CHAPTER XVI.

DICK’S AMAZING HURDLE.

FARDALE. POSITIONS. HUDSONVILLE.

Burrows Right end Fisher Stanton Right tackle Tilton Douglass Right guard Clove Buckhart Center Glennon Gordan Left guard Dinsmore Blair Left tackle McBride Kane Left end Swett Shannock Quarter-back Haggerty Nunn Right half-back Church Kent Left half-back Aiken Singleton Full-back King

Above is the line-up of the two teams that faced each other on Fardale field that Saturday afternoon.

Although it was said that, under the treatment of the doctor, Dick Merriwell had improved rapidly, yet his friends claimed that he was unable to play, and might not leave the hospital for a day or two.

The absence of Dick from the team made some changes necessary, and, on the advice of Frank Merriwell, Substitute Kane was placed at right end, while Don Kent was put in Dick’s position as left half-back.

Uric Scudder noted with regret the absence of Merriwell, for it had been his desire that the fellow he hated should be knocked out by the slugger, Glennon.

"All my trouble for nothing," he thought bitterly. "Wish I had never written that letter. Oh, that wretched letter! It may get me in no end of trouble."

He was troubled and worried, for he could not keep his thoughts from the rotten wharf, beneath which the unlucky boy had disappeared, and before his mental vision seemed to rise the slimy spilings, with the rushing tide gurgling about them. In fancy he saw a gruesome form floating beneath the old wharf, knocking against the spiles and whirled with the eddies of the restless water. He shivered and grew cold whenever he thought of this.

Hudsonville was swaggering and confident, and the captain of the team expressed regret that Merriwell was not on hand to take his drubbing with the rest of the Fardale aggregation.

The game began by Fardale kicking off, but the strong westerly wind carried the ball out of bounds, and it was brought back, for Big Bob to have another try. On the second trial Singleton booted the leather savagely, sending it to the ten-yard line of the enemy, where it was captured by Aiken, who rushed it back fifteen yards before being downed.

Beginning operations in earnest on their twenty-five-yard line, Hudsonville walked into Fardale in a manner that seemed to appal the cadets at first, and not till they were within eight yards of the center of the field were they held and forced to kick.

King drove the ball to Fardale’s thirty-five-yard line, but Kent ran it back ten yards, and there Fardale lined up to see what she could do against the enemy. Then Shannock was heard giving the signal:

"5—Y—21—17—100—11."

The ball was snapped, and Shannock passed it swiftly to Kent. Don leaped forward like a flash, the others closing round him, and he went bang into Hudsonville’s center.

Only two yards were made, although the other backs had given Kent as much impetus as possible, and had tried to ram him through for a good gain.

Two yards were something, however, and the home team lined up courageously for the next assault.

"2—32—6—31—X—43—100," came the signal from the quarter.

And then the ball went to Captain Nunn, who repeated Kent’s plunge into center, only to be held rigidly without making a foot.

Glennon laughed in Nunn’s face.

"It won’t work twice," he said.

Fardale had found the enemy’s center hard to break. The home team did not hesitate, however, and next came the signal for Kent to try a run round the end.

It happened that Hudsonville was looking for just this kind of a play, and, although Don did his best, he was simply forced out of bounds without a gain.

Then Fardale was compelled to bring the ball in for a kick, in order to avoid the loss of the oval on downs as the probable result of another rush.

Singleton did not cover himself with glory this time, for he drove the ball only to Hudsonville’s forty-yard line, and Tilton got back to within five yards of the center of the field before being turfed.

Then the onlooking Fardale enthusiasts saw Hudsonville again batter through the home team and quickly carry the ball over the center, putting the cadets on the defensive in their own territory.

"What’s the good of all Merriwell’s secret practise?" said Jabez Lynch, who was watching from the lower tier of seats. "Our fellows are playing the same old simple game. I haven’t seen anything new thus far."

"Perhaps we’ll see something later," said Tod Hubbard, who was at Jabez’s side.

"Let us hope so," sneered Lynch. "I want Fardale to win to-day, for Dick Merriwell will think he’s the whole team if we lose when he’s off."

