"That's right, Gaff."
"Now I tell you what I'm going to do. I'm going to show you that you're wrong on Mulvy. I'm going to get him. I'll go for him myself." He was off on the instant.
"If Mulvy comes here after our treatment of him yesterday, I'll take my hat off to him," declared Bob to his dejected team.
"If he comes," declared Bill Cronin, "I'll knock the head off the first fellow that ever dares hint again that he was in that thug affair."
That meant a good deal, for Cronin was the strongest man on the team.
"I guess we made a mistake, boys," said Joe Dalton. "As I look back now, I never knew Mulvy to be anything but straight."
"We believed that report too readily," observed Fred Donohue. "I'm mighty sorry for my part in it."
And so it went on. It stood out clearly now, that they had little or no ground for their action against Mulvy. But all felt that there was no question of his coming back.
Out on the field, the Stanley contingent was jubilant. Songs and cheers rocked the stands. The Regal supporters tried to look hopeful, but not with any great success. There were many inquiries about Mulvy. Some gave one reason, some another, for his absence. Those in the parish gave the Club story. But the High School drew students from all over town, and the parish affairs were not known outside. The Stanley players were asking where Mulvy was, for they knew him and his record. They thought he was on the crippled list. Their chief concern was joy over the score, and the prospect of final victory, and the Interscholastic Championship.
Gaffney, meanwhile, had got a closed auto and had put into it a reserve uniform. It seemed the traffic cops took him for an ambulance—for he reached Frank's in five minutes. He rushed upstairs, rang the bell, breathing hard as he waited for the door to open.