Isabel Hunt was gracefully flying over wooden horses in the gymnasium
and landed, after the last jump, in front of Lilian and Cathalina, who
had just arrived after a swim in the pool. Fresh and pink after their
shower, they were considering whether to take any further exercises or
to let well enough alone.
“Think of swimming in the pool when there is a perfectly good lake
outside!” exclaimed Lilian. “Don’t you hope this miserable cold spell
will soon be over? If it doesn’t warm up before Commencement I shall be
perfectly disgusted!”
“Oh, it always does. Besides, if the lake weren’t so rough, we would go
in,—the lake water is always cold anyhow. We have to have a few storms
once in a while. But it is fine and sunshiny today. Let’s take a run out
to the athletic field.”
“All right. There are Pauline and Hilary, Isabel. I wonder if they would
not like to come, too. We can practice for our fifty-yard dash.”
Lilian beckoned to Pauline and Hilary, who joined the girls presently,
and the group walked to the athletic field. This was back of the
gymnasium and separated by a fence from the pastures where grazed the
riding horses. There were very few interscholastic events and games, but
the trustees had provided enough seats under a canopy to accommodate
about five hundred spectators. The tennis courts stretched beyond.
“Do you suppose that we shall be able to remain friends after the
contests?” asked Isabel. “There is the collegiate field meet, in which
seniors and juniors will be pitted against each other in a desperate
battle. Then there are the canoe races in which the non-beatable juniors
meet the unsurpassable seniors. What will happen then, who can
foretell?”
The girls laughed, and Lilian said, “I was needing some new words for a
poem on our athletics for the Star. ‘Non-beatable’ and ‘unsurpassable’
are good, though I am not sure how they will fit into the meter.”
“There is one thing, Isabel,” said Hilary, “which may soothe the
disappointment of either side; the future success of the Whittiers, when
you and Virgie win honors for us all in the inter-society debate. All
our crowd are Whittiers, you know.”
“It is a great responsibility,” said Isabel, gravely shaking her head.
“Absolute split in the Psyche Club unless the Whittier Society wins in
debate!”
“Come on, girls,” said Hilary. “I’ll beat the bunch in a dash to the
fence where the horses are looking over at us. The first one who touches
it wins.”
“I accept the challenge,” said Isabel. “Line up, girls. On your mark.
Get set. Go!”
The five girls scampered like mad. Five gym suits, five pairs of gym
shoes on flying figures crossed the field. Cathalina gave it up when she
was two-thirds of the way across and sat down in the grass to laugh.
Prince, Poky and Lady Gay, were looking over the fence and had hoped for
lumps of sugar, threw up their heads, snorted, and with cavortings and
kicking of heels, fled, galloping over the pasture.
Isabel and Hilary touched the fence at the same time; Lilian,
breathless, bumped into Pauline and both sat down suddenly. Both were
convulsed with laughter, and Pauline leaned back against the fence
remarking that it was by intention that she sat there. “If Lilian and I
had not run into each other I would have beat you, Hilary,” she
continued.
“You were laughing too much,” returned Hilary. “Isabel and I paid strict
attention to business and won. Shake hands, Izzy.”
“You shake hands with the _defeated_, Hilary,” said Lilian, holding out
her hand to Hilary, who pulled her to her feet, and hastened to hold out
her other hand to Pauline. She scrambled to her feet without assistance,
however.
Cathalina was still sitting on the ground embracing her knees, as the
rest of the girls came toward her. “Anything the matter, Cathalina?”
inquired Hilary.
“Oh, no; I was just laughing so hard I had to stop. And you ought to
have seen yourselves and the way the horses looked at you. They ought to
be used to such performances by this time.”
“They probably enjoyed it.”
“I shall enter the result of this contest upon the sporting page of the
_Greycliff Star_,” said Lilian. “Will you write it up, Cathalina? You
saw it all.”
“I will. Prince won in the pasture, and I suppose you want him
mentioned.”
“Yes, indeed.”
On the day of the Collegiate Field Meet, almost the entire school was
out to see the events. The ranks of the Faculty were invaded for judges.
