Page:Boys of Columbia High on the Ice.djvu/84

72 "Here's where you get instructions on how to play championship hockey!"

"No fooling boys; this is something serious. I was called up on the 'phone a short time ago by a fellow who claimed that he heard Lef Seller and his crowd talking last night, and that there were things said that made him believe this game was arranged just to have a chance to lame a few of Columbia High's best players, and upset the big affair of next week," said Lanky, impressively.

"What's that?" demanded Jack Comfort, the cover point of the Seven.

"Just what I thought all along!" grumbled Bones Shadduck.

"Now, I had an idea that way myself. The question is, what are we going to do about it? Can we afford to play these rough Wanderers, knowing that they are only aching to crack us on the shins, or do one of a dozen things calculated to make us lame when the time for the Clifford match comes?" asked Lanky.

All of them instinctively looked to Frank. At a time like this his judgment was supreme in such matters.

"I've been thinking this over, suspecting some such dodge myself. It's a shame that we have to play such an unscrupulous crowd; but I don't see