"Hurrah! Look at that!"
"They got back all they lost and more!"
"Hold 'em, Dale! Stone foundation!"
A great many cries arose. Dale and his supporters braced back as well as they could. Then Dale gave the word to come up for another haul.
Back and forth went the rope, the center knot first on one side of the line and then on the other. For several minutes it looked as if Dale's team might win. But then the tide turned again, and with a strength that was surprising, Pepper's team gave "a long pull, a strong pull, and a pull all together," and brought the center knot over the winning line.
"Hurrah! Pepper Ditmore's team wins!"
"Say, that was a great tug, wasn't it?"
"My foot slipped!" said one of Dale's supporters.
"So did mine," same from a cadet on the other side.
"It was a fair contest," said Frank Barringer. "Pepper Ditmore's team wins. My private opinion is, both sides did well," he added.