Football -- Juvenile fiction; Schools -- Juvenile fiction
Such a hullabaloo! Leonard, laughing, awaited his chance. It came. The
defenders of the Moody street approach forgot him entirely and went
rushing toward the door of the restaurant. Leonard slipped swiftly
from the cab and followed, taking his place in the rear ranks of the
enemy. The driver of the taxi, his fifty cents safely in his pocket,
chuckled and swung back toward Market street.
Something over a hundred freshmen came together in a confused, pushing,
shoving mass before the restaurant entrance. Accusations of dereliction
of duty were frequent. Denials answered them. The masterful Higbee,
striving to make his voice heard above the tumult, demanded proof.
Assertions and denials battled for supremacy. Staples had gone in.
Staples hadn’t gone in. Lots of fellows had seen him. They were crazy.
Higbee waved a hand in exasperation. The policeman from the corner
appeared suddenly in the scene, his good-natured voice mildly exhorting
them to “move on now and don’t be blocking the sidewalk.” Slowly they
gave back, flocking into the street. Across the thoroughfare the
group of juniors, laughing enjoyably, forgot their neutral status and
proffered wicked advice.
“Go on up and get him, Freshies! Don’t let him fool you that way!”
Fortunately perhaps, the noise was still too great for the advice
to reach the freshmen. And just then a window went up on the second
floor of the building, and the shade was pushed aside. “_Oh, Fresh!_”
Comparative silence fell, and the crowd in the street craned their
heads and sought the voice, slowly backing from the entrance in their
effort to see. “_Oh, Fresh!_” Again the mocking challenge. A mutter
arose from the throng that grew rapidly into a roar of futile rage. At
the window Slim Staples smiled benignly down and waved a gay hand.
“Who wins the bet?” he called.
“A cold dinner for you, Slim!” shouted a freshman shrilly. A shout of
approval went up, but Slim shook his head.
“Haven’t started yet,” he answered. “Oysters just coming up!” Grinning
faces appeared behind Slim’s at the window. “Now then, fellows, three
hearty groans for the Freshman Class!”
With a final wave of his hand, Slim disappeared, the window closed,
and the long white shade fell back into place. A dismal silence held
the throng below. Only the unkind laughter of the juniors disturbed
the quiet of the moment. And in that moment, made desperate by Slim’s
mention of oysters, a boy in a white sweater that was somewhat too
large for him, detached himself swiftly from the group and sped toward
the doorway. The shout of warning came too late. So, too, did the
effort of the startled policeman. The latter’s hands came away empty,
and Leonard, caroming from a corner of the doorway, righted himself
and went scurrying up the flight of stairs.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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