Page:The spirit of the leader (IA spiritofleader00heyl).pdf/246

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And then came a time of activity such as Northfield had not known before. A sign, built and painted in the manual training shops, went up in the corridor facing the entrance:

Bring an Athletic Field to Northfield

Speeches! Day after day they were heard in the home rooms. The great Northfield question became "How are those at home going to vote?" "Ask dad and mother; they know," cried the Northfield Congress. It became the rallying cry of the school. During the last auditorium period of the week a student sprang from his seat as the dismissal signal was given and as the leader of the school orchestra stood ready to start the exit march.

"Everybody in on this," he yelled. "Make it snappy. Are we going to get that field?"

"Ask dad and mother!" roared eight hundred throats; "they know!"

Praska felt that one spontaneous outburst was worth a dozen speeches in the home rooms. The steady record of progress was beginning to show itself in the reports that came in. The seventy-two sure votes had become one hundred and eighty-nine, and more than two hundred parents