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Just In Time
"Joe Matson, I can't understand why you don't fairly jump at the chance!""Because I don't want to go--that's why.""But, man alive! Half the fellows in Riverside would stand on their heads to be in your shoes.""Perhaps, Tom. But, I tell you I don't think I'm cut out for a college man, and I don't want to go," and Joe Matson looked frankly into the face of his chum, Tom Davis, as they strolled down the village street together that early...
A Home Conference
"Well, I wonder if I'll ever see him again," mused Joe, as the train swung out of sight around a curve in the track. "It sure was a hustling time. I wonder who he was? Seemed like some sort of an athlete, and yet he didn't talk sports--nor much of anything, for that matter."I'm glad I could help him get his train. Funny he should want to pay me, and yet I suppose he isn't used to having favors done...
One Last Game
"Say, Tom, do you know what I've got a good notion to do?""Indeed I haven't, Joe, unless you're going to go out West and shoot Indians, or some such crazy stunt as that.""Forget it! But you know I've got to start for Yale in about another week.""That's right. The time is getting short. Excelsior opens four days from now, but I'm not going to drill in with the first bunch. I don't have to report quite so soon. I'm a...
A Sneering Laugh
"Come on now, Art! Line one out!""A home run, old man! You can do it!""Slam one over the fence!""Poke it to the icehouse and come walking!""We've got the pitcher's goat already! Don't mind him, even if he is going to college!"These were only a few of the good-natured cries that greeted Art Church as he stood at the home plate, waiting for Joe Matson to deliver the ball. And, in like manner, Joe was gently gibed by his opponents, some...
Off For Yale
"We've got the game in the refrigerator--on ice.""Take it easy now, Silver Stars.""Let 'em get a few runs if they want to."Thus spoke some of the spectators, and a number of the members of the home team, as the last half of the seventh inning started with the score ten to three in favor of the Silver Stars. It had not been a very tight contest on either side, and errors were numerous. Yet, in spite of the sneering laugh...
On The Campus
Joe Matson gazed about him curiously as the train drew into the New Haven station. He wondered what his first taste of Yale life was going to be like, and he could not repress a feeling of nervousness.He had ridden in the end car, and he was not prepared for what happened as the train drew to a slow stop. For from the other coaches there poured a crowd of students--many Freshmen like himself but others evidently Sophomores, and a...
A New Chum
For a moment Joe stood there, his heart pounding away under his ribs, uncertain what to do--wondering if the Sophomore had recognized him.Then, as the other gave no sign, but continued on his way, whistling gaily, Joe breathed easier."The cad!" he whispered. "I'd like to--to----" He paused. He remembered that he was at Yale--that he was a Freshman and that he was supposed to take the insults of those above him--of the youth who had a year's advantage over him...
Ambitions
"Shake hands!" exclaimed Joe, as he stepped over to the bed, on which the other raised himself, the clothes draping around him. Then Joe saw how well built his new room-mate was--the muscles of his arms and shoulders standing out, as his pajamas tightened across his chest."Glad to know you," greeted Poole. "You are sure you don't mind my butting in?""Not at all. Glad of your company. I hate to be alone. I wish you'd come in a bit earlier,...
The Shampoo
Football was in the air. On every side was the talk of it, and around the college, on the streets leading to the gridiron, and in the cars that took the students out there to watch the practice, could be heard little else but snatches of conversation about "punts" and "forward passes," the chances for this end or that fullback--how the Bulldog sized up against Princeton and Harvard.Of course Joe was interested in this, and he was among the most...
A Wild Night
"Say, Ricky is sure putting up a great fight!""Yes, and he's as wiry as they make 'em!""He'll make 'em wish they'd let him alone--maybe.""And maybe not," returned Spike. He and Joe had passed these remarks after a grim silence, followed by a resumption of the crashing struggle in the hall near the front door. "There are too many of 'em for him," went on Joe's room-mate."Wait until I take a peep," proposed the young pitcher. He advanced to the door,...
The Red Paint
Pursuing those who had given them the shampoo, Joe and his chums found themselves trailing down a side street in the darkness."I wonder what they're up to," ventured Spike."Oh, some more monkey business," declared Ricky. "If they try it on any more Freshmen though, we'll take a hand ourselves; eh?""Sure," assented the others."There they go--around the corner--and on the run!" suddenly exclaimed Slim Jones. "Get a move on!"Our friends broke into a trot--that is, all but Joe. He tried to,...
