Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-11-03
LON G A R Nj L E A R Y
A Knight Errant in Football
By GEORGE WILLIAM DALEY
A Knight Errant in Football

him to conduct himself like her hero, an do
great deeds, an they Whisper an gurgle
around till midnight
Then Leary was in Consid able of a mess.
Let alone putin his Sunday coat out o bus
ness, witch was sure to happen if he wore
it in a football game, Long Arm had it
figgered that his wearln the coat over dirty
red sweater an pair o moleskin trousers nd
attract some attention I'm the audience an
his Teller players. So he goes to Clancy.
Clancy has hard time to keep I'm laughin'
but says inlly that as Leary has registered a
vow to be a knight errant, an his lady love
has put the token onto his arm, it mustn't be
took off till the deed is done.
1t happened then that Leary appeared at
the football game with Yellanhowl Institute
the next day in great trouble. He slep' in
that coat, cause he couldn't take it Off an
as he couldn't take it off, he couldn't get his
boiled white shirt or his white vest off either.
But he did take his good pants off an put on
his football trousers an his stockin's an
shoes.
You can imagine the picture that long armed
guy made when he comes onto the field, half
of him grass stained and dirty, an the other
half got up fit to kill! And on his arm was
pinned that red ribbon; wich nobody was to
take off, an it must never be dishonored, an
forth.
can't write the crool things that were yelled
at Long Arm Leary when we appeared on the
field We were ashamed of right guard a
bit, ourselves, an | excused it by sayin' he
was maxim that holy show of himself on bet.
Somebody else said he was gettin' Initiated
into lodge Leary didn't say nothin', but
just KEEP his lips closed an teeth clenched,
an looked straight ahead There was kind
of faraway look in his eyes; but none OF us
thought it'd cause trouble
In the middle O the first half, it bein' very
fierce game, one O the tails O. the Sunday
coat was gone, Leary had black eye, an the
white vest looked like some one had thrown
a dish O prunes at it an landed. At the end
O the half the second tail o the coat was
gone, an one sleeve loosenin' up; but
the ribbon still foated on the other sleeve,
an Leary looked if anything, more determined
We had got touchdown in the first half.
an kicked a goal while the Yellanhowls had
got a touchdown, but failed in their try for
goal; so we were leadin', six to five. They
were beatn' US back: but the time was nearly
up, an by good defensive work we could win.
As yet there hadn't been any chance for
Leary to perform any great act an prove
himself capable an trusty knight Grant
He had held his man, despite the fact that
to punch the fellow with the spike tail coat.
He wasn't worryin' any about stage fright,
when along came the play that would have
made him knight Grant with us forever
1t was rush around the end by the Yellan-
bowls. Their left halfback had the ball under
his arm, an was tearin' along in the midst
of bunch of his own men, when Landers in
some unknown way reached him. an in the
scramble the ball went up IN the air an
1oated down directly in front O Long Arm
LeaTy.
1t would save the game for us if he simply
caught it. If he kicked it, it would win the
game, for they could never work it up the
field again. And so we all yelled to Leary to
nail the ball; an those who knew his little
secret said Here's where he makes good in
that knight Grant business"
Learv braced himself. He had funny look
in his eyes as he watched the ball sail to rds
him. He caught it, an then, instead O drop
pin on the ground, kickin' it down the
field, witch he had a good chance to do, he
just stood there an Rugged the ball in his
arms an looked foolish at the red ribbon on
his sleeve as he did it. And then
Crash! The Yellanhows hit Leary. Down
he went; the ball was ripped out of his arms,
the ribbon off his sleeve the remains of his good
coat off his back, an he was left most senseless
on the ground while they plunged over the
line, five yards away, for touchdown, an
beat us. All told it didn't take one minute.
We never knew till Leary got back from the
hospital why be hadn't fell with the ball,
or kicked it. The secret fn1ly came out.
Wen Long Arm saw that ball come sailin' to
him on it was imprinted the features so he
says it seemed to him, of the fair Lautaetta.
There was her blushin teeth, her swanlike
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