The defeated team had gathered together. There was an air of sullenness about the members at losing the game, but this mood quickly passed under the entreaties of Pinky Davenport, who was a sportsman and "a good loser," as he besought his men to "perk up and wallop 'em next time." He called for three cheers for the victors, and they were followed by the Boxer Hall yell. Back came three ringing acclamations and a "tiger" from Woodhouse and his mates, and their yell, as weird a combination of words and syllables as could well be devised, brought the whole concourse of spectators standing up in acknowledgment. Then came more cheering, and the nines disappeared into the dressing-rooms beneath the grandstand, while the crowds filed away. "Well," remarked Sid as he walked along with Tom a little later, "it was a glorious victory, as the poem says. I don't exactly remember what it was all about nor how we did it, but ''twas a glorious victory.'" "Now you're talking," was Phil Clinton's opinion. "Eh, Tommy, my lad?" Tom was rather silent. He had cheered the nine until his throat ached, but somehow there was to him a hollowness in the winning. "Too bad you couldn't play, old man," commented Sid. "I was almost hoping Langridge would strain his arm, and then----" "Don't!" exclaimed Tom quickly. "That's bad luck, and, what's worse, Sid, it's treason." "Then give me liberty or buy me a seltzer lemonade, Patrick Henry!" declaimed Phil. "Honest now, Tom, weren't you just aching to get out and play?" "I was," replied Tom so earnestly that the others looked curiously at him. "I never wanted so much in my life to get into a game. Why, I'd even been glad to act as backstop. But it's all right," he added quickly. "It was a great game, and maybe I'll have a chance to play next year if I live that long," and he laughed, but there was no mirth in it. "Mighty pretty lot of girls at the game," observed Sid, as if to change the subject. "That's what," agreed Tom, glad to get on a more congenial topic. "Oh, wait until we play Fairview Institute," said Phil. "Why?" from Tom. "Why, that's co-ed, you know--girl students as well as boys. And, say, maybe there aren't some stunners among 'em! They take in all the games at home and some that aren't, and they have flags and a yell of their own. They know how to yell, too. I was over to a ball game there last year, before I thought of coming to Randall, and say, it was immense. There was one----" "Cut it out, if it's about a girl," advised Sid. "When you get on the dame question, you don't know where to stop. Sufficient to say that there are some." "Yes, and then some more," added Phil. "Wait until we go there or they come here. Then you'll see something worth seeing." "May the day come soon," spoke Tom with a laugh. "I sat next to a mighty pretty girl to-day all right. She had a flag of Randall colors, and when we won she waved it so hard she nearly put my eye out."