CHAPTER XI--BOUND BY A PROMISE
A number of Dick's friends had gathered in his room to discuss footballmatters. There was considerable excitement on the team.
"Hi say has 'ow it's a blooming mistake!" excitedly declared BillyBradley, striking an attitude in the middle of the room, "We 'ave nobusiness to play with those 'owling toffs, don't y' 'now!"
"Oh, dear me!" piped up Ted Smart, who was sitting on the table. "Howcan you talk so, Sir William! I am surprised at you! Why, they areperfect gentlemen! Think how finely we were used the last time we werein Uniontown! It makes my heart thrill with pleasure to think of thatoccasion!"
"Huah!" grunted big Bob Singleton. "I suppose you mean the only time weever were in Uniontown, and that was when we played the U. A. A. thatgame of baseball last spring."
"That was a fuf-fuf-fuf-fuf-fuf----" spluttered Chip Jolliby, and thenhe stamped on the floor and made wild grabs in the air in his desperateendeavor to get hold of the word he was trying to utter.
"Whistle, Chip!" cried several, laughing at his comical contortions.
"Whew!" whistled Chip. "That was a fuf-fuf-fuf--whew!--fine old time!Why, they dud-drugged Dick, and we had to fuf-fuf-fuf--whew!--fight forour lives. We all sus-sus-sus-said we'll never go there again."
"They're coming here," squeaked Obediah Tubbs. "We'll jest wipe 'em allover the field, see if we don't. Dern my picter! you watch me sail inter'em!"
"I'd like to play one clean game of football!" grunted Singleton, hisface wearing a look of disgust. "I'm getting sick of this rough-housebusiness. What do you say, Captain Merriwell?"
Dick had been sitting quite still, as he listened to the talk of theothers. He was standing with his elbow against the corner of themantel-shelf.
"Fellows," he said, "we are in for it, as the athletic committee hasdecided to accept Uniontown's offer to fill Rivermouth's engagement.We'll have to play the game."
"But that's not saying what you think about it," said big Bob. "Why wereyou not consulted about this change?"
Dick shook his head.
"I presume they thought it wasn't necessary."
"You're the manager of the team."
"But I do not arrange the schedule, you know."
"All the same, you should have some say about a change of this sort.What?"
"It's settled now," said Dick, "and we'll have to make the best of it.We trounced those fellows at baseball last spring, for all of theirtricks."
"Bub-bub-bub-but it was a close sus-sus-sus-shave," put in Jolliby."They pup-pup-pup-pup--whew!--played all kuk-kinds of dirty tricks tobeat us."
"And this ain't no school team," put in Tubbs. "It's a so-calledathletic club team, and they kin be as dirty as they please. I'm agin'playing 'em."
"And I!" repeated several others.
"It's too late to back out now," said Dick. "If I had known there wasany talk of making this arrangement I would have gone before thecommittee and fought against it."
"The committee knew what it was doing," put in big Bob grimly. "It knewall about our trouble with the U. A. A. baseball-team, and it knew wehad declared we would never have anything further to do with thatassociation."
"For years," said Dick, "Fardale has desired to enter into contests withU. A. A. because of the money there is in it. Eaton has had theprivilege, and this school has been very jealous of Eaton. Last springUniontown gave us a baseball-game to fill in an open date, and we beattheir team."
"Wasn't it a shame!" exclaimed Smart. "We were so sorry to do it!"
"We beat them," said big Bob; "but think of the fight we had! Uniontownis full of gamblers who bet on their team. The Union AthleticAssociation is not a straight amateur organization, no matter what itclaims. It rings in professionals. Its members and officers make moneybetting on their teams and their men. That is a well-known fact."
"No one denies it," said Dick. "They expected to find us easy, but therewas one fellow who took a fancy to put me out of the game, thinking thatwould make it a sure thing for Uniontown."
"Sus-sus-so it would," asserted Chip, "You were the onlypup-pup-pup-pup----"
"The other feller was the 'pup,'" laughed Obediah Tubbs. "He! he! he!Wasn't that a funny joke!"
"The only pup-pup-pitcher we had," stuttered the lank boy, completingthe sentence after a terrible struggle to give it utterance.
"Well, this thug failed to knock you out," said Singleton. "His drug wastaken by me by accident, instead of you. And then----"
"And then," said Smart, "he sprinkled Captain Dick on the field with oneof those buttonhole-bouquet arrangements that squirts water in youreyes."
"Only his arrangement was not filled with water," said Dick.
"Hardly!" exclaimed Singleton. "He had something in it that made youblind, and you pitched the last inning when you could scarcely see thebatter."
