Bildungsromans; England -- Social life and customs -- Fiction; Illegitimate children -- Fiction
And Michael with happy blushes would be able to point out Smith P.L. to
the great figure.
Michael played football on Little Side with great regularity,
rushing home to dinner and rushing off again to change and be
in the field by a quarter to two. He could run very fast and
for that reason the lords of Little Side made him play forward,
a position for which the slightness of his body made him
particularly unsuited. One day, however, he managed to
intercept a pass, to outwit a three-quarter, to dodge the
full-back and to score a try, plumb between the posts. Luckily
one of the heroes had strolled down from Pelion that afternoon
to criticize Little Side
and Michael was promoted from the scrum to play three-quarter
back on the left wing, in which position he really enjoyed
football very much indeed.
It fell out that year that the St. James’ fifteen was the most
invincible ever known in the school’s history, and every Saturday
afternoon, when there was a home match, Michael in rain or wind or pale
autumnal sunlight would take up his position in the crowd of spectators
to cheer and shout and urge St. James’ to another glorious victory.
Match after match that year earned immortal fame in the school records,
sending the patriotic Jacobeans of every size and age home to a happy
tea in the rainy twilight. Those were indeed afternoons of thunderous
excitement. How everybody used to shout—School—Schoo-oo-ol—Schoo-ol!
Play up—Schoo-oo-ool! James! Ja-a-a-mes! Oh, go low. Kick! Touch!
Forward! Held! Off-side! Go in yourself! Schoo-ool!
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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