+his desk while he was out of the room, Garry might have found his
+determined cheerfulness severely shaken.</p>
+
+<p>For these are the words that Mr. Allen read over and over again, his
+brow wrinkled in anxious thought:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot">
+
+<p>"This note is written in the interest of Lenox High. If you want to
+know who spattered the map, spoiled the fans, and took the cow into
+the school, ask Grayson, Sherwood and Long. They know."</p>
+</div>
+
+<p>The note was typewritten on ordinary paper and bore no signature. There
+was absolutely no clue to the writer.</p>
+
+<p>Contemptuous as he usually was of all anonymous documents, the message
+impressed the principal in spite of himself.</p>
+
+<p>"If those three boys are guilty, I'll find evidence of it," he said to
+himself, with a grim tightening of his lips. "This nonsense has gone
+far enough."</p>
+
+<p>But it seemed that the "nonsense" was to go still farther.</p>
+
+<p>An anonymous letter was published in the next morning's edition of the
+town paper. It was a venomous missive and alleged that "wild parties"
+were occasionally staged at Lenox High. It was hinted also that it
+might be worth the while of any one sufficiently interested to examine
+the desks of the some of the students in the school.</p>
+
+<p>The paper went on to say that, although usually averse to publishing
+anonymous communications, recent acts of vandalism in the high school
+seemed to justify it in making an exception of this case.</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot">
+
+<p>"Lenox High has hitherto enjoyed an enviable reputation," the article
+added. "It is sincerely hoped by the citizens of Lenox that those who
+are attempting to tarnish that reputation may soon be brought to book.
+In our opinion, no zeal should be spared toward the accomplishment of
+this end."</p>
+</div>
+
+<p>Wrathfully Mr. Allen read the article. His administration of the
+school that far had been very successful. He was responsible for its
+management. If the things that were hinted at proved to be true, it
+would be a serious reflection on the discipline of the school.</p>
+
+<p>Upon reaching the office he at once wrote a note and sent it around to
+all the teachers, instructing them to search the desk of each pupil
+personally and report to him at once.</p>
+
+<p>The order was carried out at once, and with astonishing results.</p>
+
+<p>In the desks of Garry Grayson, Bill Sherwood and Rooster Long three
+squat flasks were found, hip flasks, each containing a small amount of
+liquor! No other desk offered anything incriminating.</p>
+
+<p>The hapless trio were thunder-struck. The other members of their class
+were utterly bewildered. They could not believe it; did not want to
+believe it. Yet there was the evidence, those three evil smelling
+flasks with their wretched contents. The evidence seemed overwhelming.</p>
+
+<p>"We're done!" groaned Bill, after class had been dismissed and they
+were awaiting with dread a summons to the office. "We've been framed,
+all right, and I only wish I could get hold of the fellow who did it."</p>
+
+<p>"We've got to think how to get out of this jam first," said Garry.
+"Keep still, fellows, and let me think."</p>
+
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XII">CHAPTER XII</h2>
+</div>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">Out of the Game</span></h3>
+
+
+<p>All of Garry Grayson's thinking promised to be of little use at this
+juncture. The net of circumstantial evidence closed tightly about him
+and his friends, and try as he did he could find no way out of it.</p>
+
+<p>Their friends—and they were many—were loyally with them, but since
+they could not explain away the strong evidence of those hip flasks,
+their friendship was of little practical assistance.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Allen, put on his mettle by that article in the morning paper and
+furious to find the unpleasant insinuations in it substantiated by what
+seemed substantial proof, permitted the full weight of his wrath to
+fall upon the helpless lads.</p>
+
+<p>He listened grimly to their protestations of innocence. Then he
+announced his verdict. The three were to be suspended, summarily barred
+from Lenox High for three months, as a warning to the other students of
+the school.</p>
+
+<p>It was a terrible blow to the boys. Naturally it was very disturbing
+to their parents, who were firmly convinced that their sons were
+being wronged. They went to Mr. Allen and urged that the sentence be
+modified, at least until the boys could have a chance to unravel the
+plot they felt had been woven about them.</p>
+
+<p>More than this, most of the teachers of the school in conference with
+their superior privately advised leniency, especially in view of
+the unspotted records of the boys up to that time. Mr. Phillips was
+especially urgent in asking for a lighter sentence. He admitted the
+weight of the evidence was against them, but assured Mr. Allen that
+nevertheless he was convinced that the boys were innocent and that in
+due time that innocence would be established.</p>
+
+<p>By this time the principal's wrath had cooled somewhat; his certainty
+of their wrongdoing was wavering; his own liking for the accused
+boys reasserted itself; and he finally agreed to revoke his order of
+suspension.</p>
+
+<p>However—and this was almost as much a blow to the boys as actual
+suspension—the final punishment meted out by Mr. Allen barred the lads
+from all participation in athletic games for the rest of the term.</p>
+
+<p>"I'd rather be suspended!" burst out Rooster savagely. "Can you imagine
+sitting on the sub bench and watching Lenox lose?"</p>
+
+<p>"Wake up, feller, you're dreaming," growled Bill. "You don't suppose
+we'll get as far as the sub bench, do you? We've been barred from the
+field altogether, except as spectators in the stands."</p>
+
+<p>"Even the humble sub has it all over us," muttered Garry bitterly.
+"I've tried to be cheerful about this, but it certainly looks as though
+we were licked at last."</p>
+
+<p>"Say, Garry, where do you get that stuff?" said Nick Danter, in an
+attempt to cheer up his chum. "You won't be licked until you're dead.
+We'll find a way to get you and Bill and Rooster back on the gridiron
+some way! Suffering cats!" he added angrily, "I wish old Allen were
+further. How does he expect we're going to win against Thomaston and
+the game only a few days off? Without you, we're sure to lose."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, no, you're not." With difficulty Garry raised himself from the
+depths of gloom. "You're not beaten till you think you are, Nick. It's
+your job and the job of the other fellows on the team to go in and win
+despite the handicap. You see, Rooster and I are conceited enough to
+call it a handicap," he added, with a sorry attempt at a grin.</p>
+
+<p>"Can't be done, Garry! Can't be done!" declared Nick moodily. "Not at
+such short notice, anyhow. You know we expect a hard fight against
+Thomaston under any conditions. Their team is mighty strong. They've
+lost hardly any of their old stars through graduation. And as far as
+our team is concerned, with you and Rooster counted out, the boys are
+in for an awful slump. I don't believe that anything Mr. Phillips can
+do will pull them out of it."</p>
+
+<p>"Just the same, if any one can, Mr. Phillips will!" exclaimed Garry,
+brightening at mention of the English teacher. "There's one fine man!
+He doesn't believe we did any of the things charged against us."</p>
+
+<p>"Neither does any one else in the school, if the truth were told,"
+asserted Ted. "I don't think Mr. Allen himself really believes it. He
+has to keep discipline though, and in the face of the circumstantial
+evidence against you he had to do something."</p>
+
+<p>When the day came for the game with Thomaston, which was to take place
+on the Lenox grounds, Garry, Rooster, and Bill thought at first that
+they would not go at all. But the call of the gridiron was too strong
+to be resisted. They could at least cheer for the old team, even if
+they could not play on it.</p>
+
+<p>Their entrance into the stands was attended with an ovation on the part
+of their fellow students that warmed their hearts. Hands were thrust
+out to grasp theirs and many were the words of sympathy spoken. Most of
+the students were almost as sore as Garry himself at his banishment
+from the game, and with him out they could see nothing but defeat for
+Lenox.</p>
+
+<p>Their gloomy anticipations were fulfilled to the uttermost, for that
+afternoon Lenox went down to the worst defeat it had experienced since
+it had been a member of the league.</p>
+
+<p>With Garry gone, his former mates were like a ship without a rudder.
+Mr. Phillips had done the best he could to strengthen the team. Pete
+Maddern had been put in Rooster's place and Benny Knapp had taken
+Garry's, while Rankin had been called on to fill Knapp's place in the
+backfield. It was the best that could be done under the circumstances,
+but it was not good enough to avert an overwhelming defeat.</p>
+
+<p>For Benny got mixed in his signals, often with fatal results. The whole
+team became confused, not knowing what to expect from their leader.
+Thomaston took full advantage of the mistakes and made the game a
+massacre.</p>
+
+<p>Only once did Lenox score, when the Thomaston fullback fumbled and
+Nick scooped up the ball and went over the line for a touchdown. But
+Thomaston scored almost at will. They rode easily to victory while
+Lenox was smothered at every turn.</p>
+
+<p>Six times Thomaston battered its way through the line for touchdowns.
+When they wearied of this, they resorted to the aerial game, while the
+Lenox overhead defense collapsed. Four times Thomaston scored through
+the air on two passes of fifty yards each, one of fifty-four and a
+fourth of twenty-seven.</p>
+
+<p>Under this fierce attack the entire Lenox team became like a mass of
+huddled sheep. The game had become a joke. When at last the referee's
+whistle sounded an end to the slaughter, Thomaston had triumphed by a
+score of 63 to 6.</p>
+
+<p>The Lenox rooters sat through it all, glum and dumbfounded, while the
+Thomaston supporters chortled with glee. Lenox had taken a shameful
+beating.</p>
+
+<p>Sick at heart, Garry watched his chance, and when his comrades were not
+looking slipped away by himself. He was in no mood for conversation. He
+wanted to be alone in his misery until he could get a grip on himself.
+To have to sit there and watch his team lose! To feel without conceit
+that in ten minutes on the field he could have turned the tide of
+battle! To know this, and yet to sit there in silent agony seeing the
+team disgraced! It was more than he could bear.</p>
+
+<p>Wandering along blindly, his head full of unhappy thoughts, Garry heard
+himself suddenly accosted. The voice was a familiar one and, looking
+up, Garry saw Cal Yates' car parked at the curb. Cal was grinning
+at him amiably. "What's the matter that you can't recognize an old
+friend," chirped Cal. "Come on, jump in and we'll go for a ride."</p>
+
+<p>Garry hesitated, was about to refuse, then suddenly acquiesced.
+He liked Cal Yates and hardly cared to offend him by refusing the
+invitation. Then, too, it would be a change and might drive away some
+of the gloom that enwrapped him.</p>
+
+<p>As Garry put a leg over the car door and slumped down in the seat
+beside him, Cal regarded him slyly out of the corner of his eye.</p>
+
+<p>"Think I can guess the reason for your doleful dumps," Cal said with a
+jerk of his head back toward the field. "I was at the game. Thomaston
+certain walked all over you."</p>
+
+<p>Garry nodded glumly.</p>
+
+<p>"My hands were tied," he said. "Rooster and I had to sit there and
+watch them get licked."</p>
+
+<p>"Pretty tough!" murmured Cal sympathetically.</p>
+
+<p>There was a moment of silence while the car purred rhythmically along
+the road. Then Cal spoke suddenly and with a resolution not familiar to
+him.</p>
+
+<p>"See here," he blurted out. "I like you, and I've reason to be grateful
+to you for what you did for my dad when he needed help. Besides, I
+don't like to see a fellow framed."</p>
+
+<p>Garry looked at him curiously.</p>
+
+<p>Cal was silent again as he manipulated the car about a corner and swung
+off on a road leading into the country. Here he slowed the car to an
+ambling pace and turned half about to face Garry.</p>
+
+<p>"Because that's what you've been," he said, continuing from the point
+where he had left off. "Framed!"</p>
+
+<p>"Don't I know it?" Garry spoke bitterly. "We fellows never had hip
+flasks, never even thought of them until they were found in our desks.
+If that isn't framing, what is?"</p>
+
+<p>Cal pondered a moment.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't like to mix in any one else's business," he said slowly.
+"But—" He paused.</p>
+
+<p>"If you know anything, spill it," urged Garry eagerly.</p>
+
+<p>"I will," said Cal briskly. "I'll tell you when and where you were
+framed and who did it!"</p>
+
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XIII">CHAPTER XIII</h2>
+</div>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">Tracing the Threads</span></h3>
+
+
+<p>Garry Grayson's heart gave such a bound that it almost seemed to turn
+over.</p>
+
+<p>"Tell me! Tell me!" he cried.</p>
+
+<p>"That interests you, does it?" returned Cal, with grin. "I thought it
+would. Now listen, Garry, and I'll tell you what I know about this.</p>
+
+<p>"I was out with some of my friends a short time ago," he went on. "We
+stopped at a roadhouse for a bite to eat. Sandy Podder, Lent Stewart,
+and another fellow I didn't know were sitting at a table near us. The
+whole bunch of them had hip flasks—"</p>
+
+<p>Garry uttered an involuntary exclamation, and Cal glanced at him
+quizzically.</p>
+
+<p>"Yeah," he continued, "and by the time we had finished dinner that
+bunch was pretty wild. When we got up to go we saw the landlord of
+the place go and join Sandy and his bunch at their table. They began
+talking in a low voice so that we couldn't hear anything they said,
+except here and there a word.</p>
+
+<p>"After we got out to the car, I found that I had left my cap behind
+and went back for it. Here's where the interesting part comes in."</p>
+
+<p>Cal paused and watched the road thoughtfully for a few seconds where it
+turned and twisted before them.</p>
+
+<p>"For the love of Pete, go on!" cried Garry.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm coming to it," grinned Cal. "Well, you see by this time it was
+pretty late, and there was no one in the dining room of the place but
+Podder and his gang—"</p>
+
+<p>"And the landlord," put in Garry.</p>
+
+<p>"And the landlord," repeated Cal gravely. "He's a very important person
+in the tale, as you'll see. As I opened the door I happened to hear
+your name mentioned. You see they thought they were alone and were not
+so careful to keep their voices lowered.</p>
+
+<p>"'We'll plant the flask in Garry Grayson's desk,' I heard Sandy say.</p>
+
+<p>"'And in Rooster Long's and Bill Sherwood's too,' said Stewart. 'Might
+as well make a good job while we're about it.'</p>
+
+<p>"'It will be kissing good-bye to three flasks and a pint of good
+liquor,' said Sandy, grinning foolishly, 'but we won't grudge 'em that,
+will we, fellows?'"</p>
+
+<p>Garry's hands clenched until the nails bit into the palms.</p>
+
+<p>"Go on!" he cried.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, that's about all," said Cal. "I went in and got my cap, and
+they looked at me as if I were some sort of a crook—"</p>
+
+<p>"The dirty crooks themselves!" muttered Garry, scowling.</p>
+
+<p>"You said it," agreed Cal cheerfully. "I didn't think much about
+it—supposed, in fact, that the fellows were so fuddled they didn't
+know what they were doing and that nothing would come of it until I
+heard in a roundabout way that you fellows were accused of some sort
+of tomfoolery in school. Then when I found that you'd been barred from
+athletics because of those hip flasks that had been planted in your
+desks—well, I felt it was about time that little Cal stepped in and
+told what he knew."</p>
+
+<p>"Say, Cal, I don't know how I can thank you for this!" Garry's face was
+radiant and his eyes gleamed with sudden determination. "I've got to
+get this thing to Mr. Allen right away."</p>
+
+<p>Cal nodded.</p>
+
+<p>"Mr. Allen may not think my story is proof enough. He knows, or can
+find out, that I'm friendly with you because of the way you helped my
+father, and he may think I'm just cooking this up to get a pal out
+of trouble. I've thought of that, and so I'm going to help you to
+corroborate my evidence."</p>
+
+<p>"How's that?" asked Garry eagerly.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm going to take you right now to the roadhouse and try to scare the
+landlord into telling what he knows about this plot."</p>
+
+<p>"Do you suppose he'll do it?" asked Garry.</p>
+
+<p>"He won't want to do it. I know that much," replied Cal. "But I think I
+can put a flea in his ear that will make him be good. At any rate, I'm
+going to try it."</p>
+
+<p>"Good!" exclaimed Garry, all his despondency gone. Hope coursed through
+his veins like wine. Every moment's delay seemed unbearable to him.</p>
+
+<p>"You're a friend worth having, Cal," he cried jubilantly. "And now you
+wouldn't mind stepping on the gas a bit, would you?"</p>
+
+<p>Cal laughed and complied.</p>
+
+<p>"Eager on the scent now, aren't you? Thought maybe you'd be when you'd
+heard my story. But the place isn't far off and we'll be there in a
+jiffy."</p>
+
+<p>So saying, Cal Yates turned a curve in the road, skidding merrily on
+two wheels.</p>
+
+<p>There was a yell of fright, and three burly tramps stepped to one side
+with surprising quickness.</p>
+
+<p>Cal turned to the scowling men.</p>
+
+<p>"Sorry," he called out. "Didn't see you coming. Glad I didn't hit you.
+S'long!"</p>
+
+<p>For answer, one of the tramps picked up a big stone and hurled it at
+the car, but the speed at which it was going disturbed the fellow's
+aim, and the car went by undamaged.</p>
+
+<p>"Surly brute, isn't he?" asked Cal indignantly. "Any one might think we
+were trying to run him down on purpose. If that stone had hit one of
+us, it sure would have done some damage."</p>
+
+<p>They had gone a few hundred feet further when something went wrong with
+the car. Cal drew it up by the roadside and got down to investigate. A
+few moments went by. Then came a sharp cry from Garry.</p>
+
+<p>"Look out!" he called.</p>
+
+<p>Cal looked up just in time see a stick in the hands of one of the
+tramps who had followed them descending toward his head. He dodged, and
+the tramp, almost overbalanced by missing his stroke, stumbled forward,
+and in the attempt to save himself dropped the stick.</p>
+
+<p>Instantly Cal picked it up and gave the man a poke with it in the pit
+of his stomach. The man doubled up and sat down promptly, gasping for
+breath and with all the fight knocked out of him for the moment.</p>
+
+<p>Simultaneously with his cry of warning to Cal, Garry had jumped from
+the car. As he did so, the other two tramps rushed toward him.</p>
+
+<p>Against the three of them it would have fared hard with the boys if at
+that moment a car full of schoolboys who had been to the game had not
+swept around the bend of the road. They took in the unequal struggle in
+an instant, stopped the car and swarmed down from it.</p>
+
+<p>At these unexpected reinforcements the tramps, seeing themselves much
+outnumbered, made off at good speed, never once stopping to look behind
+them.</p>
+
+<p>The newcomers, who took it all as a lark, shouted lustily and pursued
+the fleeing rascals until the latter were lost in the woods near by.
