"There is no doubt about it," said the Story-teller. "A man like Merlin would be very useful in these days, but his kind is very much like the leviathans and mastodons that lived before the flood. The race has died out, and true prophets are as scarce now as huckleberries in December.

But to come back to the story, whether there was a spring in the sword or not, Merlin was undoubtedly responsible for it, and whatever he did, he did it in Arthur's behalf, for when Candlemas day came about again the same thing happened that had happened before. The sword would not budge for any one but Arthur, and a great many people began to be convinced that he was the rightful King. There were enough dissatisfied persons, however, to make one more trial necessary, and the Archbishop, yielding to these, set one more date, that of Easter, for the final contest."

"He had to earn it, didn't he," said Mollie.

"You bet he did," said Jack. "It must have been like our medals at school. You've got to win it six times in succession, once every month, before it's yours for keeps."

"But you know about that rule before you begin," said Mollie. "It's fair enough in school, but it seems to me Arthur won it at the start, and ought to have had it."

"He certainly did win it at the start, under the terms of the contest,"

said her father. "Still it was just as well, under the circ.u.mstances, that there should be no dissatisfaction among those who lost, and as it wasn't at all hard for Arthur to pull the sword out, he couldn't complain. The others had to work a great deal harder than he did, and, in the end, got nothing for their pains."

"I guess the Archbishop kind of liked to see all those people pulling and hauling at it," suggested Jack, with a grin. "It must have been something like a circus for him, anyhow, with all those knights in their fine spangles, and their horses with splendid harness, and all that."

[Ill.u.s.tration: THEY ALL KNELT BEFORE HIM, AND HE WAS CROWNED.]

"Very likely," said the Story-teller. "That view of it never occurred to me before. It has always been a matter of wonder to me that the Archbishop made poor Arthur go through the ordeal so many times, but now I begin to understand it. He wanted to be entertained as much as anybody else, and very possibly he ordered so many repet.i.tions of the performances to that end, knowing, of course, that by so doing he could not injure Arthur's chances. Arthur had to be very careful of himself, however, between times. The other Knights were too anxious for the prize to stop at playing tricks on him, and Sir Ector saw to it that wherever he went he had a strong guard about him to keep him from harm. These guards, made up of the most faithful men in his father's service, kept watch over him night and day until Easter, when the final trial came off with no change in the result. Arthur pulled the sword lightly out of the stone, but despite their struggles the others could do nothing with it.

Then the people themselves were satisfied. The Knights may not have liked it any better than before, but the people did, and they cheered him to the echo, and said that the question was now settled for once and for all, and offered to slay any man who now dared to say that Arthur was not ent.i.tled to the throne. They all knelt before him, and he was knighted by one of the bravest men of the day, and shortly after he was crowned. It was a long trial for him, but he was patient and worthy, and withstood every test, and in the end he got his reward."

"Well, I'm glad of it," said Jack. "The way they made him work for it seems to me to have ent.i.tled him to it."

"Papa," said Mollie, after a little thought on the matter, "was this King Arthur any relation to the man Jack-the-Giant-Killer was always sending giant's heads to."

"He was the very same man," replied her father. "Why?"

"I was only thinking," said Mollie, "that if it was the same man, Jack couldn't have tried to pull that sword out, because I'm pretty certain he could have done it."

"Perhaps," said her father, "but that could only have left the question as to the rightful King unsettled."

"I don't think so," cried Jack. "Because then they'd have had to have a match between Arthur and Jack. That would have settled it."

"And who do you think would have won in that event?" asked the Story-teller.

"Well," said Mollie, dubiously, "of course, I don't know, but I'd have stood for Jack."

"I'm with you, then," said the modern Jack. "A boy who could handle giants the way he did wouldn't have had much trouble with a fellow like Arthur."

[Ill.u.s.tration: INTERSCHOLASTIC SPORT]

The rivalry between Worcester and Phillips Andover academies, which has existed ever since the two big schools first met on track and field in the New England Interscholastics, was made even greater by the dual games held at Worcester on the 8th. Andover had felt confident of winning, but a combination of hard luck and a poor and unfamiliar track tended to cause her defeat. As at Hartford, for the Connecticut H.-S.A.A. games on the same day, there was a bad wind blowing up the track which interfered with good time for the sprints, the 100 being done to the exceedingly slow time of 11-1/5 secs. The score of 62 to 50, however, does not by any means show how close the contest was, for first one side was ahead and then the other; so that it was not until the last event of the day had been decided that the Worcester contingent felt certain of their victory. To-day the Andover men are doubtless somewhat consoled by the way their athletes turned the tables on their Worcester rivals at the Interscholastics on the 15th, and the regrets for defeat must be considerably lessened by the conviction that should the Worcester contest be held again, the result would certainly be different. Andover made 25 points at Cambridge, while Worcester Academy scored but 9-2/5.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Holt, P.A. Hine, P.A. Chase, W.A.

