On Your Mark! A Story of College Life and Athletics

the conversation around to the subject of Burley, whose performa

he asked me to see him. Poor's a pretty good little chap, so I went. Burley was awfully decent. Said he had never played and had never even seen the game until he came here; said he hadn't been able to find out what it was all about, but that i

rth this afternoon," said Allan, smil

all afternoon, and waited to get a whack

and Hal laughed u

genius, he i

e of chucklin

I don't say now that he's the sort of chap you'd want to ask home and introduce to your people; he's kind of free and easy, and you couldn't be sure he wouldn't dri

red Allan, pleasantly.

ass secretaryship, yo

hy

e told him it was because he didn't thi

e going?"

, to come to college fo

feet. Could it be fire? he wondered, shooting a bewildered glance at Hal. He hurried to the door just as the hammering began again, more violen

d Tomm

ought it was at least the Dean! You can m

ing. "Brought him around 'cause I wanted y

ngers crushed together, thought he could hear the bones breaking-and still managed to s

at running race the other day. Came around here and

eciation, but remained

anything he liked. He wouldn't bet, though." Peter Burley took t

over to the tent," said All

her, heartily. "You didn't

m, eh?" asked Tommy. Burley looke

e's heard of that f

ry one, I guess

class wanted me to play football because I weigh some. Well, ginger! I didn't know anything about the thing, and I told him so. But he woul

id Hal. "You did w

ake that half-backed fellow down to the other end and throw him over the line. That's what I

an, "he called 'Down' just wh

just thought he was throwing up the sponge and wanted me to let him down. If I'

ated as he seemed, he wondered, or- His glance met Burley's. The big fellow's right eyelid dropped slowly in a portentous wink. Allan smiled. His

eet tall, and weighed 203 pounds. Nowhere about him was there evidence of unnecessary fat, but he was deep of chest

big and straight and his mouth well shaped. His cheeks were deeply tanned, but showed little color beneath. His usual expression was one of careless, whimsical good nature, but there was an earnest and kindly gleam in the brown eyes that lent character to the face. He talked with a drawl, and p

her," he said, turning to Allan. "I wish my old man had s

. It was a large subject and one they liked, and half an hour passed before they had finished

subject had been exhausted. Burley took one big knee into h

and get even with the game. But, ginger! the corral wasn't big enough. Every time I'd try to be good, something would come along and happen, and-first thing I knew, I'd be roaming at large again. So the old man said he guessed what I needed was to get far enough away from home so I wouldn't back-trail so often; said there wasn't much doing when I went to college Monday morning and

of the mine?" ask

irl. There's lots of 'em t

d man' your fath

s;

ink he'd lick you if he he

home every week and presenting myself with vacations not down on the calendar. Well, there was a fellow up at the mine named Thompson; he was superintendent. I was helping him-or thought I was-and so we got to be pretty good friends. He was a nice little fellow, about as high as a sage-bush, and as plucky as a bulldog

college because it was a long way from home," la

tinued Burley, carelessly, "we haven't got much out there. It's pretty much all alfalfa and sage-bush around Blackwater. But the h

red wid

u fooling?

ed. "Why, no, I ain't

you know; at least, I'm plumb sure I coul

Allan. "I only

wistfully. "I'd give a

some other time, when you haven't got anything bett

it isn't altogether that; t

much," said Burley. "It's all on

pened wider

res-all our fares-out to C

week out there, but we could

nks. Tommy merely sat and stared at Burley, as though

it fixed, eh?" h

h obliged, but, of course, if we went out there to visit you, we'd pay our o

. "Now, look here; I'd let

uldn't," s

you could, of course

ose we would,"

said Burley, triumpha

e it, and Burley listened with polite, but disapproving, attentio

e was a general pushing back of chairs. "You and Mr. Ware must come around to my tepee some night soon," Burley told Hal, "and we'll have another pow-wow. Seems like I'd done all the chinning to-n

tors had taken their departures he examined his hand unde

h a rueful smile, "if he shakes h