Those Smith Boys on the Diamond; or, Nip and Tuck for VictoryGaris, Howard Roger
General
Those Smith Boys on the Diamond; or, Nip and Tuck for Victory
Garis, Howard Roger
Baseball stories
“Well, if we find out who of you Freshies did it, there’ll be something
_else_ doing,” was the angry retort of the Seniors, since, just before
leaving the stone, Cap had painted on it in hastily scrawled characters:
“COMPLIMENTS OF THE FRESHMEN.”
“Don’t you wish you knew?” demanded Pete, with a wink at his brothers.
“What would you do if you did know?” asked Bill.
“Make you fellows roll it back with your noses,” was the grim answer.
“How in the mischief did they do it?” some of the cooler-headed Seniors
wanted to know.
“Why the little beggars must have used a platform, on long poles to
carry it on,” decided one of the upper class. “Though how they got
away with it, and so quietly, is a mystery. How are we going to get it
back?”
“Have to hire a gang of men I guess,” said a companion dubiously.
The matter was spoken of by Dr. Burton at the morning exercises, and he
requested whoever had perpetrated the “alleged joke,” as he called it,
to make himself, or themselves, known. Of course no one confessed, nor
did the good doctor expect them to, but he had done his duty, and then
he hurried back to his study to resume work on translating some clay
tablets, of early Assyrian characters, a friend had sent him.
It was Professor Landmore who solved the problem, by telling his class
that day of a curious machine he had seen for applying the principle of
the lever, and he described the big two wheeled affair he had noticed
beside the road the previous evening. Then the secret was out, and the
Seniors learned how the trick had been worked. It was even rumored
that the Smith boys had had a hand in it, but nothing came of it, and
the upper classmen had to endure the taunts and stings of the Freshmen
until, by hiring some of the sewer contractor’s men, the stone was put
back in its old place.
But the joke created quite a stir, and our heroes were considered
“honor men” in the Freshman class, which had gained undying fame by so
simple a means, for it was many years before the story of the removal
of the Senior stone grew stale in the annals of Westfield.
But now matters were more or less settled down in the school, and our
three friends gave at least part of their time to study. Meanwhile
they had joined several Greek letter fraternities, and were having
their share of college life. They wanted to make the Varsity football
team, but failed, as there was an overabundance of material that fall.
However they did make the Freshman team, and proved themselves worthy
of the honor. But as I intend to tell of the prowess of the Smith boys
on the gridiron in a book to follow this, I will merely mention now
that Bill, Pete and Cap did more than their share of work in winning
the Freshman championship for the school, after many hard-fought
battles.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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