COACHING THE TACKLES
THE ride back was far less exciting. Mr. Brady drove the big car
leisurely and conversed with Clint, who had succeeded to the seat of
honour in front. Mr. Brady, it appeared, had a poultry farm some
distance on the other side of Brimfield. He seemed a trifle surprised
and pained when he discovered that Clint had never heard of the Cedar
Ridge Poultry Farm, and at once issued an invitation to visit it.
"You come over some time and I'll show you some stock that'll open your
eyes. Bring your friends along. Tell the conductor on the trolley where
you want to go and he'll set you down right at my gate. You can't miss
it, though, anyhow, for I've got nearly a quarter of a mile of houses
there. Silver Campines are my specialty. Raise a few White Wyandottes,
too. You wouldn't think to look at me that the doctors came mighty near
giving me up ten or eleven years ago, eh? Did, though. That was just
after I finished college. They said the only thing would save me was
hiking out to Colorado or Arizona or New Mexico. Some said one place and
some said another. Seeing that they couldn't decide, I settled the
question myself. Came out here, bought ten acres of land--I've got
nearly forty now--and lived in a tent one Summer while my house was
building. Doctors said it wouldn't do, but I fooled them. Slept out of
doors every night, worked like a slave fourteen hours a day and put on
flesh right from the start. I'm not what you'd call fat now, I guess,
but you ought to have seen me then! An old chap I had putting up my
first chicken house told me he could work me in nicely for a roosting
pole! Went back to one of the doctors three years ago and had him look
me over. He had to admit that I was a pretty healthy specimen. You could
see that he was downright peeved about it, though!" Mr. Brady chuckled.
"Then I settled the matter to my own satisfaction by taking out some
life insurance. When I got my policy I stopped worrying about my health.
You drop over some afternoon and let me show you how to live like a
white man and make a little money, too. There's no life like it, and I
wouldn't go back to the city if they gave me the Ritz-Carlton to live
in!"
[Illustration: Finally, Don was unceremoniously yanked up and through]
Clint responded that he and the others would like very much to visit
Cedar Ridge some day, but that just now they were all pretty busy in
the afternoons with football. That struck a responsive chord and Mr.
Brady harked back to his school and college days when he, too, had
fondled the pigskin. "I wasn't much of a player, though," he
acknowledged. "I was sort of tall and puny-looking and not very strong.
Still, I did get into my school team in my senior year and played on my
freshman team in college. The next year I had to give it up, though. I'd
like to come over some day and see you fellows play. I've always been
intending to. I haven't seen a real smashing football game for years.
That's funny, too, for I can remember the time when I used to think that
if I could get on my 'varsity eleven I'd die happy." He laughed as he
swept the searchlights around a corner. "A man's ambitions change, don't
they? Now what I want to do is to raise the champion egg producer. I'm
going to do it, too, before long."
And Clint quite believed it. Any man, he told himself, who could take
command of a situation as Mr. Brady had that evening, and who could make
enough money in the poultry business to own a three-thousand dollar
automobile was capable of anything!
When they approached the town Mr. Brady swung off to the left,
explaining that he would take the boys up to the school. There was a
moment of silence and then Clint protested weakly. "Shucks," was the
reply, "it won't take five minutes longer, and after the way you fellows
have worked tonight you don't deserve to have to walk home!"
"Well, then--then I guess you'd better let us out at the corner," said
Tim. "We'd hate to wake up the masters, Mr. Brady."
"Oh, that's it, eh?" Mr. Brady laughed loudly. "Stayed out too late,
have you?"
"I'm afraid we have, sir," said Clint. "We're supposed to be in hall
before ten and it's long after that now. If you'll let us out at the
corner of the grounds we can sort of sneak around back and maybe get in
without being seen. Faculty's beastly strict about outstaying leave."
The car crossed the railroad track and presently pulled up quietly in
the gloom of the trees along the road and the four boys noiselessly
descended, shook hands, promised to pay a visit some day to Cedar Ridge
and stole off to the right through the darkness. A moment later the tiny
red light of the automobile vanished from sight. Tim called a halt at
the wall. "You'd better bunk out with us tonight, Clint," he whispered.
"We'll beat it around back of the gym and get in the shadows of the
buildings. Say, Don, you're sure we left that window unlatched?"
"Of course we did! It hasn't been closed for a week."
"Then forward, my brave comrades! If anyone sees us we'd better scatter
and hide out for awhile."
