country," said the sturdy doctor.

"Oh, come, dad! I was born in Scotland, and I belong to a Scotch club.
Surely that is good enough."

"I hope you lose, then."

"We are very likely to. Atkinson, of the West of Scotland, has strained
his leg, and we shall have to play Blair, of the Institution, at full
back--not so good a man by a long way. The odds are five to four on the
English this morning. They are said to be the very strongest lot that
ever played in an International match. I have brought a cab with me, so
the moment you are ready we can start."

There were others besides the students who were excited about the coming
struggle. All Edinburgh was in a ferment. Football is, and always has
been, the national game of Scotland among those who affect violent
exercise, while golf takes its place with the more sedately inclined.
There is no game so fitted to appeal to a hardy and active people as
that composite exercise prescribed by the Rugby Union, in which fifteen
men pit strength, speed, endurance, and every manly attribute they
possess in a prolonged struggle against fifteen antagonists. There is
no room for mere knack or trickery. It is a fierce personal contest in
which the ball is the central rallying point. That ball may be kicked,
pushed, or carried; it may be forced onwards in any conceivable manner
towards the enemy's goal. The fleet of foot may seize it and by
superior speed thread their way through the ranks of their opponents.
The heavy of frame may crush down all opposition by dead weight. The
hardiest and most enduring must win.