"Then I'd like to make a suggestion, Coach."

"Go ahead, Captain."

"You never saw a school team, did you, sir, that understood its
signal work any too well?"

"Never," laughed Mr. Morton.

"Then I would suggest, sir, that most of our training time, from
now until the season opens, be spent on drilling in the signals.
We ought to keep at practicing the signals. We ought to get
the signals down better than ever a Gridley team had them before,
sir."

"You've just the right idea, Captain!" cried Mr. Morton heartily,
resting one hand around Dick's shoulders. "I was going to order
that, but I'm glad you anticipated me."

"Hudson," called out Prescott, "you head a scrub team. Take the
men you want after I've chosen for the school team."

Dick rapidly made his choice for the school team. He played center
himself, putting Dave Darrin at quarter, Greg Holmes as left tackle
and Tom Reade as right end. Dalzell and Hazelton were left out,
but they understood, quite well, that this was to avoid showing
favoritism by taking all of Dick & Co. on the star team for practice.

"Let me play quarter, Hudson," whispered Drayne, going over to
the acting captain of the "scrub."