HUNTING FOR A FRESHMAN.
The contests were to take place on a Wednesday evening. On the Monday
previous all the Yale athletes went to New York.
Special permission from the faculty had to be obtained for this absence
from the college, but there was no difficulty in getting that, as there
is hardly a professor at Yale who does not have a strong interest in
athletic events.
As New Haven is but two hours' ride from New York, it might have been
possible for the students to attend to all their duties on the
Wednesday, and still get to New York in time for the events, but that
would never do for the contestants.
Nobody knows better than men who train how easy it is for an athlete to
get thrown out of order by a change in diet and air. The finer the
training the greater care there has to be.
Therefore, the managing committee for Yale felt that it was absolutely
necessary to give the contestants at least two whole days in New York
City, in order to get used to the slight change that would result in
their leaving familiar quarters in New Haven.
Students who were not contestants in the intercollegiate sports were not
allowed to leave New Haven so early, and so it was a comparatively small
party that went with Frank and the other members of the committee to
rooms that had been engaged for them in the Murray Hill Hotel.
It would probably have amused an outsider if he could have known the
great care taken to prevent those students from being harmed by illness
or anything else.
They were grown men and able to take care of themselves ordinarily, but
from the time they went into training they were like so many children in
charge of a nurse.
They were informed as to just what they could eat and what they must let
alone. Not one of them was permitted to smoke, and every one of them was
required to do just so many hours of exercise of some kind every day.
While they remained in New Haven it was no very difficult matter to see
to it that every one of the contestants obeyed the regulations of the
managing committee.
In New York it was not quite so easy, for the members of the committee
were a good deal occupied in discussing arrangements with the committees
from other colleges who were quartered at different hotels.
When it happened that all the committee had to be away from the Murray
Hill at the same time, the oversight of the Yale crew was left to
Browning, who was the most experienced athlete among them.
There was not much for him to do, for each one of the contestants had a
programme of exercise laid out for him.
There was to be just so much walking, and at certain hours, and the rest
of the time, except for meals, was to be put in in resting.
It was understood that as often as possible the entire crowd should walk
together, and this they did on the first evening after their arrival.
They went up Fifth Avenue to Central Park, and walked rapidly for fully
an hour among its winding paths; then they returned to their hotel, had
baths, and went early to bed.
During the next day, Tuesday, the contestants were left pretty much to
themselves, as the members of the committee were away most of the time.
After one of the meetings with the committees from other colleges, the
Yale managers, finding that a number of things had to be done, divided
up the work and separated.
Three or four hours later Rowland and Frank met on the way to the hotel
where their companions were staying. They reported to each other what
they had done, and then fell as usual into discussing the prospects for
victory.
"I saw the Cornell tug of war team out for a run," said Rowland.
"Ah! What do they look like?" Frank responded, without much show of
interest.
"Beef!" said Rowland.
"Not dangerous, then, eh?"
"Why, no, I presume not. They look as if they could carry you fellows
around on one hand, but it seemed to me they were clumsy in their
running."
"I don't fear them," said Frank; "I'd heard from some other fellows that
Cornell was counting on weight more than anything else, and as you know,
I take more stock in head work."
"There's this to think of, though," remarked Rowland, "if a beefy team
gets the fall on you by the fraction of a second, you simply can't stand
it. That's the time when dead weight will tell."
"The Cornell beefeaters won't get the drop on Yale," returned Frank,
quietly.
"No, I guess not, and for that matter, so far as I can hear, there seems
to be no doubt in anybody's mind that the real contest will be between
Yale and Princeton."
"Have you seen the Harvard men?" asked Frank.
"No, but we know all about them, don't we?"
"I think so. They're a game lot, but I don't think they can stand
against us. The fact is, Rowland, I'm thinking more of the other events
than of the tug of war just now."
"So? I would have supposed you would be capable of thinking of nothing
else."
Frank shook his head.
"The tug of war doesn't worry me a little bit," he said, "but as one of
the managers I should feel pretty badly if we fell down on everything
else."
