"Wonder if they are running away from the academy?" came from Phil.
"It looks like it to me," answered Dave. "I guess they are pretty badly scared. Maybe they know that Doctor Montgomery had turned against them."
"Well, if they only stay away it won't be so bad," said the senator's son.
"I might telegraph ahead and have them held," said Dave. "But I guess it isn't worth while."
"Do you know what I think?" said Phil. "I think they were at that Mrs. Slater's house the night we called, and what we said scared them." And in this surmise Phil was correct.
An hour later found the three chums down on the river, where they were met by the other members of the hockey team. A great crowd was assembling, and in the number were Vera Rockwell, Mary Feversham, and a number of other people they knew.
The boys from Oak Hall had come in sleighs and on skates, and they had brought their horns, rattles, and banners with them. The Rockville cadets were also alive to the occasion, and the combined din from both sides was deafening.
"Here is where we do up Oak Hall!"
"Here is where Rockville gets another defeat!"
"Remember, this is for the championship of the Leming River!"
So the cries rang on, drowned ever and anon by the tooting of horns and the clacking of rattles. Soon came a short practice, and then the two sevens lined up for the great contest.
At a glance it was easy to see that the Rockville team was a fine one. Every player was tall and thin, and an exceptionally swift skater. They had been well drilled into team work, and sent the puck from one player to another in a manner that brought forth many favorable comments.
"We sure have our work cut out for us!" whispered Ben to Dave. "They are the swiftest bunch I have yet seen on skates."
"And their captain is certainly a star," added Shadow. "I never saw a fellow turn quicker or send the puck with more force."
"We've got to fight and fight hard!" cried Dave. "I want every fellow on the job, first, last, and all the time!"
CHAPTER XXXI
ANOTHER VICTORY--CONCLUSION
"That's the way to do it!"
"What did I tell you? Oak Hall won't be in this game!"
"This will wipe out that football defeat!"
So the cries rang out. The great ice-hockey contest was but six minutes old, and amid a wild yelling and cheering Rockville had carried the puck down into the Oak Hall territory, and Mallory, their star player, had made a swift and safe goal.
"Wasn't that going some!"
"Three cheers for Mallory!" And the cheers were given with a will.
"Oak Hall! Oak Hall!" came the answering cry, and then the supporters of that school burst out into a new slogan:
"Ice hockey! Nice jockey! Oak Hall Has the call! Wa! wa! wa! wa! Whoop!"
"Oh, what a shame that Rockville scored!" sighed Vera Rockwell.
"Never mind, the game isn't ended yet," returned Mary Feversham.
"No," came from a Rockville cadet, sitting near. "When it is the score will be about forty to nothing, in our favor." And this remark caused some cadets to smile, and made both of the girls turn very red.
"Aren't they horrid!" whispered Mary.
"Don't mind them," answered her friend. "But, oh, I do so hope Oak Hall wins!" And then both girls waved their Oak Hall banners vigorously, by way of encouragement to the team.
Once more the puck was put into play in the center of the field of ice, and again Rockville sent it flying near to the Oak Hall goal. But this time it came back, and now the fight was on for several minutes near the left side line. There was a little rough play on both sides, and the referee called time.
"I want no more such work," he said, almost sternly.
"I was hit in the side by somebody," growled Plum.
"I was hit in the back," came from a Rockville player.
"If there is any more such work I'll call the game," said the referee, and then the whistle blew to start again.
This time Oak Hall worked with vigor, and presently had the rubber disc down close to the Rockville goal. But alas for their hopes! Just as Ben was on the point of striking for the net, a Rockville player stole the puck from him, rapped it to another player, who sent it whirling to Mallory, and in a twinkling it was down at the other end of the field.
"Another goal for Rockville!"
"What did I tell you? Boys, this is a walk-over for our school!" cried Guy Frapley, who was on hand and as anxious as anybody to see Oak Hall defeated.
"Oak Hall may be able to play football, but they don't know how to play ice hockey!" added John Rand, who was with him and equally anxious to see Dave and his friends lose.
The supporters of Oak Hall had little to say. The only lad who felt happy was Nat Poole.
"Here is where Dave Porter and his crowd get what is coming to them," thought the money-lender's son. It pleased him greatly to think his school might be beaten. Which shows how really mean-spirited Nat was.
Again the game proceeded, and now the contest waged in earnest. In a mix-up near the center of the field, one of the Rockville players named Devine crashed into Plum, and both went down in a heap, with two other players on top. The puck went sailing toward the Oak Hall goal, and though Dave did his best to stop it, the goal was made an instant later.
"Time! time! Somebody is hurt!"
"That goal ought not to count!"
A babble of voices sounded out, and slowly the players untangled themselves. Then it was learned that Plum had been hurt on the shoulder, and one of the Rockville players had gotten cut in the ankle, and both had to retire. Luke Watson took Plum's place. It was decided that the goal had been made unfairly, after time was called and allowed, and so it was not counted.
But even this did not help Oak Hall in the first half of the contest. Rockville went at it hammer and tongs again, and soon scored a legitimate third goal, amid a cheering that was tremendous. Then the whistle blew, and the first half of the game became a thing of the past.
"We are up against it and no mistake," remarked Roger, dolefully, as he and the other players sat down on a bench in the boathouse to rest.
"We are too slow," answered Dave. "We simply must put more ginger in our playing."
"Yes, and we've got to take more chances," added Sam. "Might as well do it--we can't lose anything," he added, bitterly.
When the call sounded to start the second half of the game, the Oak Hall seven came forward with a do-or-die look on their set faces. Rockville, on the other hand, wore a happy smile, as if the victory was already a sure thing.
For a minute the playing was uncertain. Then came a surprise, for Oak Hall "broke loose," to use Messmer's way of expressing it. The puck was fairly stolen from Mallory himself by Dave, and sent forward, and to the right and the left, in a manner that was bewildering.
"Send it back, Rockville!"
"Don't let them score!"
"Back with it! Back!"
"Go