CHAPTER XXI.
THE LOSS OF A RINK.
It was a very open fall that first year of Frank's at Queen's School,and despite the fact that the boys who were inclined to the game ofhockey prayed fervently for good ice, Jack Frost held off. Severaltimes it threatened to freeze up, and there was a great polishing andsharpening of skates and seeing to the leather straps.
"When the ice comes we'll get up a hockey team," said Frank to Jimmyone day, meeting him in the yard. "Neither of us will get a chance atthe school team, so we might as well have some fun ourselves."
"And who will we play with, I'd like to know, supposing the ice didcome, and supposing we could get up a team?"
"I'll bet you the best hockey stick in Milton that there'll be lotsof chances. There'll be so many scrub sevens out that there won't beenough ice. Are you game for it?"
"Sure thing," said Jimmy. "We can rope Lewis in. There's a fellow inmy entry named Hazard who drops in evenings to borrow a book. He sayshe can skate. Lewis isn't a half bad skater, and he's so fat that hewould naturally get in the way of the puck without being very quick.So he would be a good goal tender."
"Good enough," returned Frank. "That makes four, and we can pickthree other fellows up somewhere. Be on the look out and I'll keep myeye out, too. Meantime, pray for the ice."
But all things, as the copybooks say, come to him who waits.About the middle of December sharper weather came on, and thenone afternoon the mercury began to slide down the tube of thethermometer. At six o'clock in the evening it stood at zero, and theboys covered the distance from their rooms to the dining hall suppertable and back in record time, owing to the biting air.
Frank was over to see Jimmy that night and reported that the bigthermometer that his father had given him, and which hung outside hiswindow, registered seven below.
"And it's going down further, and what's equally good, there hasn'tbeen a bit of wind since the cold snap came."
"And what has wind to do with it?" inquired Lewis.
"Hasn't anything to do with the freezing, but with wind the ice isrough. I met Potter coming up from the ice just before dark and hesays it's like glass, and is so thick now he could hardly punch hisheel through it."
"Sounds good," said Jimmy. "We will then, to-night, organize thegreat Armstrong hockey club."
"No, don't call it after me. I may not be good enough to stick on.But we've got to have a name. Suggest something, Lewis."
"Well," said the goal-tender-to-be, "I guess we might as well call itthe Lollipops. Sweet things on the end of a stick, you know."
"Hurray for the goal-tender. Lollipops it will be! The LollipopHockey Club of Queen's School. First practice to-morrow afternoon atthree thirty. How does that hit you?" said Frank.
"All right for me," said Jimmy.
"And me, too," piped up Lewis. "I'll show you the way to stop 'em.If you can get them past your Uncle Dudley, you will be going some."
"All right, Fatty," said Jimmy. "If you play half as well as you talkwe will have the real thing in a hockey team."
Frank's prediction came true about the freeze, and what it would do.Before the thermometer got through on its shivering downward courseit touched ten below, some time during the night, and then travelledupward again; but by the middle of the next forenoon it was back toten degrees above. It was still pretty nippy, but just the rightbrace was in the air for violent exercise. The boys could hardly waitfor the middle of the afternoon to come around. Some of them hadalready been on the glittering surface of the river, and reported itlike glass, and four inches thick.
Frank had selected a place about a hundred yards up the river forthe site of his rink. It was a spot in a small cove, pretty wellsheltered by trees and protected from the sharp winds which blewacross the more exposed parts of the river. For the first day theLollipops and a dozen others of the class, any one in fact who camealong, contented themselves with tearing up and down the ice andshooting a puck between piles of coats which did duty for a cage.Wearying of this unorganized exercise after a while, Jimmy, Lewis andFrank picked up their coats and started up the river in the directionof Warwick, five miles away.
They swung along easily, enjoying the freshness and crispness of theair, and the really wonderful ice under foot. Half way up to therival school they met several of the skaters from that school, amongthem big Channing of the football team, who nodded pleasantly toJimmy and came to a halt.
