“No, we’re not ready yet,” was the angry reply.
“Time’s up,” was the answer. The whistle blew.
“Hey, I told you we wasn’t ready!” protested the Brewer captain. The referee blew his whistle again, took up the ball and stepped off five yards.
“Yardley’s ball, first down,” he announced. A renewed howl arose from Brewer and they demanded to know the why and the wherefor and to have the rule pointed out to them. Their coach came running out onto the field, sputtering and waving his hands.
“Off the field, please!” said the referee. “Off the field! You can’t come on here, and you know it!”
“You’re a robber!” shouted McMannis. “Why don’t you give them the game and have done with it?” But he stopped and returned to the side-line, muttering, and for the next minute or two was seen wrathfully fumbling the leaves of the rules book.
“Will you play or not?” asked the referee. He, too, was getting rather angry and his eyes were snapping. The Brewer captain growled something unintelligibly. “If you don’t play I’ll forfeit the game to Yardley,” declared the referee.
“Aw, what’s the matter with you?” said the Brewer captain. “I said we’d play. Blow your old whistle!”
So the whistle blew and Kapenhysen fell back some ten yards behind the goal-line to punt. Brewer was mad clean through, mad and ugly. And she didn’t quite wait for the ball to be passed before she charged. By the time Kapenhysen had the ball in his hands the Brewer forwards were sweeping down upon him. He made a heroic effort to get the ball off and succeeded, but the kick was high and short, coming to earth on Yardley’s twenty-yard-line. It bounded up erratically and there was a wild scramble for it. A Brewer man got it only to have it fly out of his arms again and bound toward the goal-line. There was a second confused scramble and then Hill secured it, and, before he could call “Down,” was forced back over the line for a safety.