They climbed over a stone wall and made their way through a grove
adjoining the school grounds, keeping close to the boundary fence. It
was as dark as pitch in the woods and every now and then one or another
would walk into a tree or fall over a root. Don's teeth were chattering
like castanets, for the night had grown cooler and a little breeze was
blowing from the west, and his clothing was still far from dry. They
crept past the back of the Cottage very cautiously, for there were
lights upstairs and down, and breathed easier when the black bulk of the
gymnasium loomed before them and they could crawl over the fence and
drop back into school ground. From the corner of the gymnasium to
Billings was a long distance, and looked just now longer than it ever
had before. Also, in spite of the fact that there was no moon, the night
was surprisingly light and Tim scowled disapprovingly at the stars as
they paused for an instant at the corner of the building to get their
breaths.
"Keep low," advised Tim, "and make for Torrence. Then we'll stay close
to the walls of the buildings. You want to see if there's a window open
in Torrence, Clint?"
"No, I'll stay with you fellows. I'd probably walk into a chair or a
table and someone would take me for a burglar."
"Come on, then. Haste to yon enfolding darkness!"
They "hasted," and a second or two after were creeping, doubled up lest
their heads show above the darkened windows and arouse unwelcome
curiosity, along the rear of Torrence. Then they raced across the space
dividing Torrence from Main Hall and repeated the proceedings until,
finally, they were under the windows of Number 6 Billings. Both were
open at the bottom and their doubts and tribulations were at an end.
Clint was assisted in first, Tom followed and then Tim and, finally, Don
was unceremoniously yanked up and through.
"Eureka!" breathed Tim. "Can you make it to your room, Tom? If you don't
want to risk it you can bunk out here on the window-seat or somewhere."
"You may have half of my bed," offered Don. But Tom was already removing
his shoes.
"If Horace hears me," he whispered, "he's got better ears than I think
he has. Good-night, fellows. We had a bully time, even if we didn't get
that rarebit!"
Tim groaned hollowly. "There! Now you've gone and reminded me that I'm
starved to death!"
"Shut up," warned Don. "Don't forget that Horace's bedroom is right
there." He nodded toward the wall. "Beat it, Tom, and don't fall over
your feet!"
The door opened soundlessly, closed again and Tom was gone. They
listened, and, although the transom was slightly open, not a creak or a
shuffle reached them. "He's all right," whispered Tim. "Me for bed,
fellows. Want to come in with me, Clint, or will you luxuriate on the
window-seat?"
"Window-seat, thanks. Got a coat or something?"
Tim pulled a comforter from the closet shelf and tossed it to him, and
quietly and quickly they got out of their clothes and sought their
couches. Ten minutes later three very healthy snores alone disturbed the
silence of Number 6.
The next morning Clint joined the others and walked unobtrusively along
the Row with them in the direction of Wendell and breakfast, but when he
reached Torrence he quite as unobtrusively slipped through the doorway
and sought his room to repair his appearance and relieve the anxiety of
Amory Byrd. And that seemed to conclude the adventure for all hands, and
Don, for one, was extremely thankful that they had escaped detection and
the punishment which would have certainly followed. But that Sunday
afternoon, while on his way to Torrence to recover a book which Leroy
Draper had borrowed in the Spring and neglected to return, he fell in
with Harry Walton and made the disconcerting discovery that he had
congratulated himself too soon. Don had no particular liking for Walton,
although he by no means held him in the disdain that Amy Byrd and some
others did, and he was a little surprised when Harry fell into step
beside him.
"Have a good time last night?" asked Harry with an ingratiating leer.
"Last night?" echoed Don vacantly. He remembered then that Lawton roomed
in Number 20 Billings, directly above Number 6. "What about last night?"
Harry winked meaningly and chuckled. "Well, I guess there was a party,
wasn't there? I noticed you got home sort of late."
"Did I? What makes you think that?"
"I happened to be looking out my window, Don. It was sort of hot and I
wasn't sleepy. Who were the other fellows?"
"Other fellows? I guess you didn't see any others, Walton."
Harry's saturnine countenance again wreathed itself with a growing grin.
"Didn't, eh? All right. I probably imagined them."
"Maybe you were asleep and dreamed it," said Don gravely. "Guess you
must have, Walton."
"Oh, I'm not going to talk, Don. You needn't be afraid of that."
"I'm not," responded the other drily. "Well, I'm going in here. So long,
Walton."
"Bye, Don. I'm mum."
