Various

“ Very different is an Olympic dolichos from any race of the provinces, and though struggling desperately, they drop back, unable longer to stand the tremendous strain. One stadion, two stadia, are passed, and the third begun, nor does Philoctetes falter aught in his even, rapid gait. Right at his shoulder glare the eyes of Listhenes, who would gladly give his life this day that Athens might win. There is a great hush as the runners traverse the third course. ”

“ Flea had never heard the teacher swear until he flung a round and abusive oath at the negro and plunged back into the woods. Sly Dick had been morally certain that the fine gentleman would never in any circumstances demean himself to become a passenger in a tumbler-cart. He had not risked dampening his Chaney's "things" by the invitation, or it would never have been given. Flea, half dead with dread lest it might be accepted, felt the blood rush wildly from her heart to her head in the relief of the escape, sank back upon the feather bed, and fainted away. ”

“ Veterans are they in many a hard-fought contest at the great games—Olympic, Pythian, Nemean, and Isthmian—and, certain of success, rest untroubled by any feverish imaginings.
Dion's thoughts go back to that Olympiad in which his brothers scored a double victory for Croton. Before the silent multitude that day Glaucus blessed his sons for the glory they had brought him.
Every honor was heaped on the winners that Greece had to bestow. World poets and singers gave of their genius to adorn the names of the sons of Glaucus. Phidias himself made them immortal in snowy marble. ”

“ The horrible waiting, the strain of suspense, have unnerved many an athlete more seasoned than Dion. A short hour before, Hippomaches, the grizzled old trainer of Croton, had made a final visit to see that all was well with his charges. Close on his departure came Glaucus, the boy's father, a man well past three score, yet with massive frame seemingly untouched by time as when, forty-four years ago, the mighty Milo of Syracuse had fallen before him under such a deadly cestus-stroke that the "blow of Glaucus" passed into a proverb. ”

“ Dion, with a crowd of other competitors, passes through the vaulted tunnel between long lines of brazen Zanes, and finds himself on the stadion in the full glare of the early sunlight. The heights around are thronged far as the eye can see with a vast crowd. To-day Dion runs before an assembled world. The long straight expanse of the stadion stretches before him. At either end are sunken slabs of white marble. Ten times must a runner touch each block to cover the full twenty courses. ”

“ Flea had not thought of going home when she ran out of the school-house. She would have said that she dared not meet her father and mother after what she had done. Maddened by her wrongs, she was conscious of but two impulses—to revenge herself upon the guilty party, and then to get out of sight of everybody. The best thing that could happen to her, she told herself, would be to die in the woods, of starvation and exposure, and to be found there by a search party sent out by her parents. ”

“ Neck by neck, stride for stride the three stagger on, and the finish is but a few steps away. The multitude is mad with excitement. Even the Hellenodikæ forget their stoicism, and lean forward, for who touches the stone first, if by only a hair's-breadth, is the winner. Then above the deep roar of the crowd sounds a voice like a trumpet-peal, the tremendous voice of Hippomaches, wisest of the sons of men in every wile of the stadion.
"The finish! Dion, the finish! ”

“ Through the black tree-trunks steals a wavering glow from where the lone priestess of Hestia tends the eternal flame that forever burns on the Prytaneum. From either side of Dion's tent he hears the deep, regular breathing of his twin brothers, men of tremendous strength and stature like to their father, who have won fame almost equal to his—one as a wrestler, the other as a boxer. ”

“ His iron grip tightens like a vise on the trainer's shoulder. "I know little of contests wherein men trust to their feet," he mutters. "Why lags the boy so far behind? He—he is not losing heart?"
"Watch the first turning, O Glaucus, and thou wilt see why Dion holds back," Hippomaches answers, grimly. "'Tis the bitter stadia that comes last by which thy son's courage will be proven."
Now the crowd of runners are at the end of the first course. The madness of the race is upon most of the novices. ”

“ Far away across the plain—so far that the many-voiced tumult of the crowded city is but an echo—in dark silence stand the sacred olive groves. Against the grayish-green foliage gleam the white tents of the athletes, chosen from all Greece, who are to compete on the morrow. ”

“ A great hush has fallen on the multitude as the competitors take the places assigned them by lot. It is broken by the voice of the herald.
"Let him that knows of any stain on the life or blood of a competitor speak now!" it thunders. A moment of tense silence, and then——"Let every runner place his feet on the mark!" echoes along the hill-side.
Each nude figure bends forward; a clear trumpet-note, and they are away, a rushing mass of bodies that gleam in the sunlight. ”

“ While Alaric watched them, wondering how it must seem to be as free from both hunger and anxiety as that happy-looking chap evidently was, the ball tossed to Nel-te escaped him and rolled under the iron bench. As the child came running up, the lad recovered it and handed it to him.
"Fank you, man," said the little chap, and then ran away.
After a while the ball again came in the same direction, and, as the child did not follow it, Alaric picked it up and tossed it to Phil.
"Hello!" cried the latter. "It seems mighty good to be catching a baseball again. Give us another, will you?" ”

“ Speaking roughly, the brassy is first choice, followed by cleek, medium iron, lofter, mashie, and niblick, the last being used only in the most desperate of straits, and where nothing more is expected than to get the ball upon the course again.
The fascination of golf lies in its variety and difficulty. If it were only a question of holing balls, one long hole laid out over a smooth meadow would be all that would be necessary. ”

