The Penn's Grove record., 1896-08-07
TT WAS a great cross to Mr.. and
" N.A IT, no-,r 49, m

Ut WAS A great cross to Mr.. and
Mrs. Bartlett that Roger was ap"
Il paFently quite devoid of any
worthy ambition. Their two older
boys were so utterly different Fred
had been graduated from Yale with
highest honors. and Horace was max
ing remarkable progress at the Sci
entiic School; In fact, they were both
exceptionally fine students, which
made the contrast all the more strik.
ing.
For Roger was sadly unlike his
brothers. He seemed to labor under
the impression that he had been sent
to college simply and solely for the
purpose of learning to play foot ball.
Apparently nothing else had power to
kindle the slightest enthusiasm In bis
sluggish breast, and his father and
mother argued and e~xpostulated with
him in vain.
"You are fritterlng away your valu-
able time" they argued again and
again. ''and are letting slip golden op-
po%rtunities which, once gone, will never
come back to you; and what have you
to show for 1t all but a broken nose
and a fractured coliar-bone?'
as there any prospective benefit /.
be derived from these hours spent In
scrambling after a foot ballY" his ia.
Their questioned, severely; to which
Roger merely responded in his usual
off-hand style: 'Why knows but |
may be elected captain Of the varsity
team next year?'
as that the height of your ambi-
tlon?" his parent returned bitterly. 81
am terribly disappointed In you. sir.
Are you to go On playing foot-ball for
ever and ever, or what do you propose
to make of your life? Perhaps you
think that your reputation as II foot
ball player will prove an open sesame
to all desirable positions? Do you sup
pose that anyone wants a fellow who
has willfully wasted his best %opportuni.
tics?l had hoped to make a profession.
al man Of you, not a professional ath-
lete, and had even aspired to seeing
you some day in N leading law office
with my old friend, Wilkinson Small
ley, but It's no use. Smalley wants
only young men of the highest proni-
ise," and Mr.. Bartlett sighed wear.
lily.
at does no good to talk to Roger
he confided to his wife a%fterward, "for
hardly ten minutes had elapsed after
! had been demonstrating with him
about the evils of foot ball before he
inquired If l wouldn't bring you down
TO see the game on Saturday, and in.
formed me that he had saved two tick
cts for u.s."
Mrs. Bartlett regarded her husband
~helplessly. What did you say to him
thenf' she queried.
81 told him certainly not" Mr..
Bartlett exclaimed warmly, "and l ex-
pressed my surprise at his daring TO
suggest such a thing. Show me some
lasting benefit, or any abiding good,
that Is to be derived from this ridicu.
lous game, l told him, and then come
to me to abet you in such folly, but not
till then"
And SO Mr.. and Mrs. Bartlett failed
to witness that memorable game In
which their youngest son gained for
himself such enviabls laurels. Once
In the field, Roger was like one trans.
formed. Keen. alert. cool, rising splen.
didly to every emergency, no one would
have known him for the same slow,
Indifferent, e~asy-going specimen of hu.
manity who grieved the ambitious souls
Of his parents by his small aptitude
Tor Greek.
Not h a Roger was by any means q
Ounce. for his class standing was fair.
ly good, but what panied his father
and mother was the recognition OF
what he might have accomplished had
1t not been for the arch-enesny. foot
Nall.
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 II
they were obliged to traverse the cen.
ter of the town and cross the rail-
Dad tracks.
Roger, who had been detained a mt
ment oil so longer than the others,
reached the station a short time after
they had crossed, and found the plat.
forms crowded with people who were
returning from the game, mingled with
those who were alighting from incom.
ing 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 upon a
figure half -way across the tracks, a fig.