g
ago, it seemed now. And in that moment, Elinor Wream's sweet face,
with damp dark hair which the lamplight from Dr. Fenneben's door was
illumining, and the softly spoken words, "I shall always remember you as
one with whom I could never be afraid again"--all this came swiftly
in an instant's vision, as the team caught its breath for the last
onslaught.

"Victor, for victory. Lead out Burleigh," Trench cried to his mates, and
the sweep of the field was on; and Lagonda Ledge and the whole Walnut
Valley remembers that final charge yet. Steady, swift, invincible, it
drove its strong foe down the white-crossed sod--so like a whirlwind,
that the watching crowds gazed in bewilderment. Almost before they
could comprehend the truth, the enemy's goal was just before the Sunrise
warriors, and half a minute of time remained in which to play. One more
line plunge with Burleigh holding the ball! A film came before his eyes.
A sudden blankness of failure and despair seized him. In the grandstand,
Elinor Wream stood clutching a pennant in both hands, her dark eyes
luminous with proud hope. Amid all the yells and cheers, her sweet voice
rang out:

"Victor, Victor! Don't forget the name your mother gave you!"

Vic neither saw nor heard. Yet in that moment, strength and pride
and indomitable will power came sweeping back to him. One last plunge
against this wall of defense upreared before him, and Burleigh, with
half the enemy's eleven clinched to drag him back, had hurled himself
across the goal line and lay half-conscious under a perfect shower of
fragrant crimson roses, while the song of victory in swelling chorus
pealed out on the November air. Half a minute later, Trench had kicked
goal. The bleachers chanted eleven counts, the referee's whistle blew,
and the game was done!

SACRIFICE

_The air for the wing of the sparrow,
The bush for the robin and wren,
But always the path that is narrow
And straight for the children of men_.
--ALICE CARY

CHAPTER VII. THE DAY OF RECKONING

_Oh, it is excellent
To have a giant's strength, but tyrannous
To use it like a giant_.
--SHAKESPEARE

OF course, there came a day of reckoning for Victor Burleigh, now the
idol of the Walnut Valley football fans, the pride of Lagonda Ledge, the
hero of Sunrise. But the reckoning was not brought to him; he brought
himself deliberately to it.

The jollification following the game