Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 10, 1905)
THE SUNDAY OREGpNIAX, PORTLAND, SEPTE3IBER 10, 1905. THE SUNDAY OREGONIAN'S SPECIALLY SELECTED FICTION INTRODUCING TMACHER , By Edwin Oviatt ' 41 ll ll . (Copyright. 1005. by S. 8. McClure Co.) TEN years ago the Rush -was a thine to bo remembered. You -were herded by tho Seniors with a lot o other fellows who had Just arrived In New Haven, and marched like sheep at night to tho Hopkins Grammar School Lot, where you saw another crowd of men with torches. Theso you were told were tho Sophomores, whom you wcro to pun ish. A low rail fence separated the Lot from High street; this you "took." and hung on to. If, with SOT of your fellows, you got through the evening without dis locating at least one bone, you did not think that you had enjoyed the occasion. But tho faculty stopped all that a half dozen years ago, and the Hush today Is much less barbarous than It used to be. But then It Is loss Interesting. Most of the Freshmen- who come to Yale, and there are several hundred of thorn, arrive In town at least three days before college opens. This gives them a chance to become acquainted with one another, and to learn early In the term some of the things that it might be In convenient to have to learn later. There Is, for instance, an Innocent-looking fence running around the north end of tho cam pus, with a firm round rail on top, and Initials out In big jagged marks all over it. It Is wisest to acquaint one's self as early as possible with the fact that this is not Freshman property. There aro other things also that one learns sooner or later In the course of the first month at Yale, which It would be useless to nar rate hers, as advice Is always superfluous. Thacher,- "Nineteen Hundred and ," was a big follow, with an Intelligent face, 202 pounds of well-distributed weight, and a snille. When he came to New Haven from some out-of-the-way town in Ohio the first thing that ho did was to find an oatlng place, where he struck a bar gain with an astonished, landlady for roast beef three times a day and a quart and a half of milk for supper. Thon he took three final exams, and rushed Greek history so hard that he had to tell some body about 1. As he knew no one, he told It to the first men he met. Those happened to be Atkinson and Phillips, who came from St James together, and regarded themselves as "the leading ele ment In the class." They looked on Thacher with high-bred suspicion. They thought him "fresh." They also made him feel these things when they left him. They were good follows In their way, but all superior beings are heartless, and tho impression they loft on Thacher produced a loneeomonesfi that cut like a pain. Most men who come to a big college from & small town have this to meet as the flrst of their Freshman trials. Thacher wanted, to be liked he had a capacity for It and he told himsolf that If he could do something that was -worth doing he might make the acquaintance of these man and be introduced In the class. He envied the fellows he saw walking arms-over-shoulders along the campus. Then he met Elkins, a small person with a turned-up nose, whom he had seen In Greek history, and in a feeling of friend liness that all these things had brought out, asked him to sit on the Fence. El kins came from a bg preparatory echool. and knew Atkinson and Phillips and a lot of other men, but he was little, and admired bigness; he liked the clear, pleas ant eyes and firm mouth of the West erner, and rather understood, in a way, how he felt. There were groups of men with pipes in their mouths and eyeglasses on their noses on the Senior Fence, and more men with class numerals on their caps on the Junior Fence, and a crowd of fellows on Durfee steps, while a noisy, surging mob of Freshmen blocked the entrance to Aulmnl Hall, where examinations were going on. Somobody on tho Junior Fence saw the two Freshmen and grinned. Some, body on Durfee steps also saw them and whispered to the crowd. Then somothlng happened. A knot of eight or ten Sophomores, led by a broad shouldored, square-jawed man with let ters on his cap, walked over to the Soph omore Fence, and took little Elkins sud denly by tho collar, arms and logs and precipitated him Into tho Toadway. Thacher