"The Cornell beefeaters won't get the drop on Yale," returned Frank, quietly. "No, I guess not, and for that matter, so far as I can hear, there seems to be no doubt in anybody's mind that the real contest will be between Yale and Princeton." "Have you seen the Harvard men?" asked Frank. "No, but we know all about them, don't we?" "I think so. They're a game lot, but I don't think they can stand against us. The fact is, Rowland, I'm thinking more of the other events than of the tug of war just now." "So? I would have supposed you would be capable of thinking of nothing else." Frank shook his head. "The tug of war doesn't worry me a little bit," he said, "but as one of the managers I should feel pretty badly if we fell down on everything else." "Oh, we're not going to fall down; there are two or three events, you know, in which we are almost certain to win. The high leap, for example----" "That's just what I've been thinking of," interrupted Frank. "Why, are you afraid of Higgins?" Higgins was a member of the freshman class who had shown most unusual power in jumping, and had easily beaten all the other Yale students who had tried for that event. "I hear that Cornell has a man named Stover," said Frank, "who thinks he can beat everybody at the high jump." "Yes, I've heard of him, too," Rowland responded, "but what of it? Higgins has broken the record in private practice----" "That doesn't make it certain that he will do as well at the armory." "No; but he's in good condition, isn't he?" "First rate." "Then I wouldn't worry about him." "I'm not worrying exactly, and in any case, if our fellows do their best and we get beaten, there's nothing to complain of." At this point in their conversation the two arrived at the Murray Hill Hotel. They went at once to the suite of rooms that had been engaged for the athletes, and found most of the contestants reading or dozing. A few were out for a walk. All the students asked eager questions as to the final arrangements and so on. After several questions had been asked and answered, Rowland remarked: "There'll be hard times in Princeton this winter if the orange doesn't get most of the cups." "Are the Princeton men offering odds?" asked Browning. "Not quite so strong as that, but they're putting up loads of money." "Is the betting any heavier than usual?" asked Frank. "Perhaps not," Rowland answered, "but if not I must have come across the betting crowd. It seemed as if they had begged and borrowed every dollar they could lay hold of and had brought it here to put up on the different events." "How is the betting going?" asked Browning. "I didn't pay very much attention to it, but it seemed to be about even as between Princeton and Yale on the tug of war, and on some of the other events the Princeton men were asking for odds rather than giving them. "What impressed me most was that it looked as if it was the Princeton crowd that had the most money."