Ralph Henry Barbour

“ Polly Deane eyed him severely. “Kewpie Proudtree,” she exclaimed, “you know you oughtn’t to eat all this sweet stuff!”
“Oh, what’s the difference?” demanded the youth morosely. “Gee, a fellow can’t starve all the time! Maybe I won’t go in for football next year, anyway. It’s a dog’s life. No desserts you can eat, no candy, no—”
“Well, I think that’s a very funny way for you to talk,” interrupted Polly indignantly. “After the way you played in the Farview game and everything! Why, every one said you were just wonderful, Kewpie!” ”

“ Laurie, I haven’t,” replied Miss Comfort quietly. “There wasn’t ever much money after my father died, and mother’s will left what there was to Amanda. That was just as it should have been, for as long as I had this house I was quite all right.” She smiled gently. “But, land sakes, I don’t want you young folks to trouble your heads about me and my affairs. Troubles aren’t for the young, Mr. Laurie.” ”

“ THE MARVELOUS CATCH Wednesday afternoon, and the hands of the clock in the tower of the Congregational Church, seen distantly over the tops of the trees, pointed to eighteen minutes before three.
Ideal weather for Class day, hot in the sun, pleasantly warm in the shade, with a very blue sky trimmed around the edges with puffs of creamy-white clouds. An ideal day, too, for the big game, with plenty of heat to make muscles responsive and no wind to deflect the ball from its long, arching course. ”

“ If you’ve ever watched school-boy baseball, you’ve seen that what they can’t hit, five times out of seven, is a really fast ball. They like to say they can, and I guess they believe it, but they can’t. Maybe one reason is that they don’t often get fast ones, for there aren’t many youngsters of your age who can stand the strain of pitching them. Mind, I don’t say that you won’t be able to get by without more speed than you’ve got, but I do say that not having speed is a weakness. ”

“ Of course, he was just as sorry as ever for Miss Comfort, but that didn’t keep him from giving his full attention to matters of more personal interest, such as trying to beat Elk Thurston out for the position of first substitute catcher, and striving, sometimes hopelessly, to make Kewpie into a pitcher. It is always so much easier to view another’s misfortunes with philosophy than one’s own. ”

“ Aware of Polly’s horrified look, he subsided. Miss Comfort, though, was far too absorbed in the joyous prospect to heed.
“I must go and see it,” she went on animatedly. “Is it very far, Mr. Laurie? I suppose,” she concluded, with a sigh, “it’s too late to go to-day.”
“Yes’m,” assented Laurie. “I guess you’d better wait until to-morrow. It’s quite a walk for—er—for any one.”
“We’ll all go down to-morrow morning,” announced Polly, “every one of us. Yes, you will, too, mama. I’ll get Miss Billings to tend the store for an hour. If we start at eight I can get back in time for school.” ”

“ That out-drop of yours isn’t so bad right now, and I guess you can make it even better. If you have five things to offer the batter, say, an in, an out, a drop, a drop-curve, and a slow ball, you’ve got plenty. If you’ve got control and can change your pace without giving yourself away you’ve got as much as the most successful pitcher ever did have. It’s control, son, that counts. All the fancy stunts ever known aren’t worth a cent unless you can put the ball where you want it to go. ”

“ The game was held up while captain and catcher conferred. Finally Dave hurried across and hailed the coach. Another conference followed, while Farview clamored for the contest to go on. Then Mr. Mulford waved his hand at Croft, and Kewpie, very much surprised but apparently [351] not at all overwhelmed, walked into the diamond, pulling on his glove.
There was a moment of silent amazement. Then Farview went delirious with delighted amusement. The Farview stand almost rocked with the laughter that emanated from it, laughter that came as a relief to strained nerves and was indulged in freely. ”

“ For better than an hour dust flew from bow to stern on the Pequot Queen, and the scrape of the scrubbing-brush and the slap of the mop sounded from cabin, deck, and wheel-house. To introduce water into the boiler room would have made matters only worse there, for the floor and even the walls were black with coal-dust. ”

