n awfully poor speaker, fellows," began the doctor, when he had
advanced to the front of the platform. "I appreciate this honour and if
I don't do justice to the fine reputation your--your imaginative cheer
leader has provided me with you must try to forgive me. Speaking isn't
my line. If any of you would like to have a leg sawed off or something
of that sort I'd be glad to do it free of charge just to prove
that--well, that there's something I _can_ do fairly decently!

"I saw your team practice yesterday and I thought then that perhaps an
operation would benefit it. Then I saw it again today and discovered
that my first diagnosis was wrong. Fellows, I call it a good team. I
think you've got material there that's equal to any I've ever seen on a
school team. Your coach says he won't prophesy as to your game on
Saturday. I've known George Robey for ten years. He isn't a bad sort,
take him all around, but he's a pessimist of the most pessimistic sort.
He's the kind of chap who, if you sprang that old reliable one on him
about every cloud having a silver lining, would shrug his shoulders and
say, 'Humph! More likely nickel-plated!' That's the sort he is, boys.
Now I'm just the opposite, and, at the risk of displeasing George, I'm
going to tell you that, from what I've seen of the Brimfield football
team in practice, I'm firmly convinced that it's going to win!"

Loud and prolonged cheering greeted that prediction, and it was fully a
minute before the speaker could proceed.

"I've played the game in my day and I've coached teams, boys, and I
think I've got a little of what your coach disclaimed. I mean a sort
of--well, not second-sight, but a sort of ability to tell what a team
will do from the looks of the players on it. In my profession we have to
study human nature a lot and we get so we can classify folks after we've
looked them over and watched them awhile. We make mistakes sometimes,
but on the whole we manage fairly well to put folks in the classes they
belong in. Doing that with the members of your team I find that almost
without exception they class with the kind of fellows who _don't like to
be beaten_! And when a fellow doesn't like to be beaten he isn't--not
very often.

"I think I can read in the faces I see here tonight a great deal of that
same spirit, and if the team has it and you fellows behind the team have
it, why, I wouldn't give a last year's plug-hat for Claflin's chances
next Saturday!

"Footba