Don nodded and entered Torrence, but on the way upstairs he frowned
disgustedly. He didn't believe for an instant that Walton would
deliberately get them into trouble, but he might talk so much that the
facts would eventually work around to one of the masters. Don wished
that almost any fellow he knew save Walton had witnessed that entry by
the window of Number 6. Later, when he returned from his visit to Roy
Draper, without the book, by the way, since it had mysteriously
disappeared, he recounted his conversation with Walton to Tim. Tim
didn't let it bother him any, however.
"Harry won't give us away. Why should he? Besides, if he did he would
know mighty well that I'd spoil his brunette beauty!"
"Well, he may tell it around and Horace or somebody'll hear it. That's
all I'm worrying about."
"Don't worry, Donald. Keep a clear conscience and you'll never know what
worry is. That's my philosophy."
Don smiled and dismissed the matter from consideration.
On Monday he had his first try at coaching the second team tackles and
found that, after all, he got on fairly well. There were four candidates
for the positions and two of them, Kirkwell and Merton, promised well.
Kirkwell, in fact, had already had a full season of experience on the
second. Merton was a graduate from his last year's hall team. The other
two, Brace and Goodhugh, were novices and had everything to learn, and
it was with them that Don laboured the hardest. Monday's practice ended
with a ten-minute scrimmage between two hastily selected teams, and
Don, for the first time that fall, played in his old position of left
guard. Merton, who opposed him, found that he still had much to learn.
On Tuesday, after a long and grilling tackling practice at the dummy,
Coach Boutelle announced his line-up for the scrimmage against the first
team, and Don was disappointed to find that Kirkwell and not he was down
for left guard. The right guard position went to Merton. Don, with Mr.
Boutelle and a half-dozen of the more promising substitutes, followed
their team about the field, Boots criticising and driving and Don
breaking in with hurried instructions to the guards. The first team had
no trouble in piling up four touchdowns that afternoon, even though
three regulars were still out of the line-up. Between the short periods
Don coached Kirkwell and Merton again, and Kirkwell, who was a decent
chap but fancied himself a bit, was inclined to resent it.
"Chop it off, Gilbert," he said finally. "Give a fellow a chance to use
his own brains a little. I'm no greenhorn, you know. I played guard all
last year on this team."
"I know you did," answered Don. "And I don't say you can't play your
position all right. But the best of us make mistakes, and Boots has told
me to look out for them and try and correct them. I'd a lot rather be
playing than doing this, Kirkwell, but while I am doing it I'm going to
do it the best I know how. A fellow who isn't in the game sees a lot the
player doesn't, and when----"
"Oh, all right. Only don't tell me stuff I know as well as I know my
name, Gilbert. Don't nag."
"Sorry. I'll try not to. But you see what I mean about that stiff-arm
business, don't you? Don't get out of position when you're not sure
where the play's coming, Kirkwell. Stiff-arm your man and hold him off
until you see what's doing. Then you can play him right or left or shove
him back. Once or twice you waited too long to find out where the play
was coming and you didn't hold your man off. Get me?"
"Yes, but we don't all play the position the same way, you know. What's
the good of sparring with your man when you've got to find where the
play's coming? You can't watch the ball and your opponent too, can you?"
"It doesn't sound reasonable," said Don, "but you can! You watch Hall do
it, if you don't believe me. Maybe you don't actually look two ways at
once, Kirkwell, but you can watch your man and locate the play at the
same time. I suppose it comes with practice."
"I'd like to see you do it," replied Kirkwell aggrievedly.
"Watch Hall do it. He's the best guard around here. I'm not setting up
as an example."
"You talk like it," muttered Kirkwell. But Merton, who had been a silent
audience, stepped in to Don's support.
"Gilbert's only trying to help us, Ned. Quit grousing. Come on; time's
up."
In spite of mutinous objections Kirkwell profited by Don's advice and
instruction and soon showed an improvement in his defensive playing. It
didn't appear that day, for Kirkwell was replaced by Don before the
second period was more than a few minutes old, while Merton gave way to
Goodhugh. Don's advent considerably strengthened the left of the second
team's line and more than once during his brief presence there he had
the satisfaction of outwitting Tom Hall and once got clear through and
smeared a play well behind the first team's line.
Boots cut his squad from day to day and on Friday only some eighteen
candidates remained. Brace went with the discard. Between parting with
Brace and Goodhugh, Don, when consulted, chose to sacrifice the former.
