Page:The secret play (1915).djvu/103

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"I am!" declared the other, scandalized by the insinuation. "I do! I've been telling fellows all the afternoon that Dick knows what he's doing and that if he wants to lose every game but the Springdale game he has a perfect right to do it!"

"All right. Then don't talk as if you thought he didn't have any sense." And Chester turned away with a scowl that, because of a strip of dirty white plaster on his cheek-bone, made him look quite ferocious.

Dick's request for twenty more candidates resulted in the appearance of some eight or ten youths, mostly of tender years and all without football experience. Cotner and Lanny viewed the volunteers pessimistically, but Dick failed to exhibit any disappointment at the result of his summons. He added the new fellows to the rest and went diligently on. On Monday there was a full hour of dummy-tackling, and fellows who had prided themselves on their ability in that line had much of the conceit taken out of them. Dick's knowledge of tackling surprised even Lanny and Gordon and others who believed the most firmly in his ability to lead Clearfield to victory. For a fellow who had never handled a pigskin, he certainly had a whole lot of