Chapter 9

           OneSeptemberdayin1910—afewyearsafterRogerButton&Co.,WholesaleHardware,hadbeenhandedovertoyoungRoscoeButton—aman,apparentlyabouttwentyyearsold,enteredhimselfasafreshmanatHarvardUniversityinCambridge.Hedidnotmakethemistakeofannouncingthathewouldneverseefiftyagain,nordidhementionthefactthathissonhadbeengraduatedfromthesameinstitutiontenyearsbefore.

           Hewasadmitted,andalmostimmediatelyattainedaprominentpositionintheclass,partlybecauseheseemedalittleolderthantheotherfreshmen,whoseaverageagewasabouteighteen.

           ButhissuccesswaslargelyduetothefactthatinthefootballgamewithYaleheplayedsobrilliantly,withsomuchdashandwithsuchacold,remorselessangerthathescoredseventouchdownsandfourteenfieldgoalsforHarvard,andcausedoneentireelevenofYalementobecarriedsinglyfromthefield,unconscious.Hewasthemostcelebratedmanincollege.

           Strangetosay,inhisthirdorjunioryearhewasscarcelyableto"make"theteam.Thecoachessaidthathehadlostweight,anditseemedtothemoreobservantamongthemthathewasnotquiteastallasbefore.Hemadenotouchdowns—indeed,hewasretainedontheteamchieflyinhopethathisenormousreputationwouldbringterroranddisorganisationtotheYaleteam.

           Inhissenioryearhedidnotmaketheteamatall.Hehadgrownsoslightandfrailthatonedayhewastakenbysomesophomoresforafreshman,anincidentwhichhumiliatedhimterribly.Hebecameknownassomethingofaprodigy—aseniorwhowassurelynomorethansixteen—andhewasoftenshockedattheworldlinessofsomeofhisclassmates.