four
o'clock
`` Oh , thank you . '' And Joel applied himself to his pudding , and wondered if there was any possibility of his not passing . Apparently there was not ; for when , on the following day , he presented himself at the gymnasium , he came through the ordeal of measurement and test with flying colors , and with the command to pay special attention to the chest-weights , was released , at liberty to `` go in '' for any sport he liked . Despite his forebodings , the studies proved not formidable , and at four o'clock Joel reported for football practice with a comforting knowledge of duties performed . An hour and a half of steady practice , consisting of passing , falling , and catching punts , left the inexperienced candidates in a state of breathless collapse when Blair dismissed the field . West did not turn up at the gridiron , but a tiny scarlet speck far off on the golf links proclaimed his whereabouts . On the way back to the grounds a number of youthful juniors , bravely arrayed in their first suits of football togs , loudly denounced the vigor of the practice , and pantingly made known to each other their intentions to let the school get along as best it might without their assistance on its eleven .