onfident.

"If there is anything I can do, I can jump," he told Bascomb, in an
aside. "I will beat him by a foot, at the very least."

"I hope you will beat him by a yard!" muttered the big fellow,
sullenly. "I want to see him taken down. He has been a leader long
enough."

"Oh, I will manage to win some of his glory away from him before the
spring campaign opens," said Rains, confidently. "Don't you worry
about that; but," he added, swiftly, "don't repeat my words to anybody.
I am not going to boast, but I am going to do something. That's the
proper way."

"Sure," nodded Bascomb. "I guess you can do it, too."

In his heart, however, Bascomb did not feel at all sure that Rains
would prove the victor in the jumping contest.

"Merriwell is the hardest fellow to beat that I ever saw," he told
himself. "It doesn't seem possible to down him, and keep him down. If
one seems to get the best of him for a bit, he bobs up serenely
directly, and comes out on top. It is just his luck!"

If Bascomb had said it was just Merriwell's pluck he would have hit the
truth, for Frank, besides being physically capable, was endowed with
any amount of determination, having a never-say-die spirit that would
not give up as long as there was a ghost of a chance left to pull out a
winner.

In the words of the boys, "Merriwell was no quitter."

"Ready," called the fellow who had been chosen for referee. "Rains
will set the stint."

CHAPTER XIX.

JUMPING.

There was a determined look on Paul's face, as he walked to one end of
the long strip of turf that ran down one side of the gymnasium.

"He is built for jumping," said one of the spectators. "There is a
fine pair of legs, if I ever saw a fine pair."

"That's right," agreed another; "and he is full of snap and ginger. He
will give Merriwell a hard go."

"But Merriwell is no slow coach at anything," broke in a third. "I
never saw a fellow who seemed able to make such a record at all sorts
of sports. Who would have thought that he could face Bascomb? Look!
Rains is going to start! See him crouch for the run! He is like a
young panther! Now he's off!"

Down the line of turf darted Paul, reached the white line, rose
gracefully into the air with a pretty spring, and sailed forward in a
handsome jump that brought a round of applause from the spectators.

The measurers immediately ran the tape.

"Seventeen feet and four inches," was the announcement.

A sha