LORRIMER’S MISTAKE.
If possible, Frank’s speech from the window of his room had made him
more popular than ever. He had not uttered a single word in
bitterness, and no honest student could doubt but he told the truth
when he said that, no matter what happened to himself, he should pray
for the success of Yale. He was utterly unselfish in his love for Old
Eli.
The feeling against Lorrimer was not lessened by Frank’s words,
however; if anything, it was intensified. That Frank had told the
plain, unvarnished truth about the Yale men being overtrained scores
of men attested. Lorrimer was a hard master. His heart was set on the
success of the blue, but his judgment was at fault. He was a person
who did not take criticism kindly. The following morning the
newspapers of Boston and New York came out with the report that Frank
Merriwell had been dropped from the Yale eleven. Various causes were
assigned, but in no instance did a paper hit the truth. Some said he
was suffering from injuries, others claimed that he was in wretched
condition, and yet others averred that the whole case was one of
spite.
There was rejoicing in Cambridge, for, of all men on the Yale eleven,
Merriwell had been most feared. Harvard remembered the old days when
the skill and courage of the Yale full-back had been the chief cause
of their defeat. It had seemed in the past that Merriwell was the
mascot of the Yale men. The odds against Yale went up with a bound.
By this time Steve Lorrimer had begun to discover how popular Frank
Merriwell was. He had known of the demonstration beneath Frank’s
window on the previous night, but he regarded it as an outbreak headed
by a few of Merry’s particular friends. Now, to his surprise, he found
that he was regarded with scorn and anger by men who did not venture
to say anything openly to him. He received black looks from all sides,
and he heard mutterings of anger and disapproval. Of course, he
pretended not to notice anything like this.
Frank was alone in his room, plugging, when Lorrimer rapped on the
door.
“Come in,” called Merry, and the football manager entered. Frank rose
at once, exclaiming:
“Mr. Lorrimer, this is a surprise! Have a chair.”
Without noticing the invitation, Lorrimer began:
“Look here, Merriwell, what do you think you are going to make out of
this business?”
“To what do you refer, sir?” asked Frank quietly.
“Why, kicking up all this fuss, of course.”
“I have not kicked up any fuss, Mr. Lorrimer.”
“You may not have done it personally, but you are at the bottom of
it,” accused Steve.
“I think you are mistaken. But, first, I wish you to make yourself
clear. What fuss do you refer to?”
“Why, this demonstration business.”
“I was utterly unaware that anything like a demonstration was going to
take place till it happened. The men cheered beneath my window, and I
spoke a few words to them.”
“Oh, I’m not talking about that!”
“You are not?”
“No, you know I’m not!”
“I thought you were. It seems that I’m still in a fog.”
“I’m talking about this demonstration coming――this indignation meeting
to be held on the campus to-night!”
“I know nothing about it.”
Lorrimer showed his incredulity.
“Excuse me, Merriwell,” he said, “it is gotten up for your benefit,
but I want to tell you that it will not benefit you in the least. On
the contrary, it will hurt you.”
“I trust, sir,” said Frank, with dignity, “that you accept my word
when I say that I know absolutely nothing about it!”
“Then how does it come about?”
“I can’t tell, sir.”
The manager seemed in doubt.
“Your friends are working it up, of course, but I supposed they had
consulted you.”
“They have not.”
“Well, then, let me tell you that they propose to hold a meeting on
the campus to-night to express their indignation for the treatment you
received. Of course, this is a poke at me, and I do not like it!”
“I presume not,” said Frank dryly. “You have a way of not liking
anything that goes against you in the slightest degree, Mr. Lorrimer.”
The manager flushed.
“Don’t be impertinent!” he exclaimed.
“You, sir,” flashed back Merry, “are the one who is impertinent! More
than that, you are insulting in your words and your manner!”
Lorrimer gasped.
“Do you dare――――” he began.
“I dare say what I think, as you have already found out. I have wished
for an opportunity to tell you a few plain facts, and the time has
come.”
“I don’t want to hear any of your talk!”
Frank walked over to the door, turned the key in the lock, then took
it out and put it in his pocket.
“I propose that you shall hear!” he spoke firmly. “You cannot leave
this room till you have heard.”
“Confound it! do you know you are ruining your last hope of getting
back onto the eleven?”
