“She is,” replied Chick stoutly. “But I’m not het up, you blamed cynic. I’m just mighty grateful to Johnny for not raising the old Ned about Les Devore. He might have been nasty, for I certainly did a lot of fool talking with my mouth.”
“What about that? Could you remember saying anything to Devore that would matter?”
“I said plenty,” answered Chick grimly. “I told him about two or three plays; drew them out for him with a piece of billiard chalk on the table one night. I remembered it last night after I got to bed. That Number 14 was one of them. He insisted that we didn’t have anything but old stuff and wouldn’t let me tell him anything different and I drew the plays out so he could get them. Of course it was a perfectly idiotic thing to do, but I never suspected that he was anything but the dumb-bell he seemed to be.”
“Wow!” muttered Bert. “What did Johnny say to that?”
“Well, he took it mighty nice, like I’ve been trying to tell you. He said he guessed we could get along without Number 14 if we had to, and that a couple of other plays didn’t amount to anything anyway. He says he thinks Devore’s game is mostly bluff; that Devore will come around about next Saturday and pretend to be hep to our whole line of offense and show that Number 14 and a couple of other plays to prove it. His idea is that we’ll get cold feet and shove a lot of good plays into the discard and get rattled generally. Johnny says Devore couldn’t get the Kenly folks to touch his dope with a pair of tongs, and probably doesn’t mean to try.”
“I can’t just see him going to Johnny with that line of talk,” mused Bert. “I guess he’d be afraid to.”
“No, but he’d write a letter, maybe, or send some one else. Anyhow, Johnny doesn’t seem worried much, and that makes me feel a heap better than I did last night. There’s one thing, though, that’s not so good,” he added glumly.
“What’s that?”
“He made me promise to keep away from Devore. Anyway, until after the game. And I suppose by that time I’ll get over my mad and the little rat never will get what’s coming to him!”
“Hard lines,” laughed Bert. “Maybe Johnny has something in mind for Devore, though. I wouldn’t be surprised, Chick.”