"Oh! ain't they got the nerve, though!"
"The pitcher that goes to the well once too often gets busted at last! They've carried everything with a swoop so far this year; but the dark days have come! Oh! you Columbia! I'm sorry for you!"
"Tell 'em yes, Captain Hastings! Don't keep the gentlemen in such suspense!"
"Yes, they might get cold feet if you hesitate too long. We're hungry, and we must have a bone; a Columbia bone will answer all right!"
Frank and Lanky listened to these and various other cries with amusement. They knew that back of it all the boys of Clifford were quite a sportsmanlike set; and believed in fair treatment for an honorable foe.
True, they had allowed themselves to be beguiled into nibbling at a betrayal of the Columbia signals, and several of the football team had, after losing the game, declared that it served them right, as they had no business to allow themselves to descend to such a depth; but as a rule they had always stood out for clean sport.
"Glad to see the idea pleases you, fellows. If the Clifford athletic committee see fit to accept this challenge, we intend to try and give your champion team as good a fight as we know how," Frank called out, laughing at the same time.
"Bully boy!"
"Three cheers for Frank Allen, the best all-around athlete that Columbia has!"
But Frank instantly threw up his hand.