followed, though It took more men to do it. He landed hard, lost his hat and tore his coatsloeve. When El kins, bruised and frightened, started to rise the big Sophomore caught him by the Bhoulder and threw him down again, which was unnecessary. Indignation and rage surged into Thacher's throat. He Jumped to his feet, taokled the big Soph omore and sat down on him. Instantly there was an uproar that brought heads to windows all along Durfee and. as far as Lawrancc, and scores of men running from everj direction. "Sat on Dale, did ho?" men were shout ing to each other. "That's tho freshest thing I ever heard of." It was fresh, no mistake .about it Dale was a 'varsity guard. Dale twisted and turned and swore and jabbed hlg elbows into Thatcher's side, but the Freshman sat on, and incidentally rubbed Dale's head Into the ground to emphasize things. Somobody yelled, "Kill tho Freshman!" and a rush started In upon the two men. Then a medium-sized Senior shoved his way quiotly into the crowd, took Thatcher by the collar and yanked him to his feet. "Now go and got your dinnor. Fresh man," he said. Thatcher obeyed, swallowing something that roso In Ills throat and nearly filled his eyes with tears. He felt disgraced for life. He didn't answer the hundred excited classmates who thronged about him. inquiring what tho row was about It was Just his luck to start his college course like that Even when Elkina asked nlm timidly whother he was hurt he didn't answer. If it wasn't the freshest thing In six Freshman classes there was no record of anything fresher. That was the opinion all over college, and It produced a short pithy editorial in the Dally News that left no doubt as to the traditions of the Fence. Somobody. however, heard that Dale, who was a bully, though a corking guard, had said something to the Fresh man that no man with self-respect will stand; and when that got abroad the fellows understood It and the football captain said something to Dale that made that individual madder than ever, and that put an -Idea Into his head. But of that presontly. There is only one thing to do, if you are a Freshman, when S o'clock comes on the night before college opens, and you hear the tramp, tramp, tramp of many feet In York street, and the distant ringing mel ody of "Freshman, wake!" and that Is to grab your hat and start for tho stair case. Thacher did this, with 300 other Fresh men from as many entryways and boarding-houses. On York street you could see a. confused hlaok mass trailing off for blocks behind, upper classmen In the lead with torches flaming, and thon an in choate straggling procession of the new comers, with coats turned inside out, and no torches. There was a continuous roar along York street of "Nineteen hundred and this way!" Thacher and Elkins and Atkinson and 300 other Freshmen shouted "Yea-a-a! Nineteen hundred and ! Yea-a-a!" without knowing what they were shouting for, excopt that that strange, new, thrill ing, Intoxicating 'Nineteen hundred and !" was their own class name, and was to be yelled and shouted "Yea-a-a!" to the end of life. That Is class spirit Down York street came tho avalanche of men, and It now appeared that there was a band ahead, playing "Boola," though the only sign of this was the flash of the electric light or of the torches on an upraised trombone, the occasional shrill note of tho cornet, above tho sing ing, swinging roar of the crowd. "Yea-a-a! Freshmen!" Some one In the van of the procession saw the new re cruits. "Fall In, Freshmen!" tho 600N torch-bearers swung by, singing with the band, each man waving his flaming stick, J each man with his coat inside out and hatless. Thacher shouldered his way into tho mob, and was hustled by a Senior to a place, In the front rank of the Frosh- man class, where ho granoea an arm on cither side of him and fell Into step. . "Yea-a-a!" This was great "Yea-a-a! Nineteen hundred and !" It rolled up York street like a tidal wave. Away ahead of him flamed the torches, Ahead and behind him were countless un dergraduates locking step and executing that singular curb-to-curb twostcp that Is a peculiarity of Yale processions. People were sticking their heads out of windows; flags wore being waved by young ladies from front doorsteps; old graduates mounted