a radiance
which told me plainly that her qualms concerning the whole proceeding
as an educational factor were at least temporarily dispelled. "I shall
tell little Fred that you were with us. It will gratify him very much
to know that you saw the game."

"It must be a proud day for you as a father and a college man," he
continued, with a kindly smile in my direction.

"Really, sir, I am not altogether certain yet," I answered, a trifle
doggedly. "My judgment is in a state of suspension."

He obviously mistook my philosophic utterance for fears concerning the
outcome of the game, inasmuch as he presently sought to soothe me by a
speech to the effect that a game well lost was a victory in ethics,
which prompted me to remark, under my breath:

"Provided it doesn't cost a leg or a rib or two."

"Cost nothing," cried the irrepressible Sam, whose ear caught what I
had meant for an aside. "He'll come out of it all right, Cousin Fred.
We're bound to win too. Rah! rah! rah! Harv-a-rd!" Thereupon the
engine gave a puff and a couple of snorts, and we were off.

V

We were early on the ground. That is to say, only a few hundred people
were in their places when we arrived. The seating accommodations were
for thousands. Have you ever seen an intercollegiate foot-ball field?
If not, picture to yourself a long, level, rectangular arena about a
hundred yards long and fifty yards wide marked out with white lines at
certain regular intervals. At either end stands a crossbar supported
by two posts. These are the respective goals. All along the field on
either side runs a tall tier of seats similar to those at a hippodrome,
and there are tiers of seats also opposite the ends; but the best seats
are likely to be those on either side in proximity to the middle of the
field.

Sam Bangs led the way with the confident tread of a drum-major down the
Harvard side--for the custom is to apportion the seats on one of the
long sides of the field among the friends of one college, and those on
the other correspondingly--until he reached a desirable location. Then
we established ourselves according to his directions and waited. It
was rather a long wait--nearly two hours--during which I had ample
leisure to philosophize to the top of my bent. We had to console us
Sam's assurance that it was necessary to take time by the forelock to
this radical extent in order to secure satisfactory places. For the
next two hours a stead