JERIE
 
 PUBLISHERS' ADVERTISEMENT. 
 
 From the Boston Daily Advertiser. 
 
 THE "NO NAME SERIES." 
 "LEIGH HUNT, /// his l Indicator? has a pleasant chapter 
 on the difficulty he encountered in seeking a suitable and fresh 
 title for a collection of his miscella?ieous writings. Messrs. 
 Roberts Brothers have just overcome a similar difficulty in 
 the simplest manner. In selecting "No NAME," they have 
 selected the very best title possible for a series of Original 
 American Novels and Tales, to be published Anonymously. 
 These novels are to be written by eminent authors, and in 
 each case the authorship of the work is to remain an inviolable 
 secret. " No Name " describes the Series perfectly. No name 
 will help the novel, or the story, to success. Its success will 
 depend solely on the writer's ability to catch and retain the 
 reader's interest. Several of the most distinguished writers 
 of American fiction have agreed to contribute to the Series, 
 the initial volume of which is now in press. Its appearance 
 will certainly be aivaited with curiosity." 
 
 The plan thus happily foreshadowed will be immediately 
 inaugurated by the publication of " MERCY PHILBRICK'S 
 CHOICE," from the pen of a well-known and successful writer 
 of fiction. 
 
 It is intended to include in the Series a volume of anonymous 
 poems from famous hands, to be written especially for it. 
 
 The " No Name Series " will be issued at convenient inter- 
 vals, in handsome library form, i6mo, cloth, price $1.00 each. 
 
 ROBERTS 
 
 BOSTON, Midsummer, 1876. 
 
 14O PACiF 
 - - LOMS BEACH. OHLIP.
 
 THE "NO NAME SERIES." 
 
 KISMET. A Nile Novel. 
 
 Opinions, generous tributes to genius, by well-known authors 
 whose names are anonymous. 
 
 "Well, I have read 'Kismet,' and it is certainly very remarkable. The 
 story is interesting, any well-told love story is, you know, but the book itself is 
 a great deal more so. Descriptively and sentimentally, I use the word with 
 entire respect, it is, in spots, fairly exquisite. It seems to me all glowing and 
 overflowing with what the French call bcaute dit diable. . . . The conversa- 
 tions are very clever, and the wit is often astonishingly like the wit of an accom- 
 plished man of the world. One thing which seems to me to show promise 
 great promise, if you will for the future is that the author can not only repro- 
 duce the conversation of one brilliant man, but can make two men talk together as 
 if they -were men, not women in manly clothes." 
 
 " It is a charming book. I have read it twice, and looked it over again, and 
 I wish T had it all new to sit up with to-night. It is so fresh and sweet and inno- 
 cent and joyous, the dialogue is so natural and bright, the characters so keenly 
 edged, and the descriptions so poetic. I don't know when I have enjoyed 
 any thing more, never since 1 went sailing up the Nile with Harriet Martineau. 
 . . . You must give the author love and greeting from one of the fraternity. 
 The hand that gives us this pleasure will give us plenty more of an improving 
 quality every year, I think.-' 
 
 " ' Kismet' is indeed a delightful story, the best of the series undoubtedly." 
 
 " If ' Kismet ' is the first work of a young lady, as reported, it shows a great 
 gift of language, and powers of description and of insight into character and life 
 quite uncommon. ... Of the whole series so far, I think ' Mercy Philbrick's 
 Choice ' is the best, because it has, beside literary merit, some moral tone and 
 vigor. Still there are capabilities in the writer of ' Kismet' even higher than in 
 that of the writer of '^Mercy Philbrick's Choice.' " 
 
 " I liked it extremely. It is the best in the series so far, except in con- 
 struction, in which ' Is That All ? ' slight as it is, seems to me superior. 
 ' Kismet ' is winning golden opinions everywhere. I have nothing but praises 
 for it, and have nothing but praise to give it." 
 
 " I have read ' Kismet ' once, and mean to read it again. It is thoroughly 
 charming, and will be a success." 
 
 One volume, bound in cardinal red and black. Price $1.00. 
 
 Our publications are to be had of all booksellers. When not 
 to be found, send directly to 
 
 ROBERTS BROTHERS, Publishers, Boston.
 

 
 
 SERIES. 
 
 THE GREAT MATCH, 
 
 AND 
 
 OTHER MATCHES.

 
 NO NAME SERIES. 
 
 " Is THE GENTLEMAN ANONYMOUS? Is HE A GREAT UNKNOWN ? " 
 
 DANIEL DERONDA. 
 
 THE GREAT MATCH, 
 
 AND 
 
 OTHER MATCHES. 
 
 BOSTON: 
 
 ROBERTS BROTHERS. 
 1877.
 
 Copyright, 1877, 
 BY ROBERTS BROTHERS.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTKR PAGB 
 
 I. MlLLTOWN AND DORNFIELD 7 
 
 II. MOONLIGHT 22 
 
 III. THE ROSE OF DORNFIELD 53 
 
 IV. TROUBLES 69 
 
 V. THE KNAVE OF CLUBS 81 
 
 VI. BASE-BALL MATTERS 102 
 
 VII. A BIT OF RAILLERY 120 
 
 VIII. DIREFUL PREPARATIONS 147 
 
 IX. A MARTHA WASHINGTON TEA-PARTY . 170 
 
 X. THE DIREFUL FIGHT 198 
 
 XI. THE RESCUE 212 
 
 XII. THE FAIR 228 
 
 XIII. BEFORE AND AFTER 241 
 
 XIV. PROTECTING ARMS 254 
 
 XV. THE GREAT MATCH . 268 
 
 2061745
 
 THE GREAT MATCH. 
 
 CHAPTER I. MILLTOWN AND DORNFIELD. 
 
 |HE villages of Milltown and 
 Dornfield presented a great 
 
 contrast. Milltown was situ- 
 ated upon a river, and was the seat 
 of many manufactories ; it was a 
 bustling, money -making place : 
 while Dornfield was five miles 
 from Milltown, in the centre of 
 a fine agricultural country. The 
 railroad ran through Milltown ;
 
 8 THE GREAT MATCH. 
 
 but Dornfield had to be reached by stage. The 
 Milltownites, as they were termed by their 
 neighbors the Dornfieldites, had great contempt 
 for the little agricultural town. The young 
 country boys flocked to Milltown, leaving their 
 fathers to plod on their old-fashioned way at 
 Dornfield ; for, after a day's work in the mills 
 and machine-shops, there were bright stores to 
 lounge about in the evening, good livery- 
 stables, and much excitement. Young country 
 maidens also found much, in Milltown to prefer 
 to the quiet of Dornfield. There were many 
 dry-goods stores ; there were balls, and soci- 
 ables, photograph saloons, knick-knack shops ; 
 and there were young men in bright neck- 
 ties and unexceptionable boots. The civil war 
 had done much for Milltown. Great mills sprang 
 up almost in a day, and lit up the dammed-up 
 river at night with hundreds of golden spears. 
 New stores, with the latest novelties from the 
 metropolis, perched themselves upon sandy 
 banks, or were to be seen in the midst of 
 vacant lots, expecting to be built around speedily 
 in the great land speculation which was rife. 
 In approaching Milltown by the railroad, one saw 
 nothing until the train, issuing from a bridge, 
 stopped at the depot. At evening, the entire 
 male population seemed to congregate on the 
 platforms. The scraps of news from th neigh-
 
 MILLTOWN AND DORNFIELD. 9 
 
 boring villages along the route of the railroad 
 were exchanged ; the old men, before the arrival 
 of the train, discussed their ailments, and, after 
 the departure of the engine, hobbled homeward, 
 as if the iron horse, with its rush and its energy, 
 had stirred up the sluggishness of their much- 
 talked about " systems." They went first to the 
 post-office veranda, to talk over the arrival of 
 the agent of the Duck Mills with the head of 
 the house, and to wonder if he had come up to 
 buy that " privilege of Bateman's." Every one 
 at the Milltown depot seemed to be in a fever- 
 heat of excitement. Packages of goods were 
 trundled about almost too fast to allow the curi- 
 ous to read the addresses upon them. Mrs. 
 Page's Saratoga trunks were deposited in a half- 
 yawning state. Cases of cotton machinery were 
 cleared out of the way, to make way for bundles 
 of newspapers ; champagne baskets, which were 
 perhaps used to pack Mrs. Page's new set of 
 china-ware in ; and crates of the latest delicacies. 
 Standing in the door-way of the depot could be 
 seen the small boy, who had evidently spent the 
 afternoon in a huckleberry pasture ; the collar- 
 less young village Adonis, who had come to see 
 if a lady friend was going up on the train ; and 
 the transient, who was making up his mind 
 whether to be hustled about on the platform, or 
 
 to be shut into a room papered with railroad 
 i*
 
 10 THE GREAT MATCH. 
 
 announcements, none of which gave him the 
 desired information. While all the bustle was 
 found on the front platform, and belonged en- 
 tirely to Milltown, the dingy old stage for 
 Dornfield, with its streaks of yellow paint, its 
 weather-beaten straps, and its ewe-necked horses, 
 was always to be found behind the depot, half 
 concealed, as if afraid to be contrasted with the 
 shining new equipages which were drawn up 
 ostentatiously at the front side of the platform, 
 waiting for the manufacturing magnates of Mill- 
 town. Certainly, the stranger would never think 
 of leaving the bustling main street, with its 
 modern stores, its comfortable inn, its accessi- 
 bility to the railroad for Dornfield. There were 
 four churches in Milltown to one in Dornfield. 
 There was a circulating library, six apothecary 
 stores, and three newspaper offices, while Dorn- 
 field could only boast of one store. When one 
 speaks of enterprise and energy, Milltown should 
 not be contrasted with Dornfield. But one 
 speedily discovered a difference in the two towns. 
 It seems that, in the early days, the Indians 
 killed six of the inhabitants of Dornfield to one 
 of those of Milltown. Why this difference ? It 
 certainly argued blood ; and to this day the aris- 
 tocracy is to be found at Dornfield, and shoddy 
 at Milltown. In a strange way, it happened, 
 notwithstanding the clemency of the Indians,
 
 MILLTOWN AND DORNFIELD. II 
 
 that no one seemed to have any superfluous 
 ancestors in Milltown. There was a shelf in 
 the town library devoted to genealogies of the 
 rich manufacturers of Milltown ; but there were 
 no time-honored names there, as there were in 
 Dornfield. Milltown had the money, and Dorn- 
 field the aristocracy. This was universally ac- 
 knowledged. The village papers of Milltown 
 often amused themselves about what they termed 
 the blue blood of Dornfield. Whenever a repre- 
 sentative to the general court was to be elected, 
 the two towns were brought into active rivalry ; 
 for there was but one representative for the two, 
 and each strove to elect one of their own towns- 
 men. The cry of blue blood and kid-glove aristo- 
 cracy, raised by the partisan papers of Milltown 
 generally decided the day ; and the manufactur- 
 ing population elected a Milltownite, although no 
 one wore kid gloves in Dornfield. The ministers 
 in Milltown preached for the Universal Church, 
 and against the sin of exclusiveness. The min- 
 ister at Dornfield held up the dangers incident 
 to making money, and prayed that their neigh- 
 bors at Milltown might remember that where 
 there was the greater temptation to sin, there was 
 also the greater reward. 
 
 The society in Milltown was very easy. The 
 transition from poverty to wealth in many cases 
 had been sudden. Every one was hospitable,
 
 12 THE GREAT MATCH. 
 
 and claimed the right to ask as many personal 
 questions as were necessary to form an accurate 
 opinion of each other's business. When the 
 agent of the Duck Mills had a party, there was 
 no exclusiveness : every one was invited ; and, if 
 the crowd was too great for comfort, and every 
 one was squeezed, and the ice-cream gave out, 
 people went home, on the whole pleased ; because 
 the agent invited everybody, and shook every 
 one by the hand. Wealth had not been long 
 enough in its sudden possessors' hands to create 
 fine distinctions. There were no sets in Mill- 
 town ; no cliques : everybody was as good as 
 anybody. If anybody wanted to see how happy 
 people could be without ancestors, one should 
 have gone to Milltown. If one desired to escape 
 the harassing knowledge that there was a set 
 which he was not in, Milltown. If any one 
 desired to meet real American people, without a 
 trace of the pronunciation of a Briton ; people 
 who talked right nosely, Milltown. 
 