"Oh, we're not going to fall down; there are two or three events, you
know, in which we are almost certain to win. The high leap, for
example----"
"That's just what I've been thinking of," interrupted Frank.
"Why, are you afraid of Higgins?"
Higgins was a member of the freshman class who had shown most unusual
power in jumping, and had easily beaten all the other Yale students who
had tried for that event.
"I hear that Cornell has a man named Stover," said Frank, "who thinks he
can beat everybody at the high jump."
"Yes, I've heard of him, too," Rowland responded, "but what of it?
Higgins has broken the record in private practice----"
"That doesn't make it certain that he will do as well at the armory."
"No; but he's in good condition, isn't he?"
"First rate."
"Then I wouldn't worry about him."
"I'm not worrying exactly, and in any case, if our fellows do their best
and we get beaten, there's nothing to complain of."
At this point in their conversation the two arrived at the Murray Hill
Hotel. They went at once to the suite of rooms that had been engaged for
the athletes, and found most of the contestants reading or dozing.
A few were out for a walk. All the students asked eager questions as to
the final arrangements and so on. After several questions had been asked
and answered, Rowland remarked:
"There'll be hard times in Princeton this winter if the orange doesn't
get most of the cups."
"Are the Princeton men offering odds?" asked Browning.
"Not quite so strong as that, but they're putting up loads of money."
"Is the betting any heavier than usual?" asked Frank.
"Perhaps not," Rowland answered, "but if not I must have come across the
betting crowd. It seemed as if they had begged and borrowed every dollar
they could lay hold of and had brought it here to put up on the
different events."
"How is the betting going?" asked Browning.
"I didn't pay very much attention to it, but it seemed to be about even
as between Princeton and Yale on the tug of war, and on some of the
other events the Princeton men were asking for odds rather than giving
them.
"What impressed me most was that it looked as if it was the Princeton
crowd that had the most money."
"Why," asked Frank, in a surprised tone, "it wasn't the Princeton
contestants who were doing the betting, was it?"
"No, but some of the students."
"That's queer."
"Why?"
"Here it is Tuesday afternoon and the Princeton fellows who are going to
see the contests are not due before to-morrow afternoon. It doesn't seem
to me probable that the Princeton faculty would let the general run of
students come up here at this time any more than the Yale faculty would
allow our men to come."
"Can't help that," said Rowland, "there's a raft of Princeton men in
town going around with orange ribbons in their buttonholes and hunting
for chances to bet money against Yale, Harvard and Cornell."
Frank made no response, but remained for a moment in thought, while the
others continued to talk about the betting. Presently Frank asked where
Higgins and Mellor were.
Mellor was another freshman athlete. He was a giant in stature, and one
of the best wrestlers that had ever been seen at Yale.
There was a good deal of confidence that he would win the cup for
wrestling, for from all that could be learned of the wrestlers
representing the other colleges, there was no one who could compare with
him in strength, and his skill seemed to be all that would be needed.
"They're taking in the town," answered Browning.
"What!" exclaimed Frank, aghast.
"Oh, not in any improper sense," said Browning. "They're just out for a
walk, and I didn't see any objection to their taking it in such a way
that they could see some of the principal streets."
"No, that's all right," responded Frank, in a tone of relief; "when are
they due back?"
"In about half an hour."
More than half an hour passed, and neither Higgins nor Mellor had shown
up at that time. Rowland and Hill were away on some other business
concerned with the management.
Frank was getting anxious. He could not have said exactly why, for so
far as Mellor and Higgins were concerned, he had a good deal of respect
for them, but he was fearful of accidents, as if they were little
children unable to care for themselves.
He did not betray his anxiety to Browning or the others, but remarked
after a time that he had another errand to do, and went away, leaving
instructions that no contestant should leave the hotel until his return.
Then he went down to Madison Square and stood for a moment looking
doubtfully at the several hotels in that vicinity. He knew that the
Princeton athletes had had rooms engaged at the Fifth Avenue, but this
thought was not in his mind at the moment.
