less we
can find some means of stopping it. So far we haven't found that means.
We've tried several things; we're still trying; but we haven't found the
play we want.

"If we're to win that game we've got to play on the defensive; we've got
to stop tackle-back and rely on an end run now and then and lots of
punting to get us within goal distance. Then our play is to score by a
quick run or a field-goal. The offense we're working up--we'll call it
close-formation for want of a better name--is, we think, the best we can
find. The idea is to open holes quickly and jab a runner through before
our heavier and necessarily slower opponents can concentrate their
weight at the point of attack. For the close-formation we have, I think,
plays covering every phase. And so, while a good offensive strategy
will be welcome, yet what we stand in greatest need of is a play to stop
Robinson's tackle-tandem. Now you apparently have ability in this line,
Mr. Burr; and, what's more, you have the time to study the thing up.
Supposing you try your hand and see what you can do. If you can find
what we want--something that the rest of us can't find, by the
way--you'll be doing as much, if not more, than any of us toward
securing a victory over Robinson. And don't hesitate to come and see me
if you find yourself in a quandary or whenever you've got anything
to show."

And Sydney trundled himself back to his room and sat up until after
midnight puzzling his brains over the tackle-tandem play, finally
deciding that a better understanding of the play was necessary before he
could hope to discover its remedy. When he crawled into bed and closed
his tired eyes it was to see a confused jumble of orange-hued lines and
circles running riot in the darkness.

CHAPTER XIV

MAKES A CALL

Despite Neil's absence from Erskine Field, preparation for the crowning
conflict of the year went on with vigor and enthusiasm. The ranks of the
coaches were swelled from day to day by patriotic alumni, some of whom
were of real help, others of whom merely stood around in what Devoe
called their "store clothes" and looked wonderfully wise. Some came to
stay and took up quarters in the village, but the most merely tarried
overnight, and, having unburdened themselves to Mills and Devoe of much
advice, went away again, well pleased with their devotion to alma mater.

The signals in use during the preliminary season had now been discarded
in favor of the more compli