“Any plan, captain?” asked the master, after they had talked for some minutes, and all grew quiet.
“What do you think, sir?” said Hughie.
“O, let us hear from you. You're the captain.”
“Well,” said Hughie, slowly, and with deliberate emphasis, “I think we are going to win.” (Yells from all sides.) “At any rate we ought to win, for I think we have the better team.” (More yells.) “What I mean is this, I think we are better in combination play, and I don't think they have a man who can touch the master.”
Enthusiastic exclamations, “That's right!” “Better believe it!” “Horo!”
“But we have a big fight before us. And that Dan Munro's a terror. The only change I can think of is to open out more and fall back from their goal for a little while. And then, if I can hold Dan—”
Cries of “You'll hold him all right!” “You are the lad!”
“Everybody should feed the master. They can't stop him, any of them. But I would say for the first while, anyway, play defense. What do you think, sir?” appealing to the master.
“I call that good tactics. But don't depend too much upon me; if any man has a chance for a run and a shot, let him take it. And don't give up your combination in your forward line. The captain is quite right in seeking to draw them away from their goal. Their defense territory is too full now. Now, what I have noticed is this, they mainly rely upon Dan Munro and upon their three big defense men. For the first fifteen minutes they will make their hardest push. Let us take the captain's advice, fall back a little, and so empty their defense. But on the whole, keep your positions, play to your men, and,” he added, with a smile, “don't get too mad.”
“I guess they will be making some plans, too,” said Thomas Finch, slowly, and everybody laughed.