“ Behind them the hill sloped upward less abruptly than farther back and was thickly clustered with unpretentious houses wherein the industrious foreign-born citizens of Orstead lived. Compared to the vicinity of the quarry, however, this section of town was clean and quiet. There were trees here, and later on there would be grass along the unfrequented road and flowers in the little gardens. Westward lay the sunlit river and the wooded shore beyond. Laurie nodded approvingly more than once as he dawdled along, paying, as it appeared, special attention to the margin of the stream. ”

“ Then, when Captain Dave had talked briefly but earnestly to Croft, that youth promptly issued one more base on balls, and the sacks were filled, and defeat loomed large on the horizon. One down, the bases full, and Croft going the way of the others! Laurie’s gaze wondered to the bench and Coach Mulford. And then, since to have looked at the bench at all without seeing it would have been impossible, he glimpsed the round, anxious, earnest countenance of Kewpie Proudtree. Laurie’s heart jumped out of place for possibly the twentieth time that afternoon, and he called to Captain Dave. ”

“ He will never make a baseball pitcher.”
“But you mustn’t tell him that, even if you believe it,” said Polly earnestly. “You must encourage him, you know. We all must.”
Laurie grinned. “I’ve already told him he’s no good. I guess I told him so several times. But he doesn’t believe it, so there’s no harm done.”
“Oh, you shouldn’t have,” exclaimed Polly. “Don’t you see, if he’s to be—be taken out of himself, Laurie, he must—must have faith?”
“Oh, he’s got it, all right. I’m the one who hasn’t. He thinks he’s the coming scholastic wonder of the diamond, I guess. ”

“ Ned’s gaze dropped from the Doctor’s, and for an instant he made no reply. Then he raised his eyes again, and, “I’d rather not say, sir,” he announced respectfully but firmly.
There followed another brief silence. Laurie was trying hard not to look at Ned. The Doctor was thoughtfully rolling a pencil across the big blotter under the palm of one hand. Ned watched him and waited. Then the Doctor looked up again.
“You are, of course,” he said not unkindly, “privileged to refuse to answer, Edward, but when you do there is but one construction to be placed on your refusal. ”

“ Can you do it?”
“Have to,” answered the other cheerfully. Cautiously he and Ned untied the rope from about the tree, gave it some three inches of slack, retied it, and set to work at the edge of the cliff. Or, rather, Bob worked, for Ned’s hands trembled so that he couldn’t. The rope was fast in a jagged-edged notch of the rock, and Bob’s only implement, his pocket-knife, was somewhat inadequate. But he made it do. Using the handle like a tiny hammer, he chipped and chipped until finally the rope began to slip downward and Laurie’s weight rested again on the ledge. ”

“ To his surprise and chagrin, Kewpie was not taken with the team, but he went along nevertheless and viewed the contest with ironical gaze from a seat in the stand. It is probable that he felt no consuming grief when, in the fifth inning, Nate Beedle was forced to give way to Pemberton. It is equally likely that he would have managed to dissemble his sorrow had Pemberton been knocked out of the box and a despairing coach had called loudly for “Proudtree! Find Proudtree! We must have him! He alone can avert defeat!” ”

“ What in the world’s got into you?”
“Nothing,” answered Laurie, an absent expression possessing his features again. “What are you stopping here for?”
“Well, there is something,” said Ned accusingly, “and I know what it is. You’ve got some crazy idea in your bean.” He turned to Polly. “He’s always like that when he thinks he’s discovered something big, like perpetual motion or—or how to make a million dollars. We’ll have to watch him until he recovers, or he will do himself harm. You go first, Bob, and I’ll keep an eye on him.” ”

