He had tried for several things,
athletics particularly, and had been substitute on the ball nine, one of
the immortal second eleven backs of the football squad, and at one time
had been looked upon as promising material for a mile runner on the track
team.
But it was always his luck not quite to make anything. He couldn't bat up
to 'varsity standard, he wasn't quite heavy enough for a Varsity back, and
in the mile run he always came in fresh enough but could not seem to get
his speed up so as to run himself out, and the result was that, although
he finished strong and with lots of running in him, the other fellows
always reached the tape first, even though just barely getting over and
thoroughly exhausted.
Now "Dennis" had made up his mind at Christmas time that he actually would
have one more trial on the track, and that his family, consisting of his
mother and a younger brother, both of them great believers in and very
proud of Thomas, should yet see him possessed of a long-coveted "Y."
So he went out with the first candidates in the spring, and the addition
of the two-mile event to the programme of track contests gave him a
distance better suited to his endurance. There were a half-dozen other men
running in his squad, and Dennis, from his former failures, was not looked
upon with much favor, or as a very likely man. But he kept at it. When the
first reduction of the squad was made, some one said, "Denny's kept on
just to pound the track.
Pages:
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153