"Are you going to have a hockey team down there this year?" Channingasked, nodding his head in the direction of Queen's. "If you are, wewant to get a game or two."
"Yes, there will be a school team I guess, particularly if the iceholds out, but we are only Freshmen and will probably not get achance at it," said Jimmy. "They had a team last year, didn't they?"
"Yes, but we beat it 15 to 4, and we want to get a chance to do itagain. It might help Queen's to put a few lively young Freshmen onit. I'd advise you to try."
"We have, or are going to have a team of our own, and we willmasquerade under the splendid name of the Lollipops. We'll giveyou a game when we learn how to stand on our skates," said Frank,laughingly.
"All right, Lollipops, that's a go, in case Dixon can't get a classyseven together."
"Chip Dixon, is he the captain?" said Frank, quickly.
"Yes, I think I heard he was elected. He's about the roughest playerQueen's has had on the team, but when he roughed it we roughed it,and the result was while he was doing nothing else but roughing it,we were playing a little hockey. Dixon was one of the best players onQueen's, but lost his temper and hit one of our forwards a deliberateblow over the arm with his stick. It came to be pretty nearly ageneral row all around. Our fellows are just aching to get at Queen'sagain."
"Well, you'd better send a challenge down. I'm not on good termswith Mr. Dixon," said Frank. "Perhaps he will take you on. But if hedoesn't, we'll put you on our schedule when we learn to toddle aroundand hang onto a stick."
The group parted company. When the trio returned to the float,scores of fellows were darting around here and there on theirskates, and a large bonfire had been built on the bank, which threwa cheerful light over the sparkling ice and helped to dispel thedarkness which had already begun to fall.
Before night came on, however, our founders of the Lollipop Club hadlaid out their rink in the little cove. They set down four blocks ofwood about five inches in diameter, two at each end of the "grounds,"chipping out little pockets in the ice, into which the blocks wereset. Then they filled these pockets with water.
"Those posts will be as steady as the gate posts of Queen's Schoolby to-morrow morning," observed Frank, "if nobody bothers them. Itwill certainly make a dandy place to play," he added, looking around."It's just off the line of travel, enough so it won't interfere withgeneral skating, and our posts will be in no one's way."
Every one was well tired that night. The unusual exercise of skatingand the violent way most of them had gone into it left them withaching bones and muscles. After supper Frank and Jimmy went around,and completed the Lollipop seven from the ranks of Freshmen theyknew.
"When we get started, I'll bet we have dozens more than we want. Andwhen they see Lewis on the job they'll pay us money to let them inwith us."
The weather held sharp and clear, and the following morning twoinches more had been added to the river's coating. It was now safebeyond any doubt. Frank, during the forenoon, was down to the riverto see how the marks they had set were standing. He reported thatthey were as stiff as rocks. They were like posts which had been letdown through the ice and anchored in the mud of the river.
That afternoon the Lollipops made their descent on Wampaug river infull force. Jimmy had succeeded in finding a couple of other Freshmenfor substitutes to complete the quota of players. When the news ofthe formation of a Freshman team was noised around, it was evidentthat there would be no trouble in finding plenty of opponents, forevery one on the river had a stick, and the novelty of gliding upand down merely for skating's s
ake had passed. Frank was besiegedby applicants. So they rushed down across the field, got into theirskates at the boat-house float, and struck up the river to a chatterof excitement at the beginning the club was to have.
"Well, what do you think of that for a nerve?" cried Frank, as comingaround a curve from the float which had hidden the "grounds" thatthey had laid out the night before, they saw that the place wasalready occupied. "And, by George, it's Chip Dixon. I'll be jiggeredif it isn't."
The Lollipops skated up slowly, but their arrival seemed to have noeffect on the boys who were occupying their rink. Frank recognized,besides Chip, several of the Gamma Tau men, among them Cuthbert ofthe nine, who had been after candidates for the society not so longbefore, Boston Wheeler, the fullback of the eleven, and severalothers. They paid not the slightest attention to the real proprietorsof the territory, but kept on gaily with their play.
