"I shall, if I have a chance," Muriel asserted. "How about you, Marjorie?"
"I am going to try for a place on the team this year," Marjorie announced in a purposeful manner. "I hope we get a fair try-out. I really want to play. I like Professor Leonard's appearance. Helen had quite a long talk with him the other day. He is a seasoned basket ball player. He played center on a western college team the whole four years of his college course. He is going to arrange for a series of try-outs to be held next week. He thinks each class ought to have its own team. The seniors never play, though."
"Since those are his sentiments, they sound as if he were strictly on the square," approved Jerry. "I mean, he is a real basket-ball enthusiast. The real ones won't stand for unfairness."
"Miss Reid will be a cipher in b. b. plans this year and I am good and glad of it," exulted Muriel. "Professor Leonard looks to me like a person who wouldn't show favoritism. He certainly has lots of the right kind of energy."
Muriel's opinion of the young professor of physical culture proved correct. On Monday following the freshman dance, a notice appeared on the official bulletin board stating that on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday afternoon of that week basket-ball try-outs for freshman, sophomore, junior and senior teams, respectively, would be held at four-thirty o'clock in the gymnasium. It bore the pertinent signature: "James Leonard, Director Athletics and Gymnasium."
Freshmen and sophomores hailed it with delight. The juniors were not so enthusiastic, though it was noised about that there would be a junior team composed of Sans, if they could manage to make it. The seniors from the height of their dignity smiled tolerantly but refused to commit themselves.
Determined to be in touch with the game from the very beginning, Muriel, Jerry and Marjorie attended the freshman try-out. Ronny begged off on account of a chemical experiment she was anxious to make. Lucy declared, that, if she attended the sophomore try-out on Tuesday she considered that a sufficiency of basket ball.
Under the expert and impartial direction of Professor Leonard, the freshman try-out was conducted with a snap and precision which left nothing to be desired in the minds of those students who had yearned for fair play. It brought confusion to a certain clique of freshmen, headed by Elizabeth Walbert, who had reckoned on some of their particular friends carrying off the honors and being appointed to the team. The despatch with which the aspirants were made up into squads and tried out against each other was a joy to witness. The energetic director weeded out the defective players in short order. His searching eyes missed not a movement, clever or bungling. The five girls finally picked to play on the official freshman team were a survival of the fittest. Among them was Phyllis Moore. Further, she was given the position of center and roundly complimented by the director for what he termed her "whirlwind" playing. This triumph pleased boyish Phyllis far more than winning the class presidency could have done. Barbara Severn, the Baltimore freshie, who Marjorie had looked out for on her arrival at Hamilton, won the position of right guard, and was also praised for her work.
Once the team was chosen the director put them through fifteen minutes of snappy play. Their fast and nimble work elicited rousing cheers from the large audience of students who had dropped in to witness the try-out.
"Isn't it great that both Phil and Barbara won?" bubbled Robin Page. Half a dozen Silverton Hall girls had joined Marjorie's group after the try-out, preparatory to giving the successful aspirants a special ovation as soon as they should leave the floor. "Phil and Barbara are awfully chummy, so they'll be pleased to the skies."