The St. Matthew’s game was played in a drizzle of rain on a field already slippery and sodden. St. Matthew’s sent a husky bunch of some twenty odd players, who, stripping off their blue and white sweaters, romped on to the field for their warming up. Beside them Maple Hill’s warriors looked frail and delicate. Tad, who with Pete Greenough had good-naturedly escorted the twins to the game, confided to Matty that for his part he didn’t see any use in playing the game, that it could be settled on the gymnasium scales.  
“I think,” returned Matty loyally, “that our boys are very much nicer looking. Don’t you, May?”
 
“Ever so much,” replied her sister unhesitatingly.
 
“Looks don’t count though,” said Pete.
 
[243]
 
“No, if they did we’d have them licked to a finish right now. Why, Kitty alone would settle ’em. We’d just march Kitty out into the middle of the field and the enemy would fade away!”
 
St. Matthew’s was a new opponent on the schedule, and Maple Hill knew very little of her ability. But it wasn’t long before it became evident that the Blue-and-White would take a lot of beating. Wet grounds militated sorely against the home team, for quick starting was out of the question, and by the time the Maple Hill attack reached the line it was still going so slowly, had so little punch to it, that it usually crumpled up against the St. Matthew’s defense like a paper kite against a stone wall. On the other hand, the heavier and slower opponents managed to keep their feet well, and crashed into the Green-and-Gray for short gains. The first period ended without a score and without either team having got near enough to its opponent’s goal to attempt one. Each seemed to be trying the other out, and each stuck pretty closely to line plunging, punting only when forced to.
 
But in the second period Maple Hill altered[244] her game. On attack the wide formation was used, and for a time Tyson and Gordon were fortunate in slicing off good gains. Stacey Trowbridge brought the spectators to their feet once by getting away with the ball for a wide end run that might have netted a touchdown had he been able to keep his feet, and did gain nearly thirty yards. When he was picked out of a mud puddle with the pigskin still firmly clasped to his breast the teams lined up on the St. Matthew’s twenty-eight yards. A forward pass failed to work, Gordon made four through center, Kitty, who had been put in a moment before, opening a fine wide hole for him, and with six to go Tracey tried a drop kick for goal on third down. But the ball went low, was partly blocked and recovered by the visitors. After that it was all St. Matthew’s until the middle of the field had been passed. Here the Green-and-Gray braced, and St. Matthew’s kicked. Gordon returned the punt immediately and gained ten yards on the exchange. St. Matthew’s tried a forward pass and netted twelve yards, failed on two plunges at the left of the line, made three through Pounder and from kick formation sent[245] her fullback on an end run. This ended disastrously, however, for Peterson brought the big blue-stockinged warrior to earth for a five yard loss, and the pigskin again changed hands. From then until the end of the half the ball progressed back and forth in the middle of the field with little advantage to either side.
 
In the intermission Maple Hill, clad in raincoats and slickers, got together and tried a few songs and did some cheering, the rain drizzling down upon them steadily and depressingly. The twins, snuggled under a huge umbrella, were much pleased when Rodney, trailing a wet and bedraggled blanket behind him, climbed the stand to them.
 
“It’s a perfectly grand game!” declared Matty. “I’ve been so excited I couldn’t sit still! Isn’t Kitty lovely, Rodney?”
 
“Old Kitty is playing a great little game,” Rodney agreed warmly. “I heard Cotting say that he was putting it all over that big St. Matthew’s guard.”
 
“Are we going to win?” asked May.
 
“I don’t know.” Rodney shook his head. “They’re a lot heavier than we are. We can’t[246] do much with their line. And it’s hard to make any trick plays work, the ground’s so slippery. I guess we’ll be satisfied enough to keep them from scoring.”
 
“Are you going to play?” Matty asked.
 
“Me? Oh, I don’t think so. Maybe I’ll get in for a few minutes at the last. Cotting will probably try to save the first string fellows as much as he can for next Saturday. Isn’t it a brute of a day?”
 
“We like it,” said Matty. “Don’t we, May?”
 
“We always like rain,” May agreed. “Mama says we make her think of a pair of water spaniels. Just as soon as ever it begins to rain Matty and I grab our raincoats and get out of doors. We like snow, too, don’t we, Matty?”
 
Matty nodded. “I wish you might have seen the snowman we made last winter, Rodney. It was twice as high as I am, and we put a pipe in his mouth and an old hat on his head and called him ‘Chawles,’ for Mr. Cooper.”
 
“And when we were laughing about it, Mrs. Westcott heard us from her window and called up mama on the telephone and told her that we were insulting Mr. Cooper!”
 
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“And then,” added Matty complacently, “we changed him to a woman and called her Mrs. Westcott.”
 
“The boys said it looked just like her,” murmured May reminiscently.
 
Tad and Pete, who had gone to join the cheerers below, returned to their seats, and presently Rodney returned to the substitutes’ bench just as the teams trotted back on the field, the water spouting under their feet.
 
It was evident soon after the third period began that Coach Cotting had decided to play a defensive game and take as few risks of injury to his players as p............