CHAPTER VIII: BETTY HEARS THE LIONS ROAR
Nothing could have been more appropriate for exciting athletic affairsthan the name which had been given to this high school in honor of adistinguished public servant, interested in education. It scarcely needsto be explained that the football team of Lyon High was called thelions, on and off the gridiron, or that posters and the school papercarried fierce?looking drawings and cartoons of the King of Beasts inaction. A golden yellow, relieved by black, in the costumes of the LyonHigh band and in the sweaters of the team was supposed to suggest thetawny coat of what could “eat up” any other team in short order. Lionsfigured largely in various badges and insignia of all sorts. Betty Leehad early decided that she must some day wear one of the pins or ringsthat bore the “Lyon High Lion.”
Oh, it was good to stow away books in the freshman lockers and hurrywith the rest of the big crowd to find seats in the stadium, seats whereone could see everything!
The girls lost little time at their lockers. “Come on, Betty,” calledCarolyn. “I’ve got some newspapers to sit on. Yes, I should _say_ bringyour coat! Your sweater won’t be enough. I promised Mother to wear acoat and wouldn’t have needed to promise, either. I don’t care to freezemyself.”
This was not the first game. That had been duly played in the homestadium, not so long after Carolyn’s garden party, and Betty had feltall the thrills of seeing the great stadium come to life for the firsttime in her experience. After this big school, college could not bringher more! Yet thrills could be repeated. Never would this place becomeso accustomed, Betty was sure, that she would not have them. Then, thiswas the GREAT GAME. It was the one between the two largest high schoolsof the city and was an annual occurrence, long heralded, the great gamefor which the teams prepared. There had been a lively meeting in theauditorium beforehand, that very morning. The championship was at stake!“Oh,” said Betty, “I don’t see how I can _stand_ it if the Lions don’tbeat!”
“Don’t suggest such a thing,” Peggy called back. “Of course we’ll beat!”
There was a large crowd, parents and friends included, as well as manyalumni of the high school, who were interested enough and loyal enoughto see at least this one chief contest every year. But Carolyn, Bettyand Peggy, with some of the other girls, were among the first amongthose dismissed from the last Friday classes. Their season tickets werepunched at the stadium entrance before the stadium was appreciablyfilled.
“We’ve a grand choice, girls. Hurry!” Carolyn tripped rapidly down thesteps in the lead.
“Down there, back of those boys, Carolyn!” called Peggy, who knew aswell as Carolyn the “strategic point” that they wanted to reach if noone were ahead of them in securing it. “First come, first served here,you know, Betty,” Peggy added, hopping from one high step to another ina short cut.
Carolyn was spreading newspapers and holding them to keep them frombeing blown away in the slight breeze. “Sit on ’em in a hurry,” shelaughingly urged, and settled herself on the further one, next to two ofthe teachers, who were spreading out a steamer rug. “Sensible girl,”said one, smiling down at Carolyn. “Is your coat warm enough?”
“Yes, Miss Heath, and we have on our sweaters beside. Peggy and I nearlyfroze at the University stadium last week, so we bundled up this time.Did you see the game with State, Miss Heath?”
“Indeed I did.”
“Good for you,” chuckled Carolyn. “You like athletics, don’t you?”
“Very much–when some one else does it.”
“But _you_ wouldn’t have time,” suggested Carolyn. This was the MissHeath whom all the girls liked so much, girls of any rank from freshmento seniors. She was always fair, though you had to work for her. No“getting by” with poorly prepared lessons.
“No,” assented the adorable Miss Heath, “I’d have no time, not even forsetting up exercises.” She looked at her teacher friend, a lady from therival school, and laughed. “What do you think, Carolyn, would it bepolite for me to sing with you our school songs or do any rooting forLyon High when my friend from our rivals’ school is sitting right by me?By the way, Miss March, this is Carolyn Gwynne, one of our freshmen. Youknow the Gwynne place, out on Marsden Road?”
“Oh, yes, quite well. How do you do, Carolyn. I think I have met you atyour home. I belong to a club that met there last year.”
Carolyn said the appropriate remarks in reply and was fortunately notobliged to decide what was the polite course for Miss Heath to follow.So far as she was concerned, no scruples would have prevented herenthusiasm for Lyon High, for the good reason that Carolyn forgoteverything but the game when the contest was on.
