"The last inning! The last inning!" cried Miss Alice, gleefully clapping her hands, "and the Catalpas are first at the bat with a lead of one to their credit! Oh, I do hope that Albert will make a run! I know he will! Look at him where he stands! Isn't he handsome, Aunt Anstress?"
Miss Anstress Howell turned her cool glance in the direction of the Diamond Field, and looking at Albert, said that she was not sure whether a young man could be called good-looking in those singularly ill-fitting and peculiar clothes that ball-players wore; but she was interested in the game, as a whole, she said, without any special interest in the players as individuals. She took in the performance without any thought for the men who carried it forward. "You are a kind of overseeing providence, Anstress?" said the Judge.
While they were talking, a murmur, only a murmur, of conversation swept around the crowded enclosure, and everybody seemed to be saying to his neighbor that this was the conclusive and crucial moment in the struggle. All eyes were intent on Al Heaton, and even grown men held their breath, as, with close tension of every nerve, they watched the movements of the players in the field. Tom Selby, attended by his faithful satellite, Mike Costigan, who had aholiday, gazed with admiring eyes at his demi-god, Albert Heaton, and so still was the air, now soft and warm and dimmed by the lustrous October haze, that one might have heard a leaf drop, as Bill Van Orman eloquently expressed it, afterwards.
Albert patiently waited for a good ball, and when he saw one come, at last, he sent the sphere out of the reach of Glenn Otto and placed a base hit to his credit. Next came "The Lily" who hit the very first ball pitched, for two bases, and, with a volley of ah-h-h-s following him, sent in Al Heaton to the home plate. Larry came next in order, and pretty Alice Howell felt a quickening of her pulse and her color glowing as she saw the resolute and sturdy figure of the favorite of the club shouldering his bat and striding to position. Larry made a safe hit to the right field, sending in "The Lily," and securing his own base. Sam Morrison was put out at first while Larry shot to second base. Then Neddie Ellis went out on a fly to Rob Peabody, and Charlie King ended the inning for the Catalpas, by striking out, leaving Larry on third base, to which he had stolen meanwhile.
The Catalpas now had a lead of three, and the Calumets came to the bat with lugubrious faces. "But I have seen sicker children than this get well," was Captain Ayres's philosophical remark, as Glenn Otto went to the bat for the visiting club.
The Catalpas went to the field with an elation which they could hardly conceal, and with a tolerably firm belief intheir victory. They handled the ball with a dexterity almost unexampled, even for them, and speedily put a damper on any hopes that the Calumets might have cherished. Glenn Otto went out on a fly to John Brubaker. Jamie Kennedy was thrown out at first base by Hart Stirling, and Charlie Webb ended the game by hitting a hot ball to Larry Boyne who made a lightning throw to first base, before any of the spectators could see what had become of the ball, so swift and agile were his motions.
A great cheer burst forth from the multitude. The umpire superfluously cried "Game" in the midst of a deafening uproar, and, as the two captains advanced towards each other to clasp hands, the Catalpas, relieving their pent-up enthusiasm with a wild yell, swooped down upon Larry Boyne, whose brilliant play had terminated the game, and, seizing him bodily, carried him above their heads, shouting "Hurrah for the 'Curly-headed Cat!'" as they swung around and round the Diamond Field. Men and boys whooped and shouted, women waved handkerchiefs and parasols, and numberless small boys shrilly added to the din. Truly it was a great day for Catalpa.
For a moment, Alice could not trust herself to speak. And when, with unsteady voice, she responded to her father's delighted comments, he looked at her with surprise and said,
"Why, Alice, my child, I believe you are crying!"
"For joy, papa," was all she said. Just then, the lads, still carrying Larry, with flushed face and sparkling eyes, his curly hair ruffled by his unwonted treatment, surged towardsthe Judge's carriage. Alice extended her hand, and their eyes met with one swift glance of unspeakable elation. The Judge looked on with benignant approbation, an unusual lump rising in his throat as he regarded with unaffected admiration the young athlete who had carried off the honors of the day.
"HURRAH FOR THE CURLY-HEADED CAT!"—Page 200.
"You are to be congratulated very heartily, Mr. Boyne," he said. "Our club has won a famous victory, and it is a proud thing for you that your associates fix upon you as the noblest warrior of them all."
With more cheers and congratulations, the assembly slowly dispersed, the booming of an anvil salute falling on their ears as the men, women and children of Catalpa descended the hill to the town. And in the records of that proud community was written this score:—
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9total.Catalpas0 0 0 2 0 1 1 0 2 =6.Calumets0 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 =3.Runs earned—Catalpas, 3;Calumets, 2.Base hits— " 10; " 5.Errors— " 3; " 4.Umpire,Mr. John E. O'Neill.
All these things happened years ago. It would be difficult for any inquiring stranger to gather the threads of the narrative herein set forth. Even the name of the Calumet base ball club disappeared from the roll of the League, after thatonce-famous organization had been reconstructed, merged, and re-reconstructed. The title of the Catalpa Base Ball Club has survived time's changes, but the founders of the club are now sedate upholders of the dignity and credit of their city, with little time or inclination for athletic sports. Their successors cherish with just pride the traditions of the early achievements of the club, and the titles of the original nine are carried with due respect for those who first wore them. The visitor in Catalpa would note many changes in the busy western town from which the famous base ball club went forth to conquer. Judge Howell has left the bench; and he and his daughter Alice have taken to themselves a partner, whose name appears on a signboard bearing the inscription—
Howell & Boyne,Attorneys at Law.
Of a summer afternoon, when the cares of business may be laid down for a while, 'Squire Boyne, as he is called by his fellow-townsmen, may sometimes be found seated in the outer rim of the well-appointed amphitheater of the Catalpa grounds, with other battle-scarred veterans around him, watching the mimic combat in the field below, and telling once moreHow our Base Ball Club won the Championship.
THE END.
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