y said:

"I had a pretty good reason for not getting to the field before I
did,--I am going to tell Mr. Murray and Neil about it later. I haven't
much to say regarding the game except that I knew we could win because
we had the spirit to do it and because Neil was showing us the way all
the time. To play on the eleven which beat a team that fought as hard
and as clean as the Jefferson crowd is an honor that makes me dizzy. I
began to dream about it a few weeks ago; now that it's come true I can
hardly believe it."

Teeny-bits sat down and a few moments later the balloting began to elect
a new captain for the Ridgley team. It was Neil Durant's last year and
the big leader of the red eleven, before starting the procedure that
would result in the choosing of his successor, said to his team-mates:

"It is our custom, as you all know, to choose a football captain at the
dinner following the Jefferson game. It has always been done without
nominations--simply by balloting. I'll pass around these slips of paper
and I want you to write on them the name of the man who in your opinion,
regardless of friendship, will make the leader who will best carry on
Ridgley football tradition."

All of the members of the team knew that this was coming, of course, and
they took it solemnly and in silence. There were no suggestions passed
from one to another; each received a paper from the captain, wrote down
a name and returned the folded slip to Neil, who made a second round of
the big table. The captain turned the ballots over to the coach who
quickly unfolded and counted them. When he was through, of the fifteen
ballots--one for each member of the team who had played in the big
game--fourteen were piled in front of his right hand and one remained in
front of his left hand. He whispered a word to Neil Durant who
immediately got to his feet and said:

"Fellows, you have elected a _real_ leader; one who has grit and spirit
and who always thinks of the team before he thinks of himself, a fellow
who does much and says little; Teeny-bits Holbrook is the captain of the
Ridgley eleven. In view of the fact that he is the only one here who
voted for some one else we'll call it a unanimous election."

Teeny-bits looked from one face to another with such an expression of
bewilderment and astonishment that every one knew that he was dazed with
surprise. They were all looking at him and he realized that they counted
on him to say something. He got