Hudsonville kept Fardale going till the ball was lost on a fumble twenty yards from the home team’s goal. Once more Fardale attempted to advance by a mass-formation attack on the enemy’s center, but secured no ground.

Then came the first new play of the day. At the signal the whole right end of the Fardale team seemed to melt and vanish, but the line went across like a flash, and reenforced the left wing, Douglass backing Blair, Stanton behind Gordan, and Burrows supporting Buckhart. Close behind this mass was Kent, with the ball, guarded by Nunn and Shannock on one side and Kane and Singleton on the other.

Before Hudsonville could mass to resist this attack, Fardale had swung her right end backward and round for a gain of full twelve yards.

How the watchers cheered! This was what they desired, and they were delighted.

A repetition of this play, with the left end backing the right, netted seven yards more, and Fardale’s colors were waving joyously.

"There is some of the work Merriwell has been drilling them on," said Tod Hubbard. "It’s proving good, too."

"But it’s dead simple," said Lynch, with curling lip. "Anybody could have devised that kind of a play, and it will prove bad for Fardale before we are through with this game. Wait till Hudsonville gets onto it for fair, and then see what those chaps do to the line-over trick."

It was some time, however, before Hudsonville seemed prepared to meet the new line-over formation, but the visitors finally found a method of breaking up the interference and getting to the man with the ball, so that the effectiveness of the play was ended. By this time, however, the first half was nearly finished, and neither team had scored.

Fardale was doing better than had been anticipated, although she seemed unable to threaten the enemy’s goal.

Realizing that the first half was drawing to a close, Hudsonville hammered into Fardale in a deadly manner. Douglass had been doing great work in defense, and he was spotted by Glennon. At the end of a furious scrimmage Hugh was found stretched senseless on the ground. Glennon had been able to get in his work at putting a dangerous man out of the game.

Somehow, it seemed that Fardale became alarmed, for Hudsonville carried the ball to within twenty yards of the home team’s goal. There, however, the spirit of the cadets revived again, and the advance was checked.

After it was seen that another down that did not net three yards would give the ball to the home team, the visitors decided to try to kick a goal from the field. Fardale saw what was to be attempted, and every effort was made to break through the line and spoil the kick. King, however, was given plenty of time, and he drove the ball over the bar in handsome shape.

Hudsonville had scored, and the wisdom of this kick for goal from the field was shown when the whistle blew shortly after, ending the half, with the tally standing 5 to 0, in favor of the visitors.

"Too bad!" said Jabez Lynch. "Unless we can do better in the last half the cry will go up that we have lost the game because Merriwell was not playing."

"It’s strange," said Tod Hubbard, "that they didn’t give you a show when Merriwell was taken sick."

"Strange!" sneered Jabez. "Nothing strange about it! It simply shows the nasty feeling against me."

"Didn’t you expect they would give you a show?"

"Well, if I hadn’t expected it, I’d never——" Right there Jabez checked himself suddenly, and the expression on his face seemed to indicate that he feared he had said too much.

"You’d never what?" asked Hubbard.

"Never mind," growled Lynch, getting up. "I’m going to move round and stretch my legs during the intermission."

"Now, I wonder what he started to say," thought Hubbard, as Lynch walked away. "He’d never done what? What did he do that made him fancy he might get a chance in this game?"

The question remained unanswered, but Tod continued to ponder over it.

The work of the Fardale team in the first half had been anything but satisfactory to Frank Merriwell, and he was fearful that the second half might prove even more disastrous. However, he did his best to encourage and liven the men while they were being rubbed down during intermission.

"That’s all right, pard," said Brad Buckhart, in his breezy way; "but there’s no use denying that this here team is weakened mightily by the loss of that boy Dick. Why, he’s a holy terror on ten wheels, he is! If he could get into the round-up now, we’d have those galoots milling before the next half was quarter played. You hear me shout!"

Captain Nunn came to Frank.

"We need Dick," he said. "I can see a big difference in the team without him."

"He wanted to play, badly enough." said Merry. "He was begging the doctor to let him come out not an hour before the game began."

