The Penn's Grove record., 1896-08-07
A, FOOTBALL HERO.

Of either approaching engine. In al
instant he had tackled the man and
thrown him fat upon the ground be
tween the tracks, for all the worlt
quite as If he had been an opponent OF
the football field; then he dropped light
ly on top of him and lay there motion
less, while the two trains thunderet
past on each side OF them, and tn,
crowd stood waiting spelLbound.
In much less time than 1t takes to de
scribe the episode 1t was over, and
what might have been a tragedy had
proved to be only a bit of melodrama
after all; yet as Roger jumped up and
pulled the old man on to his feet, ap.
plause and cheers louder than any
that bad greeted him on the football
Held rang In his ears.
Abashed and quite overwhelmed by
such an ovation Roger made haste TO
elbow his way through the crowd, and
In so doing nearly overthrow his W
brother Fred, who happened to BIZ
standing directly In his path.
For heavens sake was that you,
Roserf' he cried, confronting him Ii
establishment.
DO let me get ont Of this" his
brother responded impatiently, "they
needn't make such a fuss because l
knocked the old duffer over" and he
bolted in the direction of the gymna
SUM.
Saturday night generally brought the
scattered members of the Bartlett fam.
lily together, as the collegIans always
made a point Of coming home to spend
Sunday under the parental roof tree.
On this particular Sunday evening
all were assembled before Roger came
in. Fred was all agog to describe the
scene that he had witnessed, but he un.
selfshly held his tongue. "IIl not
spoil his story for him, but will give
him a chance to do Justice to It," he
mentally calculated, as he watched his
brother swallowing his soup with IN.
:uffied composure.
But Roger said nothing about the
vital subject. and Fred looking at him
With increasing surprise as he judi
cially set forth the respective merits
Of the opposing football teams, and
called attention to their most yulner
able points.
I'll turn in early tonight, l think"
he yawned, as he withdrew from the
dining room. 81 put pretty solid work
into the last half of that game and
he leisurely wendell his way upstairs.
81 wish that Roger would put a little
solid work into something else" bis
father volunteered, as he disappeared
from the room.
At this Fred. who had in times past
repeatedly scoffed at his brothers ath.
letic proclivities, instantly fred up.
Father" he burst forth, you're
making a big mistake about Roger.
He's got more genuine stuff In him
than all the rest of us put together. and
If it's football that's done 1t, the soon
er we all go In for the game the bet
ter" and then he proceeded to give
q graphic account of the afternoons
experience, which caused his father
TO blow his nose loudly and repeatedly,
while his eyes %glistened with happy
pride. and sent his mother weeping In
search OF the sleepy athlete, who
couldn't understand what he had done
that was worth making such a fuss
about.
A few days later Mr.. Bartlett re.
ceiyed a note from his old friend vii,
kinson Smalley, which ran somewhat
as follows;
Dear BARTLETT hear that your
Roger is going In for the law, and If so,
| want him. When he gets through
with the law school you can hand him
over to me, for he's just the material
that I'm on the lookout for, and you
may we'll be proud of him.
HE scared me out Of a years
growth the other afternoon, at the
station, the young rascal, but in spite
Of that, l wish you wdlld tell him to
come round and take dinner with me
soma hight, for l want to talk to him.
with kind regards to Mrs. Bart,
lett, believe me, ever your friend,
"WILKINSON SMALLEY."
When Roger came home the follow
ing Saturday, his father handed him
the note, remarking: "I'm afraid l
haven't appreciated your football, old
man, but I'm going TO do better in fu-
ture; and. by the way, Roger. I hear
that you're to play in the game al
Springfield next week; is that sol"
Roger nodded.
Every well, then" Mr.. Bartlett con-
tinued, "your mother and l would like
to have you get us the best seats that
a be bought. for we've set u hearts
upon going up to see you<make the first
touchdown."-Toledo Blade.