Evening star., 1908-01-11
THE BASE BALL MINES
HONORARY MEMBER

Monday: l have decided TO keep diary,
SO some day it will be nice to have some
thing to look back to and see what
used to do when I was a little boy.
School opened today. and there are
three new pupils. Ones girl. and the
boys made fun of me at recess because
l offered her half of my orange. l
don't care: she's awful pretty. Guess this
will be all for today. P. S. Oh, | forgot
to say. her name is Betty
Tuesday: School again today. Betty was
late and got black mark. l passed note
to her in the geography class. and Jimmy
Lane, he saw me and laughed. DICK
Treat said l was spoon" Didn't know
what that meant. but D. said his big sis
ter called the young minister one when
he. came to call three times a week. Betty
and / played see-saw together this morn
ing, and it was lots of fun. she askeu
me to come over to her mouse tonio.
row afternoon, and mother said II Id
give Towser a bath might go. So spent
most of the afternoon down In the cellar
with him, and he looks beautiful ana
clean No more at present.
Thursday: Didn't write to you yes
terday because / was too busy. Went
over to Betty's and had fine tune.
She has a pony and we took turns riding
him. and then we went into the mouse
and she showed me all her books and
some queer things that her uncle had
brought her from Cuba. Mother made
me promise to get home by .. and
tell you hated to leave. Went TO schooi
this morning and all the fellows snuDDed
me and wouldn't let me play pan WIN
'em. cause they said it was too rough
for ladies.' l pretended not to care. but
did Just the same. | asked Betty TO
go wading with me in the brook by the
old barn, but she said 1t was TOO coid.
50 we went for a walk instead. On .he
from the ball grounds. and they called
after me- ''Hullo, Miss Sanford WASH
that horrid Of them?
Friday: Posters are up all over town Tor
the circus next week, and fatner gave
me a dollar, and told me 1 might take
Betty if l wanted to. I'm just crazy
to 90. and B. seemed mighty pleased
when I asked her. All the boys are going
in a crowd / think, and somehow or
other they've found out that I'm gong
utes peace since. Can't write any more
now, cause l have to study my spell
ing.
Wednesday: So many things have hap
pened since last Friday that don't Know
where to begin. But / want to write IT
all down. 50 / can keep 1t. Then AFTER
/ do that I'm going to stop writing
diary, it's too much trouble. Weli Monuay
afternoon the circus opened and Betty
and l started right after lunch IL cost
II cents apiece to get in. and then after
that had 20 cents left, besides quarter
of my own money. and bet there WASH
a girl in town better treated than Betty
was Why. treated her to peanuts twlce
and three times to lemonade! Anu .nen
to ali the five-cent sideshoWs peslues.
IF was in the last that so many exciting
things happened.
To begin with. just as we went IN, Wn"
should / see sitting on the last row out ali
the boys from school. Betty and hao re-
served seats so we went way up IN front
as far as we could, and / could near the
fellers snicker as we walked up. II was
a little bit of a place with stage at one
end and a man came out ana sno"eu o,l
trained animals. They weren very sooo.
hut it was kind of fun, and the very iast
thing of all was where spaniel came OUT
and smoked a great long pipe. Ine man
lighted It for him, and ne SAT theIe anu
puffed away like anything. Then al OF
sudden something awful happened: some.
holX, In the audience called out Rats!
and the dog dropped the pipe like shot
and started for the door. The pipe Tell on
the end OF the curtain. and IN seconu the
whole business blazed up. everybody mace
q wild scramble for the door, and Betty
and 7 were half way down and would
have been outside in another half minute,
when all Of q sudden one or the dogs way
back on the stage began to cry terribly.
When the fire broke out all the rest "
them had rhshed right out. but this lit
tle Teller was shut in a basket waiting Tor
his turn to perform. ana he couldn't es-
cape. Betty heard that little chap hoWi.
understood in a minute what was lne
matter and before could stop her she'd
LET 90 INV hand and was rushing back to
the stage for all she was worth. by TINS
time everybody else was out OF the tent
but us, and although / was terribly
scared. yet it would have been coWardly
n n
not help her at all. so up l dashed after
her But Betty really did 1t all. She grab
bed the basket with that poor little dog
In il. so scared he didn't know what he
was doing. and l just heipeo her carry J.
out Her hand vas burned. and there was
a great hole scorched in her dress, and
YOU ought to have heard the roar that
went up when we went out into the crowd
and / told what Betty had done. They
gave her three cheers and a tiger, and
then Betty went and told 'em I'd been
just as brave as she had. and they
cheered me, too. Only l knew | didn't
deserve 'em.
Now comes the best part of all What
do you suppose happened in school next
day? Betty came with her hand all done
no and at recess everybody clustered
around her and | noticed all the boys
standing over in one corner. Then all of
Ia sudden Jimmie Lane came up and Of
fered Betty his hand. and started in on
speech which i guess he'd been writing
for hours beforehand. but he forgot it
right in the most inspiring part, and just
said right out. Betty. you're the bulliest
girl l ever KNEW Then they gave her
three rousing cheers. and insisted on
cheering me- too. although it was very
silly and unnecessary.
We've decided" said Jimmie Ito ask
you to honor us dhis was a part of the
speech he remembereD by becoming an
honorary member of our base ball nine"
or course Betty said she'u be delighted,
and l tell you we had high old time
there. Well. as l said, I'm not going to
write any more in this diary. Bettys the
most popular person in the school. and are
we good friends? Well, / should say SO.