Page:The spirit of the leader (IA spiritofleader00heyl).pdf/183

 he sacrificed the school, he sacrificed every one of you because he was too lazy to do the job in the classroom that every one of you have had to do. And that's the fellow you've let ruin you and ruin this nine. He left the squad. It was a crisis; I grant you that. The moment he passed out of athletics, it became a question whether you would hold your spirit for the school or let him drag it away with him. And you surrendered it to this whiner who wasn't man enough to stand by the ship and play his part. Aren't you proud of yourself?"

No one answered him.

"There's another student who figures in this—the Owl. He's been held up to the ridicule of the school. Do you know why he refused to tutor Martin? Didn't it ever strike you that he must have had a reason? Martin said to him: 'Get me back to 70; that's as far as I want to go.' The Owl refused. That wasn't his idea of Northfield honor, or of Northfield spirit. He looked upon that as a form of cheating. He thought it was the same as a man seeking to become a citizen just so that he could get a job for his vote. That man wouldn't be interested in citizenship or in the United States—and the Owl felt that a fellow who just wanted a 70 wasn't interested in Northfield. He has been condemned; he has been