“Maybe not,” growled Bingham; “but he’s the devil let loose!”
But Frank led the sophomores into forming quietly and quickly for a rush. When they were ready, Frank saw that they started and got under way without any yelling to give the freshmen warning that they were coming.
Thus it happened that the first the freshmen knew the sophomores were sweeping down on them in a compact mass, ready to make another fierce struggle. Starbright and Morgan cried for the freshmen to fall in and get ready to meet the rush, but there was not enough time to prepare properly before the rushers were on them.
Somehow, Boltwood had disappeared. This had been noticed a short time before, and now they called to him in vain. He was not there to give them courage to withstand that furious rush of the sophs.
The sophomores plowed into the freshmen in an irresistible surge, and they could not be checked. As they found the freshmen melting before them, their spirits rose and they grew fiercer and more determined. The result was that the freshmen were swept away like chaff, and the sophomores retook the fence with so little trouble that they were almost bewildered.
“Where is Boltwood?” was the question asked on all sides as the freshmen were put to rout.
“He’s sneaked!” declared somebody resentfully. “He’s a coward, anyhow. It was only when excited that he had any courage. The moment the excitement was over, his courage left him and he got out of the way.”
But neither Starbright nor Morgan made any such remark. Both of them knew what had become of Boltwood, and they held their peace.
Some of the freshmen were for making another attempt to recapture the fence, but the most of them had had enough and were well satisfied. They had defeated the sophs in the pass and captured and held the fence for a while, which was glory indeed, and that seemed sufficient. So they began to disperse at once, and to the sophomores was left the satisfaction of holding what was their own.