+Then they returned, waved aside laughingly the thanks of Garry and Cal,
+jumped into their waiting car and sped away.</p>
+
+<p>Garry turned to Cal, grinning and wiping the dust from his clothes.</p>
+
+<p>"That was a lucky interruption for us," he said.</p>
+
+<p>"Surest thing you know," agreed Cal.</p>
+
+<p>They resumed their trip, and before long drew up at a roadhouse that
+stood a little back from the highway.</p>
+
+<p>"Ready for the next act?" asked Cal.</p>
+
+<p>"More than ready—eager," returned Garry.</p>
+
+<p>They went quietly around to a side door of the building. Cal appeared
+to know his way about very well.</p>
+
+<p>"The eats are good here," he explained, "and I've often dropped in
+when I've been coming home from a spin. Only for the eats though,
+for I never touch anything stronger than tea or coffee for liquid
+refreshment."</p>
+
+<p>"Don't seem to be doing much business now," volunteered Garry, as he
+looked about.</p>
+
+<p>"The dinner crowd hasn't begun to come yet," replied Cal. "It's a good
+time to find Jake unoccupied. Come on. I think I'll know where to
+locate him."</p>
+
+<p>Jake, Garry conjectured, was the proprietor of the place.</p>
+
+<p>Cal opened the side door with an air of assurance and stepped into
+a large kitchen. The cook and two helpers were already busied with
+preparations for dinner. Cal greeted them jovially.</p>
+
+<p>"Want a word with Jake in private, Jerry," he said, and favored the
+cook with a wink. "Where shall I find him?"</p>
+
+<p>Jerry, a big fat man with a chef's hat on his head, jerked the hat
+toward a door at the further end of the kitchen.</p>
+
+<p>"In his office. Go on in. He's always glad to see old customers."</p>
+
+<p>Cal crossed the kitchen swiftly, Garry at his side.</p>
+
+<p>He swung open a door, crossed a small passageway, then opened another
+door.</p>
+
+<p>Tilted back in his chair with his feet on a desk sat a fat, greasy,
+little man with an expression of lazy contentment on his face.</p>
+
+<p>As Cal and Garry stepped into the room the man made as though to rise,
+but Cal waved him back with a careless gesture.</p>
+
+<p>"Don't get up, Jake," he said, "This is a friend of mine, Garry
+Grayson." A nod of his head indicated Garry. "We've come to make a
+little call, Jake, but we won't stay more than a few minutes. How's
+business?"</p>
+
+<p>"Great!" The greasy little man indicated two chairs, one on either side
+of the desk, and waved his guests into them. "Effery day ve got a crowd
+vould make you sit up und take notice. Eet is such a pleasure to see
+how der people like my liddle place. Bisness gets better effery day."</p>
+
+<p>"That's good. Nice little place you have here, Jake," said Cal gravely.
+"You must be pretty well attached to it by this time."</p>
+
+<p>"Sure, I like my liddle place. I build it up myself und make of it a
+bisness what pulls in der money hand over fist. Sure, I like it."</p>
+
+<p>"And in that case, of course," Cal said carelessly, but watching the
+proprietor as a cat does a mouse, "it would break your heart to have it
+closed up, wouldn't it, Jake?"</p>
+
+<p>The eyes of the little man narrowed suddenly until they seemed mere
+slits in his greasy face. Slowly he removed his feet from the desk, his
+eyes holding Cal's.</p>
+
+<p>"What foolishment iss you talking?" he demanded coldly.</p>
+
+<p>"Now listen, Jake." Cal assumed an easy air as he bent over the desk,
+one elbow resting on it. "We, Garry Grayson and I, want this to be just
+a friendly little chat. It's your fault if it takes an unfriendly turn.
+That right, Garry?"</p>
+
+<p>Garry nodded. His eyes had narrowed too. He was watching the man behind
+the desk intently.</p>
+
+<p>"So, Jake, that being understood, suppose we come down to cases,"
+continued Cal lightly.</p>
+
+<p>"Vot you mean by cases?" asked Jake, with symptoms of growing
+belligerence. "Vot iss it you vant of me?"</p>
+
+<p>"Something very simple, Jake; very simple." Cal's tone was soothing.
+"Garry Grayson here finds himself in a jam, so to speak, a nasty mess,
+and all along of some hip flasks that were planted in the desks of
+him and two of his chums. This dirty trick was pulled by a couple of
+fellows who hate him and want to run him out of the Lenox High school.
+You know those fellows, Jake. They come here often."</p>
+
+<p>"Vell," replied Jake guardedly. "Vot if they do?"</p>
+
+<p>"Because," explained Cal, "the dirty work of these fellows has caused
+Garry Grayson and two of his friends to be barred from athletics in the
+school. It has put them in Dutch. Now, I like these boys a lot, Jake,
+and I'm not going to stand by and see them framed. I happen to know who
+framed them, and I happen to know that you know too. With your help,
+Jake, I'm going to show up those fellows for what they are."</p>
+
+<p>"Mit my help, yes?" queried Jake, in a soft voice. "I dink nod. I do
+not dell on my customers."</p>
+
+<p>"I see," said Cal quietly. "Then you'd rather have your customers tell
+on you?" As the little man whirled upon him, Cal continued quickly:
+"Now listen, Jake. I think you're going to help me get Grayson and his
+friends clear of this mess, and I'll tell you why."</p>
+
+<p>"For vy?" questioned the little man barely above a whisper that
+suggested the hiss of a snake.</p>
+
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XIV">CHAPTER XIV</h2>
+</div>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">Brought to Book</span></h3>
+
+
+<p>"Because, Jake, old boy," replied Cal Yates to the man's question, "I
+happen to know where Sandy Podder and his friends got those hip flasks.
+And what's more important, oh, much more important, Jake! I know
+where they got the contents of those flasks and where they or anybody
+else, if they give the password, can get a lot more of the same stuff
+whenever they like."</p>
+
+<p>Cal leaned back in his chair and met the furious stare of the little
+man with a laugh.</p>
+
+<p>"Honest now, Jake," he said, "you wouldn't want me to tell all I know
+about this place, would you?"</p>
+
+<p>The proprietor's face was a study. It turned a yellowish-green. He was
+clearly flabbergasted.</p>
+
+<p>"I keep a respec'able place," he muttered.</p>
+
+<p>"I grant it's much better than the general run of roadhouses. For one
+thing, the food is excellent," replied Cal. "But all the same, Jake,
+none of your customers have been known to die of thirst. I know what's
+in the tea cups on the tables. My eyes are good and so is my nose. Now
+get me right. I've no desire to poke my nose into your business. But
+I'm out to see justice done to Garry Grayson here, and I'm going to do
+it if it takes a leg or takes your license."</p>
+
+<p>The greasy face grew still moister with perspiration at the mention of
+the word "license."</p>
+
+<p>"Und it's me dot thought you vos a friend ov mine," Jake wailed. "Und
+now you drying to ruin mine bisness."</p>
+
+<p>"Nothing of the kind, Jake," denied Cal. "There are worse fellows than
+you. I've got some mighty good meals in this place. I'm not asking you
+to do anything that isn't right. I'm just asking you to help get my
+friend out of a mess. You know it isn't right that any one should be
+framed."</p>
+
+<p>"No," admitted Jake, "I vouldn't frame no one mineself. But vot udders
+do I cannot help. Who iss dis young feller dot I should get mixed up in
+his drubbles?"</p>
+
+<p>"I'll tell you who he is," replied Cal. "He's the son of a lawyer,
+Joseph S. Grayson of Lenox. Do you know him?"</p>
+
+<p>"Der vun what sent Gyp Mooney to jail?" exclaimed Jake.</p>
+
+<p>"The same," assented Cal. "And the one who closed up Gyp's poolroom,"
+he added significantly. "Oh, he's a wonder at closing up places when he
+gets started. I'd hate to have him close up yours, Jake."</p>
+
+<p>The perspiration now stood in great beads on Jake's brow, and his hands
+closed and unclosed nervously.</p>
+
+<p>"Listen!" he said. "I vould help dis Grayson, who seems to be a nice
+young feller, but vot kin I do? Vot do I know about dose hip flasks? I
+seen dem here, yes. Mine customers bring dem vid dem. But vot does dot
+prove about der framing?"</p>
+
+<p>"I'll tell you what you know about this particular case," replied Cal.
+"Sandy Podder and his bunch were in here about a week ago. I'd been
+having a bite here, and went out when I'd finished. But I had forgotten
+my cap, and when I came back for it Sandy and his pals were boasting
+about how they were going to plant hip flasks with liquor in them in
+the desks of Garry Grayson and his friends. You were sitting at the
+table with them and heard every word. Now wait a minute, Jake," as the
+man started to protest. "I see by your eyes that you're going to say
+you didn't hear them. Take a fool's advice and don't say it. I know you
+heard them."</p>
+
+<p>The little man sank back in his seat with a groan.</p>
+
+<p>"Vot you want me to do?" he asked.</p>
+
+<p>"Just this," replied Cal, bending forward and tapping the desk
+impressively. "I'm going with my friend here to Mr. Allen, the
+principal of the high school. I'm not going to tell him a single word
+about your selling liquor in this place. But I am going to tell him
+what I heard Sandy Podder and his pals say about framing Grayson and
+his friends.</p>
+
+<p>"Now, Mr. Allen may think that, since I'm a friend of Garry's, I'm
+getting up the whole thing to help him out of a mess. He may want some
+one else's word to back up mine. Yours is going to be the word to do
+that."</p>
+
+<p>"I vill be ruint!" groaned Jake.</p>
+
+<p>"Not at all," Cal reassured him. "The whole thing will be kept under
+our hats. I'll get Mr. Allen's word for that. Your talk with him will
+be in private. All he wants to know, all he cares to know just now, is
+the truth about this framing. Once he feels sure of this, he'll call
+Sandy Podder and his pals in and worm the truth out of them. They're
+yellow, and each will probably squeal on the other in the hope of being
+let down easy. But your name will be kept out of it. How about it,
+Jake? Is it a go?"</p>
+
+<p>Jake nodded his head.</p>
+
+<p>"You haf me by der neck," he said glumly. "I can nudding else do."</p>
+
+<p>"Atta boy!" said Cal rising. "Come along, Garry. We'll just be able to
+get back to town by dinner time. S'long, Jake."</p>
+
+<p>"Cal, you're a wonder," said Garry, when they were once more seated in
+the car. "The way you handled that fellow couldn't have been beaten."</p>
+
+<p>"Not so bad, not so bad," chuckled Cal, as he stepped on the gas. "I
+thought I could make Jake listen to reason. He isn't such a bad old
+skate at that."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, I can never thank you enough," declared Garry warmly. "You've
+lifted a thousand tons from my mind."</p>
+
+<p>"More than I ever lifted before," grinned Cal. "I must be a regular
+strong man. But I'm glad if I've been able to pay in a little way the
+debt I owe you on account of my father."</p>
+
+<p>"How's he getting along, by the way?" asked Garry, as they sped along
+at a rapid rate.</p>
+
+<p>"Fine as silk," replied Cal. "He's getting around all right now. Limps
+a little, but the doctor says that his leg will be just as good as the
+other one before long."</p>
+
+<p>"That's fine and dandy!" said Garry.</p>
+
+<p>Before long they reached Garry's home. Garry pressed his friend to come
+in and have dinner with the family, but Cal had another engagement and
+could not accept the invitation at that time, though he promised to do
+so before long.</p>
+
+<p>"Now what about Mr. Allen?" asked Cal, as he prepared to depart. "I
+suppose you want this thing to be cleared up right off the bat."</p>
+
+<p>"You bet I do!" exclaimed Garry. "I'll see Mr. Allen in the morning and
+make an appointment, if I can, to see you at his office right after
+school closes. I'll 'phone you at noon about it. That suit you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Right down to the ground," replied Cal. "Good-bye, old chap, and don't
+take any bad money. S'long."</p>
+
+<p>The joy in the Grayson family when Garry repeated to them at the table
+the events of the afternoon can be imagined. They had all been immersed
+in gloom because of Garry's predicament, had never for an instant
+doubted his innocence, and had writhed under the sense of bitter
+injustice.</p>
+
+<p>Now Mrs. Grayson's eyes were full of happy tears as were Ella's, and
+Mr. Grayson's voice was husky as he threw his arm over the boy's
+shoulder.</p>
+
+<p>"You've had a hard time of it, my boy," he said, "and I know just how
+you must have felt. But wrong can't triumph for long, and now you've
+been vindicated. Let me know when you've made the appointment with Mr.
+Allen, and I'll run up and join you there."</p>
+
+<p>"Rooster," said Garry the next morning, as he met his chums on the way
+to school. "How would you like to get back on the eleven?"</p>
+
+<p>"Swell chance!" grunted Rooster.</p>
+
+<p>"Better chance than you think," replied Garry, his eyes dancing.</p>
+
+<p>"What do you mean?" came from the crowd in a chorus, as they gathered
+about him.</p>
+
+<p>"Never mind what I mean," replied Garry, with a portentous air of
+mystery.</p>
+
+<p>"Cut out that Sphinx stuff or I'll slug you," cried Bill. "Tell us what
+you mean!"</p>
+
+<p>"Not yet," laughed Garry happily. "I'm beautiful but dumb."</p>
+
+<p>"Dumb is right," agreed Ted heartily. "The less said about the beauty
+the better. Be a good fellow, Garry, and spill it."</p>
+
+<p>"Be patient, little ones," retorted Garry aggravatingly. "All in good
+time. If you behave yourselves, I may let you into a secret, say about
+five o'clock this afternoon. Until then my lips are sealed."</p>
+
+<p>"Your lips may be split unless you come across," threatened Nick,
+making a playful pass at him.</p>
+
+<p>But no amount of wheedling could get anything further from Garry, and
+his chums passed the rest of the school day in wondering what could be
+the explanation of the mystery. But that it was something good, they
+felt assured, and that enabled them to possess their souls in more or
+less patience.</p>
+
+<p>When the morning lessons were over Garry called upon Mr. Allen in the
+latter's office. The principal was bending over his desk, busy with a
+mass of reports. He looked up as Garry entered.</p>
+
+<p>"What is it, Garry?" he asked, as he pushed back his papers and slewed
+his chair around.</p>
+
+<p>"If you please, Mr. Allen," responded Garry, "I would like to make an
+appointment with you for my father and me to see you here after classes
+to-day."</p>
+
+<p>"Why, of course," replied Mr. Allen, a little surprised, as he looked
+at the flushed, eager face of the boy. "Would you mind telling me what
+it is about?"</p>
+
+<p>"It's about that hip-flask business," responded Garry. "I've found out
+who put them in my desk, as well as those of Bill Sherwood and Rooster
+Long."</p>
+
+<p>"You have?" and now it was the principal whose voice was eager.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Allen had never felt easy in his mind over the penalty inflicted on
+the accused boys. He did not see how he could have acted other than he
+had, considering the weight of circumstantial evidence. The discipline
+of the school had to be maintained. But deep down in his heart he could
+not believe that Garry Grayson had lied to him. So his relief at a
+promised clearing up of the mystery was almost as great as that of the
+boys themselves.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, sir," Garry replied to the principal's question.</p>
+
+<p>"Who did it?" asked Mr. Allen. "Anybody connected with the school?"</p>
+
+<p>Garry nodded his head.</p>
+
+<p>"But I wish you wouldn't ask me who they are just now, if you please,
+Mr. Allen," he said. "I don't want you to take my word for it." Here
+the principal flushed a little. "I'll let somebody else tell the story.
+Will it be all right to bring a couple of witnesses with me?"</p>
+
+<p>"Perfectly right," replied Mr. Allen heartily. "And I want to tell you,
+Garry, that nobody will be more delighted than I if their story clears
+you of all connection with the matter."</p>
+
+<p>Garry thanked the principal and was off to telephone Cal Yates. The
+latter was at home, and agreed to go out in his car, get Jake, and
+bring him along.</p>
+
+<p>Promptly at the appointed time, Garry and his father, together with Cal
+Yates, were gathered in Mr. Allen's office. Jake was waiting outside,
+since Cal had promised to secure from Mr. Allen a pledge that Jake's
+name would be kept out of the matter as far as possible.</p>
+
+<p>"Now, Garry," said Mr. Allen, as he settled down in his chair, "you
+have the floor. Bring on your witnesses."</p>
+
+<p>"This is the first one," said Garry, introducing Cal.</p>
+
+<p>The latter plunged at once into the story, telling the facts clearly
+and convincingly. Mr. Allen was visibly impressed. He put a number of
+questions, all of which were answered frankly and without the slightest
+hesitation.</p>
+
+<p>"Now for the other witness," he said.</p>
+
+<p>Then Cal told of the presence of Jake outside and of his anxiety to
+avoid publicity.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Allen conferred in low tones with Mr. Grayson, and then gave the
+required promise. Jake was brought in and, with much twisting and
+squirming, confirmed Cal's story. He was an unwilling witness, and for
+that reason his statements carried the more weight.</p>
+
+<p>The next morning a messenger from the principal came into the junior
+class in Latin and spoke to Mr. Blythe in a whisper.</p>
+
+<p>"Podder and Stewart," announced the Latin teacher, "you will report at
+once to Mr. Allen in his office!"</p>
+
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XV">CHAPTER XV</h2>
+</div>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">A Merited Punishment</span></h3>
+
+
+<p>Sandy Podder and Lent Stewart looked at each other and turned pale.
