A BLEMISH
In the middle of October Teeny-bits surprised every one by going out for
the football team. Even his most loyal friends thought that he had lost
his senses. The team was particularly heavy this year; the first-string
men were big, well-formed, aggressive players of the type of Neil
Durant, who weighed one hundred and sixty pounds with not an ounce of
fat, and who was quite as good a half-back, it was said, as many college
players. The most that Teeny-bits could hope for was a place on the
scrub, but that meant drudgery of the worst sort and a daily mauling
that was enough to take the courage out of larger boys than he.
"They'll make Hamburger steak out of you!" warned Snubby Turner. "You'd
better not do it."
"Good night, Teeny-bits! do you want to commit suicide!" said Fred
Harper. "I'll hang a wreath on your door."
But the first team did not put an end to Teeny-bits' career. They
laughed when the coach gave him a chance on the scrub one afternoon and
laughed harder when he at last got a chance to carry the ball and by
clever dodging succeeded in making a twenty-yard gain. He slipped out of
the grasp of Ned Stillson and nearly eluded big Tom Curwood, who covered
Teeny-bits so completely when he finally had him down that ball and
runner were almost completely out of sight.
"He's as slippery as an eel," said big Tom.
"And so small you can't see him," growled Ned Stillson.
After that the first team watched him like tomcats watching a mouse and
Teeny-bits got no chance to break away.
In the locker room after practice Mr. Murray, the coach, came over and
laid a friendly hand on his arm. "Keep it up," he said; "if you weighed
about twenty-five pounds more, by jingo, I believe you'd make the team."
The members of the eleven also were friendly and treated him as they
might have treated a mascot in whom they had great faith. In the
shower-bath room Neil Durant jumped out from under the cold spray and
shook the water from his lean, firmly-muscled body just as Teeny-bits
came in. The big half-back looked admiringly at the new candidate for
the scrub and said:
"Good work, Teeny-bits! You're the original bear-cat all right."
Teeny-bits grinned appreciatively as he stepped under the shower. Neil
stood near by, drying himself with a Turkish towel. As the smaller boy
turned this way and that under the spattering water the half-back looked
critically at his compact body and firm muscles. To be sure, Teeny-bits
was small, but he was shaped like a young god and modeled with perfect
symmetry. Something else, however, attracted Neil's attention.
"That's a peculiar mark you have on the back of your shoulder," he said,
as Teeny-bits turned off the water.
"It's a sort of birthmark, I guess," said Teeny-bits. "My trademark."
What Neil Durant referred to was a five inch, terra-cotta colored
blemish on Teeny-bits' smooth back. The shape of the mark was what made
it peculiar. It resembled strikingly a dagger-like knife with a tapering
blade and a thin handle. Once seen it was not likely to be forgotten.
In the same manner that the true story of Teeny-bits had spread through
the school after his unknown ill-wisher had tried to injure his name by
posting the notice on the Gannett Hall bulletin board, the news spread
from boy to boy that the conqueror of Bassett and the new candidate for
the scrub bore on the smooth skin of his shoulder a strange and
curiously formed mark, and during the days that immediately followed
Teeny-bits' first appearance on the football field, more than one
candidate for the team made it a point to be present in the shower-bath
room in order that he might cast seemingly casual glances at the unusual
mark. Some of the Ridgleyites were more open in their curiosity and did
not hesitate to question Teeny-bits, but they all received answers
similar to the one that Neil Durant had received. To Teeny-bits there
was nothing strange about the mark, for it had been there from the time
of his earliest memory and he had thought little more about it than he
had of the fact that he possessed hands and feet. Snubby Turner, whose
bump of curiosity was as big as a watermelon, lingered one night in
Teeny-bits' room while the new boy was undressing.
"I want to see that knife-thing on your back that I heard the fellows
talking about," said Snubby frankly. "Come over under the light so I can
get a good look. That _is_ queer--the hilt of the knife is curved a
little just the same on both sides. It looks to me as if somebody had
drawn it on your back--only the color doesn't look like a tattoo."
