Years ago, it was the custom, for a certain style of stories, to begin something like this:
“Bang! Bang! Seven redskins bit the dust!”
Then, after the sensational opening, came a calm period wherein the author was privileged to do some explaining. I shall, with your permission, adopt that method now, with certain modifications, and tell my new readers something about Randall College, and the lads whom I propose to make my heroes. It is, perhaps, rather an inopportune time to do it, but I fear I will find none better, since Tom and his chums are so constantly on the alert, that it is hard to gain their attention for a moment, after they are once started.
And so, while the bob containing the girls, in whom our friends are so much interested, is swinging toward the dangerous hollow, and when Tom and the others are preparing to execute a risky manœuvre to save them, may I be granted just a moment? My former readers may skip this part if they choose.
It was in the initial volume of this “College Sports Series,” that I introduced Tom Parsons and his chums. The first book was called “The Rival Pitchers;” and in it I told how Tom, a raw country lad, came to Randall College with a big ambition as regards baseball, and how he made good in the box against long odds. In the second book, “A Quarter-back’s Pluck,” I told how Phil Clinton won the big championship game under trying conditions, and in “Batting to Win,” there were given the particulars of how Randall triumphed over her rivals, and how a curious mystery regarding Sid Henderson was solved.
“The Winning Touchdown,” was another story of college football, and, incidentally the book tells how Tom and his chums saved the college from disaster in a peculiar way, and how Frank came to Randall and “made good.” Frank had roomed elsewhere but was now with Tom, Sid and Phil.
Randall College was situated on the outskirts of the town of Haddonfield, in the middle west. Near it ran Sunny River, a stream of considerable importance, emptying into Tonoka Lake. This lake gave the name to the athletic league—the league made up of Randall, Boxer Hall, Fairview Institute and some other places of learning in the vicinity. Randall often met Boxer Hall and Fairview on the gridiron or diamond.
Dr. Albertus Churchill, dubbed “Moses,” was head-master at Randall, Dr. Emerson Tines, called “Pitchfork,” was the Latin instructor, and Mr. Andrew Zane was the proctor.