Willard trotted back to the gymnasium with the rest and hugged the knowledge that Arnold Lake had shown himself a valuable man at the end of the line. Willard could have told you almost every move that Lake had made during those twenty-four minutes of playing time! Coach Cade was sparing of criticism today, for no glaring faults had been apparent and the fighting spirit had been evident. He did warn against infractions of the rules, however, pointing out that had it not been for Ross’s holding Alton would now be at least six points to the good. “We lost thirty yards by penalties, and Lorimer lost only ten. The twenty yards’ difference may mean the loss of the game. Guard against being off-side, fellows, and against holding. Don’t let’s make the opponent any gifts! You’ve got to fight harder this half and run your plays off quicker. You’re up against a heady bunch of fellows and you’ve got to outwit them as well as outplay them if you’re going to win. I want to see the backs start a little quicker and hit the line with more steam. That applies to you especially, Browne. You have a rotten tendency to slow up at the line, just when you should be going the hardest. You miss two and three yards regularly on every play by that sort of thing. See if you can’t put more slam into it!” Five minutes later they were back again, greeted by the longdrawn “A--l--t--o--n! _A--L--T--O--N!!_ A--L--T--O--N!!!” from hundreds of throats. And, when the Gray-and-Gold-striped players had spread down the field for the kick-off, there came the sharp, rifle-shot cheer of A-L-T-O-N! A-L-T-O-N!! A-L-T-O-N!!! Win! Win! Win! Win! Win! Win! Win! Win! It was nip-and-tuck for the first half of that third period, with neither team making headway and the ball in air half the time. Alton’s forward-passes failed whenever tried, for Lorimer had a really brilliant defense against that play. From one thirty-yard line to another the battle raged, Lorimer making up for Alton’s slight superiority at punting by a better end attack. Gains through the line were not forthcoming to either team. Lorimer began to use her substitutes and Coach Cade followed her example by sending in Martin Proctor for Ross. Just before the period ended Gil Tarver gave way to Hutchins at quarter-back. There was no scoring and the whistle piped with the ball in Alton’s hands on her opponent’s thirty-eight. While the referee carried the ball across the center and the players gathered about the water pails Willard heard his name called and looked down the bench to see Mr. Cade beckoning. His heart turned a complete somersault--or seemed to--while he traversed the eight yards and halted before the coach! “Harmon, you’ve showed a pretty fair knack of getting away outside tackles,” said Mr. Cade. “Do you think you could manage to do it if you went in there now?”