CHAPTER XXIII
WON BY FOUR INCHES
"See 'em getting Hail Columbia from their coach because they made that fool play! Next time it'll be different," growled the unhappy Bellport backer.
"I hope so," replied the cheerful and optimistic Buster, composedly.
Frank, as he came in from the field, dusty and disheveled, looked eagerly at a certain part of the grandstand where Helen sat alongside her chum Minnie. Immiediately both girls waved their flags at him, and called out something, which, of course, was utterly drowned in the furious shouting that arose.
But Frank would ten times rather have heard what they said than to listen to the cheers of the multitude; for he knew that love and friendship endure, while the admiration of the crowd is as fickle as the weather, praising one day and on the next condemning.
Both teams held earnest consultations during the
217
