pretend to be very busy while he did
several other things. He had not known that Miss Mason would make such
a "fuss," as Tim called it, over the book, and he was mean enough to
be glad that Bobby was getting all the punishment. Tim had a wholesome
fear of Mr. Carter, having met the principal on several occasions when
his bent for mischief had brought Miss Mason's wrath down on him. He
wondered what Mr. Carter had said to Bobby.

The weather was clear and crisp now, and the grammar and high-school
boys could talk of nothing but football. The primary grades, of
course, were considered too little to have a team, but nevertheless
they knew a good deal about the game and secretly thought they had
just as fine players among them as the older boys.

"Let's go round and watch 'em practice," suggested Palmer Davis to
Bobby after school, the afternoon of the day he had seen Mr. Carter.
"Meg will tell your mother. Won't you, Meg?"

"Yes, of course," agreed Meg sunnily. "Go on, Bobby, she won't care."

"I'll be back by five," called Bobby after her.

Meg wanted to see the football teams practice, but she was attending
to her music very diligently and practiced her hour after school
faithfully. She meant to be able to play a march for assembly as soon
as she was asked.

Bertrand Ashe joined Palmer and Bobby at the corner.

"Stop at my house a minute," he urged, "and I'll get my football. We
can have a little game."

Bertrand had a cousin at boarding school who always sent him the
nicest presents for Christmas. He had a knack of knowing what a boy
wanted, and this football was a gift from him.

The football under Bertrand's arm, the three boys walked on to the
large vacant lot back of the grammar-high-school building, which was
used by the teams as a football field.

"Get some more of the fellows," directed Palmer. "My, it's kind of
muddy, isn't it?"

The field was a little soft, but the two teams were out practicing,
and a crowd of enthusiastic followers, in small groups about the lot,
were watching them. Palmer, who was a leader among the younger boys,
succeeded in rounding up more of their class to complete his team,
among them Tim Roon and his inseparable friend, Charlie Black.

"Come on over in this corner," said Palmer, beckoning them to follow
him. "Old Hornbeck's down to watch the high-school squad, and like
as not he'll order us off if he sees us. Those high-school boys think
they own the earth."

There was