He selected a sheet of school paper and went about the matter very calmly. When it was finished his reply was a model of conciseness and, he hoped, dignity:
Mr. Stuart Harven acknowledges the receipt of the Committee’s communication of yesterday and respectfully tenders his resignation as Captain of the Football Team.
He considered delivering it personally at the Office but in the end put a stamp on the envelope and dropped it into the box in front of Manning as he hurried to his next class. He was no longer angry. He was excited instead, excited and triumphant. He wondered how the Committee would manage to crawl out of the hole he had placed them in, and he chuckled as he pictured the surprise and chagrin with which his letter would be received. That the resignation would be accepted never entered Stuart’s mind. He might have to make concessions, but if there was any crawling done, the Ath. Fac. would do it! He went into the class room in a very cheerful frame of mind.
It was Neil who caused him his first qualms of doubt. Neil was distressed and strangely pessimistic. “You must get that resignation back before it reaches them,” he declared earnestly. “If you go to the post-office——”
Stuart shrugged. “You can’t get a letter back like that. Besides, I don’t want to. I’ve called their bluff, now let them get out of it the best way they can!”
“But, Stuart, suppose they don’t want to! Suppose you’ve played into their hand?”
“What do you mean, played into their hand? You don’t think they really want my resignation, do you?” Stuart laughed in ridicule. “Not much! Not unless they think I’d give up the captaincy and go right on playing. And if they do think that they’ve got a fine big surprise coming to them!”
“I don’t know,” Neil shook his head troubledly, “Mr. Haynes is against you, remember, and——”
“So are Jud and Stearns Wilson, and I’m not likely to forget it, either,” interrupted Stuart in an ugly tone. “But if it came to a show-down I guess there are plenty of fellows on the team——”