Joe's Silence
"Rather queer," mused Joe, after a moment's silence. "I wonder he didn't say something to me after what happened. So he rooms here? It's a great shack. I suppose if I stay here the full course I'll be in one of these joints. But I don't believe I'm going to stay. If I get a chance on the 'varsity nine next year and make good--then a professional league for mine."He limped out of the dormitory, and the pain in his...
Early Practice
"What are you going to try for?""Have you played much before you came here?""Oh, rats! I don't believe I'll have any show with all this bunch!""Hey, quit shoving; will you?""Oh, Rinky-Dink! Over here!""Hi, Weston, we're looking for you.""There goes Shorty Kendall. He'll sure catch this year.""Hello, Mac! Think you'll beat Weston to it this year?""I might," was the cool reply.The above were only a few of the many challenges, shouts, calls and greetings that were bandied from side to side...
The Surprise
"Oh, get a little more speed on! Don't run so much like an ice wagon.Remember that the object is to get to the base before the ball does!""Lively now! Throw that in as if you meant it! We're not playing bean bag, remember!""Oh, swing to it! Swing to it! Make your body do some of the work as well as your arms!""Don't be afraid of the ball! It's hard, of course, that's the way it's made. But if you're going...
His First Chance
Joe Matson's hope of a quick recognition from the man he had helped that day, and who had turned out to be Yale's head coach, was doomed to disappointment, for Mr. Hasbrook--or, to give him the title lovingly bestowed on him by the players, "Horsehide"--had something else to do just then besides recognizing casual acquaintances. He wanted to watch the playing.After a brief conference between himself and the other two coaches, in which the 'varsity captain had a part, Horsehide...
Joe Makes Good
For a moment our hero could scarcely believe his good fortune. He had been called to pitch for the scrub! Once more as he stood there, scarcely comprehending, Mr. Benson called out sharply:"Didn't you hear, Matson? You're to pitch against the 'varsity, and I want you to beat 'em!""Yes--yes, sir," answered Joe, in a sort of daze."And, 'varsity, if you don't pound him all over the field you're no good! Eat 'em up!" snapped the assistant coach."Don't let 'em win,...
Another Step
"'Varsity beaten! What do you know about that?" gasped Ricky Hanover, as the crowd that had watched the game swarmed out on the diamond."And Joe Matson did it!" added Spike. "Jove! but I'm glad for his sake!And him only a Freshman, playing on a scrub class team. I'm glad!""So am I," added Jimmie Lee, who joined them."Will this get him a permanent place?" asked Ricky. "He's entitled to it.""Well, he's got his foot on the first rung of the ladder...
Plotting
Joe Matson was trembling when he went to his place, even after some lively warming-up practice with the catcher. The very thing he most wanted had come to him very unexpectedly. And yet he was sensible enough to realize that this was only a trial, and that it did not mean he would pitch against Amherst. But he had great hopes."Come!" he exclaimed to himself, as he got ready for the opening of the game. "I've got to pull myself...
The Anonymous Letter
"Have you seen the _News_?" gasped Jimmie Lee, bursting into the room of Joe and his chum one afternoon, following some baseball practice. "It's great!""You mean have we _heard_ the news; don't you?" questioned Spike. "You can hear news, but not see it, that is unless the occurrence which makes news happens to come under your own observation. Where is your logic, you heathen? _Seen_ news!""Yes, that's what I mean!" snapped Jimmie. "I mean have you seen the last copy...
The Cornell Host
"That's the way to do it!""Yale always can do it!""Bull dog grit!""The blue always wins!""They came--they saw--but--we conquered!"It was the close of the Yale-Amherst baseball game, and the sons of Eli had gloriously triumphed. They had trailed the banners of their opponents in the dust, they had raced around the bases, they had batted the ball into the far corners of the field, and they had raced home with the runs."I told you so!" chirped Jimmie Lee."Hold on!" cried Slim...
