Then he was lifted from the steps and carried away on the shoulders of his admirers, while the mob swarmed after him.
The band got out and formed to head the parade of triumph. The crowd of students fell in behind. The band struck up, and away they went, with the Yale eleven close behind them.
Great crowds had turned out to witness the spectacle, knowing the students meant to give their victorious team a rousing reception. All along the line the spectators cheered and waved hats, flags and handkerchiefs.
A committee had raised a fund for fireworks, and Roman candles began to pop up balls of fire, while rockets went whizzing into the air from the head of the procession.
No one interfered with the rejoicing students. It was their night, and the city fathers remained in the background and permitted them to have a glorious time.
Some of the business places were prepared for their appearance with illuminated windows. All New Haven seemed delighted.
This year every one had seemed to expect Harvard would "wipe up the gridiron" with Yale, and this victory was so unexpected that it set the people wild with delight.
All along the line the students sang and cheered. Now and then the band could be heard pounding away industriously.
In this manner they marched to the college grounds. As they drew near the college, Browning suddenly descended on the trombone player and captured his horn.
That was a signal for a general rush upon the band by the boys, and, within three minutes, every instrument was in the hands of a Yale student.
Some of the boys could play on the instruments they captured, and some could simply make a noise.
"Attention!" roared Browning, who seemed to have awakened from the lethargy that had been on him so long, and was once more a leader in a genuine racket. "We will play the 'Star-Spangled Banner.' All ready! Let her rip!"
They played! Such a wild medley of sounds never was heard before. Puss Parker had a cornet, and he was playing the air of the "Star Spangled Banner," while Browning was putting in the variations with the trombone. But the others played anything they could think of and some things they could not think of! "John Brown's Body," "Yankee Doodle," "Marching Through Georgia," "Suwanee River," and "Hail Columbia," were some of the tunes that mingled in that medley. Those who could not play anything at all added to the hideous din by making the captured horns bleat forth horrible sounds. Bink Stubbs had secured the bass drumstick, and the way he hammered the big drum was a caution. He did his best to break in the head--and finally succeeded!