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"He finally found himself slugged under the ear and sentflying over a chair."]
FRANK MERRIWELLAT YALE
BY
BURT L STANDISH
1903
CONTENTS
CHAPTER
I--Trouble BrewingII--Challenged and HazedIII--The BlowIV--The FightV--The FinishVI--A Fresh CouncilVII--A SurpriseVIII--The "Roast" at East RockIX--The DuelX--At Morey'sXI--"Lambda Chi!"XII--Freshman Against SophomoreXIII--Jubilant FreshmenXIV--The RushXV--On the Ball FieldXVI--To Break an Enemy's WristXVII--Talking it OverXVIII--Merriwell and RattletonXIX--Who is the Traitor?XX--A Hot ChaseXXI--Roast TurkeyXXII--A Surprise for FrankXXIII--The Yale SpiritXXIV--Gordon Expresses HimselfXXV--The Traitor DiscoveredXXVI--The RaceXXVII--A Change of PitchersXXVIII--The Game Grows HotterXXIX--The End of the GameXXX--Rattleton is ExcitedXXXI--What Ditson WantedXXXII--Ditson is TrappedXXXIII--"Play Ball"XXXIV--A Hot Finish
FRANK MERRIWELL AT YALE,
CHAPTER I.
TROUBLE BREWING.
"Here's to good old Yale--drink it down! Here's to good old Yale--drink it down! Here's to good old Yale, She's so hearty and so hale-- Drink it down! Drink it down! down! down!"
From the open window of his rooms on York Street Frank Merriwell heardthe distant chorus of a rollicking band of students who had been havinga merry evening in town.
Frank had passed his examinations successfully and had been admitted asa student at Yale. In order to accomplish this without taking apreparatory course at Phillips Academy, he had found it necessary tovigorously "brush up" the knowledge he had acquired at the FardaleMilitary Academy which was a college preparatory school.
Professor Scotch, Frank's guardian, had been of great assistance to him,for the professor knew just about what would be required at theentrance examination, and he had kept the boy digging away away at thepropositions in the First Book of Euclid, had drilled him in Caesar,caused him to spend weary hours over Virgil and the Iliad, and made himnot a little weary of his Xenophon.
As he passed without a condition, although he had been told again andagain that a course at Phillips Academy was almost an absolutenecessity, Frank was decidedly grateful to the professor.
Professor Scotch's anxiety had brought him to New Haven, where heremained "till the agony was over," as Frank expressed it. The littleman bubbled over with delight when he found his _protege_ had gonethrough without a struggle.
Having secured the rooms on York Street, the professor saw Frankcomfortably settled, and then, before taking his departure, he attemptedto give the boy some wholesome advice.
"Don't try to put on many frills here the first year," he said. "Youwill find that freshmen do not cut much of a figure here. It doesn'tmake any difference what you have done or what you have been elsewhere,you will have to establish a record by what you do and what you becomehere. You'll find these fellows here won't care a rap if you havediscovered the North Pole or circumnavigated the globe in--er--ah--tendays. It will be all the better for you if you do not let them know youare rich in your own name and have traveled in South America, Africa,Europe, and other countries. They'd think you were bragging or lying ifyou mentioned it, and--"
"You know well enough that I am not given to boasting about myself,professor, and so you are wasting your breath," said Frank, ratherresentfully.
"Hum! ha! Don't fly off the handle--keep cool. I know you have sand, andyou're made of the right kind of stuff; but you are the greatest hand toget into scrapes I ever saw, and a little advice won't do you any harm.You will find that in many things you cannot do just as you would like,so you must--"
"I'll get into the game all right, so don't worry. You will rememberthat I did fairly well at Fardale, and you should not worry about mewhile I am here."
"I will not. You did well at Fardale--that's right. You were the mostpopular boy in the academy; but you will find Yale is far different fromFardale."
So the professor took his departure, and Frank was left to begin life atcollege.
His roommate was a rollicking, headstrong, thoughtless young fellow fromOhio. Harry Rattleton was his name, and it seemed to fit him perfectly.He had a way of speaking rapidly and heedlessly and turning hisexpressions end for end.
Frank had been able to assist Harry at examination. Harry and Frankwere seated close to each other, and when it was all over and the twoboys knew they had passed all right, Harry came to Frank, held out hishand, and said:
"I believe your name is Merriwell. Mine is Rattleton and I am from Ohio.Merriwell, you are a brick, and I am much obliged to you. Let's roomtogether. What do you say?"
"I am agreeable," smiled Frank.
That was the way Frank found his roommate.
Harry was interested in sports and athletics, and he confided to Frankthat he was bound to make a try for both the baseball and footballteams. He had brought a set of boxing gloves, foils, and a number ofsporting pictures. The foils were crossed above the mantel and thepictures were hung about the walls, but he insisted on putting on thegloves with Frank before hanging them up where they would be ornamental.
