Page:Stanwood Pier--Harding of St Timothys.djvu/183

Rh did n't belong to me; it belonged to the fellows themselves.

"In fact,"—he hesitated again, and then went on,—"in fact, I've got to make a confession. When it was all over, and you fellows had won and the crowd was parading away from the field, I did n't feel happy a bit. I felt sore—sore because I was n't in it all, and because I'd had to see other fellows doing what I'd wanted to do. I can tell you this now, for I've got over it, and I do feel very, very happy. And I can honestly say now, as I look back, that I would n't have had things happen any differently. You won't all of you—perhaps you won't any of you—understand, but this whole thing has made me more aware of what there is in you fellows, and of the way you're good enough to feel toward me, than I could ever have been if I had n't got hurt and if I'd played in the game."

And while, with Mr. Eldredge's assistance, he was laboriously getting back into his seat, and the boys, who had been very much touched by what he had said, were clapping noisily,