nization. There was no
one quite to equal the brilliant Ranny Phelps, the clever quick-witted
Ward, or the dependable Wesley Becker at full. But the boy knew
football well enough to realize that in the long run it isn't the
individual that counts. Freak plays, snatching at chance and the
unexpected, may sometimes win a game, but as a rule they avail little
against the spirit of cohesion when each fellow works shoulder to
shoulder with his neighbor, supporting, backing up, subordinating
himself and the thought of individual glory to the needs of the team.
During the past week Dale had felt vaguely that it was just this quality
Troop Five lacked. Now the certainty was vividly brought home, with all
the advantages of a sharp perspective. The center, alone, seemed fairly
strong and united, with Bob Gibson in the middle "Turk" Gardner at
right guard, and Frank Sanson at left. But Sanson got no help at all
from Wilks, who, in his turn, took everything from Ranny Phelps. Court
Parker made an admirable quarter-back, and Ward and Becker played the
game as it should be played. But Slater at right tackle and Torrance
behind him made another pair who seemed to think more of each other and
of their individual success than of the unity of the team. They were
great chums, Dale reflected thoughtfully, and in Ranny Phelps's patrol.
He wondered if that had anything to do with it. He wondered, too,
whether Sherman realized the situation.

"But of course he does!" he muttered an instant later. "Isn't he always
after them to get together, though sometimes it seems as if he might go
for them a little harder? I--I hope they do--before it's too late."

But somehow he could not bring himself to be very confident. To pull
together a team that has been playing "every man for himself" is one
of the hardest things in the world. Defeat will often do it more
thoroughly than anything, but, in their case, defeat would mean the
loss of all they had been striving for. It would have been better had
they been up against any other team to-day. Pushed hard and forced to
fight for a slender victory, they might have realized something of their
weakness. But the very ease with which goal after goal was scored
brought self-confidence and cock-sureness instead of wisdom.

"I guess we'll grab that little old pennant, all right," Dale heard more
than one declare in the dressing-room. "Why, those dubs actually scored
a goal on Troop One!"

The boy wanted to remi