+They rose and left the room, followed by curious eyes.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Allen was alone in his office. He motioned them to seats. Then he
+sat there, looking from one to the other with glances that seemed to
+bore them through. They alternately flushed and paled and fidgeted in
+their seats.</p>
+
+<p>"Podder and Stewart," he suddenly shot at them, "why did you put those
+hip flasks in the desks of Grayson, Long, and Sherwood?"</p>
+
+<p>It was like the explosion of a bomb. The guilty students jumped
+convulsively. They tried to speak, but no words came. At last Sandy
+found his voice.</p>
+
+<p>"Wh-wh-what do you mean, Mr. Allen?" he stammered.</p>
+
+<p>"You know what I mean," thundered Mr. Allen, rising to his feet and
+towering over them. "Lying is useless. I have the facts. I know the
+plot from beginning to end. Why did you put those hip flasks in the
+desks of Grayson, Long, and Sherwood? Out with it now! Out with the
+truth!"</p>
+
+<p>He was so sure, so positive, so unbending, that the boys' hearts
+turned to water. They quailed before those boring eyes. Their guilty
+consciences gave them no support. Lies were only broken reeds. In
+confession seemed to lie their only hope.</p>
+
+<p>Sandy was the first to break.</p>
+
+<p>"It—it was only a joke—" he stuttered.</p>
+
+<p>"A joke!" repeated Mr. Allen with biting scorn. "Then you did do it,
+Podder? And you too, Stewart?"</p>
+
+<p>The fat was in the fire now, and they nodded their heads, averting
+meeting the principal's blazing eyes.</p>
+
+<p>"And the bringing of the cow to the classroom, the spattering of the
+map, and the spoiling of the electric fans," continued Mr. Allen,
+pressing his advantage relentlessly. "You did that too? Come clean now!"</p>
+
+<p>Sandy and Lent were so wilted that they had no strength for further
+denial and nodded miserably.</p>
+
+<p>"We weren't the only ones, though," said Sandy, hoping he might gain
+some immunity by implicating others. "There was Chat Johns and Aleck
+Anderson."</p>
+
+<p>"Anderson, you say?" said Mr. Allen. "I'll deal with him. Johns is not
+a member of the school, and I have no jurisdiction over him."</p>
+
+<p>He sat down, wearied from the strain of his emotions, but infinitely
+relieved because of having elicited the truth. The guilty consciences
+of the culprits had been his best helpers, and he had not needed to
+bring witnesses or thrust Jake's name into the matter.</p>
+
+<p>"So it was a joke, was it!" he said, scathingly. "A joke to weave such
+a dastardly plot about innocent comrades! A joke to see them punished
+for something they knew nothing about! A joke to lie to me! Well, it's
+the last joke you'll play in this school. We have no place here for
+your peculiar brand of humor. Go!"</p>
+
+<p>They went out like whipped dogs.</p>
+
+<p>Later Mr. Allen sent for Anderson. He was a surly sort of fellow,
+a member of the football team, but one who had always cherished an
+envious grudge against Garry Grayson because of the sudden rise of the
+latter to football prominence. Anderson was a senior, had played for
+three years with the team, counting the current season, and had fondly
+hoped that, following the departure of Ralph Wynn, he might be chosen
+captain. To have Garry, a sophomore, placed over himself, a senior, had
+galled him to the quick.</p>
+
+<p>"I know everything, Anderson," Mr. Allen said to him curtly, as he
+entered the office. "Sandy Podder and Lent Stewart have confessed
+to their part and yours in planting the hip flasks in the desks of
+Grayson, Long, and Sherwood. What have you to say for yourself? Think
+well before you speak."</p>
+
+<p>Utterly taken aback by the suddenness of the attack, confused and
+flabbergasted, not knowing whether it were safer to deny or to tell the
+truth, Anderson kept silent, his face as pale as death.</p>
+
+<p>"Silence is confession," remarked Mr. Allen after a moment's pause. "Do
+you admit it?"</p>
+
+<p>Shamefacedly, Anderson nodded.</p>
+
+<p>"That will do," said Mr. Allen. "You may go."</p>
+
+<p>Ever since the conference of the day before Garry had been besieged by
+his chums to tell them what he had meant by his cryptic utterances. But
+Mr. Allen had requested him to say absolutely nothing until he gave him
+permission. So Garry perforce kept silent, despite all the baiting of
+his friends.</p>
+
+<p>"Can't do it, fellows," he said. "You'll hear soon enough. But look at
+my face."</p>
+
+<p>"Why should we have to?" snorted Rooster. "What have we done?"</p>
+
+<p>"Not much to look at," remarked Ted, eying Garry critically.</p>
+
+<p>"Do I look downhearted?" asked Garry, disregarding the gibes. "Am I
+weeping bitter tears? All I can tell you is to keep your eyes and ears
+open. Something's going to break, and you won't be sorry when it does."</p>
+
+<p>Following his interview with Aleck Anderson, Mr. Allen called a
+conference of his teachers at noon. At the afternoon sessions of the
+various classes the students were told that they were all to gather
+in the assembly room to hear a statement by the principal as soon as
+school work was over for the day.</p>
+
+<p>The pupils poured into the assembly room, buzzing like so many bees,
+agog with curiosity. But the noise subsided like magic when Mr. Allen
+came from his office and advanced to the front of the platform.</p>
+
+<p>"I have called you together this afternoon," he said, "to right a wrong
+and do justice."</p>
+
+<p>He paused for a moment and the silence was almost painful.</p>
+
+<p>Garry's heart gave a bound. Involuntarily his eyes swept the audience.
+Sandy Podder and Lent Stewart were nowhere to be seen.</p>
+
+<p>"You all know," Mr. Allen went on, "of the recent happenings that have
+taken place in Lenox High and have brought discredit on the school.
+Reports have been current of wild parties here. Hip flasks have been
+found in desks. An animal has been brought into the classroom. A wall
+map has been bespattered with ink. The electric fans have been put out
+of commission.</p>
+
+<p>"Such acts of vandalism could of course not be tolerated. An inquiry
+was set on foot and circumstantial evidence seemed to point to three
+boys as guilty. Those boys had always up to that time maintained a good
+record in the school. But the evidence was strong, and in addition was
+strengthened by the personal testimony of certain other pupils of the
+school. No other course seemed open to the officers of the school than
+to inflict punishment. That punishment consisted in barring them from
+all athletic activities for the remainder of the term.</p>
+
+<p>"I want to say to you all that that punishment was unjust. Those boys
+are innocent. Grayson, Long, and Sherwood, stand up."</p>
+
+<p>Garry, Rooster, and Bill rose to their feet.</p>
+
+<p>Instantly there was a wild outburst of cheering. Again and again it
+rose and swelled into a roar that seemed as though it would never stop.
+The boys who were nearest reached over and pounded the trio on the
+back, yelling like maniacs. All semblance of order was for the moment
+abandoned. If Garry, Bill, and Rooster ever had had any doubt as to how
+they stood with their comrades, they could have none now.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Allen made no effort to subdue the outburst. He stood there
+smiling and let it run its course. Then when it had subsided he raised
+his hand for attention.</p>
+
+<p>"I want to tender to you boys, on behalf of the officers of the
+school," he said, addressing the three, "our heartfelt apologies for
+the wrong that was done you."</p>
+
+<p>Again wild cheering ensued.</p>
+
+<p>"Now just one word more, and it is with profound regret that I have to
+say it," went on Mr. Allen, as Garry, Bill, and Rooster, blushing but
+happy beyond all words, took their seats. "I know not only that these
+boys are innocent of the charges brought against them, but I know who
+the guilty ones are. This time there is no doubt. I have their own
+confessions.</p>
+
+<p>"Had they simply done these things in a spirit of mischief, without
+seeking to cast the blame on others, it would have been bad enough.
+Still, that might have been punished by suspension. But they
+deliberately plotted to involve others in misery and disgrace. For
+that, the only fit punishment is expulsion.</p>
+
+<p>"Podder, Stewart, and Anderson are no longer pupils of this school."</p>
+
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XVI">CHAPTER XVI</h2>
+</div>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">A Plot in the Making</span></h3>
+
+
+<p>There was a gasp of surprise and a buzzing as of innumerable bees as
+Mr. Allen uttered the last fateful words and intimated with a wave of
+the hand that assembly was dismissed.</p>
+
+<p>Once out of the building, Garry, Bill, and Rooster became the center
+of an excited throng of schoolmates, who congratulated them and mauled
+them as they laughingly milled about them.</p>
+
+<p>None were more enthusiastic than the members of the football team, who
+had been terribly depressed since the Waterloo they had received at the
+hands of Thomaston. The drubbing they had then suffered had largely
+taken the heart out of them, and all hope of another championship had
+been resigned.</p>
+
+<p>Nor had they been at a loss as to the reason for the defeat. Thomaston
+had been no stronger than Pawling, and yet Lenox had beaten Pawling.
+But Garry Grayson had led them in the Pawling game, and in the
+Thomaston game he had been absent. That spelled all the difference
+between victory and defeat.</p>
+
+<p>But their joy in Garry's vindication, which of course carried
+reinstatement on the football team along with it, was tempered somewhat
+by the loss of Aleck Anderson. Whatever his faults, he had been a
+strong player at tackle, and his dismissal from the school created a
+hole that it would be hard to fill.</p>
+
+<p>As for Sandy Podder and Lent Stewart, no sympathy at all was felt for
+them, except perhaps by a few of their own ilk, of whom some specimens
+were left in the school.</p>
+
+<p>After the tumult had subsided and most of the boys had dispersed, Mr.
+Phillips approached Garry, where he stood with a group of his friends,
+and heartily shook his hand.</p>
+
+<p>"I am more delighted than I can say by your vindication, Grayson, and
+yours as well, Long and Sherwood," he said. "It simply shows that in
+the long run right is bound to win. I want to say that never for a
+moment, even when things looked blackest, have I believed you guilty."</p>
+
+<p>"Thank you, Mr. Phillips," said Garry, while his comrades echoed him.
+"I've heard how hard you fought to lift my sentence of suspension or
+have it changed to a lighter one. Even at that, it's been pretty tough
+to be barred from athletics."</p>
+
+<p>"Tough on the team too," returned Mr. Phillips, with a smile. "But
+that's all in the past now. The team will take on new life now with
+you and the others back in their places. We've missed you, Long, at
+fullback. The only one who won't go back to his position is Sherwood."</p>
+
+<p>There was a moment of consternation at this announcement, and Bill was
+appalled.</p>
+
+<p>"Why, Bill's been cleared of the charges too!" put in Garry anxiously.</p>
+
+<p>"All the same," said Mr. Phillips soberly, though his eyes twinkled,
+"he isn't going back to his old place on the scrubs. I want him on the
+regulars."</p>
+
+<p>"What?" cried Bill, hardly able to believe his ears.</p>
+
+<p>"That's right," rejoined Mr. Phillips. "You'll take Anderson's place at
+right tackle."</p>
+
+<p>"Glory hallelujah!" cried Garry, fairly hugging big Bill in his delight.</p>
+
+<p>"Think you can fill the place, Sherwood?" asked the coach.</p>
+
+<p>"Gee, I'll try to, Mr. Phillips, and thanks for the chance!" replied
+Bill. "I'll work my head off, you can bet on that!"</p>
+
+<p>"I believe you," replied Mr. Phillips. "But we'll all have to work our
+heads off, if we win our next game with Greenfield. Those boys are
+going great guns this year, from all I hear. Be out on the field for
+practice to-morrow afternoon, and we'll do our best to redeem ourselves
+for that defeat by Thomaston."</p>
+
+<p>There was immense jubilation on the part of Garry and his chums after
+Mr. Phillips had left them.</p>
+
+<p>"Gee, but this is my lucky day!" exulted Bill. "To be freed from those
+charges and then, as if that wasn't enough, to get a place on the
+regulars!"</p>
+
+<p>"Was I right in saying that when the thing did break you fellows
+wouldn't be sorry?" beamed Garry.</p>
+
+<p>"You had the goods!" admitted Nick. "Though how you got them beats me,"
+he added. "I'm still all in a daze. Mr. Allen said that those skunks
+had confessed. But why did they confess? We know that they didn't do it
+of their own accord. They'd have lied out of it if they could. He must
+have had them so dead to rights that lying wouldn't do them any good."</p>
+
+<p>"That's what's been puzzling me too," put in Rooster. "You must know
+the reason, Garry. What was it?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, you had the advance information," declared Ted. "Out with it, old
+boy. Spill it!"</p>
+
+<p>"I can't," replied Garry. "Cross my heart and hope to die, fellows, I
+can't. It would bring others in that we've promised should be kept
+out of it. A clue was given me by a fellow that we all know. He and I
+followed it up, and the whole thing came out. It was a dead open and
+shut certainty, and Sandy and his bunch couldn't get out of it. The
+only thing I didn't know was that Anderson was mixed up in it. That
+came out later. I suppose Sandy, likely enough, peached on him with
+the hope of saving his own skin. But all that doesn't matter. The only
+thing that counts is that we've been reinstated and that bunch has got
+what was coming to them."</p>
+
+<p>The practice the next day was such as to fill Mr. Phillips with
+satisfaction. With Garry and Rooster back on the team it played as
+though inspired. And Bill Sherwood outdid himself at his new position.
+His tackling was savage and spectacular, and before the play was half
+over it was evident that Aleck Anderson would not be missed.</p>
+
+<p>The game with Greenfield was coming on apace. It was the third game on
+the Lenox schedule, and it promised to be one of the hardest ones.</p>
+
+<p>Thus far Lenox had played two of the five games with the teams that,
+besides themselves, constituted the High School League. They had beaten
+Pawling and been defeated by Thomaston. Greenfield was next, and then
+would follow the games with Bass Lake and Wimbledon in that order.</p>
+
+<p>That they could beat Bass Lake, Lenox felt reasonably certain.
+Greenfield would be a harder nut to crack. And harder yet probably
+would be the final game with Wimbledon, the team that had given Lenox
+its only defeat the year before and this year was reported to be
+stronger than ever. Wimbledon had already won both games it had played,
+and by impressive scores. So, while Lenox held none of its opponents
+cheap, it had the feeling that Wimbledon was the team it would have to
+beat if it again carried off the championship.</p>
+
+<p>Practice went on unremittingly under the driving force of Mr. Phillips.
+A weakness was lopped off here, a crudity there, until the team
+developed into a smoothly working, hard-fighting one that no opponent
+could beat without putting up a tremendous battle.</p>
+
+<p>"No more sixty-three to six scores this season!" chuckled Nick after a
+day of sparkling practice.</p>
+
+<p>"Not unless we're on the big end of the score," returned Garry. "I
+guess we got all the bad football out of our systems in that Thomaston
+game."</p>
+
+<p>"No more traitors on the team, anyway," stated Rooster.</p>
+
+<p>"N-no," replied Bill hesitatingly. "That is, I hope not."</p>
+
+<p>"What do you mean by that?" asked Garry quickly. "You hope not! Don't
+you know there aren't!"</p>
+
+<p>"I'm sure there are none on the regulars," replied Bill. "But I feel a
+little leary about one fellow on the scrubs."</p>
+
+<p>"Who is that?" demanded Garry.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, perhaps I ought not to say it," responded Bill. "Mind, fellows,
+this is in strict confidence. I may be all wrong. But haven't you
+noticed something a little queer about Ed Bixby at right tackle?"</p>
+
+<p>Garry pondered for a moment.</p>
+
+<p>"Not especially," he replied slowly, "except that he seems to forget
+himself sometimes and resorts to dirty football. He's roughed me a good
+deal lately when I've come in contact with him, but I laid that to his
+eagerness to win."</p>
+
+<p>"Maybe," admitted Bill. "As I say, I may be wrong. But what struck me
+is that he doesn't resort to those tricks except when he's up against
+you. He's all right with the other fellows, plays hard but plays fair.
+But he gives you the knee whenever he can. And when he tackles you he
+slams you to the ground as hard as he can. Looks as though he were
+trying to put you out."</p>
+
+<p>"I remember he slugged me yesterday," replied Garry. "But I thought he
+had lost his temper in the excitement of the game and I let it go at
+that."</p>
+
+<p>"By itself, it might not prove anything," replied Bill. "But he was a
+great pal of Anderson's, and several times lately I've seen Ed with
+him in the street, their heads together and both talking earnestly. Of
+course, that may mean nothing. Then again, it may mean a good deal.
+Anderson, of course, is as sore as a boil at you, and if you could be
+put out of the game it would be pie for him and the bunch he trains
+with, Sandy Podder, Lent Stewart, and Chat Johns. I just wanted to put
+a flea in your ear, old boy, so that you'd be on your guard."</p>
+
+<p>That afternoon on their way home Bill and Garry met Frank Sherwood,
+Bill's brother.</p>
+
+<p>The change in Frank since he had been cleared of the charge of theft,
+falsely brought against him by Gyp Mooney and Sandy Podder, was
+amazing. He had learned his lesson and had cut loose entirely from
+his former wild associates. He had recovered all of his old pep and
+ambition and was making remarkable advance in his studies in the
+medical school, from which he had run down to spend the week end with
+his family.</p>
+
+<p>"How are you, Garry?" Frank greeted him.</p>
+
+<p>"Fine," replied Garry as they shook hands. "I needn't ask how you are.
+You look like a million dollars."</p>
+
+<p>"I'm feeling fit and studying hard," smiled Frank. "I'm mighty glad to
+learn that you and Bill have got out of your trouble at the school. It
+was a dirty trick those fellows played on you, and I'm glad they got
+what was coming to them. I've no more reason to love Sandy Podder than
+you have."</p>
+
+<p>"I know you haven't," replied Garry, with a smile.</p>
+
+<p>"All the same," went on Frank, "you want to keep your eyes peeled.