"And cuc-cuc-cuc-cuc----"
"Cut-cut-cadawcut!" cackled Smart.
"Cuc-cuc--whew!--caught a hot liner right off the bat, putting out thelast man," said Jolliby. "That was what bub-bub-broke their hearts."
"No; it was giving up the biggest share of the gate-money that broketheir hearts," laughed Dick.
"We can do 'em again!" piped Obediah Tubbs.
"I think we can," nodded Dick; "but, as Singleton said, this business ofplaying with dirty teams is becoming tiresome. Franklin had a lot ofringers, for I have learned beyond a doubt that their man Gray, as hewas called, was Plover, the professional. The Trojan A. A. tried todefeat us by roughing it, and we have been up against that kind ofbusiness generally. It would be a pleasure to play one good, clean gamewith a school team in our class. It is this slugging, kicking, andgeneral rough-house playing that makes so many persons down on football.At best, it is not a ladies' game, but it is not brutal when properlyplayed."
"It will be a fight from start to finish with U. A. A.," said Singleton."Those fellows will want revenge for their defeat at baseball, and theywill try to get it by knocking the stuffing out of us."
"It's likely you are right about that," nodded Dick; "but we must beready for anything. We must go into the game determined to win, and Ifeel confident we can do it."
"Even if we do win," said Bob, "it does not excuse the athleticcommittee for their blunder in arranging this game. How in the worldthey came to do it is what I cannot understand."
"I 'eard as 'ow they were divided hon the matter," said Bradley. "JohnWarwick was against hit."
"And he isn't sore a bit!" grinned Smart, as usual meaning exactlyopposite what he said. "He's delighted over it."
"It may be a mistake," said big Bob; "but the report has leaked out thatthe committee was divided on the matter, and that Warne, the chairman,was compelled to vote to decide it."
There came a knock on the door,
"Come in," called Dick.
Earl Gardner entered.
"Have you heard the latest, boys?" he asked.
"The latest joke?"
"No; the latest news. Warwick has resigned from the athletic committee."
"No?" they exclaimed, in astonishment.
"It's straight goods, fellows," asserted Gardner. "He has taken himselfoff the committee, and says he will have nothing further to do with it.He has made his resignation in writing, too."
"But it may not be accepted," said Dick, who was very sorry to know thatJohn Warwick had done such a thing.
"It has been accepted already," said Earl. "Why, even now the fellowsare beginning to discuss who shall take Warwick's place on thecommittee."
"Look out, captain!" breathed Singleton. "If they get the wrong man onthat committee you'll have no end of trouble, for it will be solidagainst you. It's up to you to get busy."
There was a heavy step in the corridor and the door flew open andadmitted Brad Buckhart, who strode into the room. One glance at Bradshowed that he was excited and angry.
"Say!" he growled; "do you fellows know what's brewing round this oldacademy? Well, I'll tell you. Warwick has taken himself off th
ecommittee, and already there is a candidate in the field who is workinghard for the place. There is to be a meeting tonight to elect anotherman for the place, and the man who is after it mustn't have it."
"Why not? Who is he?" breathlessly asked the boys.
"He's Chester Arlington," said Brad; "and that is answer enough why heshould not have the position. You hear me whisper!"
Naturally Buckhart was excited. The thought of having Chester on theathletic committee, where he could use his influence in running theaffairs of the eleven, was enough to arouse the Texan.
Dick heard Brad's words without the quiver of a muscle. His lips werepressed together, and there seemed a hardening of his jaw, but that wasall.
An excited discussion started at once, but every fellow present seemedto feel that it would be a serious misfortune to have Arlington get onto the committee.
"He can't git there anyhow," squeaked Obediah Tubbs.
"He can unless the right influence is brought to bear against him,"declared Brad. "He'll do anything to make the position. He'll spendmoney like water, and he seems to have a barrel of it to spend."
"But it cuc-cuc-can't be the fellows here will be bub-bub-bought!"exclaimed Jolliby.
"Wait and see!" said Brad. "This galoot, Arlington, is mighty slick, andhe'll play his cards fine."
"If he ever gets on the committee," said Singleton, "there is going tobe trouble for this football-team. He is sore because he did not makethe eleven, and he will raise thunder. Merriwell, it is for yourinterest to see that Chet Arlington is defeated in this scheme of his."
Still Dick was silent. He was thinking of his promise to Mrs. Arlingtonnot to interfere with the ambition of her son, a promise that had beenmade in the presence of June and the gathering of plebes about thecarriage.
