Mack, who had toiled so long in the hopes of becoming a varsity regular
and whose disappointment had finally assumed proportions of a grudge
against his Coach, now made one final appeal.

"Coach, everything I do seems to be wrong. I can't get over the
feeling that you don't like me. I swear I didn't mean anything by
looking at those plays ... but you've an idea that I did. As for my
being on the team and not getting a real chance to play--there must be
some reason ... some big reason, if it's not prejudice. Whatever that
reason is--I want to know it."

"That's what you _say_," rejoined Coach Edward. "But you're the sort,
Mack, who won't be told. You're proving that fact right now even
though you claim you want to know what's wrong. I've done the best I
could for you on what you've shown me... I'm not in the habit of
arguing or discussing a player's merits or demerits with him off the
field so I'll have to ask you to consider this interview at an end."

"Okay!" rasped Mack, his pride deeply wounded and his feelings running
away with him. Turning on his heel, he strode to the door, but whirled
impulsively to throw back an angry taunt: "And here's hoping you get
trimmed by Pomeroy!"

"Thank you," replied Coach Edward, icily. "I might have expected just
such a remark from you."

And a very unhappy youth, leaving the Coach's presence with a wave of
remorse sweeping over him, knew that now he most certainly had sealed
his doom. He could hardly expect to be given an opportunity of playing
in the Pomeroy game after this.

Grinnell's football schedule was so arranged that the Pomeroy game was
always the last of the year. This permitted the small college eleven
to throw its complete strength against an ordinarily more powerful team
in the annual hope of creating an upset. For Pomeroy, the Grinnell
contest had customarily been booked as a "breather" between big games.
There had been little disposition in previous years, as a consequence,
to take Grinnell's opposition too seriously. Thus, most of the
excitement and enthusiasm had been provided by wide-eyed Grinnell
supporters who had hypnotized themselves almost to the point of
believing that the impossible was about to happen--a Grinnell victory!
That these loyal rooters had been disappointed as regularly as the
annual conflicts arrived, did not seem to dampen the ardor of the next
season's support. "Hope springs eternal" was the trite but simple
explanati