+Those fellows will do you mischief if they can."</p>
+
+<p>"On general principles I suppose they would," replied Garry.</p>
+
+<p>"But I've got something more specific than general principles to go
+on," warned Frank. "I saw Sandy and a pal of his on the train by which
+I came in this morning."</p>
+
+<p>"You did?" returned Garry, with a quickening of interest.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," replied Frank. "They got on at a way station, came in at the
+back of the car I was in, went past me and took the seat right in front
+of me. They didn't notice me, but I knew Sandy at once. I ought to know
+him," he added grimly. "But what I'm getting at is this. They got to
+talking together earnestly. I didn't pay any attention until I heard
+them speak your name, Garry. That interested me, especially as they
+were calling you all the names in the calendar."</p>
+
+<p>"I can imagine some of them," laughed Garry.</p>
+
+<p>"Swellhead was the mildest of them," stated Frank. "I put my paper up
+in front of me so if they turned around they wouldn't know who I was.
+They were talking rather low, and what with that and the rattle of the
+train I couldn't get many connected sentences. But I got enough to know
+that they were trying to put a raw deal over on you."</p>
+
+<p>"That's their favorite outdoor sport," said Garry dryly. "Did you get
+any dope on what it was this time?"</p>
+
+<p>"Not clearly," replied Frank. "But I caught certain phrases. 'Big
+bets' was one of them. 'The Wimbledon game' was another. Then there
+were 'sure thing,' 'all fixed,' 'can't lose.' And I heard the names of
+Anderson and Bixby. I don't know who they are. Do you?"</p>
+
+<p>Bill and Garry looked at each other significantly.</p>
+
+<p>"We know them," replied Bill. "Anderson was fired from Lenox High along
+with Sandy Podder and Lent Stewart. Bixby is still there."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, that's about all I heard," went on Frank. "But Garry's name came
+in so often that I felt sure they were cooking up something especially
+against him. I made up my mind I'd give you the tip. Those fellows are
+bad medicine."</p>
+
+<p>"Thanks very much, Frank," said Garry warmly. "I'll sure be on the
+watch."</p>
+
+<p>They changed the subject then, and after a little more conversation
+Frank went on, leaving Bill and Garry in an especially thoughtful mood.</p>
+
+<p>"So, maybe after all it wasn't a mare's nest that I uncovered this
+morning," remarked Bill, as they walked on.</p>
+
+<p>"Looks that way," admitted Garry. "There may be some one else in the
+school that'll have to be thrown overboard. Why can't fellows be
+decent? Why should there be such things as traitors?"</p>
+
+<p>"Why should there be such things as skunks and snakes and mosquitoes?"
+Bill answered. "But there are, just the same. We've just got to grin
+and bear them."</p>
+
+<p>"Not on your life!" cried Garry, clenching his fists. "We've got to
+fight them!"</p>
+
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XVII">CHAPTER XVII</h2>
+</div>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">Facing the Foe</span></h3>
+
+
+<p>That Bill Sherwood had not been wholly wrong in his suspicions seemed
+to be proved a few days later.</p>
+
+<p>The practice had been unusually animated, the regulars trying to
+down the scrubs by as big a score as possible and the scrubs in turn
+fighting desperately to defend their goal line.</p>
+
+<p>Garry had the ball, and was plunging through a hole that Bill and
+Scarsdale had made for him between right end and tackle. In doing so he
+came in contact with Bixby, who butted him full in the face with his
+head.</p>
+
+<p>The blow was such a savage one that Garry went down like a steer hit by
+an axe, blood pouring from his nose. For a moment he lost consciousness.</p>
+
+<p>Time was called while his comrades rushed to him and helped him to his
+feet. Through his dazed eyes Garry caught sight of Bixby and tried to
+get at him, but his mates restrained him.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Phillips rushed out on the field while Garry was struggling to free
+himself.</p>
+
+<p>"What is the meaning of this?" he asked sharply of Bixby. "What kind of
+tactics are those to use on the football field?"</p>
+
+<p>"It was an accident," muttered Bixby. "I miscalculated when I dived for
+him."</p>
+
+<p>"Accident nothing!" roared Bill. "You butted him deliberately! I saw
+you! You tried to knock him out!"</p>
+
+<p>"Nothing of the kind," retorted Bixby, but his eyes lowered as they
+tried to meet Bill's.</p>
+
+<p>"Get off the field, Bixby," commanded Mr. Phillips quietly. "This isn't
+your first offense. I've noticed several times lately you've tried to
+rough Grayson, though he's said nothing about it. Selleck, you take
+Bixby's place."</p>
+
+<p>"Didn't think this was a game for ladies," sneered Bixby, as he slunk
+away.</p>
+
+<p>"It isn't," replied Mr. Phillips. "But it is a game for gentlemen, not
+rowdies. There'll be no dirty tactics on the field while I have charge
+of the Lenox High athletics. You're out of the game for the rest of the
+season."</p>
+
+<p>"Well," said Bill a little later, as he and Garry were strolling
+homeward, "was I right or wasn't I in that hunch of mine?"</p>
+
+<p>"It was a good hunch all right," agreed Garry. "That was no accident.
+I saw the look in Bixby's eyes as he charged at me. He aimed his head
+right at my face. Gee, but my nose is sore!" he added, as he tenderly
+rubbed that bruised feature. "It's half again its usual size."</p>
+
+<p>"Hello!" Ella greeted him as he came in that afternoon. "How handsome
+you look, Garry. If only Jane Danter could see you now she'd rave over
+you."</p>
+
+<p>"Never mind the looks," returned Garry, as he threw his cap on a chair.
+"And as for raving, there's always plenty of that when you're around."</p>
+
+<p>He could not be quite so flippant with his mother, however, who was
+rather alarmed when she saw the size to which the swelling had attained
+and insisted on his going at once to the family doctor to make sure
+that the nose was not broken.</p>
+
+<p>The doctor reassured him on that point, much to the relief of the whole
+family. To tell the truth, Garry himself had been greatly concerned.
+He, naturally, did not want his appearance marred by a broken nose,
+but, he reflected, if it had been broken, it would have kept him out of
+the game for the season. Was it possible, he asked himself, that Bixby
+had had that in mind when he catapulted into him?</p>
+
+<p>The next morning Bill complacently exhibited a pair of skinned
+knuckles.</p>
+
+<p>"Where did you get those?" asked Ted Dillingham interestedly.</p>
+
+<p>"Ask Ed Bixby," grinned Bill. "I ran across him last night, and we had
+a little argument. My knuckles are skinned and his eyes are blacked. If
+you can put two and two together, you can guess what happened. Take a
+look at him to-day in class."</p>
+
+<p>Selleck, who took Bixby's place on the scrubs, proved to be a capable
+player, and practice proceeded with redoubled energy right up to the
+day set for the Greenfield game.</p>
+
+<p>That was scheduled to take place on the Greenfield grounds, and a big
+crowd of Lenox rooters went over with their team to cheer it on to
+victory. They were enthusiastic fans, too, for the work of the team
+since Garry's return had inspired them with high hopes.</p>
+
+<p>Greenfield was not lacking a whit in confidence, for it had in mind the
+overwhelming defeat that Lenox had suffered at the hands of Thomaston,
+and expected to ride roughshod over the visitors.</p>
+
+<p>The day itself was the coldest that far of the season. Though
+mid-October, it seemed more like December. Flurries of snow fell
+fitfully at intervals throughout the morning, and a bitter wind chilled
+one to the marrow. But it would require more than cold weather to keep
+the partisans of either team from the field, and by the time the game
+began the stands were fully as crowded as usual.</p>
+
+<p>"That snow's a good omen," chuckled Bill. "It means that we're going to
+snow Greenfield under."</p>
+
+<p>"Likely enough they'd put it the other way," laughed Garry. "Old Jack
+Frost won't have much to do with this game. We've got to do the work."</p>
+
+<p>Jack Frost, however, had this much to do with the game, that he made
+it a running game. The gale that swept over the gridiron prevented any
+extensive attempts at forward passing, and made punting so dubious that
+it was not resorted to any oftener than necessary.</p>
+
+<p>"Here's where our backs come in," muttered Garry to himself, as he took
+account of the weather conditions. "They'll have to do most of the
+work."</p>
+
+<p>Lenox won the toss and elected to kick off. Rooster sent the ball
+whirling down the field for thirty yards. Myers got the ball and ran it
+back for three yards before Bill downed him. The game was on, with the
+ball in Greenfield's possession on its thirty-three-yard line.</p>
+
+<p>Risley, their left halfback, plunged through the line for a gain of
+three. Clark, their fullback, made two more between left tackle and
+end. Myers met a stone wall and was thrown back for the loss of a yard.
+With only one down left and six to go, Greenfield tried a forward pass
+which resulted in only a four-yard gain, and the ball was Lenox's on
+the Greenfield forty-one-yard line.</p>
+
+<p>Garry sent Rooster through for a gain of three on the right side of
+the Greenfield line. Nick tried it on the left, but was halted without
+gain. Knapp pulled off five on his next plunge between right tackle
+and end. With two to go on the fourth down Rooster bored between left
+tackle and guard for just enough to make the distance and retain the
+ball.</p>
+
+<p>But Garry had learned something from those downs. That was that
+Greenfield was strong on the left, where there was plenty of beef, but
+considerably weaker on the right where the trio were much lighter. And
+from that moment he commenced a vicious attack on the right, hammering
+away at it mercilessly.</p>
+
+<p>Down the field Lenox went until it was within nine yards of the enemy's
+goal. There Greenfield braced for a desperate resistance. But though
+they twice threw back the Lenox plungers without a gain, Garry on the
+third down took the ball himself, plunged through the line like a bull,
+with the whole Greenfield team trying to stop him, and put the ball
+over the line for the first touchdown of the game. Rooster kicked the
+goal and the score was 7 to 0 in favor of the visitors.</p>
+
+<p>The Lenox rooters roared their applause while the Greenfield partisans
+sat glum and silent and filled with consternation. What magic was this?
+Was this the team that Thomaston had walked all over two weeks before?</p>
+
+<p>But worse—from the Greenfield viewpoint—was to come. The ball had
+scarcely been put in play again before Nick picked up a fumbled
+ball, skirted the right end, and, running like a deer, with superb
+interference from Bill and Knapp, carried it over the line for another
+touchdown. Garry booted the goal for the extra point, and now Lenox was
+fourteen to the good.</p>
+
+<p>Only once through that period did Greenfield threaten. That was when
+Greenfield, with Clark doing most of the ball-carrying, tore through
+the Lenox forwards for three first downs and an advance from the
+Greenfield twenty-three-yard mark to the forty-one-yard line of Lenox.
+But that was as far as they got. Henderson fumbled a bad pass from
+center and lost twelve yards in consequence, and before they could get
+going again the referee's whistle signaled the end of the period.</p>
+
+<p>"What was it I said about Greenfield being snowed under?" gurgled Bill,
+as the weary warriors took their brief rest before again plunging into
+battle.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know about being snowed under, but they're certainly whitened
+up a bit," laughed Garry. "But that may be because they started the
+game thinking we'd be too easy. They know better now, and they may take
+a brace."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't believe it," scoffed Rooster. "We've got 'em going. It's
+simply Lenox's day, and they haven't got a chance."</p>
+
+<p>It seemed as though Rooster were right, for touchdowns came thick and
+fast as soon as the second period opened. Lenox, taking the leather on
+its forty-five-yard strip after the kick-off, started in immediately on
+its line crushing operations. Again and again the backs went through
+that fatally-weak right side of the Greenfield line. A thirteen-yard
+gain by Rooster around the end and a twelve-yard smash by Knapp brought
+the ball within striking distance of the enemy goal, and then in two
+successive tries Nick carried it across. Four minutes later another
+followed, Knapp making twenty-one yards off right tackle and Garry
+streaking through the Greenfield forwards for thirty-four yards and
+falling over the line. On both occasions Bill kicked the goal.</p>
+
+<p>The Greenfield team was now thoroughly demoralized, and their rout
+became complete when Garry once more took it over after he had thrown
+a runner for a fifteen-yard loss and blocked a punt. Rooster failed on
+the kick for point, but a trifle like that counted for little, and the
+total score was now 34 to 0 in favor of the visitors.</p>
+
+<p>Greenfield had a glimmer of hope when they got one of their kick-offs
+on the Lenox eighteen-yard line after Knapp had played tag with the
+leather. But four downs failed to gain the distance and Rooster kicked
+the ball to the middle of the field, where it was when the period ended
+with the score unchanged.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Phillips came to Garry as the jubilant team was resting between
+periods.</p>
+
+<p>"I think," he said, "that here is a chance for the substitutes to get a
+little practice in a regular game. I want to save the regulars as far
+as possible for the games yet to come. It looks as though we had the
+game won, though nothing is certain in football. But if we find that
+Greenfield is threatening, we can easily put the regulars back again
+and they'll be all the better for a little rest. What do you think?"</p>
+
+<p>"I guess that will be all right," assented Garry. "We can put in the
+whole scrub team, if you wish. They'll be tickled to death to have the
+chance, and it looks safe enough."</p>
+
+<p>"No," returned Mr. Phillips, "I don't want to go as far as that. You
+and the backs had better stay in to steady the others, but I'll put in
+an entirely new string of linesmen."</p>
+
+<p>So the scrubs poured in to show what they could do, determined if
+possible to show up the regulars by bettering their score.</p>
+
+<p>But in this they reckoned without their host. The Greenfield team,
+stung to the quick by the slur implied by putting in second-string
+men against them, braced up and played like furies. The substitutes
+found that they had their hands full in trying to hold their own. They
+did hold it, however, in the third quarter, but in the final period
+Greenfield escaped the disgrace of a whitewash by pushing one of their
+backs over for a touchdown.</p>
+
+<p>This, however, was as far as they got. And in the last three minutes
+of play Garry once more touched off the fireworks when he scooped up
+a fumbled ball, bolted around the right end, and came to earth only
+after he had once more planted the ball over the enemy's line, to a
+thundering chorus from the Lenox stands:</p>
+
+<div class="poetry-container">
+<div class="poetry">
+  <div class="stanza">
+    <div class="verse indent0">"Lenox! Lenox! Len, Len, Len!</div>
+    <div class="verse indent2">Look, oh, look at that boy run!</div>
+    <div class="verse indent0">Our Garry Grayson!</div>
+    <div class="verse indent2">Lenox! Lenox! Len, Len, Len!"</div>
+  </div>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XVIII">CHAPTER XVIII</h2>
+</div>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">Crooked Work</span></h3>
+
+
+<p>"Well, we've redeemed ourselves," stated Garry Grayson, as, dusty and
+begrimed, he ran with his comrades for the clubhouse.</p>
+
+<p>"We sure have!" chortled Nick. "We stood those fellows on their heads
+good and proper. They don't know yet how it happened."</p>
+
+<p>It was a hilarious crowd that journeyed back to Lenox, taking with them
+metaphorical scalps to hang on their wigwam.</p>
+
+<p>"Did you see some of our old friends in the stands?" queried Ted.</p>
+
+<p>"I thought we had lots of them," replied Garry, "judging by the
+cheering."</p>
+
+<p>"So we did," agreed Ted. "But the friends I mean are the kind that
+would like to see you skinned alive."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, you mean Sandy Podder and his pals?" replied Garry. "No, I was too
+busy playing to notice them. Of course they were rooting for Lenox," he
+added, with a grin.</p>
+
+<p>"Praying that you would break your leg, most likely," put in Rooster
+Long. "It was a cold day for everybody, but I imagine it must have
+been especially chilly for Sandy and his bunch. How they'd have liked
+to see us torn to bits by Greenfield!"</p>
+
+<p>"Too bad we couldn't oblige them, but we needed that game in our
+business," laughed Garry. "I wonder how the Pawling-Wimbledon game came
+out to-day."</p>
+
+<p>"Here's hoping that Pawling won!" exclaimed Rooster. "That would take
+down Wimbledon's chestiness a bit. They're already figuring on getting
+the pole for the pennant."</p>
+
+<p>To the Lenox team's great satisfaction, the boys learned on arriving in
+the home town that Pawling had indeed defeated Wimbledon, but by the
+close score of 10 to 9.</p>
+
+<p>"Must have been a pretty tough fight," commented Garry. "But one point
+is as good as fifty, as long as it's on the right side. Now we stand on
+even terms with Wimbledon with two won and one lost. It looks as though
+our game with Wimbledon will decide which school gets the flag."</p>
+
+<p>There was no practice the next Monday afternoon at Lenox, for Mr.
+Phillips decided that his weary warriors had well earned a rest. But he
+asked Garry to see him after the close of school.</p>
+
+<p>"I've been thinking, Grayson," began Mr. Phillips when they were alone
+together, "that it might be a good thing if we changed our system of
+signals."</p>
+
+<p>Garry looked at him in surprise.</p>
+
+<p>"Why, what's wrong with them?" he asked.</p>
+
+<p>"Nothing at all," replied Mr. Phillips. "They're about as good and
+scientific a system as can be devised. All the same, I think it might
+be a good idea to change them."</p>
+
+<p>"Why, of course it's just as you say, Mr. Phillips," Garry replied.
+"But don't you think it may get the fellows a little mixed? They're so
+used to the old ones now that it's come to be second nature to obey
+them. They don't need to think; it comes to them by instinct. And
+everything's been working as smooth as silk so far. They've got them
+down fine."</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Phillips pondered for a moment.</p>
+
+<p>"There's something in what you say," he conceded, "and I want to make
+sure of that Bass Lake game, so that we may be certain of meeting
+Wimbledon in the final struggle. I'll tell you what we'll do. We'll
+compromise. We'll let the old system stand until after we've played
+Bass Lake. But for Wimbledon we'll have a brand new set."</p>
+
+<p>Garry racked his brain to find what Mr. Phillips was driving at. He
+could see nothing but risk in the plan.</p>
+
+<p>"Got you guessing, has it, Grayson?" he asked, with a quizzical smile.
