CHAPTER IX
Hammered into Shape
LIKE a sheaf of arrows, the other telegrams sped over the country, and most of them went straight to the mark. A mining engineer in Montana got one, and pulled up stakes at once. A rising young lawyer in Minneapolis found it necessary to look up some data in the old college library. A guest on a houseboat down near Jacksonville made hurried excuses and came North by the first train. Others felt urgently the need of a brief vacation from their accustomed duties and acted promptly on the impulse. Not a week had elapsed before ten of the dozen were on the scene of action. Of the remaining two, one was up in the North Woods and could not be reached, and the other was on his honeymoon.
They had a royal welcome from the coach, who had not doubted for a moment that they would heed the call. He knew that the old war horses would "sniff the battle from afar" and come galloping to the fray. Now that they were there, he felt the lightening of the tremendous load of responsibility he had been carrying since the beginning of the season. These men were not theorists, but from actual experience knew every point of the game from start to finish. Now he could divide his men up into squads, each one presided over by an expert who could coach each individual player in the duties of his position, while Hendricks himself could exercise a general supervision of the whole.
"It was bully of you fellows to come," he said, as they gathered in his rooms, as full of life and ginger as so many two-year-old colts. "And, now that you are here, I'm going to give you plenty of work to do. Heaven knows there's enough to keep you busy if we're to have a ghost of a show to win this fall."
"What's the seat of the trouble?" asked Ames. "Are they shirking? Are they too light? Many accidents? Come, get it off your chest. Tell us the sad story of your life."
"It wasn't so sad until lately," grinned "Bull," "and up to a week ago I didn't feel the necessity of weeping on any one's shoulder. In fact, I was beginning to think that the team was the real goods. They walked all over the Army, and what they did to Dartmouth was a sin and a shame. Then somebody must have wished a hoodoo on us and things began to happen."
And he narrated in detail the unexpected way in which three of his best men had been whisked off the team, and the results that followed.
"The fellows simply got in the doldrums," he went on, "and, with a few exceptions, have played like a lot of schoolboys. They seem to have forgotten all that they ever knew. Now you fellows know as well as I do that when a team slumps in that fashion there's only one thing to do. We've got to have new blood, new faces, new tactics. That's the reason I sent for you fellows. The boys know you by reputation. They've heard of the big things you did when in college, they look up to you as heroes – "
"Spare our blushes!" exclaimed Hadley.
"And it will give them a new inspiration," went on the coach, not heeding the interruption. "They'll forget their troubles and play like fiends to justify your good opinion, and to show you that the honor of the old college is safe in their hands. I want you to teach them all you ever knew, and then some.
"I'm not asking you to make bricks without straw," he continued. "The stuff is there for a crackerjack team. We're a bit short on beef, and I'd like to have an average of five pounds more in the line. But I've got the finest back field in the country, bar none. Wilson at full is simply chain lightning, and the whole country will be talking of him by November. Axtell is one of the most savage tacklers I've ever seen, and if he can only get his conditions worked off soon, we won't have to worry about right half. Morley, the man I put in his place, is a dandy, but doesn't come up to Axtell. Henderson at quarter is as quick as a cat and as cunning as a fox. Trent at center and Drake at right end are as good as they make 'em. Those fellows I've named are stars. The rest are good, but I've seen as good and better on many a Blue team.
"Now that's the way I size them up, and I want you fellows to go to it. There are just about enough of us to take a man apiece. Do what you like with them. I'll stand for anything short of murder. Work them till their tongues hang out. Knock it into them if you have to use an axe. Every day counts now. Do you realize that the game with the 'Maroons' is only three weeks off? If it were to-morrow they wouldn't leave anything of us but a grease-spot. And the 'Greys' wouldn't leave even that."
"Leave it to us," answered Ames, grimly voicing the general sentiment. "We'll give 'em medicine in allopathic doses, and it will be a case of 'kill or cure.'"
And promptly the next afternoon they proceeded to make good their threat. They went at their men hammer and tongs from the start. And the boys responded at once to this drastic treatment. There was a general brace all along the line. A new factor had been injected into the situation. The listlessness of a few days back gave place to animation, and before half an hour had passed the coach was delighted at the way his plan was working.