Peggy, and Betty, too, third in order from the teachers, leaned aroundCarolyn to bow in friendly and respectful fashion, but at once they gavetheir attention to the crowd and the field. On the track a few runnerswere practicing, their costume looking very cool for the chilly fallbreezes. A few boys were standing about on the field or central“gridiron.”
Betty filled her lungs with the fresh air that was not blowing toosharply. She was accustomed to the curving concrete that rose highbehind her and stretched to right and left, to the field before her andto the gymnastic or athletic performances that had seemed so queer atfirst because of the larger numbers and the better equipment. By thistime, too, she knew the team, its best members and what they were likelyto do, though in the confusion of the game it was sometimes hard for herto recognize a play.
As the game was with a city school today, there were as many or almostas many rooters for the visiting team as Lyon High itself could offer.As the seats filled rapidly, competition between rooters began. Rivalbands with tooting horns and rolling drums made a dramatic appearance,paraded, and finally took position. Rival yell leaders led rival cheer,though Lyon High, trained by its athletic director to goodsportsmanship, gave a complimentary yell or two for its guests, usingtheir own battle cries or merely giving hearty rah?rahs for the rivalschool and team.
Then the pandemonium was at its height when the teams ran out upon thefield and the excited youngsters on the stadium seats rose and shoutedtheir greetings. Betty stood and waved and gave the yells with the rest.She might not have been long in Lyon High, but she was a part of it now!It was her school! There! That was Freddy Fisher, upon whose plays somuch depended. There went that mysterious tall boy that somebody saidcame from Switzerland and somebody else said was a Russian. My, but hewas an active chap! He was almost as good as Freddy, Chet Dorrance hadtold Betty, but he didn’t always understand the signals and occasionallythe team was penalized for something that he did either accidentally oron purpose. “He’s a hot one when he’s mad,” said Chet, “and I guess hestill thinks in his own language, whatever that is, though he likes toplay and learn all the new signals pretty quick, the coach says.”
“Peggy, there is your hero,” laughed Carolyn.
“Who?” inquired Peggy.
“The ‘Don.’”
“Oh, yes. I did say that he deserved as much glory as Freddy for thatlast game, didn’t I? He gave such fine interference.”
“The ‘Don’?” inquired Betty, puzzled.
“They have him Spanish now, Betty. He’s been Russian, German, Hungarianand I don’t know what all and I think the boys like to tease us girls bymaking up something new about him all the time. But isn’t he sort ofhandsome?”
“I’d hate to say, Peggy, if you like his looks,” countered Betty.
“Betty likes them fixed up and awfully clean, like Ted Dorrance, Peggy,”mischievously said Carolyn.
Betty flushed a little, but smiled. “I have a brother, girls. He’sbetter now, but time was when Dick would just as lief never wash from‘early morn till dewy eve’ as Father used to say. ‘Aw, what was the useof washing before breakfast when you had to wash right after it?’” Bettygave a comical imitation of Dick’s tones.
“So after assisting in rounding up Dick to be washed and beingembarrassed more than once by his grimy looks, it’s no wonder if I l
ike’em clean at least. But I suppose I went through that time of hating tobe washed myself.”
“I doubt it, Betty,” answered Carolyn. “I think you are always dainty,if you ask me.”
But now the time of the contest was at hand. More excitement and cheerscalled for the attention of the rooters to duty. They yelled for theirown teams now, under the frantic leadership of active yell?leaders. TheLions’ little mascot, arrayed in his mask of a lion’s head and a suit astawny as the coat of the biggest lion in the “Zoo,” ran up and down,waving large paws and trailing a long tasseled tail.
“Lions, rah! Rah?rah?rah?rah, Lions! Eeney, meeney, money mi, Lions win when they half try?? Eeney meeney money mi, Chew’em?up! Chew’em?up! _Lions_” (Roar)
The influence of the living models at the Zoological Gardens, on whosefearsome roars many of these high school pupils had been, figurativelyspeaking, brought up, made this characteristic roar, with which many ofLyon High yells closed, very realistic. It had been with a mixture ofstartled surprise, amusement and admiration that Betty, Doris and Dickhad first heard it that fall. But now even Amy Lou tried to imitate it.
“Hickity, rickity, spickity jig! Zippity soom and lickity rig! The Lions are loose, Get out of the way! They’ll romp to the finish. And Capture the Day Gr?rr?rr??LIONS”
Another favorite yell was both prefaced and ended with a student roarfrom the Lyon High part of the stadium. It was short and vigorous:
“Lions! Lions! And they’re not tame! Go it, Lions, And _win that game!_”
Some unexplained delay gave time for a brief rendering of a short highschool song. “Make it peppy!” called the leader, “one stanza and a yellfor the team!”
