IN THE THICK OF THE FIGHT
"I understand we have a great little detective among us," remarked
Ella, as Garry came down to breakfast the next morning.
"Well, I got the clue, didn't I?" replied Garry, throwing out his chest
a little.
"Yes, when the clue marched right up to you and asked to be taken in,"
chaffed Ella.
"Stop your scrapping, you two," commanded Mr. Grayson, with a
smile. "The fact is that what Garry found out yesterday is of great
importance. I'm sure that Jerry Cox is telling the truth. I tested him
in every possible way, turned him inside out, so to speak, and I'm sure
that his story will stand up under any cross examination. But I want
to warn you youngsters not on any account to let a syllable of this
get out. Mooney or Anson or any of that crowd mustn't get an inkling
of it. I want not only to clear Frank but to put those perjurers and
scoundrels where they belong. And that pest of a poolroom is going to
be put out of business."
"Of course, I suppose you've let Frank and the Sherwoods know all about
it," remarked Garry.
"Certainly," reported his father. "I went over there last night. You
can imagine the reception I got with such news to take them. I tell you
there is a happy family to-day."
"Good old Bill!" exclaimed Garry. "It will be a new lease of life for
him."
He met Bill that morning as he came along with the rest of the bunch.
It was indeed a transformed Bill, jolly, laughing, full of the highest
spirits. The rest of the boys noticed the change and wondered. But Bill
and Garry alone knew the secret of the change, and, though their lips
were sealed by promise, the look that passed between them spoke volumes.
Football practice went on under a full head of steam. It was made all
the harder by Mr. Phillips because he feared that the easy victory
over Thomaston might give rise to false overconfidence and prompt a
let-down. So he drove the two teams ruthlessly until, when the day
arrived for the great game with Greenfield, the game that was to decide
the championship of the High School League, the Lenox boys were as hard
as nails.
All but Ralph Wynn, their captain, quarterback, and main reliance, the
brains of the team!
Ralph had been feeling under the weather for a day or two, and on the
fateful Saturday on which the game was to be played Lenox was stricken
with consternation by the news that Ralph had taken the mumps and was
confined to his bed.
The school staggered under the shock. The team without Wynn was
like a ship without a rudder. It looked as though Greenfield would
have a walkover. She would have been hard to beat under the best
circumstances. Now her victory seemed certain.
But the panic that shook the team did not extend to their coach. Not
that Mr. Phillips was not seriously disturbed, but he had been watching
the practice very closely for the past two weeks and felt that the
predicament was not a hopeless one.
The teams were to gather that morning at ten o'clock for a brief
practice, just to run through the signals and limber up for the
afternoon game.
They came together, regulars and scrubs, their hearts heavy and their
faces anxious. Mr. Phillips wasted no time in preliminaries and went
straight to the point.
"Grayson," he said abruptly, "you play at quarterback this afternoon."
Garry caught his breath and a murmur of surprise ran through the group
of players.
"I'm as much a stickler for school tradition as any of you," Mr.
Phillips went on. "But there come times when tradition must go down
before common sense. Grayson is a freshman. But he knows football and
knows how to run a team. I want you regulars to give him as loyal
support as you have given to Wynn. Wynn himself would be the first to
ask it if he were here. I want you to whip Greenfield this afternoon.
That's all that counts. Will you do it?"
The shout of assent that went up showed the spirit of the boys, and the
coach smiled.
"I knew I could count on you," he said. "Now go in and win."
The half hour of practice that followed was spirited and snappy. Garry,
his head in a whirl at first, soon got his bearings and ran the team in
a way that brought a glint of satisfaction to the eyes of the coach.
That afternoon the Greenfield team came over chock full of confidence,
bringing a brass band with them to celebrate the expected victory. They
had heard that Ralph Wynn was out of the game and that a freshman was
to run the team.
"A freshman! It is to laugh!" shouted one of Greenfield's rooters.
"Lenox must indeed be hard up! It's only a question now of the score
that Greenfield will run up! It'll be like taking candy from a baby!"
And with this many agreed, not all of them Greenfield rooters, either.
But before the game had been long in progress it became evident that
the baby was quite a lusty youngster after all.
Greenfield won the toss and elected to kick off. Kearny kicked to
Knapp, who came back eleven yards to the Lenox thirty-yard line.
Dittler made a yard through the Greenfield line. A forward pass by
Minter was grounded. Knapp kicked for forty-nine yards and the ball was
grounded on the Greenfield forty-yard line without a return.
Two passes by Greenfield were knocked down. Wallace, the enemy
quarterback, kicked twenty-five yards, and Knapp was downed on the
Lenox forty-five yard line before he could take a step. Dittler cut
through left tackle and got away for forty-two yards before he was
driven out of bounds by Holcomb on Greenfield's thirteen-yard line.