 All that we have said in regard to Milltown 
 argues that the reverse can be told of Dornfield. 
 A lady has the art of describing two people in 
 the description of one ; for the tone of her voice 
 implies that she wishes the second party had the 
 virtues of the first, which she so glowingly de- 
 scribes : but a writer has not this power, he must 
 extenuate. Now Dornfield, in its turn, had its
 
 MILLTOWN AND DORNFIELD. 13 
 
 virtues. It was peopled by many of those whose 
 ancestors came over in the " Mayflower." There 
 had never been any temptation to its inhabitants 
 to invest their comparatively small properties in 
 manufacturing, for the river had chosen to run to 
 the east of the range of hills that separated the 
 valley of Milltown from the sweet intervales of 
 Dornfield. The population had early been en- 
 gaged in agricultural pursuits. There were 
 many large landed proprietors, who lived in the 
 old substantial mansions built a hundred years 
 ago, beneath elms which witnessed many Indian 
 scrimmages. In these old mansions the owners 
 preserved with jealous care the samplers worked 
 by their female ancestors, the spinning-wheels, 
 the antique clocks, and the straight-backed chairs, 
 which were their proofs of old family. If a gath- 
 erer of old furniture could have entered the houses 
 in Dornfield, he would have gone wild with delight. 
 These old mansions were kept up with great 
 care by their descendants, although in many 
 cases the eldest sons had gone West to seek their 
 fortunes. This preservation was due to some 
 fortunate marriages which the handsome daugh- 
 ters of Dornfield farmers had made with aristo- 
 cratic families in the metropolis. On the main 
 street of the place there was, as we have said, 
 but one store, and an old tavern, which was once 
 renowned as the stopping-place of the stages
 
 14 THE GREAT MATCH. 
 
 which ran from Albany to the metropolis. It 
 was now strictly temperance, and very quiet. A 
 few of the best people came there to board every 
 summer. Some of the old stages were tumbling 
 to pieces in a corner of the barn attached to the 
 house. The unreclaimed in Milltown told very 
 facetious stories in regard to the possibility of 
 getting something to quench their thirst at this 
 tavern. They once used to make the attempt 
 very often ; but the stern respectability of the 
 maiden lady summer-boarders, and the knowl- 
 edge that a lineal descendant of the first minister 
 killed by the Indians in Dornfield inhabited the 
 house, made them extremely wary. 
 
 It is true that there were cliques and sets in 
 Dornfield. Unfortunately the Indians could not 
 foresee, that, in tomahawking some and sparing 
 others, they were creating immense distinctions 
 in society. When to the fact that one's ances- 
 tors had been scalped was joined the fact of an 
 alliance with a family which had a judge in it, 
 even the most bigoted leveller in Milltown 
 felt an involuntary respect for such Dornfield 
 families. Then, too, there was much culture in 
 Dornfield. Several literary men and women had 
 resided there from time to time, and had sown 
 seed which had been religiously perpetuated by 
 several families. Most of the ladies in town 
 sketched, and one "sculpted," as they termed it
 
 M1LLTOWN AND DORNFIELD. 15 
 
 in Milltown. There was a fern society, and a 
 literary club. While chromos were welcomed in 
 Milltown, and were fast replacing masterpieces 
 in hair, weeping-willows over tombstones, and 
 oil paintings, the work of that man who founded 
 the horse-car school of painting, Dornfield had 
 passed chromos, and had made rapid strides 
 toward higher art. If our aim was not to de- 
 scribe a most exciting episode in the history of 
 the two towns, we should be tempted to delay 
 here, and dilate upon certain ideas of evolution 
 in art, and to frame a theory upon the possible 
 extinction of chromos by the survival of the fit- 
 test in art. The contrasts presented by the two 
 towns would give us much material. Our psy- 
 chological instincts, too, are greatly excited ; but 
 we must leave all this to another pen. There 
 had been several books written in Dornfield, 
 which, if they had not astonished the world, had 
 given a tone to society in this little village, and 
 a local reputation to the authors, which must 
 have satisfied some of the most ardent longings 
 of an author's nature. These books were mainly 
 on religious topics : one was framed after Gott- 
 hold's " Emblems," and described the thoughts 
 which occurred to the authoress in wandering 
 through the beautiful lanes embowered in elm- 
 trees. These trees immediately were fraught 
 with literary interest ; and, if the stranger had
 
 1 6 THE GREAT MATCH. 
 
 never heard of the book, he immediately read it 
 during his first week in Dornfield, before he 
 made many calls. Dornfield was connected by 
 delicate threads with even Venice, Florence, and 
 Rome ; for the cousins of Dornfield people 
 were always travelling, and they wrote circular 
 letters. Besides the highly cultivated people in 
 Dornfield, there were simple country folk, who 
 raised chickens and vegetables for the Milltown 
 market, and kept a few city boarders in the 
 summer on the surplus. There were also a few 
 tradespeople, who did business in Milltown, but 
 who lived in Dornfield. In a community so 
 constituted, it was natural that there should be 
 cliques and sets. The Dornfield magnates were 
 supremely happy in a certain exclusiveness ; and 
 the Milltown folks felt their hearts warm as they 
 thought of their own hospitable and liberal dem- 
 ocratic ways. Indeed, Milltown was like a bit of 
 the prosperous West transported to New England 
 soil, and placed in juxtaposition with a commu- 
 nity of an academic town. 
 
 Such were the towns of Milltown and Dorn- 
 field at the time Grandhurst arrived upon the 
 scene. He was a young man of twenty-six, who 
 had spent the last ten years of his life abroad, 
 and had just returned to engage in a profession 
 in his native country. Before settling down, he 
 had run down to Dornfield to see Mr. Tom
 
 MILLTOWN AND DORNFIELD. 17 
 
 Milton, a rich man, who was the warmest friend 
 of his late father. When the train arrived at 
 Milltown, Grandhurst immediately perceived that 
 there was some great excitement : the platform 
 was covered with young men and boys, many of 
 whom were dressed in base-ball costumes. 
 Shout upon shout rent the air. Presently a 
 young man was mounted upon the shoulders of 
 the crowd, and, preceded by boys beating drums 
 and gongs, he was carried at a run up the vil- 
 lage street. 
 
 " What is the excitement ? " asked Grandhurst, 
 as he stepped upon the platform. 
 
 " A goose-egg ! " shouted the man, as he ran. 
 
 " Some more of this American slang, I sup- 
 pose," said Grandhurst, pulling his long side- 
 whiskers and elevating his chin. 
 
 " I say, look heah, boy, where 's the coach to 
 Dornfield ? " 
 
 " Hy yah ! Hy yah ! " answered the boy, leap- 
 ing up as if to jump through his hands, uttering 
 a shriek, and running off to join the procession. 
 
 " Some base-ball nonsense, I suppose," said 
 Grandhurst, mentally fuming. " The whole town 
 seems to be in a furore. I say, my man, can 
 you tell me how I 'm to get to Dornfield ? " 
 
 The man who was addressed took out a stump 
 of a cigar and pointed up the village street. 
 " Coach starts from the post-office," said he.
 
 1 8 THE GREAT MATCH. 
 
 Grandhurst saw that his baggage was safely 
 placed in the depot, and started in the direction 
 indicated. "There is one thing," he muttered 
 to himself, " that they understand better here than 
 on the Continent, they do understand how to 
 transmit baggage. I wonder where that stage 
 is ! Cursed manners these American officials 
 have ! Now, in Europe, that fellow on the plat- 
 form would have touched his hat, and exerted 
 himself for me ; but no, he was what they call 
 here ' up and coming/ dying to ask me a dozen 
 questions, I suppose." 
 
 The top of the stage-coach was already cov- 
 ered with a crowd of base-ball players ; and the 
 inside was apparently full. " Plenty of room in 
 there," replied the driver, in answer to Grand- 
 hurst. 
 
 " Pretty close quarters," said a base-ball player, 
 crowding to make way for Grandhurst. " Guess 
 we can accommodate a few more ; and still they 
 come, boys. There is a lady who wants to go to 
 Dornfield." Amidst shouts of laughter, the 
 hilarious young men crowded to make way for 
 a woman with two bandboxes. 
 
 " Can ye take any more in there ? " asked the 
 driver ; " here 's Mrs. Simpson and daughter com- 
 ing." 
 
 " Yes ! " shouted the base-ball men : " Mrs. 
 Simpson and daughter, by all means."
 
 MLLLTOWN AND DORNFIELD. 19 
 
 " Let me get out ! " exclaimed Grandhurst, 
 struggling in a corner of the coach. " This is a 
 regular imposition. Driver, don't you know any 
 better than to put such a crowd on your coach ? " 
 
 " Who 's talking," said the driver, looking down 
 contemptuously. 
 
 " We are all talking," answered a self-consti- 
 tuted wit in the inside. 
 
 " I am talking ! " said Grandhurst, in a loud 
 voice. " I 've paid for a seat to Dornfield, and 
 want my money's-worth. You have no business 
 to crowd the interior of your coach so." 
 
 " You had a seat, didn't yer ? " said the driver, 
 while a dozen heads craned over the top of the 
 coach to witness the excitement. 
 
 "No! " thundered Grandhurst. 
 
 " Ye wa'n't smart, then. Whoa ! whoa ! Come, 
 hop on somewhere : I can't stop." 
 
 " I '11 prosecute you to the extent of the law ! " 
 said Grandhurst, in a towering rage. 
 
 The entire stage-load of young men set up a 
 loud whistle. "What's that the chap says?" 
 asked the driver, starting up his horses. 
 
 " He says he will have the law on ye, and 
 eat you alive, and make you pay the costs," 
 shouted the wit. 
 
 " I '11 resk him ; he had as good a chance as 
 any of ye. I 'm a tough one." 
 
 " That you are, Billy," remarked Ned Black,
 
 20 THE GREAT MATCH. 
 
 the captain of the nine, whom the crowd had 
 carried about on their shoulders. The stage 
 rapidly disappeared in a cloud of dust, leaving 
 Grandhurst standing on the curbstone. 
 
 " Ye ought to have gone on with the boys," 
 remarked a tall Yankee, who was sitting on the 
 piazza in front of the post-office. " You 'd had 
 a fust-rate, jolly ride ; those fellows are in high 
 humor, and they '11 sing splendidly on the way. 
 They are feeling fine, I tell ye. Beat us bad." 
 
 " I '11 make that driver smart for this ! " ex- 
 claimed Grandhurst. 
 
 " He wa' n't to blame," replied the man. "Bless 
 ye, they will crowd in." 
 
 " That 's the way they manage in this coun- 
 try ! " exclaimed Grandhurst ; " and if a man 
 stands up for his rights, the insolent official is 
 backed up by the ignorant crowd. Now, in Eng- 
 land or France, such an outrage as this would 
 never be permitted. Oh, I '11 make him smart 
 for this yet ! " 
 
 " See : where did ye come from ? " asked the 
 man, with an air of interest. 
 
 " France, last," replied Grandhurst, curtly. 
 
 " See : they 've had another fight over there 
 lately, haven't they ?" 
 
 " Yes, several. Now, can you tell me how I 'm 
 to get to Dornfield ? " 
 
 " Waal, I guess my boy can carry you over.
 
 MILLTOWN AND DORNFIELD. 21 
 
 I '11 see." Thus saying, the tall Yankee slowly 
 arose, and disappeared towards the rear of the 
 post-office. In a few moments he returned, with 
 a boy who led an old horse which was attached 
 to a country wagon ; and Grandhurst, making his 
 terms, was slowly conveyed towards that village. 
 His driver informed him that the Milltown base- 
 ball nine had beaten one game, and the Dorn- 
 field nine had just won one, and that there was 
 still one more game to be played. Grandhurst 
 was irritated, and listened with a deaf ear to 
 the volume of intelligence which his companion 
 opened before him. He saw the coach roll on 
 ahead, the men on top waving handkerchiefs and 
 flags, while, as they neared Dornfield, people ran 
 out from farm-houses along the road, and stopped 
 the stage to hear the news. The boy drove past 
 the stage at length, and entered a fine avenue, 
 just before the road branched to go to the main 
 street of the village. As they drove up the 
 avenue, he pointed out to Grandhurst Mr. Mil- 
 ton's fine mansion, standing at the head of an 
 English-like lawn.
 
 22 THE GREA T MA TCH. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 MOONLIGHT. 
 
 /^RANDHURST found a group of villagers 
 ^ ^ upon the veranda, talking in an excited 
 manner to a young lady, whom he supposed 
 must be Miss Molly Milton, the niece of Mr. 
 Tom Milton. The young lady immediately came 
 forward as he alighted, and greeted him by name. 
 
