The Waterbury Democrat., 1940-06-07

ULL0 AI1EEAALG8s
The feud was doing but not
sleeping. The past fall there had
been . great camp meeting ct
Ebenezer, and all the parsons and
exhorters were out In force 70
get the old heads Of the clans to
bury the Ratchet. And so success
fully had they labored In the Vine
yard that actually peace had been
declared between the families.
It was q jocular peace, where
bitter hate seemed to have been
swallowed In athletic rivalry.
Actually, Of course, hate and
distrust and grudge smoldered
Just beneath the surface Of all
this high fun and Carvings on.
Rosy remembered 1t all. He re-
membered It as only a child Of
seven can remember with vivid
eyes. Young as he was. he sensed
the excitement and undercur-
rent Of family bad feeling.
The young pitcher on the
mound was a Tolliver. sock"
Tolliver, they called him. A
handsome, dark fellow. Not much
was known, about him except that
he had a mighty pitching arm,
and when he was wild he couldn't
hit q flock Of barns with q long
rife.
Today he started out wild.
Amidst the yelling Of "Play Bali!
and the hubbub Of the occasion,
plus the Fourth OF July spirit, and
plenty of prime moonshine, he
walked the first two men to face
him, and even now Rosy could
recollect the ferocious Joy Of his
folks as his own father walked
to the plate with the solid hickory
bat that Jay McAfee had made
with his own hand.
At the first pitched ball Jay
McAfee stepped forward q pace
to connect with q wild pitch, and
he hit that ball with a crack like
q rife shot.
FOUL" yelled the umpire.
Jay grinned and returned to the
plate. "Just one little strike.
Sockl" he pleaded. And don't
crack my skull with q bean ball!"
The ball came over. Rosy saw
his father try to dodge 1t. It must
have been q deep and confusing
curve, for he couldn't avoid get
ting hit.
The bystanders, almost suffo-
eating the squirting man on the
ground, were pushed back by q
deputy sheriff who was present.
Stand backl" he yelled. "0ive
him airl Here - you two" he
pointed out two men. "Tote him
back of the grandstand, yon."
Rossy's mother was screaming.
A shout went up for blood. while
the two men carried the uncon-
scious man into the sheltered
shade back Of the stand, faction
leaders diverted attention from
Jay McAfee by crying:
Grab him before he hulls out!"
A mob started toward the stun
ned pitcher, still standing In the
box. Rosy, hardly realizing all that
was happening, had seen Cousin
Steve in the stand q moment before,
but when he looked again Steve
seemed to have slid through loose
plank In the grandstand and disap-
peared. The two men came out
to see what was happening to the
pitcher, leaving the unconscious
man alone.
The pitcher gave one wild look
at the advancing partisans, and
as II 1t were his legs and not his
wishes had moved him, he fed
In the direction Of q growth of
trees and bushes at the far edge
Of the grounds. The men yelled
and shouted, following at q run.
There were two or three shots
fred.
The last they saw Of Socks toll
liver was his hat, lying where 1t
fell when he dived under cover
and was gone. There was q steep
cliff at this point, and man said
he saw Sock Jump of and sink
among the tree-tops below.
As the baffled mob returned,
there were those who said they
saw another Sock Tolliver 60
tearing of In a somewhat differ
ent direction and disappear In the
same way. Later they figured that
was reported by some one who
had laved his thirst with too
much mountain dew.
For almost all this while Jay
had been Just lying there
In the green brush that had fallen
of the roof of the grandstand.
Now they brought water and
poured on his face, found that the
skull was actually cracked. A
horse doctor said the bail had hit
and bounced for there were plain
marks indicating kind Of double
lick that never could be wholly
accounted for. But the game, in
stead Of settling the clans into
good feelings, reopened the war
and 1t was not TO close for another
10 years.