"Is he going to be sick long?"

"I think not."

"It’s queer he was taken so suddenly. What did the doctor say was the matter with him?"

A grim look came to the face of Frank Merriwell.

"Poison!" he said.

"What?" gasped Steve. "You don’t mean—— Why, how was he poisoned?"

"That is the mystery, but there are plenty of ways to drop something into a glass of water in the mess-hall."

"Great Scott!" exploded Nunn. "You don’t suppose anybody did that?"

"I don’t know; but the doctor has plainly said that he must have taken some sort of a drug, and I know he never took it of his own accord."

"Well, somebody ought to be lynched!" Steve declared. "That’s the worst I ever heard about!"

"Say nothing," warned Frank; "we may find out some time who did it."

The time for the second half to begin came round, and once more the two teams spread out on the field for the kick-off. This time it was Hudsonville’s turn to open the game, and King led off with a handsome long drive into the home team’s territory.

Singleton returned the kick, doing almost as well, the difference being not more than three yards. Back came the ball from King, and Kent believed he saw a splendid chance to make a good run and cover himself with glory. The ball struck in his hands, but he was too eager to get a start, and he muffed it.

Fisher came down like a swooping hawk, caught up the ball, and was brought to earth with it nine yards from Fardale’s goal.

Kent’s face was white and his heart was full of shame over his bad piece of work. He fancied he could hear the spectators saying that Merriwell would never have done anything like that, had he been playing the position.

Hudsonville was bristling with confidence, feeling sure Fardale would be easy in this half, but this very confidence made the visitors altogether too sure of carrying things their way. And they little realized what a desperate stand the cadets could make in the last ditch.

Fardale gave the enemy only a single yard in the first onset. The second resulted in no gain, but the third made another yard. However, that left three yards to gain on the next attempt in order to retain the ball.

Still overflowing with confidence, the visitors tried a double pass for a round-the-end play, and right there they lost the ball to the home team on downs.

Again the dogged spirit of resistance instilled into the Fardale team by Frank Merriwell had enabled the cadets to prevent the enemy from making a touch-down when the goal seemed within reach. But Hudsonville was determined to keep the fighting close to Fardale’s goal, and the line-across play now proved utterly worthless in enabling the cadets to advance.

"You’re pretty good," said Haggerty; "but we’re better."

"Maybe so, partner," retorted Brad Buckhart; "but we haven’t reached the end of this here drive. Can’t always count on your steers till you have them in the corral."

"Well, we’ve got this lot pretty nearly into the corral," laughed Haggerty.

Shannock gave the signal, and, with the line holding hard, Don Kent shot across and round Hudsonville’s right end. He had made ten yards when Tilton brought him down.

The ball escaped Kent as he fell, and that accident, which seemed unfortunate for the moment, proved lucky, for Nunn had come through with Don, and he scooped up the ball on the jump, getting off with it.

Steve ran nearly to the center of the field before he was brought down, and the Fardale witnesses were given another chance to cheer, while Hudsonville snarled at its own luck.

"Well, darn my hoofs!" laughed Brad Buckhart, as the two lines formed again. "This bunch seems to be headed in the other direction all of a sudden."

"Luck!" declared Haggerty. "You may thank your stars."

Fardale’s courage was good, but she could not shove the ball over the center line, try as she might. The battle raged fiercely, but Hudsonville managed to keep it in Fardale’s territory, and it was apparent all along that something might happen almost any time to give the visitors another tally.

The minutes passed, and to the watchers it became more and more apparent that the cadets were "up against the real thing."

"Oh, for Dick Merriwell!" sighed more than one of the watchers.

Fardale was doing her best, but the game was lost unless she could do better.

With the ball in her possession, the home team attempted a center-back play, in which they had been coached by Merriwell; but they did not carry it through skilfully, and the result was a loss of two yards.

This caused Merriwell’s enemies to sneer again at his secret practise and original plays. But Frank, who was watching everything closely, knew the lack of success came through the failure of the team to perform the play rapidly and without hesitation. It would require still further practise to make Fardale efficient in the new formation.

