He heard the true story of that run on the way back to Grafton. What surprised him was that no one seemed to appreciate the humor of it as he did. To have nearly killed himself in order to beat one of his own team to the goal line struck Monty as being the height of humor—or irony; he wasn’t certain which! The Middleton pursuit had started late and had practically given up the race after Monty had crossed the fifty-yard-line. Bellows and Ordway had put two men out and Ordway had finally slowed down and trailed Monty to the line, pursued some twenty yards behind by the Middleton quarterback. The latter had tried to get Monty after he had crossed, to prevent him from centering the ball, and Ordway had dived into him. But no one appeared to think it in the least strange that Monty had driven himself at top-speed and his efforts to make them see the humor of it brought only smiles.
“A fellow doesn’t have a chance to see what’s coming,” said Will Brunswick seriously. “All he can do is put his head down and beat it! I remember a couple of years ago when I was playing on my class team I got the ball near the forty yards and was nearly to the end of the field before I looked around and found I was being chased by the umpire! There was no one else around!”
“You certainly cut out a pace for yourself,” said Pete Gowen.
“I certainly must have,” agreed Monty, ruefully stretching the aching muscles of his legs. “What gets me is my nearly running my feet off with no one after me.”
“Oh, they were after you all right at first,” said Pete. “How the dickens you slipped through that bunch I don’t see. I thought you were gone half a dozen times. Where did you learn to twist and dodge like that, Crail?”
“I didn’t know that I did twist,” laughed Monty. “To tell the truth, I don’t remember much about what happened from the time I got the ball until I was halfway to the goal! I guess it was pure luck, Gowen.”
“Well, it’s the sort of luck that looks a heap like science then. If we didn’t have a raft of good backs I’d look for Bonner to try you at half after today’s performance. Ever played behind?”
“No, I’ve never played anywhere but at guard and if it takes the sort of stunt I pulled off today I don’t think I want to! I guess running isn’t my stuff.”
“Well, you certainly footed it that time, Crail!”
“Yes, but I was a dead dog when I got there.”