You'll be kept here a day or two, if you're going to wait for that!" When Yorke and the other prefects arrived on the scene there were, of course, loud cheers; but as the opposition was not there to make any counter-demonstration, it was not quite as noisy as on former occasions.
Percy did, indeed, attempt to get up a little opposition at this stage by calling for "three cheers for the Moderns"; but as he was left to give them by himself--even his own adherents declining to be drawn into cheers for Clapperton--the display fell rather flat.
The captain's speech was short and to the point.

Of course they knew why the meeting was called.

There had been mutiny at Fellsgarth.
Fellows had deliberately set themselves against his authority as captain, which was a minor thing, and against the success of Fellsgarth in sports, which was a low and shabby thing.

(Cheers.) He wasn't going to mention names; but he meant to say this, that they had much better dissolve the club right away--( No, no)--than not all pull together.
Last Saturday, as every one knew, they had been left utterly in the lurch; and but for good luck, and the good play of some of the fifteen-- amongst whom, he was glad to say, was one fellow who had had the pluck to act on his own judgment of what was due to the School--( loud and prolonged cheers, in the midst of which Corder perked up, and looked pleased)--they had held their own with a very scratch team.

They couldn't expect to do as much again--( Why not ?)--and it _was not_ fair to the School to play matches without all their best men in the team.
The proposal he had to make was that unless the fellows now standing out chose to return to their allegiance to the School within a week, all future matches for the term should be scratched, and the club dissolved.
The captain's proposal caused considerable consternation.