The next moment, with considerable speed, the pigskin struck him full in the back. It caught him just as he had lifted one foot to avoid a stone, and his balance was none too good. Down he went in a heap, his book flying off on a tangent. [Illustration: "The pigskin struck him full in the back"] "Wow!" exclaimed Holly Cross, who had been the innocent cause of the downfall. "I'll be in for it now." "Keep mum, everybody, as to who did it," proposed Phil. "The whole crowd will shoulder the blame." The players started on the run toward the professor, who still reclined in a sprawling attitude on the ground. He was the least liked of all the faculty, yet the lads could do no less than go to his assistance. "Maybe he's hurt," said Tom. "He's too tough for that," was the opinion of Bricktop. Before the crowd of players reached the prostrate teacher he had arisen. His face was first red and then pale by turns, so great was his rage. He looked at the dirt on his clothes, and then at his book, lying face downward some distance away. "Young gentlemen!" he cried in his sternest voice. "Young gentlemen, I object to this! Most emphatically do I object! You have gone entirely too far! It is disgraceful! You shall hear further of this! You may all report to me in half an hour in my room! I most seriously object! It is disgraceful that such conduct should be allowed at any college! I shall speak to Dr. Churchill and enter a most strenuous objection! The idea!" He replaced his glasses, which had fallen off, and accepted his book that Tom picked up. "Don't forget," he added severely. "I shall expect you all to report to me in half an hour." At that moment Dr. Albertus Churchill, the aged and dignified head of the college, and Mr. Andrew Zane, a proctor, came strolling along. "Ah! I shall report your disgraceful conduct to Dr. Churchill at once," added Professor Tines, as he walked toward the venerable, white-haired doctor. "I shall enter my strongest objection to the continuance of football here." There were blank looks on the faces of the players. CHAPTER VII THE FIRST LINE-UP Evidently Dr. Churchill surmised that something unusual had occurred, for he changed his slow pace to a faster gait as he approached the football squad, in front of which stood Professor Tines, traces of anger still on his unpleasant face. "Ah, young gentlemen, at football practice, I see," remarked the doctor, smiling. "I trust there is the prospect of a good team, Mr. Lighton. I was very well pleased with the manner in which the baseball nine acquitted itself, and I trust that at the more strenuous sport the colors of Randall will not be trailed in the dust." "Not if I can help it, sir; nor the boys, either," replied the coach. "That's right," added Captain Holly Cross. "I see you also take an interest in the sport," went on Dr. Churchill to Professor Tines. "I am glad the members of the faculty lend their presence to sports. Nothing is so ennobling----"