“All right. I fancy you may have thought that I’d be very servile and
cringing if there was a possible chance for me to get back. You made a
mistake if you thought so. I’m not built on that plan. You threw me
out, and I’m not crawling back.”
“Don’t be too hasty!”
“That sounds well from your lips! You were rather hasty yesterday.”
“I did what was right.”
“You may think so.”
“I know it!”
“Very well. Now I’ll do what I know is right. You dropped me because
you heard that I said the team was being overtrained.”
“Yes.”
“I said it, and I meant it, Lorrimer. I know you are earnest in your
desire to down Harvard, and I do not like to see you defeating
yourself.”
“Say, will you let up on this business?”
“Not till I am through with you――not till I have told you something
that may open your eyes enough so it will save Yale from defeat.”
“Oh, you’re eager to save Yale from defeat, are you?” cried Steve,
with an accent of doubt and derision.
“I am,” was the retort. “I do not care a rap whether I play on the
eleven or not if the blue defeats the crimson. If I were on the team
and thought for a minute that it could be made stronger by taking on
some other man, I’d get off.”
“How sacrificing!” sneered Lorrimer.
“You don’t have to believe it, but I do want you to believe one thing,
and that is that the men are being overtrained.”
“Will you permit me to know my own business?”
“When you do know it. When you think you know it but are mistaken you
need somebody to tell you.”
“I’m not accustomed to taking advice from such fellows as you! Unlock
that door!”
“Not yet. Sit down!”
“If you do not unlock that door, I’ll strangle you!”
Frank Merriwell laughed. He was amused by the threat. That laugh was
like a whip stroke to Lorrimer. His face grew furious, and he made a
jump at Frank, snarling:
“Give me that key!”
Merry was ready to meet him, for he knew how impulsive and
quick-tempered the manager was, and he had anticipated Lorrimer’s
move. They grappled, but Lorrimer did not clutch Frank’s throat.
Instead of that, he felt his wrists grasped by fingers of iron, felt
himself hurled backward like a child in the grip of a giant, felt
himself flung into a chair and pinned there.
It was over in a twinkling, and Lorrimer was sitting helpless and
panting, while the young athlete he had attempted to tackle was coolly
and smilingly holding him quiet.
“My dear fellow,” said Frank Merriwell, with perfect coolness, “you
should not be so violent. It is quite unnecessary. I trust you will
have the good sense to be quiet and listen now.”
Lorrimer was quiet.
It is probable that never till that minute had the manager of the Yale
football-team thoroughly understood the kind of a man Frank Merriwell
was. He had fancied that he understood Merriwell, but he had been
mistaken. On the training-field Frank had been one of the most
obedient workers. Never, under any circumstances, had he shown a sign
of rebellion or sulkiness, no matter how severe was the calling down
be received, and Lorrimer had come to believe that for all of Merry’s
reputation, he was a very submissive fellow when confronted by his
“superiors.”
That was where the manager was led into an error. Merriwell was a
person who believed that it is the duty of a football-player to obey
orders like a soldier. It was his theory that the men who obeyed
unhesitatingly and without even seeming to entertain for a single
instant the fancy that they knew better than their instructors what
was the best thing to do were almost certain to become the best
players for the general good of the team. Given command of men, Frank
Merriwell would have exacted just such perfect submission and
readiness to obey.
Lorrimer had noted that Frank never rebelled, and he had come to think
that it would be an easy thing to overawe the submissive young
athlete. That had brought him alone to Merriwell’s room, and it had
caused him to spring upon Frank. Merry released Lorrimer, and stood up
straight.
“Don’t be foolish,” he said grimly. “I don’t want to hurt you, and you
might bring it upon yourself.”
Wonderstruck, the manager stared at him. Frank drew up a chair and sat
down before Steve.
“Now we can talk this over in a decent way,” he said. “I have given
you credit for one thing, Lorrimer――I have believed that you were as
earnest as any man living to defeat Harvard.”
“I am,” muttered Steve sullenly.
“I hope so, but you are making a fatal error. There are but a few days
left before the game. The men have been worked into the best condition
possible.”
“Well?”
“Now they are being worked out of condition by a gang of enthusiastic,
but deluded coachers.”
“Perhaps you think you know more about football than Bob Wilcox, who
was quarter-back four years ago?”
“I did not say so.”
“Or Nate Cox, the famous captain?”
“I did not say so.”
