"There were reasons why they shouldn't," said Dick curtly. "I take full responsibility. It was I who told them to stay behind. Don't ask me why, for I prefer not to tell."
They stared at him strangely. Only Roger understood, and he itched to give the team the good and proper reason for the absence of Harwood's gang. If the team knew that the missing reserves were infected by the gambling-taint they would, Roger was certain, emphatically approve the captain's action in leaving them behind. Without this knowledge, they could be pardoned for thinking the captain's action high-handed.
Nobody spoke for a time. Some turned angrily red, others looked sulky, all seemed more or less resentful. But Dick did not spare himself. As usual, he went the whole hog by saying:
"They're absent, chaps, and even if they'd been here they wouldn't have played. I shouldn't have let them."
"Oh, but I say, Forge, you're not the whole committee," exclaimed Lake.
There being a slight murmur of approval at this, Roger deemed it his duty to break a lance in defence of his chum.
"You fellows are forgetting," he said, "that, by the rules of Foxenby, the football captain is in entire command on the day of the match. If reserves are needed, he chooses them himself to suit the occasion."
"Clever," sneered Lake. "You'll be called to the Bar if you're not careful, Cayton."
But none could deny that Roger's reading of the rules was correct. If the captain chose to discuss matters with the rest of the team, it was purely an act of grace on his part. He could, if he wished, mentally complete his team without consulting anybody. Being neither an autocrat nor a fool, he preferred to seek their advice before coming to a decision.
"We've some spare shirts and knickers in the bag," he said. "Can anybody suggest a decent centre-half?"