About three
o'clock in the afternoon
Until the hour of noon was rung out by the clock in the tower , Will labored hard . The words of his tutor had been inspiring , but he could not disguise from himself the fact , however , that he had little love for the task . It was simply a determination not to be `` downed , '' as Will expressed it , that led him on and he was holding on doggedly , resolutely , almost blindly , but still he was holding on . About three o'clock in the afternoon the few students who were in town assembled at the telegraph office where messages were to be received from the team at intervals of ten minutes describing the progress of the game . One of the seniors had been selected to read the dispatches and only a few minutes had elapsed after the assembly had gathered before the senior appeared , coming out of the telegraph office and waving aloft the yellow slip . A cheer greeted his appearance but this was followed by a tense silence as he read aloud : `` They 're off . Great crowd .