"But the advantage was ours when you stopped play!" protested Lef, seeing a new cause for complaint.
"That matters nothing. The puck must be faced in the centre of the field at the commencement of each period, after each goal scored, and whenever there has been a halt called in the play, if the referee so decides. I put the puck back to centre as a penalty for one of your side playing foul tactics, and willfully seeking to injure one of the opposing team. Let it be a warning that such conduct cannot be tolerated."
Lef looked at the referee. Then he stared around at his players.
"He's going to quit!" shouted some one, close by.
"Same old game; if he can't have everything he wants, he won't play!"
"Poor old Lef; he's in hard luck all the time. Say, don't try the baby act, old boy! You and your crowd are putting up a good article of hockey. Keep it up, and perhaps the luck will change!"
Lef decided to stick it out. At any rate, perhaps he might find a chance to get in some crooked work himself. Tony Gilpin was only a crude bungler at the best, and might have known he would be seen in trying to smash the Columbia cover point on the shin.
So he once again settled down, with Lanky opposing him. The Columbia player did not attempt the same style of play as before, in order to get possession of the coveted disc. Instead, he instantly began a furious attack, and taking Lef off his guard managed to steal the disputed object away despite the other's almost frantic efforts to hold on.
Again it was carried dangerously near the goal of the Wanderers, by dribbling and bold dashes. Circling hither and thither, Frank, who had taken the rubber in charge, dodged the attacks of the enemy, and when he reached the limit of his power to make good, by an adroit push he sent it past the unprepared Barnes to the charge of Bird, who made a terrific shoot for goal.
"Wow! another point for Columbia! Now, what d'ye think of that?" howled the loud-voiced enthusiast, who turned out to be the drug clerk, Socrates Jones.