CHAPTER VIII
THE LINE-UP WITH CLIFFORD
"Oh, won't they get it now!" cried Jack Eastwick.
"Keep on running, fellows. Some of them may be half killed, ifthat dog gets hold of them! Faster, boys; faster!"
Frank himself increased his speed. He had no love for themiserable cowards who, in order to gratify their private spite,would cripple their school team until the enemy must have an easyvictory on the morrow. And yet he did not like to imagine whatterrible things might follow if Kaiser got in among the boys whowere treating his master so shamefully.
Perhaps they deserved whatever befell them; but Frank was himselfa boy, and in a position to understand the true meaning of such aprank as was now being pulled off.
There had come a decided change in the racket ahead. No longer wasit hilarious shouting and jeering, such as indicated sport forthe boys, but something else to the human frog. True, the soundshad even grown in volume, but they were of a more serious nature.
"Listen to 'em howl, would you?" cried Lanky.
"The shoe's on the other foot, now. Wow! ain't they getting nippedhard, though?" shouted Herman Hooker, hardly knowing whether to bepleased or frightened.
"Faster!" gritted Frank, between his teeth, for he did not likethose shouts.
Possibly the boys had picked up clubs, and were trying to beatKaiser off, in order to continue their cruel sport of tossing poorBones into the water, and pulling him out again by means of a ropefastened around his ankles.
Now the runners were close upon the spot.
"They're scattering!" called Lanky, as the shouts appeared to comefrom various localities.
"And I think Bones has got hold of the dog. I can hear someonespeaking to him, and trying to quiet the brute!" gasped Paul Bird,who was also a keen runner, able to "keep up with the procession"as well as the next fellow.
"That's true. Hold on to him, Bones, old fellow!" Frank managed toshout.
A dozen seconds later, and they came upon the river bank. The halfmoon up in the western sky gave enough light to show them howmatters stood.
"Hurrah! Kaiser cleared the decks! The last of the pirate hordehas fled!" cried Amiel Tucker, whose reading was always along theold-time romances.
"And there's our friend Bones, all to the good, fondling thatbristly terror! I say, three Bones for cheers!" shouted RedHuggins, known among his mates also as "Sorreltop," and who, whengreatly excited, often became twisted in his mode of speech.
They clustered around, while Kaiser growled deeply, and licked theface of his young master. Jones was soaked to the skin, andalready shivering, though possibly more from the nervous strainthan the cold.
Frank immediately took off his own coat, and threw it over theshoulders of the boy who had been ducked again and again.
"What happened to you, Bones?" asked Lanky, who always wanted toknow the full particulars, for he expected some day to branch outas a shining light in the legal profession, and believed he oughtto practice while young.
"They jumped me, that's all," chattered the other, trying tolaugh.
"When you went out to quiet your dog?"
"Yep. I hadn't gone half way when they pounced on me. Couldn't letout more'n a little peep when they covered my head with some sortof old horse blanket, and grabbed hold of me. After that it wasall over. I heard good old Kaiser carrying on to beat the band.Oh, how I did wish he could break loose! Wouldn't he havescattered the bunch, though!" observed Bones, as he calmlyaccepted a second coat offered by another sympathizer.
"Which he did in the end, anyway. Say, what did he do to thosesharks?" demanded Buster, coming panting up at this moment.
"You missed the sight of your life. They were having a grand goodtime dousing me in the drink, you see, when, all of a sudden,Kaiser burst among them. Such whooping and howling I never heardin all my life! You'd sure thought a lunatic asylum had brokenloose, boys," and Bones laughed as well as he could betweenshivers.
"And then what?" persisted Lanky.
"Oh, they scooted like fun. Some went one way and others tumbledinto the river, they were so badly scared. I think Kaiser nipped afew of the bunch before he ran over to lick my face, and I got acinch hold on his collar. Only for that, he'd have gone backagain, and mauled a few that couldn't run fast enough. But how didyou come to think of putting him on the scent, fellows?"
"Give Frank here the credit for the bright thought," said Paul.
"Yes, he's all to the good when it comes to a question of doingsomething in an emergency. The balance of us were jumping aroundlike so many chickens with their heads off, when he suggested thatKaiser would lead us to the place where you were. It was a grandidea, and it worked, too," remarked Lanky, warmly.