"Just a freak of nature," said Teeny-bits with a laugh. "I guess I was
born with it."
Sudden popularity has been the downfall of many a schoolboy and many a
man, but it did not seem to have any adverse effect on Teeny-bits
Holbrook.
"It rolls off him like water off a roof!" exclaimed Fred Harper, who was
one of the newcomer's greatest admirers. And so it seemed, for
Teeny-bits went about his work methodically and seemed entirely
unimpressed by the attentions of his numerous followers. He made time to
do his studying and did it well, but he was not what his classmates
called a "shark"; he had to work and work hard for what he got.
One morning during a class in English literature, Mr. Stevens asked
Bassett to tell what he knew about the writings of Walter Pater.
"Well," said Bassett, putting on a look of extreme intelligence, "he
wrote quite a while ago and he didn't succeed at first very much, but
toward the end he was more successful."
"Is that all you can tell me?" asked Mr. Stevens.
"Oh, no!" said Bassett with the manner of one whose knowledge has been
underrated. "He was quite a figure in his time and he wrote a lot of
stuff--I think it was----poetry."
"That's enough, Bassett," said Mr. Stevens. "Holbrook, can you tell me
anything about Walter Pater?"
"No, sir, I can't," said Teeny-bits.
"Thank you," said Mr. Stevens. "I'd rather have an honest answer than an
attempt to bluff!"
Every one in the room looked at Bassett, who scowled back at the smiles
of his classmates. "I didn't try to bluff, sir," he said to Mr. Stevens,
but the English master paid no attention to the denial and every one
knew that the self-styled "Whirlwind" had been guilty of treating the
truth as if it had been a rubber band.
The incident was small, but it increased the enmity that Bassett had for
Teeny-bits and added another score to those scores that he intended some
day to wipe out.
There were others in Ridgley School who bore Teeny-bits no
affection--one of them was Tracey Campbell, who had been the first to
hail the newcomer by his nickname. Tracey Campbell was a candidate for
the football team playing on the scrub; Coach Murray, it was said,
looked with favor upon him and was about to promote him to the first
eleven. But of late Mr. Murray had not paid so much attention to
Campbell; his interest, as far as the scrub was concerned, seemed to be
veering in another direction.
It may have been that Tracey Campbell had something in mind more than
merely playing a prank when he took it upon himself on a Wednesday night
to amuse some of the fellows who were lounging about the steps of the
dormitories.
Old Daniel Holbrook had driven up from the station, sitting erect in the
buggy behind Jed, the sorrel horse. His errand, as he had explained to
Ma Holbrook, was to see how Teeny-bits was "getting along." He arrived
at dusk and, after hitching the sorrel to a post outside Gannett Hall,
mounted the two flights of steps to Number 34. He found Teeny-bits just
beginning to study.
"Well, now, it does seem nice to see you," he said. "Your Ma and I've
been kind o' lonesome, and she allowed as how I ought to pay you a mite
of a call. I said as how she ought to come too, but I couldn't budge
her. She said wimmen folks weren't wanted around boardin' schools."
"It's great to see you," said Teeny-bits. "The fellows here have been
wonderful, but of course it isn't home, you know, and I've missed you
folks a lot. I wish Ma _had_ come; you tell her not to be so bashful
next time."
Old Daniel Holbrook smiled benignly. It pleased him to have Teeny-bits
so obviously glad to see him and so sincerely speaking of Ma and his
wish to see her.
"I suppose wimmin folks _are_ a trifle more timid than men folks about
putting themselves forred," he remarked, "but when it comes to
thoughtfulness you can't get 'em beat. Now take this box that she put
into my hands--I don't know but what I'm entering into a conspiracy to
break some of the rules of this school, but Ma just plain insisted that
I bring it along and I have a _faint_ suspicion that it contains
somethin' to eat. I seen her fussin' round the kitchen with choc'late
frosted cake and some other contraptions, and from the size of the
package I'd say she'd put most of 'em in. The question is: am I breakin'
any regalations if I leave it? Just say the word, and I'll take it back
home."
