CHAPTER XIII
THE BANG-UPS
Jerry shot a glance at the lad who seemed deliberately trying toantagonize him. A hot reply was on the lips of the tall lad, but heheld it back.
“No, I’ll give him another chance,” thought Jerry. “There’s no use instirring up a row just because he wants to be nasty.”
Bob and Ned heard what Frank had said, but no one else appeared to havecaught the words, and Jerry’s two chums wondered why he did not retortto the unnecessary and unfair remark. But Jerry explained later.
“Now then, young gentlemen, try the horse,” ordered the director. “Itwill be good practice for you in football and baseball. Lively now!”
The “horse” is a leather-covered affair, resembling a horse in that ithas four legs but not otherwise. It is a sort of padded sawhorse morethan anything else.
By means of a handle, fixed in about the place where the saddle wouldbe on a real horse, the athlete jumps on, over and astride the horse.This the boys in the Boxwood Hall gymnasium proceeded to do, lining upand taking turns.
In this Frank showed considerable ability, while Jerry was not so goodat it, making, in fact, a rather awkward appearance. And when it cameBob’s turn there was a real disaster, though a harmless one.
FRANK SHOWED CONSIDERABLE ABILITY.]
The stout lad made a rush for the horse, but missed getting hold of thehandle. He shot over the horse, slid on the smooth leather padding andwent down on the floor with a bang. He looked about him with such acomical look on his face that the instructor and the other boys burstinto laughter.
“Well, Baker, you’re not training for clown-work in a circus,” remarkedthe instructor. “Try it again.”
Bob joined in the laugh, and when he took his place in the line foranother attempt he heard Frank say sneeringly:
“Well, there are some things the fresh motor boys can’t do, it seems.”
“Oh, cut it out,” advised Bob with a forced grin. “We don’t claim to beanything like what you seem to think we are.”
“Don’t get into a row,” advised Jerry in a low voice.
“If he insults me I--I’ll punch him!” declared Ned in a whisper.
“No you won’t,” contradicted Jerry.
“If he wants to--let him try it!” said Frank, quickly. “That’s a game Ilike to play.”
“Silence over there!” called the director, sharply, while Ned and Frankglared at one another.
Ned made no awkward breaks, so there was no excuse for Frank’s makingany of his slurring remarks, and the remainder of the gymnasiumpractice went off without further incident.
“Say, I wonder what’s got into him?” asked Bob, as he and his chumswere proceeding toward the dormitory after the practice. “He seems justto hate us--he and those fellows he goes with. I wonder why?”
“He hasn’t any real excuse,” said Jerry, “but I imagine it is just ashe says. Frank and his chums are afraid we’ll try to show off, becauseProfessor Snodgrass told them about our various adventures. I neverthought they’d be held against us.”
“Nor I,” added Ned. “But this Watson is going to make trouble, I cansee that. And the sooner the better.”
“Why?” asked Bob.
“To have it over with. We’ll have to fight him.”
“Oh, I guess not,” said Jerry. “We’ll try and not roil him.”
“But why should we go out of our way to take insults, just becausethis fellow doesn’t like us?” asked Ned.
“Remember we’re freshmen,” said Bob.
“That’s all right. The other sophs don’t pick on us the way he and hisbunch do. I’m not going to stand it!”
“Go slow,” advised Jerry.
For a week or more after this there were no open clashes between Frankand his cronies and our three chums. On occasions, as they passed inthe hall, Frank, Bart and Bill would laugh sneeringly or pass someslurring remark, but that was the extent of it. On the other handJerry, Bob and Ned made friends among the other lads in the variousclasses.
And right here the point might be emphasized once more that at BoxwoodHall there was not the sharp line drawn against freshmen in athleticsand other matters that there is in some of the other colleges.
It is true that the freshmen were hazed and not allowed to appear oncertain parts of the campus sacred to the sophomores, juniors andseniors. And there were some strictly class societies in which themembership was limited. But there were also secret organizations whichwere made up indiscriminately of members of all four classes.
In athletics, as has been said, there was also no tight line drawn. Inbig colleges, of course, freshmen are not eligible for the varsity,but at Boxwood Hall, where there was a limited number of students, inorder to increase the available supply of players the freshmen weredrawn upon. Thus it was that the nine and eleven had freshmen on, aswell as sophomores, juniors and seniors. Nor were the freshmen obligedto refrain from residence in dormitories where their “betters” werehoused, though there were some fraternity houses sacred to certainclasses alone.
