A fellow who prefers to skate into the freeze is counted out," replied Thomp.
Just as the contestants were moving out Greg Holmes came hurrying down to the ice.
"Am I too late ?" he called.
"Not if you think you've got anything good," replied Badger.
Greg promptly proceeded to put on his skates, covertly watching the performance of the first fellow to show off.

It was good work that Greg watched, but he thought he could beat it.
"You'll have to go last on the list," nodded Ben, as Greg came skating up.
Greg merely nodded, though inwardly he grinned.

"That just suits me," he told himself.

"The fellow who skates last will be freshest in the minds of the judges." When it came Greg's turn he avoided most of the fancy figures that the other fellows had shown off amid much applause.

Still, Greg showed a bewildering assortment of "eights," "double-eights" and some magnificent work along the "turn promenade" order that Ripley had been doing before the accident.
Then Greg came in, promenading backward on his skates.
"I'm going to fall," he called to the judges, "but it will be intentional." "Fall it is, then," nodded Sam Edgeworth, one of the judges.
Greg was moving jauntily along, still doing the backward promenade.
Suddenly one of his skates appeared to catch against the other.
Down went Greg, backwards.