The Boys of Columbia High on the Ice

The Boys of Columbia High on the Ice opens with Frank Allen delivering a hockey challenge to rival Clifford High while riding Lanky Wallace's new ice-boat, the *Humming Bird*. Along the way, Lef Seller, the town's chronic troublemaker, tries to sabotage them in an ice-boat race and later strings a wire cable across the river to wreck their return trip. Both boys also encounter a mysterious, down-on-his-luck fisherman-tramp who calls himself "Bill," camped on Rattail Island; Lanky is nagged throughout the book by a feeling that he has met this man before but cannot place him. Clifford accepts Columbia's hockey challenge, and Lef Seller, seeking revenge and using his own outcast "Wanderers" team, maneuvers Columbia High's squad into a rough tune-up game meant to injure key players before the real contest. Despite dirty tactics — including Lef deliberately striking Frank with his stick — Columbia wins handily. Bill proves an unlikely ally, phoning in a warning about Lef's scheme and later helping police capture the actual escaped convict, Bill Brockholt, whom he ties up in his own camp. A parallel plot follows Ralph West, Frank's close friend, who was raised as a foundling and has learned he may be the long-lost son of a wealthy woman, Mrs. Langworthy, separated from him by her scheming brother years earlier. Frank, Lanky, and Ralph take a Christmas Day skating trip up the Harrapin River, during which they help extinguish a fire at farmer Baxter's new home — a fire secretly set by the fleeing convict as cover for a robbery. While there, Frank discovers a pocketbook long lost behind a desk drawer, proving that Baxter's estranged son "Willie," driven away years earlier after being wrongly accused of theft, was innocent all along. Lanky finally realizes that "Bill" the tramp is this same Willie Baxter in disguise. The convict is captured, Willie Baxter is reunited with his repentant father, and Ralph is joyously reunited with his mother the same evening after a providential automobile ride to intercept a delayed train. The book closes with the climactic hockey match between Columbia and the long-unbeaten Clifford Seven, as Columbia's team, buoyed by Frank Allen's leadership, opens the game with a strong early lead, foreshadowing an upset victory over their heavily favored rivals.

By Graham B. Forbes · First published 1911 · Genre: Sports Fiction, Coming-of-Age, Adventure · 23 chapters · 57,735 words

First lines

"Hi! there, Frank! Don't you want to take a little spin with me aboard my new ice-boat?"

"Why, hello Lanky, is that the _Humming Bird_ you've been building on the sly? " and Frank Allen as he spoke, looked up from his task of locking a glittering skate to his shoe.

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Genres

• Sports Fiction — Ice hockey competition dominates the narrative arc, with extensive depiction of gameplay mechanics, athletic rivalry between Columbia High and Clifford High, and victories in multiple sports (baseball, rowing, football) throughout the season.
• Coming-of-Age — Follows teenage protagonists Frank Allen, Lanky Wallace, and Ralph West through a formative school year, with emphasis on their moral development, personal challenges, and maturation through competition and adversity.
• Adventure — Multiple adventure sequences including ice-boating races, pursuit of an escaped convict, farmhouse fire rescue, navigation of dangerous river conditions, and exploration of the remote upper Harrapin region.
• School Story — Substantial focus on Columbia High School life, athletic committee operations, inter-school rivalries with Clifford and Bellport, student relationships, and the institutional context for all competitive events.

Tags

sports · hockey · ice skating · youth · high school · boys · teams · competition · athletics · coming of age · friendship · winter sports

What this Textopian page supports

The Boys of Columbia High on the Ice is listed on Textopian as a novel by Graham B. Forbes, dated 1911 CE.

This source record anchors work identity, reading entry points, and catalog context for checking claims about the work.

• Work type: Novel
• Author: Graham B. Forbes
• Date: 1911 CE
• Language: English
• Genres: Sports Fiction, Coming-of-Age, Adventure, School Story, Mystery
• Length: 57,735 words
• Structure: 23 chapters, 1,293 paragraphs
• Reading fit: Fairly Easy (7th Grade)

Good citation fit

• Work identity for The Boys of Columbia High on the Ice by Graham B. Forbes
• Canonical title URL and first readable passage URL
• Genre and topic classification from the Textopian catalog
• Readability and classroom-planning context
• Passage-specific claims should cite the exact /read/ URL for the relevant chapter or paragraph

Contents

• Rule or Ruin
• The Clifford Seven Get a Challenge
• Bill
• When the Athletic Committee Met
• Lanky's Hard Luck
• When Brutus Changed his Mind
• Forced to Play
• Up against the Outcast Seven
• The Three Chums
• Lanky Brings News
• Still a Mystery
• The Headwaters of the Harrapin
• What the Smoke Meant
• The Volunteer Fire Laddies
• The Old Farmer's Secret
• Down the River
• Lanky's Lucky Day
• The Puzzle Solved
• Found at Last
• Such a Glorious Day
• The Campfire on Rattail Island
• Surprising Clifford
• The Great Victory -- Conclusion

More by Graham B. Forbes

• The Boys of Columbia High on the River (1911)
• The Boys of Columbia High in Track Athletics (1913)
• The Boys of Columbia High on the Diamond (1911)
• All works by Graham B. Forbes