Andy at Yale Read online

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  ANDY AT YALEORTHE GREAT QUADRANGLE MYSTERY

  BYROY ELIOT STOKES

  THE WORLD SYNDICATE PUBLISHING CO.CLEVELAND, O. NEW YORK, N. Y.

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  Copyright, MCMXIV, bySULLY AND KLEINTEICH

  Printed in the United States of AmericabyTHE COMMERCIAL BOOKBINDING CO.CLEVELAND, OHIO

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  CONTENTS

  I. A Horse-Whipping 1II. Good Samaritans 12III. An Unpleasant Prospect 19IV. The Picture Show 28V. Final Days 36VI. The Bonfire 45VII. Link Again 51VIII. Off For Yale 63IX. On The Campus 72X. Missing Money 78XI. "Rough House" 85XII. A Fierce Tackle 94XIII. Bargains 102XIV. Dunk Refuses 113XV. Dunk Goes Out 123XVI. In Bad 131XVII. Andy's Despair 138XVIII. Andy's Resolve 146XIX. Link Comes To College 150XX. Queer Disappearances 158XXI. A Gridiron Battle 166XXII. Andy Says 'No!' 177XXIII. Reconciliation 185XXIV. Link's Visit 193XXV. The Missing Watch 198XXVI. The Girls 205XXVII. Jealousies 213XXVIII. The Book 219XXIX. The Accusation 230XXX. The Letter 237XXXI. On The Diamond 245XXXII. Victory 256XXXIII. The Trap 281XXXIV. Caught 291XXXV. For The Honor Of Yale 300

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  ANDY AT YALE

  CHAPTER I

  A HORSE-WHIPPING

  "Come on, Andy, what are you hanging back for?"

  "Oh, just to look at the view. It's great! Why, you can see for twentymiles from here, right off to the mountains!"

  One lad stood by himself on the summit of a green hill, while, a littlebelow, and in advance of him, were four others.

  "Oh, come on!" cried one of the latter. "View! Who wants to look at aview?"

  "But it's great, I tell you! I never appreciated it before!" exclaimedAndy Blair. "You can see----!"

  "Oh, for the love of goodness! Come on!" came in protest from theobjecting speaker. "What do we care how far we can see? We're going toget something to eat!"

  "That's right! Some of Kelly's good old kidney stew!"

  "A little chicken for mine!"

  "I'm for a chop!"

  "Beefsteak on the grill!"

  Thus the lads, waiting for the one who had stopped to admire the fineview, chanted their desires in the way of food.

  "Come on!" finally called one in disgust, and, with a half sigh ofregret, Andy walked on to join his mates.

  "What's getting into you lately?" demanded Chet Anderson, a bitpetulantly. "You stand mooning around, you don't hear when you're spokento, and you don't go in for half the fun you used to."

  "Are you sick? Or is it a--girl?" queried Ben Snow, laughing.

  "Both the same!" observed Frank Newton, cynically.

  "Listen to the old dinkbat!" exclaimed Tom Hatfield. "You'd think heknew all about the game! You never got a letter from a girl in yourlife, Frank!"

  "I didn't, eh? That's all you know about it," and Frank made anunsuccessful effort to punch his tormentor.

  "Well, if we're going on to Churchtown and have a bit of grub inKelly's, let's hoof it!" suggested Chet. "You can eat; can't you, Andy?Haven't lost your appetite; have you, looking at that blooming view?"

  "No, indeed. But you fellows don't seem to realize that in another monthwe'll never see it again, unless we come back to Milton for a visit."

  "That's right!" agreed Ben Snow. "This _is_ our last term at the oldschool! I'll be sorry to leave it, in a way, even though I do expect togo to college."

  "Same here," came from Tom. "What college are you going to, Ben?"

  "Hanged if I know! Dad keeps dodging from one to another. He's had allthe catalogs for the last month, studying over 'em like a fellow goingup for his first exams. Sometimes it's Cornell, and then he switches toPrinceton. I'm for the last myself, but dad is going to foot the bills,so I s'pose I'll have to give in to him."

  "Of course. Where are you heading for, Andy?"

