The last minutes of the first half of the game were spent
desperately--Kenneth, the terrible line breaker of Yale, made two
famous charges, Lennox Sanderson, the famous flying half-back, secured
Harvard a temporary advantage by a magnificently supported run.
"Time!" called the referee, and the first half of the game was over.
For fifteen minutes the combatants rested, then resumed their massing,
wedging and driving. Sanderson, who had not appeared to over-exert
himself during the first half of the game, gradually began to turn the
tide in favor of the crimson. After a decoy and a scrimmage,
Sanderson, with the ball wedged tightly under one arm, was seen flying
like a meteor, well covered by his supports. On he dashed at full
speed for the much-desired touch-line. The next minute he had reached
the goal and was buried under a pile of squirming bodies.
Then did the Harvard hosts burst into one mighty and prolonged cheer
that made the air tremble. Sanderson was the hero of the hour.
Gray-haired old men jumped up and shouted his name with that of the
university. It was one mad pandemonium of excitement, till the game
was won, and the crowd woke up amid the "Rah, Rahs, Harvard, Sanderson."
Anna's cheeks burned crimson. She clapped her hands to the final
destruction of her gloves. She patted the roses he had sent her. She
had never dreamed that life was so beautiful, so full of happiness.
She saw him again for just a moment, before they left the park. He
came up to speak to them, with the sweat and grime of battle still upon
him, his hair flying in the breeze. The crowds gave way for the hero;
women gave him their brightest smiles; men involuntarily straightened
their shoulders in tribute to his inches.
Years afterwards, it seemed to Anna, in looking back on the tragedy of
it all, that he had never looked so handsome, never been so absolutely
irresistible as on that autumn day when he had taken her hand and said:
"I couldn't help making that run with your eyes on me."
"And we shall see you at tea, on Saturday?" asked Mrs. Tremont.
"I shall be delighted," he answered: "thank you for persuading Miss
Moore to stay over for another week." Mrs. Tremont smiled, she could
smile if she were on the rack; but she assured herself that she was
done with poverty-stricken beauties till Grace and Maud were married,
at least. For years she had been planning a match between Grace and
Lennox Sanderson.
Anna and Sanderson exchanged looks. Robert Maynard bit his lips and
turned away. He realized that the dearest wish of his life was beyond
reach of it forever. "Ah, well," he murmured to himself--"who could
have a chance against Lennox Sanderson?"