“Only his arrangement was not filled with water,” said Dick.
“Hardly!” exclaimed Singleton. “He had something in it that made you blind, and you pitched the last inning when you could scarcely see the batter.”
“And cuc-cuc-cuc-cuc——”
“Cut-cut-cadawcut!” cackled Smart.
“Cuc-cuc—whew!—caught a hot liner right off the bat, putting out the last man,” said Jolliby. “That was what bub-bub-broke their hearts.”
“No; it was giving up the biggest share of the gate-money that broke their hearts,” laughed Dick.
“We can do ’em again!” piped Obediah Tubbs.
“I think we can,” nodded Dick; “but, as Singleton said, this business of playing with dirty teams is becoming tiresome. Franklin had a lot of ringers, for I have learned beyond a doubt that their man Gray, as he was called, was Plover, the professional. The Trojan A. A. tried to defeat us by roughing it, and we have been up against that kind of business generally. It would be a pleasure to play one good, clean game with a school team in our class. It is this slugging, kicking, and general rough-house playing that makes so many persons down on football. At best, it is not a ladies’ game, but it is not brutal when properly played.”
“It will be a fight from start to finish with U. A. A.,” said Singleton. “Those fellows will want revenge for their defeat at baseball, and they will try to get it by knocking the stuffing out of us.”
“It’s likely you are right about that,” nodded Dick; “but we must be ready for anything. We must go into the game determined to win, and I feel confident we can do it.”