"Gee, Garry, that was a close call!" remarked Nick Danter at the end of the period when the boys were in the hall passing from one classroom to another. "Thought you were a goner that time for sure," put in Rooster. "But say, wasn't Shrugg sore? And wasn't that a classy spiel that Garry gave us in his essay?" exclaimed Bill Sherwood, giving Garry a thump between the shoulders. "I begin to think this young feller's wasting his time on football. Ought to be an orator." Garry grinned cheerfully. His anger against Trompet Shrugg was beginning to evaporate and he was beginning to appreciate more his lucky escape from the pedantic tyrant. "Wouldn't be half so much fun," he said in response to Bill. CHAPTER VIII ON THE ANXIOUS SEAT The clock seemed to lag dreadfully as the hands made their way to two-thirty, but they got there at last, and then the eager Garry and his chums made a dash for the gymnasium where they found that a large number of their classmates had already gathered. The Lenox High first team had been rather severely crippled by the graduation of some of its best players the preceding June. There were several important positions to be filled, and the scrubs of last season were on tiptoe as they figured their chances of selection. Greb, in the position of left half, had been one of the most reliable ground gainers of the eleven. Now he was gone, together with several other scarcely less important players. Both tackle positions would have to be filled, as well as that of right end. Garry and his friends, following the fortunes of Lenox High in a general way during the preceding fall, had heard rumors that the scrubs were pressing the regulars hard. Some of the boys brought in from the bench during tight games had done remarkably good work, as good, some said, as the first string players themselves. But here was an unfortunate fact for Lenox. Graduation had taken toll not only of some of the best regulars but of some of the finest players on the scrubs as well, the boys who had worked their heads off in the effort to secure places on the first team, only to leave school with their ambitions ungratified. This, while hard for Lenox, was fortunate for the aspiring boys just entering the high school and eager to make the eleven. Since so much new material was needed, there was more chance for the freshmen than would ordinarily have been the case. Still the captain, Ralph Wynn, was not particularly encouraging on that point. While they were waiting for the coming of the coach, Wynn talked to the would-be players on the subject that was of the intensest interest to the freshmen at that moment.