[CHAPTER VI]
CONDUCTING A CAMPAIGN
On Monday Andy Ryan gave his decision regarding Jake Hiltz’s protest of Gerald in the cross-country trial. Both Hiltz and Gerald were to be retained on the squad.
“That,” explained Andy, “will make thirteen of you instead of twelve, and it ain’t likely that either of you or Hiltz will get in the race with Broadwood, but, of course, something might happen to give you a chance. So you can train with the team or not, just as you like.”
“I’ll keep on,” said Gerald. “If I didn’t fellows might think you believed Hiltz’s story and had put me off.”
“Well, I’m not worrying about what he said,” confided Andy. “Maybe he thought you cut the corner, but——”
“He knows very well I didn’t!” exclaimed Gerald indignantly.
“Well, well, it doesn’t matter,” said the trainer soothingly. “I’ll keep you both. That gives us three substitutes, you and Hiltz and Groom. If anything happens to one of the first ten, then one of you boys will get your chance, and I’ll take the one that shows up best between now and the race, no matter how you finished Saturday.”
That seemed fair enough and Gerald couldn’t object, although he had hoped for a vindication from the trainer. The cross-country squad went to a training table a few days later, for, although the race with Broadwood was more than a month distant, the school had set its heart on winning and Andy meant that it should. There was a run three afternoons a week for varying distances, although it was not until a week before the final contest that the team was sent over the full course. Meanwhile relations between Jake Hiltz and Gerald remained strained. It was embarrassing at first, having to sit right across the table three times a day from Hiltz, but Gerald soon got used to it. For a while Hiltz never wasted an opportunity to nag the younger boy, but the rest of the squad soon got tired of it and came to Gerald’s rescue and Hiltz gave it up. Besides, he had plenty of other troubles by that time.