As all six of the boys knew considerable about the theories and rules of football, and as all of them watched closely the plays between Gridley H.S. and the subs, they soon saw the reason why Gridley had one of the most formidable High School teams in the country.
"Oh, for the day when _we_ can try to make the team!" uttered d.i.c.k Prescott, his eyes gleaming with antic.i.p.ation.
The fund-raising scheme offered by d.i.c.k & Co. went before the Athletic Committee that same evening. It was accepted, as Prescott and Darrin, hanging about outside the H.S. building, learned an hour later.
In three days more the subscription papers had been printed and were distributed. Every boy and girl in the school received one, with instructions to bring it back, "filled out"---or take the consequences.
Then the canva.s.sing began.
Would it work? d.i.c.k & Co. felt that their own reputations hung in the balance. And it was bound to be the case that some of the students, though they took the papers, did a lot of prompt "kicking" about it.
_Would it "work"_?
CHAPTER XIII
"THE OATH OF THE DUB"
For a full week the boys and girls of Gridley H.S. scoured the town, trying their fortune everywhere that money was supposed to lurk.
The great Thanksgiving game was coming on. Gridley was to play the second team of Cobber University. This second team from Cobber had beaten every high school team it had tackled for the two preceding years.
Gridley, in this present year, had not met with a single defeat in a total of nine games thus far played. In six of the games the opponents had not scored at all.
But could Cobber Second be beaten?
The Cobber eleven was one of the finest in the country. Even the second team was considered a "terror," as its record of unbroken victories for two years testified.
So much awe, in fact, did Cobber Second inspire among the high school teams that Gridley was the only outfit to be found that dared take up the proposition of a Thanksgiving Day game with the college men.
"Gridley can"t win!" the pessimists predicted.
Even the heartiest well-wishers of Gridley H.S. felt, mournfully, that too big a contract had been undertaken.
d.i.c.k & Co., however, under the inspiring influence of their leader, were all to the hopeful.
"We"ll win," d.i.c.k proclaimed, "because Gridley needs the game.
When Gridley folks go after anything they won"t take "no" for an answer. That"s the spirit of the town, and the High School is worthy of all the traditions of the town."
"Talk"s cheap, and brag"s a good dog!" sneered Ripley.
Three soph.o.m.ores who overheard the remark promptly "bagged" Fred and threw him over the school yard fence.
"Come back with any more of that," warned one of the hazers, "and we"ll scour your intellect at the town pump."
Being a freshman, Prescott didn"t say too much. Neither did his chums. Yet what they did say was bright and hopeful. Their spirit began to soak through the student body.
"You see, gentlemen," Coach Morton warned the football squad one morning at recess, "you"ve _got_ to win. The school believes you can do it, and the town is beginning to believe it. If you lose to Cobber Second you"ll forfeit the respect of all the thousands of Gridley folks who are now saying nice things about you."
"Write it down," begged Thompson. "We"re going to beat Cobber Second off the gridiron."
"Good!" cheered Mr. Morton. "That"s the talk. And be sure you live up to it!"
"We"ve got to live up to it," a.s.serted Thomp, solemnly.
"Right-o!" came the enthusiastic approval from as many members of the student body as could crowd within easy hearing. The girls were all there, too, for in these days the girls were as much excited as others over the prospects of winning.
"Shall I tell coach and students, Cap?" called Thomp to Edgeworth.
"It won"t do any harm," nodded Sam. "Confession will make our deed more binding."
"What deed?" demanded Coach Morton, scenting some mystery that he was not yet in on.
"Why, you see, sir," proclaimed Thomp, "every member of the team, and every sub who stands any show to get into the game, has taken the oath of the dub."
""The oath of the dub"?" repeated Sub-master Morton. "That"s a new one on me.
"It"s a new one on us all," admitted Thompson, gravely. "We"ve taken the oath, but it"s so dreadful that most of us shivered when it came our turn to recite the patter---the ritual, I mean."
"What is this "oath of the dub"?" asked the coach.
"It"s fearful," shivered Thomp. "Any of you fellows feel better able to explain?"
He glanced around him at the other visible members and subs of the school eleven, but they shook their heads and shrank back.
"Well, then, I"ll have to tell you myself," conceded Thomp, with an air of gloom. "It"s a fearful thing. Yet, as I"ve been through with it once, one more time can"t hurt me---much."
Thomp made an eloquent pause. Then, reaching his right hand aloft, his eyes turned toward the sky, he recited, in a deep ba.s.s voice:
"I have pledged my honor, as a gridiron specialist, that Gridley H.S. shall lug away all the points of the game from Cobber Second. If we fail, then may everyone who espies me mutter: "There goes a dub!" May the word "dub" haunt me in my waking hours, and pursue me, mounted on the nightmares of slumber! May my best friends ever afterward refer to me only as a "dub." For if I fail the school, then am I truly a "dub," and there is no help for me. If I fail, then may I never, so long as life lasts, be permitted to lose sight of the patent fact that I _am_ a "dub"! So help me _Bob_!"
A roar of laughter and approval went up from all who heard. Coach Morton tried hard to preserve his gravity, but his sides shook, and his face reddened from the effort. At last he broke loose.
When he could control his voice Mr. Morton demanded:
"What genius of the first cla.s.s invented the "oath of the dub"?"
"It wasn"t a senior, sir," Thomp confessed.
"What junior, then?"
"Not a junior, either."
"_Who_, then?" insisted the submaster.
"Tell him, Sam."