Kitabı oku: «Dick Merriwell's Trap: or, The Chap Who Bungled», sayfa 7
CHAPTER XIV – ARLINGTON SHOWS HIS HAND
The football-team soon began to feel the hand of Chester Arlington. He sent men out to practise and directed that they should be tried on the regular team. And he seemed to have the athletic committee behind him, for they backed up his demands. Two of these men, Peter Hicks and Rufus Hoyt, knew something about football and played fairly well.
Dick chafed, for he saw that serious trouble was brewing. He saw that Arlington would try to manage the team through the committee, and that was just what Dick determined he should not do.
“It’s a fight, pard,” said Brad Buckhart. “Mark what I say, you’ll have your troubles with that galoot right along.”
Phil Warne was chairman of the committee. In the past he had permitted Dick to run the team on the field just about as he pleased. Now, however, he advised a shifting about of the team and trying them in other positions.
Dick felt that this was more of Arlington’s work, for Warne was not the fellow to dip in like that without being put up to it by another.
A feeling of uncertainty and restlessness attacked the team. Dick feared the men were lacking confidence. They had relied on him in the past, and now they saw that he was being ordered about. They had talked over the game with U. A. A., and were almost unanimous on the folly of playing it. What was there to gain by it? The committee had arranged to have the game take place in Fardale. If it had been arranged to play in Uniontown on the same terms as the baseball-game was pulled off, they might have urged that winning the game would bring in a large amount of money. But they had agreed to pay U. A. A. a sum of money to come and play the game, which made it almost a settled thing that it would be a financial failure.
U. A. A. had vowed to get revenge on Fardale for defeat in the baseball-game. Now it was said that the Uniontown men were anxious to get up against the cadets and “soak ’em.”
It was not to be a game between schools, and so the school spirit was lacking. Neither team regarded the other as a rival in its class. There was no rivalry of a friendly nature.
Some of the boys threatened to rebel, but Dick talked to them and convinced them that it was best to play the game. He knew Arlington would make a great to-do about it, saying he was afraid to play, if the Fardale boys declined to meet the chaps from Uniontown.
Saturday came, and an early train brought the Uniontown players into Fardale. Some of the boys from the academy were at the station to see them arrive and to size up their antagonists. Buckhart was one of these, and he hastened back to the academy, seeking Dick, whom he found in the gymnasium.
“Pard,” he said, “guess who’s in town?”
“I thought you hailed from Texas?”
“Well, so I do.”
“But this guessing-racket is a Yankee trick.”
“You can’t guess?”
“I don’t think I can. Who is it?”
“Fred Kennedy.”
“Kennedy? Who is – ”
“Why, pard, you must remember him. He is – ”
“Not the dirty whelp who doped Singleton and blinded me when we went to Uniontown?”
“The same.”
“Where is he?”
“At the North Hotel.”
Five minutes later Dick was on his way to town, accompanied by Brad. They went direct to the North Hotel, which did all the hotel business of the place, now that Fardale House had been gutted by fire, and there they sought Kennedy.
His name was not on the register. He did not seem to be with the strangers from Uniontown. Those strangers were the “sports” who followed the U. A. A. games and bet on the Uniontown team. They were looking for bets, and they hailed the appearance of Dick Merriwell.
“Tell us where we can get some of our good money up,” said one of the team. “We’re betting two to one on U. A. A. Have you children at the academy got any dough you wish to lose?”
“No,” said Dick quietly. “Few of us bet on these games. When we do bet it is for sport, not for profit. Can any of you gentlemen tell me where I can find Mr. Kennedy?”
“Kennedy? Kennedy? What Kennedy?”
“Fred Kennedy.”
“From our place? Oh, he isn’t with us.”
Kennedy was not found, but Buckhart was still certain he had arrived in town, even after they turned back toward the academy.
“He’s here, pard,” asserted the Texan. “I never make a mistake in faces. That onery whelp stepped off the train, or I’m a Chinaman! You hear me chirp!”
“I should like to meet him!” said Dick.
“And I’d enjoy being with you, pard. There would be something doing, you bet!”
The gamblers from Uniontown found takers for their bets in Fardale, as the villagers had great confidence in the academy team, which had not met defeat while under command of Dick Merriwell. Odds of two to one seemed like a good thing and were gobbled up.