The keenly interested boys decided to go forth immediately and find out"what was doing." They soon left the room, only Buckhart remaining withDick. Merriwell sat on a chair, gazing at the floor, a strange look onhis handsome face. The Texan walked over and dropped a hand on Dick'sshoulder.
"Pard."
Dick looked up.
"Well, Brad?"
"This yere is no time to squat on your haunches. You want to get rightup and hustle."
"What for?"
"What for? Whoop! Great horn spoon! Didn't you hear me say that ChetArlington is laying pipes to get on the athletic committee in place ofWarwick, who has resigned?"
"Yes."
"Well, burn my hide and brand me deep! Are you going to squat and letthat onery varmint get on?"
"I don't think he will succeed."
"Then you don't know him as well as I thought you did."
"He's not a truly popular fellow."
"Is Phil Warne?"
"No."
"Warne is chairman of the committee. Is Olf Stone?"
"No."
"Stone is on the committee. Is Had Burrows?"
"I don't think so."
"He's on the committee, and he was chairman last year."
"But it is different with Chester Arlington."
"How?"
"He is a thoroughbred cad."
"Sure thing; but you saw how he stood with his own class."
"The plebes alone cannot elect him to the committee."
"They won't be alone."
"He has no popularity outside his class."
"But he's got money, and he'll use it."
"I decline to believe," said Dick, "that the fellows here at the academycan be bought."
"Say, when congressmen and senators can be bought at Washington youdon't want to bet your pile that fellows here at school are muchdifferent."
"Still I will not believe it," said Dick. "I don't care to take any partin this affair, Brad. I have enough to think of without dipping intothis. If my friends oppose Arlington they may work against him but I amgoing to keep out of it."
"That's where he wins! Why, you can go out and defeat him in an hour!Just you go to work against him and you will carry things as you like.But if you sit down and don't do a thing, the fellows will think you areindifferent, and he'll carry them."
Dick was strongly tempted to take a hand in the affair, but again hethought of his promise to Mrs. Arlington, and that held him in check.
"If Chet Arlington gets on that committee," said the Texan, "he'll haveyou in a step all the time. You hear me shout! He will work against youin every possible way, and he'll have power to hurt you. Why, you knowthat fellow has tried his best to injure the team! Do you regard him asa fit man for the committee?"
"You know I do not regard him as fit," came instantly from Dick.
"Then it's your duty to get out and hustle to keep him off!" exclaimedBuckhart. "What keeps you from it?"
"My word," said Dick, in a low tone. "I cannot break a promise."
"Is that it? Well, if you made any promise that keeps you from doingyour duty now you ought to be lynched! That's good and plain, if I haveto fight you for it! Why, maybe your promise will lead you to stop yourfriends from working against the dog?"
"No; I shall not interfere with my friends if they choose to try todefeat him."
"I'm glad to hear it!" exclaimed Brad scornfully. "Then I'm going outand get into gear. I'll work like a tiger, and it won't be my fault ifhe gets there."
Brad strode out, slamming the door and leaving Dick to his reflections,which were not entirely pleasant.
"It was a foolish promise!" he finally exclaimed. "I should not havemade it, but I did not think at the time that it might put me in asituation like this. I was thinking she meant his honest ambitions, andI would be the last fellow in the world to try to crush a chap who hadsincere ambition to get along. I wonder if that promise really bindsme?"
But when he had thought upon it for some time he concluded that he wasbound and could not exert his influence to defeat Chester Arlington inthis matter without breaking his word.
No wonder Dick was displeased and troubled over the way things weregoing at the academy. He felt that the committee had made a big blunderin agreeing to take the U. A. A. eleven to fill the place of Rivermouth,and he could not help being nettled because he had not been consulted atall in the matter. He knew the Uniontown team would fight like a lot oftigers for the game, which they would be satisfied to win by foul means,if they could not by fair. In his heart he was satisfied that Fardalewould have to put up a fiercer struggle to hold her own than she hadagainst any team for the season thus far, and the fear that she might bedefeated by trickery or treachery was far from agreeable. But to haveChester Arlington on the athletic committee--that was what troubled himmore than anything else.
"He can't get there!" Dick finally exclaimed. "It is not possible theboys here at the academy will permit it. I'm not going to worry about itany more."
Then he picked up a book and began studying. However, try as he might tofasten his mind on the text, he caught himself wondering if there was apossibility that Arlington would succeed. Who would run against thefellow for the position? It was important that whoever did so should bea popular man. Would the right fellow go into the contest?
At last, Dick flung the book aside and sprang up.
"I've got to go out and learn what is being done!" he exclaimed, seizinghis cap. "Oh, June Arlington, why did you ever have such a brother! Ifyou were not his sister it would be different."