This closed the preliminaries and in a tense stillness on the part ofthe spectators the game began. From the first it was exciting, for theteams were well matched. “Now let the Lions Roar,” was balanced by “Nowlet the Eagles Scream,” in several good plays by each in the firstquarter.
The Eagles kicked off but lost their advantage almost at once. For alittle the struggle resulted in little gain for either side. A trickkick failed. Line plays gained little. Both teams resorted to puntingand the Lions gained some yardage. Betty, Carolyn and Peggy shared sometense moments when the Eagles’ quarterback made a good ran ofthirty?five yards before he was pulled down by Peggy’s new hero, the“Don,” who came in for much cheering from Lyon High rooters.
“Oh,” said Peggy, sitting back weakly, “I thought he was going to make atouchdown! How did he get away?”
“I don’t know,” answered Carolyn, “but he’s a smart player, the bestthey have. He’s Bess Pickett’s brother, you know.”
“He _ought_ to be somebody, then,” replied Peggy. “What a pity hedoesn’t go to Lyon!”
“We don’t need him,” proudly said Carolyn. “Wait and see Freddy Fisherwiggle and twist out of–” but Carolyn did not finish her sentence forinterest in what was going on. She was, however, a true prophetess, foras the quarter was drawing near its end, their Freddy caught an Eagles’punt on his own ten?yard line and raced through the entire Eagles’ teamfor a touchdown, almost caught several times, while the excitedspectators stood and shouted.
“Get?that?man! Catch him! Catch him!” called the Eagles.
“Look out, Freddy! Go it! Get there!” shouted the Lyon High rooters. “Atouchdown Freddy! Atta?boy!”
The Lyon High band struck up a victorious strain, while Freddy, oncemore the conquering hero, lay upon his ball to get his breath.
During the second quarter there was no scoring. The Eagles weredetermined to prevent further scoring by the Lions and risked littlepunting. They were able, however, to spoil any fine little plans of theLions. Betty, who could not remember sometimes the various positions ofthe players, though she could note their work, watched the vigoroustackling and the opening struggles of the plays and found it necessaryto make an effort not to become too worked up over the contest. But theLions must win this time! They had barely won over the Eagles the yearbefore, but the championship was not at stake then for an outside teamhad developed into one that had beaten both Eagles and Lions, and theEagles had lost one other game.
Time out saw some of the boys going out to the side lines and as theyreturned, Ted Dorrance saw a vacant seat just below where our threegirls sat and vaulted into it. “Hello!” said he. “This is a better placethan I had before. Anybody rented it?”
“Not that I know of,” laughed Carolyn. “Some freshman we don’t know orsome outsider sat there, I guess.”
“He’s lost out now,” said Ted. “How are you ladies enjoying the game?”Ted looked up at Betty as he spoke.
“It is a wonderful game,” sighed Betty, “but I can’t feel easy about ourbeating yet!”
Ted laughed, drew a package of peppermint “life savers” from his pocketand handed it up toward the feminine fingers. “Perhaps these will do yousome good,” said he. “As to feeling easy, nobody does, though some wouldsay so. But take it from me, girls, and keep it under your hat,something is going to happen.”
“Oh, tell us, Ted!” exclaimed Peggy.
Ted shook his head in the negative. “Official secret. I happened to gethold of it. Sh?sh!”
Betty, with both dimples showing this time, for she really had two,exchanged an amused glance with the merry Ted, who now whirled around asseveral boys returned to take seats beside him, and one, looking up frombelow to see no room there, hopped into another vacancy lower down.
“You’ll not have to fight for your seat, Ted,” remarked Carolyn. “Aren’tyou seniors proud of Freddy?”
“Yeah. But I wish this was a game where the coach could put in a fewsubstitutes. However, the other team is as bad off.”
As he spoke, the attention of all centered on the gridiron once more;but Betty was handing Ted the little package of “life savers,” and as hetook it, he leaned back to whisper near her ear as she stooped, “Watchthe Don!”
Inquiring eyes met Ted’s with interest. He nodded. “Do as I said,” hesaid jokingly, as he, too, turned to give his full attention to thefield.
