Glengarry Schooldays [75]
"I think we are going to win." (Yells from all sides.) "At any rate we ought to win, for I think we have the better team." (More yells.) "What I mean is this, I think we are better in combination play, and I don't think they have a man who can touch the master."
Enthusiastic exclamations, "That's right!" "Better believe it!" "Horo!"
"But we have a big fight before us. And that Dan Munro's a terror. The only change I can think of is to open out more and fall back from their goal for a little while. And then, if I can hold Dan--"
"Cries of "You'll hold him all right!" "You are the lad!"
"Everybody should feed the master. They can't stop him, any of them. But I would say for the first while, anyway, play defense. What do you think, sir?" appealing to the master.
"I call that good tactics. But don't depend too much upon me; if any man has a chance for a run and a shot, let him take it. And don't give up your combination in your forward line. The captain is quite right in seeking to draw them away from their goal. Their defense territory is too full now. Now, what I have noticed is this, they mainly rely upon Dan Munro and upon their three big defense men. For the first fifteen minutes they will make their hardest push. Let us take the captain's advice, fall back a little, and so empty their defense. But on the whole, keep your positions, play to your men, and," he added, with a smile, "don't get too mad."
"I guess they will be making some plans, too," said Thomas Finch, slowly, and everybody laughed.
"That's quite right, Thomas, but we'll give them a chance for the first while to show us what they mean to do."
At this point the minister came in, looking rather gloomy.
"Well, Mr. Craven, rather doubtful outlook, is it not?"
"O, not too bad, sir," said the master, cheerfully.
"Three to one. What worse do you want?"
"Well, six to one would be worse," replied the master. "Besides, their first two games were taken by a kind of fluke. We didn't know their play. You will notice they have taken only one in the last three-quarters of an hour."
"I doubt they are too big for you," continued the minister.
"Isn't altogether size that wins in shinny," said Mr. Craven. "Hughie there isn't a very big man, but he can hold any one of them."
"Well, I hope you may be right," said the minister. "I am sorry I have to leave the game to see a sick man up Kenyon way."
"Sorry you can't stay, sir, to see us win," said Craven, cheerfully, while Hughie slipped out to see his mother before she went.
"Well, my boy," said his mother, "you are playing a splendid game, and you are getting better as you go on."
"Thanks, mother. That's the kind of talk we like," said Hughie, who had been a little depressed by his father's rather gloomy views. "I'm awfully sorry you can't stay."
"And so am I, but we must go. But we shall be back in time for supper, and you will ask all the team to come down to celebrate their victory."
"Good for you, mother! I'll tell them, and I bet they'll play."
Meantime the team from the Front had been having something of a jollification in their quarters. They were sure of victory, and in spite of their captain's remonstrances had already begun to pass round the bottle in the way of celebration.
"They're having something strong in there," said little Mac McGregor. "Wish they'd pass some this way."
"Let them have it," said Johnnie Big Duncan, whose whole family ever since the revival had taken a total abstinence pledge, although this was looked upon as a very extreme position indeed, by almost all the community. But Big Duncan Campbell had learned by very bitter experience that for him, at least, there was no safety in a moderate use of "God's good creature," as many of his fellow church-members designated the "mountain dew," and his sons had loyally backed him up in this attitude.
"Quite, right!" said the master, emphatically. "And if they had any sense they would know that with every drink they are throwing away a big chance of winning."
Enthusiastic exclamations, "That's right!" "Better believe it!" "Horo!"
"But we have a big fight before us. And that Dan Munro's a terror. The only change I can think of is to open out more and fall back from their goal for a little while. And then, if I can hold Dan--"
"Cries of "You'll hold him all right!" "You are the lad!"
"Everybody should feed the master. They can't stop him, any of them. But I would say for the first while, anyway, play defense. What do you think, sir?" appealing to the master.
"I call that good tactics. But don't depend too much upon me; if any man has a chance for a run and a shot, let him take it. And don't give up your combination in your forward line. The captain is quite right in seeking to draw them away from their goal. Their defense territory is too full now. Now, what I have noticed is this, they mainly rely upon Dan Munro and upon their three big defense men. For the first fifteen minutes they will make their hardest push. Let us take the captain's advice, fall back a little, and so empty their defense. But on the whole, keep your positions, play to your men, and," he added, with a smile, "don't get too mad."
"I guess they will be making some plans, too," said Thomas Finch, slowly, and everybody laughed.
"That's quite right, Thomas, but we'll give them a chance for the first while to show us what they mean to do."
At this point the minister came in, looking rather gloomy.
"Well, Mr. Craven, rather doubtful outlook, is it not?"
"O, not too bad, sir," said the master, cheerfully.
"Three to one. What worse do you want?"
"Well, six to one would be worse," replied the master. "Besides, their first two games were taken by a kind of fluke. We didn't know their play. You will notice they have taken only one in the last three-quarters of an hour."
"I doubt they are too big for you," continued the minister.
"Isn't altogether size that wins in shinny," said Mr. Craven. "Hughie there isn't a very big man, but he can hold any one of them."
"Well, I hope you may be right," said the minister. "I am sorry I have to leave the game to see a sick man up Kenyon way."
"Sorry you can't stay, sir, to see us win," said Craven, cheerfully, while Hughie slipped out to see his mother before she went.
"Well, my boy," said his mother, "you are playing a splendid game, and you are getting better as you go on."
"Thanks, mother. That's the kind of talk we like," said Hughie, who had been a little depressed by his father's rather gloomy views. "I'm awfully sorry you can't stay."
"And so am I, but we must go. But we shall be back in time for supper, and you will ask all the team to come down to celebrate their victory."
"Good for you, mother! I'll tell them, and I bet they'll play."
Meantime the team from the Front had been having something of a jollification in their quarters. They were sure of victory, and in spite of their captain's remonstrances had already begun to pass round the bottle in the way of celebration.
"They're having something strong in there," said little Mac McGregor. "Wish they'd pass some this way."
"Let them have it," said Johnnie Big Duncan, whose whole family ever since the revival had taken a total abstinence pledge, although this was looked upon as a very extreme position indeed, by almost all the community. But Big Duncan Campbell had learned by very bitter experience that for him, at least, there was no safety in a moderate use of "God's good creature," as many of his fellow church-members designated the "mountain dew," and his sons had loyally backed him up in this attitude.
"Quite, right!" said the master, emphatically. "And if they had any sense they would know that with every drink they are throwing away a big chance of winning."