Still there were several fine jumpers among those who kept trying, and the crossbar was moved up inch by inch as they cleared it handsomely, amid the plaudits of the admiring throng.
Further on the pole-vaulters were making their swift little run, and rising to clear their elevated bar. Of course in this particular there were numerous failures, and some of the jumpers had bothersome falls. One boy went off limping, and assisted by a friend, having bruised his leg painfully.
But these things must be expected among a parcel of untrained schoolboys, whose muscles are not as hard as they should be.
Somehow Lanky and Frank were more interested in the work of the sprinters, for that was in their own line. They timed some of the dashes, and exchanged satisfied looks. There seemed to be considerable talent among this class; and unless the rival schools developed a marvel or two, they would have all they could do to keep at the heels of these lively Columbia lads.
From time to time the two boys were hailed by those they knew best; and Lanky seemed to be in an unusually fine humor, even for him. But Frank, of course, understood the reason for this. He could see that Lanky somehow turned his head, and looked at nearly every newcomer. He seemed to think there would be a messenger from the telegraph office hunting him up; since the answer to his message was sure to be marked “very important.”
Loud voices attracted their attention later on, and Frank was sorry to discover that some of the Columbia boys were engaged in a wordy dispute with the big crowd of Bellport students who had come over in a fighting mood.
“It’s a put-up job, that’s what it is!” one of the latter was saying, roughly.
“Yes, things have all got a string on ’em,” added another, with a sneer. “It’s no wonder Columbia nearly always wins when they know how to pull the wires, and get the inside track! On even terms, Bellport would lick you out of your boots; and I don’t care who hears me say it.”
“Oh! come off now,” remonstrated a Columbia boy; “you know better than that, Sim Reeves. We’ve been beaten by Bellport and Clifford, and beaten fairly, too. Did we kick, and set up a howl of fraud? Not much. We took off our hats to the victors, and said we were sorry to admit that they were the better fellows that day; but we hoped to tell a different story another time.”
“Yes, you did!” jeered a third Bellport fellow. “Right now you’ve got this competition all cooked up, so that the plums will fall to Columbia. Wasn’t it engineered by a Columbia gentleman, who put up all the money for the prizes? Sure it was; and the committee just hated to think of any of those fine medals going to Bellport, so they arranged things to give the home crowd all the advantage.”