Jerry went along willingly. There was a long conference in the Grayson home that night. At its conclusion Jerry Cox went away with a strong injunction to keep tight-lipped till the trial. And Mr. Grayson's face was beaming. CHAPTER XXIV IN THE THICK OF THE FIGHT "I understand we have a great little detective among us," remarked Ella, as Garry came down to breakfast the next morning. "Well, I got the clue, didn't I?" replied Garry, throwing out his chest a little. "Yes, when the clue marched right up to you and asked to be taken in," chaffed Ella. "Stop your scrapping, you two," commanded Mr. Grayson, with a smile. "The fact is that what Garry found out yesterday is of great importance. I'm sure that Jerry Cox is telling the truth. I tested him in every possible way, turned him inside out, so to speak, and I'm sure that his story will stand up under any cross examination. But I want to warn you youngsters not on any account to let a syllable of this get out. Mooney or Anson or any of that crowd mustn't get an inkling of it. I want not only to clear Frank but to put those perjurers and scoundrels where they belong. And that pest of a poolroom is going to be put out of business." "Of course, I suppose you've let Frank and the Sherwoods know all about it," remarked Garry. "Certainly," reported his father. "I went over there last night. You can imagine the reception I got with such news to take them. I tell you there is a happy family to-day." "Good old Bill!" exclaimed Garry. "It will be a new lease of life for him." He met Bill that morning as he came along with the rest of the bunch. It was indeed a transformed Bill, jolly, laughing, full of the highest spirits. The rest of the boys noticed the change and wondered. But Bill and Garry alone knew the secret of the change, and, though their lips were sealed by promise, the look that passed between them spoke volumes. Football practice went on under a full head of steam. It was made all the harder by Mr. Phillips because he feared that the easy victory over Thomaston might give rise to false overconfidence and prompt a let-down. So he drove the two teams ruthlessly until, when the day arrived for the great game with Greenfield, the game that was to decide the championship of the High School League, the Lenox boys were as hard as nails. All but Ralph Wynn, their captain, quarterback, and main reliance, the brains of the team! Ralph had been feeling under the weather for a day or two, and on the fateful Saturday on which the game was to be played Lenox was stricken with consternation by the news that Ralph had taken the mumps and was confined to his bed. The school staggered under the shock. The team without Wynn was like a ship without a rudder. It looked as though Greenfield would have a walkover. She would have been hard to beat under the best circumstances. Now her victory seemed certain.