Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-07-01
CHAPTER XXXV.
Golden Bridge.

lney IOllOWeu Tie OuSQucildIHd Hoi III
ward into jeans country-"my country"
she had called it. They saw dawn and
sunset brighten the glad water into silver
and gold and bronze. They moved slow
ly. for it is sweet to loiter in that lovely
valley when June is young. and man
in search of his soul may catch glimpses
of it on. the hilltops. When the days
were hot they tramped at night and
many pleasant adventures were theirs.
We are foolish-we men-in our loving.
thinking that we can hide the blind god s
arrow when it Quivers in our hearts,:
and these men believed that each hid
from the other his happiness in the
knowledge that they journeyed toward her
hills-'my country They loitered the
more because Wayne knew she might
not be there; she must be about her err
randS in the south and west, and he had
no idea what effect her grandfather
death might have had upon her affairs.
At any rate it would be sweet to see the
hills of her youth and the places that
had known her.
They paused one afternoon at a little
town to which their bags had been ex-
pressed. They had now come into the
region where the irregular outlines of the
anthracite breaker are roughly etched on
the horizons, and Joe at once found ac-
quaintances. The prospect Of base ball
contest between the local nine and it's
formidable rival from neighboring
town thrilled the community. Joe's eligi-
bility as an amateur was not discussed;
the opposing nine openly boosted of a
retired professional. He was got into
uniform without ado. and put his left
arm in commission with few hours
practice. The young fellows joy i'm the
opportunity to display his skill empha-
sized to Wayne the irreconcilable differ
ence between Jean Morley with her high
aspirations and this young fellow with
his childish ideals There was no hour
Of the day that did not bring its thought
of her.
Wayne sat amid turbulent throng in
the ball park and watched Joe with
pride. And is there in the history of
sport another game SO eXacting in its de-
mands on SKILL Judgment and strength,
so prolific of surprise as our national
game? Or did ever Greek athlete bend
his 1.-THE body into forms half SO grace
full as those seen an hundred times on
the diamond in every contest. The short
stop at his nimbe pickup and throw
has no points to yield to the Discobolus
of Myron. Behold Joe Denny, a master
of the pitchers art and all its subtle
psychology. The man at the bat is less
his antagonist than his victim. He plays
upon doubt, hesitation and suspense. His
good nature, expressed in a half-ironic
grin, is part of his equipment That de-
liberate search for the proper footing.
| those tentative tnTuStS OF his SHOe lHtO
the earth, are features of his strategy.
His glance at the bases is the most cas-
ual-never furtive or anxious. He holds
the stage, the coolest figure in the scene.
A declaration of war between powers is
awaited less anXiouSly than his delivery
He caresses and wOos the ball, but is at
all times its master. He lifts ii with a
graceful sweep above his head; arms and
body are in perfect agreement; the mind
has devised the exact curve and speed
81 ba i0h
execution The world leans to the or
dained. controlled flight; there is quick
after-pIay: and again young Atlas. a
trif1e bored by his applause, takes the
ball into his hands and by Wit and
strength lures another batter to destruc-
tion Whatever Joe's right arm might
have been, his left had it's own peculiar
cunning After two innings he had the
opposing batters at his mercy; MS grim
broadened under the stimulus OF the
cheering. He struck out three men in
succession and the crowd was wild.
They was fruit, said Joe later. as he
and Wayne ate supper in the village
hotel They hadn't any eye. They
famed before the ball started
Its too bad to waste you You ought
TO go back into the game, said Wayne.
You'd better write to those Fellows VINO
wanted you in New York before you
cracked your ARM They re always look
ing for talent
"Ain't we goin to work? Ball playin'
amt work it's fun replied Joe; but
Wayne knew that the taste of the joys
of the game had whetted Joe's appetite.
and that only loyalty to himself kept him
from going back to it.
A few nights later they walked into
Denbeigh. This was Jeans country at
last and this was the town where she
had grown to womanhood, and gone TO
school, and seen the dead men brought
out of the pit. And here she and Joe
had played together and had been sweet
hearts-this was in Wayne's thought and
not less In Joe's We may well believe
But they did not speak her name and
had not spoken it since the night Wayne
visited Joe in the garage, and that was
very long ago.
Wavne. more and more inexplicable to
Joe. insisted that they should go to
miners boarding house though there was
a fair commercial hotel in the place.
WAYNE passed well enough for an Ameri-
can laborer now-big. vigorous. bearded
and shabby as to clothes. 1t was ques-
ton whether Joe, who had been faithful
to his razor. did not inspire greater con-
fidence in the beholder. A stranger i'm
such a community is a marked man and
his motives are sharply questioned; but
Toe was on his own soil. and a power it
seemed among the men of the pit. and
he gave satisfactory assurances as to
Wayne's intentions Pittsburg has few
limos of contact with the anthracite coun-