e strong and his legs they were fleet;
There was none could outstrip his vanishing feet;
We made him our captain--what else could we do?
You ask who he is? Do I hear you say, 'Who?'"

Then they all came in on the chorus:--

"He is our Lou, he is our honey-Lou,
He is our pride and joy;
He is our Loo-loo, he is our Loo-loo,
He is our Lou-Lou boy."

"Silly song!" exclaimed Collingwood with disgust.

"Wes made it up just this evening, at Mrs. Barclay's," said Dennison.
"We were all singing, and after a while Wes edged in to the piano and
sprung this on us. Don't you think it's a good song?"

"So good that I wish I could furnish inspiration for another," said
Irving.

Westby joined in the laugh and looked pleased.

"Good-night, everybody," said Collingwood; he walked away to his room.
The others followed, all except Westby, to whom Irving said,--

"Will you wait a moment? I should like to have a little talk with you."
He led the boy into his room and pushed forward his armchair.

Westby seated himself with his banjo across his knees and looked at
Irving wonderingly.

"The fellows seem pretty cheerful after their defeat, don't they?" said
Irving.

A shadow crossed Westby's face. "They've been very decent about it," he
answered.

Irving put his hand on Westby's arm.

"Do you know why they're so decent? It's because you've cheered them up
yourself. Who was the fellow, Westby, that said he didn't care who might
make his country's laws if only he might write its songs?"

[Illustration: A SHADOW CROSSED WESTBY'S FACE]

"Oh--no--that's got nothing to do with me."

"You needn't care who makes the touchdowns. Your job is to do something
else. It's no discredit to you if because of lack of training or
adaptability, you can't hang on to a ball at a critical moment. There
are plenty of fellows who can do that.--I suppose you don't see it yet
yourself--but you know the message my brother sent you? I shall tell him
that you got your chance to-day--and took it."

"I don't see how."

"Well, I don't know how you managed it exactly. But I could see when
those fellows came upstairs just now that you stood better with them
than you ever had done before. It must have been because you showed the
right spirit--and I know by experience, Westby, that it's awfully hard to
show the right spirit when you're down."

There was silence for a few moments.

"I guess I've made it hard for you," said