Some Yale man with an inclination to rhyme had composed some doggerel verse, which about twenty lads were singing to some sort of mongrel tune. "Poor Harvard she can talk-- (That's all!) At other things she'll balk; We'll beat her in a walk-- Hurrah! hurrah! hurrah! "Poor Harvard's lost her grip-- (That's so!) She's let the pennant slip, We've done her up this trip-- Hurrah! hurrah! hurrah!" "It is altogether too early in the game to crow," declared Frank Merriwell. "Several things may happen before the ninth inning is over." "Oh, we've got the game nailed solid now!" declared Bruce Browning, in a satisfied way. "Robinson will be able to get his shirts out of soak." In the fourth inning Harvard sent a new pitcher into the box. It was Coulter, who, as a freshman, had pitched against Merriwell. Coulter was nervous and rather wild at first, but he puzzled the Yale men, who could not hit him when he did get them over the plate. "If he steadies down, he will prove to be a bad man," said Frank, soberly. "This is his first trial on the regular team, and he is not at his best just now." Yale secured one score in the fourth inning, while Harvard retired with her third whitewash. In the fifth there was a change. Coulter did steady down in a most astonishing manner, for he sent the Yale men to the bench in one-two-three order. That seemed to give Harvard new life, and, when she came to bat, she showed a determination to do something. Right there was where Heffiner took a streak of wildness, and Harvard scored three times. Coulter kept up his work in the sixth, by allowing but one short single to be taken off his delivery, and no Yale man got further than second base. Then it seemed that Harvard came to the plate with a determination to "pound it out." The defenders of the crimson jumped on Heffiner's curves, and the way they banged the leather gave the Yale crowd symptoms of heart failure. A single, a two-bagger and a homer in quick succession caused Heffiner to develop a bad case of "rattles," and it seemed that Harvard would never let up. There was consternation in the Yale ranks when Harvard tied the score with but one man out, and that consternation threatened to become a panic when two more scores came in. Old Man Hicks was set at work "warming up," although it was felt that he must be a desperate resort. When Harvard scored again, Hicks was sent into the box. The change seemed to work well, for Harvard's score getting was brought to an abrupt termination. But Yale was in a desperate situation, for, at the beginning of the seventh, Harvard was three scores in the lead. Merriwell had been on the point of going down and offering to do what he could to check Harvard's wild career, but it seemed that Old Man Hicks had done that, and so he sat still.