could get out of this..."

"No you wouldn't," prompted Blackwell, "You'd be ashamed of yourself
for the rest of your life ... and you know it."

Judd hung his head. He had to confess that what Blackwell said was
true. Now that he had waged the fight against himself, there was a
certain growing spirit which refused to let him stop. He had thought
that he would quit on the last night of scrimmage but the next night
found him out taking a light signal practice with the team. It was as
if he had started an automobile and then wished to stop it only to find
that it had gotten beyond his control. The situation was terrifying.

When Judd dressed for the game he took a white slip of paper from his
wallet and folded it inside his head gear. Some of the players saw him
do it and one asked, "What's that for, a shock absorber?" The question
was a harmless thrust but Judd flushed guiltily. They certainly would
kid him if they knew what it really was!

In the distance could be heard the yells of the rival schools and the
blare of the school bands. Overhead, in the lulls, could be heard the
monotonous drip of the rain. What a day for a football game! The
gridiron was water-soaked and soggy. A person would get covered with
dirt and wet to the skin. Nothing inviting about that to Judd.

"Fellows, I've been your coach for seven years. There has never been a
game in all my experience that I have wanted to win more than this one.
We will be outweighed; we will be faced by a team of veterans; but we
will not be outspirited. Trumbull has always possessed the spirit that
never says die. I know that every man on the first team will be out
there ... when his chance comes ... giving everything he has for old
Trumbull...." The coach's eyes passed over every boy in the squad,
pausing just a moment to rest upon Billings, then moving on quickly.

The last pointed words of the coach failed to impress Judd. He seemed
in a daze. Could it be possible that he was actually a sub on the
first team and that he might be called upon to play? The thoughts of
honor had not come to him ... of fighting for his school ... of
fighting for anything in particular. But he did want to fight to live
up to the contract ... to the belief that a few people had in him.

Judd followed the other subs to a bench along the edge of the field.
He sat down with Burton, second team quarterback, beside him. They
watched the Trumbull eleven as it took the