fences, and smiled Indulgently. Some one was making a speech from the stops of Osb'orn Hall. The band was quiet and a muffled Sh-Bh!" went through the crowd. Nobody heard what tho orator was saying, but somebody who knew things told a man next to Thacher that It was tho football captain. Then every body tiptoed and had to be lifted up to sec the face of tho greatest man at Yale. Ho was a medium-sized fellow, with an athletic build and a business-like face, and he was paying things. All that Thacher heard was that the Freshmen ought to behave themmlves and uphold the honor of their class, which seemod paradoxical. Then the men In front they were Seniors laughed and yelled. "Good speech! Bravo!" and the men In the back they were Freshmon yelled "Yea-a-a!" That was all they knew how to yoll. Then the band played, torches flared again, long columns of bare-headed danc ing mon with red fire and roman candles untwined llko the lengths of a phosphor, esccnt serpont and In an Incredibly short time Thacher found himself In the outer ring of a dense crowd of mon on the Grammar School lot In the middle of this a number of well-dressed chaps with "Ys" on their sweaters or mystorious gold pins on their vests were pushing the crowd back with their torches, until the front rank sat down on the grass in a circle and lit their pipes, and the rest of the men piled in In rings at their baoks, Then the band struck up and the cap tains of the university teams started thoir performance by calling out for the flrst candidates. "Lightweight championship!" A long young man with a oane got up from tho ground and led the Sophomores In a class cheer. He was jeered and ap plauded and sat down again. "Shake 'em up. Freshmen!" yelled some body. "Long - cheer - for - Nineteen - hundred and 1" shouted a youth with a white flannel suit He was a Senior, and waved a bulldog pipe. The "Brek-ek-ek-k!" was lost because the Froshmcn didn't know It but they came in strong on the 'Whoorup! Whoorup! Hollabaloo! Yale! Yale! Yale! Rah! Rah! Rah! Nineteen hundred and !" and received long ap plause. Suddenly a small, wiry follow, amid a roar of approval from the upper classmen, sprang Into the aTena from tho Sopho more side, and was stripped to the waist by his friends. It was Kellogg, the var sity coxswain. He weighed 96 pounds. 4 tfrcshman!" yelled everybody. At these events your class dooe not decide be forehand who Is to go In, so leag waits result Then there was a commotion In the Freshman ranks, and presently a. stubby youth with short legs and & turned-up nose was projected feet foremost into the ring, where ho picked himself up, expos tulating. Somebody pulled off his coat and necktie, and in a minute he was being rubbed down by a Senior. "Who is it? Eh? Elkins Yea-a-a! E. kins!" This was from the Freshmen who knew him, and Thacher felt his heart pound as ho saw his new acquaintance out there In the flaring . light of the torches. Everybody closed in and bent ovor everybody else's back, and tho band played, and the coachcrs put tho two little men out In the ring and said. "Go ahead and win." It was a great experi ence for the Freshman class. An hour bofore and they had been a heterogeneous mass of 235 Individuals. Now they had in an Instant become a compact single hearted body a class. This Is why the Rush Is a good thing. Thacher dimly comprehended this as be looked out in the arena, and saw that pink-skinned little fellow with curly hair and a grim look on his chubby face, on whom the hopes of a new YaTe class centered. With the signal a great -hush iell on the crowd, and then a sudden, knife-like cheor went up from the Sophomores. A half dozen Sonlors darted forward on thoir knees and then rose to their feet knocking the ashes from their pipes. "Firjjt throw for Sophomore," said the referee. A stinging yoll wont up from the Sopho more ranks. Around Thacher the slloncc could be felt Again the men went from their corners, and in two minutes the upperdassman lay panting on his back, with the little Fresh man hugging him tight about the waist "Freshman! Yea-a-a! Elkins!" Over the dense mass of mon stretched across tho street to the fence In front of the monument yard rang a long, cloar cheer with tho Freshman's name at the end. of It Over in one corner the