V.
; : THE .OREGON SUNDAY JOURNAL, PORTLAND, SUNDAY MORNING DECEMBER 20
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The Metis and the Elephant lived at ease
On the island Of Where-and-Why, -But
the Elephant mourned.
In hi ponderous way,
That h was bo wide and high.
The mouse, on the other hand, squeaked with grief,
And crossed his beautiful eyes,
Lamenting that he
Was so very small .
Each envied the other his size.
One night, when the moon was over the left
And the wind was sounding his trump,
A Fairy came forth
From her home in a cleft,
With a hop, and a skip, and a jump,
And placed a spelt on the sleeping pair,
When, lol at the morning's call.
The louse, it was plain,
Had been growing large,
And the Elephant growing small.
Then danced they ; a jig in their greenwood
bower ' '
What less could the Fairy expect?
' Afld each one remarked.
In merriest mood:
We certainly are the elect."
The change soon completed, their sizes reversed.
Again they would live at their ease
The Elephant dined
On a thimble of hay,
The Mouse on a cart-load of cheese.
Grimalkin and traps no terrors possessed
For the Mouse in his new disguise;
The Elephant scoffed
As hidden he watched
The tents of the circus arise.
But joy was short-lived; sorrows gathered apace:
They were strangers among their own kinl
They kept optn house, -
The Elephant had
Little use for his trunk,
And the Mouse for his length of tail.
As good neighbors should;
' Yet no former companions dropped in.
Their talents were wasted in dozens of ways,
Which caused them till more to bewail:
At last, when their griefs could no longer be borne,
And they hadn't a single friend,
They, both laid them down
By the pitying sea,
Their lives and their troubles to end.
Again, the pale moon being over the left,
And the wind a-sounding his trump,
The Fairy came forth
From her home in the cleft,
With a hop, and a skip, and a jump,
And, lifting the spell frofh the perishing pair
By the side of the whispering wave,
She bade them return
Each one to his own,
And be happy; and good, and brave.
MORAL
(FOR LARCH CHILDREN)
Let each be himself, not somebody else,
Nor covet what others may hold. '
Each one has his place,
That he can best till:
Contentment is silver and gold.
MORAL NUMBER TWO
(CONFIDENTIAL FOR SMALL CHILDREN )
When fairies come forth, with the mOon on the left
And the wind ts sounding his trump,
Good children had better
Be scampering home, .
With a hop, and a skip, and a jump!
ITlie ;:0.ut. Curve j
1 ,By LeeBe.-..W. Qraark fUS i
are - .
T HE minute the game was ended, Kenton, ' the y
captain of the varsity crew, rushed out on '
the diamond and grasped the hand of Elton,
the big pitcher.
"You pitched a perfect game, Baby," he
cried, with bis ' face flushed and his eyes
bright "Now there ' only one victory be
tween us and the championship. We must win HI"
We will," said Elton. He hesitated jnst an instant.
"At least, I hope so."
The home nine was trotting off the field after win
mng the game.
"Oh, Kenton," -called Elton, as the man was turning
away, "I want to have a little talk with you. Will you
be in your roomto-night?"
"Office hours from seven to ten," declared Kenton,
.good-naturedly. "Come when you like,' and stay as
long as you please." He noticed that Elton did not
smile; even the honor of winning a critical game'
seemed to have left the pitcher in low spirits.
Elton called early, and was ill at ease. He found
1kntAn tittinv Art thl Inline nlnvificr 1h tnandntin
After a time the conversation turned to baseball, and
Kenton grew enthusiastic, over the probability of win
ning the' pennant . Elton's fingers clenched about the;
'arm of his chair: "' -',':'"
"It 'a that game,' he said, with a little catch in-his
voice, "that I wanted to talk to you about."
Kenton looked tip quickly. "Yes," he said encourag
ingly. ' '?:.. v '.'" -,- :M' ... '. ''"'
"Well, it Is nt till Saturday, and I know Landebin
will put me in the box again. My arm Is pretty
stronff. and will be as srood as ever by that time. But''
he stopped and looked out the window "but I 'm
' afraid."