In order that the newcomers might get a line on their style of play, the whole team was put through the fundamentals. The tackling dummy was brought out, and the players in turn launched themselves against it to the accompaniment of stimulating cries:
"Harder."
"You're too low."
"That was a love tap."
"Batter it."
"Above the knees."
"Slam the life out of it."
"Too ladylike."
"Once more."
"Murder it."
And there was no let up until the tackling was as savage as even the most exacting of the visitors demanded.
Then followed practice in falling on the ball in such a way as to shelter it with hands and knees, while avoiding having one's breath knocked out by the fall; running with it tucked under the arm so securely that no grab of the enemy can dislodge it; getting down under kicks fast enough to take advantage of any fumble by the enemy in trying for a "fair catch;" getting a quick start the moment the ball was snapped back, and a dozen other elemental features that constitute the alphabet of the game. The boys had practiced these things a hundred times before, but they can never be done too often or too well; and to-day under the new stimulus they outdid themselves. Each tried to surpass his fellows and worked as he had never worked before.
After an hour of this, they were lined up for two ten-minute sessions with the scrubs. The play was sharp and snappy and every move was followed by keen and critical eyes that nothing, however trivial, escaped. By the time the team had rolled up twenty points and held their opponents scoreless, the volunteer coaches knew pretty well the defects that would have to be corrected, and just what work was cut out for them.
The coach was immensely pleased. Once more he saw daylight ahead.
"What do you think of them, Butch, now that you've clapped your eyes on them?" he asked, as they strolled off the field.
"All to the good," said Ames, sententiously. "Of course it's far from being a finished team as yet, but you've got some first-class material to work on. You're a little weak at the end of the line, and right tackle can stand a lot of improvement. But all the fellows seem willing, and that goes a long way. I didn't see one that appeared to be holding back."
"That fullback of yours is a peach," broke in Hadley. "He comes pretty near to being a team in himself. If he once gets a start, there's nothing that can ever catch him."
"He's the fastest man in college," replied Hendricks. "He's the fellow that carried off the Marathon at the Olympic Games in Berlin. And he's as game as he is speedy. You ought to have seen the way he stood McAlpin on his head when we played the Army. That fellow was as big as a house and as full of grit as a gravel path, but he wasn't one-two-three with Wilson. If all the boys were like him I'd have the championship won right now."
"What made a hit with me," commented Lawrence, "was that classy bit of dodging when he went down the field for sixty yards toward the end of the game. At least six of them tried to stop him, but he slipped by them like a ghost. And yet he ran almost in a straight line. All the dodging was done by the swaying of his hips and shoulders. A man that can do that comes pretty near to being the king of them all."
"You haven't any kick coming on your center and quarterback either," broke in Allen. "Jove, they're a pair of dandies. They work together like a well-oiled machine. They're playing with their heads as well their feet all the time. They've got the snap-back and the forward pass down to perfection. And they're a stone wall when it comes to the defense."
"Two of my very best," assented Hendricks, "and as sandy as the Sahara desert. It's around those three that I've had to build up my team."
"Those three," all unknowing of the comments that were being made on their work, were at the moment engaged in getting their bath and rubdown, never more grateful than just now after their strenuous labors of the afternoon.
"That was a course of sprouts for fair," remarked Tom when they were putting on their clothes.
"They certainly put us through our paces," assented Dick. "I haven't been so tired since the Army game."
"Just what we dubs needed," affirmed Bert. "Did you notice the snap and pepper in the team? It's the first time for a week that we've known we were alive. We're going to be a real football team after all. 'The cat came back,' and why shouldn't we?"
"I suppose it was due to that lot of 'old grads' looking on," surmised Tom. "Gee, when I thought of all those fellows leaving their work and traveling hundreds of miles for the sake of the old college, it made me ashamed of myself. I felt like going through a knot hole and drawing the hole in after me."
"Same here," said Dick. "And they can bully-rag me all they like. There'll be never a squeal from me. I'll work my head off to show them that we're fit to wear the Blue."
