Then the whistle sounded and Hollister realized that the first quarter was over.
After the brief three-minute interval, Yale started in with a rush, carrying the ball down the field in a series of brilliant plays which did full credit to every man on the team.
They seemed to have recovered from their strange lassitude and were evidently determined to utterly annihilate their opponents.
But that was not to be done easily. Oddly enough, Princeton blandly refused to be annihilated. And so the hard-fought battle continued. Back and forth surged the lines of tattered, gasping, breathless men. At one moment it would seem that Yale had the advantage, and apparently nothing could prevent her from scoring. Then Princeton would rally and force the blue line slowly, but surely, back from the danger zone.
To the man on the side line it was sheer agony. His trained eye saw the weak points of his team even more swiftly than did Tempest, the captain. His alert brain, feverishly active, took in lost opportunities which the men on the field did not even perceive, and he was constantly thinking of how he would have made a successful play if he had only been out there with the rest.
Then began a series of minor accidents which played havoc with the Yale line. First of all, Rose was knocked senseless and had to leave the field. Then Samp Elwell twisted his ankle so that he could not stand on it; and another sub threw off his enveloping blanket, jerked off his sweater, and raced into the arena in response to Tempest’s peremptory gesture.
Last of all, Phil Keran gave out, and, after a momentary hesitation, Tempest reluctantly summoned Jarvis Blake from the side line. He was the best man left, and, perhaps, had it not been for what he had heard from Dick about the fellow, Tempest might have put him in before; for Blake had always showed up well in practice.
As Hollister saw his enemy race out and take his own place at right end, he clenched his fists so tightly that the nails cut into the flesh of his palm. This was the worst of all. Blake was now just where he had been scheming to get.
Then the teams lined up and Bob forgot even that. It became apparent at once that the change had not been for the better. Princeton had been obliged to put in only one substitute, and her advantage showed very plainly.
Strive as the Yale line did against them, the solid phalanx of the opposing team made its way inexorably down the field. There were occasional rallies, to be sure, but never once did the orange and black fail to make their required gain; and at last, with a sob in his throat, Hollister saw the pigskin forced over the line and heard the Princeton crowd thundering its joy.