Eager Hearts
"The battery for Yale will be Weston and Kendall, and for Cornell----"But the last announcement was given no heed by the supporters of the blue--at least by the players themselves, the substitutes, and Joe Matson in particular. A murmur went around."Weston! Weston's going to pitch!""After the work Baseball Joe's done too!""Why, Weston isn't in form.""Oh, he's practiced hard lately.""Yes, and he was doing some hot warming-up work a little while ago. I guess they'll pitch him all right.""He must have...
The Crimson Spot
"What do you think of him, anyhow?" asked Spike of his room-mate, as Weston passed on. "Isn't he the limit!""He certainly doesn't seem to care much for me," replied Joe, with a grim smile. "But I suppose it's natural. Almost anyone would feel that way at the prospect of being replaced.""Oh, he makes me tired!" exclaimed Spike. "He ought to stand for Yale--not for Ford Weston. It's the first time in a good many years that any player has placed...
Joe's Triumph
"Red paint!" exclaimed Ricky."Who put it there?" asked Spike, and he looked queerly at Joe."Not I," replied the pitcher. "And yet it's fresh. I can't understand.You say you heard someone in here, Ricky?""As sure as guns.""Maybe it was some of those pesky Freshies trying some of their funny work," suggested Spike."Hazing and tricks are about over," came from Joe, as he looked more closely at the red spot. "And yet someone seems to have been in here, daubing up my...
Hard Luck
Shouts and yells greeted the announcement of the umpire--cheers from the admirers of the respective batteries."Yah!" voiced the wearers of the crimson. "That's our one best bower! Oh you Elkert! Tear 'em apart, Snyder!"Back came the challenge from the sons of Yale."You're our meat, Harvard! Keep your eye on the ball--that's all you'll be able to do. Fool 'em, Matson. 'Rah for Baseball Joe!"Our hero was becoming quite a favorite with his classmates, many of whom now knew of his...
At West Point
"We'd a right to that game!""Sure we had.""And we did have it in the refrigerator, only it got out through the drain pipe, I guess.""It's tough luck!"The Yale team and its admirers--no, in this case its sympathizers--were coming off the field after the Harvard defeat. All sorts of comments, excuses, philosophical expressions, and revilings at fate, were heard.Joe said but little, though he thought much. Every error--every little point he had missed--seemed to stand out glaringly."Never mind, old man!"It was...
A Sore Arm
Yale won the toss and chose to go to the bat last--always an advantage it seems--so Joe had to go on the mound as soon as practice was concluded. The usual practice of the home team batting last did not prevail on this occasion.The stands were filled with a mass of spectators, in which pretty girls seemed to predominate. At least Joe assumed that they were pretty for they had escorts who looked on them with eyes that seemed to...
The Accusation
Yale won from West Point. It was almost a foregone conclusion after that sensational inning when Joe went down and out with his sprained arm, after saving the game. His mates rallied to the support of, not only himself, but the whole team, and, the cadets, having been held runless, the wearers of the blue made a determined stand.Weston was called on to go in and replace Joe, and the former 'varsity pitcher, in spite of his feeling against our...
Vindication
Joe fairly staggered back, so startled was he by the words of the Dean--and, not only the words, but the manner--for the Dean was solemn, and there was a vindictiveness about him that Joe had never seen before."Why--why, what do you mean?" gasped Joe. "I never put the red paint on the steps!""No?" queried the Dean coldly. "Then perhaps you can explain how this pot of red paint came to be hidden in your closet.""My closet!" cried Joe, and at...
Bucking The Tiger
"Hurray! Matson is going to pitch for us!""Get out! He's barred!""Not now. It's all off. He'll pitch against Princeton!""Where'd you hear it?""What's the matter with Weston?""Oh, he's gone--vamoosed--flew the coop. Couldn't stand the disgrace.It'll all be out in the morning."Student meeting student on the campus, in dormitories, in the commons, at Glory's--anywhere in fact, passed these, and similar remarks."And to think you knew, all the while, that Weston put that red paint on the steps, and you wouldn't squeal!" cried...
The Championship
Such a crowd as filled the big Polo Grounds! The grandstands seemed full, and the bleachers too, but the elevated and surface roads brought more constantly, and the honking autos added to the clamor. It was a perfect day, and the ball field--one of the best in the world--where professionals meet professionals--was laid out with mathematical precision.From their lairs near the press boxes the tigers trotted to be welcomed with shouts and yells from their supporters and the songs of...