A slashing drive sent the puck to the river bank, and while some onewas recovering it Frank sculled slowly over to Chip and said, "Ithink you have our 'grounds,' haven't you? We laid these out lastnight, and planted the markers."
"Oh, is that so?" said Chip, indifferently. "Very nice of you. Welike the place very much, indeed."
"But it is ours, and we want to play. It isn't the regular practiceplace of the school team, is it?"
"Our regular practice place is wherever we want to play, so runalong, Freshie, and don't bother us. All right, I've got you"--thisto a mate who sent the puck spinning across the ice in Chip'sdirection. Thereafter Chip was busily engaged, and paid no attentionwhatever to the Lollipops, who stood around glumly, hardly daring tobreak out into open revolt.
"Dixon has done this for spite and nothing else," said Jimmy. "TheWee One told me that the school team generally practises just belowthe boat-house float. I'd like to knock his head off," and Jimmygrabbed his stick and swung it around him vigorously. "I'll get evenwith him for this, see if I don't."
"He's got it in for both of us," said Frank, who had now turned hisback on the players. "We can't make a fuss, although we do know hehas chucked us out of our own place. Come on, let's go up the riverand find another place where----"
Frank had not done speaking when a terrific collision sent himsprawling on his face, and as he got to his feet again a sarcasticvoice said: "Can't you keep out of the way? Can't you give us room toplay our game?"
It was Chip, who had deliberately run into Frank when the latter wasunprepared and given him a nasty fall. Blood was trickling from a cutover Frank's eye where he had struck the ice. The sight of the bloodmade Jimmy wild with anger. He helped Frank to get his balance andthen turned on Chip, who had started to skate away.
"That was a contemptible trick, Dixon," he said, "and for two pinsI'd punch your head for you, although you are the captain."
Chip heard and wheeled like a flash. He drove straight at Jimmy, andswung his stick at the latter's head. Jimmy saw him coming in time,sidestepped the rush, stuck out his foot, and Dixon went head overheels sprawling on the ice. Jimmy followed him, just as eager as Chipwas to settle the matter there and then with blows, but Chip hadreceived a tumble which took a good deal of the fight out of him, andby the time he had regained his feet a crowd of boys were in betweenthe two.
"You'll pay for this, you red-headed little chump," said Chip,savagely, rubbing his bumped skull. "I'll pound you within an inch ofyour life if I ever catch you where your friends can't interfere."
"It's your friends who are interfering," said Jimmy, coolly, holdinghis ground. "I'll settle it right now if you wish, you cowardlybully." And Jimmy threw his stick on the ice, his eyes blazing.
Frank, who had recovered from his cruel fall, skated over to Jimmyand slipped his arm around him, saying: "Don't mind about it, Jimmy.He isn't worth while. Let's go up the river and pick out anotherplace, and have our little fun, for there isn't much daylight left.Come on, Lollipops." Jimmy picked up his stick slowly, keeping asavage eye on Dixon, and somewhat reluctantly followed Frank andthe others a hundred yards or so up-stream. The encounter had beenwatched by a score or more of boys, none of whom cared much aboutChip's way of doing things. But they were much attracted to theyoung Freshman who had dared the mighty Dixon in his own lair. Sothey followed Frank and Jimmy to the new place, where coat-markerswere laid down. In the vigorous play that followed, the clash of theafternoon was soon forgotten.
"I was a fool to get mad," said Jimmy as they trudged homeward overthe frozen ground, "but he set me boiling, and I lost my red headentirely."
"I'm afraid he'll try to get you some time and may do you some harm."
"Not he. I can take care of myself, and don't you worry about that,Frank. I believe he has a yellow streak in him. I'm ready for him anytime."
And at about the same time Chip Dixon was travelling back to the yardin a group of his cronies. "I'll get that red-headed guy some dayand knock that carroty nut clean off his shoulders," said Chip. Butat the moment he said it, he wondered a little if it might not be apretty hard job.