Possibly young Brace suspected Don's part in his release, for, for some
time after that, he viewed Don with scowls.
Don's hand was now entirely healed, although the scars still showed,
and, according to the doctor, would continue to show for a long time.
Mr. Boutelle used Don at right guard during some portion of every
scrimmage game against the first, a fact which caused Kirkwell a deal of
anxiety. Kirkwell had from the first, and not unreasonably, resented
Don's appearance with the second team squad. Don had been, as every
fellow knew, slated for the first team, and Kirkwell thought it was
unfair of him to drop back to the second and "try to do him out of his
place." Feeling as he did, it isn't surprising that he took more and
more unkindly to Don's teaching. It took all of Don's good nature at
times to prevent an open break with Kirkwell. Once the latter accused
Don of trying to "ball him up" so that he would play poorly and Don
would get the position. The next day, though, he made an awkward apology
for that accusation and was quite receptive to Don's criticisms and
instructions. But Don's task was no easy one and it grew harder as the
season progressed and the second team, especially as to its linemen,
failed to develop the ability Mr. Boutelle looked for. Don more than
once was on the point of resigning his somewhat thankless task, but Tim
refused to sanction it, and what Tim said had a good deal of influence
with Don.
"Well, then," he said moodily, "I hope Kirkwell will break something and
get out of it."
"Tut, tut," remonstrated Tim. "Them's no Christian sentiments."
"I do, though. Or, anyway, I hope something will happen to let me out of
it. Boots said he was afraid Robey would take me on the first, but I
don't see any chance of it."
"I don't see why he doesn't, though," mused Tim. "Your hand's all right
now and you're playing a corking good game. You can work all around any
guard he's got except, maybe, Tom. Tom's rather a bit above the average,
if you ask me. Neither Walton nor Pryme amounts to a whole lot."
"Robey's been playing Walton a good deal lately," said Don. "I wouldn't
be surprised if he put him in ahead of Gafferty before long."
"There isn't a lot to choose between them, I guess," answered Tim.
"Gafferty's no earthly good on offence. Wait till we run up against
Benton tomorrow. Those huskies will show Gafferty up finely. And maybe
some more of us," Tim added with a chuckle.
"Oh, well----" began Don, vaguely, after a minute.
But Tim interrupted. "Know what I think? I think Robey means to take you
on the first later and is letting you stay with Boots just so you'll get
fined down and speeded up a bit. You know you're still a little slow,
Donald."
"I am?" Don asked in genuine surprise. "I didn't know it. How do you
mean, slow, Tim?"
Tim leaned back in his chair and laced his fingers together behind his
head. "Every way, Donald. I'm telling you this for your own good,
dearie. I thought you realised it, though, or I'd have said it before.
You start slow and you don't get up steam until the play's about over.
If it wasn't that you're an indecently strong chap we'd get the jump on
you every time. We do, as it is, only it doesn't do us much good,
because you're a tough chap to move. Now you think it over, Don. See if
you can't ginger up a bit. Bet you anything that when you do Robey'll
have you yanked off that second team in no time at all!"
"I'm glad you told me," said Don, after a moment's consideration. "I
thought I was doing pretty well this fall. I know well enough it was
being all-fired slow that kept me off the first last fall, but I surely
thought I'd picked up a whole lot of speed. I'll have to go back to
practising starts, I guess."
"Oh, never mind the kindergarten stuff, old man. Just put more jump into
it. You'll find you can do it all right, now that you know about it.
Why, I'll bet you'll be performing like a Jack rabbit before the
season's over!"
"Like a jackass, more likely," responded Don ruefully.
"No, for a jackass, dearie, doesn't take a hint."
"Well, but I don't believe I _can_ play any faster, Tim. If I could I'd
be doing it, wouldn't I? Just naturally, I mean."
"Never mind the conundrums, Don. You try it. If you do I'll be willing
to guarantee you a place on the first."
"I guess your guarantee wouldn't cut much ice," objected Don, with a
laugh. Then he sobered and added: "Funny game, though, me coaching
Kirkwell and Merton and Goodhugh. Looks as if I was the one needed the
coaching."
"Sure. We all need it. No one's perfect, Don, although, without
boasting, I will say that I come pretty near it."
"You come pretty near being a perfect chump, if that's what you mean."
Tim shook his head. "It isn't at all what I mean. Now cut out the
artless prattle and let me find some sense in this history stuff--if
there is any!"