"I've taken twenty lessons, old man," he said, "and I want to point youa few shows--I mean show you a few points. We'll practice every day, andI'll bet in less than ten weeks I'll have you so you'll be able to holdyour own with any fellow of your age and weight. Ever had the gloveson?"
"A few times," answered Frank, with a quiet smile.
"That's all the better. I won't have to show you how to start in. Here,here--that hand goes on the other glove--I mean that glove goes on theother hand. That's the way. Now we're off. Left forward foot--er, leftfoot forward. Hold your guard this way. Now hit me if you can."
Almost like a flash of lightning Frank's glove shot out, and he causedthe glove to snap on Harry's nose.
"Whee jiz--I mean jee whiz!" gasped the astonished boy from Ohio."You're quick! But it was an accident; you can't do it again."
He had scarcely uttered the words before Frank feinted and then shot ina sharp one under Harry's uplifted guard.
"Great Scott! You do know some tricks! I'll bet you think you can box!Well, I'll have to drive that head out of your notion--I mean thatnotion out of your head. Look out for me now! I'm coming!"
Then Harry Rattleton sailed into Frank and met with the greatestsurprise of his life, for he found he could not touch Merriwell, and hewas beaten and hammered and battered about the room till he finally felthimself slugged under the ear and sent flying over a chair, to land in aheap in one corner of the room. He sat up and held his gloved hand tohis ear, which was ringing with a hundred clanging bells, while hestared astounded at his roommate.
"Wow!" he gurgled. "What have I been up against? Are you a prizefighter in disguise?"
That experience was enough to satisfy him that Frank Merriwell knew agreat deal more than he did about boxing.
As Frank sat by his window listening to the singing, on the evening thatthis story opens, he was wondering where Harry could be, for hisroommate had been away since shortly after supper.
Frank knew the merry singers were sophomores, the malicious andunrelenting foes of all freshmen. He would have given not a little hadhe been able to join them in their songs, but he knew that was not to bethought of for a moment.
As he continued to listen, a clear tenor voice struck into that mostbeautiful of college songs when heard from a distance:
"When the matin bell is ringing, U-ra-li-o, U-ra-li-o, From my rushy pallet springing, U-ra-li-o, U-ra-li-o, Fresh as the morning light forth I sally, With my sick
le bright thro' the valley, To my dear one gayly singing, U-ra-li-o, U-ra-li-o."
Then seven or eight strong musical young voices came in on the warblingchorus, and the boy at the window listened enchanted and enraptured,feeling the subtle charm of it all and blessing fortune that he was ayouth and a student at Yale.
The charm of the new life he had entered upon was strong, and it wasweaving its spell about him--the spell which makes old Yale so dear toall who are fortunate enough to claim her as their _alma mater_. Hecontinued to listen, eagerly drinking in the rest of the song as it camethrough the clear evening air:
"When the day is closing o'er us, U-ra-li-o, U-ra-li-o, And the landscape fades before us, U-ra-li-o, U-ra-li-o, When our merry men quit their mowing, And along the glen horns are blowing, Sweetly then we'll raise the chorus, U-ra-li-o, U-ra-li-o."
The warbling song died out in the distance, there was a rush of feetoutside the door, and Harry, breathless and excited, came bursting intothe room.
"I say, old man," he cried, "what do I think?"
"Really, I don't know," laughed Frank. "What do you think?"
"I--I mean wh-what do you think?" spluttered Harry.
"Why, I think a great many things. What's up, anyway?"
"You know Diamond?"
"The fellow they call Jack?"
"Yes."
"I should say so! It was his bull pup that chewed a piece out of the legof my trousers. I kicked the dog downstairs, and Diamond came nearhaving a fit over it. He's got a peppery temper, and he was ready tomurder me. I reckon he thought I should have taken off my trousers andgiven them to the dog to chew."
"He's a Southerner--from Virginia. He's a dangerous chap, Frank--just aslief eat as fight--I mean fight as eat. He's been in town to-night,drinking beer with the boys, and he's in a mighty ugly mood. He says youinsulted him."
"Is that so?"
"It's just so, and he's going to dallenge you to a chewel--I meanchallenge you to a duel."
Frank whistled softly, elevating his brows a bit.
"What sort of a duel?" he asked.
"Why, a regular duel with deadly weapons. He's awfully in earnest,Frank, and he means to kill you if you don't apologize. All the fellowsare backing him; they think you will not fight."
"Is that so? Looking for me to show the white feather, are they? Well, Ilike that!"
"But you can't fight him! I tell you he's a fire eater! I've heard thathis father killed a man in a duel."
"And that makes the son dangerous! No, Harry, I can't afford to--What'sall that racket?"
The sound of voices and of many feet ascending the stairs could beheard. Harry turned pale.
"They're coming, Frank!" he exclaimed. "It's the whole gang, and Diamondis with them. He means to force you to fight or squeal!"