OFF THE CLEATS.
"Did you say the fellow was still in the room?" asked Frank, in a low
voice.
"Yes, I was sitting near the door with my head down when I heard a
rustling noise back of me. I supposed I was all alone, and turned about
to see who had come in. I caught sight of a fellow dodging behind that
middle row of lockers."
"Who was he?"
"I don't know. Never saw him before. I thought he was a thief who was
going through our clothes for watches and pocketbooks, so I made a jump
and went for him. Right at the corner of the lockers my foot slipped and
I went down full length. I could have helped myself from being hurt even
at that if it hadn't been that the floor was so thoroughly greased that
my hand slipped, and my whole weight came down on my right wrist. The
pain was fearful for a moment, and it don't feel very good yet. I saw
that it was a trick."
"Didn't the fellow get out?"
"No. I was bound that he should be caught somehow, and as there was too
much howling outside to make myself heard, I couldn't call for help. I
dragged myself to the door here, and if he had made any attempt to get
by I'd have held him if it killed me."
"He may have got out of a window."
"I think not, or I should have heard him."
"We'll find out about this," said Rowland, emphatically, "but meanwhile
the call is on for the tug of war with Princeton. Can you----"
The question was not completed, for Browning, with a wry face, held up
his right arm.
His wrist was swollen to almost twice its usual size.
"I couldn't pull a baby," he said, regretfully.
The fellows looked blue, and Hill groaned dismally.
"Rowland," said Frank, in a quick, decisive tone, "go back into the hall
and tell the committee of arrangements that our anchor is disabled, and
that we shall have to have five minutes to get our substitute in order."
"Who in thunder can you substitute?" asked Hill
"Rattleton."
"But he never trained as anchor."
"I'll put him on the rope."
"Who will be anchor, then?"
"I will."
"You!"
"Why not?"
"You're too light, Merriwell."
Frank shrugged his shoulders
"If you can think of anybody else in the college," he said, "who is
better qualified than I am to meet this emergency, bring him along."
"No, no!" exclaimed the others in chorus, "you're the man, Frank. This
is your event, and the team may win out with you after all."
"It isn't a question of winning out now," he responded, "but of taking
our part in the tournament. Go on, Rowland, and when you've spoken to
the committee, call for Rattleton, and have him come here in a hurry."
Rowland went away, and then Frank stepped over and lifted Browning into
a chair.
"One of you fellows," he said, "find somebody to get a physician. There
must be a hundred of them in the audience."
There were several other students not connected with the team about the
door at this time, and two or three of them started away at once.
"Now, then, Hill," said Frank, quietly, "let's see what we can do about
this rascal that has tried to disable us."
Hill nodded and stepped into the room.
"The rest of you fellows," said Frank, "stay at the door and don't let
anybody out."
"Look out for the greased spot," said Bruce, warningly.
Hill and Frank went into the middle of the room, where there was a
double line of lockers extending nearly its whole length. There were two
windows at the end, one of which was down slightly at the top, the other
was closed.
They looked up at it, and then at each other.
"He hasn't gone out," said Frank, confidently, in a low tone. "Try all
the lockers."
They started down, one on each side, opening first the doors of closets
in which they and their companions had placed their clothes.
Nothing had been disturbed there.
As they went they found nothing but empty lockers, but presently Frank
came to one the door of which he could not open.
The handle was simply a knob, and the door was held fast by a Yale lock.
He looked at it a moment, then, drawing back, gave the door a terrific
kick squarely upon the lock.
The thin wood broke at once, and another kick splintered it from top to
bottom.
At that instant a man dashed out, tried to push Frank aside and make for
the door. Frank recognized him at once as one of the men he had seen
with Higgins at the Hoffman House.
"No, you don't!" he exclaimed hotly, catching the fellow by the arm and
giving him a smashing blow on the side of the head.
Hearing the rumpus, Hill came running around the corner just in time to
meet the two as they were staggering along. He promptly gave the
scoundrel a rattling series of blows that dropped him to the floor half
stunned.
"Come in here," called Frank, and the other students came crowding into
the room.
"Let's kick him to death!" exclaimed one, excitedly.
The students were so angry that they might have put this suggestion into
execution if Frank had not called a halt.
"Find a cord," he said, "and bind this fellow hand and foot; then we'll
notify the committee of arrangements and go on with the tug of war."
A cord was quickly found, and the man was tied so thoroughly that there
was no possibility that he could escape. Then, while Frank and the
others were getting ready for the tug, Hill looked up the committee of
arrangements and explained the situation.
It may be said in passing that the matter aroused a great deal of
indignation on all sides, and that an investigation was made, which
resulted in showing that the man Frank had captured was a common
gambler, and that there were several others who had put up a great deal
of money on Princeton, and then taken every means they possibly could to
bring about Princeton's victory.
He could do this only by disabling Princeton's adversaries. It was found
that attempts had been made to injure both Harvard and Cornell men as
well as those from Yale.
Two or three of the gambler's confederates were found in the hall and
put under arrest, and the next morning they were taken to police court
on a charge of malicious mischief, for which they were severely
punished.
As it was perfectly certain that no Princeton man had any hand in the
matter, or any knowledge of it other than had been given to the managers
by the Yale team, nothing was said about it at the time, for everybody
was anxious that the tug of war between Yale and Princeton should be
pulled on its merits.
