by Roy J. Snell
CHAPTER VIII HA! HA! BIG JOKE!
The game on the following Saturday was strange. Johnny, who journeyedwith the team to Chehalis, where the game was to be played, had neverseen anything like it. Something quite mysterious and startling happenedat the beginning of the second quarter. The score stood at 7-7. It wasHillcrest's ball on their opponent's twenty yard line, second down, andten yards to go.
At that moment, while it was being returned from an unsuccessful attemptat a forward pass, in some strange manner, the ball came into contactwith a Chehalis player's toe and went bouncing into the bleachers. Johnnysaw this but thought little of it. He was to think a great deal more ofit later.
The ball was slow in getting back onto the field. This was not strangehowever, it was a cold day. Many blankets tended to hamper thespectator's movements.
When the ball came back it was Rabbit Jones, Hillcrest right half, whoreceived it. The ball, he thought, seemed queer, yet he said nothing.Twenty seconds later the ball was in play. Rabbit had it and waspreparing to throw a forward pass to Dave Powers, who had run around leftend to receive it.
Then Rabbit did a strange thing. To the vast surprise of all his teammates, instead of carrying out the play, he allowed his arm to drop toshoot the ball at last far and high, curving away toward a spot where noone was.
"Don't touch that ball!" These words were on Rabbit's lips. He did notsay them. Nor was there any need, for as it reached the highest spot inits long, broad curve, with a boom like a cannon shot, the ball burst.
A sudden cry of surprise rose from the bleachers. But from one pair oflips--Rabbit heard it distinctly--there came, "Ha! Ha! Big joke!"
Who had said it? Rabbit's gaze from face to face of the opposing teamcame to rest upon the big right tackle. "Yes," he assured himself, "hesaid that. And it was his toe that pushed the ball into the crowd amoment ago. Something queer there."
Though the boy thought all this, not one word, for the moment, did he sayto his team mates. The whole affair puzzled him greatly. Why had hechanged his mind so quickly? Why had he thrown the ball for that longforward pass into the great nowhere? Had he known the ball would burst?Well, scarcely that. It had all been very strange. The ball had been coldlike ice. He had imagined that he felt it swelling. He had acted,perhaps, on instinct. Who knows?
But no more of that. Here was a new ball. The whistle was blowing. Notime, this, for dreaming. Hillcrest must win. Just must! They had lostthe week before. The score now stood at a tie. Twenty yards from atouchdown.
"Come on now boys!" Dave Powers urged. "Let's get in there and win!"
"Dave," Rabbit whispered, "Dave, send me through their right tackle."
"That fellow!" Dave stared. "He'll smear you. He's twice your size."
"Try it!" Rabbit was pleading now. "Third down! Please, Dave--try it."
In the huddle Dave gave his orders quickly. Rabbit was to take the ballthrough right tackle. His team mates gasped but said never a word.
Rabbit's fingers trembled as they touched the ground, prepared for theplay, but in his eye was a strange gleam.
Snap! The ball hit his hands. He was away. Guard and tackle on his teamdid their bit. It was not enough. As he leaped at the opposing line, thebig tackle blocked his path. Then Rabbit did a strange thing. Coming to adead halt he said in a low, tense tone:
"Ha! Ha! Big joke!"
Next instant he plunged head on. He struck that big tackle. He brushedhim aside like a bag of straw, then plunged forward for a clean gain ofnine yards.
"Made it! Made it! Made it!" chanted the Hillcrest rooters. "First down.Ten to go! We want a touchdown! We want a touchdown!"
"Again!" Rabbit panted, as he came up to Dave. "Just one more time."
"One more time it is," Dave grinned. "Don't see how you did it, but it'sworth one more try."
Again it was. Same play, same old forward plunge, same results. This timeRabbit did not say it all, only "Ha! Ha!" then he plunged. Again the jinxworked. This time he went all the way for a touchdown.
Amid the deafening din made by rooters, Punch Dickman kicked the goal andthe score stood 14-7 in Hillcrest's favor.
"Game's not over," Dave warned his team mates. "Not by a long mile. Andwe've got to win."
"Yes," Johnny whispered to himself as he heard the words, "They mustwin."
He was thinking at that moment, however, more of Ballard than of all therest of the team. Ballard, he knew, had been practicing entirely toohard. He was nervous and jumpy. If too much of the game depended uponhim, he might do something rather terrible. He knew little about thestrange events that were throwing the game, almost entirely, to Rabbit'sside of the team. He was thankful it was so.
"If only Ballard can get through a game without any mishaps," he said toJensie. "And if he can see his own team win, it will help a lot."
"Yes," Jensie agreed soberly, "it will."
* * * * * * * *
"Dave," Rabbit whispered, as they marched down the field for thekick-off. "That football did not just burst. It was blown up."
"Blown up!" Dave stared. "How could it be? How could you blow up afootball that's been constantly in play for a half hour?"
"It went into the bleachers."
"And came right out again. Rabbit, you're crazy!"
"No," said Rabbit, "I'm not. That big tackle knew all about it. Thatsecret knowledge made him soft. I went right through him twice."
"Twice. That's right," Dave whistled low. "It's the queerest thing I everheard. How could they? And why?"
"Wanted to get our goat maybe. Perhaps it's what they'd call a practicaljoke.
