The farce of morning school was an ordeal alike to masters and boys.

If gazing up at the clouds could bring down the rain, a deluge should have fallen before 10 a.m.

As the hour approached the impatience rose to fever heat.

It was the first match of the season.
For the last three years the two teams had met in deadly combat, and each time the match had ended in a draw, with not one goal kicked on either side.

Victory or defeat to-day would be a crisis in the history of Fellsgarth.