picturesque. You could hear ripping diaphragms all
over the stadium when they tripped out on the field. The two teams lined
up and Rearick kicked off again. This time he had tied a big loop of
ribbon around the ball; when it landed a Kiowa man stuck his forefinger
through the loop and began to sidle up toward our goal, holding an
imaginary skirt. Our team rushed eagerly at him, Billings and his
umbrella in the lead. On every side the Kiowa players bowed to them and
shook hands with them. The critical moment arrived. Billings reached the
runner and promptly raised his umbrella over him and marched placidly on
toward our goal. Hysterics from the bleachers. The Kiowa man didn't
propose to be outdone. He stopped, removed his derby and presented the
ball to Billings. Billings put his hand on his heart and declined. The
Kiowa man bowed still lower and insisted. Billings bumped the ground
with his forehead and wouldn't think of it. The Kiowa man offered the
ball a third time, and we found afterward that he threatened to punch
Billings' head then and there if he didn't take it. Billings gave in and
took the ball.

"Siwash's ball!" we yelled joyfully. The two teams lined up for a
scrimmage. Right here a difficulty arose that threatened to end the
game. The opposing players insisted on gossiping with their arms around
each other's necks. They would not get down to business. The referee
raved--he was an imported product, with no sense of humor, and was
rapidly getting congestion of the brain. "Don't hit in the clinches!"
yelled some joker. For five minutes the teams gossiped. Then our quarter
gave his signal--the first two bars of "Oh Promise Me"--and passed the
ball to Wilson, who was fullbacking.

It was twice as interesting as an ordinary game because nobody knew what
Wilson would do; in fact, he didn't seem to know himself. He stood a
minute dusting off the ball carefully and manicuring his soiled nails.
The Kiowa team and our boys strolled up, arm in arm. Wilson still
hesitated. The Kiowa captain offered to send one of his men to carry the
ball. Wilson wouldn't think of causing so much trouble. Our captain
suggested that the ball be taken to our goal. The Kiowa captain
protested that it had been there twice already. Some one suggested that
they flip for goals. The captains did it. Siwash won. Calling a
messenger boy, our captain sent him over to Kiowa's goal with the ball,
while the two teams sat down in the middle of the f