r hands full.
They've never been easy picking and we'd better postpone our jubilee
till after the game."

"Punk philosophy," countered Tom. "Let's have it now and make sure of
it."

He was clearly a hopeless case, and they gave up the task of subduing
his levity, and started for the gang plank.

It was a large party that had come up the river on that glorious day in
early October, to test the prowess and mettle of the cadets. The team
itself with the substitutes numbered over thirty, and there was a small
army of rubbers and other attendants. To these were added several
hundred of the college boys, and these were further reinforced by a host
of "old grads" who sniffed the battle from afar and couldn't resist the
temptation to "come on along," and root for the youngsters on their
scalp-hunting expedition.

The game with the Army was always one of the events of the football
season. Although not ranked with the "big three," they followed close
behind, and once in a while gave the "top-liners" a hard struggle to
avoid defeat. Only the year before, they had held the Blues to a 6 to 0
score, and on a muddy field had played a tie with the "Maroons" after a
Homeric contest. They were not "easy meat" for any one, and the coaches
of every team had learned not to hold them lightly.

This year, disquieting rumors had leaked out from West Point as to the
strength of the team. They were said to have the heaviest aggregation
behind the line that they had had in twenty years, and it was freely
predicted that here, if anywhere, the Blues might find themselves
overmatched. The fullback was a new recruit who weighed close to two
hundred pounds, and despite his weight was said to be as fast as greased
lightning. The two halves were both veterans, and one of them the
previous season had been picked for the All-American team in his
position. In addition they had a powerful set of guards and tackles, and
it was universally acknowledged that their quarterback was one that it
would be hard to match on any of the big teams.

Still the Blues were not greatly stirred up by this advance information.
If they were to be "licked," it would have to be by actual speed and
muscle on the field, and not by "dope" that might prove fallacious.

"They can't come too big or heavy to suit," philosophized Drake. "The
bigger they are the harder they fall."

There was a stiff wind blowing when the rival teams came on the field,
and in the toss for positi