"Oh, it will be a game worth seeing," said Kenton,
"but I don't think we need worry." ,
"It is n't that," said Elton.' "It 's simply that I 'm ,
afraid., J lack steadiness. Do you suppos I did n't;
know how things were, even Back in the early spring,
; when we were practising in the cage?; Do you suppose
I did n't understand when Landebin used to watch me
' throw at that parallelogram on the canvas, and used j
to say, 'Good!' and 'Neat!' every time the ball curved '
in between the black -lines and then used to tell me :
to go easy and take my time ? He knew t was apt to
'go to pieces.' and I did it, lots of times, up there in j
it- ' T W afraid T It Vn tn nia' in Cihinl'i i
game, that 's all. I could n't tell this to anybody bat j
you, Kenton." ' J
. The big oarsman looked at Elton thoughtfully.
"Yes, Baby," he said encouragingly I understand. '
I ve been watching yon all. season, perhaps a little j
closer than you imagined I talked with Coach Landed -bin-about
this same thing once, when h was afraid
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"thai there was too much in you for anything of the
kind; that you would hold yourself in check by sheer
willpower."' 1 ' '. .
Landebin Jaughed. "Oh, there 's -no harm In it" he
'"said,' "only it is apt to make you look as if you were
nervous. We want a cool pitcher to-day, Baby. By
the way, you and Peters had better get to work warm
ing up. We bat first, but por half of the inning won't
.last long."
It did not Two of the batters fanned, and the
other one- knocked a ball straight into the bands of
the short-stop.
Elton walked out to the pitcher's box with his heart
thumping rapidly. Peters slipped on his mask and pro
tector, and held out his hands. A sudden desire to
show his catcher that he could put the out-curve over
the plate made Elton send in the ball without warning.
He threw it with the snap of his wrist that meant
ypeed, and it curved neatly over the center of the
plate. Peters grinned. '
He stopped and looked at the boy. Elton was breath
ing quickly.
"Once you came to me with this same confession in
your heart. I pretended not to see it there, and we
sat and talked of other subjects. I told you of other
fellows whose courage had been doubted, and who
stood firm and true at the last. I took up my mando
lin and strummed a few chords of 'Varsity ! .Varsity V
Your lips closed. Baby, and your mouth grew firmer;
and the next day do you remember that Michigan
game? you went into the box and pitched as no man
ever pitched on our diamond before.
Elton laughed in an embarrassed manner, and rose
to go. At the door he turned around to his big com
forter and said;
"Yes, I remember it very well. I played that game
as if my life depended Upon it. Then when it was
over, and you held my hand a minute and said, "You 're
true blue, kid !' I felt' like sitting down and crying. I
did n't understand, but I knew you had done a very
great deal for me." - ;
"I have done nothing," declared Kenton, "except to
show you that you must not fail us, and that you need
not. I was perfectly confident that day, and jf am just
as confident about you in Saturday's game. Dobbins
and Peters and 1 Edgren and the rest of the heavy
batters may get the glory, but the winning or losing
will be in your hands. I am not in the least afraid of
your failing us. Good night, Baby.":
Saturday dawned clear and warm. Early in the
morning, before the sun was hot, Coach Landebin took
his squad of players out to the athletic field, and for
an hour they batted and fielded. - Elton was put to
work tossing . a few balls to Peters, the big catcher.
The boy's arm felt strong, and his curves were good.
, He had thrown perhaps a dozen balls when Peters
called, for an out-curve. Elton shifted the ball in his
hands, and his fingers gripped it firmly. Then he
stepped forward and threw. - The hall went wide.
Again they tried it and again the ball was a foot
from the plate. . Peters frowned just a little, and '
changed the signal. Presently, he tried the out-curve
once morer:This time the throw was hopelessly wide, ,
and Peters, who understood, gave up,the attempt He
would call for as few outs as possible during the game.
By three o'clock the grand stand was fulL and the
"rooters" were piling into the "bleachers." ; K -
Up in its place in the grand stand, the university
hand was playing rollicking airs. Both nines were on
the field. - . . . " ;' ,. .- .'
