ook hands and jogged down the field to take up
their positions.

"How about concentrating on the passes Richards is going to feed to
Davison," Tom asked his unit-mates. "Never mind blocking out Richards
and McAvoy."

"Yeah," agreed Astro, "play for the ball. Sounds good to me."

"How about it, Roger?" asked Tom.

"Just play the game," said Roger. And then added sarcastically, "And
don't forget to give them every chance to score. Let's play fair and
square, the way we did with the _Arcturus_ unit."

"If you feel that way, Manning," answered Astro coldly, "you can quit
right now! We'll handle the _Capella_ guys ourselves!"

Before Roger could answer, McKenny blew the ready whistle and the three
boys lined up along the white chalk line preparing for the dash to the
waiting ball.

The cadets in the stands were hushed. McKenny's hand swept up and then
quickly down as he blew the whistle. The crowd came to its feet,
roaring, as Tom, five steps from his own goal line, tripped and fell
headlong to the grass, putting him out of the first play. Astro and
Roger charged down the field, with Astro reaching the ball first. He
managed a good kick, but Richards, three feet away, took the ball
squarely on his chest. The mercuryball fell to the ground, spun in a
dizzy circle and with a gentle tap by Richards, rolled to Davison, who
took it in stride and sent it soaring for a forty-five-yard goal.

The _Capella_ unit had drawn first blood.

"Well, hot-shot," snarled Roger back on the starting line, "what
happened to the big pass-stealing idea?"

"I tripped, Manning," said Tom through clenched teeth.

"Yeah! Tripped!" sneered Roger.

The whistle blew for the next goal.

Tom, with an amazing burst of speed, swept down the field, broke stride
to bring him in perfect line with the ball and with a kick that seemed
almost lazy, sent the ball from a dead standstill, fifty yards over the
_Capella_ goal before any of the remaining players were within five feet
of it, and the score was tied.

The crowd sprang to its feet again and roared his name.

"That was terrific!" said Astro, slapping Tom on the back as they lined
up again. "It looked as though you hardly kicked that ball at all."

"Yeah," muttered Roger, "you really made yourself the grandstand's
delight!"

"What's that supposed to mean, Manning?" asked Astro.

"Superman Corbett probably burned himself out! Let's see him keep up
that speed for the next ten minutes!"