Behind the Line

Behind the line

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Barbour, Illustrated by C. M. Relyea
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Title: Behind the Line
Author: Ralph Henry Barbour
Release Date: September 30, 2004 [eBook #13556]
Language: English
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BEHIND THE LINE
A Story of College Life and Football
by RALPH HENRY BARBOUR Author of _The Half-Back_, Captain
of the Crew, and For the Honor of the School Illustrated by C.M.
Relyea
1902

[Illustration: A critical moment]
[Illustration]

TO MY MOTHER

PREFATORY NOTE
The Author takes pleasure in acknowledging his indebtedness to Mr.
Lorin F. Deland, of Boston, for the football play described in Chapter
XV.

CONTENTS
CHAPTER I.
--HEROES IN MOLESKIN II.--PAUL CHANGES HIS MIND III.--IN
NEW QUARTERS IV.--NEIL MAKES ACQUAINTANCES
V.--AND SHOWS HIS METTLE VI.--MILLS, HEAD COACH
VII.--THE GENTLE ART OF HANDLING PUNTS VIII.--THE
KIDNAPING IX.--THE BROKEN TRICYCLE X.--NEIL MAKES

THE VARSITY XI.--THE RESULT OF A FUMBLE XII.--ON THE
HOSPITAL LIST XIII.--SYDNEY STUDIES STRATEGY
XIV.--MAKES A CALL XV.--AND TELLS OF A DREAM
XVI.--ROBINSON SENDS A PROTEST XVII.--A PLAN AND A
CONFESSION XVIII.--NEIL is TAKEN OUT XIX.--ON THE EVE
OF BATTLE XX.--COWAN BECOMES INDIGNANT XXI.--THE
"ANTIDOTE" IS ADMINISTERED XXII.--BETWEEN THE
HALVES XXIII.--NEIL GOES IN XXIV.--AFTER THE BATTLE

LIST OF ILLUSTKATIONS
A critical moment (frontispiece)
Getting settled
The vine swayed at every strain
Hiding his face, he cried for help
"I guess you've broken down," said Neil
Mills studied the diagram in silence
CHAPTER I
HEROES IN MOLESKIN
"Third down, four yards to gain!"
The referee trotted out of the scrimmage line and blew his whistle; the
Hillton quarter-back crouched again behind the big center; the other
backs scurried to their places as though for a kick.
"_9--6--12!_" called quarter huskily.
"Get through!" shrieked the St. Eustace captain. "Block this kick!"

"_4--8!_"
The ball swept back to the full, the halves formed their interference,
and the trio sped toward the right end of the line. For an instant the
opposing ranks heaved and struggled; for an instant Hillton repelled the
attack; then, like a shot, the St. Eustace left tackle hurtled through and,
avoiding the interference, nailed the Hillton runner six yards back of
the line. A square of the grand stand blossomed suddenly with blue,
and St. Eustace's supporters, already hoarse with cheering and singing,
once more broke into triumphant applause. The score-board announced
fifteen minutes to play, and the ball went to the blue-clad warriors on
Hillton's forty-yard line.
Hillton and St. Eustace were once more battling for supremacy on the
gridiron in their annual Thanksgiving Day contest. And, in spite of the
fact that Hillton was on her own grounds, St. Eustace's star was in the
ascendant, and defeat hovered dark and ominous over the Crimson.
With the score 5 to in favor of the visitors, with her players battered
and wearied, with the second half of the game already half over, Hillton,
outweighted and outplayed, fought on with the doggedness born of
despair in an almost hopeless struggle to avert impending defeat.
In the first few minutes of the first half St. Eustace had battered her
way down the field, throwing her heavy backs through the crimson line
again and again, until she had placed the pigskin on Hillton's three-yard
line. There the Hillton players had held stubbornly against two attempts
to advance, but on the third down had fallen victims to a delayed pass,
and St. Eustace had scored her only touch-down. The punt-out had
failed, however, and the cheering flaunters of blue banners had perforce
to be content with five points.
Then it was that Hillton had surprised her opponents, for when the
Blue's warriors had again sought to hammer and beat their way through
the opposing line they found that Hillton had awakened from her daze,
and their gains were small and infrequent. Four times ere the half was
at an end St. Eustace was forced to kick, and thrice, having by the
hardest work and almost inch by inch fought her way to within scoring
distance of her opponent's goal, she met a defense that was impregnable

to her most desperate assaults. Then it was that the Crimson had waved
madly over the heads of Hillton's shrieking supporters and hope had
again returned to their hearts.