e had blown, but when
the referee had measured the distance with the chain it was found that
Hammond had failed of her distance by six inches!

Bedlam let loose on the Ferry Hill side as Bacon ran in from his
position almost under the goal-posts, clapped his hands and cried his
signals. Pryor fell back to the fifteen-yard line, there was a
breathless moment of suspense, and then the ball went arching up the
field, turning lazily over and over in its flight.

Hammond captured it on her forty yards but was downed by the Ferry Hill
left-end. Then it began all over again, that heart-breaking,
nerve-racking advance. And this time the gains were longer. At center
Hammond went through for a yard, two yards, even three. Once a penalty
cost Hammond five yards, but the distance was regained by a terrific
rush through Gallup, that youth being put for the moment entirely out of
the play. Later, down near Ferry Hill's forty-five-yard line, a fumble
by Pool, the plucky, hard-playing Hammond quarter, cost his side ten
yards more. And although Pool himself managed to recover the ball it
went to the opponent on downs.

I think that fumble was in a measure a turning point in the game.
Hammond never played quite as aggressively afterwards. She had gained a
whole lot of ground at a cost of much strength, only to be turned back
thrice. It began to look as though Fate was against her. And a minute
later it seemed that Fate had decided to favor her opponent. For when
Pryor kicked on first down the breeze suddenly stiffened and took the
ball over the head of Pool. The latter turned and found it on the bound
near the ten yards, but by that time the Ferry Hill ends were upon him
and he was glad to call it down on his fifteen yards. The sight of the
two teams lined up there almost under Hammond's goal brought joy to the
hearts of the friends of the Brown, and the cheering took on a new tone,
that of hope. But the ball was still in the enemy's hands and once more
the advance began. They hammered hard at Burlen and gained their
distance. They swooped down on Walker and trampled over him. They thrust
Gallup aside and went marching through until the secondary defense piled
them up in a heap. But it was slower going now, there was more time
between plays, and knowing ones amongst the watchers predicted a
scoreless game. And there was scarcely twelve minutes left.

Roy, his blanket trailing from his shoulders as he moved crouching along
the border