At one o’clock p. m. Dick Merriwell received a shock. He was sent for by the athletic committee, which was in session at the time. When he appeared before them, Phil Warne said:
“Mr. Merriwell, we have concluded that, while you have done splendidly with the eleven, you have not been playing the men in just the right positions. Besides,” he went on swiftly, not permitting Dick to speak, “there are two men on the team who are not strong men, and we have concluded to drop them off for this game and try the experiment of supplying their places. We do this now because this is not a game with a school eleven, and we can better afford to experiment than at any other time. If we find we have improved the team, we shall be very glad. But we insist that the team be given a fair trial as we have arranged it, no changes being made until we give you permission, save on account of injuries. Here is the line-up of the team, with the names of substitutes to be used, if substitutes are required.”
There was a strange look on Dick’s face as he took the paper from Warne’s hand and glanced over the line-up of the team. His cheeks flushed and his eyes gleamed.
“Gentlemen of the committee,” he said, his voice distinct but low, “I need not say that I am surprised at your most surprising action. I think you are making a big mistake and are exceeding the bounds of your authority. It is not necessary to call attention to the fact that Fardale has not lost a game this season. Up to this time the making up of the team has been left almost wholly to me. In taking this privilege out of my hands you have handicapped me greatly, making it impossible for me to work to the best advantage. I think the mistake is liable to prove fatal. The shifting about of these players I consider ill-advised, the dropping of Kent and Dare weakens the line, and, on the whole, the team as given here will go on the field to-day greatly weakened.”
Chester Arlington had listened, his lips curling and his eyes expressing contempt. When Dick finished, Chester turned to Hadley Burrows, observing loud enough for the captain of the eleven to hear:
“Didn’t I say he could insult the committee! He has had things his own way altogether too long.”
Instantly Dick’s anger flashed like powder to which a match has been touched.
“You, Arlington, are the cause of it all!” he exclaimed, pointing straight at Chester. “And you are doing it not for the good of the eleven, but to annoy and injure me! I know you, and I know your methods. Yet but for me you would not be on that committee now!”
“What?” cried Chester, astonished. “But for you?”
“Exactly.”
“Bah! You would have kept me off the committee had you dared! I believe you did try to! I believe you did get rid of some of my votes on the first two ballots. You knew you were watched too closely for it the last time, and you didn’t dare try it.”
Dick actually laughed.
“Why, you poor, mistaken duffer!” he exclaimed, unable to fully control his tongue. “It’s surprising how little you really know about the truth!”
“Duffer!” snarled Chester, springing up. “Gentlemen, are you going to permit this? It’s an insult to the entire committee!”
“Mr. Merriwell,” said Warne severely, “your language is offensive to us all. If you are not satisfied with what we have done, if you do not care to follow our instructions thoroughly – ”
“What then?”
“You may resign from the team. Another captain will be appointed in your place.”
In his intense anger Dick came near making a mistake and playing into the hands of Arlington. It was on the tip of his tongue to utter his resignation, when he saw Chester leaning forward, breathless, expectant, eager. Instantly the rush of blood to Dick’s head ceased, his heart seemed to stop its wild hammering, his pulse dropped back to normal, and he was master of himself.
“No, Arlington!” he exultantly thought, “I’ll not do it! You have failed in this.
“I’ll stick by the team,” he said aloud. “I could not think of deserting it now.”
Warne seemed relieved, while Arlington was plainly disappointed.
“Very well,” said the chairman, dismissing him with a gesture. “You have your instructions.”
CHAPTER XV – DETERMINED DICK
The first half of the game was over. The score at the end of the half stood U. A. A., 18; Fardale, 6.
Fardale’s one touch-down and goal had been made on a fluke.
The teams had lined up as follows:
This was a great change about on the home team from the regular order. Buckhart had been taken off left end and given Darrell’s position at half-back, while Darrell was dropped entirely. Lewis, a plebe, had been substituted for Buckhart. Merriwell, Singleton, Smart, and Tubbs were the only men who held their positions. Bradley had been shifted from right guard to left tackle, Shannock had been removed from right end to left guard, Jolliby had moved over from right tackle to right end, Earl Gardner had been given Bradley’s position as right guard, and these things had served to break the team up completely, quite taking the confidence out of it.
Gardner had made the run with the ball, which he secured on a bad pass and a fumble, and his had been the glory of Fardale’s only touch-down. It seemed that Uniontown had the game “on ice.”
The visitors had played a rushing, thumping, rough-house game. At first the cadets had met them in this business, but they lost spirit when Uniontown kept the ball in the territory of the home team nearly all the time, seeming altogether too heavy and strong.
Dick was desperate. He was determined to do something to bring about a change. With the team as it was, he had small hopes of winning. Strangely enough, all through the first half, for all of the rough tactics of the visitors, no man was knocked out so that he was forced to retire from the game.
