"Or will he Sioux for damages?" put in another.

"Oh, say!" groaned Dismal Jones. "That's the worst I ever heard! It's enough to give one heart failure!"

"Come out and fight! Come out and fight!" urged the soph.o.m.ores. "You don'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 you again at some other date."

"You are certain to see me again," a.s.sented Browning. "You ran away, or we would have settled matters between us this evening. As it is, I am going to watch my opportunity to do you fairly and squarely. 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."

"You'll get that," a.s.sured Browning. "This little affair shall be arranged very soon."

"The sooner the better. Don't delay on our account."

The soph.o.m.ores, seeing it was useless to linger there and be taunted by the freshmen, began to stroll away one by one.

Up in Merriwell's room Rattleton got down his banjo and began to put it in tune. A merry party gathered there. One of the strings snapped, and as 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 his finger into the b.u.t.ter. I asked him what he was doing that for, and he said he was only feeling its muscle."

The boys who dined in the house appreciated that, and there was a general laugh. Then Harry adjusted the string and placed the banjo in tune. Pretty soon the boys were singing "Bingo," "Upidee," "Nellie Was a Lady," 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 those who have known them. Here's to good old Yale!

CHAPTER XIV.

THE RUSH.

At last the soph.o.m.ores were thoroughly aroused. The freshmen had long been carrying things with a high hand, but the rushing of a lot of them who were in dress suits and bound for a swell party was the straw that broke the camel's back.

An indignation meeting was held, and certain freshmen were placed under the ban.

Of these Merriwell was the leader, and it was agreed that every effort must be made to "take the starch" out of him. That Browning intended to "do" Merriwell was well known, but some of the others proposed to get at him.

"Wait," advised Bruce--"wait till I have had it out with that fellow.

Then you may do whatever you like with him. But I feel it a solemn duty to settle our little affair before anybody else tackles him."

The freshmen were getting their ball team in condition for the coming season, and they were practicing as often as possible. Frank was interested in the team, and it was said by those who watched him that he seemed to have the making of a pitcher in him. He had sharp curves and good control. If he had a head, they said, he was all right. But this was something that could not be decided till he had been tried in a game.

Another freshman by the name of Walter Gordon seemed certain to be the regular pitcher of the team. He had a record, as he had shown, while Merriwell would say nothing about what he had done in the way of pitching.

The students had found it extremely difficult to find out much about Merriwell, as he persistently avoided talking about himself. If he had been one of the kind of fellows who go around and brag about themselves and what they have done he would not have aroused so much interest; but the very fact that he would not talk of himself made the students curious to know something of his history.

In a vague sort of way it became known that although he lived in simple style, like any freshman whose parents were not wealthy, he had a fortune in his own right and had traveled extensively in various parts of the world.

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 soph.o.m.ores had been rushed by the freshmen, and they resolved to retaliate in a similar manner. On Sat.u.r.day afternoons the freshmen ball team practiced, and Sat.u.r.day was at hand. It would be an opportune time to meet the youngsters and make it warm for them.

The affair was carefully planned, but wind of it reached the freshmen.

As a result, the youngsters prepared for what they knew must take place.

There could be no such thing as avoiding it, so when Sat.u.r.day noon came they dressed themselves in their old clothes and started for the park, going out as much as possible in a body.

When the park was reached it was found that the soph.o.m.ores were there ahead of them. More than that, the sophs had closed and fastened the gate, and they proposed to hold it. They taunted the freshmen, and told them they would have to climb the fence if they hoped to get into the park.

Then there was a consultation among the freshmen. "We'll have to make a rush," was the universal decision.

Frank looked the ground over, and he decided that an ordinary rush would not be successful, for that was the very thing the soph.o.m.ores were expecting. But there seemed no other way of getting into the park unless they climbed the fence, and not a man thought of doing such a thing as that.

The soph.o.m.ores formed in front of the gate, five deep. In the front rank of the sophs were Browning and two 'Varsity crew men. Bruce was in the middle, with the rowers on either side. The ends were two men from the football team.

Thus the very first line of the soph.o.m.ores made a formidable array, and it is not surprising that some of the freshmen were chicken-hearted.

With a.s.sistance, Frank marshaled the freshmen, reserving a place in the first line for himself. While that might be considered a position of honor, it was the most dangerous, and every fellow there knew this rush was to be no baby play.

For companions Merriwell selected Dismal Jones, Jack Diamond, Puss Parker and a big, broad-shouldered fellow by the name of Hovey.

Rattleton and Robinson, together with a dozen others, were appointed as "scouts." It was their duty to "hook" out men from the ranks of the sophs and break the force of the enemy's rush as far as possible.

The soph.o.m.ores had likewise appointed a dozen scouts, strong, active fellows, every one of whom had shown ability as an athlete.

The sophs prepared quickly for the rush, but it took more time to get the freshmen in order. In this the seniors rendered not a little a.s.sistance.

When everything was ready the order was given, and the freshmen started forward. Those in the front line leaned back at a slant, and those behind pushed.

At the same time the soph.o.m.ores moved toward the freshmen, and then there were shouts, taunts and jeers. Each side gave its own cheer.

"This is the last of the freshmen!" cried the soph.o.m.ores. "We'll wipe them off the earth. Good-by, freshies!"

"'Umpty-seven will never be heard of again," returned the freshmen.

"They'll be angels right away."

Then the two bodies came together with a frightful impact. They had locked their arms about each other's waists, and there they clung, while they pressed upon each other with all their might.