The record-union., 1898-06-05


except Rex, who was too kindly of
heart to crush her completely. had
gone hack from the familiar Kit" to
Miss Duer''-she was no longer of
them, she was a stranger. almost an
outcast perhaps a traitor in the camp.
The two fat horses trotted soberly
on. If there was anything. Kathleen
hated it was SOBER we'll behaved, fat
mid.lle-aged horses-and their owners. !.
Past the laden cars they .trotted, cars
laden with eager, excited girls and STU
dents of to-day, and almost as eager
and excited students of one and two
generations away-all wearing the
crimson. all hopeful hilarious, COM
vivial, the very crowd adding to the
zest of the occasion. Kathleen ground
her teeth as she looked down at the
blue gloves, felt the choking of the
blue tie, was oppressed by the blue
rug, stified by the perfume of the blue
viOlets.
The two blue silk flags on the seat
before her, with their staring and OBJ
trusive white Y's, tempted her each
moment to pitch them out of the win-
dow, and she would have yielded to
the temptation had it not been for the
sudden view through that same window
of a smooth, light brown head, whose
owner was hanging on to the platform
of a passing car, apparently by his
teeth. He had been in town; then he
was probably taking that hOrrid Miller
girl 10 the game! For five minutes
Miss Duer was so smiling and gracious
that Mr.. Forester actually slipped his
fingers into his waistcOat pocket, de-
Gliding that delay was dangerous; then
she relapsed into gloom, and the fin
gers slipped out again.
1t vas lao o'clock when they reach
ed The field and pushed their way
through the crowd to the Yale side.
The two long lines of seats were al
ready filled, the ends crowded; in the
midst of a solid mass of blue Kath-
leen saw two vacant places, and, be-
ing assisted up to them, felt her hu-
initiation complete.
Some pretty blue" girls looked at
her with curiosity. The men with them,
whom she had met at Poughkeepsie
last summer when she had been GRIM
son from head to heel, lifted their hats,
smiling, as she Indignantly felt, tri-
umpnantly, as Mr.. Forester, with an
air of prOprietorship that was CALLING,
put her into her seat, tucked the blue
robe over her knees and settled him
self comfortably at her side, the blue
flags ready for action.
In her misery she tried to bluff Af-
ter all, what was Harvard to her? Her
father was a Baltimorean, educated
abroad; her brothers Johns Hopkins
men; why should she feel herself a
traitor because she was watching the
Yale Harvard game from Yale seats,
the guest of a Yale man, a blue flag
in her hand?
Plausible, but useless! She loved
Boston as well as if she had been born
In her mothers old home on Beacon
Hill; Harvard was the only college in
the world for the daughter of a VOL
cott. the granddaughter of a Winthrop.
She was traitor, and she knew it, The
mass of crimson before her seemed to
take form and distinctness, and to her
excited imagination the faces of all her
friends, notably 1.-The gang" stood out,
reproachfully and critically gazing at
her.
Suddenly came a quick YELL swelling
and deepening Yale cheer, ano
when it was ended loud and generous
applause from all sides and colors.
Then, a deafening shout from every
where, as the Yale team came in at one
end OF the field, and Immediately fol-
lowing from the opposite corner
through the seats from below, the team
dear to the hearts of all Boston, all
New England, the Harvard eleven!
The blue of an instant before was
eclipsed now by the flash of crimson,
and as the 'Rah, 'rah, rah, Harvard"
rent the air, Kathleen Duer started up,
then dropped back in her seat, shame
faced and abashed, the blue flag falling
from her nerveless fingers.
AS it has been since the memory of
man. Yale woFs the toss and took the
wind. Time after time Harvard's backs
carried the ball up the field, only to
lose it and have it kicked back.
Kathleen sat breathless Dividins,
her attention between the field and the
patrOnizing assurances at her side that
all was going well for u.s." she ig-
nored her neighborS on the other side.
1t was not until that happening Of the
unexpected, that brilliant punt against
the wind, when q red flag sprang def
antly into being beside her, that she
recognized in the cheering voice the
one that had initiated her into the mys-
teries of football and taught her how to
cheer for Harvard
You! On the Yale sidei" she ex-
claimed and he answered.
Yes, Miss Duer, but wearing the
right colors." They had not exchanged
another word, but she had taken time
TO glance carelessly around him and
note that beyond were nothing but men
1t was when the ball was in Yale's
nfteen-yard line and Yale putting up
her gallant defense that Kathleen Duer
felt a hand on her arm and shaking it
OH Indignantly, turned to see Mr. For
rester holding a handkerchief to his
face
If you don't mind coming out" he
was saying incoherently, behind it's
folds. I'm very sorry, but I'm afraid
we must 60"
60. Are you sick %
Its only my nose-I'm subject to
them-I'm very sorry, but perhaps we
can come back" his voice was grow
ing more indistinct and he was trying
to move away.
what's the matter with your nose?
No, certainly, I'm not going; I'll stay
and
May I take charge of Miss Duer for
you, Mr.. Forester" said her neigh
Dor. leaning forward, adding with the
acuteness of a born lawyer: 1T would
make you rather conspicuous to have
her go out. wouldn't it? And you'll be
back in minute"
Mr.. Forester hesitated 1t was hard
on the girl to leave her with, of all peo-