After a while the task was completed. Nelson looked warily down the room. Dr. Smith was apparently asleep. Finding two pins, he crept off the bed and secured the sheet of paper to the rafter where it had hung before. Up and down the dormitory heads were raised and eager eyes were watching him. This time the placard hung with the other side toward the room, and the new inscription read:
| 1903 | |
|---|---|
| Hillton | 17 |
| St. Eustace | 0 |
Nelson scuttled back to bed. Faint whispers reached him. Then:
“Where are you going, Speede?” asked the Doctor’s voice suddenly.
Dan, creeping cautiously up the aisle, paused in his tracks.
“I left something up here, sir.”
“Get it after siesta, then.”
Dan went back to bed. The whispers grew, interspersed with chuckles.
“Cut that out, fellows,” said the Doctor, and silence reigned again. For the next quarter of an hour the score of last autumn’s football game between Hillton and St. Eustace flaunted itself to the world. The fellows, all save one or two who had really fallen asleep, wondered what would happen after siesta. So did Nelson. He hoped that Dan would make trouble, for it seemed to him then that that insult could only be wiped out with blows; and although Dan was somewhat taller and much heavier than Nelson, the latter fancied he could give a fairly good account of himself. And then the bugle blew, fellows bounded onto the floor, and the ensuing racket more than made up for the half hour of quiet. Dan made at once for the placard. Nelson jumped up and stood under it. Dan stopped a few steps away.