“The boys will have sport with you, Merry,” said Diamond.
“Let ’em,” smiled Frank. “I may get as much sport out of it as they do. May I have Coffin Head, St. Ives!”
“Of course you may if you want him,” said Kenneth, “but I’m sorry that——”
“Never mind it!” came gayly from Merriwell. “Saddle up old Coffin Head for me, boy,” he cried, to one of the assistant hostlers. “I’ll manage to take some part in the game. Hurrah for Coffin Head, the old-timer! He may prove a surprise party for somebody.”
CHAPTER XXIV—THE FIRST GO
Tang! tang!
It was the timekeeper’s gong, and the game of polo was begun with a charge.
Each team had lined up within twenty feet of their respective goals, and, as the ball was dropped in center field, the little ponies tore forward like blooded racers.
It was a spectacle to send the blood leaping in an instant.
For all that the game had been hastily gotten up, the boundary line was crowded with the élite of the countryside. It seemed as if people had risen from the ground.