Dick Rover's handsome face flushed with pleasure. "We won because
every player did his full duty," he said. "If we--" He broke off
short. "Great Scott, what a racket on top! Who's that capering
around?"
"It's me, thank you!" yelled Tom, with more force than good
grammar. "I'm doing an Indian war dance in honor of the victory.
Want to join in, anybody?"
"Stop it; you'll be coming through the roof. We had only one man
hurt on the field; I don't want a dozen hurt on the ride home."
"Oh, it's safe enough, Dick. If I feel the roof giving way I'll
jump and save myself," and Tom began a wilder caper than ever. But
suddenly George Granbury, who sat nearby, caught him by the foot,
and he came down with a thump that threatened to split the stage
top from end to end.
"It won't do, nohow!" pleaded Peleg Snuggers, the general utility
man attached to Putnam Hall Military Academy. "Them hosses is
skittish, and--"
"Oh, stow it, Peleg," interrupted George. "You know those horses
couldn't run away if they tried. You only want us to act as if we
were a funeral procession coming--"
A wild blast of horns from below drowned out the remainder of his
speech, and this finished, the football team and the other cadets
began to sing, in voices more forceful than melodious:
"Putnam Hall! Putnam Hall!
What is wrong with Putnam Hall?
Nothing, boys! Nothing, boys!
She's all RIGHT!
Right! right! Right! Right! RIGHT!"
Through the woods and far across the clear waters of Cayuga Lake
floated the words, followed by another blast from the horns and
then continued cheering. And their cheering was answered by others
who passed them, some in carriages and others oil bicycles. It was
a clear, sunshiny day, and nearly all of the inhabitants of
Cedarville, as well as of other villages along the lake, were out
in honor of the occasion. It had been a general holiday both at
Putnam Hall and at Pornell Academy, and the whole neighborhood had
taken advantage of it.
"I believe Captain Putnam is as proud as any of us," remarked Dick
Rover, when the excitement had calmed down a bit. "When Tom kicked
that final goal I saw him rise up and nearly pound the life out of
the railing with his gold-headed cane. I'll wager the cane is
split into a dozen pieces."
"Oh, that's nothing," put in Harry Blossom slyly. "When Tom did
his little act I saw Nellie Laning actually throw him a kiss from
the grand stand. If she--"
"Hi, below there! Who's taking my name in vain?" came from Tom,
and suddenly his head appeared at the top of one of the openings on
the side of the stage.
"I was just telling what Nellie Laning did, Tom. When you made
that splendid kick--"
"Stow it, you moving-picture camera!" cried Tom, his face growing
suddenly red. "You see altogether too much."
"Do I?" drawled Harry dryly. "Maybe. And then when Dick made his
run, pretty Dora Stanhope just put out her arms as if she wanted to
hug-- Whow!"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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