The master of ceremonies announced that an accident had happened to
Yale's anchor, and that Merriwell would take his place, with Rattleton
as substitute on the rope.
There was a good deal of dismay at this in the Yale ranks, for although
everybody had confidence in Frank, all knew that a change in the make-up
of a team at the last moment is likely to be disastrous.
Nevertheless, Merriwell was greeted with a big cheer when he went out to
the floor and wound the end of the rope around his belt.
He put Rattleton on the farther end of the line, and moved Taylor up to
his own old position. There was then a breathless moment, while both
sides waited for the pistol shot.
When it came, the eight men went down at the same instant. It was
evident that the Princeton team had observed the success of Yale men in
dropping, and had determined not to let them get an advantage in that
way.
The ribbon stood exactly at the chalk mark, and the first few seconds of
violent pulling failed to budge it more than a hair's breadth in either
direction.
The great audience stood up and cheered as they had not done since the
evening began. It was a delight to see two teams of strong young men so
evenly matched in strength and skill.
On the Yale side there was fear in spite of the enthusiastic cheering
that Merriwell's weight would be against them in the end, and not a few
called attention to the fact that the Yale team had already pulled once,
while Princeton was perfectly fresh.
These things were thought of, too, on the Princeton side, and that made
the wearers of the orange more confident.
As in the former pull, there was a short period of rest after the first
tug. The anchors eyed each other warily, and the men lay on the rope,
crossing their legs over it, and waiting for the signal to tug again.
Frank saw the Princeton anchor whispering to the man in front of him.
"If that's a command to pull," he thought, "it's given too openly, and
it's probably a dodge to throw us off our guard."
It seemed to be so, for the Princeton men gave one sudden yank at the
rope, and then lay still.
The yank did not stir the ribbon, and it did not call out any answering
pulls from the Yale men. Many of the spectators wondered at this, and
began to set up shouts to Merriwell to order a pull.
He remained perfectly quiet, paying no attention to the shouts around
him, apparently not hearing them. In fact, he was not more than half
conscious that there was anybody in the room except the three men
directly in front of him and the four adversaries on the opposite team.
A full minute passed, during which there was some pulling by each side,
and still the ribbon remained squarely over the chalk mark.
The spectators left their seats, so great was their excitement, and in
spite of the efforts of the policemen who were stationed in the hall,
crowded down upon the floor until they were within a few feet of the
opposing teams.
Old men in the crowd who had graduated from college before Frank and his
companions were born, were quite as excited as the younger men.
"Don't let it be a draw, Merriwell," shouted one white-whiskered man,
waving his hat frantically.
"Princeton! Princeton!" came in a big chorus from the other side of the
room, as the Princeton team lay closer to the floor and pulled at the
rope with might and main.
The muscles of their arms and shoulders stood out like whipcords and the
perspiration started from their brows. They were doing their best, to
say the least, to prevent a draw.
It was a splendid tug; the ribbon at last began to move. It took its
course slowly and by little starts and halts toward the Princeton side.
The palms of the Yale men fairly burned as the cord slipped by. It was
not much, but as before, an inch at the end of four minutes would be as
good as a yard.
Frank's face was set in an expression of intense determination, and the
perspiration stood out upon his brow, too, although he was exerting
little force.
Inch by inch he was paying out the rope from his belt, a thing that had
to be done in order to prevent his crew from being pulled to their feet.
Frank was waiting his opportunity; it came as he had foreseen, just at
the instant when the Princeton men had exerted all the force of which
they were capable.
He knew when this minute had arrived, not by any expression upon their
faces, but by the fact that the Princeton anchor hastily caught his end
of the rope in a knot in order to hold the advantage that had been
gained.
Then Frank said in a tone that could not have been heard by any of the
spectators:
"Now, boys!"
On that instant the three Yale men who had been lying almost on their
backs, sat up, made a quick grab at the rope a few inches in front of
where they had been holding it before, and then strained back suddenly,
and with all the force that they could muster.
The Princeton anchor, who had supposed that the Yale men were exhausted
also, was taken completely by surprise.
He had knotted his rope and could not pay it out as the opposing tug
came; the result was that while there was yet a full minute to spare,
the Princeton team stood up suddenly, pulled squarely off the cleats by
the victorious sons of Yale.
The shouting changed on the instant; there had been a wild, triumphant
howling on the Princeton side because the ribbon had gone fully fifteen
inches beyond the chalk mark.
Now it traveled so rapidly toward the Yale side that there was no
measuring the distance; that did not matter anyway, for when a team is
pulled squarely off the cleats, the tug is done.
Frank, therefore, had the double satisfaction of seeing his college win
the general trophy and of meeting successfully a serious emergency that
had occurred in the special sport which he had undertaken to manage.
It was a great evening for Yale, and one that all men who were students
in the college at that time will never forget.
"I tell you, I wouldn't have missed it for a good deal," said Rattleton,
when they were on their way to Yale, the day following.
"It's too bad Browning was hurt," answered Frank.
"It's not serious," said the big fellow. "It will soon be all right, so
the doctor says." And this proved to be true. Inside of ten days his
wrist was as well as ever.
"Another contest is on hand," said Rattleton, one morning to Frank. "Do
you know we are up for admission to the Pi Gamma Society?"
"Yes," answered Frank.
"We'll catch it hot soon--when they initiate us."
"Oh, I reckon we can stand it," came from Frank, with a quiet smile.
He did not dream of all that was in store for them.