"And look!" Rabbit pulled at Dave's arm. "They're taking that big tackleout, putting in another man."
"Well," Dave grinned, "you can't go through him if he's out of the game."
This was true. The full force of its truth came over the Hillcrest teamas during the moments that followed, they battled to hold their lead.
Through a series of line plunges and end runs, Chehalis pushed them back,back, back to their own three yard line. Then the Chehalis quarter-backfumbled and Dave retrieved the ball.
This gave Hillcrest a short breathing spell. Then again disasterdescended upon them. Rabbit fumbled the ball. It shot high in air. AChehalis man caught it and carried it across for a touchdown. The goalwas kicked. The score was tied. The grandstands became places of wildpandemonium. Then the whistle blew for the end of the third quarter.
"Rabbit," Dave whispered as they dropped down upon the grass for amoment's rest, "we're thinking too much about that busted football.Perhaps that's what they wanted. Anyway we must not. We've got to get inand win! Win! That's what!"
"We--we will," Rabbit exclaimed beneath his breath. "All the same," headded, "I'd like to know how--"
"There you go!" Dave laughed. "Forget it!"
Yet Rabbit could not quite forget it.
With the score standing at a tie the teams settled down to a grimlyfought fourth quarter. Chehalis attempted two line plunges, and one endrun. Failing to make their downs, they kicked.
Hillcrest caught the kick, carried the ball to their own forty yard line,tried a line plunge, a forward pass and an end run, then kicked. So forten minutes struggling, sweating, racing, plunging, all to no purpose,they beat their way back and forth across the field.
With five minutes left to play, Chehalis fought their way to Hillcrest'stwenty yard line. There for three downs they stuck. Then, like a flashout of the blue, from his position behind the line of scrimmage, theChehalis full-back booted the ball straight over the bar for a fieldgoal.
"Three ahead," someone groaned as play was resumed. "They've got us."
"Nothing like that," Rabbit retorted. "Four minutes left to play.Touchdown! Touchdown!"
And the bleachers were chanting: "Touchdown! Touchdown!"
The struggle was resumed.
Time out for Chehalis. A player limped off the field.
By this time Rabbitwas too weary to see who replaced him. Soon he was to know and smile.
Once again play was resumed; Hillcrest's ball on the opponent's fortyyard line.
They went into a huddle! Came out. The play called for two short lateralpasses behind the line. While this was going on Rabbit was to breakthrough the opponent's scattered defense and prepare to receive a longpass.
Could he make it? He breathed hard. Snap! They were away. So was Rabbit.To reach his required position was easy. Where was the ball? Had the twolaterals served their purpose? Yes! Yes! Here came the ball, straight forhis outstretched hands and not an opponent near. What luck!
But wait! As he caught the ball and turned to run, he saw before him, notten yards away, a huge player, in fact, none other than that righttackle, the one he suspected of some unfair trick. He had been returnedto the game.
There are times when Rabbit's mind works with the speed of a steel trap.This was one of those times.
Speeding straight at his opponent, he held the ball straight out beforehim, at the same time hissing:
"Here! Take it! It might blow up!"
For a space of seconds the big would-be tackler halted in his tracks. Theexpression on his face was a study.
As for Rabbit, he stopped short, pivoted to the right, flashed by hisopponent to speed away and across the line for a touchdown. Hillcrestwent into the lead.
In the last two minutes of play, Chehalis made a desperate attempt toscore. Two forward passes were knocked down. An end run was blocked, athird forward pass was intercepted. Hillcrest marched down the field fora gain of twenty yards. Then the whistle blew. Hillcrest had won!
There followed the usual wild applause and the hearty congratulations,then Dave and Rabbit sauntered toward the exit.
"I tell you it's nonsense!" Dave burst out. "Under such circumstances youjust couldn't blow up that football. Suppose it was full of gasoline orgun powder, how would you light it? I tell you it's impossible!"
"I suppose it is," Rabbit laughed. "It happened all the same. And Ihaven't got a single theory about how they did it. One thing is sure,Dave, the ball was cold, cold as ice. I--
"Look! There's something under the bleachers, something shiny--dollarmaybe.
"Nope," he said a moment later, "it's a football pump. And look! What afat one it is!
"Sayee!" he stopped and stared. "This is the very spot! The ball wentinto the bleachers right here."
At that moment Johnny Thompson came up to them. Jensie and Ballard hadgone off the field. Ballard was happy, he had played in a successfulfootball game. True, he had been given no very important part in it, thishe knew, was more or less a matter of chance. Next time,--well, anyway,he had on this day made no serious breaks. The future might take care ofitself.
Johnny, however, was not thinking of Ballard at that moment. He wasturning that strange air pump over and over in his hands. It was, he saw,a very ordinary pump, over which had been soldered an outer casing. Thespace between the pump and the casing was padded with asbestos. "As ifthe pump might get too hot," he said to Dave as, assisted by Rabbit, Davetold what they knew of the strange occurrence.
"Keep still about this," Johnny counseled at last. "The crowd thought theball just naturally blew up; that happens, you know. Let them think it.We'll get at the bottom of this mystery yet."
Strangely enough, as often happens, this mystery was closely related toanother and, had Johnny but known it, the solution of one would go fartoward untangling the other.