 " We expected you yesterday ! " she exclaimed, 
 " and sent our man to the depot." 
 
 " Uncle Tom, this is Mr. Grandhurst," said 
 she, turning to a well-preserved old gentleman 
 who at that moment came down the staircase. 
 
 " Mr. Grandhurst, happy to see you. Afraid 
 you had given up your proposed visit. You 've 
 arrived at an exciting moment, sir." 
 
 " I should judge so. Great news, I hear." 
 
 " Oh, great ! " replied the old gentleman, rub- 
 bing his hands with glee, while his eyes twin- 
 kled with delight. " You see, Mr. Grandhurst, 
 that we live at a distance from the great centres, 
 and must have our rumpus- occasionally. Well
 
 MOONLIGHT. 23 
 
 now, sir, it was an extraordinary match, all agree. 
 Our boys covered themselves with glory. Fond 
 of base ball ? Like cricket better ! Now, I don't. 
 There is something about base ball that stirs the 
 blood even in my old veins. It 's our national 
 game, sir. That is the reason I go for it. Well, 
 when did you get home ? You 've been ten 
 years " 
 
 " Here they come ! " cried a small boy, who 
 rushed up the avenue without any hat, his cheeks 
 like two jacqueminot roses. " A goose-egg ! " he 
 gasped, as he ran at full speed. 
 
 " Ha, ha, ha ! " laughed Mr. Milton. " Bobbie, 
 where are they ? I don't see them ! " 
 
 " I run ahead ! " gasped Bobbie. " They 're 
 coming on the old stage. I cut across Deacon 
 Somers's grain-field, and got here first." 
 
 " Bobbie Snevel ! " cried Miss Milton. " How 
 could you cut across Deacon Somers's nice field ? 
 You know he will be enraged." 
 
 " Well, I know, but I couldn't help it. There 
 were the fellars on the stage-coach, singing and 
 shouting, old Milliken's grays for leaders ; and 
 I wanted to get here fust." 
 
 " Don't do so again," said Miss Milton, patting 
 his red cheeks with her soft hand. 
 
 " Goose-egg, do you hear, Mr. Grandhurst ! " 
 exclaimed Mr. Milton. " Come, let 's get out the 
 flag, and all stand ready to give three cheers as 
 they come up."
 
 24 THE GREA T MA TCH. 
 
 At that moment the stage burst into view at 
 the end of the avenue. The ball men waved 
 their bats, to which they had tied their handker- 
 chiefs. The little bewhiskered driver, with his 
 hands full of reins and his right foot on the 
 brake, urged his horses down the slope which led 
 into a little ravine at some distance from the 
 house. Milliken's grays dashed on, with their 
 nostrils expanded and their manes flying wildly 
 in the air. " Hurrah ! " shouted the men on the 
 coach. " Hurrah ! " replied the group on the ver- 
 anda. Crack ! sounded the whip of the driver. 
 The old coach creaked and clucked and rumbled. 
 The chains and hooks of the harness jingled 
 together. " Hurrah ! hurrah ! " cried the ball 
 men again. " Hooray ! " shouted Mr. Milton, in 
 the utmost enthusiasm. " High ! " ejaculated 
 the driver ; and the leaders, flying through the 
 little ravine, bounded up the avenue, followed by 
 the patient horses at the pole at full gallop, were 
 reined up in a masterly manner in front of the 
 Milton mansion. " This is glorious, boys ! " ex- 
 claimed Mr. Milton. " Come, get down : you 've 
 covered yourselves with renown. Put up your 
 horses, driver ; and all of you come in and have 
 some refreshments." 
 
 " Gimme your bats," cried Bobbie, embracing 
 the one already in his possession as a lord- 
 mayor might his mace. " Where 's the ball ? "
 
 MOONLIGHT. 2$ 
 
 " Here," said Ned Black, the captain of the 
 nine, tossing it to the enthusiastic boy. 
 
 " That 's the ball ! " said Bobbie, showing it 
 in triumph to Miss Milton. 
 
 " Well, fellows, you really did famously," said 
 a young man, with white down-like whiskers, 
 advancing from the group of village people who 
 had congregated. " I should think that you 
 would be completely exhausted ; it has been a 
 fearfully hot day for May." 
 
 " O Dick ! were you really out to-day ? " said 
 Miss Milton, in a sarcastic tone. " I supposed 
 you would spend it in your hammock. Really, 
 you showed great courage in exposing yourself." 
 
 " It was brave, wasn't it," replied Mr. Richard 
 Softy, with a drawl ; " but I put some fern leaves 
 in my hat, and managed to pull through." 
 
 " Thank you very much for coming to see the 
 match, Dick," said Ned Black, extending his 
 hand in a manly way to Dick. 
 
 " Aw ! feel deeply thankful that my efforts 
 were appreciated," said Mr. Dick Softy, accept- 
 ing the proffered hand ; and the two young men 
 swung round each other in a comical way before 
 Miss Milton. 
 
 " Mr. Softy," said Miss Milton to Mr. Grand- 
 hurst, after the formalities of the introduction 
 had taken place, "believes that we are all a 
 little crazy, and would that all the world might
 
 26 THE GREAT MATCH. 
 
 take to hammocks a while. He doesn't like to 
 have the quiet of this pastoral neighborhood 
 invaded by the fierce and dangerous excitement 
 of a base-ball conflict. He sees floating before 
 his eyes the maimed fingers and the blackened 
 visages; but come, I'm not going to expose 
 you, Dick. I must go in and help uncle enter- 
 tain." 
 
 The company followed their host and hostess 
 through the large hall to the dining-room, where 
 a bountiful table was set. The base-ball men 
 were still clad in their costumes of gray, with 
 the letter D, standing for Dornfield, upon their 
 breasts. Their faces were red from the fierce 
 contest and the hot sun, and they ate the 
 ice-cream with great relish. Mr. Tom Milton 
 stood at the head of the table, looking like an 
 emperor. His cheery voice rang out above the 
 clatter of the dishes and the roar of many voices. 
 " Tom Handy, pass your glass ! have some more 
 champagne. Send up the boys' glasses ! Ned 
 Black, look out for your men. See to it that 
 they are as valiant at the table as they are on 
 the ball-field. Sam Smith, have another plate 
 of the salad. What! you've given in. Never 
 do ! never do ! Molly," he whispered to his 
 niece, "tell Ned Black to look out for Pat 
 O'Callahan, and see that he doesn't have too 
 much champagne. Come, Mr. Grandhurst, join
 
 MOONLIGHT. 27 
 
 in ! You 've arrived on the soil of Dornfield 
 just in time. We are going to have a reception 
 and village f$te this evening. Grounds illumi- 
 nated, and so forth. Won't have any thing 
 more, hey ? Well, come, I want to show you my 
 pictures." 
 
 Ernest Grandhurst followed his host through 
 the crowd of village people who were accepting 
 the rich man's hospitality. Their progress was 
 extremely slow ; for Mr. Milton stopped repeat- 
 edly to shake hands with everybody, and to urge 
 them to be as merry as possible. At length 
 they emerged from the throng, and entered the 
 library. 
 
 " Nice old fireplace, this," said Grandhurst, 
 leaning on his cane with his gloved hand, and 
 pointing with the other to the tall brass and- 
 irons. 
 
 " I like it. Now, I want to show you my 
 
 pictures. You are a judge : seen the best in 
 
 Europe. Now, there 's a portrait of my mastiff, 
 
 - Prince. I call that good ; don't you ? Perfect 
 
 likeness, perfect likeness, sir ! " 
 
 " Who is the painter ? " asked Grandhurst, 
 smoothing his brown beard from under his chin, 
 and waving his cane in a connoisseur-like manner 
 over the outlines of the picture. 
 
 " Smith, sir. Fine painter. An American." 
 
 Grandhurst ejaculated, "Hum ha," in an
 
 28 THE GREAT MATCH. 
 
 undertone, and followed his host to his next 
 treasure. 
 
 " This is a landscape by Brown : also an 
 American. I believe in encouraging native 
 talent. Bless us ! if we are not Americans, 
 what are we ? Fine touches there. See that 
 mist on the hill ! " 
 
 Grandhurst said it reminded him very slightly 
 of Ruysdael, with a preponderance in his accent 
 upon the " very." 
 
 " Hurrah ! hurrah ! " came floating out from 
 the dining-room. 
 
 " Ha, ha ! they are still at it," chuckled Mr. 
 Milton. 
 
 " Now, here 's a statue by a young American 
 of a minute-man at Concord. Glorious, I say! 
 Look at that costume and that resolute face ! " 
 
 Grandhurst put on his eye-glasses, and walked 
 about the figure, surveying it with a calm, 
 critical eye. 
 
 " It 's national, isn't it ? " said Mr. Milton. 
 " Bless me, I 've heard my grandmother describe 
 just such a fellow : how he left his plow, 
 took his old musket, and went to battle. Depend 
 upon it, this country has got lots of talent. Now, 
 I call that magnificent ; don't you ? " 
 
 Grandhurst thought that the animus of the 
 sculptor was good ; but there was no concealing 
 the fact that America was still in the Dark Ages
 
 MOONLIGHT. 29 
 
 in regard to art. Mr. Milton did not reply ; for 
 at that moment his niece came into the library, 
 and asked him to take her place for a while in the 
 dining-room. The old gentleman put his hand 
 affectionately upon her shoulder, and left her 
 with Grandhurst. 
 
 " Well, Mr. Grandhurst," said she, after some 
 commonplaces had been exchanged, " how does 
 America seem, after such a long residence in 
 Europe ? " 
 
 "Very crude," said he, seating himself grace- 
 fully on the lounge, after Miss Milton had taken 
 a comfortable arm-chair. 
 
 '' Every thing seems inartistic, and in the 
 rough, I suppose." 
 
 " I find much in Boston," replied Grandhurst, 
 " that is enjoyable ; there is really some feeling 
 there for high art and literature : but New York 
 is a topsy-turvy place. Wants a strainer, and 
 two centuries of some refining process." 
 
 " Well, we depend on men like you, the 
 flower of our youth, educated abroad, to come 
 home and strain us. I 'm going to have a fete 
 ckampetre this afternoon and evening; and, 
 although we can't compete in picturesqueness 
 with village festivals in Normandy, for instance, 
 still we are going to have a real American good 
 time. I hope you will like it." A sudden de- 
 mand was made upon her at that moment, and 
 she excused herself.
 
 30 THE GREAT MATCH. 
 
 " Fine-looking girl. Some good points about 
 all these things here, too. But every thing is 
 raw ! Hum, hum ! By the way, what an absurd 
 fuss this is over some cracked base-ball players ! 
 If it were only cricket, you know, but base 
 ball, rounders, and that sort of thing ! I '11 go 
 down and call on my old friends the Silvers, 
 and go to \\\\sfete in the evening." Thus saying, 
 he went to the room which the man-servant told 
 him had been assigned to him, and prepared 
 himself for making a call. 
 
 In the dining-room there was great jollity. 
 Toasts were rapidly drunk to the successful 
 nine. Mr. Milton exhorted Ned Black to look 
 out for Pat O'Callahan, the pitcher, who had an 
 unfortunate liking for the bottle. Presently 
 Pat began to remember some grievances of the 
 late match : Bob Twillery had run against him, 
 and Sam Greene had trodden on his toes, and 
 Ned Black had called him by some opprobrious 
 epithet. He began to grumble, and shake his 
 fists, and draw deep breaths through his nostrils. 
 
 " If it hadn't been for me, chaps, ye 'd have 
 been sorry off ! It takes an Irish boy to show 
 ye Americans how to win. An' didn't I take a 
 hot one from Smithy's bat ? An', Bob Franklin, 
 why didn't ye catch that ball I sent ye ? " 
 
 " Come, Pat," said Ned Black, " let us have 
 a talk in the library about the next match."
 
 MOONLIGHT. 3 1 
 
 "All right," said the pitcher, giving a parting 
 glare at his associates, and following the captain. 
 
 " Sorry ! sorry ! " said Mr. Milton. " It is a 
 pity we can't supply his place on the nine. He 
 is a regular tyrant, and knows how dependent 
 we are on him." 
 
