Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1921-08-11
Winner in the Game
of Hearts
By HAROLD sIkcLAIRE

out, and two games were on, ons -
tween the Yellow Feet and the BLACK
Flags, and the other between Eaine
Laughlin and Bessie Houston. In the
first game a pennant was In question;
in the latter the happiness Of TIVE,
if not three lives.
Ralph Thurston, the star twirler Ok
the Black Flags, was In the box. f0r
the Yellow Feet had the first hall,
and two pairs Of eyes Were fastened i
on his flushed face.
Realizing that he must put al
thoughts Of these two out Of his
mind, Thurston put several quick. hot
ones over the plate, following with Q
low grounder, and had his man cut
| without a strike. The next two were
easy, and the Yellow Feet were re-
| tired in one, two, three order. The
Black Flags, however, failed to con-
meet with any Of COmpton's balls, and
he was congratulated by his team
as he, too, registered the same score. 4
| This followed for three innings; mott
strike was called on either SIDE al
| though there were several balls, ana
then Thurston went into the box for
| the first of the fourth inning. AZ he
| ran down field he caught sight Of Mai
sizes waving handkerchief, and imns-
| diately the old problem confronted
| him. 1t unsteadied his arm: 50 that
when the catcher signaled for an out
curve he sent over a straight enc.
| The man at bat found this soft. and
he sent 1t soaring down past center,
easily reaching second before the ball
was captured.
After this followed series Of blum.
ders by him that made the captain and
manager rave.
All the while the real cause Of this
disturbance lay in his pocket. It con-
sisted of two notes, one signed Maisie,
| the other Bessie. Each girl invited
him to spend the evening in her COM
pany. - .
/ Finally the first half Of the ninth
was reached. The score stood 4 to l,
in favor of the visitors. Instead Of
the usual cheering and applause which
had greeted Thurston as he ran to the
box, there came a dead silence more
expressive than any demonstration.
/ He gritted his teeth, clenched bis
fists until the fingers bit into the
palms of his hands, then began pitch
ing with all his old-time vtgor A.
in the first inning, he put the men
out In one, two, three order, land the
grand stand went wild with JOY. The
Yellow Feet were not worried, how
ever, and indifferently trotted out tn
to the field. A sneer disfigured Comp
toms face as he swung his arm, but
it changed to something else when
Gryce, the captain Of the Black Flags,
struck out q home run. This ratified
the man in the box, for he let the
next man get to second on q line
drive that easily passed left field, and,
the third took his base on balls. Thurs-
ton then came to bat. His two-bag-
ger brought in another run and put
man on second. The next man
hunted, and three bases were Allied.
The score was now 4 to 8, with all
bases filed. The manager, Gordon.
vas the next man at bat, but he
famed out, as did the next. Then
came Burchell, who always managed
two-bagger. His ball rose grace
fully, scared out and over the head
Of right field, and the men began eat.
ing up the ground to get home. lust
as the man from third began to slids
the ball fell into the glove Of the
right fielder, and the pennant be-
longed to the Yellow Feet.
Sullenly Thurston changed to his
street clothes, then wrote his rssiS.
nation. The manager took 1t, saying
tartly: M
. "All right, II you feel that way, y
II guess all of sou feel that my
. room is better than my company"
Thurston said sourly, as he slouched
out of the club house. hands deep In
his pockets, head bent down. Just a.
he emerged an automobile dashed by.
; In it were several of the cheering
, Yellow Feet and Maisie. In the sec-
ond Of passing she tossed her head,
looking at him with unbared con.
, tempt. 2.
Don't run over me, Ralph" and
: starting, he saw Bessie smiling up
| at him, although her eyes were red
! with tears of disappointment.
/ "Bess," Ralph said, catching her
hand and gripping 1t hard, I'm q
) piker; | went up in the air on this
game, honest" "
I Everyone does that sometimes"
she said softly. "
. i say, Bess." he asked shescishly,
Il wonder II you'd be afraid Of me
in another kind Of gamer" and ass-
, sic understood. She answered az they
walked slowly towards the street cars:
I Not yet. Ralph; I'll root for you
, always"
Would Wait for the Next.
. Mrs. Gray was getting ready to at
tand q funarai a, har t,-x.os..