“In spite of myself I joined madly in the cheering; but the boy didn’t let down.  Now that his enemies recognized the source of their peril, they focused upon him all their fury.  They tried to destroy him.  They fell upon him like animals; they worried and they harried and they battered him until I felt sick for him and for the girl beside me, who had grown so faint and pale.  But his body was of my making; I had spent careful years on it, and although they wore themselves out, they could not break Running Elk.  He remained a fleeting, an elusive thing, with the vigor of a wild horse.  He tackled their runners with the ferocity of a wolf.

“It was a grand exhibition of coolness and courage, for he was everywhere, always alert and always ready—­and it was he who won the game.

“There came some sort of a fumble, too fast for the eye to follow, and then the ball rolled out of the scrimmage.  Before we knew what had happened, Running Elk was away with it, a scattered field ahead of him.

“I dare say you have heard about that run, for it occurred in the last three minutes of play, and is famous in football annals to this day, so I’m told.  It was a spectacular performance, apparently devised by fate to make more difficult the labors of old Henry and me.  Every living soul on those high-banked bleachers was on his feet at the finish, a senseless, screaming demon.  I saw Alicia straining forward, her face like chalk, her very lips blanched, her whole high-strung body aquiver.  Her eyes were distended, and in them I saw a look which told me that this was no mere girlish whim, that this was more than the animal call of youth and sex.  Running Elk had become a fetish to her.

“The father must likewise have recognized this, for as we passed out he stammered into my ear: 

“’You see, Doc, the girl’s mad.  It’s awful—­awful.  I don’t know what to do.’

“We had become momentarily separated from her, and therefore I urged him:  ’Get her away, quick, no matter how or where.  Use force if you have to, but get her out of this crowd, this atmosphere, and keep her away.  I’ll see him to-night.’

“The old fellow nodded.  ‘I—­I’ll kidnap her and take her to Europe,’ he mumbled.  ‘God!  It’s awful!’

“I didn’t go back to the city with the Harmans; but I told Alicia good-by at the running-board of the machine.  I don’t think she heard me.

“Running Elk was glad to see me, and I spent that evening with him.  He asked all about his people; he told me of his progress, and he spoke lightly of his victory that day.  But sound him as I would, I could elicit no mention of Alicia Harman’s name.  He wasn’t much of a talker, anyhow, so at last I was forced to bring up the subject myself.  At my first word the silence of his forefathers fell upon him, and all he did was listen.  I told him forcibly that any thoughts of her were ridiculous and impossible.

“‘Why?’ said he, after I had finished.