little Freshman sat panting on the knee of a tall Senior, who was patting him on the shouldor, while another Senior Joy of Jojs a football man, was dragging a rough towel down his back. Thacher el bowed through and said. "Elkins, you win that next throw." That was rather fresh for Thacher, and a Junior pushed him back and told him to dry up and not make tho Freshman nervous. Elkins smiled at all this. He felt shaky In the knees. Out there in the flaring torch light the Sophomore was already taking his position. "Great! You've got him, Elkins! Jab his knee! Sock hlml Shovel" "Freshman wins the throw and bout" said the referee. Above the blaring band could be heard the great tumult of cheers from the Freshman class, that had Just discovered themselves to be something. It was enough for Thacher to know that some thing had happened for his doss to be proud of. It went over him like Intoxi cation. "Middlewoight championship!" It took ten minutes for tho Freshman class to find their man. and ten minutes more for the Sophomores. Some day they will cut all this out and have a pro gramme. Then Athorton, wltjj self-possession written all over his aristocratic features, shook hands with a lanky, sinewy fellow from the Sopbomoro class, and the referees dropped to their knees. In three minutes you felt like groaning, it you happened to be a. Freshman. In two. minutes -more, record time, you folt that your class was everlastingly dis graced. Atherton, with a white face and big tears trickling down over his grimy cheeks, sat by himself and sobbed. Take It out of him, Ath." said At kinson. "You can do him next time." Tho Freshman middleweight stepped out for the second round. A man with a toroh was shoving his way through the Froshman ranks. "Billy Billy Strong!" he was calling. That -was the name of a Freshman with a center rush build who had been picked out for the heavyweight championship. Thacher loked around with tho rest Billy Strong was not In sight More over, he was not there, though ho had promised. He had been with drawn temporarily by a squad of Soph omores, and was even then lan guishing on the top floor fit Durfee, where there, are no gntters. with six men holding tho door in the entry, and ..the far-off cheers of the Sopho more's rolllrig- up from tho Grammar School Lot But no one knew this except the whole Sophomore class, and they -were not supposed to. Out In the rinr. over th- heads of tho crowd, Thacher could see tho white bodlos of tho wrestlers shoot up shoulder high and then sink again, while an ominous silence, broken only now and then by a short sharp yell from one side or the other, told how tho struggle was progressing. "Heavyweight Freshman! Oh. some body!" gasped a little Freshman, rush ing along In front of the crowd. "We've Ju3t pot to have somebody fix em!" The Sophomores hoard this with Jeers. It was a situation that is always trag ic Out there in the ring the seconds of threo chances was slipping away from the Freshmen, and there was no heavy weight In sight There were hurried con sultations all along tho Froshman ranks. Several men wore suggested, and the crowd yelled out their names each time with generous impartiality. Thacher, with his eyes glued on the two men. In the ring, called out with the rest "Oh. somebody!" He could have jumped into the Sound at that moment to help his class. He felt an arm on his shoulder with a grip like a vise. "Here, you big Freshman, you're the man I want" He looked slowly down, and mot the sturdy bluo eyes of a man with glasses, who wore a white sweater and a blue cap with two oars crossed In the front-piece. He followed this man in a dazed sort of a way, and found himself In tho midst of a group of calm, buslness-llke-looking sort of chaps, some of whom he recognized by their pictures in the papers. "How much do you weigh?" said ono of them. "Two hundred pounds." said Thacher. (o idfl Me V 1 MlJ 0 mrf trapped put did :he Kn Bull eadv to Mnc$r jjrnel he son - JfljrT w.' jf isi v -run 1 i rm fU U r . J i c$ : vv- w r Ho saved to us old Oregon-. arn fo O'll - I III 11 Or j GEO.C The other men weighed a score of pounds less. He felt ashamed. "Stripped?" "Eh? I don't know." Somebody grinned and was squelched. "What's up?" said Thacher. "You are. and mighty .quick about