The Plastic Age by Percy Marks (best mobile ebook reader .txt) 📖
- Author: Percy Marks
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Wildly, Threw His Hat In The Air, If He Had One--And, So Great Was His
Training, Keeping An Eye On The Cheer-Leader, Who Was On The Platform
Going Through A Series Of Indescribable Contortions. Suddenly He
Straightened Up, Held His Hands Above His Head Again, And Shouted
Through His Megaphone: "A Regular Cheer For The Team--A Regular Cheer
For The Team. Make It Big--Big! Ready--!" Away Whirled The Megaphone,
And He Went Through Exactly The Same Performance That He Had Used Before
In Conducting The Regular Cheer. Gifford Looked Like An Inspired Madman,
But He Knew Exactly What He Was Doing. The Students Cheered Lustily, So
Lustily That Some Of Them Were Hoarse The Next Day. They Continued To
Yell After The Cheer Was Completed, Ceasing Only When Gifford Signaled
For Silence.
Then There Were Speeches By Each Member Of The Team, All
Enthusiastically Applauded, And Finally The Speech Of The Evening, That
Of The Coach, Jack Price. He Was A Big, Compactly Built Man With Regular
Features, Heavy Blond Hair, And Pale, Cold Blue Eyes. He Threw Off His
Coat With A Belligerent Gesture, Stuck His Hands Into His Trousers
Pockets, And Waited Rigidly Until The Cheering Had Subsided. Then He
Began:
"Go Ahead And Yell. It'S Easy As Hell To Cheer Here In The Gym; But What
Are You Going To Do Saturday Afternoon?"
His Voice Was Sharp With Sarcasm, And To The Shouts Of "Yell! Fight!"
That Came From All Over The Gymnasium, He Answered, "Yeah,
Maybe--Maybe." He Shifted His Position, Stepping Toward The Front Of The
Platform, Thrusting His Hands Deeper Into His Pockets.
"I'Ve Seen A Lot Of Football Games, And I'Ve Seen Lots Of Rooters, But
This Is The Goddamndest Gang Of Yellow-Bellied Quitters That I'Ve Ever
Seen. What Happened Last Saturday When We Were Behind? I'M Asking You;
What Happened? You Quit! Quit Like A Bunch Of Whipped Curs. God! You'Re
Yellow, Yellow As Hell. But The Team Went On Fighting--And It Won, Won
In Spite Of You, Won For A Bunch Of Yellow Pups. And Why? Because The
Team'S Got Guts. And When It Was All Over, You Cheered And Howled And
Serpentined And Felt Big As Hell. Lord Almighty! You Acted As If You'D
Done Something."
His Right Hand Came Out Of His Pocket With A Jerk, And He Extended A
Fighting, Clenched Fist Toward His Breathless Audience. "I'Ll Tell You
Something," He Said Slowly, Viciously; "The Team Can'T Win Alone Day
After To-Morrow. _It Can'T Win Alone!_ You'Ve Got To Fight. Damn It!
_You'Ve Got To Fight!_ Raleigh'S Good, Damn Good; It Hasn'T Lost A Game
This Season--And We'Ve Got To Win, _Win_! Do You Hear? We'Ve Got To Win!
And There'S Only One Way That We Can Win, And That'S With Every Man Back
Of The Team. Every Goddamned Mother'S Son Of You. The Team'S Good, But
It Can'T Win Unless You Fight--_Fight_!"
Suddenly His Voice Grew Softer, Almost Gentle. He Held Out Both Hands To
The Boys, Who Had Become So Tense That They Had Forgotten To Smoke.
"We'Ve Got To Win, Fellows, For Old Sanford. Are You Back Of Us?"
"Yes!" The Tension Shattered Into A Thousand Yells. The Boys Leaped On
The Chairs And Shouted Until They Could Shout No More. When Gifford
Called For "A Regular Cheer For Jack Price" And Then One For The
Chapter 6 Pg 38Team--"Make It The Biggest You Ever Gave"--They Could Respond With Only
A Hoarse Croak.
Finally The Hymn Was Sung--At Least, The Boys Tried Loyally To Sing
It--And They Stood Silent And Almost Reverent As The Team Filed Out Of
The Gymnasium.
Hugh Walked Back To Surrey Hall With Several Men. No One Said A Word
Except A Quiet Good Night As They Parted. Carl Was In The Room When He
Arrived. He Sank Into A Chair And Was Silent For A Few Minutes.
Finally He Said In a Happy Whisper, "Wasn'T It Wonderful, Carl?"
"Un-Huh. Damn Good."
"Gosh, I Hope We Win. We'Ve _Got_ To!"
Carl Looked Up, His Cheeks Redder Than Usual, His Eyes Glittering. "God,
Yes!" He Breathed Piously.
Chapter 7 Pg 39
The Football Season Lasted From The First Of October To The Latter Part
Of November, And During Those Weeks Little Was Talked About, Or Even
Thought About, On The Campus But Football. There Were Undergraduates Who
Knew The Personnel Of Virtually Every Football Team In The Country, The
Teams That Had Played Against Each Other, Their Relative Merits, The
Various Scores, The Outstanding Players Of Each Position. Half The
Students At Sanford Regularly Made Out "All American" Teams, And Each
Man Was More Than Willing To Debate The Quality Of His Team Against That
Of Any Other. Night After Night The Students Gathered In Groups In
Dormitory Rooms And Fraternity Houses, Discussing Football, Football,
Football; Even Religion And Sex, The Favorite Topics For "Bull
Sessions," Could Not Compete With Football, Especially When Some One
Mentioned Raleigh College. Raleigh Was Sanford'S Ancient Rival; To
Defeat Her Was Of Cosmic Importance.
