"I dislike doing this very much."
"You haven"t any choice, Mr. Edward."
"But I don"t feel you"ve lined up sufficient evidence to warrant such action. I"ll confess thinking first of Mack when I discovered what had been done ... but it was only because of certain incidents. Listening to this cross-examination today, I"m not convinced that he is any way connected. Rather, I believe that the circ.u.mstances surrounding him have been unfortunate. I"d much prefer to drop the whole matter than..."
"You can"t drop it!" bellowed Detective Pierce. "It"s in the papers.
We"re not going to have it said that we were hushed up. Whoever broke into your office must have been working for Pomeroy because the plays and signals wouldn"t have done anyone else any good. When this young man decides to talk we"ll find out something. You wait and see."
Mack Carver laughed, grimly. The situation, serious as it was, now struck him funny. Two small town detectives with an inflated sense of their own importance. Coach Edward, because of his desire to win the Pomeroy game had magnified the happening until it had developed beyond his control. There was going to be some fireworks now despite anything that he could do.
"It"s all right, Coach," said Mack, sympathetically. "Go ahead and suspend me. You probably wouldn"t have played me anyway--so it"s no loss to the team. Besides--these men can"t prove anything on me if they spend the rest of their lives."
"Mack," addressed Coach Edward, with obvious sincerity. "I hope you"ll believe me when I say that I"m deeply sorry this thing has occurred.
You"ve made your mistakes in judgment ... and I"ve made mine. I"ve a feeling now that you"re being done an injustice but there"s little I can do about it for the time being...!"
"What are you trying to hand the boy?" cut off Detective Pierce. "Is he suspended or isn"t he?"
"He"s suspended," said the Coach, simply.
"Very well!" snapped Detective Pierce. "Come on, Greene. I"ve got another angle for us to follow up. As for you, son--you stay put where we can call you!"
"I will," Mack promised, and stepped into the hall.
Outside the cool November air felt bracing to his feverish temples. He inhaled it to the depth of his lungs as he strode from the Field House, across the gridiron where Darby, a.s.sistant coach, was putting the squad through its paces.
"Hi, Mack!" yelled Frank as the subst.i.tute back was discovered. "Where you going?... Wait a minute!"
The team members looked Mack"s way, apparently much interested.
"They"re probably curious to know what"s happened," thought Mack, a peculiar sort of numbness taking possession of him ... a numbness which was making him insensible to bitterness and disappointment. But Mack had no desire to mix with his fellows and hurried his footsteps toward the exit gate.
"Hold on, Carver!" a.s.sistant Coach Darby shouted after him.
Mack came to a stop and looked back, wonderingly. Darby hurried, over, followed by Varsity team members.
"What"s the matter?" asked Mack, almost defiantly. "What do you want?"
"Better get into your duds," said Darby. "We may need you."
"Not me," Mack rejoined, incredulously.
"Yes, you!" replied Frank, coming up and tapping him on the shoulder.
"Dave"s just been carried off the field with a dislocated knee. It"s doubtful if he"ll be able to play Sat.u.r.day."
Mack stood for a moment, shocked at the news. The field seemed to spin around in a circle ... then the peculiar numbness returned.
"Too late," he heard himself saying. "You"ll have to use someone else.
I"m no longer on the team. I"ve been suspended."
And, with that, he continued on out through the exit gate, not so much as glancing back over his shoulder.
Grinnell College never knew a sensation to compare with that which arose over the suspension of one Mack Carver. Not widely acquainted because of his having entered Grinnell as a Junior with his residence on the campus not quite three months in duration, Mack now became the most discussed young man in school. His brother, Coach Carl Carver of Pomeroy, had been too well known for the past few years, due to the steam roller effect of his team upon the woeful best that Grinnell could put on the field. Newspapers, in their merciless survey of the present situation, left nothing to be imagined, emphasizing that the coming Sat.u.r.day"s contest was more a "battle of coaches" than it was a "battle of elevens." Injury of Dave Morgan, Grinnell"s great blocking back, had complicated matters still more since Mack Carver, the suspended back, would logically have taken his place on the team. News had leaked out of Mack"s satisfactory performance in the last secret scrimmage and rumor had it that Mack and his brother were not supposed to be on speaking terms. This rumor hardly jibed with the suspicion Mack was declared to be under--of having stolen Grinnell signals and plays for the purpose of tipping said brother off that Pomeroy might be a.s.sured of winning the game. But, since one good rumor deserved another, all those interested might read and take their choice.
Meanwhile all sorts of wild reports were circulated, sides were frenziedly taken, and the Grinnell stadium was sold out with thousands of demands for tickets being of necessity refused.
"There"ll be plenty of excitement here Sat.u.r.day," a Grinnell storekeeper remarked. "I"m going to re-enforce my store windows so the crowds can"t push "em in."
Friday afternoon, Pomeroy"s football squad, thirty-three strong, arrived at Grinnell, having made the hundred and forty mile trip by bus. They immediately took rooms in the Grinnell Inn--a whole floor to be exact--and then the squad stretched their legs with a walk up and down the Main Street while Coach Carl Carver got on the telephone and called his brother.
"Mack--this is Carl! What"s all this I hear about stolen plays and your suspension?"
"It"s all a lot of noise!"
"Yeah? Doesn"t sound like it by the papers. Looks pretty serious to me. I"ve invited Coach Edward up here to see me in fifteen minutes and I want you to be here."
"Aw, nix, Carl!... I"ve said my say. I"m not begging for anything.
I"ve embarra.s.sed you enough as it is! You know what they"re saying ...
that we"re in cahoots!"
"What do I care what they"re saying?... I want you to be here, understand?... I"m not taking "no" for an answer!"
"Okay," said Mack, reluctantly, "but I"m telling you beforehand, it won"t do you any good."
Mack arrived five minutes before Coach Edward appeared.
"Well!" greeted Carl, "this is a nice kettle of fish!"
"Mostly my fault, too," said Mack, and related the events leading up to the present moment.
"So Coach Edward is after my job?" mused Carl. "That"s what happens after you"ve had a winning team for a couple years. A few reverses and the proud alumni commence hollering "get the axe"! Everybody loves a winner and they don"t stop to figure there"s got to be a loser to every winner. Now that Grinnell"s piled up a great record this year, we"re supposed to b.u.mp you off. If we do, despite the fact we"ve had no season to shout about ourselves, the alumni will consider our year crowned with success."
"You think you"re going to beat us?" grinned Mack.
"Yes--with you suspended!" kidded Carl.
"Cut it!" Mack winced. "I"ll prove to you yet that I can play football!"
"Go to it!" invited Carl. "I admire your stick-to-it-iveness! Three years and just a subst.i.tute indicates a bear for punishment."
"Being related to you is my biggest handicap," was Mack"s rejoinder.
"It cost me better consideration before and it"s costing me my chances now."
"Tough luck!" sympathized Carl. "But if your coach gets my job next year, you"ll have a clear field!"
"I hope he doesn"t!"
"Meaning you hope we win?"
Mack"s face colored. "No--but I hope you keep your job win or lose."