Brad walked off the field by Dick’s side when the half was over. The gym was near enough for the men to run over to it, and this they did.
“The jig is up, pard,” said Buckhart. “They’ve got us! And it is all the work of that dirty dog Arlington! He has ruined the team! I swear it would have been better if I had cheated and kept him from getting on the committee!”
Dick did not seem to hear Buckhart’s words. He was thinking swiftly just about then.
“We must win this game! I am determined to do it!” he muttered.
“No matter how determined you are,” said Brad, “you can’t do it with this team as it stands.”
Dick heard this, for he nodded. Reaching the gym, Dick found two fellows ready to give him a rubbing if he wished it.
“We’ll cut it out,” he said. “You fellows go for Hal Darrell. Bring him here.”
Then he turned to Brad, asking:
“Dare, Kent, and Bradley are with the substitutes, are they not?”
“Sure.”
Darrell was found in a minute or so, and brought into the gym.
“Hal,” said Dick, “do you want us to win this game?”
“Sure thing,” said Hal.
“Well, I want you to know that I did not drop you from the team. I was given orders by the committee to play the team just as it lined up to-day. Arlington is the man who did this.”
Hal shrugged his shoulders.
“I want you to get into your rig,” said Dick. “Will you do it?”
“Are you going to play me?”
“Yes.”
“In defiance of the committee?”
“Yes!”
“I’ll be on hand.”
Dick sent for Bradley, Dare, and Kent, with all of whom he talked.
Just as the team was leaving the gym for the field, Arlington and Warne came hurriedly into the place.
“Just in time!” exclaimed Warne.
“Go on, fellows,” said Dick. “I will be with you in a moment.”
At the same time he made a gesture to Buckhart. Brad was surprised. He did not quite understand, but he hurried the others out and followed them.
“In this final half,” said Warne, “there is one thing we want you to do, Merriwell. Of course, you can’t expect to win, as that team is much older and heavier, but – ”
“I must have dropped it in the shower-room,” said Dick, pretending to be searching for something. “I’ve got to have it. And I must be out on the field in two minutes. If you fellows have anything to say, come on and say it while I’m searching.”
He ran into the room where the boys took their shower-baths. There was a plunge in the same room.
Warne and Arlington followed. Dick seemed to be searching, looking swiftly about, his eyes on the floor.
“As I was saying – ” resumed Warne.
He got no further. Out of the room darted Dick, and the heavy door banged, shutting in Chester Arlington and the chairman of the athletic committee. Outside there was a heavy bolt, which Dick shot into place.
“Say on, Warne!” he exclaimed exultantly and defiantly; “but I can’t stop to listen. I can’t afford to be bothered by this committee during the last half of the game.”
He hurried from the now deserted gymnasium. As he was leaving he heard his astonished captives banging on the door of the bathroom and shouting for him to open it.
“Pound away! Yell away!” he said. “I think there will be sufficient noise on the field so that your cries will not be heard for a time, at least.”
He ran from the gym toward the field, and was just in time to go out with the team.
When the disappointed cadets saw the team go on the field for the second half they started up and showed interest, for there had been a big change. With a single exception, the old players were back in their regular positions.
Kent, who had not entirely recovered from injuries received in a previous game, was not at left tackle, although he was waiting among the substitutes. Gardner filled his place. Gardner was not quite large enough for guard, but he was so very fast that Dick had decided to retain him in the line. Shannock and Buckhart were again on the ends. Dare and Bradley were the guards, Jolliby was at right tackle, and Darrell assumed his old position at left half-back. Three members of the athletic committee stared and wondered.
“What does it mean?” asked Anson Day. “Why, I thought Merriwell had been given orders to – ”
“Where’s Warne?” asked Oliver Stone excitedly.
“Where’s Arlington?” exclaimed Hadley Burrows. “We must see about this!”
But they looked in vain for either Warne or Arlington.
The cadets were cheering with new life now. Everywhere the red and black was waving. What a difference there was! Confidence seemed restored.
There was a lull as the spread-out teams waited for the kick-off. In that hush and pause Dick Merriwell’s keen ears seemed to catch the sound of faint, muffled shouts coming from the direction of the gymnasium, and he smiled grimly.
Fardale went into the game with a whirl and a rush that almost swept Uniontown off her feet. The home team had snap, ginger, vim, and go to it. Every man was in the game. They played together, and they were out for victory. Getting the ball, Fardale began hammering against the enemy, at their thirty-yard line. The funnel-play was tried, and Singleton hit the left wing of the enemy, going through for five yards.
