“I don’t know.” Cathcart, breathing hard from his exertions, thought a moment. “I really believe I could play fairly decently if I put my mind on it and practiced. And it is good fun. I’d forgotten what fun it was, Ordway. Do you think you could show me how to get those backhand returns? Or wouldn’t you care to?”
“Glad to! The trouble is you funk ’em, you know.”
“I’m afraid of them. If I can’t get into position to take them on the right I let them go. I’m awfully weak on backhand work.”
“Practice is all you need, then. That’s a perfectly spif—a perfectly corking serve of yours! I have to take it almost at the backline, do you know? Shall we go on?”
In the second set Cathcart won the second and fourth on his service and then, losing the sixth to Hugh, took advantage of the latter’s momentary let-down and made the set four-all. After that, though, he tired and Hugh had no difficulty in winning the ninth and tenth games and capturing the set by the previous score.
Cathcart agreed to play again Saturday morning, but begged off the next day, having discovered some work he ought to do. Hugh took Ned Stiles on instead, but had poor sport.
The St. James game in the afternoon was a rattling good one. For the first time that season Coach Bonner put his full strength into the field at the start. Dresser was at left end, Franklin at left tackle, Kinley at left guard, Musgrave at center, Driver at right guard, Trafford at right tackle, Tray at right end, Blake at quarter, Winslow at left half, Vail at right half, and Keyes at full. St. James was a heavy team, averaging a year more in age, perhaps, and surely ten pounds more in weight, and played close-formation football in a very clever manner. Grafton’s game this year, so far as one could determine at this stage, was to be a combination of wide-open and old-style football. She had an experienced trio in Musgrave, Driver and Trafford, a fair guard in Kinley and a good tackle in Franklin. Roy Dresser, at left end, was almost certain of his position, but Tray, on the other wing, was less satisfactory. In the back-field, Blake and Winslow had seen two years of service on the first and second teams, Vail was a newcomer in football, although a senior, and Keyes had made the team at the end of the preceding season. The back-field was rather lighter than Mr. Bonner could have wished for, but it was fast and “scrappy.” So far it gave promise of being a good defensive eleven, with its offensive abilities still to be proved.
Today’s game showed up many weak points, for St. James was a hard enough proposition to cause Grafton to make use of everything she knew. It was St. James who scored first, shortly after the kick-off, when Nick misjudged a punt in front of his goal and a brown-stockinged player fell on the pigskin near the twenty-yard line. Grafton gave back slowly, but the visitors made it first down on the nine yards. Then two tries failed to gain more than as many feet and the St. James full-back booted the ball over very prettily.
Grafton came back hard and forced the playing for the remainder of the period but was unable to get a score. In the second quarter, Nick began a march from the middle of the field to the Brown’s goal that would not be denied and Keyes was eventually pushed over for a touchdown. Keyes failed at the goal. St. James gained on rushes against Kinley when she got the ball back, but the half ended with the score 6 to 3 in the home team’s favor.
When the third period opened Trafford kicked off and St. James again started her smashing at tackle and guard on the left, but the gains grew shorter there and she switched to the other wing and finally got her left half around Tray for a twenty-yard sprint that laid the pigskin in dangerous proximity to the Scarlet-and-Gray goal. Some hard fighting followed, with St. James digging her cleats valiantly and smashing at everything in sight. Hugh got very excited at this period of the contest and squirmed about on his seat in a most un-English manner. Grafton took the ball away on her twelve yards and the stands cheered with joy and relief.