Bert Wilson on the Gridiron

e Tob

ver come singly

ut it pours," add

overbs, remember that 'it's no use crying over spilt milk.' We're up against it good a

hat misfortune, dreaded like the plague by all coaches and trainers, had come on them suddenly, like "a bolt from the blue." From the heights of confidence

e of the score. When at last the game was over, they had run up thirty-two points, and the ball had never once been within twenty yards of their own goal. The criticisms on the game in the Sunday papers had dwelt upon the impregnable defense and slashing attack of the "Blues." On the same Saturday the "Greys" and "Maroons" had also met redoubtable antagonists, and alth

a coherent system of team play, and he began to see the reward of the untiring labors that he had given without stint for the six weeks pr

ell, to be succeeded by

rst in upon Bert and Dick on Monday evening, as they

?" they cri

nd forbidden to play until they get up wi

Bert incr

ight from the boys themselves not five minut

ther in a perplexity and anxiety t

team," cried Dick. "They'r

l on the eleven, and Hodge is the heaviest man in the line. We haven't any too

ing into such dandy sha

Drake fiercely. "They must have known they were falling beh

n't you suppose they're feeling w

at the door and Axtell and

ing heavily into a chair. "I wish you fellows w

dently. "I'll pay for all the sho

cheerily. "Things will come out al

can probably work that off in a week. But I'm stuck on mathematics and Greek both, and I

faculty to let you put off making them up unti

w hasn't any sporting blood. They'll insist that every t must be

don't think he's forgotten how he used to feel about such things. I can't any more than fail anywa

r at home, and receiv

th last week," he said genially.

Bert his

l do to the 'Greys' and 'Maroons,'" he replied.

r looked at

now?" h

ned that some way might be found to make them up after the big games instead of before

edes and Persians, not to be broken, even"-and his eyes twinkled-"for so important a thing as a football game. Those

llege, he reminded his caller, was primarily an institution of learning and not a gymnasium. The conditions would h

rced to be content. He bowed himself out and re

tell you?"

an," addressing Hodge, "it's up to us to make a quick sneak and get busy with those confounded conditions. Plenty of hard work and a towel dipped in ice water round our heads, with a pot

malcontents slipped up to the cupola without detection and put the college flag at half-mast. The smile on Reddy's face was conspicuous by its absence and Hendricks chewed furiously at his cigar instead of smoking it. But when it came to the daily tal

l further notice," he announced, "and

motion that they hoped to make permanent. They knew they would have to fight hard to hold the posit

th many of the signals and made a mess of some of the plays that the old ones whom they supplanted would have c

m down. Their thoughts were with their absent comrades and with the altered prospects of the team. They played without snap or

s, and they went to the ground together. Farrar was up in a moment, but Ellis, after one or two trials, desisted. His comrade

he said, trying to smile. "I'm

Reddy. He made a careful examination and, when at last he loo

ith a voice that he tried to

as he realized all

Reddy?" asked H

answer, "but I've seen to

finitely off the football team. All his work, all his sacrifice of time and ease, all his hopes of winning honor and glory under the colors of the old college had vanished utterly. Hen

et again before you know it. You may make the big games yet." But in his heart he knew that it was impossible, and so did all the

and the players made their way moodily off the field, chewing the bitter cud of their reflections. Sympathy with E

slowly toward their rooms. The jaunty swing and elastic step characteristic of them were utterly gone. Their hearts

y, each of which had to be grasped with lightning rapidity. The slightest failure might throw the whole team in hopeless confusion. Dick was ruminating on the loss of Ellis, whose position in the line had been right at his elb

is shot to piece

ainly working overt

ellows won't get theirs before the season's over. Then, too, the new men may show up better than we think. Morley's no slouch, and there may be champions

h while is the

hing's goin

u remind me of the fellow that fell from the top of a skyscraper, shouting as he passed the second-story wind

ul. No serious resistance was looked for, and it was regarded simply as a "practice" game. But the game hadn't been played five minutes before the visitors realized that something was wrong with the "big fellows," and taking heart of hope, the plucky little team put up a game that gave the Blue

whose spine has been grazed by a hunter's bullet so that it can barely drag its deadened body along. In vain the coach fumed and stormed, and figuratively beat his breast and tore his h

m had "

f malignant meaning. Fever, pestilence, battle, blood, murder, death have an awful significance,

lent panic, a brooding fear, an inability of mind and muscle to wo

ent to every quarter of the continent, from Maine to Texas, f

ieces. Drop eve

ry address was that of some man who in his time had been famous the country over for his p

the president-better known in earlier and less dignified days as "Butch"-turned from the mass of papers

e muttered, "with

e read the telegram again. Then he sighed

no use being a fool. I simply can

in his hand and threw

as he noted the imperious form of the message. He was more accustomed to g

"Arrogant old rascal. Doesn't

time though," he fro

waited silently. He waved her away, and she went out, closing the do

d in the details of a large and exacting business, nothing had been farther from his t

at the merest trifle called it forth, when fun and frolic held high carnival, when his unjaded senses tasted to the full the mere joy of living. Days, too, of earnest effort, of eager ambition, of brilliant achievement, of glowing hope, as he prepar

had gone out, and he ligh

t, apart from these, substantially unchanged. The old gray towers covered with ivy, the green velvet of the campus, the long avenue of stately elms-these were the same as ever. He thought of the initials he had carved on the tree nearest the gate, and wondered i

r a bite before going to bed. There never were such delicious waffles as that fellow turned out. And there was

e? He must get bac

s away. Then the next morning the fellows would "cut" recitations, and the startled professors would find their rooms deserted, while the hilarious culprits were footing it out to the camp. The farmer's wife, forewarned in advance, would have the long rough tables under the trees prepared for the hungry crew. Out from her

of the Profs. on the following day? They had h

he telegram that he was autom

pieces." He st

lly been the good fortune of Blue teams to make the other fellows go "to pieces." Now it re

ed stands, the riot of colors, the frenzied roars of the Blues, when he had squirmed out of the mass piled on him, and grabbing the ball, had rushed down the field for a touchdown,

rom his chair,

that confounded

nd at his club he came in contact with many graduates from different colleges. He had usually been able to "josh" them good natured

es, however, he winced when they flicked him "on the raw." There was Evans, for instance, an old Princeton tackle. Good fellow, Evans-corking good f

it? We tied the can on the bulldog's

s face flushed now

bulldog's tail, and we'l

hey?" he roared, j

his desk, and his con

on important business. Keep in touch with me by wire. I'