“No, I’ll give him another chance,” thought Jerry. “There’s no use in stirring up a row just because he wants to be nasty.”
Bob and Ned heard what Frank had said, but no one else appeared to have caught the words, and Jerry’s two chums wondered why he did not retort to the unnecessary and unfair remark. But Jerry explained later.
“Now then, young gentlemen, try the horse,” ordered the director. “It will be good practice for you in football and baseball. Lively now!”
The “horse” is a leather-covered affair, resembling a horse in that it has four legs but not otherwise. It is a sort of padded sawhorse more than anything else.
By means of a handle, fixed in about the place where the saddle would be on a real horse, the athlete jumps on, over and astride the horse. This the boys in the Boxwood Hall gymnasium proceeded to do, lining up and taking turns.
In this [Frank showed considerable ability], while Jerry was not so good at it, making, in fact, a rather awkward appearance. And when it came Bob’s turn there was a real disaster, though a harmless one.
[FRANK SHOWED CONSIDERABLE ABILITY.]
The stout lad made a rush for the horse, but missed getting hold of the handle. He shot over the horse, slid on the smooth leather padding and went down on the floor with a bang. He looked about him with such a comical look on his face that the instructor and the other boys burst into laughter.
“Well, Baker, you’re not training for clown-work in a circus,” remarked the instructor. “Try it again.”