ugh the whole
school that those eleven fellows in whom rested the entire hope of
several hundred should go on the field with the conviction that however
well the Jefferson team played, the Ridgley team would play better.

There were mass meetings at which Coach Murray and Neil Durant and
prominent members of the team spoke. All of them made the point that
victory depended on the spirit of the whole school as well as on the
team. At the meeting on Monday night in Lincoln Hall after Neil Durant
had spoken, some one in the crowd yelled, "We want Teeny-bits," and the
cry was instantly taken up by others until in the space of a few seconds
the whole hall was resounding to the concerted clamor for the smallest
and the newest member of the eleven.

There was some little delay, for Teeny-bits, surprised and dismayed, had
settled himself lower in his seat, hoping thereby to escape detection
until a demand had started for some other member of the team. But the
Ridgleyites who were sitting beside him yelled, "Here he is!" and Neil
Durant, perceiving him at last, leaped down from the platform and laid
hold on him with vigorous hands. In a second or two Teeny-bits was
standing up there facing the school with such a shout of greeting
ringing in his ears that his head swam a little. There was no room for
the slightest doubt that the sons of Ridgley liked this quiet,
unassuming, new member of the school and that they admired his manner of
saying little but doing much. The school would have excused Teeny-bits
if he had stammered a bit and sat down to cover his embarrassment, but
there was no need for excuses of any sort. Teeny-bits suddenly found
that he had something to say and he said it in a manner that brought the
already enthusiastic crowd to its feet.

"I want to tell you," he said, "that I'm glad Jefferson has such a good
team; every one says it's the best their school has ever produced.
That's something worthy to strive for--to beat their _best ever_--and I
know that every member of our team has his mind and heart and _soul_
made up to meet Jefferson more than halfway and to fight so hard for
Ridgley that when the game is over there'll be shouting and bonfires on
our hill."

That was all Teeny-bits said but he spoke with a manner that almost
brought tears to the eyes of those loyal sons of Ridgley whose faces
were turned up toward him where he stood in the bright lights of the
platform. A hoarse shout of confidence and satis