rks as hard as
the whole lot of you put together. If it was not for him I should say we
had better chuck it altogether.'"

"I observe that Skinner has been a little more civil to me lately,"
Easton said. "Yes, I do my best. I object to the whole thing, but if
one does play one does not like being beaten. I think we had better have
a talk over the matter together."

"But we are always talking over the matter," Edgar objected. "All the
fellows who had a chance of turning out well have been tried, and I am
sure we play up well together. Every one says that we are beaten just
because we cannot stand their rushes."

That afternoon the house was badly beaten by the Greenites in the trial
match, and as there was a special rivalry between Green's and
River-Smith's the disgust not only of the members of the team but of the
whole house was very great. Seven of the seniors met after tea in
Skinner's study to discuss the situation.

"I don't see any thing to be done," Skinner said, after various possible
changes in the team had been discussed; "it is not play we want, it is
weight. The Greenites must average at least a stone and a half heavier
than we do. I have nothing to say against the playing. We simply cannot
stand against them; we go down like nine-pins. No, I suppose we shall
lose every match this season. But I don't see any use in talking any
more about it. I suppose no one has anything further to suggest."

"Well, yes, I have a few words to say," Easton, who had been sitting on
the table and had hitherto not opened his lips, remarked in a quiet
voice.

"Well, say away."

"It seems to me," Easton went on without paying any regard to the
snappishness of Skinner's tone, "that though we cannot make ourselves
any heavier, weight is not after all the only thing. I think we might
make up for it by last. When fellows are going to row a race they don't
content themselves with practice, they set to and train hard. It seems
to me that if we were to go into strict training and get ourselves
thoroughly fit, it ought to make a lot of difference. We might lose
goals in the first half of the play, but if we were in good training we
ought to get a pull in the second half. By playing up all we knew at
first, and pumping them as much as possible, training ought to tell. I
know, Skinner, you always said we ought to keep ourselves in good
condition; but I mean more than that, I mean strict training--getting up
early and going for a th