“ A fit embodiment is he of the grim Lacedæmonian spirit which is yet to dominate all Greece. Faster and faster he runs, hoping to exhaust his rival from hated Athens—none other does he fear. A deep-throated roar of encouragement rises from the tiers of stern-faced, impassive Spartans as their champion flashes past them. ”

“ Now we know that after the tee-shot we must "address" and play the ball as we find it. We are not permitted to tee it again, nor must we touch it with anything except a club, under penalty of one stroke. The choice of club naturally depends upon the distance from the hole, but more especially upon the "lie" of the ball. Should it be resting cleanly on close firm turf, we may be able to use the driver again; but, generally speaking, our American courses are too rough and cuppy to permit the employment of so fragile an instrument as the wooden driver. ”

“ It is to be remembered that all of the foregoing refers to play through the green when the hole is at an indefinite distance away, and we are simply trying to drive the ball the greatest distance possible. But in playing out of a hazard it is often advisable to use what is called, in approaching the hole, a half or a three-quarter swing. Roughly speaking, if the full distance covered by your regular drive be not desirable, make the length of your swing shorter in proportion, but do not try to hit a little more easily. ”

“ Another course, and they begin to draw away from those who have exhausted their strength during the first half of the race. At last there are but five stadia more—the stadia in which the real race is run, the stadia that are the supreme test of a runner's courage and endurance.
Hippomaches tugs at his grizzled beard excitedly. "Fourteen Olympian dolichoi have I seen run in my day," he exclaims [Pg 671] to Glaucus, "but never a faster than this. Flesh and blood cannot stand that pace much longer; some one will drop soon, and—the gods send it be not our Dion!" ”

“ She gave her horse a smart cut and galloped down the road.
"He is looking for me all this time!" thought Flea, fearfully. Her teeth chattered, and she pulled a blanket up over her.
Another adventure was in store for her at the next turn of the highway. Mr. Tayloe stepped out of the edge of the woods and hailed Dick. Flea could have thought his eye met hers as she peeped through the hole in the cover. He stood within six feet of the cart. His hat was the only dry thing he had on. ”

“ If you are in a bunker proper, or sand-pit, you will have to take the niblick or mashie, and you must remember that you are not allowed to "sole" the club—that is, rest it on the ground as in the ordinary address. The idea is that the mark made on the sand by the club head is an unfair guide for the eye, and therefore if you touch sand you lose a stroke. It is often effective in a sand-bunker to aim at a point a little behind the ball, rather than at the "gutty" itself. The club cuts into the yielding sand, and, as it were, explodes the ball into the air and out of danger. ”

“ So the two set forth in opposite directions, Bonny taking a course that would lead him among the shipping, and Alaric walking up the long easy grade of Pacific Avenue toward the city proper. His pride, which no personal suffering nor discomfort could overthrow, had given way at last before the wretchedness of his friend. "It is I who am the cause of it," he said to himself, "and so I am bound [Pg 678] to help him out by the only way I can think of. I hate to do it, for it will be owning up that I am not fit to care for myself or able to fight my own way in the world. ”

“ A hanging ball is one that is lying upon a slope that runs down in the direction of the proposed drive. It looks hard to handle, but the difficulty is purely imaginary. The brassy, or any other club whose face is laid back, will easily raise it into the air if you swing properly and trust to the club to do the work. The beginner is apt to think that he must make an extra turn with his wrists to get the ball up, but he is mistaken. ”

“ A WILD-OLIVE WREATH BY S. SCOVILLE, JUN.
Thronged to the gates is the little town of Elis on this the night before the Olympic Games. Here are present not only men of every Grecian city and province, but strange wanderers from the uttermost corners of the world have assembled to view the games that honor the Ruler of the Gods. ”

“ If the cup be not too deep we may take a brassy, but the stroke will differ slightly from the regular full drive. It should be what is called a "jerked" shot, although the "jerk" has nothing to do with the swing proper. That must be as smooth and regular as possible, but it may be permissible to keep the arms in a trifle, and thereby bring the club up straighter. The principal difference is that the club head cuts into the ground instead of sweeping cleanly over it. The ball is struck in precisely the same manner, and the jerk is simply the after impact of the club head upon the turf. ”

“ In the daisy there is no true pappus, but you have seen it in thistledown and in the dandelion-seed. The pappus serves for little wings for the flower, by which the wind blows the seed about.
Perhaps you like yellow daisies better than the too common white ones. Their seed was brought to us with clover-seed from the West, and now the yellow daisy or cone-flower is a tiresome weed to farmers about New Jersey, and soon will be over all New England. The florets are dark brown, and grow on a pointed receptacle. It is certainly a handsome thing, but it is a weed all the same. ”

“ The tramp of heavy feet resounded in the castle, and without a word a score of tall brawny warriors encircled the table and enclosed the generals. Behind the chair of Alva, unnoticed, stood the restless soldier, his face, his arms, his body, afire with hate. They say that gaunt, patient, hungry revenge is of the South, that the Northman never feels it, but when a man has lost wife, children, home, peace, liberty, and he sees the instrument of all before him—Heaven shall lightly judge his deed in such a moment! ”