"Hear! hear!" exclaimed Bert. "That's the real tobasco. And I'll bet there isn't a fellow on the team that doesn't feel the same way."
They were still stirred by this feeling of elation when, after a hearty supper, they reached their rooms. What was their surprise on opening the door to find Axtell sprawled out in a chair, his feet upon the window sill. He grinned affably.
"Come right in and make yourself at home," he greeted.
"What are you doing here, you old flunker?" laughed Bert.
"Take back them cruel woids," demanded Axtell. "Flunker," he went on meditatively, "it hath a right knavish sound. Beshrew me, if I fling it not back in the teeth of any caitiff knight that dare put such shame upon me."
A great light dawned upon them.
"What!" cried Dick. "You old rascal. You don't mean to say that you've worked off your conditions?"
"You speak sooth," was the reply, "albeit your wonder at the same pleasureth my pride but little. For less than that my sword hath ofttimes drunk the blood of churls."
They fell upon him and pounded him till he was out of breath.
"Glory hallelujah!" shouted Tom.
"The best news I've heard since Hector was a pup," declared Dick.
"Now we've got a fighting chance," exulted Bert. "By Jove, old scout, you don't know how the team has missed you."
Axtell flushed with pleasure.
"Maybe I won't be glad to get back with the gang again," he ejaculated. "Gee, for the last two weeks I've felt like a sneak. I can't forgive myself for getting in such a fix, just when we were in such good shape and going like a house afire. You bet that from now on my record will be as clean as a hound's tooth."
"Bully!" said Bert. "I think you've done wonders though, to get rid of the conditions so soon. You must have worked like a horse."
"I've worked all right," said Axtell grimly. "It was the least I could do, heaven knows. Some nights I haven't gone to bed at all. Even at that, I felt a little skittish when I went up for my exam. But I was desperate and went in largely on my nerve. When the Prof. looked over my papers I thought I heard him mutter to himself something that sounded like: 'All Gaul is divided into three parts and you've got two of them.' But that may simply have been my guilty conscience. At any rate I got away with it, and the old sport gave me a clean bill of health."
"It's like getting money from home," affirmed Dick. "Maybe 'Bull' Hendricks won't be tickled to death. He'll kill the fatted calf if he can find one straying loose around the training quarters."
"O, he'll fall on my neck all right – with a club," remarked Axtell drily. "When it comes to disguising his joy, 'Bull' is a dandy actor."
"Don't you believe it," said Bert. "But how about your accomplice in crime?"
"O, Hodge will be coming along soon," was the reassuring reply. "He's been working just as hard as I have or harder. But he's had two to make up, where I had only one. He's hired a tutor to coach him and is cramming away like mad. He told me this morning he thought he'd be ready to go into the torture chamber by the end of this week."
"That'll be all to the merry," jubilated Tom. "Honest, Axtell, we've been all at sea since you fellows have been away. Winston has done fairly well at tackle, but he can't seem to start quickly enough when it comes to blocking. 'Bull' has been trying out Chamberlain in place of Ellis, but he gets mixed on the signals. He plugs away like a beaver, but finds it hard to get them straight. Morley is doing fine work at half, but he can't fill your shoes when it comes to tackling. Of course I don't know what 'Bull' will do, but I have a hunch that he'll take Chamberlain out and put Morley there permanently, as there isn't a chance in the world for Ellis to come back in time."
"Poor old ," mourned Bert. "Game to the core, that boy. It nearly broke his heart when his ankle went back on him, but he never whimpers. He hopes to be out on crutches in time to see the big games. Told me yesterday, when I dropped in to see him, that when it came to yelling for the boys we'd find his voice was all right even if his leg was on the blink."
"Plucky old scout," agreed Axtell, "and one of the best men we had. But now I must be going. I'll toddle over and give 'Bull' a chance to welcome back the prodigal son. It'll be an affecting greeting," he grinned.