“Or Corwin? or Hare? or Beecher?”
“I did not say so.”
“You might as well!”
“There is where you make your mistake. Those men are in earnest, and
they are enthusiastic, but each one has his particular department, his
particular set of men to handle, and they are working to bring these
men to the acme of perfection.”
“Well, what’s the matter with that?”
“The matter with it is that not a single coacher seems to realize the
result of this persistent hammering on the men during these last
days.”
“Well, if you see so much, show your wisdom.”
“Instead of driving those men like drag-horses, they should be worked
with the utmost care just now. They should do just enough to keep
themselves in the best possible condition, without going over the
limit the least bit. If a man fails to make a perfect punt, he should
not be kept punting till he is sore and lame and tired and disgusted.
If a man makes a bad tackle, he should not be forced to tackle till
there’s not a good square breath left in his body. If a man fumbles,
he should not be forced to fall on the ball till he’s too dizzy to
stand without wabbling.”
“Is that so?”
“That is so! The men are being injured, instead of improved, in these
last days. They should be kept at signal-work, they should study
intricate plays, but they should not be pounded over the field till
there’s not enough energy left in them to enable them to walk straight
for a distance of ten feet. You must know, Lorrimer, that overtraining
is just as fatal as undertraining.”
The manager did not speak.
“While I was on the team,” pursued Frank, “my mouth was closed――to a
large extent.”
“You got it open once too often.”
“On the contrary, I hope I opened it just when it will do the most
good.”
“It threw you off the team.”
“I can stand that if the team can. I shall be satisfied if that,
together with this little talk, brings about a reform. See here,
Lorrimer, I want you to understand how earnest I am about this thing.
I want Yale to win――she must win!”
“By that, I suppose you mean that you want to get back on the eleven?”
“Nothing of the sort. By that I mean that I hope you will get your
eyes open and take care that these coachers do not hammer the men into
such wretched shape that they will be slow and heavy as cart-horses.
Put Birch at full-back, and give Jack Ready a trial in the line. Let
up on them in time for them to rest and come out fresh as daisies for
the game, even though it may seem that they are not perfect in their
work. Freshness, spirit, and enthusiasm will count more than absolute
perfection coupled with that tired feeling.”
“How much do you charge for all this advice?”
“I shall be well paid if it brings about a result.”
“Well, have you finished?”
“I believe that’s about all I have to say.”
“Then how about this demonstration on the campus?”
“I told you that I knew nothing about it.”
“You know now.”
“Yes.”
“What are you gong to do?”
“Nothing.”
“Do you fancy it will be a good thing for you?”
“I do not fancy anything about it.”
“Well, it will be the worst thing that can happen. It will do you no
good, for the management will not be driven into taking you back.”
“Isn’t it about time for you to get it through your head that I do not
care a rap whether I get back or not so long as Yale wins?” demanded
Frank, with a slight show of impatience.
It was “about time,” but Lorrimer had come there with the idea that
Merriwell was behind the indignation-meeting movement, and it had to
be beaten out of his head. He had thought that Frank was fighting hard
to force the management to restore him to his old position, and he
disliked to give up the belief.
“Then,” said Steve, “you will stop this indignation meeting, will
you?”
“No.”
“You won’t?”
“No.”
“That being the case, you must be in favor of it?”
“I shall have nothing to do with it. If my friends wish to get up such
a meeting without my knowledge, I shall let them do as they like. It
will show what they think of the manner in which I was treated
yesterday.”
“And ruin your chance of getting back onto the team.”
“I believe I told you that I was not counting on getting back, that I
do not care a cent whether I get back or not, that my only interest is
to see Yale win.”
Frank got up and took the key out of his pocket. Then he walked over
and unlocked the door.
“I have had my little say,” he grimly observed, satisfaction in his
manner; “now you are at liberty to go when you like, Mr. Lorrimer.”
Lorrimer jumped up.
“You’re the limit!” he exclaimed. “You ought to run the whole team!”
He strode toward the door.
“Thank you,” laughed Frank, sitting down and picking up a book. “Think
over what I’ve said. It won’t hurt you, and I sincerely hope it may do
you some good.”
Lorrimer yanked open the door.
“Good day,” said Frank.
Lorrimer strode out and slammed the door, without answering.
And Frank resumed his plugging at the point where he had been
interrupted.