"Not on your life!" said Teeny-bits fervently. "You're not breaking any
rules, and believe me, whatever it is, it won't last very long. I've
some friends around here who would climb right through the transom if
they knew that there was anything like that in this room."
"That being the case," said the station master, "here she remains. I'll
put it on the table. Now tell me, how's things going?"
"It's so much better than I thought it would be," said Teeny-bits, "that
it hardly seems real. I want to tell you that there are some of the
finest fellows in the world in this dormitory, and the whole school is
just O. K."
While Daniel Holbrook, sitting back comfortably in Teeny-bits' spare
chair, listened to the newcomer's impressions of Ridgley School, a bit
of action was beginning to develop outside on the campus. Tracey
Campbell, strolling across to Gannett Hall with Bassett and three or
four other members of the school, who for one reason or another seemed
to find pleasure in the company of the two, came in sight of the sorrel
horse. There was no question that the station master's steed was
ungainly and that harnessed to the old-fashioned buggy he presented to
persons who were straining their eyes for the ludicrous a more or less
amusing spectacle. The evening was warm and Tracey Campbell had pulled
off his sweater. As he went by the sorrel horse he gave the garment a
snap which sent one of the sleeves flying against the animal's neck.
With a snort of surprise the horse lifted his head and danced backward a
step or two in a manner that called forth laughter from the group of
Ridgleyites.
"Whoa, Ebeneezer!" said Campbell. "Calm yourself," And then an idea came
to his mind. "Here's a chance for a little moonlight ride," he said.
"Who'll come along? We'll borrow this old nag for a few minutes and tour
the campus."
Bassett, who was ready for any excitement that offered itself, climbed
into the buggy after Campbell, while one of the other fellows untied the
hitch-rope.
"All right, we're off," said Tracey, lifting the whip from the socket
and snapping it vigorously.
Old Jed apparently wasn't accustomed to the sound or the feel of the
whip, for when Campbell touched his flank smartly he plunged forward and
began to trot around the driveway that circled the campus.
"Some racer!" said Bassett. "Can't you get any more speed out of him
than that? I'll show you how to drive him."
"No, you won't," said Campbell. "I can get as much speed out of him as
anybody can. I'll bet you that if you'll get out and run, I can beat you
round the campus."
"How much'll you bet?" asked Bassett.
"Oh, I'll bet you a good dinner," said Tracey.
"All right," said Bassett, and jumped over the side of the buggy.
By this time several members of the school who were passing through the
campus had paused and were watching the performance. Some one called
out: "Ready, get set, go!" and Bassett, who had never been much of a
runner, started out at a lumbering pace around the drive. Campbell
immediately brought the whip down heavily upon the sorrel's back, which
so surprised the horse that instead of dashing forward in pursuit of
Bassett, he did what he had never been known to do before,--put his head
down and made his heels rattle a vigorous protest against the
whiffletree and dashboard. Shouts of laughter rose louder and louder
over the campus, and dormitory windows were thrown up here and there
while the occupants of the rooms thrust out their heads to get a view of
what was going on.
"Get up, you bucking bronco!" yelled Campbell, and once more brought the
whip down on the sorrel. By this time, consternation and terror had
taken possession of old Jed; he suddenly abandoned his kicking and set
out at a gallop around the driveway. Campbell stood up like a Roman
charioteer and urged his steed on, but the lumbering Bassett had gained
too much of a start, and although the finish was close, the so-called
Whirlwind passed the steps of Gannett Hall while the sorrel was still a
length or two behind. Tracey Campbell braced himself firmly and jerked
back on the reins so roughly that the horse was brought to a sliding
stop.