120-YARD HURDLE RACE, ANDOVER-WORCESTER GAMES]

Where Andover suffered most at Worcester was in the bicycle race and in the 100-yard dash. Manning was fully ten yards ahead of the field in the former event, and it looked as if the dark blue were here sure of six points at least, for Palmer was coming along rapidly behind him, when the leader lost control of his wheel and fell. Palmer rushed up and tumbled almost at the same spot, leaving Forsyth the only Andover man in the race. The latter forged ahead, and by a powerful spurt pa.s.sed Campbell of Worcester, who was leading. He thought he had won as he shot past the winning post, but he had gone only seven laps, and as he slowed up the three Worcester riders went by him to take all the points at the finish. In the 100 the judges made a bad decision. Every one on the field--excepting those whose province it was to do so--saw Senn of Andover win the race by about a foot. Sargent was announced the victor, however, and for some odd reason Andover made no protest. Perhaps they were too confident of victory. But even if Senn had been awarded the first place (all the other events resulting as they did), the score would still have been in Worcester's favor--59 to 53, so the mistake of the judges was of little consequence, except to Senn as an individual.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Barker, W.A. Gaskell, P.A. Munn, P.A.

THE 220-YARD RUN, WORCESTER-ANDOVER GAMES.]

Holt of Andover did the best work for the visiting team. He captured the high hurdles in 18-3/5 secs., put the 16-lb. shot 33 ft. 6 in., and threw the 12-lb. hammer 104 ft. 6 in. In the weight events he did not equal his own best records. Laing ran a good race in the half-mile and the mile, leading all the way in both events, and in the latter he was followed home by two of his schoolmates. It is noteworthy that in almost all sports where Andover men enter they are particularly strong in the long-distance runs. The field events were the most exciting for the spectators, because the score was such that all depended on the result of these. Here the Andover men excelled, but on the track, as will readily be seen from the table of results printed in this Department last week, the Worcester athletes were superior. On the whole, the meeting between the two teams was most successful, and Worcester Academy deserves great praise for her victory. She won it by hard work, and deserved every point scored. At the present moment the Worcester schools may justly claim first place in the ranks of track athletic sports; for after the High-School's performance on Holmes Field, on the 15th, it is plain that few scholastic a.s.sociations could hope to worst them.

On the following Wednesday Andover did better. The nine met the Lawrenceville baseball team on their own grounds and it was theirs.

Everybody was surprised; even Andover. Not so much at the victory, perhaps, for P.A. men are always sanguine, but no one antic.i.p.ated a whitewash. Andover put up the best game of the year, and I have not seen Lawrenceville play worse. Men who had scarcely made any errors during the entire season m.u.f.fed and fumbled like a lot of novices; and in betweentimes the Andover men pounded the ball, and the crowd helped things along generally by plenty of shouting. Perhaps the crowd and the unfamiliar field had something to do with Lawrenceville's defeat, but it is hard to understand why the Jersey players, who have been batting well all the spring, could not find the ball when they had men on second and third. Possibly Sedgwick can explain this. Sedgwick was a host in himself, and he received such support as has not been given by the Andover players to any pitcher this season. He struck out nine of his opponents and gave only two bases on b.a.l.l.s, whereas he was. .h.i.t safely only six times. Drew, who caught him, played an errorless game; in fact, every man on the team did, with the exception of Harker, who made in the first inning the only misplay for the side.

The hard hitting of the home team would have won the game even if Lawrenceville had shown better field-work. P.A. made twelve hits, including a two-bagger, two three-base hits, and a home run. Greenway led with two singles and a three-bagger, while Barton made a two-bagger and a home run. As for the error-making, Lawrenceville took the lead in that in the fourth inning. Sedgwick got his base on b.a.l.l.s, and was thrown out at second; Greenway took first on an error and second on an error; Elliott got to first on b.a.l.l.s; Dayton followed him on an error, which let Greenway home; Waddell went to first after being struck by a ball, and after Davis had struck out both Dayton and Elliott scored on an error. Fortunately for Lawrenceville, the inning was closed by Waddell's being thrown out at third.

This is the third consecutive defeat that Lawrenceville has suffered at the hands of Andover in baseball, and never before has the victory of the Ma.s.sachusetts team been so decided. The only way to account for the Jerseymen's weakness is that they were affected by the long journey, and were probably "rattled" by the Andover crowd. This Lawrenceville nine can do better. A team that can play the University of Pennsylvania 6-8 and Princeton 2-5 ought not to succ.u.mb to Andover by 11-0. The following day Lawrenceville met Exeter, but only seven innings were played, as the visitors had to catch a train for home. When play was stopped the score stood 3-3, and there was considerable dissatisfaction on Exeter's part because the last two innings could not be finished. Lawrenceville showed better form than was exhibited at Andover, making only two errors; but Exeter was playing good ball too, and it is an open question now as to which is the better team. Next year more careful arrangements should be made, for the memory of this season's game will always be unsatisfactory.

