A GAME OF FOOT-BALL.
BY SHERWOOD RYSE.
It is five minutes before three on a bright November afternoon—the place no matter where, for good foot-ball is played all over the country, though some of the Eastern colleges claim that they alone play the game with the skill and spirit it deserves. A brisk west wind is blowing, with just a flavor of north about it to make good its claim to be a "bracing" air, and before the afternoon is over, twenty-two good men and true will want all the "bracing" the air can give them, for foot-ball is a hard game.
In a large open space fenced off by stout ropes from the crowds of men and boys—ay, and ladies and young girls too, all eager for the success of brother, son, or friend—are twenty-two finely built, wiry young fellows. Eleven of them are dressed in red jerseys and stockings and white knee-breeches, and the other eleven wear blue where their opponents wear red. The lads seem in excellent spirits, for they laugh and joke one another, play leap-frog, and generally behave like boys just let out of school, which, indeed, between you and me, they really are.
Here is a picture of the ground. At each end, some little distance from the ropes, are a pair of poles (marked G G in the diagram) about eleven feet high and eighteen and a half feet apart, and the two poles are connected by a bar ten feet above the ground. The distance between one goal and the other is not less than 330 feet.
In the diagram are two lines marked A A, A A, and two side lines marked B B, B B. The former are the "goal lines," and the latter the "touch lines." They are real and not imaginary lines on the field, for they are cut in the turf, and then whitened with lime. The distance between the "touch lines" is 160 feet.
"Goodness!" exclaims some one; "is that the ball?" And well may the question be asked, for, except for its brown color, it looks as much like a water-melon as anything else. But that is a "Rugby foot-ball," and the scientific game of foot-ball played in this country is the same game that our old friend Tom Brown used to play, except that the rules have been considerably altered of late years.
And now the two Captains are arranging their forces, for the red Captain has won the choice of goals, and he has chosen to kick off toward the east, so as to have the advantage of the wind on his back. After playing forty-five minutes, the sides will change goals, and then the wind will be against him; but the red Captain knows that the wind is likely to fall away as the sun gets lower, so he takes the chances.
Standing in the centre of the ground, and in the middle of the line of his own "forwards," or "rushers," the red Captain calls "Ready?" and sends the ball with a well-directed kick toward blue's goal. No such luck, however, as a "touch down" behind the goal line this time. Down near the goal is a big fellow whose special duty it is to protect the goal; he is called a "back"; a little in advance of him are two more fellows, called "half-backs"; and in advance of them again is another, called "three-quarter back." It was a blue half-back that caught the ball the red Captain kicked off, and almost before it reached his hands the red rushers were upon him like an avalanche. He has no time for hesitation. Dropping the ball, he receives it on the instep of his foot, and sends it high up in the air. The reds turn suddenly; but their Captain has already secured the ball, and is making for blue's goal like a steam-engine, the ball held close to his chest. A blue forward sees an opportunity to distinguish himself, and charges the Captain; but it is of no use. See! a blue is coming across the field a little ahead of the red Captain. The latter swerves to one side; but the blue is prepared for him, and with a spring like that of a lion, he throws both arms round the Captain's neck. The other players are upon them, and the Captain, as his men gather behind him, throws the ball backward—for he must not throw it forward—and the reds and blues pounce down upon it, and a loose "scrimmage" takes place over it.
Suddenly the excitement ceases. The ball has crossed the "touch line" B B, and so is "out of play." It may be brought into play again either by being placed on the line, and a scrimmage formed over it, or it may be thrown out between the two parties, and then they fight for it.
But what is a "scrimmage"? Well, I have been waiting for a real good, hard-and-fast scrimmage to take place, and here we have it. For the reds have forced the ball down toward blues' goal line, but have been unable to take it into the middle of the field; and so the ball is again touched down, and this time near the corner where the goal line and touch line meet.
The ball is placed upon the line, and a "scrimmage" formed over it. All the forward players of each side surround the ball, the reds forming a solid mass to push one way, and the blues to push the other way. The half-backs hover round outside the scrimmage, and watch the ball so as to be ready for it if it should get pushed through on their side. The umpires are close at hand, and they, too, are peering into the forest of red and blue stockings. The mass heaves and pants and groans, the poor ball looks as if all the air must surely be squeezed out of it, and the spectators are breathless with excitement.