+"I don't wonder. On the face of it, it doesn't look so good. But you
+must believe that I have a good reason. I'll tell you just what it is
+when I get more definite information. Don't say anything to the other
+boys about this interview until I give the word."</p>
+
+<p>With this Garry had to be content. But he was sorely perplexed as he
+wended his way homeward, pondering on what Mr. Phillips had said.</p>
+
+<p>The signals they had been using had been so dinned into the players'
+heads that it had become second nature to obey them. This was as it
+should be. In a hot fight where a play had to be timed to a fraction of
+a second, there was no time to debate the meaning of a signal.</p>
+
+<p>If now the old ones were thrown into the discard and a new set
+substituted, he foresaw trouble and confusion. The old and the new
+would struggle for the mastery. What on earth could Mr. Phillips be
+thinking about?</p>
+
+<p>But there must be a reason, and a good one. Garry had implicit
+confidence in the coach. He knew he would not take this risk unless a
+greater risk threatened. What was that greater risk?</p>
+
+<p>It came to him in a flash!</p>
+
+<p>The greater risk would be if the opposing team should get to know the
+Lenox signals. Then they would be able to anticipate every play. They
+would know who was to buck the line, who was to carry the ball around
+the ends, what would be the signal for the forward pass—everything, in
+fact, that it was to the interest of Lenox that they should not know!</p>
+
+<p>No team, however good, could hope to stand up against a handicap like
+that. It would be beaten before it began to play.</p>
+
+<p>Then another thought came to Garry. Mr. Phillips had yielded very
+easily to the retention of the old signals until after the Bass Lake
+game. Then it was not that team that he was feeling uneasy about! But
+he had been adamant in his determination to change the system before
+the Wimbledon game. It was Wimbledon then that loomed big in the
+coach's thought.</p>
+
+<p>Had Wimbledon caught on to Lenox signals? Garry wondered. Had its
+scouts been on the watch? Garry dismissed this thought almost as soon
+as it was formed. No strangers were allowed on the Lenox grounds during
+practice, and even if one were hiding somewhere under the stands, he
+could not get near enough to the players to hear or understand the
+signals.</p>
+
+<p>Besides, it would have been a hideously unsportsmanlike thing to do,
+and there had never yet been any scandal of that kind in the High
+School League.</p>
+
+<p>Still, Mr. Phillips seemed afraid that Wimbledon had got the signals
+or might get them. But it could get them only if they were offered to
+it. And they could be offered only by those who knew them. And none
+knew them except the Lenox players, the regulars, and the scrubs.</p>
+
+<p>Ah! Garry started. There was the rub! Some one else did know them!
+Former players on the Lenox team knew them. Aleck Anderson knew them!
+Ed Bixby knew them!</p>
+
+<p>Then the story of Frank Sherwood came back to his mind. What were those
+phrases Frank had overheard? "Big bets," was one of them. "Wimbledon
+game" was another. Then there were "sure thing," "all fixed," and
+"can't lose." And the names of Anderson and Bixby had been mentioned.</p>
+
+<p>As all these things came back to him Garry felt sure that he had found
+the key to the puzzle. His heart burned with indignation. It would have
+done him a lot of good if he could have sought out his chums and talked
+the matter over with them. His burden would have been lighter if it
+could have been shared. But Mr. Phillips' injunction had been strict
+that he should say no word to any one until he gave permission.</p>
+
+<p>But after all there was a silver lining to the cloud. In some way, Mr.
+Phillips had learned something of what was in the wind. Lenox would not
+be caught unawares. A grim smile came to Garry's lips as he thought of
+the consternation of the conspirators when they should find that all
+their plans had come to nothing.</p>
+
+<p>After the one day of rest that Mr. Phillips had given his teams,
+practice went on hard and steadily for the Bass Lake game. Bass Lake
+was not as strong as Greenfield, and Lenox had beaten the latter by a
+decisive score. In theory, then, it ought to be easier to beat Bass
+Lake by an even larger margin.</p>
+
+<p>But no one knew better than Garry how deceptive were comparative
+scores. The team that played like chumps one day might play like
+champions on another. Nothing must be taken for granted in football.</p>
+
+<p>So by precept and example Garry drove on his team until, when the day
+came for the Bass Lake game on the Lenox grounds, his team was at the
+top of its form.</p>
+
+<p>It was well that it was, for Bass Lake put up a plucky and surprisingly
+good game. During most of the afternoon it provided stubborn opposition
+to the fast moving backs of the Lenox team.</p>
+
+<p>Lenox made a good start, Rooster galloping around the offensive in the
+first period and tearing through the line for eight yards, and then
+on a double pass making a twenty-four-yard gain around left end. This
+gallop availed little, however, as Lenox was forced to punt out. But
+when Lenox got the ball again Nick went around the left wing for twenty
+yards, and then on a beautiful forward pass, Knapp to Bill, the ball
+was carried to the Bass Lake fifteen-yard line. Tom plunged through
+for three yards, and then Garry carried it for the remaining twelve,
+scoring the first touchdown of the game. Rooster kicked the point and
+the score was 7 to 0 in favor of Lenox.</p>
+
+<p>After the kick-off Bass Lake braced, and the ball passed alternately
+from side to side, being in midfield when the quarter ended.</p>
+
+<p>Soon after the second period opened Cassidy put new cheer into the
+Bass Lake rooters by scoring a field goal from the twenty-five-yard
+line. Encouraged by this, the visitors' line stiffened and held Lenox
+scoreless through the period.</p>
+
+<p>In the third quarter was shown some of the prettiest line smashing of
+the game. Little forward passing was attempted, owing to the high wind
+that had arisen and made accuracy difficult.</p>
+
+<p>Back and forth the lines surged, each side making gains through the
+line, only to lose them when the other side got the advantage.</p>
+
+<p>It was nip and tuck, and the spectators in the stands were on their
+feet cheering in turn as their side seemed to have the upper hand. But
+for most of the time it was the case of an irresistible force meeting
+an immovable body, and the quarter ended with the score still 7 to 3 in
+favor of Lenox.</p>
+
+<p>"Not such a cinch as we expected," panted Garry, in the brief breathing
+space between quarters.</p>
+
+<p>"You said it!" returned Rooster. "We've got those fellows beaten, but
+they don't know it."</p>
+
+<p>Some time was yet to elapse before Bass Lake knew it. They fought like
+tigers for the first ten minutes of the last period, and once came
+within striking distance of the Lenox goal.</p>
+
+<p>But then Lenox put forth all its strength and began the march down the
+field. Spectacular line bucking and end running by Garry, Nick, and
+Rooster landed the ball on Bass Lake's sixteen-yard line. Bill went
+through for five yards and a pass from Garry to Tom netted five more.</p>
+
+<p>Here Lenox, however, was penalized five yards for offside play. But
+with the goal only eleven yards away, Lenox would not be denied. Nick
+went through for three. Bill tore between left end and tackle for five.
+Then, with one desperate plunge, Garry carried the ball over the line
+for the second touchdown. Nick tried for point, but the wind baffled
+him, and before the ball could again be put in play the whistle blew
+for the end of the game, and Lenox had triumphed by 13 to 3.</p>
+
+<p>It had been a rattling game, and Bass Lake, though beaten, was not
+disgraced. The breaks of the game had been about equally divided, and
+neither side could accuse Lady Luck of partiality. Lenox had conquered
+because it was the better team, but the margin was not much to brag
+about or to fill Lenox with over-confidence.</p>
+
+<p>"And now for the Wimbledon game!" cried Rooster hilariously. "That
+team's our next victim!"</p>
+
+<p>"Cherry pie!" predicted Bill.</p>
+
+<p>"People have strangled on the pits in cherry pie," warned Garry.</p>
+
+<p>"Wimbledon game." "Big bets." "All fixed." "Can't lose."</p>
+
+<p>Garry shook himself impatiently. Why did those phrases persist in
+haunting him?</p>
+
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XIX">CHAPTER XIX</h2>
+</div>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">Weaving the Web</span></h3>
+
+
+<p>Sandy Podder had a most distressing time of it, following his expulsion
+from the school. He was filled with shame and humiliation at the public
+disgrace. But far stronger than these emotions was the rage he felt at
+Garry Grayson because of the latter's vindication. Sandy had thought
+his scheme perfect. He could not see how it could slip a cog. Yet that
+it had slipped was only too evident. Now he, Sandy, was held up to
+public reprobation, while Garry was riding on the crest of the wave.</p>
+
+<p>He cudgeled his brain to find the reasons of his failure. Had his
+accomplices betrayed him? He dismissed this thought promptly. They
+could not double-cross him without giving themselves away. They were
+as deep in the mud as he was in the mire. All their interest lay in
+keeping the secret.</p>
+
+<p>Could it have been Jake? He had been so befuddled on that night at the
+roadhouse that he could not remember clearly what had happened there.
+But he had a dim recollection of boasting to Jake of what he and his
+pals were going to do to Garry Grayson. He questioned Jake, but that
+individual was blandly innocent.</p>
+
+<p>"I know nuddings," he said. "Vot you dink, dot I gif such a good
+customer de rinky-dink?"</p>
+
+<p>The atmosphere in the Podder home did not contribute to Sandy's
+comfort. His father was bitterly angry, and let no chance pass to
+remind Sandy that he was a thorn in the flesh. He threatened to make
+him go to work, a terrible threat to Sandy. His mother, too, was
+exasperated at him and took no pains to hide it.</p>
+
+<p>So about all the comfort that Sandy got was in consorting with his
+pals, who were in equally bad case, Lent Stewart and Aleck Anderson. On
+occasion Bixby joined them in their conferences. He was still a member
+of the school, but terribly sore at having been barred from athletics
+and thoroughly in sympathy with the trio, and his hatred of Garry was
+almost as keen.</p>
+
+<p>At first Aleck Anderson was inclined to be a little offish, for he had
+an idea that Sandy had dragged him in unnecessarily, which was indeed
+the fact. But Sandy falsified glibly and was backed up by Stewart.</p>
+
+<p>"You don't think I'd go back on an old pal, do you?" he said
+wheedlingly to Aleck. "Not on your life! Old Allen had the goods on
+all three of us, though it keeps me awake nights wondering how he got
+it."</p>
+
+<p>"It doesn't matter how he got it," growled Aleck, mollified and
+half-convinced by Sandy's statement and Stewart's corroboration. "The
+fact is that he got it, and I haven't any use for postmortems."</p>
+
+<p>"Well," said Sandy, "are we going to take it lying down?"</p>
+
+<p>"Might as well lie down as stand up," returned Aleck Anderson
+disconsolately. "We're licked, anyway."</p>
+
+<p>"Come out of your trance," counseled Sandy. "I've got a bully idea to
+get even."</p>
+
+<p>"I hope it's better than most of your ideas," put in Lent ungraciously.
+"The last one was a frost."</p>
+
+<p>"Everybody flivvers once in a while," Sandy defended himself. "I never
+noticed that you were such a much. But listen now. What would make that
+swell-headed Garry Grayson feel worse than anything else?"</p>
+
+<p>The others considered for a moment.</p>
+
+<p>"To have Lenox beaten for the championship," replied Lent Stewart.</p>
+
+<p>"Exactly!" agreed Sandy. "Now I've got a plan to make Lenox lose and
+make Garry Grayson as sore as a boil, and while we're about it we can
+pick up quite a pile of cash on the side."</p>
+
+<p>"How are you going to do it?" asked Aleck unbelievingly. "Going to
+break Garry's legs? Bixby already has tried to break his nose, but
+didn't get away with it."</p>
+
+<p>"No such rough stuff," replied Sandy. "I'm using my brains."</p>
+
+<p>Lent Stewart grunted uncomplimentarily.</p>
+
+<p>"That's what I said," declared Sandy, flashing a dirty look at his pal.
+"Brains! Look here. Wimbledon is the big game, isn't it? We'll leave
+out Bass Lake, for Lenox can win that with a team of cripples. But
+Wimbledon is the team that Lenox has got to beat for the championship.
+Am I right?"</p>
+
+<p>The others nodded assent.</p>
+
+<p>"Well then," went on Sandy, "the teams are pretty well matched as they
+stand. It's a toss-up as to which will win. Now suppose that Wimbledon
+got hold of Lenox's signals. What would happen then?"</p>
+
+<p>His companions started violently as the idea hit them.</p>
+
+<p>"Wimbledon would have a walkover," declared Aleck Anderson.</p>
+
+<p>"She'd score all the touchdowns she wanted," agreed Lent. "There'd be a
+slaughter."</p>
+
+<p>"Sure she would!" affirmed Sandy, proud of the impression his dastardly
+suggestion had made. "And if we put up all the money we could rake
+together on Wimbledon, we'd cop off a pile. We couldn't lose!"</p>
+
+<p>There was silence for a few moments, while the boys ruminated on the
+possibilities involved in the scheme.</p>
+
+<p>"But suppose we did offer Wimbledon the signals and they refused to
+take them?" suggested Aleck. "They might do that, you know."</p>
+
+<p>"Do you suppose we're going to call a mass meeting and offer them to
+Wimbledon in public?" sneered Sandy. "We'll have to sound out some one
+of the team, the one that would be likeliest to fall for it. Do you
+know any of the members of the team?"</p>
+
+<p>"I know them by sight, of course," replied Aleck Anderson. "But there's
+only one of them that I know well enough to talk to. I met him on my
+summer vacation. That's Bill Sykes, the captain of the team."</p>
+
+<p>"Captain, is he?" said Sandy quickly. "Better and better! How is he
+fixed—financially I mean?"</p>
+
+<p>"Poor as a church mouse," relied Anderson. "He was working as a waiter
+at the hotel where I was staying. He does some work during every
+vacation to help support himself, and even helps the janitor a bit
+around the high school during the school terms. But what has that got
+to do with it?"</p>
+
+<p>"It has everything to do with it!" replied Sandy jubilantly. "A few ten
+dollar bills would make him open his eyes. We could give him a slice of
+our winnings. And he needn't feel that he's doing anything wrong," the
+rascal added with specious sophistry, "for he'd only be helping his own
+school along. I tell you, Aleck, if you only put it to him right, the
+thing's as good as done!"</p>
+
+<p>They discussed the matter further, perfecting the details. Then they
+parted, convinced that the scheme would work.</p>
+
+<p>A couple of days later when they met again Aleck Anderson had a long
+face, and the other conspirators saw at once that something had
+happened.</p>
+
+<p>"What's the matter?" queried Sandy anxiously.</p>
+
+<p>"You look as though you had been to a funeral," commented Lent.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm afraid our cake is dough," replied Aleck, as he sat down
+disconsolately on a box in the Stewarts' garage, which was their usual
+place of meeting.</p>
+
+<p>"Why?" asked Sandy Podder. "Wouldn't Sykes fall for it?"</p>
+
+<p>"I haven't had a chance to see him yet," replied Aleck. "No, it isn't
+that. It's something that happened a little while ago when I was
+walking with Ed Bixby."</p>
+
+<p>"What was it?" fumed Sandy. "Get to the point. Has that boob been
+spilling the beans?"</p>
+
+<p>"Not on purpose; but I'm afraid he's done it just the same," explained
+Anderson. "You see it was this way. I had just met him and we were
+walking along, paying no attention to anybody. Then Bixby up and asked
+me:</p>
+
+<p>"'How about those signals, Aleck? Have you fixed it up with Wimbledon
+yet?'"</p>
+
+<p>"And just at that minute Mr. Phillips came around the corner and almost
+bumped into us!"</p>
+
+<p>A cry of consternation burst from the lips of his companions.</p>
+
+<p>"Mr. Phillips!" groaned Lent.</p>
+
+<p>"Did he hear what Bixby said?" asked Sandy, his face a yellowish-green.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm afraid he did," admitted Anderson. "He was going to speak to us,
+to say 'good afternoon' I suppose, but he stopped short with his mouth
+wide open. Then he looked at us as though we were snakes or something
+and marched on without saying a word. The game's up! We're done!"</p>
+
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XX">CHAPTER XX</h2>
+</div>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">In Desperate Plight</span></h3>
+
+
+<p>There was a moment of panic-stricken silence as Aleck Anderson's words
+sank in. Sandy was the first to speak.</p>
+
+<p>"Of all the rotten fools!" he burst out. "You fellows ought to have a
+guardian."</p>
+
+<p>"That's enough of that," replied Aleck hotly. "Another crack like that
+and I'll give you a belt in the jaw."</p>
+
+<p>Sandy quailed before the threat, for he was a physical as well as a
+moral coward.</p>
+
+<p>"Come, come now," put in Lent soothingly. "There's no use of either one
+of you fellows going on like that. We're all in the same boat. Let's be
+sensible and cool off."</p>
+
+<p>"We'll have plenty of time to cool off," grumbled Aleck, resuming the
+seat from which he had risen. "In fact, that's all we've got left to
+do. We're through!"</p>
+
+<p>"I'm not so sure of that," vouchsafed Sandy. "In the first place, we're
+not dead sure that Phillips heard you. If he didn't, we're just where
+we were."</p>
+
+<p>"Don't kid yourself," relied Aleck "I know from his actions and the
+look in his eye that he heard us, all right."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, admit that he did," went on Sandy. "What do you suppose will be
+the first thing that he'll do?"</p>
+
+<p>"Change the signals, of course," affirmed Anderson. "Then the old ones
+will be no good. We'll have nothing to bargain with."</p>
+
+<p>"Not unless we get the new ones," said Sandy.</p>
+
+<p>Aleck guffawed.</p>
+
+<p>"Swell chance!" he said scornfully. "Do you suppose they're going to
+publish them in the town paper?"</p>
+
+<p>"Don't talk rot," adjured Sandy irritably. "There ought to be some way
+for us to get them on the quiet."</p>
+
+<p>"Ought!" sneered Aleck "You're talking like a ham sandwich. They'll
+watch over those signals like a mother over her baby. No one outside
+the team can get near the field."</p>
+
+<p>"Ed Bixby—" began Lent Stewart.</p>
+
+<p>"Ed Bixby neither," snapped Aleck "You know as well as I that he's
+barred from athletics for the season."</p>
+
+<p>"I wasn't thinking of the field," put in Sandy.</p>
+
+<p>"What were you thinking of then?" asked Aleck</p>
+
+<p>"The gymnasium," replied Sandy. "That's where Phillips will bring up
+the matter of the changes. Now we know how that gymnasium's laid out.