Patty West Norris and Miss Perin were among the popular ones. Music
teachers and instructors, indeed, almost all the women teachers were
present, including Miss Randolph and even Dr. Carver, who was daily
becoming more human. She even had a favorite pupil among the seniors,
one who had Ph.D. aspirations, in whom she was very much interested, and
who returned great admiration for Dr. Carver’s attainments.
The girls were all in good spirits, the day was bright, cool but too
cool, and the athletic grounds were in fine condition. There were little
jokes and some fun, but this was more or less of a serious occasion, for
success in the events might mean a good deal in the final athletic
honors. The All-Around G’s, the class trophies, and the senior silver
trophy to go to one girl for her entire school record,—all were worth
striving for.
Most of the spectators were assembled, either in the seats or scattered
about the field when the junior and senior teams came over from the
gymnasium.
“Start up the new song, Lilian and Eloise,” said Juliet. “Here, get in
front.”
There was some shifting, and Eloise and Lilian, as the “World-renowned
senior songsters,” according to Isabel, took their places in front. They
had collaborated on this newest of senior songs, and the singing seniors
made an effective entrance on the athletic battlefield, eliciting great
applause from the bleachers, where academy girls and such juniors and
seniors as were not taking part in the contest, with the faculty not
engaged as judges, were gathered. The tune was lively, and the girls
made great effort to have the words clearly sung:
Who would not go to Greycliff?
Tra-la, la, la, la! Tra-la la, la, la!
Who would not go to Greycliff,
To win an All-Around G?
G.G.G.G.!
To win an All-Around G!
In classroom contests seniors win,
They’ve put it over, thick and thin,
In basket-ball and swimming, too,
Their women shine, indeed they do,—
Oh, now look out, we’re coming in,
To get that All-Around G!
G.G.G.G,
To get that All-Around G.
The senior girls wore their colors, silver and blue, around their arms
in a band, and after parading in front of the spectators they settled
down on the benches, to wait until the contests began. The juniors,
likewise wearing their colors, green and gold, modestly let the seniors
have their little parade, applauded the song, and scattered around in
groups. As usual, there were more juniors taking part than seniors.
“Deeds, not words,” announced Isabel.
Cathalina and Betty were going to take part in the broad jump, the relay
broad jump, and in the basket-ball and base-ball throwing, but would not
run. Juliet was the star runner among the seniors and they expected her
to score high in the high jump. Eloise, too, was quick and good at
either high or low hurdles. After much practice, in the gymnasium and
outside, for these several school years, the girls knew pretty well the
ability of the different girls entered for the events. The great
question, however, was who would win. There is something exciting about
any contest, for often the most surprising things occur, and no one is
sure of the result until the end.
First a fifty-yard dash was called. Four ran at a time and four teachers
were taking the time for each heat. Two seniors and two juniors ran
first, Juliet and Jane Mills, Isabel, and a chubby little junior, who
did not look as if she could run, but did. It was quite evident that
Juliet made the best time. Sometimes it was hard to tell, when the
contestants were more evenly matched. Hilary and Lilian were called next
and ran with Virginia Hope and another junior.
“Hilary and Lilian are pretty nearly even,” said Cathalina to Betty. “I
shouldn’t be surprised if they do pretty well.”
“Look at Virgie!” exclaimed Betty. “She is just skimming over the
ground! I didn’t know she could run like that! Good for you, Virgie,”
she called, as Virginia came off the track and toward them.
“Thanks, dear enemy.”
There were many entered for the first dash and some time was spent, but
at last it was finished; the judges and timekeepers consulted, and
presently announced the winners as Juliet Howe for first place, Hilary
Lancaster, second, and Virginia Hope, third.
“Two seniors!” exclaimed Eloise. “First place counts five, and second
place three, and the juniors only one point. That is a fine start for
us.”
