The Washington times., 1905-04-30

the bottle N my nand an run out,
That's chioroform, eh?' says /, eyin'
Sam. ''Whyhy didn't he go to sleep"
Sam looked stunned.
Just One Whit.
''ChIoroforn. eh?" I had got Just
one Whit an it made me think of Old
times an 'cuttin' loose an aoolrooIns
an the ponies an fair women an the
footlights an cut glass an the sound
o. music-au the things l had to shun
during the ball season. I give Sam a
dig In the ribs. He was sniffin' at his
fingers an a light seemed dawning on
him.
SAM says I. 'they's a return game
comm with the drug clerk. We been
chIoroformin' this sixty -year-old nibs
here with d dollars worth o Doc
Stricklefts best rye whisky"
Sam blame near broke into tears.
When we went on the ball field for
that game you'd a thought we was a
pair o variety actors comm out onto
the stage to do turn f N the laugh we
got. Neely was practins round. wavin'
the bottle an tellin' everybody the good
joke on us. The hull audience knowed
it before the game was half over, an
they guyed me till ] felt as cheap as
two cents worth @ dog meat Merritt.
bein' out in center, didn't ketch it like
1 did, only when he come 10 bat. But ii
was just a steady rubbtn' it in for me
I'm the first to the eighth ifanin'.
Batted Delaney.
An then the HavviIles fell onto Dan
Delaney in the sixth an won the game
right there an that made Us feel worse.
The game was gone. an so in the et~hth
I got TIennessy in TO ketch an let Reggie
Ill In in left field an went out an got
into my clothes.
This rea! chloroform," says I to my
| self, may be all right; Doc Stricklett's
black bottle imitation o. il certainly
amt But I got kind o stuff 1 think
lays over even the genuine for startlin
! effects"
So | walked two blocks down the
street away I'm the ball grounds an
went into little grocery store an ask
| cd for a quart o my patent chloroform
lis it strong?" says l when l paid
/ for it.
Pure as the driven snow says the
store keepin' guy. Smell of it. One
snuff will yank your nose over your
head an hook it onto your collar but
tom
That's wot 1 want" says I. That
same kind o stuff.
| SO went back 10 the grounds an the
crowd was just comm out, an I got
more kiddln', which made me chuckle
an think o what Reggie once said about
the day o retribution drawin' nigh
Pitcher Got Ball.
| Now it was the custom at that time
! to give the pitcher who won a game
| the ball that was in play when the game
| shut up. The ball for the game J. long
| ed to Neely Duff. but when the last man
was put out, Sam Merritt. VINO had beer
| left on second, got the ball; an the kid
| din still rankin in his heart, he turns
an chuclks II out over the right field
| fence an then gives Nicely the laugh an
runs into the dressin' room. where all
the other players were hustlin into
street clothes an gettin' away.
| It was q Alfalfa crowd an no kid
would go after the ball 'cept to keep it,
| so Neely had to trudge out to the fence
| shin his sixty years over 1t, an hunt up
| his propty on the other side.
| When everybody had gone home Nicely
come back, tossir' up the ball an ketch-
| In 1t. happy as though he was sixteen
| stead O four times that: an there me
an Sam ketched him as he went into
the dressin' room
Started Laughing.
| When he sees us he begun TO laugh
| He laughed so hard that he had TO set
down, an then he laughed SO much
more that he tumbled off on the floor an