“Stopped raining, I guess. How do you feel after your game, Merrill?”
“All right, thanks.”
The coach took the circling path that led around Main Hall and Rodney ranged alongside.
“I just wanted to say, sir, that—that I’ve decided to resign from the team.”
“Have, eh?” Mr. Cotting seemed neither surprised nor disturbed. “Decided to give up football, have you?”
“Yes, sir, for this year, anyway.”
“Think you’d like to try again next fall?”
“Yes, sir, I think so.”
“It doesn’t occur to you, does it, that I might hesitate to take you back and give you another trial if you had run away on the eve of battle, so to speak?”