“14—23—8——” Toby’s voice sounded very weak and small to Toby. “14—23——”
“Signals! Signals!” The whole back-field was remonstrating, it seemed! His heart sank. He had got his signals wrong! But how? No, he was right. It was the others who were wrong!
“Signals!” he cried, scowling at the nearer of the three backs behind him. “14—27—8—196——”
The team awoke to action. Full-back dashed headlong upon him, took the pass and went, twisting and boring, into the mêlée. Toby threw himself behind, triumphant. His signals had been right, just as he had known! (It wasn’t until after practice was over that he learned that he had changed them the second time!) The play went through for well over three yards, the unfeasible for once proving feasible, and B Team exulted and looked approval at Toby. Toby tried to be modest about it, which, considering that he had called for the play in sheer desperation, not remembering at the moment anything else to call for, wasn’t hard! Some one, too, had walked on his face, and that helped him toward humility.
Realizing that he had established a reputation for generalship, Toby tried hard to live up to it, but although B did not get the necessary eighteen inches or so on the next down, the succeeding play failed dismally and B lost nearly all she had gained. Toby tried to assure himself that the fault was the right half-back’s, but something told him that an end run from balanced formation was predestined to fail and that another time he would remember that there was such thing as a shift! Perhaps he would have vindicated the reputation gained from his first lucky play if the scrimmage hadn’t ended then and there; or perhaps he would have become exposed for the impostor he knew himself to be. At all events, Toby welcomed the whistle heartily.
Afterwards, in the gymnasium, Grover Beech detained him on his way from the shower. “Snappy work, Tucker,” he said, smilingly. “Glad to see you with us.”
Toby reflected the other’s smile in somewhat sickly fashion. “Thanks,” he answered lamely. “Of course, I didn’t know anything about playing quarter, Beech——”
“Well, you got away with it, anyway! That’s the main thing. And that plunge at guard when we were looking for a pass was clever strategy.” There was a twinkle in his eye, however. Toby’s smile broadened.
“Have a heart!” he begged. “I didn’t know whether that play was going to right or left, Beech!”