n the team when this became
known. But John Dana, lying there injured in the hospital, and knowing
how badly his services were needed in the coming game with Yale, with
his ambition unsatisfied, used his wits to appear better than he really
was in order to get discharged from the hospital and back on the team.
The physician who attended him has told me since that Dana would keep
his mouth open slyly when the nurse was taking his temperature so that
it would not be too high and the chart would make it appear that he was
all right.
At any rate, he seemed to improve steadily, and finally reported to the
trainer, Jim Robinson, two days before the Yale game. He was full of
hope and the coaches decided to have Robinson give him a try-out, so
that they could decide whether he was as fit as he was making it appear
he was.
I shall never forget watching that heroic effort, as Robinson took him
out behind the training house, to make the final test. With a head-gear,
especially made for him, Dana settled down in his regular position,
ready for the charge, anticipating the oncoming Yale halfback and
throbbing with eagerness to tackle the man with the ball.
Then he plunged forward, both arms extended, but handicapped by his
terrible injury, he toppled over upon his face, heart-broken. The spirit
was there, but he was physically unfit for the task.
The Yale game started without Dana, and as he sat there on the side
lines and saw Princeton go down to defeat, he was overcome with the
thought of his helplessness. He was needed, but he didn't have a chance.
CHAPTER XIV
BRINGING HOME THE BACON
Happy is the thought of victory, and while we realize that there should
always be eleven men in every play, each man doing his duty, there
frequently comes a time in a game, when some one man earns the credit
for winning the game, and brings home the bacon. Maybe he has been the
captain of the team, with a wonderful power of leadership which had held
the Eleven together all season and made his team a winning one. From the
recollections of some of the victories, from the experiences of the men
who participated in them and made victory possible, let us play some of
those games over with some of the heroes of past years.
Billy Bull
One of the truly great bacon-getters of the past is Yale's Billy Bull.
Football history is full of his exploits when he played on the Yale team
in '85, '86, '87 and '88. Old-time players can si
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