But Darrin only grinned.  He knew better.

Some of the fellows tried to praise Fenton to his face.

“Quit!  You can’t get away with that,” chuckled the fast little left end.  “Some one had to take that ball and drop it behind Hallam’s goal line.  I was the one who was ordered to do it.  If I hadn’t, what would you fellows have said about me?”

By the time that the Hallam Heights young men were dressed several of them came to the Gridley quarters, Forsythe at their head.

“We want to shake hands,” laughed Forsythe, “and to make sure that you have no hard feelings for what we tried to do to you.”

Dick and Darrin took this in laughing goodfellowship.

“If you call this your dub team to-day,” continued Forsythe, a bit more gloomily, “we shudder to think what would have happened to us had you put in your regular line-up.”

“There isn’t any dub team in Gridley,” spoke Dick quickly.  “All of our fellows are trained in the same way, by the same coach, and we stake all our chances on any line-up that’s picked for the day.  It was hard on you, gentlemen, that my knee put me out for the day.  Darrin is twice as crafty as I am.”

“Oh, Darrin is crafty, all right,” agreed Forsythe cheerfully.  “But, somehow, I like him for it.”

On some of the side streets Gridley boys were allowed to light bonfires that evening, and there was general rejoicing of a lively nature.  From the news that had come over concerning the Hallam Heights team there had been a good deal of fear that Gridley would, on this day, receive a set-back to its rule of always winning.

CHAPTER X

Leading the Town to Athletics

“Mr. Morton, we want a little word with you.”

“All right—–­anything to please you,” laughed the submaster, looking at Dick and Dave as they came up to him in the yard at recess.

“We’ve been thinking over a plan,” Dick continued.

“It has something to do with athletics, then!” guessed the submaster.

“Yes, sir,” nodded Dave.

“High School athletics, at that,” continued Mr. Morton.

“There you’re wrong, sir, for once,” smiled Prescott.  “Mr. Morton, we’ve been thinking of the High School gym.  It’s a big place.  Pretty nearly three hundred gymnasts could be drilled there at once.”

“Yes; I know.”

“There’s a fine lot of apparatus there,” went on Dick.  “It cost thousands and thousands of dollars to put that gym. in shape.”

“And it’s worth every dollar of the cost,” contended Mr. Morton firmly.

“Mr. Morton,” challenged Dick, “who paid for it?”

“The city government,” replied the submaster.

“Where did the city government get the money?”

“From the citizens, of course.”

“Now, Mr. Morton,” went on Prescott, “how many of the citizens get any direct benefit out of that gym.?  Only about a quarter of a thousand of High School students!  Couldn’t the city’s money be spent so that a far greater number would have the use of and benefit from the city’s big investment!”