- Elton was standing near the players bench, looking
op info the sea of faces in the grand. stand. His foot
With A hop. a skip, s a Jonpi
was keeping time with the music, and there was a
bright flush on his checks. ' ....
"I would n't do that. Babv." said Coach Landebin s
voice. Elton turned quicklv, and found the man eyeing
the foot with which he had been beating time.
"I beg your pardon, sir. I did n't know I was do
ing it."
' "Play ball !" ordered the umpire.
The first batter was a short, wiry fellow. He smiled
pleasantly at the pitcher, and Elton tried to smile back.
But the attempt was a pitiful failure, for the fear
which he had been fighting gripped his heart. Then
Peters opened the clumsy catcher's mit, and signaled
for an out-curve.
Elton put his fingers carefully about the ball and
hesitated. The batter seemed hundreds of feet away, i
and the home plate looked like a white dot m the dis-
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lance, reiers waueu lmijaurmiy.
Then Elton threw. The ball started straight for the
plate, but after going a few feet curved slowly away
from the batter.
"One ball " said the umpire.
Peters signaled for another out-curve.
"Two balls!" said the umpire.
It was to be an in-curve this time. Elton's heart
felt like a throbbing engine, and he seemed to see the
batter through a haze.
"Three balls I" called the umpire, and there came a
groan from the bleachers.
"He will expect another ball," Elton told himself,
"and won't try to bit it. I must throw a strike. Peter
must understand" .
The big catcher did understand. He called for a
straight ball, and Elton threw one.
An instant later there was a sudden sharp, report.
The rooters of the other nine yelled and cheered
frantically. Horrts tooted. Megaphones bellowed. The
noise was frightful.
It was a home run ; even Elton knew that The
batter had caught the ball just right, and sent it far
over the head of the left-fielder. . It meant a run in
the first inning, and runs are precious things in a
critical game. ,
Peten was unmoved by the home run. He smiled
a little and slipped on his mask again. Then he stepped
into position, and called for the next balL It came,
whistling shrilly and cutting the plate in two. An
other, with the same curve, fooled the batter ; and
after the third ball the umpire aid, "Batter out !" and
Peters and Elton grinned at each other like two chil
dren, i j "- -:-' " '..'.'.-
It wai a wonderful sjame. The innings passed with
out a score. Elton pitched faultless ball, but Peters
dared not call for the out-curve, v
In the first half of the ninth, Edgten unexpectedly
lined out a three-base hit and scored on a single which
.Peters dropped into right field. A minute later Peter
stole second. It was the first stolen base of the game,
and the crowd cheered frantically. Ganley, who played
first, was up. He rripped the bat firmly, and stepped
up to the plate.! Two strikes were called on him at
he stood waiting for the ball he wanted. At last it
came, waist-high and swift and he met it squarely with
COPYRIGHT V THK CCNTUAY COMPANY
his bat. I'etfrs was off for third at the crack of the
stick. Elton was coaching, and as he saw the right
fielder fail to handle the ball neatly he yelled for Peters
to go home.
The player had the ball almost before Peters left
third. - Elton raced toward home with the big catcher,
keeping ju?t outside the line, and urging him on wildly.
It was nip and tuck between Peters and the ball.
Eltoii yelled to him to slide, and the big catcher put
out his hands and dived for the plate. A cloud of dust
arose, and almost hid the play. But out of it came the
even voice of the umpire:
"Safe!" .
It was Elton himself who struck wildly at the first
three balls pitched to him. and who retired the side
without another run. Pitchers afe notoriously poor
batters, and Elton was no exception. He threw down
the bat with a queer look on his face that made Peters
wince.
"Peters," he said, with the little egotistical note in his
voice that the big catcher liked, "we are one run
ahead, and it 's the last half of the ninth. I am going
to throw that out-curve now, and I shall put it over."
So Peters called for the out-curve. It came, straight
over this time ; but the batter caught it and singled to
left field. Elton gave the next man his base on balls,
and was safely hit again. The bases were full, and no
body was out. ' "
"It has come," said the boy to himself, drearily. "I
went 'up in the air' just when I should have been
steady. I knew it."
