Minnie was watching one player intently. For the first time in a long while he did not look along the rows of faces until he saw her waving wildly, and doff his cap, or in this case, wave his hand, since he had no cap to lift. She trembled with secret delight as she finally saw Frank raise his head when the ball was in another quarter. But when he made a motion with his hand, it was in a different direction entirely, and looking over, Minnie saw that Helen and Flo Dempsey sat there. "They're getting ready to line-up. See, the referee has the two captains over by him. It's going to be a toss for position," cried one eager spectator. "Not much choice to-day, though, since the wind is light," returned another. "But there always is one side better than the other. The sun will be in the eyes of the fellows who lose. That may count for something. And the breeze may grow stronger as the game goes on. There, Frank has won, for he's taking his men to the lower goal. But that gives Clifford the kick-off. That looks bad." "Oh, I don't know. It will only spur them on to working a little harder. Wait and see. I've got a hunch that Frank Allen has a surprise or two up his sleeve for these gay white birds from up river. I'm not worrying. I've seen that boy on the baseball field, and on the river in the boat races. He is all there with the goods, and they're a full yard wide. You hear me!" and the enthusiast jumped to his feet, to flap his elbows as though they were wings, while he emitted a shrill crow that caused a laugh to break out in the immediate vicinity. "Now we're going to see some fun!" called a fellow who was waving the colors of Clifford with great vim. And under the eyes of thousands of eager spectators, the rival elevens took the places assigned to them to await the signal for play. CHAPTER IX A HARD FOUGHT FIRST HALF Although there might be changes at any time during the progress of a fiercely contested game, the line-up at the start was as follows: _COLUMBIA._ Comfort. _F.B._ Allen, Captain. West. _R.H.B. L.H.B._ Wallace. _Q.B._ Shadduck. Oakes. Harper. Bird. Daly. Eastwick. Morris. _R.E. R.T. R.G. Center. L.G. L.T. L.E._ _CLIFFORD._ Evans. McQuirk. Roe. Gentle. Ross. Adkins. Smith. _L.E. L.T. L.G. Center. R.G. R.T. R.E._ Style. _Q.B._ Coots. Wentworth. _L.H.B. R.H.B._ Hastings, Captain. _F.B._ Clifford was to kick off.