it" said tho Senior. "It's serious business now for your class. You're going In against the Sophomore heavyweight" "I!" said Thacher blankly. "I can't wrestle." He felt a big arm around his waist and a leg around his thigh. He wont down heavily. "Try it again," said the Senior grimly. "That's the simplest throw there Is." Ho twisted his leg about Thacher's with the swiftness of a cat but Thacher let out his big shoulder muscles that made him look -almost deformed, and wouldn't budge, though he thought It. was Impo lite to refuse a Senior whant he wanted. Then he shook him off as a dog does water. "That's belter," sald the Senior. "Do that out there." Then he told him a few things. A shout went up from trje other side of tho ring with tho Sophomore nu merals at tho end of It Then a surging rush of men swung back from the center, the band played, and the Inner row set tled down again for the final and de cisive bout Men wero shouting -from all sides, with appealing, tearful shouts. Fel lows who had started to go to their rooms began to push back Into tho ring again. Where tho Freshman class stood there was ox cited talking. Over on the Sopho more side a big man was slowly peeling off his sweater. Thacher, excited, throbbing, was pushed out through an opening in tho bending 53) ' here "toJf -of Lewis o.rT me It's cjo5l-fCL5ged wea, guT fer BftttsO Of J JB?',7!Avej. you- came wKyen QlffiT. MBOd , 5 u. r ro ll nde d Joy s en, cris rere oernei irjfeerr, you; from pixie, ccme out" Wesr aroun' fer & jer en settled down fer- ex resiT n-ssff " lou dbnif &jis rexrr yv&s Alius riKt: n hp'w.enr over to Ccxmpoeg . "Ijo pur up a. mihp fiH-1 was tTvere with c course, he had no map- ur &Ternel Joe wo lere va-Pp -or Y7s cKewitoun' some ,01' Joe sodd, "Jfemn iSSg) of - o. - Oun fer fonnv Ri.Tf dac; IveHcty- VtotSs jer Lewis cri ClarKj "see a mon tote box Mm Ctu.o (To 3 er wl-ereV t1e deviled www www " Vi-- bodies, into tho ring, and at once a great shout went up. "Thacher! Thacher! Thacher!" Some men on the, upper, class .side .laughed. "It's tho big Freshman that- managed Dale," they said. Thacher heard it and felt foolish. He wished they would forget that It looked llko silly prep, school business to him now. Even then he hadn't understood Its freshness, which is a matter of perspec tive. His coat and vest wero handed to a man with eyeglasses and a torch, and ho felt somebody rubbing and pounding his big chest &nd back and arms and bathing them in some soft soothing stuff that made him glow all over. He won. dercd what they would say at home If they could see him now, with, the foot ball captain babying him as If he were some prize dog at a bench show. Then a tall, tired looking fellow with a limp and a bruised cyo camp up and shook his hand. It was Atherton, and Thacher looked at him with pity. "It's up to you, Thacher, old boy," ho was saying, almost with robs. Thacher opened his eyes with a friendly sort of surprise. Atherton was a big man in the class. "I'll do what I can," he said. Over in the Sophomore camp some thing' unusual was going on. The big man who had taken off his sweater was having some sort of dispute with another man, who wore his coat turned Inside out, and who had broad shoul ders and square Jaw. Men wero jam ming around to hear what he was saying. The Seniors who were man aging tho affair apparently did not like his actions, for In a moment the B0R0, Oar - - &1tl Perdof ? npe .vyoocj & Know, of . 50, Know Joe! .9 if also -Wi I - J$1 .tfme W Vv.t jiff foir o oee,k- Qrecpr be y y I ORE. 1 jR i W it crowd saw the new man push violently past them and jump Into the ring. Then everybody, like a flash, knew what It meant. It was Dale, and he was pulling; off his shirt In a way that .made everybody know what he was there for. "Dale! Dale! Dale" This from the Sophomore side. Thacher felt his blood rise to his brain, hot and rushing, as he knew what was before him. It? was this that Dale had waited for, hoped for and for which he had planned the abduction of Billy Strong to meet tho Freshman Thacher, who had humiliated him at the Fence, and give him a lesson be fore the wholo college and Incidentally square himself. The blgr fellow looked splendid as he stood erect, his broad shoulders squared In the torchlight, his great