Page:The fighting scrub, (IA fightingscrub00barb).pdf/187

 He dropped his right hand from an imaginary back and—"

"See it?" exclaimed Loring.

Tom shook his head in puzzlement as Clif straightened up again. "Why, his shoulder, man!" said Loring impatiently. "First it's way up like this where half the First Team's linemen can see it. Then it disappears and after you've counted two the ball is snapped. That's as regular as—as—why, it never fails! I timed it half a dozen times, Tom. Down went Jackson's shoulder and from three-quarters to a second afterwards Ridgway snapped. Some one found that out and spread it. Now the First Team forwards watch Jackson's shoulder instead of the ball or the men in front of them and when it ducks they charge. Sometimes they were past the line before the ball was in Jackson's hands. If there had been a linesman he would have penalized First six or eight times; almost every time you chaps had the ball in the first half; but a referee or an umpire can't see that sort of thing from where he stands. When Duval went in you began to make your plays good because the First wasn't being tipped off when to start."

"Heck!" murmured Tom. "So that was it! A simple little thing like that! My sainted Aunt Jerusha! And no one saw it!"

"I don't see what your blamed old aunt's got to do with it," objected Clif disgustedly. "I've said all along, and so has Loring, that we ought to cut out passing to the quarter except when—"