"Give my neck a bit of a rub, Forge, and I'll carry on," said Robin, in a faint voice.
"No, you won't, kid," said Forge, gently pinching his ear. "You'll rest your head against this cushion—so—and sip the warm stuff that's offered you."
"But—but you'll only have ten men without me," stammered Robin. He made a feeble attempt to rise, while two kind hands held him firmly in his place.
"That's all in the game, younker. Don't dare to get out of this chair till we return. You've done your bit already by scoring that fine equalizer."
"I—I—oh, Forge, I didn't score it. It bounced off me!"
The captain smilingly patted his arm. "Keep that dark, nipper," he advised. "Never mind how it happened. The score is all that matters!"
To face extra time with a strong sun in their eyes and a man short was quite on a par with Foxenby's usual luck. Shrill-voiced enthusiasts urged them to play the one-back game, but Dick's idea of football sportsmanship made such advice a waste of breath. He let Lyon, Ennis, and Lebberston hold the fort for a furious fifteen minutes; the only quarter-of-an-hour of the match in which the St. Cuthbert's forwards ever made workmanlike attempts to score. Ennis battered away a dozen or more stinging shots, and the sorely tried teams, keyed up to a high pitch of excitement by the roaring of the crowd, commenced the last fifteen minutes at a pitilessly exhausting pace.
The Octopus, usually so silent, shouted out directions to his halves and forwards—tried, in fact, to lift them on to victory by the sheer force of example.
Twice he attempted to catch Ennis napping by shooting for goal himself, but the sun was no longer bothering Ennis, who cleared with vigour. It was the second of these big clearances which fell at the feet of Osbody, and that loyal young gentleman, slavishly obeying instructions, parted with his prize at once to Dick, past whom the Octopus had rushed in his praise-worthy endeavour to score.
"Offside!" yelled half-a-dozen Cuthbertian players in chorus. "Offside, sir!" they repeated, as the referee made no sign. "Whistle there, please!"