Then the list of football players of past seasons was read. Dave was placed at the top of the list, with Phil, Plum, Roger, and Sam following in the order named. Nat Poole's name was sixteenth, much to his disgust.
"I suppose that means that I can't play on the eleven," he growled.
"You may become a substitute," answered Mr. Dodsworth.
"Not much! If I can't play on the eleven, I know what I'll do--I'll pack my trunk and go home!"
"Do it right away!" shouted a voice from the rear of the room.
"You'll never be missed, Poole," added another.
"All right, I'll leave!" shouted Poole, purple with rage, and then he left the meeting as abruptly as Guy Frapley had done. At the door he shook his fist at the crowd. "You just wait--I'll fix Oak Hall for this!" he added, sourly.
"How foolish!" murmured Luke. "Nat will never make any friends by acting like that."
"Do you think he'll leave Oak Hall?" questioned another boy.
"Perhaps,--if his father will let him."
Following the departure of Nat Poole came the reorganizing of the football eleven. Dave was placed in the position he had occupied the year before, and Phil, Roger, Sam, and Plum followed. Of those who had played against Lemington only five were retained--those who had been on the eleven one and two years previous. All the other players were told they would have to enter the scrub team, for a try-out for the substitute bench.
It filled Dave's heart with pleasure to get back in his old position. He was unanimously chosen as captain of the eleven, and he called for some practice every afternoon that week,--a call that was indorsed by Mr. Dodsworth, Mr. Dale, and the new manager.
"We have got to get right down to business--if we want to beat Rockville," said Dave, to the others. "I understand they put up a stiff game with Elmwood. If we are beaten, all the fellows who were put off the eleven will have the laugh on us."
"We'll do our best," cried the senator's son.
"It's a good thing we organized the Old Guard," said Phil. "That kept us in fine condition."
Practice commenced in earnest the next day, and was kept up every afternoon, under the supervision of Mr. Dale and the gymnasium instructor. Mr. Dodsworth perfected the eleven in signal work, and Andrew Dale showed them how to work several trick plays used effectively by the college he had attended.
Many of the students wondered what Guy Frapley, Nat Poole, and John Rand would do. On the day following the reorganization of the football eleven, all three students sent telegrams to their parents, and received replies the next day. Rand and Frapley left Oak Hall, and announced that they were going to Rockville Military Academy. Nat Poole had wanted to go, too, but Aaron Poole would not permit it, for the reason that he had paid for Nat's board and tuition in advance, and he was not the man to sacrifice one cent by such a move. Later on he wrote a letter, stating that he didn't believe in any such foolishness as football anyway, and Nat had better settle down to his studies and get some good of the money that was being spent on him. This letter angered Nat exceedingly, but he could do nothing without his parent's consent, and so he settled down as best he could.
"I shouldn't wonder if Rand and Frapley become cronies of Merwell and Jasniff," said Dave to Phil. And so it proved,--the four became quite intimate, and all of them vowed that sooner or later they would "settle accounts" with Dave for the trouble he and his chums had caused them. The ringleader of the four was Nick Jasniff, and he resolved to do something that would put Dave in the deepest kind of disgrace. Not to expose himself, he matured his plans slowly and with great caution.
Although Dave was doing all in his power to make the football eleven a good one, he was not permitted to devote all his spare time to that organization. Oak Hall, as my old readers know, boasted of a secret organization known as the Gee Eyes, those words standing for the initials G and I, which in their turn stood for the words Guess It. Dave and his chums were all members of this society, which was kept up mainly for the fun of initiating new members.
"The Gee Eyes meet to-night, Dave," said Buster Beggs on Friday morning. "Big affair--initiation of six new members. You must be on hand."
"I think I had better go to bed--so as to be in good trim for the football game," answered Dave.
"Oh, no, you must come!" pleaded Buster. "Phil and Roger, and all the old crowd have promised to be there."
"Well, I'll be on hand if you'll promise not to keep us out after twelve o'clock, Buster. The eleven has got to get its sleep, remember that."
"All right, we'll try to cut it short," answered Buster Beggs, who, this term, was the leader of the society, or Right Honorable Muck-a-Muck, as he was called.
"What are you going to do?" questioned Dave.
"That's a secret, Dave. But it will make you laugh. We are going to initiate the whole six at one time."
"Very well, I'll be there."
"One thing more, Dave," went on Buster, in a low voice. "Keep this from Nat Poole."
"But he is a member," urged Dave. "He has a right to know."
"If he knew he'd tell on us sure--he is down on the whole crowd. We are going to drop him."
"I see. Well, you are leader this term, Buster, so do as you please," answered Dave, and walked off to one of his recitations. Then Buster hurried off in another direction.
As soon as the two students were gone a third boy tiptoed his way from behind a coat rack, where he had been in hiding. The lad was Nat Poole.
"I thought something was in the wind!" murmured Nat to himself. "I must find out just where they are going, and what they are going to do,--and then I'll let Doctor Clay know all about it. Maybe if Porter and his crowd are caught red-handed they'll be put in disgrace, and then they won't be able to play that game with Rockville!"
CHAPTER XVIII
AN INITIATION AND WHAT FOLLOWED
"Are we all ready?"
"We are."
"Then forward--and make as little noise as possible until we are out of hearing of the school."
The Gee Eyes had assembled at the boathouse, under the leadership of Buster Beggs and Ben Basswood. Three of the number had gone ahead, taking with them the six new students who were to be initiated.
The members of the society had with them their robes and other paraphernalia, consisting of boxlike headgear, stuffed clubs, wooden swords, squirt guns, and other articles too numerous to mention. They hurried off into the woods, and there donned the robes and headgear, and lit their lanterns, for the night promised to be dark.
"I hope nobody has found us out," ventured Roger. "We don't want to get caught at this." He had received an inkling of what was coming.
"Oh, I guess we are safe enough," answered Dave. "Murphy said he would let us in."
"Say, talking about being let in puts me in mind of a story," came from Shadow. "A man stayed out later nights than his wife liked. One night he didn't come home until very late, and he stood on the sidewalk, afraid to let himself in. Along came a friend and asked him what he was doing. 'Please ring the bell and see if my wife is home,' said the man. So the friend rang the bell, and the next instant the door opened, and he got a broom over his head. 'Is she in?' asked the man on the sidewalk. 'Sure she is,' answered his friend. 'Go right in and you'll get a warm welcome!'" And at this story there was a general snicker.
A few minutes' walk brought the members of the Gee Eyes to a clearing in the woods. Here several lanterns had been hung up, casting a weird