Burt L. Standish

“ It didn't make a dit of bifference whether it was first or last."
"That's all right," smiled Frank. "He's got sand, and I hated to nail him hard. It seemed a shame to thump such a fellow and cover his face with decorations."
"Shame? shame?" spluttered Harry. "Why, didn't he force you into a duel with rapiers, or try to? and he is an expert! Say, what's the matter with you? If I'd been in your place I'd gone into him tooth and nail, and I wouldn't have left him in the shape of anything. Have you got a soft spot around you somewhere, Merriwell?"
"I admire sand, even if it is in an enemy." ”

“ You have quite satisfied me on that point, Gordon. No man is suitable to hold a place on any kind of a crew or team if he holds it in contempt and has no confidence in it. He will not work, and his feeling of contempt will communicate itself to others, thus demoralizing the whole lot of them. Even if he kept his contempt to himself, he is not the man to work his heart out in the effort to win. He thinks it is no use to kill himself, and he will not make his best effort at any time. It is my policy to drop such a man, in case I find him out, and drop him hard. Yes, I am quite satisfied, Gordon. ”

“ The expression on Harry's face seemed to indicate that he told the truth, for he certainly looked ill.
"Don't take it to heart so, my boy," said Frank. "The poor chaps earned that game, and they ought to have it. We'll win the last one of the series, and that's all we want. Do you want to bury poor old Harvard?"
"You can't bury her so deep that she won't crawl out, and you know that. Those fellows are decidedly soon up at Cambridge, and Yale does well to get all she can from them. You can't tell what will happen next game. They have seen you, and they may have a surprise to spring on us. ”

“ Once more Rattleton's arms kept Frank from going down.
"This is no square deal!" Harry shouted. "By the poly hoker—I mean the holy poker! I'll take a hand in this myself!"
He would have released Merriwell and jumped into the ring, but Frank's strong fingers closed on his arm.
"Steady, old man!" came sharply from Merriwell's lips. "I am in this yet awhile. If Diamond finishes me he is to be let alone. The fellow that lays a hand on him is no friend of mine!" ”

“ Then Merriwell read it to his roommate.
"Oh, what a snizerable meak—I mean miserable sneak, that fellow is!" exclaimed Harry. "He goes into a dirty piece of business like this, and then he gets down and crawls—actually crawls!"
"I have no doubt but his mother is proud of him," said Frank. "He says he is an only son. It is his mother, not Ditson, I am thinking about. I do not wish to cause her so much pain."
"Oh, come off! If a fellow is such a snake as Ditson, he must get it from his parents on one side or the other. Perhaps his mother is not so good." ”

“ Then Frank felt himself lifted to the shoulders of his enthusiastic admirers and carried to the home plate of the ball ground, where the freshmen cheered again and again.
The sophomores were filled with rage and chagrin.
"That was the blamedest trick I ever heard of in all my life!" declared Andy Emery. "We weren't looking for anything of the kind."
"And we have Merriwell to thank for it!" snapped Evan Hartwick. "He's full of tricks as an egg is full of meat." ”

“ It was a person who was stripped to the waist and painted and adorned like a redskin, his face striped with red and white and yellow, his hair stuck full of feathers, and his body decorated with what seemed to be tattooing.
"Bive me a gear—I mean give me a beer!" gasped that fantastic individual. "I am nearly dead!"
"It's Rattleton!" shouted the freshmen.
They crowded around him.
"Well, say, you are a bird!" cried Lucy Little, whose right name was Lewis Little.
"A regular bird of paradise," chuckled Bandy Robinson.
"Where are those fellows?" demanded Frank Merriwell. ”

“ Harry stopped short before Frank, thrust his hands deep into his pockets, hunched his shoulders, thrust his head forward, and glared fiercely into Merriwell's face.
"There are times when it positively is a crime not to swear," he hoarsely said. "It seems to me that this is one of the times. If you will cuss a little it will relieve my feelings immensely."
"Why don't you swear?" laughed Frank.
"Why don't I? Poly hoker—no, holy poker! I have been swearing all the way from Cambridge to New Haven, and I have completely run out of profanity." ”

“ When the Virginian felt that he had Frank cornered he was astonished to see Merriwell slip under his arm and come up laughing behind him.
Merriwell's laughter filled Diamond's very soul with gall and wormwood.
"Wait!" he thought. "He laughs best who laughs last."
"Give it to him, Frank!" urged Rattleton. "You'll get out of wind dodging about, and then it will not be so easy to finish him off."
But Frank saw that in a scientific way Diamond was no match for him, and he disliked to strike the fellow. ”

“ Roland Ditson was at Diamond's side in a twinkling.
"Come, come, old man!" he whispered; "get up and get into the game again! Don't let them count you out!"
But the Virginian was gasping for breath, and he did not seem to hear the words of his second.
"That settles it," said Puss Parker, promptly.
"Better wait and see," advised Bruce Browning. "Diamond may not give up when he gets his breath."
"It doesn't look as if he'd ever get his breath again."
Harry Rattleton was at Frank's side, swiftly saying:
"Why didn't you knock him out and show the fellows what you can do? ”