 " We can't get along without him," said Sam 
 Smith, the short-stop ; " he pitches splendidly, 
 and understands the game thoroughly. We 
 made a mistake, perhaps, in letting him join the 
 nine in the beginning ; but now we can't spare 
 him, and he knows it. We have got to stand 
 his browbeating, and pay him well for the 
 afternoons he plays." 
 
 " Well, boys, manage him, manage him," 
 said Mr. Milton. " There 's one more game ; and 
 we mustn't let the Milltown nine beat us. We 
 can put up with Pat for a little while, for the 
 sake of the victory." 
 
 Ned Black, after safely sending off Pat in a 
 carriage for his humble lodgings, came back to 
 the library, where he found Miss Milton and 
 Richard Softy. 
 
 " Mr. Softy has just been telling me of your 
 famous batting," said she to Ned, with a beam- 
 ing smile. " It must have been a glorious game." 
 
 " Well, it was a good game," said the captain 
 of the nine. " Dick, what in the world were 
 you trying to do when that foul ball struck into 
 the crowd ? "
 
 33 THE GREAT MATCH. 
 
 " Get out of the way, of course," replied Mr. 
 Dick Softy. 
 
 Miss Milton bent her large, blue eyes inquir- 
 ingly upon Dick. 
 
 " Foul balls dangerous, you know," drawled 
 that young man. " Deuced. Something like 
 boomerangs : curl round your head, and pop into 
 your eyes." 
 
 " Mr. Black, can't you get Mr. Softy into your 
 nine?" asked Miss Milton, with a turn of her 
 proud lip. 
 
 " Yas, yas ; put me in as a short-stop," 
 drawled Mr. Softy. " I '11 be true to the words." 
 
 Ned Black bent his fine gray eyes upon the 
 beautiful young lady for an instant, and then 
 turned away his head. 
 
 " I envied you your comfortable umbrella, 
 Dick, and your havelock," said Ned Black. " At 
 one time it was very hot, or I felt especially so 
 after that home run." 
 
 " By George, didn't you ! " said Dick Softy. 
 " I knew you wanted to be in my shoes." 
 
 " In your slippers, I suppose you mean," said 
 Miss Milton, in a tone of raillery ; " for I will 
 wager you went to the match in your slippers." 
 
 " I believe you are right," replied Dick Softy. 
 
 " The idea ! " cried Miss Milton, with a hearty 
 laugh. 
 
 " Most excellent one," retorted Dick, with a
 
 MOONLIGHT. 33 
 
 humorous smile. " It was a hot day, and I was 
 thoroughly comfortable in them." 
 
 " Did you go in your dressing-gown, too ? " 
 
 " Didn't think of it." 
 
 " Oh, what a pity ! " cried Miss Milton. " But, 
 Mr. Black, I notice that you have injured your 
 hand. Oh, dear ! it 's really quite a severe acci- 
 dent. Let me get some court-plaster, or some 
 bandages." 
 
 "Oh, it's nothing!" said Ned Black, "only 
 what a very hot ball did." 
 
 "I call it a great deal," said Miss Milton, 
 bending her graceful figure over the hand, and 
 examining it with great care. 
 
 " It was real plucky in you to stop that ball, 
 Ned," drawled Dick Softy. "I wouldn't have 
 touched it for the world." 
 
 " Of course not," said Miss Milton, looking 
 at him scornfully. " I declare, I never knew a 
 man so proud of not being muscular as you 
 are." 
 
 " I 'm cultivating my mind and a pair of lovely 
 whiskers," said Dick. 
 
 " I should judge so, in regard to the whiskers," 
 said Miss Milton, with a laugh ; and she glided 
 out of the room to get the court-plaster. 
 
 Ned Black walked about the room during 
 her absence, with a self-assured air, gazing curi- 
 ously at the rich furniture, and trolling a manly 
 
 2* C
 
 34 THE GREA T MA TCH. 
 
 song, while Mr. Dick Softy reclined com- 
 fortably on the lounge, watching him with an 
 apparently mild look out of his girl-like eyes. 
 Presently, Dick arose, and strolled out of the 
 room. He looked into the dining-room : it was 
 nearly deserted. Old Mr. Milton stood at the 
 end of the room talking with Mr. Graham, the 
 president of the Dornfield bank. The domestics 
 and the men-servants were busily engaged in 
 putting up Chinese lanterns on the trees in the 
 lawn ; and preparations were pushed forward for 
 the coming fete champetre. 
 
 " That was a high old game, wasn't it ? " said 
 a merry voice behind him. The young man 
 turned and saw Bobbie Snevel. 
 
 " First-rate," replied Dick. 
 
 " I thought we were going to be whipped this 
 time. It was all Pat O'Callahan's pitching and 
 Ned Black's catching, wasn't it ? The other 
 fellows made lots of blunders. Didn't Sam 
 Green muff, though, regular old muff. I didn't 
 like Ned Black's running against that little 
 Smithers on the Milltown nine. Fellers say 
 that he did it on purpose to make the Milltown 
 nine put another man on first base." 
 
 " Oh, no, that 's slander ! " said Dick Softy ; 
 " couldn't be." 
 
 " I don't think it could, nuther : he hurt 
 Smithers."
 
 MOONLIGHT. 35 
 
 Bobbie Snevel walked sturdily beside his com- 
 panion, tossing a base ball from one hand to the 
 other, and occasionally putting one hand behind 
 his back and tossing the ball in a dexterous 
 manner over his shoulder. " Come," said he, at 
 length, " give me a fly, won't you ? " 
 
 " I dawn't believe I can throw a ball, Bobbie." 
 
 " Oh, my ! of course you can. There, that 's 
 fust-rate ! By ! you can throw, can't you ? 
 Phew ! that 's a hot one. How far can you 
 throw, any way ? My gracious ! you can throw 
 as well as Ned Black, and you hain't ever said 
 any thing about it. Why don't you play ? " 
 
 " Oh, it 's too much of a bore, Bobbie. Gets 
 your ringers all knocked up, and eyes blackened, 
 and nose broken." 
 
 " Oh, but the fun, you know ! Fellers think 
 you are soft ; but I like you, any way,", said the 
 boy, cuddling close to the young man. 
 
 Dick Softy's eyes glistened, and he put his 
 arm about the little fellow. One of the base- 
 ball nine at that moment ran down the avenue, 
 and Bobbie, in a fit of hero-worship, left his com- 
 panion and hastened after the ball-player. 
 
 Dick Softy looked at his watch, it wanted 
 two hours of the time appointed for the fete. 
 He walked rapidly to his lodgings. He looked 
 longingly at his hammock, and a new novel 
 which was on the table ; but he resolutely took
 
 36 THE GREAT MATCH. 
 
 off his coat, put on a light gymnasium cos- 
 tume, and repaired to the garret of his house. 
 This place he had fitted up with various appli- 
 ances. In one coVner was a great, stuffed meal- 
 bag, which he pommelled, standing before it with 
 the left foot advanced, and his hands well in play 
 before his breast. From the middle of the roof- 
 tree hung a heavy ball, by a long hempen cord. 
 Seizing this with one hand, he flung it with all 
 his might in various directions, and caught it on 
 its furious returns. Twice the ball wound its 
 cord about his waist like a snake, and thumped 
 him fearfully on the breast ; but, in no wise 
 daunted, he kept up the exercise. Tired of the 
 ball, he then took up a pair of Indian clubs, and 
 swung them hither and thither, with short arm 
 and extended arm. Having sufficiently prac- 
 tised his arms and shoulders, he took to rising 
 and sinking on one leg in rapid succession, look- 
 ing with great satisfaction at the growing promi- 
 nence of his muscles. Then he tied a ten-pound 
 weight to one foot, and, lying on his back, ex- 
 tended and drew in his leg, after the manner of 
 the piston-rod of a steam-engine. This he did 
 with both limbs, and then paused to examine an 
 anatomical diagram. Apparently satisfied with 
 the process he had taken to bring out the leg 
 muscles, he finished his exercise with a cold 
 bath.
 
 MOONLIGHT. 37 
 
 Grandhurst, in the mean while, had paid his 
 visit to the Silvers. " You find our little village in 
 a state of great excitement, Mr. Grandhurst," said 
 Mrs. Silver. " Our base-ball nine have played 
 two matches with the nine of Milltown, and both 
 nines have won one game ; so that there is one 
 more to be played to decide the championship." 
 
 " Really, you have revived the spirit of the 
 Olympian games," replied Mr. Grandhurst. " I 
 find that young and old are intensely excited. 
 The Miltons were enthusiastic in their reception 
 of the players." 
 
 " Dreadful tiresome, this base-ball enthusi- 
 asm ! " groaned Mr. Silver, from his arm-chair. 
 "Dreadful! Can't understand it. It's all of a 
 piece with the American character, every thing 
 by extremes. Now, these young chaps who 
 play are exhausting their vitality in a shocking 
 way, perfectly shocking ! I wonder how old 
 Tom Milton, who is an eminently respectable 
 old gentleman, can be so interested, and allow 
 that niece of his to be so wild over base-ball 
 players." 
 
 " She is a sort of Di Vernon, isn't she ? " 
 asked Ernest Grandhurst. 
 
 " Fine girl," remarked Mrs. Silver, medita- 
 tively, looking at her rings. 
 
 " Oh, yes," said Mr. Silver, waving his hand 
 in an aristocratic manner. " Fine girl ; but she
 
 38 THE GREAT MATCH. 
 
 lacks reserve. She goes romping round with 
 that little Bobbie Snevel, and understands all 
 the affairs of this base-ball nine as well as one 
 of the players ; works them flags ; ties up their 
 broken ringers ; and bets on them, for aught I 
 know." 
 
 " O Francis ! don't be too severe," said 
 Mrs. Silver, with a laugh. 
 
 " I 've depicted her just as she is," replied her 
 husband. " Tom Milton ought to send her 
 abroad ; he is making a mistake. But he says, 
 ' Lord bless you ! Molly is a pure specimen of 
 a downright Yankee girl, and I 'm proud of her! 
 She hasn't any nonsense and parlez vous about 
 her.' " 
 
 " Ha, ha ! " laughed Grandhurst " Good peo- 
 ple to study. I shall be curious to analyze her. 
 She strikes me as a person who is suffering 
 from a volcano of feelings. Has she any lit- 
 erary or artistic tastes?" 
 
 " No, I think not," said Mrs. Silver ; " but the 
 Holvers, in Worcester, who, you know, are 
 very literary, think every thing of her." 
 
 ' Well, Ernest, to -change the subject," said 
 Mr. Silver, "are you going to settle down in 
 this crude, going-to-ruin republic ? " 
 
 " I am afraid I shall exhaust its capabilities 
 very soon," said Grandhurst. " I do not find 
 myself in the mood to put my shoulder to the
 
 MOONLIGHT. 39 
 
 muddy wheel. This life is so short, that I fear 
 the time will not come, in my lifetime, when 
 America will be toned down so as not to shock 
 my tastes. I fear that it will be economy in me 
 to go back to Europe ; for I find there what my 
 tastes require. Every thing is so crude here." 
 
 " It is, truly," sighed Mr. Silver, folding his 
 white, well-kept hands ; " and I believe that we 
 are going to the dogs. Just look at the corrup- 
 tion at Washington. No decent man will go 
 into politics. Look at the tone of the public 
 press. Why, I 've given up reading American 
 papers, and confine myself to the ' Spectator ' 
 and the ' Athenaeum.' I used to write ; but I 
 don't now. You 've got to write down for the 
 American public. And, then, look at the de- 
 graded taste for art you find here. It will need 
 two centuries of refining processes. And, as 
 you say, we who are accustomed to better 
 things had better go where our tastes can be 
 gratified." 
 
 "You remember, Mr. Grandhurst," said Mrs. 
 Silver, " that delightful home we had in Flor- 
 ence. How could we have left it ! But, then, 
 affairs took a sudden turn, and we found our- 
 selves condemned to this little American village. 
 However, we endeavor to create an art atmos- 
 phere among ourselves. And, then, we are in 
 constant receipt of letters from abroad : Mrs.
 
 40 THE GREAT MATCH. 
 
 Rogers writes me every week from Rome. Have 
 you heard of her receptions this past winter ? " 
 
 " Oh, yes ! " replied Grandhurst ; " you are 
 aware that I left Rome in the middle of the 
 season." 
 
 " Oh, to be sure. Well, Francis, we shall 
 make the most of Mr. Grandhurst while he re- 
 mains with us, sha'n't we ? Now, we must pre- 
 pare for the Miltons' what shall we call it ? " 
 said she, with a comical uplifting of the eye- 
 brows. 
 
