Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1912-11-09

might be the last befrte she left town,
and that she hoped De would not as
appoint her. Mais.cs was on shee1
of pad paper, but contaited pinlul
little plea.
Honest, Ralph" it read. I'd not
care much what happened Ii couloh !.
come to see you play, but | get urea
roofing when l cant tell you AFTER
wards how proud am Oh our s'a'
pitcher. Please come.
On one side was Maisle with the
possibilities of influential assistance
combined with the girls brilliant al
tractiveness; on the other, sweet
faithful, devoted Bessie, htteo %
training and inclination to help man
in playing not only baseball, put any
game of life, willing to sit and root
for him if afterwards he would come
to her for comfort and consratula-
tons. No wonder that his arm went
back on him, and that his eyes lniS'
Judged. Thurston was playing Dig
ger game than he realized.
"He's gone stale" groaned the
grand stand, while the bleachers toot-
ed horns and rang huge coWDelis 10
show their disapproVal.
pull him out!' some yelled as
Thurston continued his plumbers; out
as there was no one 20 take his place.
! the CAPTAIN contented himself With
coaching with all his might, Willie the
manager tried to stimulate interest By
betting heavily against the Yello"
Feet, covering his money by 1udlclous-
" placed bets on the other side, made
by those in his employ
Finally the first half OF the nlntn
was reached. the score stood to l.
in favor Of the visitors. instead o.
the usual cheering and applause which
had greeted Thurston as he ran 10 the
box. there came a dead silence moro
expressive than any demonstration. AS
he had left the bench, he had caught
a sight of the pale faces OF the two
girls, and he wished that hole would
open up before his feet, IN winch ne
might hide from them and the mock
ing crowd. He gritted his teeth,
clenchcd his fists until the fingers bit
into the palms OF his hands, then
began pitching with all his old-tlme
vigor. AS in the first inning, he put
! the men out in one, two, three order,
and the grand stand went Wild with
low. The Yellow Feet we're not Wor'
ried however, and indifferently trot-
ted out into the field. A sheer dlsliS-
ured Compton's face as he swung his
arm, but it changed to something else
when Gryce, the captain OF the Black
Flags, struck out home run. This
ratified the man in tho box, Tor be
let the next man get to second OF q
line drive that easily passed left field,
and the third took his base on balls.
Thurston then came to bat. His two
Dagger brought in another run ana
put q man on second. The next man
hunted, and three bases were filled.
The score was now to 3, with ali
bases filled. The manager, Gordon,
was the next man at bat, but he
famed out, as did the next. Then
came Burchell, who always managed
a two-bagger. His ball rose grace
fully. scared ont and over the head
Of right field, and the men began eat
ing up the ground to get home. Just
as the man from third began to slice.
the ball fell into the glove Of the
right fielder, and the pennant be-
longed to the Yellow Feet.
The work OF all the Black Flags had
been good. They had assisted again
and again in keeping down the score
Of the Yellow Feet when Thurston had
gone to pieces, and naturally blamed
their defeat on him. The man said
nothing. Sullenly he changed to his
street clothes, then wrote his resig-
nation. The manager took it, saying
tartly:
"All right, if you feel that way"
~ guess all of you feel that my
room is better than my company,
Thurston said souriy, as he slouched
out OF the club house, hands deep in
his pockets, head bent down. Just as
he emerged an automobile dashed By.
In it were several of the cheering
Yellow Feet and Alaisie. In the sec
ond Of passing she tossed her head.
looking at him with unbared con-
tempt.
AS he turned to mako his way to
the street cars, a soft voice said at
his elbow:
Don't run over me, Ralph" ana
starting. he saw Bessie smiling up
at him, although her eyes were red
with tears of disappointment.
"They expect too much OF you'
working you until your arm goes
stale; it's a shame" she said COM
fortingly.
"Bess," Ralph said, catching her
hand and gripping it hard, I'm
piker; I went up in the air on this
game, honest"
Everyone does that sometimes"
she said softly.
"I COW RaccD be 1sEad SheeDiShly,