  "Oh, I'm not so sure, either. It's a sort of toss-up between Yale andHarvard, with a little leaning toward Eli on my part. But I don't haveto decide this week. Come on, let's hoof it a little faster. I believeI'm getting hungry."

  "And yet you would stop to moon at a view!" burst out Frank. "Really,Andy, I'm surprised at you!"

  "Oh, cut it out, you old faker! You know that view from Brad's Hillcan't be beat for miles around."

  "That's right!" chorused the others, and there seemed to have come overthem all a more serious manner with the mention of the pending break-upof their pleasant relations. They had hardly realized it before.

  For a few minutes they walked on over the hills in silence. The greenfields, with here and there patches of woodland, stretched out allaround them. Over in the distance nestled a little town, its whitechurch, with the tall, slender spire, showing plainly.

  Behind them, hidden by these same green hills over which they weretramping this beautiful day in early June, lay another town, now out ofsight in a hollow. It was Warrenville, on the outskirts of which waslocated the Milton Preparatory School the five lads attended. They werein their last year, would soon graduate, and then separate, to go tovarious colleges, or other institutions.

  School work had ended early this day on account of coming examinations,and the lads, who had been chums since their entrance at Milton, hadvoted to go for a walk, and end up with an early supper at Kelly's, amore or less celebrated place where the students congregated. This wasat Churchtown, about five miles from Warrenville. The boys were to walkthere and come back in the trolley.

  They had spent two years at the Milton school, and had been friends foryears before that, all of them living in the town of Dunmore, in one ofour Middle States. There was much rejoicing among them when they foundthat all five who had played baseball and football together in Dunmore,were to go to the same preparatory school. It meant that the pleasantrelations were not to be severed. But now the shadow of parting had castitself upon them, and had tempered their buoyant spirits.

  "Yes, boys, it will soon be good-bye to old Milton!" exclaimed Chet,with a sigh.

  "I wonder if we'll get anybody like Dr. Morrison at any of the collegeswe go to?" spoke Ben.

  "You can't beat him--no matter where you go!" declared Andy. "He's thebest ever!"

  "That's right! He knows just how to take a fellow," commented Tom."Remember the time I smuggled the puppy into the physiology class?"

  "I should say we did!" laughed Andy.

  "And how he yelped when I pinched his tail that stuck out from underyour coat," added Ben. "Say, it was great!"

  "I'll never forget how old Pop Swann looked up over the tops of hisglasses," put in Frank.

  "Dr. Morrison was mighty decent about it when he had me up on thecarpet, too," added Tom. "I thought sure I was in for a wigging--maybe asuspension, and I couldn't stand that, for dad had written me onewarning letter.

  "But all Prexy did was to look at me in that calm, withering, pityingway he has, and then say in that solemn voice of his: 'Ah, Hatfield, Ipresume you are going in for vivisection?' Say, you could have flooredme with a feather. That's the kind of a man Dr. Morrison is."

  "Nobody else like him," commented Andy, with a sigh.

  "Oh, well, if any of us go to
Yale, or Princeton, or Harvard, I guesswe'll find some decent profs. there," spoke Ben. "They can't all beriggers."

  "Sure not," said Andy. "But those colleges will be a heap sightdifferent from Milton."

  "Of course! What do you expect? This is a kindergarten compared tothem!" exclaimed Frank.

  "But it's a mighty nice kindergarten," commented Tom. "It's like aschool in our home town, almost."

  "I sure will be sorry to leave it," added Andy. "But come on; we'llnever get to Kelly's at this rate."

  The sun was sinking behind the western hills in a bank of golden andpurple clouds. Two miles yet lay between the lads and their objectivepoint--the odd little oyster and chop house so much frequented by thestudents of Milton. It was an historic place, was Kelly's; a belovedplace where the lads foregathered to talk over their doings, theirhopes, their fears, their joys and sorrows. It was an old-fashionedplace, with little, dingy rooms, come upon unexpectedly; rooms justright for small parties of congenial souls--with tall, black settles,and tables roughened with many jack-knifed initials.

  "We can cut over to the road, and get there quicker," remarked Andy,after a pause. "Suppose we do it. I don't want to get back too late."

  "All right," agreed Tom. "I want to write a couple of letters myself."

