Then he trotted off toward the dressing-room beneath the grand-stand, while Dick, following him with his eyes, muttered:
“Confound your surly temper! I’d like to tell you just what I think of you, but it isn’t policy now, for we need you on the team.”
CHAPTER IV.
DON LEAVES THE TEAM.
It did not take Don long to get into his football suit. Danny Chatterton met him as he was coming from the dressing-room.
“So you ch-ch-ch-changed your mind?” grinned the little fellow, winking in a taunting manner. “Must have cuc-cuc-cooled off sus-some after I left ye. Or was it Bub-Bentley gug-got you to come along? He-he’ll make a real good ch-ch-chum for you! Tell you what, I’d rather be fuf-friendly with a stuck-up city chap, as you cuc-cuc-call Renwood, than to only have a ch-chum like Bub-Bentley.”
“You mind your own business, Chatterton!” harshly advised Don. “I’m not making a chum of anybody.”
“Well, there’s a pup-pup-pup-pretty good reason for that,” returned the aggravating little rascal, as he sidled away. “If you had a ch-chum, you’d gug-get mad and eat him inside of th-th-three days.”
Scott bit his lip, assailed by a sudden conviction. “That’s the reason I’ve never had a real chum,” he thought. “It’s my temper. I have no one but myself to blame, I suppose.”
He was actually feeling humiliated and humble when he joined the others, who were grouped about Renwood and Sterndale. Dolph and Dick were talking over the code of signals and the simpler plays to be learned.
“Of course,” said Renwood, “when we become familiar with the common and conventional plays, then we can study up new formations and new moves in the game. Until we’ve seen just what kind of material we have and what sort of a team it forms as a whole, we cannot decide upon our general style of playing. If the men prove to be fast and light on their feet, we’ll see what we can do in the way of running and surprise plays. If they are not fast, but are dogged and heavy enough, we’ll see what kind of a bucking team they’ll make. Or it is possible we may find that we have a great kicking team. But, no matter what general style of playing may be decided upon, after getting into a game it may be found expedient to change to another style in order to best assail the weak points of the opposing team.”