t a few words of encouragement. Miss Kate Harston and
even the doctor began to reflect some of the interest and excitement
which showed itself on every face around them. The youth alone seemed
to be unaffected by the general enthusiasm, and spent the time in
endeavouring to explain the principles of the game to his fair
companion, whose ignorance of it was comprehensive and astounding.

"You understand," he said, "that there are fifteen players on each side.
But it would not do for the whole of these fifteen men to play in a
crowd, for, in that case, if the other side forced the ball past them,
they would have nothing to fall back upon--no reserves, as it were.
Therefore, as we play the game in Scotland, ten men are told off to play
in a knot. They are picked for their weight, strength, and endurance.
They are called the forwards, and are supposed to be always on the ball,
following it everywhere, never stopping or tiring. They are opposed, of
course, by the forwards of the other side. Now, immediately behind the
forwards are the two quarter-backs. They should be very active fellows,
good dodgers and fast runners. They never join in the very rough work,
but they always follow on the outskirts of the forwards, and if the ball
is forced past it is their duty to pick it up and make away with it like
lightning. If they are very fast they may succeed in carrying it a long
way before they are caught--'tackled,' as we call it. It is their duty
also to keep their eye on the quarter-backs of the enemy, and to tackle
them if they get away. Behind them again are the two half-backs--or
'three-quarters,' as they call them in England. I am one of them.
They are supposed to be fast runners too, and a good deal of the
tackling comes to their lot, for a good runner of the other side can
often get past the quarters, and then the halves have got to bring him
down. Behind the half-backs is a single man--the back. He is the last
resource when all others are past. He should be a sure and long kicker,
so as to get the ball away from the goal by that means--but you are not
listening."

"Oh yes, I am," said Kate. As a matter of fact the great throng and the
novel sights were distracting her so much that she found it hard to
attend to her companion's disquisition.

"You'll understand it quickly enough when you see it," the student
remarked cheerily. "Here we are at the grounds."

As he spoke the carriage rattled through a broa