The Steamship1 King was a rather small man of fifty-four, with the face of a scholar rather than of a successful financier and business man. His black eyes were thoughtful and kindly2, and his dark hair was as yet only slightly grizzled at the temples. The guests of the evening were very fond of him, and their liking3 was returned. Gerald’s mother had died when he was a few months old, and he was the only child. Until entering Yardley at the beginning of the second term last year he had been all his life in the care[81] of governesses and tutors, with his father keeping an anxious eye on him. The result was only what might have been expected. He had been coddled far too much and a trifle spoiled. But Yardley had done him good. Mr. Pennimore acknowledged that readily and had more than once thanked Dan for having been the cause of Gerald’s choice of that school. Even before his son’s entrance there Mr. Pennimore had done a good deal for the school, and now that Gerald swore allegiance to the dark blue, he was ready and anxious to do much more, and it was only half a secret that when Gerald graduated there was to be a new and very wonderful dormitory erected4 to the left of Dudley Hall, and that with the building was to go a generous donation to be used for the general enlargement of the school.
The Pennimore family consisted only of Mr. Pennimore and Gerald, although the big house was filled with servants. To-night the small round table in the center of the big dining room held a very merry quintet. The boys wore their dinner jackets, and wore them with quite an air—all save Tom; Tom looked and doubtless felt very uncomfortable behind his starched5 shirt-bosom and straining waistcoat. There was little[82] formality at that dinner, for the boys had adopted Mr. Pennimore as one of themselves, a sort of honorary member of Yardley. Mr. Pennimore had to be told all the news, and they each took a hand in bringing history down to date for his benefit. Alf’s account of the election amused him vastly, and he looked across at Tom with a twinkle in his black eyes.
“Tom,” he said, “you have the making of a politician; I can see that. And I don’t know of a better field for politics of the kind you displayed the other day than your own home State of New Jersey—with the possible exception of Delaware and Pennsylvania.”
“I’ve always thought,” remarked Alf, allowing the butler to help him to a third slice of chicken, “that Tom would make a dandy alderman. I saw an alderman once and he looked just like Tom—sort of big and lazy.”
“You wait till I get you outside,” growled6 Tom.
“Now tell me about football,” said their host. “I feel quite honored at having three gridiron heroes at my table at once. Going to whip Broadwood again this year?”
“You bet we are!” declared Gerald emphatically.
[83]
“We’d stand a better chance, sir,” said Tom, “if we had a good quarter back and a good captain.”
“Eh? But I thought that—I thought Alf was—was—” Mr. Pennimore looked about the table bewilderedly, and Gerald broke into laughter.
“That’s just Tom’s joke, sir. Alf is captain and quarter. And he’s a dandy, too!”
“Oh, I see.” Mr. Pennimore joined the laughter. “I thought I wasn’t mistaken about it. And you play end, don’t you, Dan? And Tom, here, is——”
“Water carrier,” interrupted Alf pleasantly. “Quite correct, sir. And one of the best we’ve ever had—when he doesn’t go to sleep and fall into the pail.”
“Tom’s right half back, sir,” said Gerald, “and you mustn’t mind what they say about the team. It’s a mighty7 good team, and it’s going to lick spots out of Broadwood in just about two weeks.”
“I’m glad to hear it, son. Has the team had a good season so far, Alf?”
“Only fair, sir. We won from Greenburg, Forrest Hill and St. John’s, tied Carrel’s and lost to Porter and Brewer8. The Brewer game ought to have been ours, though. The referee9 gave them[84] a touchdown they didn’t make. The ball was dead about twenty yards from our goal and a Brewer half picked it up and ran over with it.”
“But didn’t you—ah—protest?”
“Until I was black in the face,” replied Alf disgustedly. “But it didn’t do any good. The referee was a man they’d picked up somewhere and he was punk. They say he’s a baseball umpire. Maybe he is; he certainly isn’t a football referee.”
“And who do you play Saturday?” asked Mr. Pennimore.
“Nordham, sir. It’s our last game before we tackle Broadwood.”
“And have they a good team this year?”
“One of the best ever, sir. They’ve got a fellow named Warren—he was center for Princeton last year—helping coach over there. They say he’s a wonder.”
“Well,” said Dan, “we’ve got a Yale man coming down to-morrow to help us. And Alf’s brother is coming, too, for a couple of days.”
“If he can get away,” grumbled10 Alf. “He makes me tired. He made all sorts of promises last year and now he just squeals11.”
“For my part,” remarked Tom, “I think Broadwood’s going to give us fits this year. She’s[85] got a dandy team, good coaches and we have to play her on her own grounds.”
“There’s a good deal in that,” agreed Dan. “I mean in playing away from home.”
“Well, we will do the best we can,” said Alf cheerfully. “I wonder if I might have some more of the egg plant, sir?”
“There’s one thing we have to cheer us up,” said Tom, “and that is that our captain is still able to peck at a little food.”
“I’m very glad he is,” replied Mr. Pennimore with a smile. “And I’d like to see you and Dan doing a little better. Have some more of the chicken, won’t you, Tom?”
“No, sir, thanks. I eat very little.”
Alf made a choking sound that indicated suppressed laughter.
“Don’t take any more chicken,” advised Gerald. “There’s a salad yet and then some dandy ice cream. And I know you like ice cream, Tom.”
“It’s one of the few things I can relish,” answered Tom with a grin. “I have a very delicate stomach.”
“So has an ostrich12,” jeered13 Alf.
“Another chap and I fed an ostrich on celluloid campaign buttons once,” said Tom reminiscently. “It was at the Zoo. We had our pockets[86] full of Bryan buttons and the ostrich seemed to like them tremendously. I guess he ate about forty of ’em.”