The standing broad jump came on next. In this, again, there were many
entries. Cathalina, to her horror, was called on first to jump. She had
not outgrown all her timidity and the eyes of all this audience were
almost too much for her. Her first effort was graceful but short. “Try
it again, Cathalina,” called Hilary encouragingly when her turn came
again. “Never mind how you look, but jump for your class!” Spurred on by
this, Cathalina gave a prodigious leap and did very well indeed. She
took her third chance, but did not surpass her second attempt. Patricia
Norris and Miss Perin were very busy measuring and recording. To her own
surprise, Lilian had made the best record in this event, Virginia won
second place, and Dorothy Appleton, third.
“Six points for the seniors,” was Betty’s comment, “and three for the
juniors in this event.”
“We are still ahead,” said Eloise, “and a good deal ahead.”
“Yes, on this, but is anybody watching the ball throwing? I guess we
can’t keep track of it all.”
“Evelyn is watching that. Diane and Pauline are doing some fine
basket-ball throwing. They’re calling you, Betty, now.”
The bleachers were deserted, everybody wanting a closer view of the
jumping and ball throwing, which were going on at the same time. The
spectators stood around in groups, according to their interest in the
several events.
“Let’s have the relay broad jump, Miss Perin, while everybody is in the
jumping mood, can’t we?” asked Cathalina.
“It is on next,” replied Miss Perin, “then the hurdles, and last the
relay race.”
The relay broad jump started badly for the seniors. Jane Mills fully
expected to break the record, she said afterward, but slipped, digging
her heel firmly into the ground, yet, alas, sitting down back of them.
The distance measured from where she sat to the starting place was not
one to boast about. Hilary really did break the record, but Isabel,
roused to a supreme effort, landed six inches beyond Hilary’s mark, and
although she fell, it was forward and did not spoil her feat. The
juniors loudly applauded her, both then and later when they had won the
event.
In the ball throwing, meanwhile, Pauline, Diane and Juliet were making
fine records, but Hilary went over from the relay jumping to win first
place in throwing the basket-ball, and was second to Diane’s first in
throwing the base-ball. Juniors scored among all those entered for the
hurl ball event.
“There are so many of them,” sighed Evelyn, “that they have more chances
to win.”
“I don’t know that it makes so much difference,” replied Dorothy, “if we
have an expert or two on.”
“But we haven’t enough experts to be in everything when we are limited
in entering events.”
“They don’t want us to overdo our little selves,” answered Dorothy with
a smile.
Lilian in the “sixty yard low hurdle,” and Eloise in the high hurdle
were light and graceful, carrying off the honors. Juliet, to the
surprise of every one, was only second in the high hurdle. Juniors won
second and third place in the low hurdle event.
“Oh, why didn’t you do the low hurdle, too?” Lilian regretfully asked
Eloise.
“They wouldn’t let me enter any more, and I really forgot it when I
entered to my limit in the other events.”
A seventy-five-yard dash followed the hurdle events, and last came the
interesting relay race. One senior and one junior ran, handing the stick
to the next senior and junior, and so one. This was the most exciting of
all the events. The spectators stood as close to the track as they were
permitted to come, the academy girls rooting for their favorites.
In this event, the juniors started under a handicap, for one of their
best runners turned her ankle, and could scarcely get over the remaining
distance. It was to Virginia that she handed her stick, but although
Virgie ran like the wind, the seniors were already much in the lead.
Some of the ground lost was recovered by the juniors, but at the end the
junior stumbled and fell.
“Goodbye, juniors!” exclaimed Isabel as the senior covered the distance
to the final goal before the junior had risen to her feet. “I most
certainly didn’t think it would be as bad as that!”
The events were over. All that remained was the announcement by the
judges of the winning class, and the awarding of the trophy. The girls
who had not kept account of the results in the separate events were
uncertain, some hoping, each for her own class.
“I am sure that we have it,” said Evelyn, running over her record and
comparing it with that of another senior girl.
At last Miss Randolph rose from a seat in the bleachers where she had
been conferring with the judges, and announced that the silver cup was
awarded to the senior class. The events have been of unusual interest
said she. “Both classes deserve great credit for their good work and
spirit of good sportsmanship. I congratulate the seniors, and remind the
juniors that they have another year.”