arm muscles standing out like whipcord. The dramatic tenseness of tho moment impressed Itself on the crowd, so that a great silence fell. Men strained every muscle to get a view of the arena. Seniors with nu merals on their caps were rushing around and holding excited consulta tions. Thacher's coachwlth short breath, was explaining- tohim ten de fenses at once. A big: Senior went over and spoke to Dalo sharply; the referee went up to him and begun to emphasize something, as If he wero telling Elkins' buildup to be quiet. "Sat on Dale, did he? Well!" Men took up this cry from tho Soph omore side with axultatkm. The football captain was the only man who could stop It. "Ready Freshman?" "Ready, Sophomore?" "Go I" The two big follows dropped to all-fours like the tick of a clock. Men strained and pushed and shoved forward In ths circle, while the men in the front row took their pipes from, their mouths and leaned for ward, rocking. It is a beautiful sight to see two splen did youths stripped to their waists, pitted against each other In such sport as this. Their pink skins look white In the torch light, their firm muscles bulge, their broad backs bend to the struggle, their every move shows attention, alertness, keen brained vigilance. Outside of the arena is a tense, throbbing multitude, among whom two classes breathe with the two noble fellows In the ring. Tho heart 'of an entire class Is behind each one. It Is one of the finest things in college life. Suddenly those two crouching bodies shot forward like arrows and clinched, swaying from side to side like a pendu lum; their muscular backs swelling and bending symmetrically, their thick white muscles bulging like cables. "Well taken. Thacher!" called out the senior with tho eyeglasses. He was bend ing forward with his fingers on the ground. "Good catch, Dale!" Thacher's strength seemed to astonish the Sophomore, who had evidently expect ed an easy victory over the Inexperienced Freshman. Every way he bent Thacher followed, now swiftly, now slowly, so that Dale's big arms strained with the attack. For three minutes they rocked back and forth, and then with a splendid thigh twist that took every ounce of power in his big frame Dale spun Thacher half around, and together the two nien went to the ground, tno Fjeshman underA second later -and Dale, had Thacher's shoulders jsquared heavily In the sod, while the referee sprang, from the side lines, blowing bis whlstl. "Thrown!" he saia, feeling under Thacher's neck. A wlldveli of triumph rang from the SophoMtfre ranks, while the Freshmen groaned and wre silent. A fellow in a sweater pulled Thacher to his feet, and nuauca mm ro tna sidelines, where he was rubbed Vigorously and tied up in a blan ket. Thacher felt dizzy. So me bod y -sponged oft hla face and neck, and tho coach told him some excellent things In short, snappy sentences that stuck, in his brain. Around him crowded his class mates, patting him on the back, encour aging him, telling him he would win. Little Elkins. and this was what Thacher remembered, put his stub-nose close to Thacher's and told him to goMn and win. The Imploring eyes of the little fellow haunted Thacher. He could still see that white face la the dust by the Sophomore fence, with a big brute of a Sophomore swearing at him. This cleared his brain again and set his veins tingling. "How many fails do I have?" Thacher asked the referee. "Two out of three." said the Senior. "Then I'll do him three times." said Thacher slowly. Tho Senior smiled from his elevated position In life, and twice glanced curiously at the firm, hard mouth of the Freshman. Even when he stepped into the ring he turned and looked at him again. "He'll do." he said to himself, and made a merital memorandum. TVhen Thacher threw off his blanket and trotted out Into the ring again ho knew what, ho was going to do. He met Dale's eyes fearlessly, searchingly. He wanted a fair fight. If ho had that he felt he could win. There was a red spot In the corner of Dale's eyo that his coach had told him to look out tor. There was a lazy sneer on Dale's face, too. that made his gorge rise. A sense of tingling shame swept over him at the fellow's bullying. Ha took his measure as the Sophomore crouched before him, big. handsome, statuesque, with