But if he had expected to be "skinned alive" for his shortcomings, he was agreeably disappointed. The coach was too delighted at the strengthening of the team to dwell too much or too sternly on the defection that had thrown it out of gear. He gave him a fatherly talk, pointed out the necessity of keeping his studies up to the mark from that time on, and put it up to him to "play the game" both in the classroom and on the field for all it was worth. Then he dismissed him with an injunction to turn up early for practice the following day.
The reinstated halfback went away with his eyes shining and his heart elate. Once more "his foot was on his native heath." And the dignified "Bull," after a cautious glance around to make sure that no one was looking, indulged himself in the luxury of an impromptu Highland fling.
CHAPTER X
In the Enemy's Country
ONE afternoon, after practice, "Bull" Hendricks called Bert aside and said: "I want you to stay a few minutes after the others have gone, Wilson. Reddy and I have something we want you to do."
"All right," was the reply, and accordingly, after the other members of the squad had finished dressing and had left the dressing room Bert lingered behind. In a few minutes the coach walked into the apartment, followed by Reddy.
"Reddy and I," began Hendricks, "have decided that we want something a little more definite than rumor concerning one or two of the rival teams. We have talked the matter over, and what we want you to do is this. Next Saturday afternoon, as of course you know, the 'Maroons' and 'Greys' are scheduled to play off the game that was postponed on account of bad weather. We want to get a line on the two teams, but both Reddy and myself are too busy just at present to take the time off. But we thought you could go over and size things up about as well as we could. You understand the game thoroughly, and in addition I believe know how to use your head for something besides eating."
"You compliment me more highly than I deserve," laughed Bert. "But," more seriously, "I'll be glad to do anything you want me to that will be of any service in helping the team to win."
"Well, it will be a help," said the coach. "We hear one thing to-day, and the exact opposite to-morrow, so we never know what to believe. But if you go and see this game, you ought to be able to get a pretty fair line on the real state of affairs."
"The only trouble is," worried Reddy, "that the team will practically miss a whole afternoon's practice, because it's not much we can do without Wilson."
The little trainer would never have made this admission had he not been very sure of his man. But he knew Bert's sterling character well enough to be sure that the remark would cause no case of "swelled head."
"We'll get along some way," said Hendricks, "and the team is in good enough shape now to afford taking it easy one afternoon. We'll just practice on signals, and they'll be all the better for a little let up."
"In that case," suggested Bert, "why couldn't I take Dick and Tom along with me? You know the old saying that 'two heads are better than one,' and on the same plan, three heads ought to be better than two."
"At that rate you'd have the entire college going over there and giving the whole thing away," grunted Hendricks, "but I suppose you might as well take them along. The chances are you won't be noticed in the crowd, and if you are there's no special harm done. There's no law against players from one team going to see another team play."
"An' what's more," put in Reddy, "I don't believe one o' them can think real well unless the other two is hangin' around somewheres close by. It sure beats the Dutch, the way them three lads holds together."
"Well," said Bert, "that 'holding together,' as you call it, has been a mighty good thing for each of us at one time or another. Looked at in one light, it's a sort of mutual benefit affair."
"Whatever it is, it seems to work pretty well," remarked Hendricks, "and it's results that always make a big hit with me."
They then proceeded to arrange the details, and it was decided that the three boys should leave immediately after breakfast on Saturday. When everything had been settled Bert took leave of the coach and trainer and sought out his friends.
After he had explained the plan to them, Tom threw a book he had been studying into a far corner, and gave a shout of delight which was echoed by Dick.
"Some class to us, all right," exulted Tom; "it shows old Hendricks must have some confidence in us, even though he'd probably be pulled to pieces before he'd admit it."
"I suppose he must have," grinned Dick, "although up to this time I will confess that I never suspected it."
"Well, we'd better not look a gift horse in the mouth," said Bert. "The fact remains that we're in for an afternoon of good sport. It will certainly be a pleasure to me to watch somebody else play football for a change. And before the afternoon is over, you can take it from me I'm going to know all about the comparative strength of their teams and ours that there is to know."
"Well, you may be able to learn something, seeing that I'll be along to explain the fine points of the game to you and see that you understand what is going on," said Tom. "I suppose the coach realized that there wouldn't be much use in sending you over alone, and that's why he told you to ask us to go too."
