Evening star., 1927-05-29

" HE French nave saying tHdt
sounds odd to our ears. They
say, it gave him to think; and
sometimes, it gave him 10
think furiously.
Johnny Wicket was sitting In the
marquee that is reserved for news
paper reporters and players in the
tournament at the BrightwaterS Ten
ms Cub. Beside him sat Muriel
Sav1s. TT.At gave Johnny to tnlnk
Indeed. the presence of Muriel DAVIS
in the world had been giving Johnny
to think ever since he had come Eas'
with the ambition to win q place III
the first ranking ten.
IT was one of those afternoons
when the sun blazes down after ram
and the earth steams, and every one
saws il isn't the heat, it's the hu'
p,iditv. In front of the marquee was
spread such a sward as costs 70 years
Of rolling and clipping and watering
and rolling and clipping and watering
Beyond, and at either end, tne seats
rose, tier on tier. Six thousand people
looked down on that impeccable ,urI
and watched two men playing the iast
match but one for the Brightwaters
Rowl. And that gave Jimmy to think.
An hour earlier he had won his own
match in the semi-finals. Tomorrow
he would play the winner of this pair
in the finals
One player was the Count Won
Knaak. captain of the Austrian Davis
Cup team and champion OF the
Riviera; the other was a young man
named Reginald Cholmondeley, VINO
had come all the way from Australia
for a chance like this. Reginald was
taller, broader, and thicker through
the chest than Jack Dempsey. he
had a trick of hitting tennis pau
harder than anybody else in the world.
When he had a bad day, which was
often. his tremendous drives struck
anywhere from inches to feet
heyond the base line. When he had
a. good day, he was one of the best.
Today was the best day he had ever
had in his life. He was hitting the
ball with everything he had and get.
ting it in. He was sending the ball
like a bullet just inside the far
corners. The count had run himself
ragged; the count had made impos-
sible gets; the count had varied the
spin on his shots with consummate
art. But he had failed to hold his
own.
The score was two sets all. But
Reginald had q lead of 81 in the fifth
and final set, and it was his turn to
serve. He needed a single game-just
four points-to take the set and the
match. 1t did not give the 5000 in
the erandstand time to think. To them
it was all over. They leaned forward
to SO the details of the Counts finish.
But W gave the little crowd in the
MARQUEE time to think. They knew the
Count.
"What'll he do now?" Muriel Davis
said to Johnny Wicket.
II don't know" Johnny said. But
he'll do something"
A., They were both thinking that the
Count Won knaak was not only a
crack player, but comedian with a
gift for getting laugh from big
crowd and upsetting his opponents s
game. He had been playing tennis
for two hours now, without so much
apparently beaten. 1t was inevitable
that he would do something.
EGINALD stood ready to serve.
~ Sweat poured down his face-his
neck-his arms: his shirt was plas-
tered to his great shoulders with
sweat. His face wore the concen-
trated frown of man with only one
idea.
The Count skipped insouciantly into
position, well behind his own base line,
and twiddled his racket. His shirt
was plastered to his back, but no one
could see that. He was still wearing
the heavy white sweater which 1t was
his pride not to take off. He was grin
ming, as a man grins when he has
pleasing thoughts in the back Of his
mind. To look at him, you would
have thought it was he who had the
commanding lead.
Reginald tossed the~ball high and
hit 1t with a mighty swing. His tre-
mendous swing seemed to catch the
ball at the top of the toss and drive
1t like a streak Of light to the extreme
left corner of the Counts service
court. The Count was quick, but he
was not quick enough. He couldn't
get his racket on the ball. Reginald
had one of the four points he needed.
Again Reginald took his place to
serve. Again the Count skipped insou-
ciantly into position. And again Regi.
nald aced him clean. Reginald had
two Of the four points he needed.
When Reginald served the third
time, the Count took the long chance.
He walked in close and took the ball
on the rising bounce. He hadn't time
to drive. But he blocked neatly to
Reginald's backhand as Reginald
charged the net. Reginald lunged to
the left reached the hall and turned