Football practice went on, and the more our three friends watched it,the more they wished they had made themselves fit to be candidates forthe eleven. But it was too late now.
“I’m going to get into it next season though!” declared Jerry, whileNed and Bob echoed his words. “It’s great!”
This was on one of the occasions when Boxwood Hall played an old-timerival and won in a hard-fought battle. Another time she was not sosuccessful, and lost to a college she had always beaten.
“But if we win from the military academy, I won’t have any regrets,”declared Ted Newton. “That’s the bunch I want to beat!”
“You’re going to get yours all right to-night,” was the word passed toNed, Bob and Jerry one afternoon, following a lecture on zoology.
“Our what?” asked Ned.
“Hazing,” was the answer.
“Well, we’ll take all that’s coming,” said Bob. “We’ve got to expectit, I suppose.”
“And you may get more than you expect,” the informer went on.
It was rather a rough hazing, for our heroes were hauled out of theirrooms by a crowd of the sophomores, headed by Frank Watson, and madeto do all sorts of ridiculous things, one of which was to stand in thepublic square in Fordham and eat cream puffs and chocolate eclaireswith their hands tied behind their backs.
Then, in this state, with smeared faces, they were obliged to appear ata moving picture show, marching up and down the aisles while the lightswere turned up.
As a climax they were ducked in the campus fountain basin and thenpelted with more or less over-ripe fruits and vegetables as they wereallowed to return to their rooms.
“Whew!” gasped Bob, “we are some sights.”
They were indeed, their suits being ruined. But they had taken theprecaution to wear old ones, thanks to the tip.
“Well, I’m glad it’s over,” remarked Jerry.
“Same here,” added Ned. “And when our boat comes we’ll have some goodtimes to make up for this hazing.”
The _Neboje_ arrived and was launched on Lake Carmona. The possessionof the motor boat brought new friends to our heroes, and they took manyof their college chums on short cruises, once remaining out all nightbecause of engine trouble when they reached the upper end of the lake.
Proctor Thornton had it in mind to punish severely the luckless ones,but when Jerry explained matters, and when Professor Snodgrass had putin a good word for the boys they were excused, but warned not to takesuch chances again.
“Say, fellows, don’t you want to join the Bang-Ups?” asked George Fitchone day of Ned, Bob and Jerry. This was when George had been taken outfor a motor boat ride.
“The Bang-Ups?” asked Ned. “Is that something good to eat?”
“It’s a secret fraternal society,” answered George, looking carefullyabout to make sure he was not overheard. “It’s the most exclusive inthe college, but freshmen are eligible when voted
in. I’ll propose youif you like.”
“Sure, we’d like it!” declared Bob.
“There’s one thing, though,” went on George. “The initiation is apretty stiff one. Lots of the fellows get hurt--not badly, of course,but some.”
“You can’t scare us that way,” laughed Jerry. “We’ve been in somepretty tight places ourselves.”
“We’ll take a chance,” added Bob.
“Does Frank Watson and his crowd belong?” Ned demanded.
“Oh, yes,” was the reply.
“They’ll never vote to let us in.”
“It’ll take more than their votes to keep you out, though, as a rule,the elections have been unanimous. But it takes ten black ballots toturn a candidate down, and at best Frank and his crowd number nine.”
At the next meeting of the Bang-Ups the names of our friends wereproposed. And Frank Watson, Bart Haley, Bill Hamilton and severalothers opposed them.
But George Fitch, Chet Randell, Lem Ferguson and, best of all, TedNewton, the football captain, championed the cause of our friendsto such advantage that they were elected, only seven votes againstthem--not the necessary number.
“Of course, I’d like to have had it unanimous,” said George, in tellingJerry about the matter afterward. “But don’t let that worry you, andperhaps Frank will change his tactics toward you.”
“I don’t care much whether he does or not,” Jerry remarked. “I wishthere weren’t any feeling against us, especially as I know there is nocause for it, but the Bang-Ups is worth getting into, even if we didn’tmake it unanimously.”
“Glad you think so,” remarked George. “And now comes the initiation.”
Ned, Bob and Jerry at Boxwood Hall; Or, The Motor Boys as Freshmen Page 14