“What you really give him, though, is a blank sheet of paper. He’ll walk off with that, thinking he has the signals, and the real joke will be on him and he won’t dare peep while we can enjoy it secretly.”
Hal did everything as he was instructed. McGrew called, and when Hal told him about how he would do it he said, “That will be all right.”
Hal promptly met him in the dressing room and handed him the paper at the proper time, and he stuck it in his pocket. Hughie was, of course, watching, but instead of laughing to himself and enjoying the joke on McGrew he ran over, stuck his hand in McGrew’s pocket and pulled out a paper.
“What are you fellows up to,” he asked, and then he opened the paper and looked at Hal in surprise. He started to read and his eyes bulged almost out of his head. [“Why, these are the day’s signals,” said Hughie.] “What does this mean?”
[“Why these are to-day’s signals,” said Hughie.]
“It means that one youngster on the Lowell team hasn’t stood the test of loyalty which is required of our Alma Mater. I arranged with Case last night to tip me off to the signals to-day in this way. I paid him a hundred and twenty-five dollars last night,” said McGrew.
“Is this true?” asked Hughie. “Did you write this?” as he handed Hal a sheet of paper of the same kind he had handed McGrew. Hal took the paper and almost collapsed. On the paper was the following written in a very good imitation of his writing:
“Signals.”