“Whoop her up, Dauntless!” yelled Roy Bock, as soon as he reached the grandstand.  “Whoop her up, and wipe up the ground with Putnam Hall!” And then he swung his big rattle, and his cronies did likewise.  Then the Pornellites crowded into the grandstand and took seats near Pepper and his fellow cadets and the girls.  They talked in loud voices and said a number of things that caused the faces of the girls to burn, and made the cadets thoroughly angry.

“They ought to be put off the stand!” cried Bob, indignantly.

“And they will be put off if they keep this up,” answered Pepper.  “They can cheer all they please for the Dauntless eleven, but they have got to act like gentlemen.”

As soon as the two elevens appeared, the practice commenced, and then there was a toss-up for goals, which Dauntless won.  They took the south goal and Putnam Hall took the ball.  Then came the kick-off, and the game was on.

CHAPTER IX

THE FOOTBALL GAME

At first the playing was rather tame, but inside of a few minutes both elevens warmed up, and from that moment the work became fast and furious.

The Dauntless team had the advantage of weight, but the eleven had not played together as much as had the majority of the Putnam Hall cadets, consequently some of their combination efforts were decidedly ragged.  One move resulted in a bad fumble on the part of the left end.  The ball was captured by Jack, and he carried it forward fifteen yards before downed.

“Oh, my, isn’t it rough!” screamed Laura Ford, as the young major hit the grass with great force, two of the Dauntless men being on top of him.

“Oh, that’s all in the game,” was Pepper’s comment.  “But I shouldn’t want to see anybody get his ribs stove in,” he added.

Putnam Hall got the pigskin to within ten yards of the Dauntless goal line, and then came an unexpected turn of affairs.  The leather was lost by the Putnam Hall center, and carried around the right end and up the field for thirty yards.

“Hurrah! that’s the way to do it, Dauntless!”

“Keep it up!”

“Dauntless to the front!” yelled Roy Bock.  “Everybody in the game!” and then, in the midst of the excitement, he drew back with a soft apple in his hand and threw the half-decayed fruit at Jack.  It just grazed the young major’s shoulder.

Pepper was on the watch, for he had expected just such a dirty trick.  He leaped up, and reaching over, caught the Pornell student by the ear.

“Ouch!” yelled Bock.  “Let go!”

“You get out of the grandstand!” cried Pepper.  “If you don’t I’ll get a crowd to mob you.”

“See here, Ditmore——­”

“Don’t talk—­get!” interrupted Pepper.

“Let Roy alone!” sang out Bat Sedley.  “If you don’t, I’ll crack you one!”

“Hello, you rascals!” came unexpectedly from nearby, and a farmer named Baker showed himself.  “You here?  Jest wait till I git my paws on you!” And he started in the direction of Roy Bock, Bat Sedley and two of their cronies.