 " Base-ball feast," said her husband. 
 
 When the Silvers and Grandhurst set out, it 
 was in the early twilight, and the Chinese lan- 
 terns on the spacious grounds of the Miltons 
 presented a brilliant appearance. On an arch 
 over the main entrance was inscribed " Victory," 
 in large letters formed of red roses. Ernest 
 Grandhurst tossed his head as he passed under 
 it, and the Silvers laughed in a very aristocratic 
 way. A party of young men were preparing 
 fireworks upon the lawn. Bobbie Snevel was 
 running hither and thither, on a thousand com- 
 missions ; and the grounds were already dotted 
 with guests. Old Mr. Milton stood on the 
 piazza with his niece, welcoming every one in a 
 hearty manner, and continually exhorting a band 
 of music to strike up, whenever there was too 
 long a pause. The musicians who were en-
 
 MOONLIGHT. 41 
 
 sconced behind a group of flowering white 
 azaleas smiled at the old man's enthusiasm, 
 and almost blew their lungs out, between their 
 hearty potations of beer. Over the front-door 
 of the house were grouped a collection of base- 
 ball bats around the word " Goose-egg." Miss 
 Milton received the Silvers and Mr. Grandhurst 
 with great cordiality. She wore a blue sash : 
 for blue was the color of the Dornfield nine. 
 The lawn was soon covered by the gay prome- 
 naders. The base-ball men were the favorites 
 among the young ladies, and, indeed, were the 
 observed of all beholders. Ned Black, the cap- 
 tain of the nine, was very marked in his atten- 
 tions to Miss Milton ; and she did not seem 
 displeased. She held a base ball in her hand, 
 and continually threw it at some valiant player, 
 who caught it and threw it back, when she 
 jumped quickly behind Ned Black, holding her 
 hands up with sportiveness, while the captain 
 of the nine caught the ball. 
 
 Dick Softy promenaded the lawn with Miss 
 Rose Snevel, Bobbie Snevel's pretty sister. 
 She had large, blue eyes, which were continually 
 watching Ned Black and Miss Milton. Dick 
 Softy's eyes, also, were always turned in the same 
 direction. They carried on a desultory conver- 
 sation together, continually keeping, by a strange 
 chance, in the immediate proximity of Miss Mil-
 
 42 THE GREAT MATCH. 
 
 ton, and protected from the observation of the 
 latter by the hedge of arbor-vitae. Here were 
 two young people, one a sentimental young 
 man, the other a pure, young girl, as fresh as a 
 rose, walking in the sweet June twilight, disturb- 
 ing the early sleep of a thousand bright flowers 
 in the old garden, beneath the glowing evening 
 sky, with its one bright star just over the wood- 
 bine-covered high wall. Why should they not 
 have whispered sweet things to each other ? 
 Alas ! they were not mated. Fates should have 
 made it, Dick Softy and Molly Milton ; Ned 
 Black and Rose Snevel : so their hearts said. 
 
 Presently a loud dinner-bell was heard, and 
 then one of the musicians sounded a reveille on 
 a bugle. The gay company hurried to the place 
 where Mr. Milton stood, flourishing a piece of 
 paper in the air. 
 
 " Attention ! " cried the old gentleman, in a 
 sturdy voice. " I 've just received a telegram from 
 the Hon. Charles Mimmer, our representative to 
 Congress. Shall I read it ? " 
 
 " Read it ! Hear, hear ! " cried a hundred 
 voices. 
 
 " Well, here it is," said Mr. Milton, clearing his 
 throat : 
 
 '"CAPITOL AT WASHINGTON. 
 
 " ' Congratulations to the Dornfield nine ; the news of 
 their great victory resounds at the Capitol of the nation. 
 
 " ' CHARLES MIMMER.' "
 
 MOONLIGHT. 43 
 
 " Hooray ! hooray ! " shouted the hundred 
 voices ; and six fire-rockets rent the air in a blaze 
 of sparks, and the band struck up " Hail Colum- 
 bia." After the excitement had subsided, Mr. 
 Tom Milton announced that supper was ready ; 
 and the guests rushed joyously into the dining- 
 room. 
 
 " Think we are a crazy set, hey ! Mr. Grand- 
 hurst ? " said the old gentleman, accosting the 
 young traveller. " No doubt you do ; but we 
 must have a blow-out occasionally. Nature re- 
 quires it ; does the system good. You said, I 
 believe, that you don't like a base-ball match ? 
 Don't particularly, hey ? Now, I do ; pretty game ! 
 I watch it like a boy ; makes me thrill through 
 and through ; wish I were young again. Ha, ha ! 
 Then, Mr. Grandhurst, there 's a reason in our 
 madness. The Milltown folks are very uppish, 
 and try to run ahead of us quiet Dornfield folks 
 in every thing. They got the branch railroad 
 through their town, and left us out in the cold. 
 But we can beat 'em at base ball. Baslee, the 
 president of the Milltown Excelsior Mills, has 
 high bets on the result of the next game, and 
 pays the players in the Milltown nine great sal- 
 aries. Then there 's Jackson over there, too. 
 Jackson and I were old rivals in business, 
 rivals in every thing. Good whist-player : so 
 am I. Always got beaten, however, when Jack-
 
 44 THE GREAT MATCH. 
 
 son played. Now, he swears that the Milltown 
 nine shall beat Tom Milton's nine. Bless you ! 
 it isn't my nine. The whole village takes an 
 interest in it. Perhaps I make it a little easier 
 for the chaps to play : that 's all." 
 
 " This is a new phase of American life," said 
 Ernest Grandhurst ; " I am interested in study- 
 ing it." 
 
 " Lord bless you, sir, enjoy it ; don't study it. 
 You mustn't analyze everything. What's the 
 fragrance of a rose, when you analyze it. The 
 chemists can make the same odor out of coal- 
 tar. Enjoy life, sir; that's my maxim." 
 
 Ernest Grandhurst smiled graciously, and 
 accompanied his hale host to the dining-room. 
 Presently he extricated himself from the crowd 
 and joined Mr. and Mrs. Silver, who were in the 
 library, examining the art treasures of the Mil- 
 tons. 
 
 " Shocking affair ! " exclaimed Mr. Francis 
 Silver, pointing with his gloved hand at a study 
 of a head by Jones. 
 
 " Here is a photograph from a Rossetti ! " ex- 
 claimed Mrs. Silver ; " and here is a Burne Jones ! 
 Why, I declare, how did they get into this 
 house ? " 
 
 " Fine grotesqueness there," said Ernest 
 Grandhurst, holding the photographs at the level 
 of his right ear, and looking at them sideways.
 
 MOONLIGHT. 45 
 
 Mr. Francis Silver pointed with his cane at a 
 design for a soldier's monument for Dornfield ; 
 and the three laughed internally. 
 
 "Dreadful! dreadful!" sighed Mr. Silver. 
 " Fanny, we can only escape the fate of being- 
 obliged to gaze upon this village obelisk, by 
 going to Europe." 
 
 " Oh, they won't put it up ! Do you think they 
 will ? " said Mrs. Silver. 
 
 " Old Tom Milton will have his own way," 
 replied Mr. Silver. " He is bent upon having 
 something national in art, as he says ; and be- 
 lieves in encouraging native talent. ' If it is not 
 so good as European work,' he says, ' why, it 's 
 done by our own American fingers, and there 's 
 merit in that.' " 
 
 " Ha, ha, ha ! " laughed Grandhurst. " Isn't 
 it devilish strange ! beg pardon, Mrs. Silver, 
 but isn't it odd, you know ? Ah ! Miss Milton," 
 said he, upon that young lady's sudden entrance, 
 " yourftie is a brilliant success." 
 
 " Could you get any refreshments ? " said Miss 
 Milton, giving one hand to Mrs. Silver and the 
 other to Mr. Silver. " Every one is so enthusi- 
 astic, and hungry in consequence, that I 'm 
 afraid you could not get near the supper-table." 
 
 " Oh, we succeeded very well, very well 
 indeed," said Mrs. Silver. 
 
 " Just think, a goose-egg ! Isn't it glorious ! "
 
 46 THE GREA T MA TCH. 
 
 exclaimed the young lady. " I never saw Uncle 
 Tom so exhilarated." 
 
 " He really enjoys it, doesn't he," said Mrs. 
 Silver, with a sweet smile, and with a look of 
 admiration at the fresh beauty of Miss Milton. 
 
 " Oh, we all do. I think it's glorious ! perfectly 
 splendid ! Now, do have a good time, won't you ? 
 I 've got to look out for the boys, and see that 
 they have a good time. They 've earned it, I 'm 
 sure." Thus saying, with a graceful courtesy, she 
 skipped out of the room. 
 
 " Glorious creature ! " exclaimed Mrs. Silver. 
 
 " She 's a study for you, Ernest," said Mr. 
 Silver, with a languid air. " You ought to see her 
 riding about town in a pony-wagon, generally 
 with a base-ball player in the basket-seat of the 
 footman. She knows all the dogs in town, and 
 whistles them after her." 
 
 " I' m curious to see what there is beneath 
 this gay, hoydenish exterior," said Grandhurst. 
 
 " You must beware," laughed Mrs. Silver, " or 
 you will be numbered among the slain." 
 
 While the Silvers thus sat conversing in the 
 library, the festivities were at their height. The 
 soft moon had risen, and its light streamed over 
 the lawn, lighting up the dresses of the ladies, 
 and contrasting its silvery radiance with the 
 ruddy glare of the Chinese lanterns. The lofty 
 elms seemed to be wrapped in a sleep full of
 
 MOONLIGHT. 47 
 
 dreams of some fairy festival which was being 
 held beneath their shades. Presently the voices 
 of the Dornfield Glee Club, led by the manly 
 voice of Ned Black, attracted the guests beneath 
 the balcony of the old mansion. They sang of 
 youth and beauty in the soft, warm air, in the 
 bright moonlight, while lovers and maidens 
 listened with palpitating hearts, and the old 
 smiled sadly at the remembrance of their own 
 youth. 
 
 Miss Milton, at length, leaving her guests to 
 amuse themselves, took Richard Softy's arm, 
 and promenaded in the moonlight. 
 
 " Don't you feel exhausted by your labors this 
 afternoon, Dick ? " said she. 
 
 " Awful spent ! " exclaimed her companion. 
 " Took a nap, however, before I came ; feel all 
 right now." 
 
 "Dick!" exclaimed Miss Milton, drawing her 
 arm reproachfully from his, and surveying him 
 in the moonlight, " I 'm ashamed of you ! " 
 
 " Bless me, what now ! " exclaimed the young 
 man, twisting his moustache. 
 
 " Why are you not on the nine ? " said Miss 
 Milton, almost tearfully. 
 
 " Heavens ! they don't want me ; and I can 
 live very comfortably without base ball. Deused 
 awkward, you know, to go through life with only 
 one eye, and fingers like potato-balls."
 
 48 THE GREAT MATCH. 
 
 " If I were a man," said Miss Milton, " I 'd 
 play my part ; and, if base ball were the part, I 
 would play until all my fingers were as crooked 
 as an eagle's claw." 
 
 " But the deuce of it is, base ball isn't my 
 part," said her companion. 
 
 " What is your part ? " exclaimed Miss Milton, 
 sarcastically. " To read novels in a hammock, and 
 go to matches in slippers. Now, Dick, why didn't 
 you go in a flowered dressing-gown too ? " 
 
 " Now, Miss Molly, don't let 's quarrel this fine 
 night, when the jolly old moon, and all the rest 
 of 'em, look so serene." 
 
 " All the rest of 'em aint so very serene ; for 
 I 'in mad with you, Dick Softy. There ! " 
 
 " Dreadful sorry ; but / 'm perfectly serene and 
 lovely." 
 
 " You anger me beyond measure, Dick ! " ex- 
 claimed his companion, turning her back upon 
 him, and plucking a rose to pieces. 
 
 " My dear, my dear Miss Molly ! here I am, 
 down on my knees." 
 
 " Yes : right in my uncle's tulip-bed ! Oh, 
 won't he be mad ! " 
 
 " Bless me ! " exclaimed the young man, jump- 
 ing up, and looking at the devastation he had 
 caused. 
 