"Oh, piffle! Cut that out. If I hadn't thought of it, somebodyelse would have, in about a second. I just happened to get infirst, that's all. But we must rush Bones home in a hurry, beforehe takes cold. A chill just now would knock him out of the gameto-morrow, and hurt our chances of a win," with which Frankassisted the wet victim of the kidnappers to his feet.
Bones protested, but they would not listen to him. He was rubbeddown with many willing hands, and patted and pounded in a way tostart his circulation going at fever heat.
Kaiser hardly knew what to think of all this good-naturedtussling, and many times growled his disapprobation, so that aword from his master was needed to influence him not to sink thosegleaming teeth in the limbs of Buster or Lanky.
All the while they were making for town. Fortunately, Bones didnot live a great distance off, and by making haste, they presentlyreached his house.
Buster volunteered to remain over with him and see that he wasproperly looked after.
"Somebody explain to Mattie King just why I can't get back!" hecalled out.
"Oh, don't bother yourself about that, Buster," remarked JackEastwick, coolly, "for I'd already made up my mind to see herhome."
"You have? I've got half a notion--but, no, this once won't count.It isn't often you get a show, Jack, so improve the shiningopportunity," answered Buster, from the stoop of the Shadduckhome.
Of course, as the crowd wended its way back to the hall where theglee club had met for this one occasion, while the assembly roomin high school was being repaired, the talk was wholly upon thelate "unpleasantness."
"It certainly was that to those chumps," laughed Lanky. "Oh, howmuch we missed in not being on the spot! All Buster's faults forstumbling when he did, and letting go of the rope. Why under thesun didn't he hold on with a death grip?" demanded Tom Budd.
"Hold on? Goodness gracious, that dog would have dragged him overevery rock and stump for a mile. A pretty sight he'd have beenafter that. I think Buster showed the finest judgment of his lifein knowing when to _let go_!" said Lanky.
"Yes, that's so. They say a stitch in time saves nine. Think howmany stitches would have been needed to sew Buster up if he neededmending," spoke up Sorreltop.
When finally they arrived at the hall, the girls, and those amongthe boys who had failed to join in the hunt, were, of course, justwild to hear about what had happened.
Everything else was, for the time being, forgotten, as theyclustered around and excitedly demanded that the facts be given.
One told a portion, and another took up the recital. In thisfashion, by degrees, the entire story was made known. Nor were theboys at all backward about giving the credit for the ingeniousthought to Frank, who laughingly tried to declare that he deservedno more applause than the balance of the flock.
"They're all good fellows, every one, and as much deserving ofyour praise. We are of the opinion that there will be severallimps noticeable at the game to-morrow, so if you happen toobserve any fellow making a face as he walks, just whisper oneword in his ear in passing. Do you know what that word is?" heasked.
"Kaiser!" they roared in concert.
"Oh, Kaiser, don't you want to buy a dog?" sang Jack Eastwick, andamid much laughter and merry exchange of talk, the glee clubdisbanded for that ev
ening.
Ralph walked home with Frank and Helen. Others among the boyspersisted in hovering near them, greatly to the annoyance ofRalph, and the amusement of the girl, who thought it something ofa joke.
Frank had Flo Dempsey on his arm, and seemed to be unusuallymerry. To tell the truth, though, considerable of this wasassumed. He happened to know that just back of them, MinnieCuthbert and her new friend, Dottie Warren, were walking, andundoubtedly they could hear much that was being said.
That night, when alone in his room, Frank seemed to lose much ofhis merry demeanor. His face took on the grave look that hadcharacterized it of late, ever since that minute when Minnie hadgiven him the cruel cut direct.
"I wonder will I ever know what is the matter?" he mused, as heundressed, preparatory to tumbling into his inviting bed; "or mustit always remain a deep mystery. I never thought she could treat afellow that way, cutting him out without giving him the leastchance to explain. But I'm not going to complain. They say thereare as good fish in the sea as ever yet were caught."
With this philosophical reflection, he jumped into bed. Having agood control over himself, Frank was able to go to sleep. In thisway, when he awoke in the early morning, he was refreshed andfeeling splendid, so easily does youth recuperate.
"Anyhow, it's going to be a sharp day. That air feels like snow,only the sky is clear. Great football weather! I wonder how itwill all come out," and hustling into his clothes, he immediatelywent out to the place arranged for the secret meeting to practicesignal work.
The others were soon on hand, and under the coaching of theexperienced old Princeton graduate, they went through all theirpaces with a cleverness that caused their trainer to nod his headin satisfaction.
