FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   72   73   74   75   76   77   78   79   80   81   82   83   84   85   86   87   88   89   90   91   92   93   94   95   96  
97   98   99   100   101   102   103   104   105   106   107   108   109   110   111   112   113   114   115   116   117   118   119   120   121   >>   >|  
and another headed by Dale, and the excitement over this contest waged so high, that the thefts were, for the time being, forgotten. The tug-of-war was held late one afternoon in the gymnasium. A line was drawn on the floor and the long rope laid across this. On either side wooden cleats were nailed down, so that the contestants might brace their feet. The two teams consisted of eight cadets each. With Pepper were Andy, Jack, and Fred Century, while on Dale's side were Bart Field, Bart Conners and some other cadets already introduced. "Now, then, Pepper!" cried one of his friends. "See what you can do!" "Don't give him a chance, Dale! Yank him right over the line!" cried one of Dale's friends. "I'll bet Pepper Ditmore loses," said Nick Paxton, who was present. Ritter and Coulter had said they did not consider a tug-of-war between such teams worth witnessing. Frank Barringer was timekeeper and referee, and at the appointed hour he made both teams line up and catch hold of the rope. "All ready?" he asked. There was a moment of silence. "Drop!" was the cry, and on the instant both teams tightened their holds on the rope and dropped down on the wooden cleats. "Hold them, Pepper!" "Don't let 'em haul you up, Dale!" "Glue yourself down, Jack!" "Stone foundation, Fred! Stone foundation!" So the cries ran on, as the two tug-of-war teams held on to the long rope like grim death, each team determined not to give in an inch. For fully five minutes the rope remained as when the teams had first dropped. Then, of a sudden, Dale gave a hiss and up came his men, to haul in on the rope several inches and then drop as before. "Hurrah! that's the way to do it!" "Every inch counts, boys!" "Watch your chance for another!" "Get it back, Pepper! Get it back!" There followed another tense strain. Then Dale's team came up once more and brought rope in another six inches. "That's the way to do it! Now then, a good, stiff pull and you'll have 'em over!" "Wake up, Pepper! It's time you and your men got on the job!" cried Henry Lee. "I knew Dale's team would win," said Paxton. Hardly had Paxton spoken when Dale's team came up for another haul. But this time Pepper and his men were on the alert, and in a twinkling they commenced to haul in--six inches, a foot, a foot and a half and then two feet--and then they dropped, the strain being as much as they could stand. "Hurrah! Look at that!"
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   72   73   74   75   76   77   78   79   80   81   82   83   84   85   86   87   88   89   90   91   92   93   94   95   96  
97   98   99   100   101   102   103   104   105   106   107   108   109   110   111   112   113   114   115   116   117   118   119   120   121   >>   >|  



Top keywords:

Pepper

 

inches

 

Paxton

 
dropped
 
friends
 

foundation

 
Hurrah
 

chance

 

strain


cleats

 
wooden
 

cadets

 

determined

 

minutes

 

twinkling

 
commenced
 

remained

 

Hardly


brought

 
counts
 

sudden

 
spoken
 

Century

 

consisted

 

contestants

 

introduced

 

Conners


nailed
 

thefts

 

forgotten

 

contest

 

headed

 

excitement

 

afternoon

 

gymnasium

 

appointed


moment

 

silence

 

tightened

 

instant

 

referee

 

timekeeper

 

present

 

Ritter

 

Ditmore


Coulter

 
witnessing
 

Barringer