+Look here. Listen!"</p>
+
+<p>The three boys had their heads together for a long time after that, and
+when they separated they were in a far more cheerful mood than they had
+been an hour before.</p>
+
+<p>The day after the Bass Lake game, Mr. Phillips called his charges
+together in the gymnasium of the school.</p>
+
+<p>"You've done well, boys, in beating Bass Lake," he said. "But of course
+you've heard that Wimbledon won again yesterday, leaving you still neck
+and neck, each having three victories and one defeat. So your game with
+Wimbledon will decide the championship, as no other team has as good a
+record.</p>
+
+<p>"We'll lick 'em!" cried the irrepressible Rooster.</p>
+
+<p>"Cock-a-doodle-doo!" called a voice, and there was a general laugh.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Phillips smiled.</p>
+
+<p>"I'd rather hear a crow than a groan," he said. "I want you to go
+into that fight determined on victory, as long as that doesn't breed
+over-confidence. Now what I called you together for to-day is something
+out of the ordinary. We're going to change our signals for the
+Wimbledon game."</p>
+
+<p>There was a general gasp of astonishment. The boys looked at each other
+in consternation.</p>
+
+<p>"Take it all back," whispered Rooster to Garry. "Wimbledon will tie us
+up in knots."</p>
+
+<p>"No," smiled Mr. Phillips, reading aright the glances interchanged. "I
+haven't taken leave of my senses. I know what a serious thing it is to
+adopt an entirely new system just a little while before an important
+game. But I am also sure that it would be a much more serious thing if
+we didn't. In a choice between two evils, I've had to take the lesser."</p>
+
+<p>Garry, of course, with his advance information, had not been taken by
+surprise like the others. But he was sorely regretful, just the same.
+He had been hoping that Mr. Phillips on reflection would see his way
+clear to retain the old signals. That he had not done so showed that
+the danger, whatever it was, was still imminent.</p>
+
+<p>"Now," went on the coach, "I've worked out the new system, and we'll
+run off the plays under them this afternoon. I think you'll catch on
+readily, but it will need incessant practice to get them into your
+minds so that your response will be automatic. And I want to warn you
+boys against saying a word to anybody about the change. That is vital.
+Don't even speak to any one in your own families about it, as some one
+of them might inadvertently mention it, and I wouldn't for the world
+have it get abroad. Now listen to me while I go over them."</p>
+
+<p>For the next half hour the coach discussed and illustrated the new
+system, going over each play again and again until he was sure the boys
+understood.</p>
+
+<p>"That will do for theory," he said at last. "Now we'll go out on the
+field and put them into practice."</p>
+
+<p>The teams swarmed out after the coach and silence reigned in the
+gymnasium.</p>
+
+<p>Not for long, however. Slowly, very slowly, the door of an old closet,
+used by the janitor to store odds and ends, was pushed open. A face
+appeared at the opening, and shifty eyes glanced about the deserted
+room.</p>
+
+<p>"All clear," came in a whisper.</p>
+
+<p>Two boys emerged from the closet and slipped up the stairs into a
+corridor of the school and thence through the front door into the
+street.</p>
+
+<p>They were Aleck Anderson and Bixby!</p>
+
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXI">CHAPTER XXI</h2>
+</div>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">Temptation</span></h3>
+
+
+<p>When the football practice was over and the boys were on their
+way home, Garry Grayson's friends were in a ferment of wonder and
+excitement.</p>
+
+<p>"Now what do you know about that!" exclaimed Rooster. "Changing signals
+just before the game with Wimbledon!"</p>
+
+<p>"Committing suicide, if you ask me," grumbled Nick Danter.</p>
+
+<p>"Came like a thunder clap," declared Bill. "Knocked me all of a heap. I
+have to pinch myself to find out whether I'm dreaming."</p>
+
+<p>"You don't seem especially disturbed about it, Garry," said Ted, giving
+the quarterback a poke in the ribs.</p>
+
+<p>"I wasn't so surprised as the rest of you because Mr. Phillips had
+spoken to me before about it," replied Garry. "But I'm sure upset, just
+the same. It is going to make our work mighty hard."</p>
+
+<p>"You knew, and you wouldn't tell us!" exclaimed Nick. "A clam hasn't
+anything on you!"</p>
+
+<p>"I wanted to badly enough, but Mr. Phillips told me to keep it under my
+hat until he was ready to spring it," replied Garry.</p>
+
+<p>"But what on earth is the reason?" asked Rooster Long perplexedly.</p>
+
+<p>"There can be only one reason," answered Garry, "and that is that
+he thinks Wimbledon has our signals or may get them. So he wants to
+double-cross them."</p>
+
+<p>"Get our signals?" cried Bill, in astonishment. "Have they been sending
+any of their scouts around?"</p>
+
+<p>"I don't think so," replied Garry. "At least, I haven't noticed any
+snooping going on. No, if Wimbledon's got them, it's because somebody
+in Lenox, somebody familiar with the signals, has given or sold them to
+her."</p>
+
+<p>"What?" exclaimed Nick, in horror. "Do you mean to say there's any one
+connected with Lenox High who would stoop to such a dirty trick as
+that? Why, if they did, they ought—they ought to be—" Nick stuttered
+and hesitated, unable to think of any punishment he considered severe
+enough.</p>
+
+<p>"Sure!" agreed Garry. "And that, whatever it is, would be letting them
+off easy. I'll bet my hat, though, that something like that is the
+explanation. Mr. Phillips got next to it in some way, though I don't
+know how, and he's trying to balk the scheme."</p>
+
+<p>"I'll bet Sandy Podder and Lent Stewart are at the bottom of it!"
+exclaimed Bill Sherwood.</p>
+
+<p>"I wouldn't put it past them," said Rooster. "But they don't know the
+signals well enough to give them away. They haven't played football
+since they've been at Lenox High."</p>
+
+<p>"No, but some of their pals have," put in Ted. "Could it be that—" He
+stopped as though reluctant to voice his thought.</p>
+
+<p>"I know what name you were going to say," Bill remarked. "Aleck
+Anderson. He's as sore as a boil, I know; but I hate to think he'd do a
+thing like that."</p>
+
+<p>"So would I," said Garry. "But he's been with Sandy and Lent an awful
+lot of late. And you remember, Bill, that when Frank told us of the
+talk he overheard between Sandy and Lent he said they mentioned the
+names of Aleck and of Ed Bixby."</p>
+
+<p>"Bixby, too," mused Ted. "Is he tarred with the same brush?"</p>
+
+<p>"Well, we don't know," replied Garry. "And since we don't, perhaps it's
+fairer to leave their names out of it until we have something definite.
+Anyway, it doesn't matter. We've put a spoke in their wheel by changing
+the signals. The old ones aren't worth a rap now, and if Wimbledon
+relies on them, she's bound to get stung. Say, wouldn't it be a joke
+if Wimbledon decided to count on them?" he added with a chuckle. "Can't
+you see those fellows running around like chickens with their heads cut
+off, wondering what had gone wrong with the dope?"</p>
+
+<p>The picture conjured up was an amusing one and provoked the laughter of
+the boys. But the laughter would have been much less hearty had they
+been able to see who were in the Stewarts' garage at that moment and
+hear what was going on.</p>
+
+<p>Sandy and Lent had entered it early that afternoon, and for an hour or
+so had been walking the floor and biting their nails with impatience.</p>
+
+<p>"Do you think they'll put it over?" asked Sandy nervously.</p>
+
+<p>"I think likely," replied Lent reassuringly. "I think the chances are
+ten to one. Still, you never can tell. The janitor might have gone to
+that closet at any time to get some of his things. I hate to think what
+would happen to Aleck and Bixby if they were discovered there while the
+teams were in the gymnasium. What the players would do to them would be
+a plenty."</p>
+
+<p>A little later three taps came on the door. It was the long awaited
+signal, and Sandy unlocked the door eagerly. Aleck and Bixby came in
+breathlessly.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, did you get them?" asked Sandy, with feverish anxiety, as he
+locked the door again and turned toward them.</p>
+
+<p>"Surest thing you know!" replied Aleck, as he took a notebook from his
+breast pocket and displayed pages scrawled over with figures.</p>
+
+<p>"Like taking candy from a baby!" gloated Bixby. "Old Phillips never
+thought of looking in the closets before he began his talk. Gee, I was
+sweating, though, for fear he would! If he had—phew!"</p>
+
+<p>Sandy looked exultingly at the figures.</p>
+
+<p>"Sure they're right?" he asked.</p>
+
+<p>"Dead sure," replied Aleck. "We didn't have any trouble in hearing all
+he said. And he went over them again and again to make sure the fellows
+understood. You can gamble on it that they're correct."</p>
+
+<p>"Bully!" exclaimed Sandy. "Now we're all set. This time Garry Grayson
+will get all that's coming to him! Now the next thing to do is to see
+Bill Sykes."</p>
+
+<p>"Who's going to do it?" asked Aleck.</p>
+
+<p>"Why, you'd be the best one for that," replied Sandy. "You know him and
+we don't."</p>
+
+<p>"Then if he doesn't fall for it, I'd be left holding the bag," objected
+Aleck. "If he chose to blab, the whole blame would be laid on me. Not
+on your life! We're all in this together, and you fellows will have
+to come along. I'll introduce him to you, and you, Sandy, can do
+most of the talking. It's your scheme, and besides you can talk more
+convincingly than I can," he added.</p>
+
+<p>Sandy fell for the flattery and swelled up like a pouter pigeon.</p>
+
+<p>"All right," he agreed. "I'll get my car, and we'll go over to
+Wimbledon to-morrow afternoon. You 'phone him in the meantime, Aleck,
+and make an appointment for him to meet us at the hotel. We'll give him
+a swell supper and then we'll take him for a ride. Then we'll spring
+the thing on him and try to put it over."</p>
+
+<p>The next afternoon the four conspirators rode over to Wimbledon in
+Sandy's sporty car and put up at the hotel. They had to wait awhile
+for their expected guest, who arrived a little later, and somewhat
+breathlessly apologized for being late, explaining that he had had some
+work to do at the school. As they already knew from Aleck Anderson that
+he aided the janitor at times, they understood.</p>
+
+<p>Bill Sykes was a muscular, stocky individual, a good football player
+and captain of the eleven. That money was scarce with him, however, was
+evident from his worn and shabby coat and the trousers that were frayed
+at the bottom. It was plain that he had hard work to get along.</p>
+
+<p>Aleck greeted him cordially.</p>
+
+<p>"Hello, Bill!" he said, as they shook hands. "How's tricks?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, so-so," answered Bill. "Plenty of hard work and little to show for
+it."</p>
+
+<p>"A little easy work and a good deal to show for it would be better,
+would it?" laughed Aleck. "Well, perhaps we can put you in the way of
+it. I want you to meet my friends," and he introduced his companions.</p>
+
+<p>Sandy was especially effusive. No business, though, till after supper,
+had been the decision, so he said:</p>
+
+<p>"Let's go in and get a swell feed and take a little ride afterward."</p>
+
+<p>The supper was an especially good one, and in paying for it Sandy
+ostentatiously displayed a considerable roll of bills. This, together
+with the natty car, produced an impression on Bill Sykes, who seldom
+saw money in quantity.</p>
+
+<p>Following the meal they rode out on the country roads, and when they
+came to a secluded, quiet spot Sandy drew the car off the side of the
+road and stopped.</p>
+
+<p>"Like to make a little coin, Bill?" he asked without further preamble.</p>
+
+<p>"Who wouldn't!" answered Bill Sykes.</p>
+
+<p>"That's right," returned Sandy. "It's what we're all after. Well, I
+think I can show you how to do it and at the same time do your school
+a good turn."</p>
+
+<p>"Just what do you mean?" asked Sykes, puzzled.</p>
+
+<p>"It's this way," explained Sandy. "You want to see Wimbledon lick
+Lenox, don't you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Of course I do," replied Bill.</p>
+
+<p>"So do I," Sandy spat out venomously. "Lick the tar out of her!"</p>
+
+<p>"It won't be any cinch though," observed Bill.</p>
+
+<p>"It would be a cinch though, wouldn't it, if you knew the Lenox
+signals?"</p>
+
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXII">CHAPTER XXII</h2>
+</div>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">The Stolen Signals</span></h3>
+
+
+<p>Bill Sykes sat up with a jerk, while Sandy and his companions watched
+him narrowly.</p>
+
+<p>"If we could get the Lenox signals!" he exclaimed. "Of course it would
+be a cinch. But how on earth could we get them? They hold them tighter
+than a miser grips a dollar."</p>
+
+<p>"I've got them right here in my pocket," replied Sandy, tapping his
+coat.</p>
+
+<p>"But—but—I don't understand," stammered Bill Sykes, looking from one
+to the other in a bewildered manner. "How did you get them? Why do you
+bring them to me? What's the big idea, anyway?"</p>
+
+<p>"Never mind how we got them," replied Sandy. "The fact is, I have them.
+And I'm offering them to you free, gratis, for nothing. As to the big
+idea, it's this. Lenox High has done us dirt. It's thrown three of us
+out just on account of a bit of a lark. It's barred another of us from
+athletics just because he roughed it a little with that boob, Garry
+Grayson. Is it any wonder we're sore? Who wouldn't be that had any
+spirit? We want to get even with the school that's treated us that way,
+and we don't know anything that would hit it harder than to have the
+team it's so proud of beaten by Wimbledon. There you have the whole
+thing."</p>
+
+<p>"I can see why you feel sore," said Bill slowly. "But as to my taking
+the signals, I—I don't know. It's a thing that isn't done. It doesn't
+seem sportsmanlike."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, cut out that sportsmanlike stuff," counseled the tempter. "You
+want to win, don't you? You're looking out for the best interests of
+Wimbledon, aren't you? Don't be too namby-pamby. It never got any one
+anywhere. You owe it to your school to do everything you can to win.
+Lenox would do it quickly enough, if the situation were reversed."</p>
+
+<p>"Besides," put in Lent, "it isn't as if you yourself had deliberately
+set to work to get the signals. Some people might criticize you, if you
+did that. But when they're handed to you on a silver tray, as it were,
+you'd be just a plain fool not to take them. There's such a thing as
+standing up so straight that you fall over backward."</p>
+
+<p>"It would be different, too, if we were asking you to sell us
+Wimbledon's signals," put in Sandy. "Then it would be all right for you
+to refuse to hurt your own school. But we're not asking you to hurt
+Wimbledon. We're giving you a chance to help her."</p>
+
+<p>Seeing that his sophistry was having some effect, Sandy played his
+trump card.</p>
+
+<p>"Not only will you be helping your school, but you'll be helping
+yourself financially," he said. "I don't mind telling you that my
+friends and I are going to put up all the money we can rake together
+on Wimbledon to win, and we'll see that you get a good slice of all
+the cash that we pull in. To show you that I'm not bluffing—" here he
+pulled a roll of bills from his pocket and took off several—"here's
+twenty-five dollars on account. That's only a fraction of what you'll
+get, if you put this thing through."</p>
+
+<p>He laid the bills on Bill Sykes's lap. It was a strong temptation to
+a boy who was compelled to count every cent he spent. Bill succumbed,
+after several minutes' hesitation, compromising with his conscience
+by telling himself that, after all, he was helping his school. Sandy
+grinned evilly in the semi-darkness.</p>
+
+<p>Then followed a discussion on ways and means. Bill thought he could
+get two or three of his team to help him utilize the signals, simply
+telling them that he had happened accidentally to learn them and that
+it would be no harm to use them for Wimbledon's advantage.</p>
+
+<p>So it was a hilarious group of plotters that, after putting Bill Sykes
+down at his home, rode back to Lenox.</p>
+
+<p>"Trust little Sandy!" gloated that young fellow, as he bade his pals
+good-night. "When he starts a thing, he finishes it."</p>
+
+<p>In the meantime, Garry and his team, blissfully unconscious of the
+danger threatening them and confident that they had spiked the enemy's
+guns by the change of signals, were working incessantly at practice.
+And work it was, for the old signals would keep constantly obtruding
+themselves into the new.</p>
+
+<p>For a few days there was endless confusion, but gradually the kinks
+were straightened out, and by the end of the week the new system was
+working fairly well. Still, there was much apprehension in Garry's mind
+as to what might happen in the heat of the actual game that was now
+only a short time away. Also, his rage at the rascals whose actions had
+made all this change necessary rose at times to a white heat.</p>
+
+<p>The day before the game with Wimbledon was to take place Garry was
+stopped on the street by a boy whose face seemed familiar, but whom he
+could not place at the moment.</p>
+
+<p>"You're Garry Grayson, aren't you?" the boy asked.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," replied Garry. "And you—oh, I know now who you are! You're Joe
+Brench, quarterback of the Wimbledon team. I played against you last
+year. Friendly enemies?" he added, with a grin.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," replied Joe, with an answering smile. "And I suppose we'll play
+against each other again to-morrow. It was that, in fact, I came over
+to see you about."</p>
+
+<p>"Is that so?" asked Garry guardedly. "What's up? Going to call the game
+off or anything?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, not that," replied Joe. "It was—it was—Oh, I hardly know how
+to begin. Look here, Grayson!" He braced and spoke decidedly. "I want
+Wimbledon to beat the life out of Lenox to-morrow. But I want it to be
+done fairly and squarely—on the level. I—"</p>
+
+<p>"Look out!" yelled Garry.</p>
+
+<p>Down the hill at the foot of which the boys were standing came plunging
+a runaway automobile. The boys had been so engrossed in their talk that
+they did not notice it until it was nearly upon them.</p>
+
+<p>Joe Brench was standing squarely in its path. Like a flash Garry
+grabbed him and pulled him partly out of the way. Not far enough,
+however, for the car struck Joe's legs and threw him violently to the
+ground.</p>
+
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXIII">CHAPTER XXIII</h2>
+</div>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">Almost a Tragedy</span></h3>
+
+
+<p>The shock of the blow from the runaway car was so great that Joe Brench
+was rendered unconscious. If Garry had not acted as swiftly as he had,
+there was little doubt that the boy would have been instantly killed.</p>
+
+<p>A crowd was already following the car, and in response to Garry's
+shouts others came running from all directions. Some one called up the
+hospital, and in a few minutes an ambulance came tearing up.</p>
+
+<p>The surgeon knelt down and examined the injured boy, whose head Garry
+was holding on his knee.</p>
+
+<p>"Leg broken and a bad gash in the head, received when he fell," he
+announced after a moment. "Don't think the skull is fractured though.