NEW ENGLAND I.S.A.A. GAMES, HOLMES FIELD, CAMBRIDGE, JUNE 15, 1895.

N.E.I.S.A.A.

Event. Record Made by

100-yard dash 10-1/5 sec. F. H. Bigelow, W.H.-S., 1894 220-yard run 22-2/5 " F. H. Bigelow, W.H.-S., 1894 440-yard run 50-3/5 " T. E. Burke, E.H.-S., 1894 Half-mile run 2 m. 6 " S. Wesson, W.A., 1894 Mile run 4 " 34-2/5 " W. T. Laing, P.A., 1894 Mile walk 7 " 36 " P. J. McLaughlin, W.H.-S., '93 120-yard hurdle 17-2/5 " W. W. Hoyt, R.L.S., 1893 220-yard hurdle 27 " A. H. Hine, P.A., 1894 Mile bicycle 2 " 41-3/5 " A. A. Densmore, Hopkinson, '93 Running high jump 5 ft. 7-3/4 in. C. J. Paine, Hopkinson, 1893 Running broad jump 21 " 6 " C. Brewer, Hopkinson, 1890 Pole vault 10 " 6-3/4 " W. W. Hoyt, R.L.S., 1894 Throwing 12-lb. ham'r 125 " R. F. Johnson, B.H.-S., 1894 Putting 16-lb. shot 39 " 3 " M. O'Brien, E.H.-S., 1894

Event. Winner June 15, 1895. Performance.

100-yard dash J. T. Roche, W.H.-S. 10-3/5 sec.

220-yard run J. T. Roche, W.H.-S. 23-2/5 "

440-yard run R. S. Hull, W.H.-S. 53-3/5 "

Half-mile run A. Albertson, W.H.-S. 2 m. 5 "

Mile run D. T. Sullivan, W.H.-S. 4 " 42-4/5 "

Mile walk C. V. Moore, N.H.-S. 7 " 18-3/5 "

120-yard hurdle A. H. Hine, P.A. 18-1/5 "

220-yard hurdle A. H. Hine, P.A. 27-4/5 "

Mile bicycle H. Freyberg, W.H.-S. 2 " 40-3/5 "

F. Holt, R.L.S. } 5 " 7-1/2 "

Running high jump R. Ferguson, E.H.-S. } Running broad jump E. L. Mills, S.H.-S. 20 " 3 "

Pole vault B. Johnson, W.A. 10 " 7 "

Throwing 12-lb. ham'r M. Sargent, Hopkinson 119 " 4 "

Putting 16-lb. shot E. Holt, P.A. 36 " 11-1/2 "

Points made by Schools.

Worcester H.-S. 33 Andover 25 English H.-S. 12-1/2 Worcester Academy 9-2/5 Hopkinson 6 Newton H.-S. 5-1/5 Somerville H.-S. 5 n.o.ble's 4-1/5 Roxbury Latin 3-1/2 Cambridge H. and L. 3 Lynn H.-S. 2-1/5 Chelsea H.-S. 2 Chauncey Hall 1 --- Total 112

Firsts count 5. Seconds 2. Thirds 1.

The championship pennant of the New England I.S.A.A. remains at Worcester. It was carried down there by the High-School athletes last March, and they made their t.i.tle to it secure on Holmes Field a week ago Sat.u.r.day by rolling up a score twenty points greater than any Boston school--greater, in fact, than the scores of all the Boston schools put together. Andover had the satisfaction of finishing second, with her old rival, the Worcester Academy, who defeated her the week before, in fourth place. The games were well managed, and, considering the fact that there were 335 entries, the events were run off with commendable promptness. Four records were broken, and a good many others that are up pretty high already were closely approached, as the accompanying table will show. The marks that went were the half-mile, the walk, the bicycle, and the pole vault. Albertson, W.H.-S., has held the record for the 1000-yard run for two years, and his practice at that distance has made him a capable runner for the half. He kept well back in the bunch when the race started, and waited until the very last corner was behind him before he attempted to pull away from his companions. Then he spurted, and pa.s.sed the three men ahead of him, winning easily a full second under record time.

The biggest alteration of figures, however, was made after Moore of Newton H.-S. had won the mile walk. He was looked upon as a winner at the start, but no one antic.i.p.ated such an excellent performance as 7 min. 18-3/5 sec. He is as graceful in his work as any man can be in this acrobatic event, and will surely be heard from in years to come if the walk is not abolished from the amateur and collegiate programmes. The probabilities are, however, that in a very few years the walk, like the tug-of-war, will be a back number; but Moore is a good athlete, and he will surely be able to be just as prominent in some other branch of sport. The spectators were almost as deeply interested in Rudischhauser and Williams's contest for last place, as they were in Moore's struggle for first.