"You certainly hate yourself, don't you?" grinned Bert. "However, I won't lower myself to answer you, merely remarking in passing that your words are only worthy of the deepest contempt."
"Is that so?" replied Tom. "I'm afraid if you pull much more of that stuff I'll have to find a quiet nook for you in my private graveyard. I'd have done it before only that I find myself somewhat overcrowded even now."
"Say, cut out that nonsense, you two, and get down to business, will you?" interrupted Dick. "What time are we supposed to leave here, Bert?" he asked.
"Right after lunch," responded that individual. "I'll get a time table, and we'll see what will be the best train to take."
"I know a better way to go than by train," said Dick.
"What's that – walk?" inquired Tom sarcastically.
"Please don't be any more foolish than you can help," said Dick with elaborate politeness; "what I was about to say was, that I think I know where I can borrow an automobile for the afternoon. How does that idea strike you?"
"Greatest ever," ejaculated Bert, "but where in the world are you going to get the car?"
"Leave that to your Uncle Dudley," replied Dick. "I met an old friend the other day. He's visiting relatives in the town for several weeks. He has all sorts of money, and sports two 'devil wagons.' He told me I could have the use of one any time I had a mind to ask for it, so I don't think I'll have any trouble on that score."
"That seems too good to be true," said Bert. "Suppose you look up your friend this evening after supper and make sure of getting the car. It's better to know in advance what we can count on."
"I'll do that," promised Dick, "and if I get back in time I'll let you know if everything is all right. If I get back late I'll tell you about it in the morning."
Matters were left in this state, and it was not until the next morning that the boys learned of the success of Dick's visit to the town.
When they caught sight of him in the morning, Bert and Tom did not have to question him.
"It's all right fellows," he said. "I fixed it all up, and we can have the car any time we want it. And the one we're going to use is a peach, too."
"That's certainly fine," said Tom. "We'll make the trip in tip-top style all right."
"People will think we're regular swells, for fair," agreed Bert.
"I think we'd better pose as a rich man traveling with his chauffeur and valet," said Tom. "I'll be the rich man, Dick can be the chauffeur, and Bert can be the valet."
"All right," said Bert, "but under those conditions, I insist on being paid in advance."
"So do I," grinned Dick. "I refuse to run that car a foot until I'm paid in full, a year in advance, cash down."
"If you feel that way about it," grumbled Tom, "I'll be forced to fire you both and run the car myself. All you fellows think of is money anyway, it seems to me."
"Well, if you can't pay us I suppose we'll have to pose as just three friends traveling together," laughed Bert. "That's the only way out of it that I can see."
"I'll have to let it go at that I suppose," said Tom; and after a hearty laugh the boys dispersed to their recitation rooms.
Practice that afternoon was fast and hard, and it was a tired trio that met that evening in Bert's room to make final plans for their trip the next day. They decided to walk to the garage where the automobile was kept, and Dick showed them a written order his friend had given him authorizing him to take the car out.
"Your friend has certainly done everything up in fine style," commented Bert; "he must be a good man to know."
"He's a brick," said Dick enthusiastically; "we used to be in the same class in school, and we were always good friends. I'd like to have you fellows meet him."
"Yes, I'd like to get acquainted," said Tom. "It seems funny we haven't met him before."
"Well, you see, his folks moved West when we were both youngsters, and that's the reason," explained Dick, "otherwise I suppose you would have."
"Well, probably we will before he leaves town," said Bert. "But now, how about to-morrow?"
"Why, right after breakfast to-morrow," said Dick, "we'll go straight from the training table to the garage. We won't have any more than enough time as it is. It must be a matter of a hundred miles or more, and we want to travel easy and allow for possible breakdown and delay."
As there seemed to be no objection to Dick's plan, the boys adopted it. Immediately after the morning meal they set out for the town, and after a brisk walk reached the garage.
Here they sought the proprietor, and Dick showed him the written order from Moore, his friend.
"Oh, yes, that will be all right," said the garage man. "Mr. Moore told me that you would call for the car at about this time, so I've been expecting you. There she is, over in the corner, the big gray one there."