Now and then Frank looked at his watch. At last he called Teddy Smart to his side and whispered something in his ear.

"Will I?" exclaimed Smart, his face brightening. "Not for the world! Oh, no!"

"Wait," said Merry, catching hold of him, and again he whispered in Ted’s ear.

Then Smart was seen to turn and run from the field as if his life depended on reaching a certain point in a very few seconds.

The game went on, Fardale doing her best when driven to extremities, but failing to come out strong in aggressive play. The Fardale crowd continued to cheer, but it was generally admitted that the cadets could win only on a fluke. The fluke, however, did not come, and Fardale began to fag and show signs of exhaustion before the continued sledge-hammer onslaughts of the enemy.

Finally the home team showed signs of giving out entirely. Substitutes were sent out to fill the places of both Kane and Blair; but that did not brace the team up sufficiently to enable it to hold Hudsonville. With things going their way, the visitors smashed a path down the field till they were within five yards of Fardale’s line, and they must have made a touch-down but for a bungling pass by Glennon.

Buckhart came through like a frightened mustang and slammed himself down on the ball.

Less than five minutes would end the game. Although Fardale had gained possession of the ball, her case seemed utterly hopeless. The only good of kicking was to get the ball away from the danger-point, but that would simply give it back to Hudsonville, something that meant absolute and certain defeat.

So Fardale lined up for a final despairing effort, and Kent was sent to try to circle the left end of the enemy. Don did his level best, but was brought down without making a foot.

The line-across was tried on the right wing of the visitors, and Hudsonville showed she was onto that style of playing by ripping wide the formation and downing Nunn without an advance being secured.

A revolving formation struck Hudsonville’s center, only to find that part of the line like a wall of granite.

The spectators groaned, for the only thing left, as it seemed, was to kick, and that meant defeat.

Just when the friends of Fardale were looking for the worst to happen, across the field there came a yell that was so strange and wild and shrill that it brought nearly everybody standing.

The cry came from the lips of Old Joe Crowfoot, who, wrapped in his red blanket, had appeared. At the old redskin’s side walked a youth wearing a bathrobe. His face was pale and firm, and there was a light of eagerness in his dark eyes.

A great shout went up from the crowd.

"Dick Merriwell!" roared two hundred voices. "Dick Merriwell!"

Jabez Lynch was with Tod Hubbard once more, and he exclaimed:

"Well, now, I wonder what they are going to do? Is it possible they’re going to run a sick man in there at the last moment? Ha! ha! ha! Well, of all the fool tricks I ever heard about! What do they imagine he can do? Now they will show him up!"

"He’s not going in," said Hubbard. "He’s shown himself just to have people yell for him."

Then they saw Dick Merriwell suddenly fling aside his bathrobe and run onto the field. And the sight of him caused, exclamations of wonder to break from the lips of nearly every one, for, instead of wearing the accustomed football uniform, Dick was dressed in a light running-suit, his legs and arms bare, and on his feet were running shoes, having, however, rubber cleats on the bottoms.

Everybody was standing now, and the excitement was intense. Scores were asking questions which no one seemed able to answer.

As Merriwell came out, Bob Singleton walked off the field, which made it plain that Dick would take big Bob’s place as full-back. Getting into position, Dick began to swing his right leg in a very suggestive manner.

"He’s going to kick, that’s all," was the general opinion.

This caused the excitement to subside somewhat, for a kick meant that Fardale had given up the last hope of winning, and was simply trying to keep Hudsonville from securing further points.

Everything was ready, and the two lines faced each other, Captain Nunn having a last word with one or two of his men.

No signal was given, but, of a sudden, the ball was snapped, and Shannock passed it cleanly and handsomely to Merriwell.

The Hudsonville tigers charged and tried to break through, but now Fardale stood firm, not yielding an inch, and the two lines crushed together, rigid and motionless for a moment.

In that moment the most amazing thing ever seen on Fardale field happened.

With a whirlwindlike dash, Dick Merriwell ran straight toward the line, the ball hugged under his arm. Then up into the air he shot like a bird, and, with the grace of a fawn, he passed directly over the heads of his friends and antagonists in the line!