The Prospector | Page 7

this contrast and sought in every, way to
minimise it. Betty plunged into football talk, to which Shock listened
for the most part smilingly silent.
She was determined to draw her unhappy visitor from his shell. But her
most brilliant efforts were in vain. Poor Shock remained hopelessly
engaged with his hands and feet, and replied at unexpected places, in

explosive monosyllables at once ludicrous and disconcerting. Not even
The Don, who came to her assistance, could relieve the awkwardness of
the situation. Shock was too large to be ignored, and too unwieldy to be
adjusted.
After a few minutes of hopeless endeavour The Don gave up the
attempt and rose to go, saying: "You will need to excuse us. We are due
at a meeting to-night. Come along, Brown."
The alacrity which Shock displayed in getting upon his feet gave
abundant testimony to the agony he had been suffering during the last
half hour.
"Yes, we must be off," said Brown, far more eager to go than was his
wont.
"Will you not come again?" said Betty to Shock, as she shook hands
with him. "My mother would be glad to see you."
But Shock could only look at her blankly, evidently wondering what
her mother might wish to see him for, and when Betty tried to extract a
promise from him he muttered something about being "far behind in his
work and very busy."
But Betty was not to be baulked.
"I should like to call on your mother," she said. But again Shock looked
blank, while Brown began to make faces at her from behind his back.
"When will your mother be in?" she persisted.
"Oh, she's in every day, except when she goes out for a walk, or--"
Brown kept up his signalling, and The Don began to look puzzled and
annoyed.
"Well," said Betty desperately, "I would like to go and see her some
day."
Shock hesitated, blushed, and then answered: "We have no friends in
the city, and we do not visit much, and--"
"Oh, I'll tell you, Miss Betty," burst in Brown. "Get a sharp attack of
typhoid and Mrs. Macgregor will then come and see you. She's a great
nurse."
"That she is," said Shock enthusiastically. "She would be glad to
come."
"Come along, Brown," broke in The Don. "We are late now. Come
along, Shock," and the three men went off together, leaving Lloyd
behind.

"Isn't he awful?" said Beth. "And didn't I humiliate myself?"
"You certainly deserved humiliation," said her sister indignantly. "You
might have seen he was dreadfully shy, and you ought to have left him
alone. And now for my great idea. I will take you both into my
confidence. I am going to drive Mrs. Macgregor to the match to-
morrow."
"Splendid!" exclaimed Betty. "And I'll go with you. But how can you
persuade her?"
"I have thought about that," said Helen. "We'll ask Mr. Brown to drive
around with us a little before, and I'm sure she will go."
"Will you allow me to join the party?" humbly asked Lloyd, "or is there
someone else?"
"Oh," said Betty, "we are sure to need somebody, and you will do as
well as any other."
In obedience to an invitation conveyed by Lloyd, Brown appeared at
the Fairbanks house in the early morning. Eagerly the young ladies
propounded their plan. At once Brown entered heartily into it, and
calling with them in the afternoon persuaded the old lady that she ought
to attend the great match, emphasising especially the fact that Shock
would be delighted to see her there, and would be stimulated to do his
very best by her presence.
"It will likely be his last game, too," urged Brown.
This finally decided the matter, and so it turned out that perhaps the
most enthusiastic, and certainly the most picturesque, of all the groups
that surrounded the campus next day was that which filled the
Fairbanks carriage, consisting of two young ladies, an elegantly attired
young man, and a quaint, plainly dressed, but undeniably dignified, old
lady.

II
VARSITY VERSUS McGILL
It is a glorious autumn day. The smoky air with just a nip of the coming
frost in it hangs still over the trees, through whose bare tops and
interlacing boughs the genial sunlight falls in a golden glory upon the
grass below. The nip in the air, the golden light, the thrilling
uncertainty of the coming match, the magnitude of the issue at stake,
combine to raise the ardour of football enthusiasts to the highest pitch.

The record of each team is unique. Each has gone through the
championship series without a single reverse. Perhaps never in their
history have both universities been more worthily represented than by
the teams that are to contest to-day the championship