He indicated a big gray touring car, and the three comrades walked over to it. It was, as Dick had told them, a beautiful machine, and they piled in with many expressions of admiration. As Dick had procured the car the honor of driving it naturally fell to him. He manoeuvred the big automobile skilfully out of the garage, and they were soon spinning smoothly over an ideal country road. The car behaved perfectly and Dick was enthusiastic over it.
"We could get twice the speed out of it that we are now," he exulted, "but I'm not taking any chances to-day. We owe it to the team to be careful."
"Right you are," agreed Bert. "There's no use taking risks when we don't have to. At this rate we'll eat up the distance in mighty short order anyway."
And indeed, it was no great time before they reached their destination and were bowling through the streets.
They left the car at the local garage, and made their way to the field, guided thereto by a constant stream of chattering and laughing people evidently bound for the same place. They obtained good seats and sat down to await the beginning of the game.
Before long the "Grey" players trotted out onto the field, and were shortly followed by the "Maroons." Both teams went through their preliminary practice with snap and "pep," and received enthusiastic applause from their admirers in the stands. Then the actual play began, and the three comrades noted every play and formation with the greatest attention. They were resolved to justify the coach's confidence in them, and to be able to give him an accurate line of "dope" when they returned to their Alma Mater.
The game was fast and furious, but at the end of the first half the "Maroons" were leading by one touchdown. Excitement ran high at the opening of the second half, and a battle royal began. But the "Greys" fought fiercely, and by a splendid run down the field made a touchdown and tied the score. Then, in the last three minutes of play, they forced the ball over for another touchdown, and the day was theirs.
"Well!" exclaimed Bert as they filed out with the crowd, "both those teams have the 'goods,' but I think the 'Greys' are just a shade better than the 'Maroons.'"
"I do, too," said Tom, and this seemed also to be Dick's opinion. They made their way to the garage, and as it was now almost dark, Dick lit the lamps on the car. Then they purred smoothly along the macadam road and after a delightful ride through the crisp autumn air delivered the car safely into its garage before midnight.
The next morning they were received with an uproarious welcome when they made their appearance at the training table. The other members of the team had a pretty good idea of where they had been, and assailed them from every side with questions. But they kept their own counsel, reserving their information for the ears of the coach, and knowing that he would tell the team all that he thought fit.
After the meal was over they repaired to the training quarters, where they found the coach awaiting them.
"Well," he said, "what luck?"
Speaking for his comrades, Bert related the story of the game, and the coach listened attentively. When Bert had finished, he asked a number of crisp questions of each of the three boys, and their answers seemed to satisfy him.
"Well," he growled, when at last he rose to go, "I can go ahead now with more certainty. You fellows have done better than I expected." Which from Hendricks was high praise.
"We've certainly got our work cut out for us," said Bert after the coach had departed. "I haven't a doubt in the world but what we can beat them, but just the same we'll have to do our prettiest to get the long end of the decision."
"Bet your tintype we will," said Tom; "both those teams are a tough proposition for anybody to handle. But there will be all the more glory for us when we win."
"That's the talk!" exclaimed Dick, "there's no fun in winning a game where you don't get hard opposition, anyway."
Meanwhile Hendricks had wended his way back to the training quarters, where he sought out Reddy.
He gave the red-headed trainer a brief outline of what the boys had told him, and Reddy listened attentively, once or twice breaking in with a question or two.
"So it seems," said Hendricks at last, winding up his discourse, "that the team we've really got to look out for is the 'Greys.' According to the report of our three boys, they are mighty strong on the attack, and nothing behindhand on their defense."
"It looks that way," acquiesced Reddy, nodding his head, "the lads did pretty well, don't you think?"
"They did," agreed Hendricks; "they got just the information that I was after. And what do you think," he added with a laugh, "they weren't content to go by the train or trolley, but borrowed an automobile and went in style."
"Sure, and it's like themselves," grinned Reddy, "if I was runnin' a business I'd be afraid to give those byes a job. They'd be ownin' the plant in less than a year."
"I believe they would," said Hendricks. "They're natural born winners."