Melvin Gates straightened up in his chair and shot a bitter look toward the stalwart cadets. "Oh, they refuse to accept it, do they?" he said, in a rasping voice.
The colonel looked at Hudson, who spoke up in reply. "Yes, Mr. Gates, the student body refuses to accept the decision. We are taught good sportsmanship here at Woodcrest and the doctrine that men are to be met and treated like men. We feel that it is unfair to brand the Dimsdale school of today with the stigma of a set of rowdies of the past, so we are here to respectfully protest the ban against playing them."
"I don't care what you are here to protest!" shouted Gates, rising in excitement. "I have refused to give my sanction to this game, or to the proposition of renewing any kind of relations with Dimsdale school, and I will not retract one word of it."
"It is most unfortunate that you feel that way, sir," replied the senior Cadet Captain. "For we are going to play them as soon as possible!"
There was a gasp from the assembled trustees and Gates' face reddened. He snapped around on the silent headmaster.
"Morrell, are you going to allow this to go on?" he demanded.
"I do not see that I can do anything about it," said the colonel. "It is the fervent wish of the entire corps that we play Dimsdale, and I am heartily in favor of it myself."
"You know what this will mean to the school!" cried the angry Gates. "I will resign and withdraw every cent of my money."
"I should be sorry to see you do that, Mr. Gates," returned the colonel. "But I am not going to thwart my boys any longer."
"All right, sir, all right," ground out the trustee. "Then I resign, at once! How will you manage to get along without my money, Morrell? Answer me that!"
"I beg your pardon, sir," put in Don. "But my father has agreed to become a trustee in your place if you should resign."
Gates was taken aback. A murmur arose from the other trustees and more than one satisfied look was exchanged. The chief trustee shook with rage.
"Oh, very well, gentlemen, very well! If that is the way you feel about it, I see that there is nothing left for me to do but to resign. This is a pretty cheap game to play, Morrell."
"It isn't a game at all!" retorted the colonel, with spirit. "How long do you suppose these young men were going to submit to the rule of one man on a question like this? Don't you see that for years you have made these young men the laughing stock of the neighboring preparatory schools, and that we have been questioned on all sides as to our sportsmanship? It was only a matter of time, Mr. Gates, and I was simply lucky enough to have Mercer's father offer to take your place if you resigned."