“ Thanks, however, to his talk that afternoon with Mrs. Deane and, later, with Polly, Laurie was in a position to answer all questions promptly and lucidly. When, as infrequently occurred, his knowledge was insufficient, he answered just the same. He grudgingly struck off ten years from Miss Comfort’s age at Bob’s behest, but to all other statements he clung tenaciously.
“Another thing I don’t understand,” said Ned, “is why some of the folks she knows don’t give her a home. There must be lots of people in Orstead who would be glad to take her in.” ”

“ Brose shook hands, his broad smile again threatening his ears.
“Yes, Miss Pansy, it’s me,” he said. “But you don’t want to believe what Laurie tells you. I ain’t done much but swing a hammer. Now, how you feeling, ma’am?”
[236]
“Very happy, Brose,” replied Miss Comfort softly. “Happier than a person has any right to be at my time of life, I guess. Isn’t it wonderful?” Her gaze swept over the little white room with its blue and white curtains aflutter in the sunlit breeze and all her friendly belongings about. “Doesn’t the picture of grandfather’s ship look beautifully there, Brose?” ”

“ Laurie broke the short silence.
“What are you doing this afternoon?” he asked.
“I don’t know. There isn’t much a fellow can do except read.”
“Or study,” supplemented Laurie virtuously. “Better come along and watch practice a while.”
But Ned shook his head. “Not good enough, old-timer. That baseball cage is too stuffy. Guess I’ll wander over to the field and see if there’s anything going on.”
“There won’t be. They say the ice has gone to mush. Listen. If you see Kewpie, tell him I died suddenly, will you? And how about Polly? Shall I meet you there?” ”

“ Look here, Miss Chairwoman and Ladies and Gentlemen of the Convention, the only thing that’s wrong with Kewpie is that he doesn’t know what to do with himself. Ever since he stopped playing football he’s been like a chap who’s lost his job and can’t find another one. Of course, at first it wasn’t so bad, for Christmas vacation was coming. But for the last couple of months he’s just sort of mooned around, getting sore-headed because he couldn’t make the basket-ball team or the hockey team or anything else. Give the old chap something to do and he’ll snap out of it. ”

“ There’s a lot in the pitcher and catcher being used to each other’s ways. Then, perhaps, I can give you both a whack at a couple of innings some day. I’d do that, I think. You look after Proudtree, Turner. Make him work. Keep his nose to the grindstone. Remember that there’s another year coming, eh?”
“I’ll make him work,” laughed Laurie.
“Then do I—do I get on the team?” asked Kewpie anxiously.
“You get on the squad,” was the answer. “Report to-morrow afternoon. There’s a game on, and you won’t get much work, but you can pitch to Turner a while and learn the ropes. Let’s get back now.” ”

“ I’ve got all summer to train down again, haven’t I? Gee, Polly, what’s the use of starving all the winter and spring just to play football for a couple of months next fall? Other fellows don’t do it.”
“Why, Kewpie, you know very well that most of them do! You don’t see Ned and Laurie eating pastry here every afternoon.”
“Huh, that’s a lot different. Nod’s out for baseball, and Nid’s scared to do anything Nod doesn’t do. Why, gee, if one of those twins broke his leg the other’d go and bust his! ”

“ But it was difficult to associate that youth’s bulk with illness, and Ned abandoned the idea. “What’s wrong with you?” he inquired jeeringly.
“It seems to be my stomach,” said Kewpie, laying a sympathetic hand on that portion of his anatomy.
“Does, eh? Well, what have you been eating?”
“Eating? Nothing much. Well, I did have a cream-puff and a tart at the Widow’s, but I guess it isn’t that.”
“Oh, no, of course not, you silly prune! And you probably had a nut sundae with whipped cream and sliced peaches and a lot of other truck on it. Funny you don’t feel well, isn’t it?” ”

“ In the first and second Farview had placed men on bases; in the second Hillman’s had got Pat Browne as far as third. There had been errors by both sides, and more than one case of poor judgment. Nate Beedle, pitching for the home team, and Luders, for the visitors, had been in hot water much of the time. Yet each had survived, and now, at the beginning of the fourth inning, with Farview coming to bat, the game was still to be won or lost.
Laurie had been through some bad moments. For the first two innings he and Nate had not worked together very smoothly. ”

