"Big" was the favorite adjective used in describing Peter, and big he was.

Had he gone through college ten years later, he might have won unstinted fame and admiration as the full-back on the team, or stroke on the crew.

In his time, athletics were but just obtaining, and were not yet approved of either by faculties or families.

Shakespeare speaks of a tide in the affairs of men.

Had Peter been born ten years later the probabilities are that his name would have been in all the papers, that he would have weighed fifty pounds less, have been cheered by thousands, have been the idol of his class, have been a hero, have married the first girl he loved (for heroes, curiously, either marry or die, but never remain bachelors) and would have--but as this is a tale of fact, we must not give rein to imagination.