 " I thought I heard you scream," Miss Milton, 
 said Ned Black, advancing at that moment from 
 behind the hedge. " Are you unwell ? "
 
 MOONLIGHT. 49 
 
 " Not in the least : I was only alarmed at the 
 appearance of my uncle's tulip-bed. Mr. Black, 
 I want you to show me the illuminated foun- 
 tain ? " 
 
 " Most happy," said the captain of the nine, 
 with a look of triumph at Dick Softy ; and he 
 walked gallantly off, with Miss Milton hanging 
 upon his arm. 
 
 Richard Softy's mild face looked disturbed ; 
 but he felt of his arm, and, as if reassured by the 
 growth of his muscles, thrust his hands into his 
 pockets, and looked after Ned Black with a look 
 which might have made that young man feel 
 uncomfortable coming froni any one but Dick 
 Softy. 
 
 " Ned Black, we 've some old scores to pay 
 off," whispered the good-humored young man to 
 himself, with a glitter in his eyes. " She 's mad 
 with me, is she ? " said he to himself ; " I didn't 
 think she cared enough for me, to be mad with 
 me." 
 
 He was interrupted in his meditations by the 
 sound of voices just behind the hedge, which 
 he recognized to be those of Miss Rose Snevel 
 and her brother Bobbie. 
 
 " Well, Bobbie, run along," said Miss Snevel ; 
 " I can walk about alone. You want to see the 
 fountain, and I 'm too tired ; I think I shall find 
 a seat somewhere." 
 
 3 D
 
 50 THE GREAT MATCH. 
 
 " Don't s'pose I would leave you alone, do 
 you ? " said Bob, valiantly. " I 'd like to thrash 
 Ned Black." 
 
 " Sh ! sh ! don't," exclaimed his sister. 
 
 " He hasn't paid you any attention this even- 
 ing, and I'd like to know what sort of a fellar 
 he is, any way ! " continued her little brother, in 
 a thick voice. 
 
 " Hush ! you know he is captain of the nine, 
 and has to superintend a good many things," said 
 his sister. 
 
 " He is a splendid captain, though, aint he, 
 Rose?" 
 
 " Yes," answered his sister, with what seemed 
 a groan to the kind heart of Dick Softy, who 
 immediately emerged from his concealment and 
 accosted the two. 
 
 " Miss Snevel," said he, " I 'm delighted to find 
 you ; I know where there is a charming seat, up 
 in the crotch of an old elm. Have you seen it ? 
 No ! Why, let 's go, by all means. I hope no 
 one is there. Bobbie, you run off and enjoy 
 yourself. I '11 take care of your sister." 
 
 " That 's first-rate," said Bob. " Rose, you 
 won't mind ? " 
 
 " No," said his sister, with a faint smile. " If 
 Mr. Softy wants to go, after showing me the seat 
 in the elm, I will wait for you in the library." 
 
 Her brother hastened away, shouting some-
 
 MOONLIGHT. 5 1 
 
 thing resembling the Swiss Yodel, which was 
 taken up by his youthful companions in the dis- 
 tance. And Rose, taking Dick Softy's arm, was 
 conducted through the old garden to the elms. 
 Mr. Milton had discovered the capabilities of the 
 ancient trunk of a lordly elm, and had built a 
 little arbor in its spreading branches, high 
 above the ground. A rustic spiral stairway led up 
 to it, which went by the name of the Mauvais Pas. 
 It was no more dangerous than its namesake. 
 But Mr. Milton had threatened, for several years, 
 to take it down, fearing lest some accident might 
 happen. Dick Softy assisted his pretty charge 
 up the stairway, carefully preceding her ; and 
 the two went in and out of the patches of shade 
 thrown athwart the venerable limbs of the elm 
 by its branches in the moonlight. Finally they 
 emerged upon a broad landing of rustic-work, and 
 seated themselves in the airy arbor. 
 
 " Isn't this delightful !" exclaimed Rose. " Oh, 
 I 'm so much obliged to you for bringing me ! 
 See how fairy-like the people look, wandering 
 over the lawn, beneath the festoons of Chinese 
 lanterns ! " 
 
 " Jolly sort of place, isn't it ? " said Dick, sink- 
 ing with a sigh into a kind of arm-chair made 
 by the branches of the old tree. 
 
 " I wonder who those lovers are," said Rose, 
 pointing at an apparently affectionate couple who
 
 52 THE GREAT MATCH. 
 
 promenaded beneath the branches of the elm, in 
 the obscurity of its shade. 
 
 " I wonder," said Dick, craning his neck over 
 the tree-trunk. 
 
 Presently the couple stopped at the foot of the 
 tree, and were about to mount the stairway. 
 Dick Softy coughed loudly, and, looking down 
 with Rose Snevel, saw the beautiful face of Miss 
 Milton upturned, and Ned Black beside her. 
 
 " There 's some one up there ! " said Ned Black, 
 in a low voice. " Come, let 's go down the Lin- 
 den Walk ; " and the two disappeared in the 
 direction of the avenue. 
 
 Dick Softy hummed a tune, and hit at the 
 leaves of the elm, which were within reach, with 
 his light, flexible cane ; and his companion, turn- 
 ing her face away, gazed pensively at the full 
 moon, which swung, like a great, silver balloon, 
 over the rounded masses of trees down the 
 avenue. Presently there were signs of the party's 
 breaking up. A throng of people wended their 
 way homeward, and teams began to drive up 
 for their owners. Dick Softy assisted his charge 
 down the steep stairway, and, as he did so, no- 
 ticed a tear in her bright eye.
 
 THE ROSE OF DORNFIELD. 53 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE ROSE OF DORNFIELD. 
 
 r I "HE Rose of Dornfield, as Miss Snevel was 
 -* called, was in her most beautiful state of 
 unfolding. She was, indeed, a lovely creature. 
 
 Most girls of her age, and especially of her 
 attractions, would have been much in society, 
 both at home and abroad ; but there were pe- 
 culiar circumstances in the home of the Snevel's, 
 whi-ch none but its inmates could understand. 
 The neighbors strove to bring the Snevels out ; 
 and, somewhat piqued at their failure, began to 
 criticise. " Rose was, indeed, a beautiful girl ; 
 but extremely reserved and uppish, full of 
 moods, too. They say that Mr. Snevel drinks a 
 great deal ; indeed, he has been seen intoxicated." 
 The young country-fellows found her very sweet 
 and lovely, whenever they were fortunate enough 
 to find her at home, which seemed to be very sel- 
 dom. Their timid knocks in the evening were 
 generally answered by Mr. Snevel, who bent his 
 most aristocratic look upon them, which told the
 
 54 THE GREAT MATCH. 
 
 bashful callers that he instantly divined the rea- 
 son of their bright neckties and brightly polished 
 boots. Mr. Snevel, on such occasions, generally 
 appeared with gold eye-glasses perched on the 
 end of his nose, a volume of Burke's Speeches in 
 his hand, and, having been repeating a passage 
 of that eloquent author, his voice had a deep 
 intonation, that thrust the timid callers back into 
 the darkness, like the report of a suddenly dis- 
 charged cannon. Rose was glad to be let alone. 
 She wandered in the woods with her brother, 
 picking wild-flowers ; or floated down the little 
 river, looking at her own reflection in the placid 
 nooks, unmindful of its beauty, dreaming as 
 young girls dream, and building a thousand air- 
 castles. Bobbie was very attentive, and took 
 great pride in showing his sister his skill in 
 managing a boat, and his wood-craft. The two 
 were closely drawn together, and were thor- 
 oughly happy in the green woods and fields, far 
 away from the house. Their father generally 
 spent his days in the library, when he was at 
 home, which was not very often ; for, of late, he 
 had taken to visiting an old bachelor friend, who 
 kept an amateur farming establishment a few 
 miles out of Dornfield. If Mr. Snevel had had 
 money, he would also have indulged his tastes 
 for country sports and for gentleman farming. 
 He did the next best thing, and hobnobbed with
 
 THE ROSE OF DORNFIELD. 55 
 
 his friend, Mr. Bandy. Rose, at first, was glad 
 of her father's intimacy with his friend ; for, 
 although Mr. Snevel prided himself upon his 
 high-bred, courteous ways in his household, still, 
 whenever the dinner did not suit his tastes, there 
 was a sense of discomfort in the house. Then, 
 too, Bobbie and his father seemed to continually 
 irritate each other. The excess of spirits of the 
 boy seemed to the father to be vulgar. He 
 continually preached about courtesy and high- 
 bred manners, until the boy, with his quick 
 observation of his father's failings, almost suffo- 
 cated with the desire to retort. " He made you 
 cry, Rose, at the dinner-table," said he, putting 
 his arm about his sister once, after a scene at 
 a poorly cooked dinner. Rose hushed him, and 
 apologized for her father's irritability. 
 
 She always let her father in when he returned 
 late ; and, as she buried her face in her pillow, 
 thanked the gentle stars, that twinkled in upon 
 her through the fragrant vines above her window, 
 that she had saved Bobbie the sight of the reel- 
 ing old man. But the boy had known his fath- 
 er's ways long before his sister, and had concealed 
 his knowledge, hoping, in a despairing way, that 
 his sister might never know. Mr. Bandy was 
 also a very aristocratic member of the Bandy 
 family. He had a very fine establishment, and 
 was much interested in county sports. He had
 
 56 THE GREAT MATCH. 
 
 restocked a large brook which ran through his 
 farm with land-locked salmon, and was a thor- 
 
 y 
 
 ough sportsman. His shooting-box, as he 
 termed his farm-house, was really a bachelor's 
 paradise. Every thing had been gathered there 
 which could conduce to comfort. He had a very 
 fine housekeeper, and gave splendid dinners. 
 Mr. Bandy was a portly, well-preserved man of 
 sixty, with manners of the old school. Mr. 
 Snevel found Mr. Bandy a man after his own 
 heart. One was descended from Sir Henry 
 Bandy, and the other from Sir Richard Snevel : 
 and the two old gentlemen spent the few hours 
 they were not hunting or feasting in tracing out 
 their genealogical trees ; until, from frequent 
 potations, the two fell off the topmost branches, 
 and grovelled in the dust, from which baser-born 
 mortals never aspired to spring. 
 
 The knowledge, kept apart from each other, of 
 their father's failing, drew the children closer to- 
 gether. Their misfortune, indeed, had this sweet 
 compensation : it shut out the world, and made 
 the hours they spent together away from the 
 house seem too precious for words. Mr. Snevel 
 was very ambitious for Rose. He directed her 
 education with a firm hand. He laid out a 
 course of historical reading, prescribed so much 
 music and so much drawing, in a tabular view 
 that would have done credit to the secretary of
 
 THE ROSE OF DORNFIELD. 57 
 
 a college. If Rose had followed it, she would 
 have worked from morning to night. It was one 
 of Mr. Snevel's great troubles, that Rose and 
 Bobbie did not seem to be intellectual. He was 
 angered that the Snevel family should not man- 
 ifest its well-known brain-power. He feared 
 that Bobbie, especially, would be a disgrace to 
 the name. 
 
 So the children grew to have singular ways ; 
 that is, ways which differed from the people 
 about them. Their father was especially angry 
 at this, and wondered why his children acted 
 so much like a brood of partridges. He had 
 frequent conversations with his crony, Mr. Bandy, 
 upon this point, and neither could discover the 
 reason. 
 
 " Take 'em to the city ; let your sisters bring 
 out your daughter," said Mr. Bandy. 
 
 " My sisters have both married common, low- 
 born churls," said Mr. Snevel, pulling up his 
 cravat ; " and I have ceased to have any inter- 
 course with them." He meant, that his sisters 
 had restricted their intercourse. 
 
 " Well," replied Mr. Bandy, watching his cigar- 
 smoke curl upwards, " you 've high-bred notions 
 yourself, Snevel : just carry 'em out." 
 
 " I 'm determined to," replied Mr. Snevel, 
 helping himself liberally to the punch. 
 
 Ned Black had broken in upon the seclusion 
 3*
 
 THE GREAT MATCH. 
 
 of the Snevels ; he had noticed the beautiful 
 young girl who hid herself in the old-fashioned 
 pew in church, who modestly shunned observa- 
 tion, and was reserved to the last degree. He 
 had taken many walks in the lane beside her 
 home, in the hope of meeting her. He paid 
 especial attention to Bobbie, whose enthusiasm 
 for base ball had early attracted his attention. 
 Rose noticed the handsome young fellow, and 
 heard her brother's enthusiastic descriptions of 
 his powers as a base-ball player. Once Bobbie 
 had escorted her to the playing-ground ; and she 
 had overheard the remarks of admiration be- 
 stowed upon the athlete by young ladies and 
 young gentlemen. How they became acquainted 
 she could hardly remember, for the acquaintance 
 of secret glances had long preceded the actual 
 introduction. 
 
