Still, the Clifford enthusiasts did not appear to be downcast.

"Wait," they kept saying mysteriously on all sides, while shouts
of encouragement went out to Hastings and his doughty warriors.

"What do they mean by that?" asked Mr. Allen, of the man from
above, who sat near him on the bench of the grandstand.

"Well, Clifford is a slow team to get started. They always do
better in the second half of a game. That with Bellport was a
fake, because their signals had been given away. They learned this
when the first half had been played. It made them savage. The
result was Bellport didn't score again, and Clifford made a few
points before the end came. They'll wake up presently!" was the
confident reply.

Among the most enthusiastic of the vast crowd was Minnie Cuthbert.
She waved her little banner and joined her voice in the general
clamor, for the mad excitement had seized girls as well as boys
and men.

And yet all the while she seemed to have eyes for no one but the
agile captain of the Columbia team. Wherever he happened to be,
her gaze was either openly or covertly upon him.

Again she saw Frank wave his hand cheerily, and looking in the
direction where his attention seemed to be directed, she
discovered that Helen and Flo Dempsey were flourishing bouquets of
flowers made up of purple and gold, to illustrate the school