broad, stooping shoulders that Thacher admired. A minute of cau tlous study on both sides, and the crowd leaned forward breathlessly as the two big men clinched. Then, Uk a flash, Thacher took tho aggressive so suddenly that "before Dale had time to know what had happened he was flat on his back, with a wild, thrilling yell of 30) Fresh men singing In his ears. It was a simple trick that he had succumbed to. He knew that a moment later when he tried to roll over and get to his feet. "Fair throw!" yelled the referee, and the timekeepers snapped their watches and threw up. their hands in delight. It had taken Just 20 seconds. A shout went up from "tho Freshmen that could have been heard ten blocks, and men rushed to where Thacher sat, surprised and panting, with the football captain rubbing his arms. Thacher wondered If they would be mak ing that fus3 again over him five minutes later. Over there In a corner sat a very angry-looking Sophomore with big, bare shoulders, who was waving his rubbers away and glaring at him. But Thacher grinned amiably when Elkins jabbed him In the back, and said, "Cheer up, you've got him!" That -was like Elkins. He didn't know anything about it. Thacher also heard men say, "Sat on Dale, did ho? TVell? as If it wa3 not so surprising that he had. That was different from the way they flrst said it. Men were yelling all around him, "Win It, Thach'. win it!" He liked the friend liness of the words- Other men were yell ing to Dale, "Do him up, old man. For the sake of tho class, do that Freshman up!" That was unpleasant, and It made Dale's lip curl, which Thacher didn't like either. Then he forgot these things in watching- Dale's eyes, as the coach had told him to do. They went round and round for two minutes, like cats, until men outside who couldn't be supposed to know the tence drama -that was going on In that ring, said, "Shako It up, you fellows!" Still they swung In tha narrowing circle, fln gcra extended, knees fcent. mouths shut, eyes alert; Dale beautifully scientific In his feints, with a dangerous smile on his Hps; Thacher parrying, clumsy, throbbing-. "They're In!" Dale shot forward like a catapult, grip ping Thacher's waist. The two men knelt at the impact, then sprang Into the air, kneeled, twisted, turned. "Down in front! Oh, please sit down!" But every man was on his feet, mouth open to shout, hat ready to throw In air, eyes glued on those two twisting-Titan figures. Then suddenly Thacher felt Dale's leg; .slide around behind him, and Dale's elbow dig- him In the wind. A sickening sense of foul play shot through him. He struggled to slip from that close embrace. A rush of anger flushed his brain. "You would do that!" he sold. It was- the only gleam of real Intelligence that Thacher ever admitted he had had, when, in that last quick turn and crash ing fall, he had twisted one leg In just the right place and wrenched, so that when they struck the ground It was on Dale's shoulder. Thacher felt himself suffocated In the Sophomore's grasp, with his hot breath on his cheek. Referees were crowding In. holding their torches high abovo thelr heads. Above all he heard his dear class shouting: "Finish him! Finish him! Oh, please win that throw!" It shot through his blood llko electric ity. Tho man at his side gave one sud den, violent jerk, but Thacher, rolling over with every muscle tense, jammed his arms straight out on tho grass. He heard his class roar, and It sounded like a thunderclap. The man under him was twisting over again. He jammed "Bis arms out harder, till Dale's shoulders were flat on. tho sod. The referee ran up with his whistle between his Hps. Then Thacher noticed something. The arm that he was shoving down so merci lessly lay limp and pathetic In his grasp, though with the other Dale was trying hard to rise. A hot sense o't brutal, piti less triumph filled Thacher's brain like a flood, tide. He was on the verge of the flrst great victory of his life. In a mo ment he would bo the hero of his class, and perhaps what ho had so longed for would bo brought and laid at his feet. One more jerk and jam and that limp figure would be outstretched like a felled oak. But Just as the refereo leaned over them, Thacher sprang back, his Hps pale but his brain steady. "A fair throw." said the