But Bruce could not continue to resist the temptations of his appetite, and it became more and more difficult for him to keep in trim. As long as he was
a freshman he had done so, but when he became a sophomore he gradually abandoned the struggle.
Still he had remained active as a leader, and had been known at one time as "the King of the Sophomores." His final effort at training had been when he put himself in condition to meet Merriwell in a four-round hard-glove contest.
The bout had been pronounced a draw, but Browning afterward acknowledged that he must have been knocked out had it continued to a finish.
From that time Browning's interest in athletic matters waned.
He lost ambition in that line, and he soon became so overburdened with flesh that nothing save a question of life or death could have induced him to go into training.
It was not so very long before Bruce was known as the champion lazy man at Yale. All that he seemed to care about was to eat, drink, smoke and loaf. He seldom was known to "grind," and his attempts at "skinning" were pitiable failures.
Then he was dropped a class, and, as he still stuck to Yale, he found himself arrayed with Merriwell and
the fellows whom he at one time had regarded as enemies.
In that class Merriwell was regarded as a leader in athletic matters, and Bruce seldom mentioned anything of the kind. Now, however, to Merriwell's surprise, he displayed sudden interest in the great intercollegiate tournament to be held in Madison Square Garden, New York, directly at the close of the spring terms.