CHAPTER XIII.
JUBILANT FRESHMEN.
Spat!
Merriwell staggered.
"Down you go!"
Browning followed the freshman closely, launching out again, with thefull expectation that the second blow would be a settler.
Frank had been taken slightly off his guard, so that he had failed ingetting away from the first blow, but he skillfully ducked the second,countering as the king's fist passed over his shoulder.
Browning reeled backward, having received a terrific crack on the ear.
If Frank had not been slightly dazed he might have followed thesophomore closely, but he was a bit slow in getting after Bruce.
For a few seconds the boys gave an exhibition of scientific sparringwhich would have proved very interesting to their comrades if all hadnot been too busy to watch them.
Frank Merriwell contiuued to laugh, and it had been said at Yale thathe was most dangerous in an encounter when he laughed.
"You came near doing it, Browning," he admitted, "but it was rathertricky on your part. I wasn't looking for a fight."
"You will get many things you are not looking for before you have beenat Yale much longer," returned the king.
"Think so?"
"Dead sure."
The two lads seemed to be very evenly matched, save that Merriwell wasthe more catlike on his feet. Browning was solid, and it took a terrificblow to stagger him. Merriwell was plainly the more scientific. He couldget in and away from his foe in a most successful manner, but he sawthat in the confined limits of a ring Browning's rush would be difficultto escape.
What the result of this encounter might have been cannot be told, fortwo freshmen suddenly appeared and gave the alarm that at least ahundred sophomores were coming in a body to aid their comrades.
A moment later the sophs appeared, hurrying along the street toward thescene of the encounter.
"'Umpty-seven! 'Umpty-seven! Rah! rah! 'rah!"
Then the signal was given for the freshmen to break away and take toflight, which they promptly did.
"Oh, soph--oh, my poor soph!" cried many taunting voices.
"Good-evening, gentlemen!" called Bandy Robinson. "Shall I toss you downsoap and towels?"
"Say, fellows," cried Lucy Little, "don't you think it is rather warmout this evening?"
"Hello! hello!" shouted Rattleton. "Has it been raining, or did we havea small shower?"
Then Merriwell's beautiful baritone voice pitched the chorus of afamiliar negro melody, in which the triumphant and delighted freshmenjoined:
"Git erway from de window, mah love an' mah dove! Git erway from de window--don't yeh heah? Come eround some odder night, For dere's gwine ter be er fight, An' dar'll be razzers er-flyin' through de air."
The sophomores retired to a safe distance and then challenged thefreshmen to come out and fight. They called them cowards and otherthings, but the freshmen laughed and taunted them in return.
"Is--er--King Browning present?" yelled a freshman, leaning out of awindow. "If so, I'd like to inquire if he means to attend the party thisevening."
"If he does," said another freshman, "he will be able to obtain a dresssuit down at Cohen's, price 'von tollar ber efenin' to shentlemen.'"
"Oh, you wait till we get at you fresh ducks!" shouted back an angrysophomore. "We'll make you sweat for this!"
"Go on! you're only fooling!" sang the freshmen.
"We'll show you we're not fooling!" excitedly declared Punch Swallow."We'll scalp a few of you!"
"Ah!" cried Bandy Robinson. "He is a bad man! Methinks I can detect hiscloven foot."
"You're wrong," laughed Merriwell. "But you may have been near enough atsome time to detect his cloven breath!"
The three freshmen who were leaning out of one of the upper windowsrepeated in chorus:
"Punch, brother--punch with care, Punch in the presence of the passenjair."
Another freshman shouted:
"Say, Swallows, give us a lock of your hair. It'll save the expense ofgas in my room."
"I'd like a lock of it, too," declared another. "I'm troubled with rats,and I haven't any paris green handy."
"Oh, rats!" yelled twenty voices.
"Hello, Parker!" cried Little. "I hear you were held up last night? Isit true?"
"Oh, yes," said Rattleton. "He'd been down to Morey's, and that was theway he got home."
"But oh, what a difference in the morning," sang the freshmen.
"Ask Rattleton if he means to join the Indians?" called a soph.
"Or will he Sioux for damages?" put in another.
"Oh, say!" groaned Dismal Jones. "That's the worst I ever heard! It'senough to give one heart failure!"
"Come out and fight! Come out and fight!" urged the sophomores. "Youdon't dare to come out and fight!"
"You will have to excuse us this evening, gentlemen," said Merriwell,suavely. "We have done our best to entertain you, and we will see youagain at some other date."
"You are certain to see me again," assented Browning. "You ran away, orwe would have settled matters between us this evening. As it is, I amgoing to watch my opportunity to do you fairly and squarely. When I amdone 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 thatMerriwell 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."
"You'll get that," assured Browning. "This little affair shall bearranged very soon."
"The sooner the better. Don't delay on our account."
The sophomores, seeing it was useless to linger there and be taunted bythe freshmen, began to stroll away one by one.
Up in Merriwell's room Rattleton got down his banjo and began to put itin tune. A merry party gathered there. One of the strings snapped, andas he was putting on another Harry fell to laughing.
"What are you laughing at?" asked Bandy Robinson.
"Down at the table to-night," explained Harry, "Merriwell was poking hisfinger into the butter. I asked him what he was doing that for, and hesaid he was only feeling its muscle."
The boys who dined in the house appreciated that, and there was ageneral laugh. Then Harry adjusted the string and placed the banjo intune. Pretty soon the boys were singing "Bingo," "Upidee," "Nellie Was aLady," and other college songs. Every one of them seemed familiar with"Paddy Duffy's Cart" and its pretty chorus:
"Twinkling stars are laughing, love, Laughing on you and me, While your bright eyes look into mine, Peeping stars they seem to be."
Such glorious days and such merry nights will never come again to thosewho have known them. Here's to good old Yale!