Here, with their goal threatened, Greenfield took a mighty brace, and
three successive line plunges failed to gain an inch. On the fourth
down Payne tried for a field goal but his drop-kick was short. But
Garry recovered the ball on the Greenfield nine-yard line.
Again Greenfield braced and two line smashes gained only two yards.
On the third down, Minter plunged between right guard and tackle but
was met so furiously that he was thrown back for a four-yard loss. On
the fourth down Lenox tried a forward pass but it was intercepted by
Rogers, who ran to the Greenfield thirty-yard line.
Bush made two through the line and Wallace punted forty-five yards,
Garry being downed in his tracks on the Lenox twenty-two yard line.
Knapp made three yards in two line smashes. Garry punted for
thirty-seven yards and Holcomb came back fifteen yards before he was
downed. He fumbled as he was tackled, and Lenox recovered on its
thirty-eight yard line.
Again Lenox plunged at the Greenfield line, Dittler going through for
three yards. A forward pass from Minter was grounded. Knapp found a
hole at left tackle and slid through for four. On the fourth down Garry
himself took the ball and went through for five yards, making the
distance and still keeping possession of the ball.
On a crisscross play Dittler was thrown for a loss of three yards.
And just then the whistle blew and the period ended with the ball in
Lenox's keeping near mid-field.
It had been a furious struggle, with honors about even. If anything,
Lenox had a slight edge, as most of the time the ball had been in the
enemy's territory and twice she had come within striking distance of
the Greenfield goal.
The "baby" had come up to scratch, and roars of frenzied applause went
up from the Lenox rooters, led by their cheer leaders, who, dressed in
white, went through all sorts of acrobatic antics before the stands.
Answering roars went up from the Greenfield section and their brass
band added to the tumult as the players, panting and breathless, took
their minute of rest, sprawled out on the turf.
Garry was covered with dust, his nose bleeding, his hands scratched,
his chest heaving from his exertions.
"Oh, look at Garry!" squealed Ella. "He's hurt!"
"Hurt nothing!" retorted Jane Danter, her face flushed with excitement.
"He's as happy as a clam. Go it, Garry!" she called in her shrill
treble. "We're all rooting for you!"
Garry looked at her and grinned. Jane sure was a nice girl.
When play was resumed Lenox still had the ball and Garry punted fifteen
yards, the kick being partially blocked and Greenfield recovering the
ball on its own forty-five yard line. Lenox was off-side, and the
five-yard penalty brought the ball to the middle of the field. Wallace
knifed off tackle for ten yards for first down. A long pass, Bush to
Rogers, was completed for a thirty-yard gain, giving Greenfield first
down on the Lenox ten-yard line.
Rogers went through for three yards. Bush added three more through
right guard. Holcomb smashed the line hard, but Lenox had braced
desperately and he gained only a yard. On the fourth down, Sayles
dropped back to the thirteen-yard line, and though the angle made the
feat seem impossible, sent the ball over the bar between the posts for
a field goal for the first three points of the game.
Greenfield had drawn first blood and her rooters went crazy while their
band struck up "See, the Conquering Hero Comes!"
"Let them cheer," called Garry to his mates, by no means dismayed.
"It's the last chance they'll have."
In the Lenox stands there were downcast looks and heavy hearts.
Probably there were but two exceptions, Lent Stewart and Chat Johns.
There would have been three, but Sandy Podder was attending the trial
of Frank Sherwood, which was in progress that day.
"Here's where that four-flusher gets his," muttered Lent, his eyes
glowing with ill-concealed elation.
Kearny kicked off to Knapp, who fumbled and then came back for eleven
yards to the Lenox twenty-six yard line. Two line plays gained seven
yards, and on third down Garry broke through for twelve yards, with the
whole Greenfield line piled on his back.
Having made its distance and more, Lenox again had the ball for first
down on its own forty-five yard line. Dittler went through tackle
for three yards and Knapp added four more through a big hole in the
Greenfield line. On a fake plunge and a pass, Dittler to Minter, Lenox
got within thirty yards of the Greenfield goal.
Minter plowed through for four yards and Knapp added one more, but a
penalty for unnecessary roughness cost Lenox fifteen yards and pushed
it back to Greenfield's forty-yard line. Minter's pass over the center
of the line fell to earth untouched. Another long heave was battered
down by Bush.
For the rest of that period the game was fast and furious, with first
one side and then the other having possession of the ball, and when the
first half of the game was over the score still remained at 3 to 0 in
favor of the invaders.