The game was to be played at Lenox, which gave a slight edge to the home team. They were on familiar ground, and the larger part of the crowd would be rooting for them. But Wimbledon was only eight miles away, and practically the whole school came over to encourage their football team, most of them bringing horns and cowbells along with which they were prepared to make a din whenever the occasion required. Garry, with his comrades of the scrubs, was on the side lines with a blanket thrown over his shoulders. As the Wimbledon boys romped out on the field for practice, he had a good chance to size them up. What he saw made him a trifle uneasy, for the visitors were a husky bunch and showed up extremely well in their ten minutes of practice. To his eyes they seemed trained to the minute and to have somewhat more "beef" in their line than the Lenox boys. Lenox won the toss and elected to kick off. The teams lined up on the home forty-yard line, and Wynn sent the ball hurtling down the field for thirty-five yards. Beebe, the red-headed fullback of Wimbledon, ran the ball back for five yards before he was downed, and the game was on. The teams lined up for the scrimmage, with Wimbledon having the ball. Johnston, their left halfback, plunged through left guard and tackle for a gain of four yards. Beebe tried the other side and made two more, and on the next down went through for five, making the distance with a down to spare. It was an auspicious beginning for the visitors, and the yells and cowbells of their rooters drowned all other sounds. "First blood for Wimbledon!" "Show these fellows where they get off." "Wimbledon, Wimbledon! Our team weighs a ton!" they chanted in chorus. But their yells died down a moment later when Wynn intercepted a forward pass and made a pretty run of twenty-two yards around the Wimbledon right end. Now the Lenox backs got in their work. Dittler bucked the line for two yards. Wynn went through for three. Knapp was good for two more, and then Dittler again took up the Lenox burden for four more. Lenox had made the distance and still had the ball, with the Wimbledon goal only about nine yards away. This time the Lenox rooters had their turn at yelling, and it made that of the Wimbledon partisans seem weak in comparison. But now the staying qualities of the visitors was put to the test, and they responded gamely. With their goal in danger, they put up a furious resistance. Dittler, on the first down, was thrown back for a loss of three yards. Knapp was good for only two. Wynn duplicated this with two more. With eight yards to go on the fourth down, Lenox tried a forward pass. But a magnificent leap of Beebe's intercepted it and the prospect of a touchdown went glimmering. Beebe dropped back and kicked the ball nearly to the middle of the field. Knapp ran it back for eight yards, and the teams lined up for the scrimmage, with Lenox in possession of the ball. CHAPTER XVI