The same play was repeated, the funnel seeming pointed in the same direction. Singleton rushed ahead until near what seemed the point of assault, then suddenly darted out through the side of the funnel, where an opening had been made for him, and went through the left wing of the enemy for seven yards. Well, this was the kind of stuff! This was playing football!
A third time the ball was given to big Bob. And now he went forward protected by a wedge that hit the line in the center. The wedge pressed on steadily until the opposing team began to tear it to pieces. Bob saw a tackler coming through, and, with a deft movement, he tossed the ball out to Dick Merriwell, who had been keeping just back of him on the outside of the edge.
The next moment Singleton was dragged down. But the ball was gone, Dick had it, and he was away like a flash. To the right ran Dick, darting past Iott, who tried in vain to reach him. He circled the end and started down the field.
When Chase brought him down he had made full fifteen yards, and the cadets on the seats were mad with delight.
The Uniontown team was startled and not a little dismayed. Instead of coming out weak in the second half, the cadets were stronger and faster than they had been at the beginning of the game.
The ball was carried into Uniontown’s territory and steadily driven down toward the goal-line of the visiting team. Fardale hammered into the enemy with a dogged persistency that was admirable and told of the sand possessed by the academy lads.
Several times through the game Uniontown had resorted to slugging, and now she tried it again. Jolliby was thumped and Dare was kicked in the stomach. The umpire detected the fellow in the act of kicking and gave him a warning, but the kicker said he had not meant to violate the rules.
Still Fardale would not be stopped. Time after time she made her distance, and the ball was forced down to within ten yards of the goal of the visiting team. Then the cadets were set back for holding, and an off-side play lost them the ball when they had the taste of success on their lips. It was hard, but Dick stiffened up his team, and they prepared to hold the enemy.
Uniontown seemed to prepare for a kick. Instead of kicking, however, Uniontown gave the ball to Waldron, while her line buckled down to hold Fardale. Waldron shot forward, rose into the air, hurdled the line handsomely, and made six good yards before Darrell pulled him down. It was a very handsome play, and the visiting crowd had good cause to cheer.
Now Uniontown began to push Fardale back steadily. Now and then, when it was necessary to make a yard or two without fail and Fardale seemed to hold fast, Waldron hurdled. Repeatedly he was successful, and Fardale was driven back to her forty-yard line.
Dick saw that the hurdling was counting against them, and he determined to stop it. He watched closely, and the next time Waldron came flying at the line, the captain of the cadets charged from the opposite side.
With a flying leap, Dick shot upward and met the hurdler in the air above the line. Waldron had not expected this, and he was flung backward for a loss, Dick coming down upon him. The cadets roared their delight at this.
Twice after that Waldron was stopped in the same manner by Dick, who completely ruined the success of his hurdling.
When Fardale got the ball again she marched straight down the field and pushed it over for a touchdown without being checked at any point.
A goal was easily made.
Dick had a word to say to his men as they spread out for the next kick-off. He was determined to waste no time. Thus it happened that Fardale did not return the kick. Darrell caught the ball and ran sixteen yards with it before being grassed.
The signal was given for the center-back play. The Uniontown players were surprised to see little Smart take the place of the ponderous Tubbs, while Tubbs retired to full-back and Singleton became temporary quarter-back.
When they started to walk over Smart, however, Singleton backed Ted up, and then Tubbs, with the ball, came smashing into the line and bored his way along. They seized him and tried to drag him down, but he kept on for full ten yards before they could stop him.
“Great work!” laughed Dick. “On the jump now, fellows!”
“On the jump!” cried Ted Smart.
It was the signal for the old “ends-around” play. Fardale had never met Uniontown on the gridiron before, therefore the visitors were not on to the cadets’ little play of the previous year.
When the ball was snapped the ends and sides of the line seemed to melt backward before the assault of the enemy. The center held fast, while the ends swung round, followed by the opposing men, who were pushing. As they swung round they came in behind the man who had the ball, and he was thrust forward, a portion of the visitors working against themselves without knowing they did so.
Dick kept this play up, working it once or twice by pulling Tubbs back and letting him slam into the line, until the ball was driven down to within six yards of the goal-line. There Uniontown made a stand and held for three downs. But Dick himself went through on the last trial, and he managed to squirm forward after being dragged down so that the ball was six inches over the line when the piled-up men untangled.
Dick was pretty badly hurt, but he succeeded in getting on his feet, turning the ball over to Singleton. Darrell held the ball, and big Bob kicked the goal, tieing the score.
