grandstand, "Where is Jack Hammer ?" The
cry was taken up on the instant and oh every side
people began crying "Hammer," "Jack Ham
mer" "Now is the time for Jack Hammer."
Every eye on the grandstand was on him and
the men who were about to start in the mile walk
paused with the starter to see what the commo
tion was about. A hot blush of shame stole over
Jack's cheek and he became about as uncomforta
ble as a man can well be.
Then a little hand stole softly into his, and, un
consciously closing on it, he heard whispered in
his ear, "Go, Jack, for my sake."
"Through fire and death for your sake," he
muttered almost fiercely, swiftly raising the little
hand to his lips there before all that crowd, and
then witn a bound be was up over the seats of the
grandstand and off to the ath4etic house. Cheer
after cheer followed him, and, though Carrie Arch
ibald was almost overcome with mortification
at hls romantic and dramatic leave taking, she
leaned back in her seat, glad to be no longer the
cynosure of all eyes and filled with another f r
greater gladness she could not describe and al
most dare not confess to herself.
Meanwhile Jack was almost tearing his suit in his
eagerness to get it on in time. The walkers were
off, and in a short nine or ten minutes it would
be his turn to tread the cinder. Nordson won
with Simms : second and the Varsity third. This
put Simms up to twenty-six and the Varsity twen
ty-two. Just then the pole vault was finally set
tled, leaving nothing but the mile run as a fitting
climax to this most exciting meeting the Associa
tion bad ever had. Heath won, Lime Lake took
third, and the Varsity got the two points for
second, making her twenty-four. Should she win
the run and Simms get second, she would win by
just one point, if not—well the Varsity sympathiz
ers did not allow themselves to think of this side
of the case.
"All out for the mile run !" came quavering up
the. field, and the six .men waiting knew their time
had come. Excitement was now at a fever heat.
THE FREE LANCE.
As the men came jogging down to the start, the
rythmic cadence of the Varsity yell rolled out
with a vibration almost sufficient to shake the
grandstand down. Almost before it ended, the
sharp bark of Simms rang out, and then the ear
splitting din of Heath responded.
Next the pole was a man from Heath, then one
from Nordson, then Simms, then Heath, then our
hero, and on the outside Rosefield, the Simms
record breaker. Before toeing the mark, Jack
looked up at the grandstand. There was a pale
face with soft, kind brown eyes that seemed to
sink down to the depths of his soul. "For Car
rie" he muttered as he pawed out a footing for
himself in the cinder.
"Get Ready Get Set !!" Bang I and
they are off. The inside man from Simms sets
the pace. Then comes a man from Heath, the
Nordson man, and another Heath man, Jack and
Rosefield. The pace is very stiff, the Simms man
thinking to tire Hammer out for he has heard all
about the fuss with the trainer. The first quarter
is finished in the same order as the start. Then the
Nordson man drops back a ,place ; and at the end
of the lap Musgrove of Heath is in the lead,
and Hammer and Rosefield have passed the
Nordson man and the other fellow from Heath.
The third lap is practically the same.
Then the fight commences. The man from
Simms who led the first lap falls behind, but still
the Heath man leads. Is he going to win? •If
he should and Jack should make second; Rose
field failing for third, three colleges would tie for
championship with twenty-six points each. The
pace is becoming terrible. If it is kept up, this
last quarter will be run in less than fifty-five sec•
onds.
The excitement is so intense that nobody can
keep their seat on the grandstand and bleachers,
while many enthusiasts are running to the finish
to be in at the death. To the runners the ava
lanche of sound comes in waves that keeps time to
their trip-hammer heart beats.
It is the pace that kills, but they will not give