 Rose's enjoyment of Ned Black's acquaint- 
 ance was not without its alloys. Their meetings 
 away from home were very sweet, and a new 
 world of hopes and beautiful thoughts opened to 
 the young girl ; but whenever he came to the 
 house, Mr. Snevel contrived, by his extremely 
 courteous ways, to make the young man uncom- 
 fortable. Nevertheless, the acquaintance pro- 
 gressed rapidly. There were moonlight walks 
 beside the river, under the elms ; there were 
 strolls in the woods ; there were walks home
 
 THE ROSE OF DORNFIELD. 59 
 
 from Sunday school. Ned Black always walked 
 to his business-place by the roundabout way 
 which led by the Snevel's ; and looked up at a 
 particular blind, conscious that two beautiful 
 eyes shone lovingly upon him. The story of 
 the growth of their love would make a theme for 
 a poet. The beauties of the springtime in Dorn- 
 field would come in beautifully to make pictures 
 for the artist who should illustrate such a poem. 
 There were moments when she stood leaning 
 over the garden-gate, beneath the roses ; when 
 she trailed up the creeper, standing with lithe 
 arms outstretched in the sweet sunset ; when 
 she ran joyously down through the clover, with 
 her gypsy-hat half flying from her beautiful hair ; 
 when she stood, with parted lips, at her window, 
 gazing at the new moon, while the one robin 
 sang in the orchard that her lover was fortu- 
 nate enough to see her, himself unseen. The 
 description of all this belongs to a poet. We, 
 alas ! have got to deal with the practical inci- 
 dents of daily living ; and there were very unpoet- 
 ical elements in the story of the young maiden's 
 life. It was not long before they were secretly 
 engaged. Rose yielded to Ned Black's persua- 
 sions to keep the engagement a secret more wil- 
 lingly, from her knowledge of her father's ways 
 and habits. With the beautiful and enthusiastic 
 thoughts that filled her, at the knowledge of the
 
 60 THE GREAT MATCH. 
 
 new interest that had come into her life, there 
 was mingled in Rose's heart ominous thoughts 
 in regard to her father. The secret that she felt 
 she had kept from Bobbie must now be zeal- 
 ously guarded from another. 
 
 One evening, during the absence of her father, 
 Ned Black had been sitting with her. It was a 
 beautiful May night ; warmer than usual, for the 
 time of the year. Bobbie had been listening to 
 Black's account of some splendid base-ball times 
 that he had lately enjoyed, with eager ears. He 
 was very proud of their, his, and his sister's inti- 
 mate acquaintance with the captain of the nine. 
 His sister, in the fascinating moments with her 
 lover, did not notice that her brother was unusu- 
 ally restless. Finally, he stole away, and left 
 them to themselves. The two lovers talked in 
 the sweet light for a while, and then sat holding 
 each other's hands in a sweet communion of 
 spirits. They were presently interrupted by a 
 noise at the gate. Rose's heart throbbed, for 
 she recognized the voice of her father. He was 
 returning unusually early. She went to the 
 edge of the veranda, and looked down the gar- 
 den. Mr. Snevel and Mr. Bandy had dis- 
 mounted from the latter's dog-cart, and were 
 unsteadily balancing each other on the garden- 
 walk, and exchanging high-bred acts of cour- 
 tesy. There was a question of precedence at the
 
 THE ROSE OF DORNFIELD. 6 1 
 
 gate. Both were evidently much the worse for 
 liquor ; but the knowledge of the courtesy which 
 a descendant of Sir, Henry Bandy ought to pay 
 to a descendant of Sir Richard Snevel at the gar- 
 den-gate was not lost sight of. Rose held her 
 hands upon her throbbing bosom. She was con- 
 scious that Ned Black stood beside her. Why did 
 he not go ? She saw the two men at the gate 
 reel about, and bow deeply to each other, striving 
 to repress the hysteric laugh that is imminent 
 on the alternations of comedy and tragedy. Pres- 
 ently she saw Bobbie emerge from a thicket, 
 and take his father's arm. After a few minutes, 
 that seemed houte, Mr. Bandy went back to his 
 equipage ; and Mr. Snevel, escorted by Bobbie, 
 came up the garden-walk, and was led into the 
 house. Rose sank upon a settee ; arid still Ned 
 Black stood silently beside her. How she bade 
 him good-night she did not know. Her brother 
 came to her, and found her, in a fit of hysterics, 
 sitting alone upon the veranda. 
 
 "O Bobbie, Ned saw him! Ned saw him!" 
 she cried, passionately ; " and you too, dear, I for- 
 got you." 
 
 Bobbie knelt beside his sister, and tried to 
 comfort her. There the two remained, clasped 
 in each other's embrace, while the bright moon, 
 in its swift flight, covered them with the shifting 
 shades of the woodbine which twined upon the
 
 62 THE GREAT MATCH. 
 
 pillars of the house. Ned Black felt that he had 
 not acted a manly part in the event which had 
 happened ; but what could he do ? He might 
 have said something, expressed some sympathy, 
 or given Rose sweet words of encouragement. 
 But it would have been " deused awkward ; a fel- 
 low never knows what is best to do under such 
 circumstances. The two old chaps did behave 
 irresistibly funny, as they bowed with such cour- 
 tesy, and bobbed against each other." The 
 young man left Rose, thus revolving the occur- 
 rence in his mind. As he passed out of the 
 garden-gate, he met Mr. Bandy, who was endeav- 
 oring to get into his dog-cart from behind. Ned 
 Black led him to the proper steps, and placed 
 the reins in his hands. Mr. Bandy took off his 
 hat, with a grand wave of courtesy, and, pointing 
 towards the house, said, 
 
 " I trust my fr-friend arrived safely ? " 
 
 " Yes : he is all right." 
 
 "All right, hey? Mr. Black, to speak confi- 
 dentially, Mr. Sne-Snevel is getting into the 
 habit of lingering a little too long at the cu-cu- 
 cup. Sorry." Thus saying, Mr. Bandy, with a 
 look of high-bred courtesy, gathered up the reins 
 and drove homewards. 
 
 There are events which make but little im- 
 pression at the time ; but, afterwards, they can be 
 recalled with thrilling distinctness, to give rea-
 
 THE ROSE OF DORNFIELD. 63 
 
 sons for one's actions. The young man would 
 have scouted the thought that evening that the 
 knowledge of the father's failing could ever 
 make any difference in his love for Rose. Mean- 
 while the affairs of the Snevel family were widely 
 discussed in the village. Mr. Snevel had always 
 had the entree into the best society ; for his fam- 
 ily was known to be of the very best. His grand 
 manners were much admired by elderly ladies ; 
 and he was held up to the careless, nonchalant 
 young collegians who found their way to Dorn- 
 field as a true specimen of a gentleman of the 
 old school. Why Rose kept herself so much apart 
 from society was a mystery. Mr. Snevel was 
 interrogated. But he was as much in the dark as 
 anybody ; he could not understand it, and depre- 
 cated his daughter's action very much. Presently 
 the story was prevalent that Rose was going 
 into a decline ; and many sympathetic calls were 
 made. But the healthy cheeks of the young 
 lady, and her excursions with her brother, 
 speedily disproved the report. Then, " they 
 said" that she was getting too proud to asso- 
 ciate with country people, and was about to join 
 her aristocratic relations in the city. This story 
 gained general credence ; for Mr. Snevel's man- 
 ners accorded very well with such an intention. 
 Granting it to be true, there was a tacit assump- 
 tion of superiority in such exclusiveness, that
 
 64 THE GREAT MATCH. 
 
 shocked even the best circles in Dornfield ; and 
 people began to criticise. " Rose was too much 
 with Ned Black ; she should be matronized more. 
 Her dress, too, was very pronounced, and her 
 hats too dashing. She was, it is true, a lovely 
 girl, but too fond of dress." Mr. Silver couldn't 
 see that there was any thing to the girl. It is 
 true, she was a pretty picture to look at, like a 
 design upon French china, but a very insipid 
 sort of thing. 
 
 " Oh, my dear ! " exclaimed Mrs. Silver, " how 
 can you say so ? Rose is a beauty, so dainty and 
 so aristocratic-looking, yet perfectly sweet and 
 lovely. You never saw so pretty a girl in 
 Europe, Mr. Grandhurst." 
 
 " I will say," replied that young gentleman, 
 who had come in for a morning's chat, " that 
 American girls are very pretty. A fellow can 
 distinguish them anywhere in Europe. But they 
 fade, you know." 
 
 " Perfect wrecks at forty," exclaimed Mr. Sil- 
 ver, waving his hand. Mrs. Silver was born in 
 England. 
 
 The lower class in a country village often 
 know secrets which are veiled from that higher 
 class which they most concern. Mr. Snevel's 
 failing was well known in various quarters, and 
 was becoming better known from day to day. 
 Rose had a steadfast friend in John Graham, the
 
 THE ROSE OF DORNFIELD. 65 
 
 president of the Dorn field bank. Graham was 
 yet a comparatively young man, who, by the 
 exercise of good abilities and sterling qualities, 
 had risen to an honorable position in his native 
 town. He had become acquainted with Rose 
 in administering a small legacy, which an aunt 
 of Rose had left to the young girl. The grave 
 and reserved man of business beheld in the 
 maiden a vision of delight, which disturbed him 
 ever afterwards. He had never thought that he 
 should fall in love, especially with a daisy, or a 
 rose-bud. But he had done so ; and reason and 
 arguments could not bring his mind into its old 
 philosophic channels. The presence and the 
 confidence of the young girl revealed to him a 
 side of himself which he had not suspected. 
 Money-getting and power and influence faded 
 into the background, and the sweet ways of a 
 maiden tortured a strong man. He well re- 
 membered the first day she came into his office, 
 with her little brother. She was in a light 
 blue dress, with a bunch of pink roses on her 
 bosom. She wore a gypsy-hat far down upon 
 her profusion of light-brown hair, which was 
 puffed carelessly over her fair brow, and fell in 
 large, loose braids under the hat. She had large, 
 blue eyes, with dark eyelashes, and the most del- 
 icate pink hue upon her cheeks. One of her 
 eyes was a trifle larger than the other ; and this
 
 66 THE GREAT MATCH. 
 
 defect was a beauty, for it gave a languishing 
 look, which was absolutely fascinating. Graham 
 looked, and addressed her almost in a savage 
 tone ; for he felt his heart leap up preparatory 
 to taking an unceremonious departure. When 
 she left him, with a sweet smile, which parted a 
 rosy mouth showing a row of pearly teeth, the 
 man dropped his pen, and leaned his head upon 
 his hand. The summer wind came in through an 
 open window, fresh from a clover-field, and he 
 could hear the joyous song of the golden robins, 
 and, farther off, the chorus of bobolinks. The bees 
 murmured in the tall hollyhocks outside the win- 
 dow of his office, and made the half-opened rose- 
 buds nod upon the trellis. Then it was done, 
 Graham fell in love. But could this happiness 
 be for him. It was nonsense to think about it. 
 He was fifteen years older than she was, and 
 older in thoughts and ways than in years. He 
 finally compelled himself to think it all out, 
 calmly and dispassionately ; and he observed 
 the situation carefully. Mr. Snevel was a man 
 who provoked him beyond endurance. The 
 words of honor and of courtesy were continually 
 upon his lips ; yet he did not scruple to appro- 
 priate the interest of Rose's legacy to further his 
 own comforts and pleasures. This, Graham was 
 fully cognizant of. His secret habit was also 
 early known to the business man ; and he scru-
 
 THE ROSE OF DORNF1ELD. 67 
 
 tinized Mr. Snevel's notes with the utmost care. 
 Graham had sprung from the ranks, and felt a 
 certain satisfaction in the knowledge that he had 
 been indebted to no extraneous influence for 
 his rise in the world. He sarcastically observed 
 Mr. Snevel's aristocratic ways and bearing. 
 Long before others, he had noted Ned Black's 
 attentions to Rose, and perceived with a pang 
 her liking for the handsome young man. Once 
 he had met them strolling through the woods ; 
 and he had said to himself, with a deep sigh, 
 " A handsome young fellow, and a beautiful 
 young girl. Alas ! I have passed insensibly be- 
 yond into the middle age. If by any means I 
 should win this young girl, I should be cheating 
 her out of her romance of life, which she is now 
 living out with that young man. I should never 
 forgive myself. It is better that I should dis- 
 miss the thought of having any romance in my 
 life. There was a time when it could have come 
 in appropriately. But that time is past : it is ab- 
 surd not to recognize this. Let me try to help this 
 sweet young creature to realize what I cannot." 
 He was a man of invincible will, and he forced 
 himself with an iron hand to go in the paths his 
 judgment approved. He sought out Ned Black, 
 made many inquiries, observed much ; and, at 
 length convinced beyond doubt of Rose's love 
 for the young man, helped him to obtain a lucra-
 
 68 THE GREAT MATCH. 
 
 tive situation in the bank of which he had the 
 direction. Black never liked Graham. There 
 was a critical side which the latter always showed 
 towards him, which was especially repugnant. 
 He could not understand how Rose could speak 
 in such terms of admiration of his superior. He 
 saw no good fellowship in him : he was not like 
 the genial agent of the Duck Mills in Milltown, 
 or the dashing young head of the Print-works, 
 men who could buy and keep Graham. Human 
 nature is weak. Graham strove hard to be gen- 
 erous and charitable ; but he saw much in his 
 clerk which displeased him ; nevertheless, he no- 
 ticed a new look of happiness in Rose's face, and 
 persuaded himself that there was a glow of 
 goodness in his own breast. Many evenings he 
 guided Mr. Snevel towards his doorstep, and 
 disappeared in the gloom before Rose should 
 unfasten the door ; but not unobserved, for the 
 quick eyes of the young girl always recognized 
 him. Graham felt that she grew more unre r 
 served in her intercourse with him. He longed 
 to be her friend, if not her lover, and saw no 
 reason why he shouldn't.
 
