Richmond Hill High School - Archway / Dome Yearbook (Richmond Hill, NY)

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Page 12 THE DOME the Penf' Yet this was a sacred privilege of the Sixthis. The Head paused. 4 ul thought you were hoth in the Fifthj, he said. 'LWe are, sirfi M Does the Sixth permit you to assume its childish prerogatives? H 'L It hasn't told us not tof, retorted Hack, with a grin. '4Uml Rather thought you two had more originality. See l shall have to help you. Sup- pose you start a little custom of your own. Send downtown and buy a pair of hoops, and roll them on the parade grounds tomorrow afternoon. 'C But- 7' I believe you heard me, Cadet, broke in the Head, then walked on. H And here,', groaned Hack, 'C is where we get the laugh from the whole blamed school. Boll hoops! Oh, sufferin' snakes, they'll guy us to deathf' A So roll hoops they did. It was worse than they had expected, and they had not lacked vis- ion. They finished the term with heads down. They began the spring term the same way. H This has got to quit, declared Hank. H We will go out for the ninef' uHe'll make us roll those blamed hoops 'round the bases! protested Hack. 'cWisli l could go to another school,- or die,- or do somethin'. 'T Play ball, then. That's doing somethin? for St. ,lohnisfi N More apt to be doing something for Blairs- town,', growled Hack. I'l1 'try anything once, thoughf' The next afternoon they rolled their hated hoops diamondward. The Head, who loved base- ball almost as much as he loved his boys, heard the'welcoming chorus as they approached and went to meet them. 'tlf you're really trying for the ninefi he said, 'E leave those things in your room tomor- row. We canlt have practice interrupted by your playfulnessf' They looked at him with grateful eyes, but did not speak. They went out to field ground- ers as if their very lives depended upon their success. uYVish that pair had come out last year, said Colonel Scott, the coach. N They look pro- mising, and seem in earnestf' 'almagine they arefl said the Head dryly. 'L Don't be afraid to work them. Hack and Hank worked. There was no ques- tion about that. Freed from the humiliating hoops, they were ready to try anything. And, more to their own surprise than to the school's, they made the nine,- Hack at short and Hank at second. But they played like well oiled ma- chines. Colonel Scott had looked for brilliant plays from them. Their reputations warranted it. But they clung to the obvious and expected. All they wanted was freedom from those hoops. They came down through the season with average records both at bat and in the Held. The 'team turned out to be a crack outfit. La Salle, Cornwall, Ohio, Culver, Staunton, Penn Hall, all went down before the Scarlet and Sil- ver bats of St. John. The team neared the end of the season. They played Kiski, and walloped them for the hrst time in eight years. Still the impending shadow of Blairslown hung over the St. John's nine. True, they were winning games, but the Blair Academy crowd was doing the same, and doing it more impressively. What the New York team needed was pep and life. The coach tried to get Hack and Hank on the coaching lines, but he could not. They had had their till at being gladsome at someone else's expense. All they wanted was peace-and a world without hoops. Because the key of its inheld played without inspiration, the nine was mechanical. lt worried the Colonel. He wanted to beat Blair, and he knew that, playing dead, his team couldnit. And as the day of the great game approached he talked it over with Beard, but that worthy promptly refused all invitations to take a hand. Scott, desperate, went to the source of all knowledge. The Head listened in silence.

