was no cheering, no
thrill of expectation; the boys stood about and waited quietly, as they
would before ordinary practice. It would be different in another week,
when the St. John's team were sharing the athletic house with St.
Timothy's, and the adherents of the two schools were ranged opposite
each other, waving flags and hurling back and forth challenging
cheers--cheers meant to inspirit the players while they dressed. But now
Irving was aware that he in all the crowd was the only one whose nerves
and muscles were quivering, whose voice might not be quite natural or
quite under his control, whose heart was beating hard.

If Lawrence should not play well this time--the first time he had ever
seen him play! Or if anything should happen to him! Irving tramped back
and forth, digging cold hands into his pockets.

The Harvard team was the first to leave the athletic house; they broke
through the line of spectators near where Irving stood and trotted out
on the field. As they passed, he caught his brother's eye and waved to
him. In the preliminary practice Irving watched him eagerly; with his
light curly hair he was conspicuous, and as he was on the end of the
line his movements were easy to follow. It seemed to Irving that he was
the quickest and the readiest and the handsomest of them all.

Out came St. Timothy's, and then there was a cheer. The two teams went
rollicking and tumbling up and down the field for a few moments; then
Collingwood and the Harvard captain met in the centre, Mr. Barclay
tossed a coin, and the players went to their positions. Mr. Barclay blew
a whistle; the game began.

From that time on Irving trotted up and down the side lines, his heart
twittering with pride and anxiety. After every scrimmage, after every
tackle, he looked apprehensively for a curly light head; he was always
glad when he saw it bob up safely out of a pile. Through all the press
and conflict, he watched for it, followed it--just as, he thought in one
whimsical moment, the French troopers of Macaulay's poem watched for the
white plume of Navarre.

If he had known even less about the game than he did, he must still have
seen that for Harvard his brother and Ballard, the fullback, were
playing especially well. Ballard, with his hard plunges through the
centre and his long punts, was the chief factor in Harvard's offensive
game; Lawrence was their ablest player on the defense.

After the first ten minutes St. Timothy's made