“ They had crossed Walnut Street now and were stamping the melted snow from their shoes on the drier concrete sidewalk before the school property. Above the top of a privet hedge the upper stories of the school buildings were in sight, West Hall, School Hall, and East Hall facing Summit [23] Street in order. In the windows of West Hall, a dormitory, gaily hued cushions added color to the monotony of the brick edifice, and here and there an upthrown casement allowed a white sash-curtain to wave lazily in the breeze of a mild March afternoon. ”

“ It’s a long walk and a real steep one.”
“All the better,” replied Miss Comfort. “All my life I’ve lived so close to the church that it wasn’t any effort at all. Sometimes I think that if religion wasn’t made so easy for us we’d think more of it. ’Twon’t do me a mite of harm to have to walk a little on a Sunday in order to worship the Lord. And I guess maybe He will approve of it.”
Going back, Laurie, walking beside Polly, said with a relieved sigh: “Gee, I was glad to get away without having her ask questions, Polly! ”

“ All the work in the world won’t make you any better if—”
“Practice makes perfect, don’t it?” interrupted Kewpie indignantly.
“Maybe. Maybe not. If you don’t know anything [48] about pitching you can practise from now until—”
“But I do know, I tell you. All I need is practice. I’ve got a book that tells—”
“Book be blowed!” exploded Laurie. “You can’t learn pitching by taking a correspondence-course, you fat-head!”
“Quit your arguing, you two,” said Ned. “Laurie’s quite right, Kewpie. He can’t recommend you to Mr. Mulford until you’ve got more to show than you’ve shown just now. ”

“ I’ve been trying to get hold of Nod all day. How long’s he going to practise?”
“Search me. They keep at it until five or a bit after, I think. What you got on your so-called mind, Kewpie?”
Kewpie hesitated and finally decided to take Ned into his confidence. “Well, it’s like this,” he began impressively. “A fellow needs more exercise than he gets along this time of year, Nid. Of course, it’s all right for you fellows who play basket-ball or hockey, but I couldn’t get into those things, and there isn’t much else to keep you fit. Now—”
“Except pastry at the Widow Deane’s, Kewpie.” ”

“ Kewpie glanced fittingly at Laurie—“what about this year, sir?”
Laurie saw the coach’s gaze waver. “This year?” he echoed. “Why, I don’t know. We’re fixed pretty well this year, you see. Of course I’m perfectly willing to let you work with the crowd for the rest of the season. Pitching to the net will teach you a whole lot, for you can’t judge your stuff until you’ve got some ambitious chap swinging at it. Some of that stuff you’ve just showed me would be candy for a good hitter. You’ve got one weakness, Proudtree, and it’s an important one. ”

“ If you’ve got any silly idea in your head that Bob and I are going to buy a house for Miss Comfort to spend the rest of her days in—”
“Don’t be an ass,” begged Laurie.
“All right, but why the locked door, then? And why all the—the talk about it?”
“Nod’s got a scheme,” said Bob, and he beamed trustfully at Laurie.
Ned grunted suspiciously. “Bet you it calls for money,” he said.
“It doesn’t,” replied Laurie. “At least, only a few pennies. The price of a telegram to Sioux City, Iowa, and, divided among the three of us, that won’t amount to anything, I guess.” ”

“ It’s a terrible thing to be cursed with fat,” he said sadly.
“It’s a terrible thing to be cursed with a fat head,” replied Hop severely. “You’ve got about as much chance of getting on the baseball team as I have of—of—” But Hop couldn’t think of a satisfactory simile and so changed the subject. “Say, what’s Nod Turner been doing to Elk Thurston?”
“I don’t know. I heard something about Elk’s bicycle, but—”
“Well, Elk’s as sore as a pup about something, and— For goodness’ sake, put that ball away before you break something! ”