Betty wondered. The “Don” was noted for his good interference. Were theygoing to let him do something else? Anyhow she would watch him, as Teddirected. How nice it was of Ted to tell her! But Carolyn had given heran amused glance just after Ted had turned away. She must be careful orthose ridiculous girls would keep on teasing her. Not that she cared.
Very conservative, indeed, were the plays of the third quarter. Verywatchful were both teams. But the Eagles must score if possible, ofcourse, since the only score had been made by the Lions. Hard theyfought. Alas–the Lions were penalized for some breach of the rules byDon, nothing serious, Ted said, just some little regulation about“time”!
“That old heathen!” exclaimed Ted, looking back at Betty, who wanted toask Ted if this were what she was to watch Don for. “But just wait.We’ll show them!”
Next in excitement came a fifteen?yard holding penalty imposed on theEagles. But as if in desperation, toward the last part of the quarter, aforward pass by the Eagles was successful, and Jim Pickett, clearing allinterference, made a seventy?five?yard run and a touchdown.
“_Now_ hear the Eagle scream!” exclaimed Ted. “What’s the matter withour team that they let Jim get away with that? But it was a pretty run.Jehoshaphat, we’re even now! No–they’ve lost the kick! Hooray, we’re oneahead!”
Ted was either talking to himself or to the boys around him, but thegirls followed his boyish discourse with interest. And the next calamitywas even worse. In the next play one of the fiercest Lions was hurt.They walked him off, but one arm hung limp and Ted, who again rushedaway to find out the damage, returned with the information that “Skimp’sarm was broken!”
“Oh, will that let them beat us, do you think?” asked Betty, leaningforward.
“Not necessarily,” replied Ted, “but it’s a big loss,” and
Ted looked alittle grim. “Besides that, Freddy’s twisted his ankle, mind you!”
“But we mustn’t give up, Betty,” urged Carolyn. “We have to root all theharder to encourage the team!”
What had become of the play Don was to make, Betty wondered–if that waswhat Ted had meant?
The play of the third quarter, interrupted by much time out, went on tothe finish, the Lions discouraged and not doing their best, Ted said.The Eagles made apparently easy gains and took every advantage, untilafter a rapid advance toward their goal and in the last few minutes ofthe quarter Jim Pickett made another touchdown by catching the ballpunted to his position and running free to the goal. In the excitementthe final point to be gained by the kick was again lost. But now theEagles’ score stood ahead! Where were the brave Lions?
“Well,” said Carolyn, “now comes the tug of war. It’s the last quarterand everybody is tired out, and Freddy is limping off the field and itdoesn’t look so good!”
“Never say die, Carolyn,” Peggy cheerfully put in. “The boys aren’tgoing to lose the championship without a fight!”
Ted had disappeared again. The Eagles were having a snake dance andtheir band was parading, the forty pieces blaring triumphantly. “My,they do play well,” said Betty. “It’s grand that the high schools arebig enough to have such music!”
“I can’t say that I appreciate the Eagles’ band right now, Betty,” saidPeggy, “and you won’t either, when you’ve been here a little longer.”
A gleam of hope seemed to arrive with bright Ted, who came jumping up tohis seat just below the girls and smiled as he sat down. “We’ll lick ’emyet, girls,” he cried. “Freddy is resting a little and getting his anklebound up, and he’s going to play all right. They’ve a pretty goodsubstitute for Skimp; at least I think that Bunty will play a good game.So all is not lost. Cheer up!”
The Eagles’ heroes were just as glad for a short rest as Freddy or anyof the weary Lions. Recumbent forms lay about the field, presumablydrawing strength from Mother Earth. Then, as the immense audience beganto grow restless over delay, heads were bent together, in conferenceover coming plays, and the formation was made, while encouraging thoughbrief cheers came from the rooters. After all the singing, cheering androoting in every known way and the expenditure of considerable energyand enthusiasm, the band, the cheer leaders and the occupants of theseats in the stadium were tired enough to long for the close of thegame. Yet tensity marked the opening of the quarter.
“Let’s go,” suggested one of the teachers next to the girls. Carolynlooked around in surprise, to see if it could be Miss Heath, usually soloyal to the Lions. But possibly with the teacher from the other schoolshe rather hated to see the finish.
But no, it was not Miss Heath who had suggested going. “If you like,certainly,” she was saying, “though it may be a little difficult to getthrough the crowd.”
