ve and Tom Sunday afternoon to talk it over
and win their support. It was a nasty day, rainy and blowy and cold, and
most of the fellows were huddling indoors around the radiators. Steve
and Tom, on opposite sides of the table, were chewing the ends of their
pens and trying to write their Sunday letters when the visitors came.
Steve was studiedly haughty, as, to his mind, became one who was
unjustly suspected of dishonesty. The visitors seemed puzzled by his
manner and presently addressed themselves almost entirely to Tom, who,
anxious to atone for his room-mate's churlishness, was nervously affable
and unnaturally enthusiastic.

"We don't see," explained Saunders, "why we shouldn't be allowed to have
a banquet after we quit training. We deserve it. We've done as much, in
a way, as the 'varsity fellows to win from Claflin. We've been the goats
all the season and it seems to me we ought to get something out of it.
What we want to do is to go to Josh and get him to give us permission to
have a blow-out in the village Thursday night."

"Or here," supplemented Freer, "if he won't let us go to the village.
What do you fellows think?"

"I think it's a good scheme," answered Tom. "And we might get one over
on the 'varsity, too. I mean we'd have our banquet and lots of fun
whether we won from Claflin or not, while the 'varsity, if it loses the
game, doesn't enjoy its banquet very much, I guess."

"Well, will you fellows come around to Brownell's room to-night after
supper? Al is willing enough, but, being captain, he doesn't want to
start the thing himself. We're going to see all the fellows this
afternoon and then have a sort of a meeting this evening about eight.
You'll come, Edwards?"

"Yes, thanks."

"All right. Come on, Jimmy. We've got several of the fellows to see
yet."

"There wouldn't be very many of us, would there?" asked Tom. "Now that
Robey has pinched Thursby there's only about fifteen left on the team."

"Sixteen, but we thought we'd get Robey to come if he would, and
'Boots,' of course, and maybe Danny. That would make nineteen in all."

"Where would you have it? Is there a hotel in the village?"

"Not exactly, but there's a sort of a boarding-house there; 'Larch
Villa,' they call it. They'd look after us all right. They've got a fine
big dining-room which we could have all to ourselves. We haven't talked
price with them yet, but Al says we could probably get a good feed for
about a dollar and a half