“ So, to the delight of the Harvard crowd, Yale was whitewashed again, and there seemed no show for the New Haven boys to win.
Walter Gordon remained on the bench, and Frank walked down into the box. Then came positive proof of Merriwell's popularity, for the New Haven spectators arose as one man, wildly waving hats and flags, and gave three cheers and a tiger for Frank.
"That's what kills him!" exclaimed Pierson in disgust. "It is sure to rattle any green man." ”

“ When I am done with you one of us will be beautifully licked."
"And that one will not be King Bruce," declared Andy Emery.
"Say! say! say!" spluttered Rattleton. "I'll go you a shot that it is! I'll stand you a supper for twenty at any place you'll name that Merriwell knocks the everlasting stuffing out of Browning."
"Done!" returned Emery.
"You name plime and tace—I mean time and place, and we'll be there, you bet!" declared Harry. "All we want is a fair deal." ”

“ Say, if you think I am a sneak and a tattler, say so, for I want to know it. I don't care to room with any fellow who doesn't trust me."
Harry was angry, and Frank felt very sorry.
"Old man," said Merriwell, meeting Rattleton's sullen glance with a frank, open look, "I do trust you, and you should know it. There is no fellow in college I would as soon room with. Still, you should know there are some things a man cannot honorably tell even his chum." ”

“ He had hoped to be a leader at Yale, but, to his dismay, he found that he did not cut much of a figure after all, and Frank Merriwell, a fellow who never drank or smoked, was far more popular. Then it was that Ditson conceived a plot to bring Merriwell into ridicule and at the same time to get in with the enemies of the freshmen—the sophomores—himself.
At last he had learned that at Yale a man is not judged so much by the money he spends and the wealth of his parents as by his own manly qualities. ”

“ Harry looked at Merriwell and then shook his head.
"He'll never do that," he said, hoarsely. "We'll have to arrange this duel. There is no other way for it."
Between the ages of sixteen and twenty-three blood runs hot and swift in the veins of a youth. It is then that he will do many wild and reckless things—things which will cause him to stand appalled when he considers them in after years.
Frank believed that in order to retain his own self respect and the respect of his comrades he must meet Diamond and give him satisfaction in any manner he might designate. ”

“ Roll stopped near a table and picked up a stick of grease paint.
"Hello! what's this?" he exclaimed. "Aren't going into amateur theatricals, are you, Merry?"
"Oh, I don't know," smiled Frank. "I may do a turn."
Ditson looked at Merriwell curiously, as if in doubt concerning his sincerity, but Frank simply continued to smile.
"Indian red," said Roll, reading the lettering on the stick. "You don't mean to become a big chief, do you?"
"Perhaps so."
"Well, you are pretty sure to become a big chief here at Yale, old man," said Ditson, with apparent earnestness. ”

“ Roll Ditson strolled in, smoking a cigarette, and said:
"Hello, Merry! Hello, fellows! What's up? Council of war?"
"Just that," said Dan Dorman. "Merry is perfecting a scheme to put a horse on Browning."
"Eh? Browning? Great Scott! Is that so? He's a bad man to monkey with. Better let him alone, Merry."
Ditson had a patronizing way that was offensive to Frank, who had given him numberless digs; but he was too thick to tumble or he deliberately refused to take Merriwell's words as they were intended.
"You'll have to kick him before he knows he's not wanted," Rattleton had said. ”

“ Merriwell returned. "A man must have some individuality. If you do everything everybody wants you to, it won't be long before they'll not want you to do anything."
"Oh, well, what's the use to be always hanging off and getting yourself disliked?"
"One extreme is as bad as the other. Now, I make allowances for Diamond, and I am not inclined to believe him such a bad fellow."
Harry Rattleton flung a book across the room.
"Oh, you give me the flubdubs!" he exploded. "Why, that fellow hates you, and he means to do you some time. Still you are soft enough to say he's not such a bad fellow! ”

“ You have even been so unreasonable that whenever a poor red man has secured a few paleface scalps as trophies to hang in his wigwam you have taken your trusty rifles and gone forth with great fury and shot the poor Indian full of hard bullets. You have done heap many things that you would not have done if you had not done so. But now, poor, shivering dog of a paleface, the injured red man has arisen at last in his might. If we are to perish, we are to perish; but before we perish, we will enjoy the gentle pleasure of roasting a few white men at the stake. ”

“ Danny Griswold came to the bat.
"Get me home some way, Danny," urged Frank.
The little shortstop said not a word, but there was determination in his eyes. He grasped his stick firmly and prayed for one of his favorite high balls.
But Peck kept them low on Danny, who took a strike, and then was pulled on a bad one.
With two strikes on him and only one ball, the case looked desperate for Danny. Still he did not lose his nerve. He did not think he could not hit the ball, but he made himself believe that he was bound to hit it. ”