“That is so,” replied the other, “but I think the game is practicallyover. Your big runner is injured and I scarcely think that the Lions cando much, with the substitute that they have for that other boy. I sawhim play once before and he lost advantage once by fumbling when hemight have done something.”
“Oh, _can’t_ we ‘do much’!” said Carolyn, in a voice low enough not tobe heard by Miss Heath or her friend. “She thinks she’s so sure of theEagles!”
Peggy and Betty grinned back at Carolyn, but settled themselves to watchthe fray.
Again the struggle was on. Good! Freddy Fisher was running about asactively as ever, watched by the Eagles. Twice the ball was given tohim, but although he did not appear to be lame as he ran, he could makelittle headway before he was downed. The Eagles “screamed” again,rooting loudly, and hoarse encouragement came from the ranks of the LyonHigh rooters. “Atta?boy! Freddy, rah! Fight, fight, fight, fight!”
Then came the surprise. Betty had forgotten to follow Ted’s advice inregard to watch “Don.”
Who had the ball this time? Betty was as surprised as any one to see“Don” with the ball, freeing himself from immediate interference andstarting off. Oh, could he do it!
The surprised Eagles pounded after the mysterious foreigner while fromthe Eagles’ rooters cries of “get that man! Get that man!” were wildlyrepeated.
Betty’s heart was in her mouth. “What did I tell you!” Ted was shoutingto the boy next him, as the Lion rooters stood up in a body and cheered.“Run for it, Don! Watch out for Matt! Look out there, Don! Hooray, theydidn’t get you that time!” In these and like phrases, the boys in frontof Betty and others expressed their feelings, while the lad on his waywas trying to escape his enemies, all too ready to recover from theirsurprise and take measures to stop him.
Betty’s view was unimpeded. Now a tackler launched himself at Don. Oh!Don stumbled a little! No, he got away and the tackle clutched the air.“He’s free! he’s free!” cried Carolyn, jumping up and down.
Gaining a little on the pursuit, running with more confidence, the “Don”sped down the long path toward the goal, the ball held tightly. Cheersarose and the fierce roar of Lyon High in rejoicing followed the runninglad. A few Eagles still followed–but Don had escaped! The “mysterious”player was to divide honors with Freddy in the championship game andequal the number of yards won by the Eagles’ quarterback, Jim Pickett.
“He’s made it! He’s made it!” shouted Ted, embracing the boy next tohim, as Don completed his spectacular play and won his touchdown.“Girls–what did I tell you, Betty! _Now_ watch the Lions do a snakedance!”
The Lions’ second touchdown put them ahead and after that there wasnothing but grim effort, defence, blocking and wary play on both sidesuntil the quarter ended. The Eagles, indeed, tried one or two desperatechances in the hope of scoring, but the Lions, with equal determination,blocked their every attempt, while an almost silent stadium ofspectators watched closely every play.
Miss Heath was behind her friend as they climbed the steps of thestadium, but happening to pass Betty and Carolyn, she gave Carolyn ameaning smile and reached for Betty’s hand to give it a squeeze.
“She can’t _say_ anything, to gloat over our victory, of course,” saidCarolyn, “but I can’t help be mean enough to be gladder because thatother teacher was so _sure_ we were defeated!”
“What about the Don now, Betty?” asked Peggy. “If he isn’t so ‘slick’ assome of the boys in dressing up, he was ‘slick’ in winning the game forus, wasn’t he?”
“Oh, the Don’s all right!” said Betty. And just then she felt a hand ather elbow. It was Ted, who thus boosted her up a few steps, telling herthat the plan was to make “them” feel secure and then “spring Don.” “Solong, girls–good game, wasn’t it?” Ted finally inquired, leaping up therest of the way and again joining the boys.
A tired but happy Betty clung to the straps of the crowded street car onthe way home. Doris was riding home in an automobile, with the littledaughter of a neighbor, but Dick grinned at Betty from the far end ofthe car and joined her when they left it at their corner.
“Say, did you ever see a fellow as heavy as that foreign fellow looksrun like that? But he isn’t quite as slippery as Freddy. They might havecaught him if they hadn’t been so surprised. What became of Doris? Ididn’t see her there at all. I hope she didn’t miss it.”
“No; Marie’s folks were there, with her and Marie, and I saw Dorisgetting into their car while we were waiting for the street car.”
“Just to think! We’re the champions of the scholastic what?you?call it.Didn’t I _yell_, though at the last shot, when the last quarter was overand the game ours!”
Betty Lee, Freshman Page 8