Landebin called to him. Elton nodded. "I am to
be put on the bench, I suppose, and Farley is to finish
the game. I deserve it, but" He walked slowly over
to the coach. , ,
"Baby," said Landebin, with a smile, ''yow have
pitched the best game of your life up to now. Just
keep it up. You 're in a bit of a tight place, but you
will pull out. That 's all. Go back and win." "
Elton's shoulders squared. "I will, Mr. Landebin."
he said. ,
He went back into the box and picked up the ball,
He hoped Peters would call for the out-curve, but the
catcher did not dare. He noticed that the sun was riot
as hot now, and that a little breeze had sprunff up.
"Play ball!" ordered the umpire. ; . P
The next player waited, impatient for the honor of
winning the game. Elton grinned at him, and Peters,
vun(Uhe bat saw the face nd grinned too.
. Then Elton twisted his fingers about the ball, swunsf his
arm in a half-circle, and threw. Three times he did it
and three times the batter swung without touching the
balL TR crowd was down on the grounds now, piled
fifty deep just outside the picket fence. ;
Elton threw two balls to the next batter, then two
stnkev another, baH, and the third strike. Two men
were out. . - .. , , . . .. v
'.The next batter was one who had not secured a safe
hit during the srame. He stood close to the plate, and
Elton was afraid he would hit him. So the first three
pitched balls went wide. . ,
The crowd groaned. The situation . wis very critical
v . ' .
The base's were full, and the man at bat had three balls'
and no strikes. . - j
'. ,7 must do it," said Elton, half aloud; "1 must do;
.- - r i( ...... j
. Peters took a minute to adjust his mask, and; the
boy knew it was to give htm time to cool down. Some-1
body over at the fence yelled, "All right Baby!" and
Elton recognized Kenton's calm voice. He shot the
ball straight into Peter's waiting hands.
"One strike!" said the umpire.
Elton's heart was thumping again, and his cheeks
burned. He was holding himself down y layingr over
and over, "I must do it; I must do it!" He drew back
his arm and threw the ball, a
"Two strikes !" said the umpire.
A perfect bedlam of noise broke forth from the
crowd. The minute Elton had the ball again, the sud
den stillness was terrible. - . -
The batter looked at his coach: then he stepped a
little closer to the plate. Even from the box Elton
could see an unnatural strained look in his face. His
forehead was drawn into deep wrinkles. Elton thought
- he looked as if he were about to be shot Then he
understood
The bases were fulL Four balls would force in a
run, but the other coach hsd given up expecting any
thing but a third strike. The batter's chances of get
mg a safe hit were hopelessly small. There was only
onealternative. The batter must allow himself to be
hit by the next pitched ball and thus force in a run.
Elton took the ball in his right hand, and Peters
called for an. in-curye. He shook his head at Peters.
The catcher, brow was puckered, but he signaled for
an up-shoot, then for a down. Still Elton shook his
head Then Peters, who believed in the boy as nobody
else on the team did, called for the out-curve.
It was one chance In a hundred, and Elton knew it.
Even when he was calmer he had failed to put the
ball where he wanted it. But he was no longer afraid.
Something of the confidence of the coach, and of good
old Peters, , and of Kenton, inspired him. He drew
back his arm in the semicircle to vwhich the player
had grown accustomed, and threw an out-curve, wiih
all the speed aid all the rotary motion he could put
into the balL -; y ',. . -.": , - ;-v . , -;
It started straight as a bullet for the batter. Tim
fellow saw it coming, and though a perceptible qnivr
ran over him, he stood his ground like a Trojan. Tli
ball would hit him. There was no need to step for
ward So he braced himself a best he coul 1, nil
closed his eyes.
-' The ball curved gracefully out from the batter, a '
sailed straight over the center of the plat?
"Three strikes and out!" called the umpire ' T' - '
side was retired, and the game won.
Landebin was the first to reach the 'bov '"p
you. old man!" was all he said, but F.:-- V ! - v !
understood. '
Peters grasped his hand wi-h a vl ' ! ' -
knew you 'd do it." he grinne-'L
Bjp this time i Kenton wfi c -. c r . .
did n't fail us, Baby," r . ; . .
peated it "You dii n't fU t.-."