"Dick Lovering's all right," they said, "but he's a cripple, and even if he knew how to coach the team, he couldn't do it on crutches! Wait till you hear Springdale laugh at us when they hear it!"
Those who really knew Dick, on the other hand, hailed his choice with satisfaction. Perhaps Tom Haley voiced the general sentiment of this faction as well as anyone. "I don't care a bit," he said, "whether Dick knows a football from a baked potato. If Dick undertakes to coach the team he'll do it and do it well. I never saw the thing yet that Dick couldn't do when he made up his mind to it. And there isn't a fellow in school who can make what he says go as Dick can. We may not beat Springdale this year, but if we don't it won't be Dick's fault!"
But whether the school in general approved or disapproved, the matter was already beyond them by the time they heard of it officially, which was the noon following George Cotner's announcement on the steps. For Lanny had begged speedy action by the Athletic Committee and a hurried meeting had been held in Mr. Grayson's office at eleven o'clock. Curtis Wayland, who at Lanny's solicitation had risked the doctor's displeasure and at-
