Dave Darrin's Fourth Year at Annapolis: Headed for Graduation and the Big CruiseHancock, H. Irving (Harrie Irving)
General
Dave Darrin's Fourth Year at Annapolis: Headed for Graduation and the Big Cruise
Hancock, H. Irving (Harrie Irving)
United States Naval Academy -- Juvenile fiction
The entire Brigade of Midshipmen cheered under its cheermaster.
Thousands of blue and gold Navy banners fluttered through the
stands.
That safety had counted two on the score for the Navy.
Given breathing time, the Army now brought the ball out toward
midfield, and once more the savage work began. The Navy had gained
ten yards, when the time-keeper signaled the end of the first
period.
As the players trotted off the Navy was exultant, the Army depressed.
Captain Douglass was scowling.
"You fellows will have to brace!" he snapped. "Are you going
to let the little middies run over us?"
"I shall have no bad feeling, suh, if you think it well to put
a fresh man in my place, suh," replied Cadet Anstey.
"Hang it, I don't want a man in your place!" retorted Douglass
angrily. "I want you, and every other man, Anstey, to do each
better work than was done in that period. Hang it, fellows, the
middies are making sport of us."
Among the Navy players there was not so much talk. All were deeply
contented with events so far.
"I've no remarks to make, fellows," Captain Wolgast remarked.
"You are all playing real football."
"At any rate Darry and his grinning twin are," chuckled Jetson.
"My, but you can see the hair rise on the Army right flank when
Darry and Danny leap at them!"
In the second period, which started off amid wild yelling from
the onlookers, the Army fought hard and fiercely, holding back
the Navy somewhat. During the period two of the cadets were so
badly hurt that the surgeons ordered them from the field. Two
fresh subs. came into the eleven, and after that the Army seemed
endowed with a run of better luck. The second period closed with
no change in the score, though at the time of the timekeeper's
interference the Navy had the ball within eleven yards of the
Army goal line.
"We've got the Navy stopped, now, I think," murmured Douglass
to his West Point men. "All we've got to do now is to keep 'em
stopped."
"If they don't break our necks, or make us stop from heart failure,
suh," replied Cadet Anstey, with a grimace.
"We've got the Army tired enough. We must go after them in the
third period," announced Captain Wolgast.
But this did not happen until the third time that the Navy got
the pigskin. Then Darrin and Dalzell, warned, began to run the
ball down the field. Here a new feint was tried. When the Navy
started in motion every Army man was sure that Wolgast was going
to try to put through a center charge. It was but a ruse, however.
Darrin had the pigskin, and Dalzell was boosting him through.
The entire Navy line charged with the purpose of one man. There
came the impact, and then the Army line went down. Darrin was
charging, Dalzell and Jetson running over all who got in the way.
The halfback on that side of the field was dodged. Dalzell and
Jetson bore down on the victim at the same instant, and Dave,
running to the side like a flash, had the ball over the line.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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