But Payson did care, and he had been doing a good deal of thinking and some acting, as Dan was to discover.
The entire school marched to the field that afternoon and cheered and sang for the better part of two hours. The band didn’t come, but it wasn’t missed. The First Team went through ten minutes of signal work, did some punting and catching and then retired. After that the substitutes played a ten-minute game with the Second. It wasn’t much of a contest, but nobody cared. Enthusiasm reigned and from the stands came football songs and cheers. When the whistle blew the Second Team gathered together and cheered the First, and the First Team substitutes cheered the Second, and the last day of practice was over. The spectators formed in line of march again and tramped back up the hill to the gymnasium, still singing, in the wake of the players:
“All together! Cheer on cheer!
Now we’re charging down the field!
See how Broadwood pales with fear,
Knowing we will never yield!
Wave on high your banners blue,
Cheer for comrades staunch and true;
We are here to die or do,
Fighting for Old Yardley!
“All together! Cheer on cheer!
Victory is ours to-day!
Raise your voices loud and clear!
Yardley pluck has won the fray!
See, the vanquished foeman quails;
All his vaunted courage fails!
Flaunt the Blue that never pales,
Fighting for Old Yardley!”
In front of the gymnasium the crowd gathered and began the cheers for the players. “Rah, rah, rah! Rah, rah, rah! Rah, rah, rah! Vinton!” Then Ridge, and Hammel, and Simms and so on down to the last substitute. And then, “Three cheers for Coach Payson, fellows, and make it good!” And after that three cheers for Andy Ryan, and finally, “Now, fellows, nine times three for the Team!” And after that, with hoarse but undiscouraged voices, a long cheer for “Yardley! Yardley!! YARDLEY!!!” And then, still singing, the procession wound around the front of the buildings and stopped in front of Oxford and gave a cheer for the Principal. (The mere fact that Doctor Hewitt was away for the winter made no difference. They were following the custom.) And then more cheers, and much laughter, and some horseplay, and the throng broke up to descend presently on the supper tables and sweep them clear.
At nine there was a mass meeting in the Assembly Hall and the enthusiasm began again. Mr. Payson spoke and was cheered to the echo, and Mr. Collins spoke and was cheered just as liberally, and then there came a loud, insistent demand for “Vinton! We want Vinton!” And after a moment Mr. Payson arose and announced that the captain was not present this evening and that he thought it would be a good idea to hear from the quarter-back. Simms tried to escape, but was captured after a struggle and lifted none too gently onto the stage, where he stood and viewed the audience helplessly for a full minute, very much embarrassed indeed. And the more embarrassed he got the more they laughed and the louder they cheered. Desperation brought ingenuity. One moment Simms was there and the next he was gone! A sudden dash across the stage to the door of the dressing-room and he was free! Howls of glee filled the hall, and some of the fellows near the entrance started up in pursuit, but were discouraged by older heads.
Ridge, who was a good talker, and whom the fellows all liked, took Simms’s place and spoke for a few minutes. After that the football songs were practiced, the Banjo and Mandolin Club supplying accompaniment. Finally, with a last resounding cheer, the meeting broke up, the members clattering down the stairs and out of the building still singing. Then the cry for Vinton was renewed and was taken up by two hundred throats: “We want Vinton. We want Vinton! We want Vinton!” Presently the throng swirled over to the front of Clarke and the cry was hurled up at the lighted window of Number 28. But the football captain didn’t appear and a half-dozen fellows rushed up the stairs in search of him. But they were soon back, for the room was empty. So they cheered him instead, and finally the throng dissolved, the fellows seeking their rooms. Snatches of song, bursts of laughter, faint cheers floated from open windows for a while, and then one by one the lights went out and Yardley became silent.
It is a good plan to celebrate in advance. One never knows what may happen.