Page:The fighting scrub, (IA fightingscrub00barb).pdf/268

 only a few lines in length, predicting a Wyndham victory and counseling the School to stand firm behind the Team and show its faith. There were cheers for the Principal and for the absent coach and a big, long cheer for Wyndham, and then the meeting stampeded through the doors and down the hall and formed again outside and became quite mad. Clif and Tom, up in Number 17, stopped their talk and listened.

"Rah, rah, rah! Drayton!" "Rah, rah, rah! Cotter!"

On they went, through the long list. "Rah, rah, rah! Kemble!" Clif grinned nervously. He was afraid they would cheer him and afraid they wouldn't. They did, at last. And they ended up with "Wink" Coles. After that there was a moment of confused shouting and then came a long cheer for the Team. Subsequently a strident voice began "Whoop It Up" and every one down there joined in and the bravely rollicking strains drowned Tom's statement that it was close to half-past and he guessed he'd better hit the hay. He waited until the song was over, humming the words softly, and then nodded and closed the door behind him. Alone, Clif sat for several minutes where Tom had left him while the sounds below quieted and died away. Finally he began to undress and discovered to his surprise that his fingers were trembling so that they made hard work of the buttons!

Clif didn't go to Cotterville with his father, although