There Was A Game Every Saturday. About Half The Time The Team Played At
Home; The Other Games Were Played On The Rivals' Fields. No Matter How
Far Away The Team Traveled, The College Traveled With It. The Men Who
Had The Necessary Money Went By Train; A Few Owned Automobiles: But Most
Of The Undergraduates Had Neither An Automobile Nor Money For Train
Fare. They "Bummed" Their Way. Some Of Them Emulated Professional
Tramps, And "Rode The Beams," But Most Of Them Started Out Walking,
Trusting That Kind-Hearted Motorists Would Pick Them Up And Carry Them
At Least Part Way To Their Destination. Although The Distances Were
Sometimes Great, And Although Many Motorists Are Not Kind, There Is No
Record Of Any Man Who Ever Started For A Game Not Arriving In Time For
The Referee'S First Whistle. Somehow, By Hook Or By Crook--And It Was
Chapter 7 Pg 40Often By Crook--The Boys Got There, And, What Is More Astonishing, They
Got Back. On Monday Morning At 8:45 They Were In chapel, Usually Worn
And Tired, It Is True, Ready To Bluff Their Way Through The Day'S
Assignments, And Damning Any Instructor Who Was Heartless Enough To Give
Them A Quiz. Some Of Them Were Worn Out From Really Harsh Traveling
Experiences; Some Of Them Had More Exciting Adventures To Relate Behind
Closed Doors To Selected Groups Of Confidants.
Football! Nothing Else Mattered. And As The Weeks Passed, The Excitement
Grew, Especially As The Day Drew Near For The Raleigh Game, Which This
Year Was To Be Played On The Sanford Field. What Were Sanford'S Chances?
Would Harry Slade, Sanford'S Great Half-Back, Make All American? "Damn
It To Hell, He Ought To. It'Ll Be A Stinkin' Shame If He Don'T." Would
Raleigh'S Line Be Able To Stop Slade'S End Runs? Slade! Slade! He Was
The Team, The Hope And Adoration Of The Whole College.
Three Days Before The "Big Game" The Alumni Began To Pour Into Town,
Most Of Them Fairly Recent Graduates, But Many Of Them Gray-Haired Men
Who Boasted That They Hadn'T Missed A Sanford-Raleigh Game In Thirty
Years. Hundreds Of Alumni Arrived, Filling The Two Hotels To Capacity
And Overrunning The Fraternity Houses, The Students Doubling Up Or
Seeking Hospitality From A Friend In a Dormitory.
In The Little Room In The Rear Of The Sanford Pool And Billiard Parlors
There Was Almost Continual Excitement. Jim Mccarty, The Proprietor, A
Big, Jovial, Red-Faced Man Whom All The Students Called Mac, Was The
Official Stake-Holder For The College. Bets For Any Amount Could Be
Placed With Him. Money From Raleigh Flowed Into His Pudgy Hands, And He
Placed It At The Odds Offered With Eager Sanford Takers. By The Day Of
The Game His Safe Held Thousands Of Dollars, Most Of It Wagered At Five
To Three, Raleigh Offering Odds. There Was Hardly An Alumnus Who Did Not
Prove His Loyalty To Sanford By Visiting Mac'S Back Room And Putting
Down A Few Greenbacks, At Least. Some Were More Loyal Than Others; The
Most Loyal Placed A Thousand Dollars--At Five To Two.
There Was Rain For Two Days Before The Game, But On Friday Night The
Clouds Broke. A Full Moon Seemed To Shine Them Away, And The Whole
Campus Rejoiced With Great Enthusiasm. Most Of The Alumni Got Drunk To
Show Their Deep Appreciation To The Moon, And Many Of The Undergraduates
Followed The Example Set By Their Elders.
All Friday Afternoon Girls Had Been Arriving, Dozens Of Them, To Attend
The Fraternity Dances. One Dormitory Had Been Set Aside For Them, The
Normal Residents Seeking Shelter In Other Dormitories. No Man Ever
Objected To Resigning His Room To A Girl. He Never Could Tell What He
Would Find When He Returned To It Monday Morning. Some Of The Girls Left
Strange Mementos....
No One Except A Few Notorious Grinds Studied That Night. Some Of The
Students Were, Of Course, At The Fraternity Dances; Some Of Them Sat In
Dormitory Rooms And Discussed The Coming Game From Every Possible Angle;
And Groups Of Them Wandered Around The Campus, Peering Into The
Fraternity Houses, Commenting On The Girls, Wandering On Humming A Song
That An Orchestra Had Been Playing, Occasionally Pausing To Give A
"Regular Cheer" For The Moon.
Hugh Was Too Much Excited To Stay In a Room; So With Several Other
Chapter 7 Part 41Freshmen He Traveled The Campus. He Passionately Envied The Dancers In
The Fraternity Houses But Consoled Himself With The Thought, "Maybe
I'Ll Be Dancing At The Nu Delt House Next Year." Then He Had A Spasm Of
Fright. Perhaps The Nu Delts--Perhaps No Fraternity Would Bid Him. The
Moon Lost Its Brilliance; For A Moment Even The Sanford-Raleigh Game Was
Forgotten.
The Boys Were Standing Before A Fraternity House,
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