The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1895-01-25
ROGER FOOLED 'EM
ae Was More OF g Man Than He
Got Crodit for Being.

l IL W8S q KICdt CxOo6 70 MI. anu XhIS
Bartlett that Roger was apparently
quite devoid of any worthy ambition.
Their two older boys were so utterly
different Fred had been graduated
from Yale with the highest honors and
Horace was making remarkable prog
cess at 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
ers. He seemed to la Dor under the i'm
preston that he had been sent to col
lege simply and solely for the purpose
OF learning to play football Appar-
emily nothing else he'd power to kindle
the slightest enthusiasm in his slug
| gish breast. and his father and moth
ec argued and expostulated with him in
| vain.
You are frittering away your valua-
Die time" they argued again and
again, land are letting slip golden op-
portunities, which. once gone, never
will come back to you; and what have
| you to show for it all but a broken
nose and fractured collar bone?"
us there any prospective benefit to
be derived from these hours spent in
scrabbling after football?" his father
| questioned, severely; to which Roger
merely responded in his usual off-hand
! style: "Who knows but / may be
elected captain Of the varsity team
next year?"
rs that the height of your ambi-
tion?" his parent returned bitterly. II
am terribly disappointed in you, sir;
are you to go on playing football for
ever and ever, or what do you propose
to make of your life? Perhaps you
think that your reputation as foot
ball player will prove an open Sc
same to all desirable positions. Do
you suppose that anyone wants fell
low who has willfully wasted his best
opportunities? ! 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 Smalley: but it's no use,
Smalley wants only young men of the
highest PROMISE" and Mr.. Bartlett
sighed YEARLY.
sit does no good to talk to Roger"
he confded to his wife afterward, ''for
hardly ten minutes had elapsed after
had been demonstrating with him
about the evils of football before he
inquired if wouldn't bring you down
to see 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.
81 told him certainly not" Mr..
Bartlett exclaimed warmly, land e1-
pressed my surprise at his daring to
suggest such a thing. Show me some
lasting benefit, OF any abiding good,
that is to be derived from this ridicul-
Gus game, told him, and then come
to me to abet you in such folly, but rot
till then"
And so Mr. and Mrs. Bartlett failed
to witness that memorable game In
which their youngest son gained for
a!mself such enviable laurels Once in
ahe field, Roger was like one trans.
formed. Keen, alert, cool, rising
q W every CACy. uO Ouc
would have known him for the Same
slow, Indifferent. easy-going specimen
of humanity who gricved the ambi.
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 ell possible speed; they had
some little distance to go, as the gym
nasiun1 was not very near the ball
grounds. SO that in order to reach il
they were obliged to traverse the cen
ter of the town and cross the railroad
tracks
Roger, who had been detained mo.
ment or SO longer than the others.
reached the station short time after !
they had crossed, and found the plat |
form crowded with people who were
returning from the game, mingled |
with those who were aiighting from |
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 a figure halfway across the tracks, |
a figure pausing there in bewilderment. !
There's train coming each way." /
somebody gasped. why doesn't ne (
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; az /
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
down-coming express when suddenly
something 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
stantly overtake the old man, figure
in much-begrimed canvas jacket
sprang out from among them, and
clearing the tracks at a bound alight-
ed beside the swsying form of the
other
A shudder and wave of pititul re-
greet swept over the motionless crowd
. L. L l