ht about
the matter and then what could he do but rescind his action?

But when the irate Miss Chesterton came into the presence of the great
John Brown she suddenly quailed. She couldn't tell exactly why she
quailed but she found it exceedingly difficult to look into the
crystal-pointed blue of J. B.'s eyes and say the things she was going
to say. Instead, she felt somehow like a foolish little girl who had
been used to having her own way at all costs and who had now met up
with a man who knew her better than her own father.

She was conscious almost at once of the smooth tufts of silvery hair
about this man's temples and the great furrowed line across his
forehead, the firmly set mouth, the broad shoulders--the trace of a
smile as he leaned toward her and said, in a kindly inquiring manner,
"Well?"

And that one word, peculiar as it may seem, had unnerved her or
disarmed her, she didn't know which. There crept over Ruth Chesterton
a sense of guilt. She found herself stammering and stumbling.

"Please, sir ... I'm the girl that Mr. Mooney went out with when he
broke the rules."

"Oh--you are?"

"Yes, sir."

An embarrassed pause.

"Well--what of it?"

"Why, I ... I thought perhaps you'd like to see me."

That wasn't the right thing to say. Ruth knew it the moment she had
uttered it but she had never felt more uncomfortable in her life.

"Me--like to see you? Why should you have thought that?" There was a
trace of ironic amusement in the coach's voice.

"Why--why because I was sort of responsible for Mr. Mooney's breaking
the rules."

"Did he send you here?"

This question did much to bring Ruth back en her feet.

"No, sir! I came of my own free will. He doesn't know anything about
it. He isn't that kind, Mr. Brown. He's taken all the blame--and it's
really more my fault than his--lots more. I--I encouraged him to--to
go out with me those nights ... I didn't think it would do any harm ...
and you'll have to admit yourself that ten o'clock is pretty early,"
Ruth added, as she gained courage.

"Sorry, young lady, but the question of time is not debatable. Mr.
Mooney broke the rules and that ends it..."

"But, Mr. Brown ... won't you ... I mean ... the team ... or rather,
the game with Larwood. Won't he be needed?"

The coach nodded, frankly.

"I shouldn't be surprised."

"Then perhaps--well, maybe if folks understood just how he came to
break the rules... I'd be glad to..."

Joh