“Nobody’d mind, sir,” someone shouted. “We’ll all go, Chief!”
“Well, that would be the only drawback, I guess. We’ll think it over and talk about it again to-morrow night.”
“Beg pardon, sir,” said Steve Brown, “but wouldn’t it be better to settle it now? If we’re going to play those fellows we’ll need a lot of practice. We ought to make up our team to-morrow and get busy. Every day would count, I guess.”
“That’s right, Chief,” confirmed Mr. Gifford. “Why not find out now whether they are any of the fellows who would rather not go to the expense of the trip?”
“Then you like the idea, fellows?”
“Yes, sir!” “You bet we do!” “We’ll trim those chaps, sir!”
“All right, then. Now, are there any of you who can’t afford the trip, or who don’t want to spend that much money? One way and another, it will probably cost each of you nearly four dollars.”
Silence prevailed. There were whispers finally, but no dissenting voice until Gerald Jones piped up with: “I haven’t got that much, sir, and my folks are away from home and I don’t know where to get at them, sir, but if you’d lend me about two dollars, sir——”
Amidst laughter Mr. Langham agreed to supply the deficiency for Jones and for any other boy whose funds were unequal to the demand, and enthusiasm reigned. Out of the babel that ensued Mr. Haskins was heard to inquire mildly when it was planned to make the trip. The Chief considered.