“The red banner, the baseball trophy, is dated 1901,” remarked Hendon, of the second class. “How far back do we have to go in the search?”
“How old is the school?” asked a fourth class man.
“The date on Clanhammer Hall is 1885,” supplied Don.
“Then that is the date of the school,” replied Hudson. “Clanhammer Hall is the original building, you know. I guess we’ll find the initial number of the Bombardment is dated that year, too. So it looks as though we’d have to dig back a number of years.”
“Yes, but the school didn’t win a trophy every year,” grinned Farley. “A good old school and all that, but it didn’t win something every year.”
“Perhaps not, but pretty nearly,” came back Don. “Don’t forget, there were baseball, football, basketball, track, debating and tennis teams, to say nothing of swimming teams. I guess we’ll find there are quite a few trophies when we come to look for them.”
The call for drill sounded and the cadets quickly separated to assemble with their several units. Don was now a lieutenant in the infantry, but Jim was far ahead of him in his particular section, the cavalry unit, the first man in the history of the school to attain that honor who was not in the second or first class. His steady attention to drill and his heroism in saving Cadet Vench on Hill 31 had placed him in that responsible position. Terry was, to use his own expression, “still coaxing the big ladies to speak out in meeting,” by which he meant he was still serving in the artillery, around his beloved guns, whose workings fascinated him.
That evening in their room Don told Jim and Terry about the hunt for trophies. He had obtained some copies of the school magazine and together they pored over the early school notes. They found that there had been many trophies in days gone past.
“There must be some up in the storage room in the attic,” Jim said.
“Yes, and I saw a battered cup in the locker of the senior study room,” Terry said. “Looked like somebody heaved it at somebody else. After it has been repaired it will do very nicely to put on a shelf.”