Fusie, adding, "Now, whenever you see me tackle
Dan, run in and get the ball. I'm not going to bother about it."

Half an hour had gone. The score stood two to one in favor of the Front,
but the result every one felt to be still uncertain. That last attack of
Hughie's, and the master's speedy performance, gave some concern to the
men of the Front, and awakened a feeling of confidence in the Twentieth
team.

But Dan, wise general that he was, saw the danger, and gave his commands
ere he faced off for the new game.

"When that man Craven gets it," he said to the men of the center, "make
straight for the goal. Never mind the ball."

The wisdom of this order became at once evident, for when in the
face-off he secured the ball, Hughie clung so tenaciously to his heels
and checked him so effectually, that he was forced to resign it to the
Reds, who piercing the Twentieth center, managed to scurry up the ice
with the ball between them. But when, met by Craven and Johnnie Big
Duncan, they passed across to Dan, Hughie again checked so fiercely that
Johnnie Big Duncan secured the ball, passed back to the master, who with
another meteoric flash along the edge of the field broke through the
Front's defense, and again shot.

It was only Farquhar Bheg's steady coolness that saved the goal. It was
a near enough thing, however, to strike a sudden chill to the heart of
the Front goal-keeper, and to make Dan realize that something must be
done to check these dangerous rushes of Craven.

"Get in behind the defense there, and stay there," he said to two of his
centers, and his tone indicated that his serene confidence in himself
and his team was slightly shaken. Hughie's close checking was beginning
to chafe him, for his team in their practice had learned to depend
unduly upon him.

Noticing Dan's change in the disposition of his men, Hughie moved up two
of his centers nearer to the Front defense.

"Get into their way," he said "and give the master a clear field."

But this policy only assisted Dan's plan of defense, for the presence
of so many players before the Front goal filled up the ice to such an
extent that Craven's rushes were impeded by mere numbers.

For some time Dan watched the result of his tactics well satisfied,
remaining himself for the time in the background. During one of the
pauses, when the ball was out of play, he called one of the little Reds
to him.

"Look here," he said, "you watch this. Right after one