+Can't tell yet whether he has any internal injuries. We'll get him to
+the hospital at once."</p>
+
+<p>He administered what immediate aid was necessary, and then, with the
+help of the bystanders, got the boy into the ambulance and was off.</p>
+
+<p>The car in its wild gyrations had come up against a tree, and now lay
+in the street, almost a wreck.</p>
+
+<p>"Whose car is it?" asked one of the crowd.</p>
+
+<p>"It's Sandy Podder's," answered a small boy who had seen the car start
+on its wild journey and now came up breathless. "He left it in front of
+Bagley's store at the top of the hill while he went inside."</p>
+
+<p>"H'm! I'd rather it was his car than mine that hit that boy," remarked
+a bystander. "He'll have a pretty penny to pay for damages."</p>
+
+<p>"Damages, nothing!" snarled Sandy himself, who at that moment arrived,
+wild-eyed and pale from his run down the hill. "Some boys must have
+started the car. Could I help that? You're talking through your hat."</p>
+
+<p>But this was contradicted a minute later when the storekeeper himself
+came running up. He had seen the whole affair from start to finish.</p>
+
+<p>"Young Podder can say what he likes," the storekeeper said to a group
+that gathered about him. "No boy touched the car. It began to move
+before Sandy got ten feet away from it. It was standing on an incline,
+and it must have been that he hadn't set his brakes right. It's lucky
+Mr. Podder is rich. He'll have to shell out something before he gets
+quit of this business."</p>
+
+<p>The accident had been a great shock to Garry. One moment he had been
+talking to Joe, who was as vital and vigorous as himself. The next
+moment that boy had been stricken down—fatally, for all Garry knew.
+Garry's head was swimming and his nerves were in a jangle. But he
+had saved Joe from instant death, anyway. For that he was profoundly
+thankful.</p>
+
+<p>As Garry gradually acquired control of himself his thought recurred to
+what Joe had been saying when the accident happened. What had the boy
+meant when he spoke of his wanting to beat Lenox, but do it "fairly and
+squarely—on the level"?</p>
+
+<p>Had he learned that some of the Wimbledon team had the Lenox signals
+and had he revolted at the thought and determined that Lenox should
+have a fair chance to win or lose on the merits of the game it played?
+Was that the explanation of his queer errand?</p>
+
+<p>Garry's heart warmed toward the boy. He was square, at any rate, an
+honest foe. Of course, thought Garry to himself, Wimbledon, if it
+had any of the Lenox signals at all, had only the old ones that had
+now been discarded. Joe's errand, however well intentioned, had been
+needless. There was nothing to worry about as far as the signals were
+concerned. How lucky it was that Mr. Phillips had changed the old ones
+for the new! And how disconcerted the conspirators would be when they
+found that all their trickery had availed nothing!</p>
+
+<p>In the evening Garry called up the hospital and inquired about Joe
+Brench. He was infinitely relieved when he learned that the injuries,
+though serious, were not fatal. The broken leg was the principal
+damage. There appeared to be no internal injuries. The boy had been
+delirious for a time, but was now resting quietly. Yes, Garry could
+probably see him for a few minutes the next morning. But he must not
+stay long and must not say anything to excite him.</p>
+
+<p>So about eight o'clock the next morning Garry called at the hospital
+and was led by a nurse to the bed on which Joe Brench lay.</p>
+
+<p>The sick boy smiled up at Garry gratefully as the latter sat down in a
+chair at the side of the bed.</p>
+
+<p>"You're a bully scout," he murmured. "They tell me if you hadn't
+snatched me out of the way as quickly as you did, I'd have been killed,
+sure."</p>
+
+<p>"I wish I'd been able, Joe, to pull you out of the way altogether,"
+replied Garry. "But you'll be all right now, they tell me here. It's
+only a matter of patience till your leg mends."</p>
+
+<p>"Remember what I was saying to you when the car came along?" asked Joe.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, something about the game between Wimbledon and Lenox," replied
+Garry lightly. "But let that go now. You can tell me some other time."</p>
+
+<p>"But some other time will be too late," replied Joe. "I want that game
+to be an honest one. And it won't be as it stands now."</p>
+
+<p>"Why not?" asked Garry.</p>
+
+<p>"Because," said Joe, "Wimbledon has got your signals. Two or three of
+the fellows are going to profit by them. They tried to get me to go
+in with them, but I put them off. But the more I thought of it the
+crookeder it seemed, and I couldn't stand for it. I want Wimbledon to
+win, but win honestly. I hate dirty football."</p>
+
+<p>"So do I," replied Garry. "Now, Brench," he added, with a smile, "let
+me tell you something. Those signals that Wimbledon has are old ones.
+They're no good. We've thrown them into the junk heap and have taken up
+a complete new system. So we shan't worry. It's the crooks that will
+get left."</p>
+
+<p>"No, no!" exclaimed Joe. "You're all wrong! They've got the new ones!"</p>
+
+<p>"What?" cried Garry, hardly able to believe his ears. "They can't have!
+It's impossible!"</p>
+
+<p>"Sure as shooting!" affirmed Joe. "Listen! I heard Bill Sykes telling
+one of the fellows about it. Those fellows who did this dirty work did
+intend to give away the old signals, but they got a tip that they were
+suspected. They guessed you'd call in the old ones and get new ones. So
+two of them hid in a closet in the gymnasium the day your coach went
+over the new signals, and they heard every word he said. They copied
+the new signals and—wait! What's your hurry?"</p>
+
+<p>But Garry had already bolted from the room and was going down the
+stairs four steps at a time.</p>
+
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXIV">CHAPTER XXIV</h2>
+</div>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">Startling News</span></h3>
+
+
+<p>Garry Grayson's head was in a whirl as he ran along. Surprise was one
+element in his perturbation. Anger at the scoundrelism that dogged his
+steps was another. Chagrin was there, too, at the narrow escape from
+being outwitted by the conspirators.</p>
+
+<p>He and his mates had been chuckling about the way Wimbledon would be
+flabbergasted when it tried to use the stolen signals, only to find
+that they were not being employed by Lenox at all. Now the laugh was
+on Lenox. It would have run its head right into the trap and gone down
+to certain defeat had it not been for Joe Brench's scorn of underhand
+methods.</p>
+
+<p>As fast as his legs could carry him, Garry ran for Mr. Phillips's
+house. Luckily the coach was at home, and Garry was ushered into his
+study. Mr. Phillips looked up in surprise and some alarm as the boy
+came in, flushed and breathless.</p>
+
+<p>"What's up, Grayson?" he asked quickly.</p>
+
+<p>"Enough," answered Garry, as he took the chair Mr. Phillips indicated.
+"Wimbledon has our signals—the new ones—and is planning to use them
+this afternoon!"</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Phillips was shaken out of his usual calm.</p>
+
+<p>"What?" he exclaimed. "Are you sure? Don't you mean the old ones?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, the new ones," repeated Garry. "The ones we've been practicing on
+the last two weeks. There's no mistake, Mr. Phillips. I got it straight
+only a few minutes ago."</p>
+
+<p>He then narrated his interview with Joe Brench. The coach listened
+intently, putting in a question here and there.</p>
+
+<p>"Of all the undiluted rascality!" he exclaimed, rising and pacing the
+floor. "Who would have believed that those fellows would go as far as
+that? It seems incredible. Why didn't I have the gymnasium searched
+before I gave you the new set of signals?</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, well," he went on, "what's done is done. We're lucky, anyway, to
+get the tip even at this late hour. Now let me think."</p>
+
+<p>He bowed his head on his hands for a few minutes while Garry watched
+him anxiously.</p>
+
+<p>"There's just one thing to do," pronounced Mr. Phillips at last. "We'll
+go back to the old signals."</p>
+
+<p>Garry started.</p>
+
+<p>"I suppose that is the only thing to do," he assented dubiously. "But
+of course we've been trying to forget those for the last two weeks,
+and we've got no time now to practice the old ones again. I'm afraid
+the fellows will get all mixed up."</p>
+
+<p>"I'm afraid so too," admitted Mr. Phillips. "But it's the only thing
+left for us to do. It would be suicide to use the new ones that
+Wimbledon knows. And we've got to remember that if our boys get
+confused, Wimbledon, too, is apt to get rattled when she finds we're
+not using the signals to which she's been tipped off. So maybe it will
+be a standoff. At any rate, it's our only chance.</p>
+
+<p>"Now just one thing more, Grayson. Don't say a word about this to any
+of the team. They might let it leak out inadvertently. I'll give them
+their instructions just before they go out on the field. And don't get
+too discouraged over the outlook. True, the boys have been practicing
+the new signals for the last two weeks. But, remember, they've been
+familiar with the old ones for two years, and the force of old habit
+will assert itself, if they set themselves earnestly to the work."</p>
+
+<p>Garry drew what comfort he could from this and hurried home to get a
+light lunch before he repaired to the field for the decisive struggle
+of the season. He was glad, anyway, that the game was to take place
+on the Lenox grounds. That ought to count for something in the home
+team's favor.</p>
+
+<p>Whatever apprehension he felt, he concealed under a bright exterior,
+and to all appearances was his usual confident, aggressive self as he
+chatted with his comrades in the gymnasium. Also, he had searched every
+closet before Mr. Phillips appeared on the scene.</p>
+
+<p>"All ready to whip Wimbledon, boys?" asked the coach cheerily.</p>
+
+<p>A roar of assent rang through the gymnasium. The boys were in high
+feather, and showed it.</p>
+
+<p>"Good!" said Mr. Phillips. "Go in and wipe up the earth with them.
+You're trained to the minute. I've never seen you in better form."</p>
+
+<p>He paused for a moment.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm going to say a thing that may surprise you," he went on, "but you
+must believe that I know what I'm doing and that it's for the best.
+We'll use the old signals in this game."</p>
+
+<p>There was a gasp of surprise that had in it a suggestion of panic. The
+players looked at each other in amazement.</p>
+
+<p>"Steady, boys," counseled the coach. "You heard me. Put the new signals
+out of your mind. Build up a blank wall between your mind and them. You
+can do it! After all, the old ones are far more familiar. They'll come
+back to you instinctively. Do as I say and you'll win. Out with you now
+on the field!"</p>
+
+<p>"Come along, fellows!" called Garry, and trotted out, followed by his
+more or less dazed comrades.</p>
+
+<p>For ten minutes they practiced falling on the ball and running through
+the old signals. Then, as the moment for the game approached, Garry
+gathered his boys together and indicated a certain point in the crowded
+stands.</p>
+
+<p>Their eyes followed his and rested on Sandy, Lent, Aleck Anderson, and
+Ed Bixby. The quartet was in a hilarious mood.</p>
+
+<p>"See those fellows?" cried Garry. "They've bet on Wimbledon. They're
+rooting for us to lose. Are you going to let them gloat over us?"</p>
+
+<p>"No!"</p>
+
+<p>Garry could have made no more timely appeal to the fighting spirit of
+his team.</p>
+
+<p>"All right, then," commanded their captain grimly. "Go in and wipe that
+smirk off their faces!"</p>
+
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXV">CHAPTER XXV</h2>
+</div>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">Going over the Top</span></h3>
+
+
+<p>A tremendous crowd was present, one larger than had attended any of
+the league games that season. It looked as if all Wimbledon had come
+over to cheer on its team. And the Lenox stands were crowded with
+enthusiastic students and people of the town, the bright dresses of the
+girls adding a pretty splash of color.</p>
+
+<p>Before the stands the rival cheer leaders danced up and down like so
+many acrobats. A brass band played sprightly airs, that were, however,
+often drowned by the discord of cowbells, with which both sides were
+liberally equipped. The crowd was out for fun and excitement, and it
+got it within the first ten seconds of play.</p>
+
+<p>Wimbledon won the toss and elected to kick off. Sykes sent the ball
+whirling down the field. Garry leaped high into the air and collared
+the ball. Then, like a streak of lightning, he tore down the field,
+squirming, dodging and twisting, and before the astounded spectators
+could guess what had happened he had landed the ball behind the line
+for a touchdown.</p>
+
+<p>It was the most scintillating play that had occurred on the league
+grounds that season. The crowd gaped in astonishment. Then Lenox woke
+up and promptly went insane. Cowbells jangled, caps were tossed into
+the air, and the air was rent with shouts, in which the girls mingled
+their shrill treble.</p>
+
+<hr class="tb">
+
+<p>"Grayson! Grayson! Grayson!"</p>
+
+<p>"Did you ever see such running?"</p>
+
+<p>"No jack-rabbit has anything on him!"</p>
+
+<p>"And that's my brother," murmured Ella happily to Jane Danter.</p>
+
+<p>Half the beauty of the play lay in its unexpectedness. The ordinary
+thing would have been to run the ball back as many yards as possible
+before being downed. But Garry had glimpsed an opening, and, with him,
+to see was to act.</p>
+
+<p>Nick kicked the goal, and seven points were chalked up to the credit of
+Lenox.</p>
+
+<p>But Wimbledon, though flustered for a moment, soon got back its nerve.</p>
+
+<p>"Let 'em crow!" growled Sykes to Farnum, the right half, and Chambers,
+the left half, who were in with him on the secret of the stolen
+signals. "It won't be long before we have them standing on their heads."</p>
+
+<p>Wimbledon got the ball on the kick-off and lined up for the scrimmage.
+Farnum tore through right end and tackle for three yards. A plunge by
+Sykes netted two more on the left. Chambers made two more between guard
+and center, but when he tried to repeat was thrown back by Walker for a
+loss, and the ball went to Lenox on downs.</p>
+
+<p>Big Bill Sherwood lowered his head and plunged through for five yards.
+Nick took the ball next and made three. On the next play Garry himself
+tore through for four, making their distance with a down to spare.</p>
+
+<p>If Wimbledon was especially strong anywhere, it was in the line, where
+they had more beef than Lenox. The ease with which the distance had
+been made was a surprise to the Wimbledon rooters, who shouted hoarse
+demands for their line to brace. It was a surprise too to Sykes and his
+confederates.</p>
+
+<p>But it was no surprise to Garry Grayson, who chuckled in his sleeve.
+The signals he had called had been misinterpreted by the fellows who
+were in the secret on the other side. Where they had looked for an
+attack through the left, it had been made on the right, and vice versa.
+Consequently, the Wimbledon players massed where it would do no good,
+and left their line thin at the real point of attack.</p>
+
+<p>But the visitors braced savagely on the next play, and for a time held
+their own. Nick and Rooster pierced the line for small gains only,
+and Knapp was forced to punt. He boomed the ball away to Ford, the
+Wimbledon quarterback. He caught the ball on his ten-yard line, but
+succeeded in running it back only three yards before he was downed hard
+by Bill Sherwood.</p>
+
+<p>On Wimbledon's first play there was a fumble, and Chambers fell on the
+ball on his own three-yard line. From behind his goal line he tried
+to throw a forward pass to Chambers, but it was intercepted by Tom
+Allison, who was forced out of bounds on Wimbledon's twenty-five-yard
+line.</p>
+
+<p>Sherwood jammed his way through the line for three yards. Nick tried to
+bore through between right end and tackle, but was thrown for the loss
+of a yard. Knapp made but two on the left of the line.</p>
+
+<p>With fourth down and six yards to go, Garry signaled that he himself
+would carry the next ball. On the new system that Wimbledon was relying
+on, that signal stood for a forward pass. The Wimbledon backs fell
+back in consequence to kill the play. But Garry snatched the ball the
+instant it was passed back to him, tucked it under his arm, and was off
+like a rocket around right end. He straight-armed two tacklers and sped
+to the Wimbledon three-yard line before he was downed while the stands
+shook with the cheers of the Lenox rooters.</p>
+
+<p>With their goal line threatened, the visitors' line stiffened and held
+Knapp in his tracks on the first down. Rooster, however, made two. And
+then, with one mad plunge, Bill Sherwood bored through for the second
+touchdown of the game. Nick missed the point for goal and the score
+stood 13 to 0 in favor of Lenox.</p>
+
+<p>From the stands went up a booming chant:</p>
+
+<div class="poetry-container">
+<div class="poetry">
+  <div class="stanza">
+    <div class="verse indent0">"Lenox! Lenox! Len, Len, Len!</div>
+    <div class="verse indent2">Put the skids under Wimbledon.</div>
+    <div class="verse indent0">Show those ginks that you weigh a ton.</div>
+    <div class="verse indent2">Lenox! Lenox! Len, Len, Len!"</div>
+  </div>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+<p>In the two minutes of play that remained no more scoring was done by
+either side, and the ball was in midfield when the period ended.</p>
+
+<p>"I guess we're bad, eh!" grinned Rooster to Garry, as the warriors
+of both sides lay sprawled on the ground for the brief rest between
+periods.</p>
+
+<p>"Their fellows seem to be badly rattled," remarked Nick, in a puzzled
+way.</p>
+
+<p>"Haven't you fellows tumbled yet?" chuckled Garry.</p>
+
+<p>"Tumbled to what!" asked Bill.</p>
+
+<p>"I guess I'll leave that to Mr. Phillips to tell you," grinned Garry.