"Hold on there!—man down!" cries a blue, and red faces and rough heads are raised for a second or two, while the unlucky blue with difficulty rises to his feet. No sooner, however, has he done so than the scrimmage forms again, and the reds, being the heavier lot, gradually but surely force their opponents down to their goal line, and get a "touch down in goal." This is a great advantage for the reds, for now they have a fair kick at their opponents' goal. Digging his heel into the spot where the ball crossed the line, the red Captain carries the ball at right angles to the goal line, and makes ready for his kick off. It is not a straight kick, and so not an easy one; and if he misses, a blue is pretty certain to make a "touch down for safety"; that is, touch the ball down on their own goal line, and so earn a kick off. And this is just what happens. The umpires have gone up to the goal posts to judge whether it is a goal or not. But there is no doubt about it. The ball flies away to the right hand of the further goal post, and a blue has touched it down "for safety."
A "PUNT."
A "DROP-KICK."
The blue Captain makes a splendid kick. It is against the wind, but what of that? It only gives the blues more time to follow it up, and this they do bravely. The red back has received the ball, and tries to "punt" it back over the heads of the advancing blues, but his effort is a failure. The ball rebounds from a blue jersey and crosses reds' goal line, where a blue, who has been carried forward by the rush, touches it down.
Now it is blue's turn to try for a goal, and the blue Captain has a great reputation as a kicker of goals. Carefully placing the ball, with a due allowance for the direction of the wind, he sends it just high enough to be out of reach of the reds who face him, and a few inches over the bar between the poles.
A great shout goes up from the blues, which is taken up by their supporters outside of the ropes, for the blues have made the first and only goal; and as it very often happens that in a well-contested game neither side makes a goal, such a feat is sure to excite much enthusiasm.
After a minute's pause the players return to the centre of the field, but hardly have they taken their places when the referee calls "Time!" This means that half of the time allowed for the game has elapsed, and so the players change ends, in order that whatever advantage of wind and sun one side has had may now be enjoyed by the other.
But we have no time to follow the game any further. The blues kick off, and flushed with victory so far, they strive to hold the advantage they have gained. The reds, on the other hand, have an up-hill game to play, for a goal won is equal to four touch downs in goal, and so they have to fight hard to regain the ground they have lost.
Did they do it? Ah, well, that is a secret. We can not stay to see the end of the game, and as I am not certain which side the sympathies of my readers are with, I shall not say. Some of them will, I hope, some day be "reds" or "blues," and then they will enjoy in reality the rush and excitement of the game, and taste the sweets of victory on many a hard-fought field.
[A PINCUSHION.]
Fig. 1.—A PINCUSHION.—[See Fig. 2.]
Fig. 2.—COVER OF PINCUSHION, FIG. 1.
Some little girl may like to make a pincushion, perhaps for mamma, or to leave slyly on sister's toilette table, where she will see it the first thing Christmas morning. Look attentively at our picture, and then go to the scrap-bag, and search for two pretty pieces. They need not be alike; in our cushion the bottom is garnet velvet, and the top cream-colored satin. Velvet, silk, and satin are nice materials to use, but any strong, serviceable woollen fabric will do just as well. Cut them square, and take two pieces of strong muslin of the same size for inside lining. Lay them over one another, first a piece of lining, then the two outside pieces, and lastly the second piece of lining. Then sew them firmly together on three sides. Clip away the corners outside the seam. Then turn the whole right side out, and stuff it. Sawdust is very good for this purpose. Pack in very tightly just as much of it as you can make it hold. Then turn in the edges of the fourth side, and overseam them neatly and firmly. Put some pretty tassel fringe, in colors to match, around the edge, and your cushion is finished. A handy little girl will know how to make the fringe of remnants of bright-colored wool. For those of our girls that know something of embroidery we give in Fig. 2 a pretty pattern in which to work the top. The cream-colored top of our cushion is decorated in this manner with olive and dark red silk; the olive is used for the little sprays, the stems, and the outside of the rose-buds, and the red for the heart of the bud. It looks very pretty, and the work is really of the simplest kind. If you will turn back to your last year's volume of Young People, and look at some of the articles on embroidery for girls, by Miss Susan Hayes Ward, you will find directions for embroidering which will help you very much in decorating the top of your cushion.