referee breath lessly. "No, sir." said Thacher calmly, it was not a fair throw. The man's arm Is broken." A great yell was going up from 300 Freshmen throats while Thacher stood there, blank and trembling, while men were running up, asking questions and expostulating. "Of course It was a throw, Thacher," they wero saying. "The man's down, and he won't deny it." The referee stood quietly at Thacher's side. "What's the decision?" shouted a crowd of men. pressing up to the referee. The latter looked at Thacher, and then said quietly: "No throw. The bout Is a tie." Then he swallowed something in his throat and walked away. It was 10 o'clock that night when Thaoher bad heard for the fortieth time that no man, but a fool would give Tils class away like that, mixed with tearful expostulations from Elkins and state ments from Phillips and Atkinson that Thacher had cleared himself all right and his class, when the door was pushed open and a medium-sized man with a business like face stepped ltno the room with two other men at his heels. "You will please accept my compli ments, Mr. Thacher," said this gentleman, holding out his hand to the Freshman heavyweight. "We don't praise men here at Yolo .very much like this, but the whole college appreciates what you did. It was a very noble thing to do." "Oh, no," said Thacher. But when the varsity football captain come- - to -"OV1" r room and says things like -that It makes you feel 9cuHar ab!V the coUar. "When he had gone Atkinson and Phil Hps looked out' of the window for some minutes and then ehook Thacher's hand slbwly, but with a glimmer of understand ing in their aristocratic brains. Then El kins threw his arm around his shoulders and huggod him, and that made Thacher feel better than anything else that had happened that night. New Seal for the Phil ippine Islands WASHINGTON, Sept. 4. Several years ago French E. Chadwick discovered that the great seal of tho United States had been heraldlcally faulty for a hun dred years, and forthwith the design was corrected by experts and a new die was cut for tho State Department. This led to a study of the devices used by the other Federal departments, and new designs were soon made for the Army and Navy, and for the Customs Service ot the Treasury. Even tho flag of the Presi dent had to be altered. The experts who were consulted In these cases about tho same time devised a new coat-of-arms for Porto Rico and a new seal, which gave some Indication that the island had passed from Spanish sovereignty to that of tho United States. In the last few months, however, Porto Rico has aban doned Its new seal and coat-of-arms, and returned to Its former device, on which the name, of the Island is spelled "Puerto Rico," and this Is now affixed to all offi cial documents to legalize and authenti cate them, notwithstanding tha fact that in all such documents the name of the Island Is speUed "Porto Rico," In con formity with the laws of the United States. Almost simultaneously, with this action by Porto Rico, the Insular Government of the Philippines was getting rid of lt3 old Spanish seal and substituting a new device. On July 3, 1905, the Philippine Govern ment enacted a statute establishing a great seal, to bo placed on all commis sions, official documents and papers, and describing It as follows: Section 1. There Is being prescribed and adopted the arms and a great seal of the Government of the Philippine Is lands, of the design hereinafter described: Arms: Paleways of 13 pieces, argent and gules; a chief azure; over all the arms of Manila, per fess gules and azure. In chief tho castle of Spain, br, doors and windows azure, in baso a sea-lion, argent langued and armed gules, In dexter paw a sword hllted or. Crest:, The American eagle displayed proper. Beneath, a scroll with the words "Philippine Islands" in scribed thereon. Sec. 2. Tho great seal shall be cir cular In form, with tne arms as described In Section 1, but without the scroll and the Inscription thereon, and surrounding the whole a double marginal circle within which shall appear the words, "Govern ment of the Philippine Islands," "United States of America," the two phrases being-divided by two small five'-polnled stars. ; The seal went Into use in the Philip pines oa. the Fourth of July.