their faces determination and confidence. Nothing that he could say or
that _any one_ could say would alter their conviction that victory
_must_ rest with the red.

That last period was a phase of the game that could justly be called a
climax. It began with a steady and determined march of the Jefferson
team which, starting from the twenty-yard line, carried the ball forward
by line plunges, by forward passes, by end runs and by sheer, dogged
determination on and on until the purple eleven was within the very
shadow of the Ridgley goal posts and Jefferson seemed to have the
victory within her grasp. A terrific run by the captain planted the ball
on the Ridgley four-yard line for a first down, and there was no person
shouting for the purple who did not believe that he was about to witness
that most glorious of football events--a well-earned touchdown, after a
magnificent march the length of the field.

Big Tom Curwood was battered, the guards beside him were battered and
the tackles crouched low as if they would welcome a chance to lie down
flat on the brown earth and rest. Neil Durant spoke a word and they
stiffened, the secondary defense moved closer to the line and the whole
team in one mass met the Jefferson charge. Once, twice, and three times
the purple backs plunged into the red line and each time they carried
the ball forward a little more than a yard.

On that third try the referee dived into the mass in a manner that
suggested to the watchers that the score had been made, but when he
finally got his hands on the ball it was apparent that Jefferson still
needed a few inches. The signal came quickly and the two avalanches of
bone and muscle plunged against each other. The pile subsided and one
after another the players on the fringe drew away until the referee
could see the ball. There was a moment of tense expectancy and then the
official waved his arm in a direction that brought forth a vast yell of
joy from the Ridgley stands. Jefferson had been held; that leather oval
had failed by inches to cross the last thin smear of white.

The next event in this struggle between the red and the purple was a
kick from behind the goal line by Neil Durant,--the longest punt that
had ever been seen on the Ridgley field. It flew for sixty yards, went
over the head of the Jefferson quarter and rolled down the field end
over end. The purple player finally overtook it and attempted to recover
the lost ground, but Ned Stillson