“What happened to him?” asked Dan, laughingly.
“I never heard. I guess he became a Bryanite, though.”
After dinner there was a comfortable hour in the big library in front of the fire, for the evenings were getting chilly14 those days, and then the four boys said good night and piled themselves into the automobile15 and were taken humming back to school.
Yardley had little difficulty with the Nordham Academy team on the following Saturday, sending it down in defeat to the tune16 of 17 to 0 and thereby17 earning consolation18 for what had happened last year when Nordham, with a spry and tricky19 team, had played her to a tie. Football was in the air now. In fact, Yardley was obsessed20 with athletics21, for not only was the gridiron contest with her hated rival imminent22 but there was also the question of cross-country supremacy23 to settle.
On Wednesday morning Andy Ryan sent his charges over the full course for the first time and, although he never gave out the time, he was well[87] pleased. In that run Gerald, who had been doing better at every trial, finished seventh among the twelve who ran. (Garson was out of the team for good with a torn leg muscle sustained in a class football game.) Word filtered into Yardley that Broadwood expected to make a clean sweep next Saturday by winning both in the morning and afternoon. But Yardley laughed scornfully and held three football mass meetings and whooped24 things up until the enthusiasm was deafening25. Cheers and songs were practiced and Dan’s contribution made a great success. (Alf’s verse, by the way, was not added.) Studies suffered a good deal that last week and the faculty26 almost called a mass meeting of its own to protest against the students’ neglect of lessons. “Kilts,” whose real name was Mr. McIntyre and who taught mathematics, shook his head a lot those days and predicted dire27 things when examination time arrived. But sufficient unto the day was the evil thereof, and just now the one thing in life was to witness the double humiliation28 of the Green.
The Cross-Country Team had its last work on Thursday when it was sent over half the course at a little more than an amble29, and the Eleven held its last practice that afternoon. The Second Team disbanded to the cheers of the students and[88] went capering30 off the field, glad that their period of hard work and hard knocks was at an end. The First went through signal drill while the spectators cheered them collectively and individually and finally trotted31 away, leaving the field for the last time that year. The next afternoon the football team and the runners went for a sail on Mr. Pennimore’s big steam yacht. It wasn’t an ideal day for cruising about the sound, for there was a cold east wind and a lowering sky, but the fellows took along plenty of sweaters and blankets and enjoyed it immensely. The deck of the Princess looked like an Indian encampment with all those blue-and-gray blankets dotted about. Mr. Pennimore didn’t accompany them, although pressed to do so. “You’ll have a better time by yourselves,” he declared. “You won’t want any old chaps like me on hand.”
There was one last, final, ecstatic meeting in the assembly hall on Friday night at which speeches, if you could call them such, were made by Coach Payson and his assistant, by Captain Loring, by Trainer Ryan, by Captain Maury, of the Cross-Country Team, and by Mr. Bendix on behalf of the faculty. Every speaker predicted success, which was just as well, since one might as well talk hopefully even if they don’t feel so,[89] and was cheered to the echo. The Glee Club and the Banjo and Mandolin Club were on hand to supply music and enthusiasm reigned32 supreme33 until long after the usual bedtime. And then at ten thirty the next morning the whole student body set out for the start of the cross-country race.
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1
steamship
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| n.汽船，轮船 | |
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kindly
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| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
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liking
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| n.爱好；嗜好；喜欢 | |
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ERECTED
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| adj. 直立的，竖立的，笔直的 vt. 使 ... 直立，建立 | |
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starched
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| adj.浆硬的，硬挺的，拘泥刻板的v.把（衣服、床单等）浆一浆( starch的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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growled
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| v.（动物）发狺狺声， （雷）作隆隆声( growl的过去式和过去分词 )；低声咆哮着说 | |
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mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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brewer
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| n. 啤酒制造者 | |
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referee
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| n.裁判员．仲裁人，代表人，鉴定人 | |
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grumbled
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| 抱怨( grumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 发牢骚； 咕哝； 发哼声 | |
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squeals
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| n.长而尖锐的叫声( squeal的名词复数 )v.长声尖叫，用长而尖锐的声音说( squeal的第三人称单数 ) | |
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ostrich
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| n.鸵鸟 | |
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jeered
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| v.嘲笑( jeer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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chilly
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| adj.凉快的，寒冷的 | |
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automobile
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| n.汽车，机动车 | |
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tune
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| n.调子；和谐，协调；v.调音，调节，调整 | |
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thereby
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| adv.因此，从而 | |
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consolation
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| n.安慰，慰问 | |
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tricky
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| adj.狡猾的，奸诈的；(工作等)棘手的，微妙的 | |
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obsessed
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| adj.心神不宁的,鬼迷心窍的,沉迷的 | |
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athletics
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| n.运动，体育，田径运动 | |
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imminent
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| adj.即将发生的，临近的，逼近的 | |
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supremacy
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| n.至上；至高权力 | |
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whooped
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| 叫喊( whoop的过去式和过去分词 )； 高声说； 唤起 | |
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deafening
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| adj. 振耳欲聋的, 极喧闹的 动词deafen的现在分词形式 | |
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faculty
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| n.才能；学院，系；(学院或系的)全体教学人员 | |
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dire
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| adj.可怕的，悲惨的，阴惨的，极端的 | |
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humiliation
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| n.羞辱 | |
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29
amble
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| vi.缓行，漫步 | |
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capering
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| v.跳跃，雀跃( caper的现在分词 )；蹦蹦跳跳 | |
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trotted
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| 小跑，急走( trot的过去分词 )； 匆匆忙忙地走 | |
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reigned
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| vi.当政，统治（reign的过去式形式） | |
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supreme
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| adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的 | |
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