Uncle Blossom climbed on a box and shouted: 

“Three cheers for ’Umpty-eight, the winners!”

The cheers were given.

Easy Street leaped on another box and yelled: 

“Three cheers for Frank Merriwell, the winning oar!”

It seemed that the freshmen were trying to split their throats.  And not a few juniors joined with them, showing how much admiration Merriwell had won outside his own class.

Walter Gordon cheered with the others, but Roland Ditson stood at a distance, beating his heart out with rage and jealousy.  He was all alone, for at Yale not one man was left who cared to acknowledge Ditson as a friend.

CHAPTER XXVII.

A change of pitchers.

“The game is lost!”

“Sure.”

“Yale has not scored since the second inning.”

“That’s right.  She made one in the first and three in the second, and then comes four beautiful whitewashes.  Harvard hasn’t missed a trick, and the score is eleven to four in her favor.”

“Lewis, this is awful!”

“Right you are, Jones.  Hear those Harvard rooters whoop up!  It gives me nervous prostration.”

The Yale freshmen were playing the Harvard freshmen on the grounds of the latter team, and quite a large delegation had come on from New Haven to witness the game, which was the second of the series of three arranged between the freshmen teams of the two colleges.  The first had been played at New Haven, and the third was to be played on neutral ground.

Yale had won the first game by heavy batting, the final score being twelve to eleven.  As the regular ’Varsity nine had likewise won the first of their series with Harvard, the “Sons of Eli” began to think they had a sure thing, and those who came on from New Haven were dead sure in their minds that they would bring back the scalps of the Harvard freshmen.  They said over and over that there would be no need of a third game to settle the matter; Yale would settle it in the second.

Walter Gordon had pitched the whole of the first Harvard game.  He had been hammered for thirteen singles, two two-baggers, and a three-bagger, and still Yale had pulled out, which was rather remarkable.  But Walter had managed to keep Harvard’s hits scattered, while Yale bunched their hits in two innings, which was just enough to give them the winning score.

It was said that Frank Merriwell was to be given a show in the second game, and a large number of Yale men who were not freshmen had come on to see what he would do.  Pierson had been particularly anxious to see Merriwell work, and he had taken a great deal of trouble to come on.  The “great and only” Bob Collingwood, of the ’Varsity crew, had accompanied Pierson, and both were much disappointed, not to say disgusted, when Old Put put in Gordon and kept him in the box, despite the fact that he was being freely batted.