Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1913-06-21

see a soul And he longed for things
he couldn't have. Finally he was
rescued and almost the first words ne
| said to the one he saw first were
| these know them by heart ! have
read the book so often-he said:
| Mate, my heart is sore for Christian
] diet You mightn't happen to have
piece OF cheese about you now NO.
| Wei, many's the long night I've
| dreamed Of cheese-toasted, mostly
and woke up again, and here
We're.
Mildred laughed at this.
! whats the connection between
| this man wanting cheese and your
/ ball playing In Atlanta?" she asked.
| Don't you see? l had been ma
| rooncd up here in the mountains all
my life. I shouldn't use the word
| maroon, as l had everything until
my sorrows came. But anyway, /
| became crazy about baseball 1t be
] came my hobby We had all the New
/ York papers every day, and de-
voured every line Of baseball there
/ was printed i'm them ] sent for all
] the books and literature on base
/ ball: ! came TO know the great play
/ ers through reading about them, as
/ If ! had met them personally.
! knew their batting averages and their
/ fielding averages and their strength
| and weakness. From the time / was
old enough TO wear short pants /
was tossing a ball around, and when
/ I was fifteen years old my father
| built this field for me. ] spent hour
after hour on the field and ! learned
/ to do everything that a ball can do
! I'll tell you how I did II In minute.
| found I could make the most diff
| cult kind Of catches, ! found that
/ could bat the ball where no fielder
could ever reach It. and against
| speedier pitching than they have m
the big leagues ! knew from timing
myself that there was no ball player
| living that could run as fast as l
could, and / made up my mind that
none, Of the great players had any
J thing on me- as the saying goes, eX-
cept experience
Was Crazy to Play.
All this was said in an easy ana
matter Of fact way. not boastfully.
Gordon continued:
And when / became convinced Of
this, was just crazy TO join some
/ team and travel around and play ball
and hear the cheers Of the crowds
and be mixed up In the excitement.
! | dreamed about baseball. Mildred,
and l craved for It, just as poor Ben
Gum dreamed about the cheese he
craved for. When my father died, Of
/ course It made a great change with
me. The restraint, il II can be called
such. was off and l was free TO do as
I pleased. In fact, It was my fathers
| wish that ! get out in the world when
| his days were over. So l thought II
| all out during the winter and early
| i'm the spring I went to Atlanta TO
satisfy my craving for baseball
1 u think / understand now said MIL
dred Il know hardly anything about
/ baseball but Elmer says you are real
4 " the best player in the world. Is
| that so?"
Gordon laughed.
"That is far from being proven,
/ Mildred, he replied. - did have phe-
| nomenal success at Atlanta. but ! was
/ about to join "a supposedly higher
class league and I don't know how
would have succeeded there. They
/ say II Is much harder to make good
! in the big leagues than it is in a minor
| league. The newspapers We're very
| kind to me, but they played me up
! far more than l deserve, in my opin-
/ ion"
Mildred was silent for a moment.
Then she said
so much for baseball But / have
been thinking a great deal about what
YOU told me yesterday, Gordon, and
| there are. several things not quite
clear 10 me-
What are they, Mildred ." asked
/ Gordon Elmer was amusing himself
I'm the gymnasium and they were
alone
We'll, for one thing, how was st
| that no one around here. even your
/ servants. knew that your name is
Z Gordon Kelly? How was il they had
never heard the name Of Kelly
A Changed Madness.
when my father and mother left
/ New York it was with the idea Of
| losing themselves to the world. as it
We're. The name of Kelly was left in
| New York. This whole property was
/ bought i'm the name of the Prescott
! Trust Company An account was
/ opened with the banking firm owned
/ by my father and his brothers. and
I an bills We're paid in New York by
my uncle on the Prescott Trust Com
! pauy's account My parents were
/ known here and to the servants as
/ Mr. and Mrs. Prescott. My father
and mother called me Bud and the
! servants called me Mr. Bud What's
1 the next question ?"
Don't think I'm curious, but
would Just like to understand, that's
all. Gordon. How were you educat-
I ed o.