  "Oh, ho! Now who's got a girl?" demanded Chet, suspiciously.

  "Nobody, you amalgamated turnip. I'm going to write to dad, and settlethis college business. Might as well make a decision now as later, Ireckon."

  "We'll have to sign soon, or it will be too late," spoke Chet. "Thosebig colleges aren't like the small prep. schools. They have waitinglists--at least for the good rooms in the campus halls. That's where I'dlike to go if I went to Yale--in Lawrance Hall, or some place likethat, where I could look out over the campus, or the Green."

  "There are some dandy rooms in front of Lawrance Hall where you can lookout over the New Haven Green," put in Ben. "I was there once, and how Idid envy those fellows, lolling in their windows on their blue cushions,puffing on pipes and making believe study. It was great!"

  "Making believe study!" exclaimed Andy. "I guess they do study! Youought to see the stiff list of stuff on the catalog!"

  "You got one?" asked Chet.

  "Sure. I've been doping it out."

  "I thought you said you hadn't decided where to go yet," remarked Frank.

  "Well, I have," returned Andy, quietly.

  "You have! When, for the love of tripe? You said a while ago--"

  "I know I did. But I've decided since then. I'm going to Yale!"

  "You are? Good for you!" cried Tom, clapping his chum on the back withsuch energy that Andy nearly toppled over. "That's the stuff! Rah! Rah!Rah! Yale! Bulldog!"

  "Here! Cut it out!" ordered Andy. "I'm not at Yale yet, and they don'tgo around doing that sort of stuff unless maybe after a game. I wasdown there about a month ago, and say, there wasn't any of that'Rah-rah!' stuff on the campus at all. But of course I wasn't therelong."

  "So that's where you went that time you slipped off," commented Chet."Down at Yale. And you've decided to sign for there?"

  "I have. It seemed to come to me as we walked down the hill. I've mademy choice. I'm going to write to dad."

  They walked on silently for a few moments following Andy's remarks.

  "'It was the King of France, He had ten thousand men. He marched them up the hill, And marched them down again!'"

  Thus suddenly quoted Chet in a sing-song voice, adding:

  "If we're going to get any grub at Kelly's, it's up to us to march downthis hill faster than we've been going, or we'll get left. That othercrowd from Milton will have all the good places."

  "Come on then, fellows, hit her up!" exclaimed Frank. "Hep! Hep! Left!Left!" and they started off at a good pace.

  They reached the country road that led more directly to Churchtown, andswung off along this. The setting sun made a golden aurora that Juneday, the beams filtering through a haze of dust. The boys talked of manythings, but chiefly of the coming parting--of the colleges they mightattend.

  As they passed a farmhouse near the side of the road, and came into viewof the barnyard, they saw two men standing beside a team of horseshitched to a heavy wagon. One was tall and heavily built, evidently thefarmer-owner. The other was a young man, of about twenty-two years, hisleft arm in a sling.

  The boys would have passed on with only a momentary glance at the pairbut for something that occurred as they came opposite. They saw the bigman raise a horse-whip and lash savagely at the young man.

  The lash cracked like the shot of a revolver.

  "I'll teach you!" fairly roared the big man. "I'll teach you to soldieron me! Playin' off, that's what you are, Link Bardon! Playing off!"

  "I'm not playing off! My arm is injured. And don't you strike me again,Mr. Snad, or I'll----"

  "You will, eh?" burst out the other. "You'll threaten me, will you?Well, I'll teach you! Tryin' to pretend your arm is sprained so youwon't have to work. I'll teach you! Take that!"

  Again the cruel whip came down with stinging force. The face of theyoung man, that had flamed with righteous anger, went pale.

  "Take that, you lazy, good-for-nothing!"

  Again the whip descended, and the young man put up his uninjured arm todefend himself. The farmer rained blow after blow on his hired man,driving him toward a fence.

  "Fellows! I can't stand this!" exclaimed Andy Blair, with sudden energy."That big brute is a coward! Are you with me?"

  "We sure are!" came in an energetic chorus from the others.

  "Then come on!" cried Andy, and with a short run he cleared the fenceand dashed up toward the farmer, who was still lashing away with thehorse-whip.