"The Hoffman House," he was thinking, "is one of the most celebrated
hotels in New York, and a place to which all strangers like to go."
As it was the time of year when days are short, it was already dark as
night, although it was yet some time before the usual evening dinner
hour.
Frank strolled across to the Hoffman House, and went in at the main
entrance. A number of men were in the lobby, but apparently there were
no students among them.
He went slowly past group after group, and turned at length to the
barroom.
This place was famous at that time for its remarkable collection of
valuable paintings and statuary; it was often referred to jocosely as
the "art gallery." Every stranger in New York regarded it as one of the
most interesting sights of the town.
It was pretty well filled with customers when Frank entered, but
everything was quiet and orderly.
At the farther side of the room, and partly concealed by the bar, which
took up the very middle, was a group of young men just on the point of
leaving by the door that opens upon Twenty-fifth Street.
"Too bad you've got to hurry," one of them remarked in a pleasant voice.
"I'm overdue at the hotel already," said another, "and must get back
before they become anxious about me."
Frank could not see the speaker, but he recognized the voice as that of
Higgins.
"He has no business in here, confound him!" thought Frank, angrily. "No
one but a freshman would go into a barroom even out of curiosity, at
such a time as this."
He crossed the room, intending to speak to Higgins and walk back to the
hotel with him, and give him some earnest advice on the way.
Higgins was a little in advance of the group as they went out, and so
Frank did not catch up with him before they were all out upon the
sidewalk.
He noticed that all the men who had been speaking with Higgins wore
orange ribbons in their buttonholes, but it struck him, too, that
somehow they did not look like students.
He had no time to reflect upon this doubt, for just as he stepped out
upon the dark street he saw one of the crowd pretend to stumble and fall
rather heavily against Higgins.
"I beg pardon," this man said, quickly.
"It's all right," Higgins responded, as he staggered to the curb under
the force of the shove.
At that instant Frank saw another in the crowd making a movement which
showed that he was going to trip Higgins and cause him to fall.
The attempt was not made, for acting instantly upon his impulse, Frank
leaped from the doorway and caught the fellow a terrible blow upon the
side of the face.
It sent him reeling halfway across the street before he finally lost his
balance and fell full length.
The attack was so unexpected and sudden that most of the others in the
group did not stir for a second.
There was one exception to this.
It was a man who had edged forward in order to make sure of tripping
Higgins if the first man should fail, and he was so intent upon
accomplishing this that he did not stop when Frank's form shot past him
to attack the other.
Therefore when Frank wheeled about to defend himself in case the others
should fall upon him, he saw this man just in the act of giving Higgins
a violent kick upon the shins.
It was all happening so quickly that at this instant Higgins had just
made his reply to the apology of the man who had shoved him, and was
only beginning to regain his balance.
The kick in the shins did the business for him. He fell upon his hands
and knees, and just then Frank struck out again.
He was never so thoroughly aroused in his life, and his blows fell like
rain upon the Princeton man's face and chest. The latter would have
suffered a square knockdown if he had not been standing so that he fell
against his comrades.
The others, recovering a little from their first astonishment, made a
feeble effort to close in on Frank, but it would have taken more than
them to stop him then.
He beat them off vigorously, striking without mercy at any one who came
within reach.
"Cheese it, there's a cop!" exclaimed one of the party suddenly, and
they all took to their heels.
Higgins by this time had got up and was supporting himself against a
lamp-post.
"Can you walk?" asked Frank, quickly.
"I guess so," responded Higgins, so surprised that he could hardly
speak.
Frank took him by the arm and marched him back to the barroom, through
which they went to the lobby, and then out by the ladies' entrance upon
Twenty-sixth Street.
The scrimmage had taken place so quickly and quietly that it had
attracted no attention within the barroom, and as Frank and Higgins were
not followed, it seemed probable that the cry of alarm about a policeman
coming was false.