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THE DOME Page ll '4 Oh, shut up! yelled Beard. MI want truce. I came here to talk sensef, 'C We rejoice to see you sensible, Beard, ac- knowledged Hack. 'G Honestly, having you start a zoo in your bedroom was awfully humiliating to us fellows who try to uphold the traditions of St.John the Divine's Military School for Boys. But, on the other hand,- 'cl told you I wanted truce! 7' 'L Truce to what? 7' queried the bewildered Hank. ulxlobodyas picking on you. You've got a guilty conscience for having tried to make us two look foolish. You didnit, and you couldn't. Weire not sore, weive nothing to be sore about. There's no reason a fellow whoid keep a lamb in his bedroom should imagine every other chap was as simple. We donit mind because you're foolishg we're only sorry. We pity youf' Beard looked at them dazedly, then bolted. He saw his career at St. ,lohn's falling about his ears. He began to doubt even the wisdom of the Head. He wished that he had never been born. H And I guessfi chuckled Hack, N about now is the time to give that poor simp a run for his moneyfi Hank approved, but they reckoned without considering one person at St. ,lohn's who never should have been overlooked. The Head had no desire to have a cocky Fifth set up a soviet government in order to save him any slight ad- ministrative labors. It was, of course, by mere chance that he happened upon Hack and Hank one afternoon just prior to the Easter vacation. At the moment they were doing nothing more desperate than pegging tops on the walk before BANK STAFF

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, THE DOME Page 13 The day of the Blairstown game came at last. St. John's looked at it with dread. Hack and Hank were so docile in the dressing-room that the coach wanted to shake them. Both had for- gotten how to smile, and they found no cause to learn in those Iirst few innings. Blair scored twice, and St. John's was being held helpless before superb pitching. As the Scarlet and Silver nine came in for the last half of the Hfth, the Head strolled over to the bench and sat down between Hack and Hank. Beaten? he asked. Looks so,,' confessed Hack. The old brows went up. Wlhafs the matter? 'J Can7t hit their pitcherf, You can't if you think you can't. Doin' our best, sirf' No, you're not, you7ve quit under fire. That's kinder hard, sir,'7 growled Hank. Possibly it was meant to be, Cadet. T have not much sympathy for quitters. What are you C6 C6 cc CC 46 on the nine for? To play ball.'7 The Head looked at him keenly. You're doing itf' he stated, with about as much enthusiasm as you roll a hoop. The trouble with you two is that you lack a sense of proportion. You rolled hoops for your own good, you're supposed to be playing ball for St. John's. Don't talk hoops! groaned Hack. I dream of 'emf' Tha't's because your sense of humor is out of proportion too. You two can lay a joke, but you don't seem to be able to take one. Or, it may bef' he added thoughtfully, that my own sense of humor is faulty? Would you call being guyed by the whole school funny? exploded Hank. You found amusement in poor Beard, shot back the Head. See here, I would have been justihed in expelling you two a hundred times. I like you, I admire your originality. Instead of disciplining you by the old methods, l7ve tried to give you a taste of your own medicine. It has evidently made you sick. You're the two l'm counting on for next year. You're going to be of no use to me or to yourselves if you keep on this way. l'm ready to sign a peace treaty. We're sick all right, all right, acknowl- edged Hack with a wry grin. What do we do? 7' Play the gamef' How? The old man looked from one to the other. Why not, he suggested, play as you think we three would play it? '7 You mean you're with us? gasped Hack. Aren't you with me? 7' You bet we are! gulped Hank. But weire all for the school ! W added the Head. Now get out there and win this game.'7 They went out to begin the sixth with their long-lost confidence in themselves restored. Once again they knew they were good,- couldnlt be beaten. The Head was their ally, not their en- emy. Hack, overwhelmed with joyous relief, began to chatter. Graham, at first, looked at him in amazement. A Colonel Scott looked at the Head. Hope you didn't wait too long,77 he said. Fm playing for more than a ball gamef' came the sober answer. The rousing notes of St. John, - Men of St. John, we call to thee! Men of St. John, onward! on to victory! N came Hoating across the Held from the stands. The Scarlet and Silver held Blair, and came dashing in to overcome that two-run lead. You're up, Hank,'7 called Graham, captain. Hank raced to the plate. He was playing for the Head now,- for the Head and those twin strands of Silver and Scarlet that floated in the breeze at the top of the grand-stand. He let two wide ones go by. The next he caught for a clean single. As Hack ran to bat, he caught the sig- nal. St. John was cheering again. He heard his name re-echo across the diamond. He heard the call to the Men of St. John? He wanted to