At the same time he signaled the batter to make a swing to bother the catcher, but not to touch the ball.
Frank pretended to cling close to first, but he was watching for Coulter's slightest preliminary motion in the way of delivery.

It came, and Old Put yelled from the coach line, where he had replaced Griswold: "Gear!" Frank got a beautiful start, and Blossom made a break for third.

If Blossom had secured a lead equal to Merriwell's he would have made third easily.

As it was, the catcher snapped the ball down with a short-arm throw, and Blossom was caught by a foot.
Then it was Harvard's turn, and the Cambridge lads made the most of it.
A great roar went up, and the crimson seemed to be fluttering everywhere.
"Har-vard! Har-vard! Har-vard! 'Rah! 'rah! 'rah! 'Rah! 'rah! 'rah! 'Rah! 'rah! 'rah! Harvard!" One strike and one ball had been called on the batter, and Merriwell was on second, with one man out.

Yale was still longing vainly for scores.