"That's enough, boys," he said, warmly. "You've got your work cutout for you to-day, and it would be poor policy to tire you atthis early hour. Back to the house now, and eat a breakfast suchas I laid out for you; nothing more, mind. Everyone of you mustconsider himself at the training table now, until that game withBellport is over with on Thanksgiving morning. That's all!"
When, about ten o'clock, Frank reached the athletic grounds, cladin his soiled suit and with his entire bunch of players along, hefound that a tremendous crowd had swarmed over the big field,fully equal to any that had witnessed the hard-fought baseballbattles during the preceding Spring and early Summer.
It was an enthusiastic crowd, too, shouting until the sound wasnot unlike the roar of a tempest. Thousands of miniature flagswere waving, representing both schools. There were also many fromBellport present, some to enjoy the game, others to get pointswith regard to the playing of the Columbia eleven, against whichtheir own team expected soon to be pitted.
"Ain't this the greatest sight ever?" asked Lanky, as they cameupon the field, and the waving flags and handkerchiefs made thegrandstand look like a vast flower garden in a strong wind.
"Columbia! _Veni! vidi! vici!_ to-day we swallow therooster!" came a concerted shout, as Herman Hooker got his cheerband in working order.
The emblem of the Clifford school was a rooster, while that ofColumbia, like Princeton, was the tiger.
Immediately the Columbia fellows began booting an old ball about,and falling on it with reckless abandon, just as they had beentaught to do by the coach.
"Look there, will you!" exclaimed a girl close to Minnie Cuthbertin the grandstand. "How nice and white the suits of Cliffordseem, while our boys are dirty. They ought to be ashamed, I shouldthink. We have just as good a laundry in Columbia as they have upabove."
But to those who knew more about such things there was anatmosphere of strictly business about the soiled suits of Frank'steam. They looked as though they were on the field for hard work,and not to show off, or "play to the gallery."
And the wise ones took stock of this fact. Some of the sportingmen even began to hedge in their bets, and might have tried toeven up all around, only that they happened to know of a secretupon which they were building great hopes.
And that secret concerned the signal practice of the Columbiaeleven!
The Clifford boys were continually waving their hands to somepeople in the crowd they recognized. There was an air of assuranceabout them that seemed to loudly proclaim the fact that theyanticipated no great trouble in putting the "Indian sign" onColumbia.
On the other hand, the home team seemed to notice nothing, savethe fact that the ball was there to be shot around, and tumbled onheavily. They had a grim look, too, and in vain did the girls tryto attract their attention, for it was rarely that one of theeleven so much as turned a look toward the spectators. All oftheir time was taken up in play, and observing their rivals.
"Just wait, and we'll dirty those sweet white suits some,"chuckled Lanky, as he passed the ball like lightning to Shadduck.
Minnie was watching one player intently. For the first time in along while he did not look along the rows of faces until he sawher waving wildly, and doff his cap, or in this case, wave hishand, since he had no cap to lift.
She trembled with secret delight as she finally saw Frank raisehis head when the ball was in another quarter. But when he made amotion with his hand, it was in a different direction entirely,and looking over, Minnie saw that Helen and Flo Dempsey sat there.
"They're getting ready to line-up. See, the referee has the twocaptains over by him. It's going to be a toss for position," criedone eager spectator.
"Not much choice to-day, though, since the wind is light,"returned another.
"But there always is one side better than the other. The sun willbe in the eyes of the fellows who lose. That may count forsomething. And the breeze may grow stronger as the game goes on.There, Frank has won, for he's taking his men to the lower goal.But that gives Clifford the kick-off. That looks bad."
"Oh, I don't know. It will only spur them on to working a littleharder. Wait and see. I've got a hunch that Frank Allen has asurprise or two up his sleeve for these gay white birds from upriver. I'm not worrying. I've seen that boy on the baseball field,and on the river in the boat races. He is all there with thegoods, and they're a full yard wide. You hear me!" and theenthusiast jumped to his feet, to flap his elbows as though theywere wings, while he emitted a shrill crow that caused a laugh tobreak out in the immediate vicinity.
"Now we're going to see some fun!" called a fellow who was wavingthe colors of Clifford with great vim.
And under the eyes of thousands of eager spectators, the rivalelevens took the places assigned to them to await the signal forplay.
Boys of Columbia High on the Gridiron : or, the Struggle for the Silver Cup Page 8