of shin guards extant on a college gridiron that Fall. His shoulders were padded until he looked like a hunch-back. His trousers were ballooned with padding. Coach Harlow Gaines, of the Sanford High School eleven, who considered football a brutal game and coached it only because his contract demanded it, had insisted upon this safety-first uniform.
Coach Cavendish, still ignorant that the captain and the Freshman had exchanged places, went shouting on. "You're all afraid of getting hurt! I'd like some one to show me a real rough tackle!" he pleaded.
And his wish was gratified! For at that moment, Hughie Mulligan, smarting and sore from his bawling-out, saw that a player was standing on one of the team's blankets and jerked it out suddenly from under the offending man's feet. The man was Harold! The Freshman lost his balance, fell, clutched out for support and caught the legs of Mike Cavendish. Coach and novice went plunging to the ground together.
Then Mike noticed what his almost convulsed squad had been trying to signal him silently for the past five minutes. He noticed the strange apparition of Harold "Speedy" Lamb. He glared. He roared. He might have done bodily injury to the smiling Harold if Chester Trask had not interfered.