"You win," he yelled to Bassett. "I'll buy the dinner."
Attracted by the commotion, Teeny-bits had thrust up the window of his
room, and old Daniel Holbrook had joined him in looking down upon the
scene. At first the station master had laughed a little and said:
"Some of your friends seem to be playing a few pranks on me."
But when he heard the noise of the whip and saw the horse jump with
fright and pain, his expression had changed and he had started down to
the campus. Teeny-bits followed close behind him; they had reached the
steps of Gannett Hall when the spectacular finish of the race occurred.
Tracey Campbell, seeing the owner of the horse, leaped out of the buggy
and said facetiously:
"I just borrowed this animule of yours for a minute. He's some _racer_,
I'll say."
"I'll say to you, young man," said Daniel Holbrook, "that that isn't any
way to treat a horse. I don't mind a mite having you borrow my rig, but
I _do_ mind having you abuse a dumb animal that hasn't any way to come
back at you."
Two or three of the boys in the crowd tittered, but most of them were
silent. They knew that the station master was right, and they were
ashamed that they had joined in the laughter. But Tracey Campbell still
seemed to take it as a joke; he looked at the station master with a grin
and said in a tone which suggested that he was imitating:
"He's blowin' and puffin' _a mite_, but I guess he ain't injured none,
and I reckon as how he'll pull through the crisis and amble you home if
you drive real calm."
Campbell's attitude and manner of speaking carried an open insult; it
stirred up in Teeny-bits a feeling of intense rage. A great desire came
over him to walk up to his rival for the football team and punch him in
the head. He started forward and said in a voice which trembled a little
in spite of him:
"When you speak to my father I want you"--
Teeny-bits did not finish what he had intended to say, for at that
moment Mr. Stevens came briskly up to the group and in no uncertain
tones demanded to know what was going on. Some one started to explain,
but only a few words had been said before the English master
instinctively, as it were, grasped the import of what had been
happening.
"Campbell," he said, "get up to your room and be quick about it! We've
had enough from you for to-night. And Mr. Holbrook, I'm sorry that there
has been any trouble. I hope it was merely thoughtlessness."
"No damage done, I guess," said the station master. "I don't like to see
young fellows misusing animals, but I suppose it was just a bit of high
jinks, so we'll forget all about it."
The old man's sportsmanship and generosity in this last remark won for
him the respect of the Ridgleyites who had remained on the scene, and
the result of the incident was to make them feel that Campbell had acted
with little or no decency.
Teeny-bits' first appearance on the football field and his rather
spectacular work had not been a mere "flash in the pan." He had gone out
every afternoon with the scrub, and the members of the first team had
learned that it was just as well to keep their eyes wide open and their
heads up when there was any likelihood that Teeny-bits would run with
the ball. In spite of their vigilance he succeeded nearly every
afternoon in making a gain that called attention to his ability to
squirm through a broken field.
He did not approach the skill of some of the first team members,
particularly Neil Durant, the captain, who regularly romped through the
scrub as if they were wooden Indians, but he did seem to have a natural
ability to dodge and to worm his way through opposing tacklers.
An incident occurred on the last Wednesday of October that had a
distinct influence on Teeny-bits' career. That day before practice Coach
Murray talked to the scrub in no mollycoddle terms.
"The first team isn't getting enough competition," he declared. "You
fellows on the scrub go to sleep and take a nap every afternoon; you
don't play the game with any heart; every time you see one of the
first-string backs charging through your line, you act as if you thought
you were a party of snails on a railroad track trying to tackle an
express train. There's nothing to be afraid of; if any of you expect to
be advanced to the first squad you'd better begin to acquire a little
ambition. We have a hard game Saturday with Wilton; I want to see you
chaps come back to life to-day and show me whether you are candidates
for a team or for a grave-yard."
