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Dave Darrin's Fourth Year at Annapolis, a fiction by H. Irving Hancock |
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Chapter 13. When "Brace Up, Army!" Was The Word |
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_ CHAPTER XIII. WHEN "BRACE UP, ARMY!" WAS THE WORD "All out for practice!" called Wolgast. Team men and subs. bunched, the Navy players trotted on to the field, amid a tempest of wild cheering. No sooner had Dave Darrin halted for an instant, when he broke into a whirlwind of sprinting speed. Dan Dalzell tried to keep up with him, but found it impossible. "Good old Darry!" yelled a hoarse voice from one of the grandstands. "That's the way you'll go around the end to-day!" Some of the other Navy players were kicking a ball back and forth. The Army team was not yet on the field, but it came, a few moments later, and received a tremendous ovation from its own solid ranks of rooters. This time Darrin barely glanced at any of the Army players. He knew that Prescott and Holmes were not there. Whoever else might be, he was not interested. Only a very few minutes were allowed for practice. During this exercise the Army and Navy bands played alternately. Then the referee signaled the bands to stop. Tril-l-l-l! sounded the whistle, and Army and Navy captains trotted to the center of the field to watch the toss of the coin. Wolgast won, and awarded the kick-off to the Army. Then the teams jogged quickly to places, and in an instant all was in readiness. Over the spectators' seats a hush had fallen. Even the Army and Navy cheer leaders looked nearly as solemn as owls. The musicians of the two bands lounged in their seats and instruments had been laid aside. There would be no more noise until one team or the other had started to do real things. Quick and sharp came the signal. West Point kicked and the ball was in play. Navy's quarterback, after a short run, placed himself to seize the arching pigskin out of the air. Then he ran forward, protected by the Navy interference. By a quick pass the ball came into Dave Darrin's hands. Dalzell braced himself as he hit the strong Army line. It was like butting a stone wall, but Darrin got through, with the aid of effective interference. Army men bunched and tackled, but Dave struggled on. He did not seem to be exerting much strength, but his elusiveness was wonderful, Then, after a few yards had been gained, Dave was borne to the earth, the bottom of a struggling mass until, the referee's whistle ended the scrimmage. Annapolis players could not help shooting keen glances of satisfaction at each other. The test had been a brief one, but now they saw that Darrin was in form, and that he could be depended upon to-day, unless severe accident came to cripple him. Again the ball was put in play, this time going over to Farley and Page on the right end. Only a yard did Farley succeed in advancing the ball, but that was at least a gain. Then again came the pigskin to the left flank, and Dave fought it through the enemy's battle line for a distance of eight feet ere he was forced to earth with it. By this time the West Point captain was beginning to wonder what ailed his men. The cadet players themselves were worried. If the Navy could play like this through the game, it looked as though Annapolis might wipe out, in one grand and big-scored victory, the memory of many past defeats. "Brace up, Army!" was the word passed through West Point's eleven. "Good old Darry!" chuckled Wolgast, and, though he did not like to work Darrin too hard at the outset, yet it was also worth while to shake the Army nerve as much as possible. So Wolgast signaled quarterback to send the ball once more by Midshipman Dave. Another seven yards was gained by Darrin. The West Point men were gasping, more from chagrin than from actual physical strain. Was it going to prove impossible to stop these mad Navy rushes? Then Wolgast reluctantly as he saw Dave limp slightly, decided upon working Page and Farley a little harder just at present. So back the ball traveled to the right flank was making, however, the Navy cheermaster started a triumphant yell going, in which nearly eight hundred midshipmen joined with all their lung power. Of course, the Army cheermaster came back with a stirring West Point yell, but one spectator, behind the side lines, turned and bawled at the Army cheermaster: "That's right, young man! Anything on earth to keep up your crowd's courage!" In the laugh that followed many a gray-clad cadet joined simply because he could not help himself. "If we don't break at some point it's all ours to-day," Wolgast was informing the players nearest him. "I've never seen Darry so wildly capable as he is right now. The demon of victory seems to have seized him." Dave's limp had vanished. He was ready for work---aching for it. Wolgast worked his left flank once more, and the Army was sorely pressed. "Brace up, Army!" was the word passing again among the West Point men. Douglass, captain of the Army team, was scolding under his breath. But straight on Darrin and Dalzell worked the ball. It was when Wolgast decided to rest his left that Farley and Page came in for more work. These two midshipmen were excellent football men, but the Army's left was well defended. The Navy lost the ball on downs. But the Army boys were sweating, for the Navy was now within nine yards of goal line. The Army fought it back, gaining just half a yard too little in three plays, so the ball came back to the blue and gold ranks of the Navy. "Brace, Army!" was the word that Cadet Douglass passed. "And look out, on the right, for Darrin and Dalzell!" There was a feint of sending the ball to Farley, but Darrin had it instead. The entire Army line, however, was alert for this very trick. Playing in sheer desperation, the cadets stopped the midshipmen when but a yard and a half had been gained. With the next play the gain was but half a yard. The third play was blocked, and once more the cadets received the pigskin. Both Army and Navy cheermasters now refrained from inviting din. Those of the spectators who boosted for the Army were now silent, straining their vision and holding their breath. It began to look, this year, as though the Navy could do with the Army as it pleased. Wolgast lined his men up for a fierce onslaught Darrin and Dalzell, panting, looked like a pair who would die in their tracks ere allowing the ball to go by them. In a moment more the Army signal was being called out crisply. The whistle sounded, and both elevens were in instant action. But the cadets failed to get through. The middies were driving them back. In sheer desperation the cadet with the ball turned and dropped behind the Army goal line---a safety. _ |
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