a chance for the big eleven?"

"I have a list of all available candidates, if that's what you mean,
Toby; but no selection can possibly be made until they've all had a
chance to show what's in them. Some who don't seem to promise a great
deal in the start will surprise everybody before they've been at work a
week. On the other hand there will be bitter disappointments in the
bunch, and fellows on whom I've depended may fail to come up to the
scratch and qualify."

"Well, I certainly hope I'm not one of that lot," said Toby, between his
set teeth, since his heart had long been yearning for a chance to shine
on the gridiron as a particular star, to hear the roar of plaudits from
the vast crowd assembled, when fortune allowed him to make some
sensational play that would advance his side closer to final victory.

"Nobody can tell until the test comes, what they will be able to do,
Toby. For my part I shall be bitterly sorry if both you and Steve do not
make the team. And then there's Big Bob Jeffries, who ought to be a
magnificent full-back; while long-legged Joel Jackman, and Fred Badger
should shine as right and left tackle. Besides, I'd surely love to see
Phil Parker, Herbert Jones and Hugh McGuffey pull through, because
they're all good fellows, and with the right sort of grit to do well in
football."

"I know I'm going to be on needles and pins up to the time the final
selection is made," affirmed Toby. "And you'd better believe I want to
go in, if at all, on my honest individual merits. No favoritism can ever
be tolerated in football, where a single weak link in the chain spells
ultimate defeat for the team, no matter how strong the other ten men may
be. The opposing players can quickly learn where the soft snap lies, and
after that will devote all their efforts to tearing a hole through the
ranks just there where the line will give way soonest."

"Game words for you to speak, Toby," commented Jack, full of
satisfaction over the thought of having such an honest chum, whose every
interest was for the glory of his team, rather than a desire to make an
individual reputation, regardless of the general good.

Later on they found themselves at a well-remembered spot. The morning
was fairly well advanced by that time. Toby was looking around him
eagerly.

"Say, wasn't it right about here we were held up by that onery cat the
other afternoon, Jack?" he asked, with a trace of excitement in his
voice.

"There's the tr