The scrub tried hard; they charged low and fast and for ten minutes
prevented the first team from scoring; they even recovered the ball on a
fumble and in six rushes, in which Tracey Campbell figured largely,
carried the ball forward twenty yards to the middle of the field. Fred
Harper, the scrub quarter-back, then snapped the ball to Teeny-bits, who
eluded the opposing end, slipped out of the clutches of the left
half-back and was finally downed by Neil Durant ten yards from the first
team's goal line.
The scrub was within striking distance and Harper gave his signals with
nervous eagerness; he felt as if his life depended on seeing the ball
placed behind that goal line ten short yards away. But the first team
held solidly and then on the third try Tracey Campbell fumbled the ball.
Neil Durant picked it up and tucking it under his arm was off like a
grey-hound. Two of the scrub tackled him, but he shook them off and ran
on with every chance apparently of covering the length of the field for
a touchdown. Coming from the right was Teeny-bits, but at first no one
gave the new member of the scrub a thought, for Durant was a sprinter
and he was going down field at his best pace. To every one's surprise,
however, Teeny-bits held his position and gradually began to force
Durant nearer the side line. No one else was in the race. The captain
glanced sideways and saw who his pursuer was; he veered further toward
the left and concentrated on speed; still Teeny-bits held his own. Then
suddenly Durant, seeing that the side-line was dangerously close,
shifted direction and tried to pass his pursuer. But Teeny-bits was not
to be evaded; he gathered himself and plunged, and next moment the
captain of the big "team" was down at the fifteen-yard line with his
smaller opponent gripping him tightly around the shins. For the second
time Neil Durant had a word of approval for the younger boy.
"Good work!" he said. "You got me clean."
The scrub endeavored to live up to the pace that Teeny-bits had set, but
they had shot their bolt and the first team pushed the ball over in
three tries and scored two more touchdowns in the course of the next
fifteen minutes.
One result of the day's play was that the scrub received some
well-deserved praise; another was that Coach Murray called Teeny-bits
aside and said some words that sank in deeply and that seemed to the
newcomer at Ridgley to carry an import that presaged the realization of
one of his fondest hopes.
"Teeny-bits," said the coach. "I'm going to pull you up to the first
squad; you may not get a chance to play in many of the games, but I
think I can use you as a substitute back. That was a good tackle you
made and a good run, but you have a lot to learn yet. One thing is
change of pace when you carry the ball. If you sprint the way you do in
a track dash, the men against you have a good target for a swift tackle,
but if you keep something in reserve and turn it on just as you're about
to be tackled, you'll do better. Watch Durant; you can learn a lot from
him."
Teeny-bits walked on air on the way back to his room, but no one knew
it, for it was his way not to show elation in things that concerned
himself, and he told no one of his promotion, for he preferred to let
the news get abroad by other means. Neil Durant overtook him before he
reached the campus and walked with him to Gannett Hall. "You're always
springing surprises, aren't you, Teeny-bits?" said the big half-back
with a smile. "I didn't think you had so much speed."
"I don't believe I could do it again," said Teeny-bits deprecatingly.
"Of course you could," declared the captain. "Coach just told me you're
to join our squad. I'm glad; I'm counting on you to do big things."
Teeny-bits looked up at his companion and said to himself that one of
the biggest reasons why he wanted to do big things was to win the close
friendship of this hard-fighting, clean-playing "regular" at his side.
Aloud he said: "I'm going to try like thunder!"
When Coach Murray at the beginning of practice next day announced that
Holbrook was to leave the scrub and join the first squad there were
murmurs of approval that were joined in by nearly every one. The
exception was Tracey Campbell, who considered that Teeny-bits had been
unjustly promoted over his head. He determined to show up the newcomer
if the opportunity came, and it was noticeable in the practice that
afternoon, when Teeny-bits got a chance to play with the first team for
a few minutes, that Campbell made a tremendous effort to down the new
member of the squad with a crash.
Bassett was watching on the side lines and that evening he came round to
Campbell's room with a proposition.