“ Even when he slept near morning the Southerner continued to grind his strong white teeth.
Collins was dropping off to sleep from sheer weariness when he awoke to find his roommate astride him and clutching him by the throat.
"This time I'll fix you!" mumbled Diamond, thickly. "I'll kill you, Merriwell—I'll kill you!"
Then he struck feeby at Collins, who rolled over and flung him off. They grappled, and it was a severe struggle before Diamond was flung down on the bed and held.
"What in thunder is the matter with you?" gasped Collins, whose hair was standing. "I'm not Merriwell! ”

“ Walter thumped the table with his fist, growing angry suddenly.
"You're a hanged two-faced fraud!" he huskily cried. "That's jusht what you are, Ditson! Somebody's been telling things to the sophs. They found out everything. It was you! And you pumped your points out of me when I was full."
"That didn't hurt you," Ditson hastened to declare. "It was entirely to hurt Merriwell, and he is our common enemy."
"Don't care a continental if he is!" cried Walter. "I don't like him, but you have hurt me. Bet anything Merriwell and Old Put thought I had blowed! ”

“ When he had lead the man far enough so that he was sure the other fellows had plenty of start, Harry tossed aside the gun, which was an old muzzle-loading, single-barreled affair.
The panting farmer stopped and picked up the gun, then he stood and shook his fist at Rattleton, who was speeding away like a deer.
"Oh, I'll report ye—I will, by jee!" he vowed over and over.
In the meantime Merriwell had had a most exciting adventure. He had found the turkey roost and had selected the biggest old gobbler of them all. ”

“ A deep sigh of relief came from the masked lads, and some of them showed an inclination to cheer Merriwell.
Diamond seemed nonplused for the moment. He glared at Frank, his hands clinched and his face pale.
At last he slowly said:
"A duel is something no gentleman can blow about, so if you are a gentleman you will have to remain silent, sir." ”

“ We have decided that the joy of the red man is fleeting. To-night a flush mantles your dark cheeks, but to-morrow it will be a bobtail flush. What have we to live for but vengeance on the white man and a little booze now and then? ”

“ Don't you ever cuss, Frank?"
"Never."
"Well, I'd like to know how you can help it on an occasion like this! That is what gets me."
"Never having acquired the habit, it is very easy to get along without swearing, which is, beyond a doubt, the most foolish habit a man can get into."
Rattleton held up both hands, with a look of absolute horror on his face.
"Don't—don't preach now!" he protested. "I think the habit of swearing is a blessing sometimes—an absolute blessing. A man can relieve his feelings that way when he can't any other." ”

“ He had a long, sad face, but he was full of deviltry, and it was very seldom that the freshmen entered into any affair against the sophomores that he was not on hand and interested.
"Lay on and spare not!" he cried, after the style of a camp-meeting revivalist. "If the wicked entice thee, consent thou not. Get behind me, Satan! Brothers, oh, my dear brothers! it makes my heart sad and weary to see so much wicked strife and contention."
Punch Swallows, the red-headed soph, found himself pitted against Lucy Little. ”

“ If the next Yale man had not been altogether too eager to get a hit, there is no telling when the inning would have stopped. He sent a high-fly foul straight into the air, and the catcher succeeded in gathering it in.
The inning closed with quite a change in the score, Harvard having a lead of but three, where it had been seven in the lead at the end of the sixth.
"I am afraid they will get on to Merriwell this time," said Sport Harris, with a shake of his head.
"Hey!" squealed Rattleton, who was quivering all over. "I'll give you a chance to even up with me. ”

“ Evan Hartwick could not crush down his powerful dislike for Merriwell. He admitted to Bruce that he felt an almost irresistible desire to strike the cool freshman whenever they met.
"I wouldn't advise you to do it, my boy," lazily smiled Browning, who was growing fat again, now that he was no longer in training. "He is a bad man to hit."
"It depends on what he is hit with," returned Hartwick, grimly. "You made a fool of yourself when you failed to break his wrist, after paying twenty-five toadskins to learn the trick. ”

“ It is a bad thing for any freshman to get an exalted opinion of himself and his abilities, for it is likely to spoil him. I don't want to spoil Merriwell—"
"Look here," interrupted Collingwood, impulsively. "I am inclined to doubt if it is an easy thing to spoil that fellow. He hasn't put on airs since coming to Yale, has he?" ”

“ Frank's silence seemed to cast an air of mystery about him, and that air of mystery made him all the more interesting, for the human mind is ever curious to peer into anything that has the flavor of a secret.
The sophomores had been rushed by the freshmen, and they resolved to retaliate in a similar manner. On Saturday afternoons the freshmen ball team practiced, and Saturday was at hand. It would be an opportune time to meet the youngsters and make it warm for them. ”