Repository: UIHistories Project: Book - Banks of the Boneyard (Charles Kiler) [PAGE 77]

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On the Banks of the Boneyard

As the game was being played in Columbus, the students at Illinois had to ride all of Friday night on special trains to reach the scene of the conflict. To the hundreds of students whose fond parents sent monthly allowances of a size to permit such an excursion, the trip was easy, but there were hundreds of others whose only chance to see that game depended upon the spirit of adventure. Profiting by the experiences of the past, I got aboard the train and in bed before the noisy brethren commenced the parades that pass through the Pullman coaches all night long; but there was a hump in the mattress that kept me awake. I might as well have sung all the songs beginning with "Hail, Hail, the Gang's All Here" and on through "Sweet Ad-o-line" to "I Want a Pal Just Like the Gal That Married Dear Old Dad." Finally this hump began to move, and being cold sober, I knew it was not a snake—a little investigating revealed the body of a husky youth parked under my berth. Of course there was no sleep for me with this squirming hulk beneath me, so I leaned over the edge of the berth and ordered the young man out. You'd be surprised how quickly he got out of that little place and into the berth with me, saying: "Gee, I never was so glad to get out of a place in my life! There was a smoking cigarette stub in the cuspidor, and I nearly choked to death." His name might have been Johnnie Jones, and in the wild scramble for a taxicab when we reached Columbus, Johnnie secured one of the first to get away. Three old friends of mine were coming on the Chicago train, and Johnnie went with me to meet them, taking charge of their baggage and getting cabs with ease and dispatch. The Deshler Hotel was full to overflowing and had no room for us, but Johnnie found one of his student pals who had come over the day before in order to place his bets, and ushered us up to a suite of rooms that had been assigned to this rich friend. At breakfast Johnnie blandly admitted that he had no money, but by this time we were so interested in this intrepid youth that his big day was assured. What a two-fisted, good-natured "go-getter" that boy was! After breakfast one of my friends suggested that we get a taxi and take a ride around Columbus; though taxis were difficult to get, Johnnie had one in a few minutes, and the way he collaborated with the driver to steer us around Columbus was amazing, for he had never seen the town until that morning. When he thought we had