+"All I'm saying now is that we're having a nice little demonstration
+that honesty is the best policy. But come along, fellows. Time's up!"</p>
+
+<p>Wimbledon had the ball, but when it failed to gain after two line
+smashes Chambers punted to the Lenox thirty-five-yard line.</p>
+
+<p>Nick cut loose on a run of fifteen yards around Wimbledon's left wing.
+Here again the signals in Wimbledon's possession wrought confusion, for
+they called for a run to the right and the Wimbledon line had swung
+round to head him off. Knapp was thrown for a loss on the next play,
+and then on a deceptive right end rush, Garry squirmed through the line
+for ten yards. Rooster punted over the Wimbledon goal line and the ball
+was brought back. Wimbledon failed to penetrate the Lenox line and
+Sykes resorted again to the kicking game.</p>
+
+<p>It was Lenox's ball on Wimbledon's thirty-eight-yard line, and twice
+Garry, who was fighting like a tiger, jammed his way through for two
+first downs. The Lenox backs kept up a persistent attack until Nick
+planted the ball on the visitors' ten-yard line.</p>
+
+<p>After Tom Allison had made a brilliant attempt to skirt the enemy's
+right end, he was forced out of bounds on Wimbledon's three-yard line.
+On the next play Rooster, on a fake to jump the left end, suddenly
+whirled and threw himself between guard and tackle for a touchdown.
+Nick kicked the goal and the score was 20 to 0 in favor of the home
+team!</p>
+
+<p>Amid the playing of the band, the jangle of cowbells and the frenzied
+shoutings of the Lenox rooters, four very pale and dispirited
+conspirators looked at each other with panic in their eyes.</p>
+
+<p>Sandy, his complexion a yellowish-green, hid his head in his hands and
+groaned miserably.</p>
+
+<p>"Nice thing you've let us in for!" gritted Lent Stewart savagely.</p>
+
+<p>"We're done, and done brown!" growled Aleck Anderson.</p>
+
+<p>"And I've put every cent I had on Wimbledon," snarled the glowering
+Bixby.</p>
+
+<p>"Aw, shut up!" Sandy came back at his baiters. "I'll lose more money
+than all the rest of you put together, if Wimbledon loses. I'll be
+stony broke and in debt too, for I've borrowed from everybody. Can I
+help it if Sykes isn't taking advantage of the signals I gave him?
+What's the matter with the fellow, anyway? He's had a dead cinch, if he
+only had played it right."</p>
+
+<p>"It's Lenox that had the cinch," snarled Aleck Anderson. "I've been
+watching the play, and I know. Lenox has got next to your scheme and
+has gone back to its old signals. You've been double-crossed, you big
+boob! Wimbledon's up in the air. You and your smart schemes! Why,
+Garry Grayson's got more brains in his little finger than you have in
+your head, you false alarm!"</p>
+
+<p>After Wimbledon had kicked off and Lenox had failed to make its
+distance in the first three downs, Rooster was forced to kick and the
+ball was Wimbledon's in midfield. Ford and Chambers got away a pretty
+forward pass, and it looked as though the visitors might accomplish
+something with their overhead attack. But the Lenox defense was too
+agile and smart. After Garry had dashed around the right end of the
+visitors for a twenty-yard gain, Nick hurled a ten-yard forward pass to
+Knapp, who shot headlong through the Wimbledon line for an eight-yard
+gain and brought the ball to the enemy's ten-yard line. Sherwood gained
+three yards. Nick made a bold attempt to get round the end for a score,
+but was forced out of bounds. Then Lenox made a bluff line play, and
+Tom Allison tossed a pretty forward pass to Garry, who was behind
+the line waiting for the ball, and Garry shot through for another
+touchdown. Bill kicked the goal while the Lenox stands went crazy.</p>
+
+<p>Stung to desperation, Wimbledon made a stiff defense after that, and
+the period ended with the score 27 to 0 in favor of the home team!</p>
+
+<p>While his team had been piling up points Mr. Phillips had been coming
+to a decision. He had watched every play with the eyes of a hawk.</p>
+
+<p>He had hoped that on reconsideration Wimbledon, or those of the team
+who had been let into the secret of the Lenox signals, would finally
+decide to throw them into the discard and play straight, honest
+football. But as the game progressed he noted that they were depending
+upon their illegitimate knowledge, or supposed knowledge. He could tell
+by the way the Wimbledon men swayed to the right or the left at given
+signals and by the confusion that resulted when the expected play had
+not come off that they were using the code that Sandy had slipped to
+them.</p>
+
+<p>That they should suffer from their unsportsmanlike conduct was
+perfectly proper. Lenox was playing straight football. If Wimbledon
+tried crooked work and slipped up in the attempt, she was only getting
+what was coming to her.</p>
+
+<p>But Wimbledon! Ah, there was the rub! The school was not crooked. The
+coach was not crooked. Probably only two or three of the team had been
+taken into the secret. The rest of the boys were probably playing
+honest ball. It seemed too bad that they should all suffer from the
+dishonest scheme of a few.</p>
+
+<p>So at the first opportunity he had—the fifteen minutes' rest between
+halves—Mr. Phillips decided on an unusual but a generous thing.</p>
+
+<p>He sought out Adams, the Wimbledon coach, an old acquaintance with whom
+he was on the friendliest terms.</p>
+
+<p>"Hello, Phillips!" Adams greeted him, summoning up a wry smile. "Your
+boys are certainly putting it all over us to-day. Have you come to
+gloat over me?"</p>
+
+<p>"Nothing like that, Adams," said Mr. Phillips, with an answering smile
+as he grasped the other's extended hand. "Simply to give you a tip.
+You're a mighty good football man. Haven't you noticed something queer
+about the playing of some of your boys?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, I have," replied Adams soberly. "I've been trying to figure
+it out. The linesmen have been all right, but the backs have played
+like simpletons. I can't understand it. Usually, they've been my most
+dependable men."</p>
+
+<p>"And probably would have been to-day," replied Mr. Phillips, "if they'd
+been playing straight football."</p>
+
+<p>"What do you mean by that?" asked Coach Adams quickly, a frown
+beginning to gather.</p>
+
+<p>"Now don't go up in the air, Adams," Mr. Phillips adjured him. "I'm
+risking a sure victory in telling you this. If I kept still, we'd
+probably beat you by fifty to none. But I want to keep the game clean.
+Now here's the story," and in a few brief sentences he told the tale
+of the stealing of the signals by Sandy Podder's gang. As Mr. Adams
+listened the frown upon his brow became a thunder cloud.</p>
+
+<p>"It's certainly kind of you to tell me this," he said warmly, when Mr.
+Phillips had finished. "And you can bet there's going to be a shakeup
+in my team!" he added.</p>
+
+<p>He hurried off, and when, a few minutes later, the teams lined up
+again, Sykes, Chambers, and Farnum were missing.</p>
+
+<p>Now the Lenox boys found that they had their hands full. Whether the
+Wimbledon coach had told his players of the dereliction of their mates
+or had simply left them to their own suspicions, was not known by Mr.
+Phillips; but in any event the Wimbledons had been roused to a pitch of
+ferocity that for a few minutes took the players on the home team off
+their feet.</p>
+
+<p>Wimbledon's first play when they got the ball resulted in a
+twenty-five-yard gain by Reulbach around the Lenox left end. One
+forward pass failed, but another, Gray to Weston, gave Wimbledon a net
+gain of forty yards, bringing the ball to the Lenox eight-yard line.
+Booth smashed through for five yards. Briggs was halted in his tracks.
+But on the next try, Weston plunged through for Wimbledon's first
+touchdown of the game. Reulbach kicked the goal, and Wimbledon had
+escaped a whitewash.</p>
+
+<p>But it was soon evident that they were not going to be satisfied with
+that. Encouraged by the howls of their rooters—the first there had
+been any occasion for so far—the Wimbledons played like wild men.
+Three times in succession they made their distance by line smashing.
+Then Acland snatched a forward pass out of the air and by a magnificent
+run around right end crossed the line for another touchdown. The try
+for point succeeded, and Wimbledon now had fourteen points.</p>
+
+<p>Lenox had been resting too securely on its laurels. Its easy time in
+the first half had inspired it with over-confidence. Now it began to
+wake up and play the ball of which it was capable. The Lenox line,
+stung by Garry's furious charge that it was as full of holes as Swiss
+cheese, became a stone wall against which the Wimbledon cohorts broke
+in vain.</p>
+
+<p>But misfortunes—as viewed by Lenox—never come singly, for just as
+the Wimbledon flood had seemed to be stayed a break of the game came
+to their aid. Lenox had begun a march down the field that threatened
+to bring them within striking distance of the hostile goal. They had
+reached the twenty-yard line when McCarty fumbled, and Reulbach,
+pouncing on the ball like a hawk, sped like a meteor down the field
+with all the Lenox team pounding at his heels and went over the line
+for another touchdown, the third for Wimbledon in that period.</p>
+
+<p>The scoring for the quarter ended then and there, and until the
+referee's whistle blew the lines swayed back and forth nearly in
+midfield.</p>
+
+<p>It had been a notable comeback for Wimbledon, which was now only six
+points behind. It was their rooters' turn to howl, and they made the
+most of it:</p>
+
+<div class="poetry-container">
+<div class="poetry">
+  <div class="stanza">
+    <div class="verse indent0">"Wimbledon! Wimbledon!</div>
+    <div class="verse indent0">You've got Lenox on the run.</div>
+    <div class="verse indent0">Keep it up, it's lots of fun.</div>
+    <div class="verse indent0">Wimbledon! Wimbledon!"</div>
+  </div>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+<p>Sweet music for the visiting team, but rank discord to Garry Grayson
+and his mates.</p>
+
+<p>"They'll be singing to a different tune before the game's over,"
+predicted Garry. "Wake up, fellows! Tear into 'em! Rip 'em up the back!"</p>
+
+<p>Wimbledon made frantic efforts to get an overhead attack going through
+the fourth period. Ford and Weston formed one combination which tried
+in vain, and Acland and Reulbach made another. But the alert Lenox ends
+and secondary defense were usually out-guessing the Wimbledons in the
+efforts to execute their forward passes.</p>
+
+<p>Finding themselves thwarted, the Wimbledon boys resorted to line
+smashing tactics. But there was no Swiss cheese element now in the
+Lenox line. Holes were few and far between, and the contest grew so
+hard and furious that both sides were penalized for roughing. It was a
+ding-dong fight that set the crowd delirious.</p>
+
+<p>Five minutes had passed with the elevens pushing each other back and
+forth, each resorting to the punt when rushes and forward passes
+were smeared, when suddenly a Lenox pass was intercepted by Booth,
+the big left tackle of the Wimbledons, who leaped high into the air,
+gathered the ball under his arm, and with a clear field before him ran
+thirty-two yards to a touchdown. Reulbach kicked the goal, and for the
+first time in the game Wimbledon was ahead. She had twenty-eight points
+to Lenox's twenty-seven. Only one point, but with the last quarter
+nearing its close that one point loomed up like the Rock of Gibraltar.</p>
+
+<p>The noise now was deafening. All semblance of sanity had disappeared
+from the Wimbledon section. The Lenox stands were wrapped in a pall of
+gloom. All sat glum and silent.</p>
+
+<p>But if Garry was whipped, the news had not yet reached him. His blood
+was at fighting pitch. He was like a wildcat. He tore through the
+enemy's line like a battering ram. Most of the time he carried the ball
+himself. Once he plunged through for eleven yards, pulling most of the
+Wimbledon team along with him till he was down. Another time he netted
+thirteen. Lenox had got within eighteen yards of Wimbledon's goal line
+when a fumble by Knapp gave the ball to Wimbledon. Reulbach punted out
+of danger and the work was all to be done over again.</p>
+
+<p>And now only four minutes of time was left! Each passing second seemed
+to tick the doom of Lenox. It was Wimbledon's ball in midfield. Twice
+Wimbledon tried to gain through the line and was thrown back for losses.</p>
+
+<p>Then Reulbach punted. Bill Sherwood broke through and blocked the kick.
+Garry, who was at his side, clutched the rolling pigskin as it bounded
+slightly upward and was off down the field.</p>
+
+<p>On he raced, with Rooster and Nick at his side to block off would-be
+tacklers. On and on with the goal beckoning him. Booth plunged toward
+him, but Garry straight-armed him, while Rooster by a superb rolling
+block disposed of Reulbach and Nick went into Weston like a load of
+brick. On and on, slipping like a ghost through all who tried to stop
+him, raced Garry Grayson, and, summoning his strength in one last
+effort, threw himself over the Wimbledon line for a touchdown!</p>
+
+<p>Pandemonium broke loose in the Lenox stands. Yells went up in
+thunderous volume. People hugged each other and babbled incoherently.
+Ella threw herself into Jane's arms and sobbed happily. Jane herself
+was sniveling.</p>
+
+<p>And four rascals sat silent with pallor on their faces and rage in
+their hearts as the chant arose:</p>
+
+<div class="poetry-container">
+<div class="poetry">
+  <div class="stanza">
+    <div class="verse indent0">"Lenox! Lenox! Len, Len, Len!</div>
+    <div class="verse indent0">Look at her most noble son!</div>
+    <div class="verse indent0">See Garry Grayson run!</div>
+    <div class="verse indent0">Lenox! Lenox! Len, Len, Len!"</div>
+  </div>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+<p>Rooster kicked the goal and Lenox had 34 points to Wimbledon's 28, and
+a moment later the referee's whistle ended the game.</p>
+
+<p>Once more Lenox had won the championship of the High School League.
+Garry was deliriously happy. He had upheld the honor of Lenox High.
+That was the most important thing. Secondary was the thought that he
+had thwarted the enemies who sought to overthrow him. They were down
+and out—for the present, at least.</p>
+
+<p>Would they stay down? That question is answered in the next book of
+this series, entitled: "Garry Grayson Showing His Speed; or, A Daring
+Run on the Gridiron."</p>
+
+<p>There was a great celebration of the victory in Lenox that night,
+bonfires, speeches, snake dancing, with Garry Grayson as the central
+figure. Cal Yates was there, as snappy and debonair as ever, and with
+him was his father, who had now almost completely recovered. Both
+were warm in their congratulations. Sandy Podder, Lent Stewart, Aleck
+Anderson, and Bixby were conspicuous by their absence.</p>
+
+<p>The next day Garry called on Joe Brench at the hospital and was glad to
+learn that his leg was mending nicely and that he would soon be about
+again.</p>
+
+<p>"It was a great thing you did for me that day, Garry," said Joe
+gratefully.</p>
+
+<p>"It was a great thing you did for Lenox High that day," replied Garry,
+grinning happily.</p>
+
+
+<p class="ph2">THE END</p>
+
+
+<hr class="chap">
+
+
+<p class="ph2"><i>"The Books you like to read at the price you like to pay."</i></p>
+
+
+<p class="ph2"><i>This Isn't All!</i></p>
+
+
+<p>Look on the following pages and you will find listed a few of the
+outstanding boys' and girls' books published by Grosset and Dunlap.
+All are written by well known authors and cover a wide variety of
+subjects—aviation, stories of sport and adventure, tales of humor and
+mystery—books for every mood and every taste and every pocketbook.</p>
+
+
+<p class="ph2"><i>There is a Grosset &amp; Dunlap book for every member of your family.</i></p>
+
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+<p class="ph2">GARRY GRAYSON FOOTBALL STORIES</p>
+
+<p class="ph2">By ELMER A. DAWSON</p>
+
+<p class="ph2">Illustrated. Each Volume Complete in Itself.</p>
+
+
+<p>Garry Grayson is a football fan, first, last, and all the time. But
+more than that, he is a wideawake American boy with a "gang" of chums
+almost as wideawake as himself.</p>
+
+<p>How Garry organized the first football eleven his grammar school had,
+how he later played on the High School team, and what he did on the
+Prep School gridiron and elsewhere, is told in a manner to please all
+readers and especially those interested in watching a rapid forward
+pass, a plucky tackle, or a hot run for a touchdown.</p>
+
+<p>Good, clean football at its best—and in addition, rattling stories of
+mystery and schoolboy rivalries.</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot">
+
+<p>GARRY GRAYSON'S HILL STREET ELEVEN; or, The Football Boys of Lenox.</p>
+
+<p>GARRY GRAYSON AT LENOX HIGH; or, The Champions of the Football League.</p>
+
+<p>GARRY GRAYSON'S FOOTBALL RIVALS; or, The Secret of the Stolen Signals.</p>
+
+<p>GARRY GRAYSON SHOWING HIS SPEED; or, A Daring Run on the Gridiron.</p>
+
+<p>GARRY GRAYSON AT STANLEY PREP; or, The Football Rivals of Riverview.</p>
+
+<p>GARRY GRAYSON'S WINNING KICK; or, Battling for Honor.</p>
+
+<p>GARRY GRAYSON HITTING THE LINE; or, Stanley Prep on a New Gridiron.</p>
+
+<p>GARRY GRAYSON'S WINNING TOUCHDOWN; or, Putting Passmore Tech on the
+Map.</p>
+
+<p>GARRY GRAYSON'S DOUBLE SIGNALS; or, Vanquishing the Football Plotters.</p>
+
+<p>GARRY GRAYSON'S FORWARD PASS; or, Winning in the Final Quarter.</p>
+</div>
+
+
+<p class="ph2">GROSSET &amp; DUNLAP, Publishers, NEW YORK</p>
+
+
+
+<div style='text-align:center'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 76086 ***</div>
+</body>
+</html>
+
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+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. Anyone seeking to utilize
+this book outside of the United States should confirm copyright
+status under the laws that apply to them.
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+Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for
+book #76086 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/76086)