But memorizing all this didn’t make Toby a wonderful goal-tend. It doubtless helped him, but it is one thing to know what to do and quite another thing to do it. Probably a week of practice was worth fully as much as all his reading. On the other hand, it is possible that his reading made it easier for him to understand what was wanted of him and to profit by criticism. Grover Beech, the second team captain, was not a very good instructor. He played a good game himself at cover point and knew how the other positions should be played, but he lacked the ability to impart information. Rather impatient and short-tempered, he was far more likely to send a player who had performed poorly off the ice and summon a substitute than attempt to show the offender how to do better. In consequence, Toby, to a great extent, was thrown on his own resources when it came to learning the science of the goal-tend’s position. But he watched the first team goals and tried to fashion his play on theirs, seldom offended twice in the same way and, when he had been two weeks a member of the second squad, had defeated Warren in the struggle for supremacy. So far he had not dug into his hockey fund except to the extent of the price of his new stick. He wore an old pair of running trunks loaned by Homer Wilkins, a sweater of his own, a pair of ordinary thick gloves of buckskin, and, for want of a toque such as the others wore, went bare-headed. Arnold’s second-best skates performed all he asked of them and an ancient pair of leg-guards, inherited by the Hockey Club from some former player, answered their purpose fairly well. He meant, however, to have his own guards and a good pair of gloves, and, now that it seemed certain that he had won the right to play the goal position on the second for the balance of the season, he only awaited an opportunity to journey to Greenburg to purchase them. But on most mornings recitations kept him busy and every afternoon was occupied with practice, and so it was the Thursday of Yardley’s third contest that the opportunity at last occurred. But before that other events of interest had happened.