"You were?" demanded the bell-boy eagerly. "Then shake! My name is Gerard. We know a lot about the Gridley High School brand of football at Saunders."
Introductions were quickly passed.
"Now, I'd like to feel that I'm really one of you, and I'll fight shoulder to shoulder with you!" chuckled Gerard.
"Please don't try to take a hand in any fight that may occur," Prescott begged. "If you're working your way through college, just keep your eye on your job. Don't mix up in any trouble with the guests."
"We'll soon be at the spot where I left the bunch," said Gerard, a few moments later.
Over a rise of ground the bell-boy led Dick & Co. Then he pointed to a little grove of chestnut trees.
"There is the rah-rah crowd," he whispered. "You see, they have one of your lanterns, and they're lunching on some of your food supplies that they brought along with them."
"I wonder what those freshies are saying now," came in a laughing voice, from the rah-rah group under the chestnut trees.
"Their potted chicken is all right, anyway," laughed another. "Cut me off another slice of the bread. Whee! This college mischief on a dark night gives one an appetite."
Dick gave whispered instructions to his own forces, then signed to Gerard, who drew back into the shadow.