The Lafayette gazette. [volume] (Lafayette, La.) 1893-1921, 1895-01-26
A FOOTBALL HERO.
He Was More OF q Man Than He
Got Orcdit for Being.

He Was More OF q Man Than He
Got Credit for Being.
It was q great cross to Mr.. and Mrs.
BARTLETT that Roger was apparently
quite devoid Of sny worthy ambition.
Their two older boys were SO utterly
different Fred had been graduated
from Yale with the highest honors and
Horace was making rcmarlka BILE prog
ross ut the scientific school; in fact,
they were both exceptionally fine stu
dents, which made the contrast all the
more striking.
For Roger WAS sadly unlike his broth
crs. He seemed to la Dor under the i'm
preston that he had been sent to coll
lego simply and solely for the purpose
OF learning to play football Appar-
emily nothing else l,a6 power to kindle
| the slightest enthusiasm Gin his slug
gish breast. and his father and moth
er argued and expostula ted with h inn in
vain.
''You are frittering away your valua-
bic time" they urgued again and
again, land are letting slip golden op~
portunities, which, once gone, never
will como back to you; nnd what have
you to show for it oil but a broken
nose and a fractured collar bone?'
us there any prospective benefit to
be derived from those hours spent in
scrabbling after football?'' his father
questioned, severely; to which Roger
merely responded in his usual and
style: ''Who knows but 1 may be
elected captain of the varsity team
next year?''
''Is that the height Of your ambi-
tion?" his parent returned bitterly. II
am terribly disappointed in you, sir;
arc you to go on playing football for
ever and ever. or what do you propose
to make OF your life? Perhaps you
1T to-
ball player will prove an open Sc
same to all desirable positions. Do
you suppose that anyone wants a fell
low who has vvillfully wasted his best
opportunities? 1 had hoped to make a
professional man of you, not pro-
fessional athlete, and had. even as
pired to seeing you some day in our
leading law Office with my old friend
Wilkinson Smallcy: bat it's no use,
Smalley wants only young mon OF tho
highest promise" and Mr.. Bartlett
sighed YEARLY.
lit does no good to talk to Roger"
lie conf1ded to his wife afterward, ''for
hardly ten minutes had elapsed after
I had been demonstrating with him
about the evils of football before he
inquired if wouldn't bring YOU down
to sec the game on Saturday, and in
formed me that he had saved two
tickets for U.S.
Mrs. Bartlett regarded her husband
helplessly. What did You say to him
then?" she queried
Il told him certainly not" Mr..
Bartlett exclaimed warmly. land ex-
pressed my surprise at his daring to
suggest such H thing. Show me some
lasting benefit, any abiding good,
that is to be derived from this ridicul-
GUS game, / told him, and then como
to me to abet you III such folly, but not
till them
And 80 Mr.. and Mrs. bartlett failed
to witness that memorable game in
which their youngest son gained for
himself such erwin bic laurels- Once in
the field. Roger was like one trans
formed. Keen, alert. cool. rising
splendidly to every emergency, no one
would have known him for the same
slow, Indifferent. easy-RoinR specimen
of humanity who grieved the arnbi-
tious souls OF his parents by his small
aptitude for Greek.
Not that Roger vas by any means a
Ounce, for his class standing was
fairly good, but what panied his
father and mother was the recognition
OF what he might have accomplished
had it not been for that arch enemy.
football.
The great game over, the victorious
team fastened back to their gymna-
SUM with all possible speed; they had
some little distance to go, as the gym
nasium was not very near the ball
grounds, SO that in order to reach it
they were obliged to traverse the cen
ter Of the town and cross the railroad
tracks.
Roger, who had been detained a mo-
ment or SO longer than the others,
reached the station a short time after
they had crossed. and found the plat
form crowded with people who were
returning from the game, mingled
wi fhpGo w hn a1iohfynp
incoming trains. AS he stepped upon
the platform he became conscious that |
something unusual was going on, and
he immediately perceived that the |
eyes of the multitude were riveted up
on figure halfway across the tracks, |
Il figure pausing there in bewilderment. !
'Therc's a train coming each way" |
somebody gasped. ''Why doesn't he !
get off. the track?'' !
The station agent and one or two !
other officials were shouting loudly, |
but the man, who was old and very
deaf, appeared thoroughly dazed; as
he was prepared to step upon the |
track nearest him he had caught sight |
of one train coming down upon him |
and he now staggered back and was |
about to plunge in front of the other |
express when suddenly |
sonnet hing very unexpected hap
pened.
AS the crowd of bystanders shrank |
back with horror-stricken faces, con-
WINGED that they were about to wit
ness the terrible fate which must in