One of Dick’s duties was to follow the progress of the Springdale High School Team as reflected in the columns of the Springdale Morning Recorder. The accounts of the team’s practice sessions were not very voluminous, but they appeared to be reported by a high school boy and were doubtless, as far as they went, authentic. Dick usually clipped the articles from the paper and they were discussed at the meetings. It was on the Tuesday evening following the Norrisville game that Lanny again broached the subject of sending someone to see Springdale play. “We can’t tell much by this newspaper stuff,” he said. “We’ve found out who they’ll probably use against us, but we don’t know what sort of a game they’re planning. I think we ought to see them play Benton next Saturday and get a line on them. Could you go over, Dick?”
“Why don’t you go?” asked Dick.
“Why, I suppose I could,” replied Lanny doubtfully. “Only—well, we play Logan, and Logan has a pretty fair team, I guess.”
“What of it? McCoy will do well enough. I’d go along, but I guess one of us had better stay here. You take Chester with you, Lanny. He’s good at sizing things up. Besides, that would give you a chance to watch the backfield and let him watch the linemen. Kirke can play quarter for us Saturday.”
“But I’d hate to have Logan beat us,” Lanny objected. “Suppose you and Chester go, Dick.”
Dick smiled and George Cotner chuckled audibly. Lanny flushed.
“Oh, I don’t think that we are going to lose the game just because I’m not here,” he said. “Only—oh, I don’t know! I’ll do just as you say, Dick.”
“Then you’ll go; you and Chester,” replied Dick. “Later on I’ll see them in action myself, but I’d rather wait until about a week before we play them. Let me see; who do they meet the Saturday before they play us?” Dick turned the pages of a scrapbook and found the Springdale schedule. “Weston Academy, eh? Where’s that?”
“Up-state,” replied George. “A small school. Springdale’s evidently looking for an easy game that day.”
“Then she won’t show much,” mused Dick. “Still, I could get away that afternoon very nicely, for we play the grads.”