 TROUBLES. 69 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 TROUBLES. 
 
 TT 7 HEN the flte at the Miltons' was over, 
 
 * * Ned Black sought Rose Snevel, and es- 
 corted her home. They both walked along the 
 country road in dead silence. Rose's heart was 
 too full to speak, and her companion's eyes 
 were bent in a sullen manner upon the moonlit 
 road. He bade her good-night at her door, with 
 a mechanical kiss, and turned to go. 
 
 " O Ned ! " cried the young girl, " you are 
 not going ? " 
 
 " I must," he replied, putting his arm about 
 her waist. " I 'm tired : the game this afternoon 
 quite used me up ; it was so very hot, you 
 know." 
 
 " Oh, to be sure, I should think you would 
 be perfectly exhausted, my dear Ned ; you must 
 forgive me for wishing you to stay. Now, go 
 right to bed, there 's a dear fellow." 
 
 Ned kissed her sweet face and departed, while 
 she stood as many a woman has done since
 
 70 THE GREA T MA TCH. 
 
 the beginning of the world watching his re- 
 treating form, with unsatisfied longing in her 
 heart. 
 
 Her brother Bob, who had wandered home 
 alone, found her still standing, gazing after her 
 lover. 
 
 " I 'm real mad, Rose," said Bob, in a husky 
 tone, " with Ned Black." 
 
 " Why, dearie ? " asked his sister, in astonish- 
 ment. 
 
 " Why, seems to me, when a feller takes a 
 girl to a party, he ought not to leave her to wan- 
 der round alone, as he did you." 
 
 " Why, Bob ! " exclaimed his sister, fighting her 
 own convictions, " he is captain of the nine, and 
 much attention was given him, and required of 
 him." 
 
 " Wall, I know he 's captain of the nine, and 
 had to shake hands with everybody. I s'pose 
 I 'm hard on him, but I 'm jealous for you, 
 Rose," and thus saying, the little fellow put 
 his arm about his sister's waist. 
 
 Rose patted his curly head, and pretended to 
 fix a stray branch of the woodbine that climbed 
 the trellis near the door. 
 
 " Ned Black is an awful good player, aint he ? " 
 said Bobbie, with an intense air of enthusiasm. 
 " Do you s'pose, Rose, I could ever play as he 
 does ? I 'm proud to see you with him, for all
 
 TROUBLES. 71 
 
 the fellers look at him and you, and say, ' That 's 
 Black, the captain of the Dornfield nine.' I 'm 
 proud that we know him so well, aint you, 
 Rose ? " 
 
 " Yes, Bobbie, I am. We like him, don't we ? " 
 " Ye-es," said her brother, in a tone which 
 showed that resentment still mingled with ad- 
 miration, as he followed his sister into the house. 
 Ned Black was captain of the Dornfield nine ; 
 but Pat O'Callahan was its despot. Pat was a 
 young Irishman, who had wonderful knack in 
 pitching a ball. Some said, that, after traversing 
 the distance between the pitcher and the batter, 
 it began to describe a spiral around the would-be 
 hitter's bat ; and, even if it were hit, it became a 
 foul ball, which Ned Black, who made a specialty 
 of foul balls, was sure to secure. Pat, too, in 
 other parts of the game was thoroughly at home. 
 We have said that he was the despot of the 
 nine. He understood his own value thoroughly ; 
 and the members of the nine, together with their 
 patron, Mr. Tom Milton, had to pay a high price 
 for his services. Pat was the most impecunious 
 fellow in Dornfield. No one ever had so many 
 poor brothers and cousins who were down sick 
 all at the same time, and who required just ten 
 dollars to make them comfortable. If the ten 
 dollars were not forthcoming, Pat's heart was so 
 tender that he could not practise with the nine.
 
 72 THE GREAT MATCH. 
 
 He also was a man of great pride, and extremely 
 sensitive. The O'Callahans were of noble blood, 
 and could trace their lineage back to the time 
 of St. Patrick. The slightest want of consid- 
 eration on the part of any member of th nine 
 often led to his dropping his bat, and striding off 
 the ball-field, to which he would not return until 
 the members almost went down on their knees 
 to him. The nine paid for his lodgings and for 
 his clothes. The tailor's bill was no small 
 matter, for Pat loved to array himself in the 
 finest broadcloth. Indeed, there was some excuse 
 for Pat just at this juncture, for he was paying 
 attentions to the housemaid of Squire Thomas, 
 at Milltown. 
 
 " Well ! " exclaimed Mr. Tom Milton, with a 
 deep sigh, one day after Ned. Black had detailed 
 another exaction of Pat, "we must stand this 
 until the end of the next game, and then, by 
 Jove, won't we give him his walking-card ? " 
 
 " We can't get along without him now, that 's 
 certain," said Black, taking his foot off the 
 hub of Mr. Milton's carriage, as the latter pre- 
 pared to drive away from the door of the bank, 
 where he had been to consult Mr. Graham. 
 
 No : the Dornfield nine certainly could not 
 get along without Pat O'Callahan. Pat had one 
 great virtue, he was loyal. The Milltown nine 
 were anxious to get him away from the Dornfield
 
 TROUBLES. 73 
 
 nine, and offered him a great bribe ; but the 
 sturdy Irishman swore that he would be true 
 to his friends. Constancy is a great virtue ; but 
 the objects of it sometimes have to pay dearly. 
 Four times had Pat been in the Milltown lock- 
 up for drunkenness ; once, just on the eve of 
 a match-game. Each time Mr. Tom Milton had 
 driven over to Milltown in the utmost haste, to 
 interview the justice of the peace, and procure 
 Pat's release on the payment of a fine. The 
 country justice Mr. Tooms was a friend of 
 Mr. Milton's, but, withal, a very conscientious 
 man ; and Mr. Tom Milton generally had a 
 siege of it between Pat and the justice. Mr. 
 Tooms always expounded the law at great length 
 to Mr. Tom Milton, while the old gentleman 
 fumed and fretted. 
 
 " Bless you, my dear fellow, I know that 's 
 the law ! " exclaimed Mr. Tom Milton, sitting in 
 the justice's private room, while the court as- 
 sembled without. " But this young Irishman is 
 weak, that 's all ; and you are not going to send 
 him to the house of correction, and shut him up 
 for a couple of months, when, with his stalwart 
 frame and strong muscles, he can contribute to 
 the wealth of the country." 
 
 "Ah ha!" said the old justice, taking off his 
 glasses and tapping Tom Milton on the arm with 
 a knowing look. " Does playing ball contribute 
 to the wealth of the country, hey ? "
 
 74 THE GREAT MATCH. 
 
 " Oh, Pat 's at work, you know, at work, you 
 know, besides ; and, perhaps, if we both had 
 time, I might argue a point on the value of base- 
 ball playing ; but we won't now, we won't 
 now." 
 
 " No : we haven't time for that," laughed the 
 old justice of the peace, leaving Tom Milton, and 
 going into the court-room. 
 
 " Well, Pat ! " exclaimed Mr. Milton, after he 
 had paid the latter's fine for the fourth time, 
 " we must have no more of this. They '11 send 
 you to the house of correction yet." 
 
 " It will niver happen again," snivelled Pat, as 
 he rode home beside the burly form of Mr. Mil- 
 ton. " I went into Jim Murphy's, jist to see the 
 folks ; and Jim says to me, ' Won't you have 
 a glass of ale, Pat ? ' and says I, ' A glass of ale 
 won't hurt anybody ; ' and thin, as I was coming 
 home, I met two fellows of the Milltown nine, 
 and they asked me to have a little something, 
 for good feeling, you know ; and how could I 
 refuse ? " 
 
 " Ha ! " exclaimed Mr. Milton, " I 'm suspi- 
 cious of those fellows in the Milltown nine. Pat, 
 you look out for them in future : they 'd like to 
 get you out of the way, right well. It 's a plot, 
 Pat, believe me, it's a plot to prevent your 
 playing in this next match-game." 
 
 " Niver fear," said Pat.
 
 TROUBLES. 75 
 
 On Mr. Milton's arrival home, he sent for 
 Black, and told him his suspicions in regard to 
 the intentions of the Milltown nine. " They are 
 an unscrupulous lot over at Milltown," said Mr. 
 Milton ; " and there are some high bets made on 
 the next game. The treasurer of the Duck Mills 
 seemed to be very confident, and wanted to bet me 
 a hundred dollars. Well, I 'm right up and down, 
 you know ; and, when a man comes at me in that 
 way, why, I 'm right there too. And I said, 
 ' Make it two hundred, Mr. Davis, and I 'm with 
 you.' ' Well,' said he, ' we '11 say two hundred.' 
 ' Done ! ' said I. Now they are feeling pretty cocky 
 over there, I tell you ; and we 've got to look out. 
 They are sharp, and not over-scrupulous, I be- 
 lieve. They would like to get Pat out of the 
 nine ; and, if they can get him sent to jail for 
 intoxication, why, they '11 win their bets. Don't 
 like to be hard on any one, but I 've seen some 
 things over in Milltown which make me sus- 
 picious." 
 
 " I '11 take good care that they don't succeed," 
 said Black, with a manly flush of indignation on 
 his cheeks. 
 
 "That's right," replied Mr. Milton, shaking 
 the young man's hand with real regard. " Re- 
 member, I 'm in for two hundred dollars. I don't 
 care for the money, but my pride is up. They 
 laugh over in Milltown about Tom Milton and
 
 76 THE GREAT MATCH. 
 
 his ball-team, as they call the nine. ' Tom Mil- 
 ton's last hobby,' they say. Now, we want to 
 whip 'em into silence, I say." 
 
 " We '11 do it, too," said Black, as he bade the 
 old gentleman good-by. 
 
 " So he is in for two hundred dollars ! " said the 
 young man to himself, as he walked homeward. 
 " I wish I could say the same. I 'm deeply in- 
 volved, and I don't see my way out either. On 
 the first game we played I bet too confidently, 
 and lost ; on the next one I did not retrieve my 
 losses, like the fool that I was." 
 
 Meanwhile the excitement in both villages in 
 regard to the coming match increased daily. 
 There was a slight lull in business in Milltown, 
 and the energies of the bustling business-men 
 were readily turned into a new field of excite- 
 ment. We have shown that there were strong 
 party feelings between the two towns. The 
 democracy had. an overruling desire to whip the 
 aristocracy. Capital in business, envious of 
 the safely invested money of Mr. Tom Milton, 
 the retired merchant, was desirous of having a 
 tilt to show its superior mobility. And the 
 youngsters of the two villages had grown up with 
 many unsettled feuds, which could only be allayed 
 by a complete victory at the bat. For a time, 
 greater interests were forgotten, and the entire 
 community played ball. There was a rush for
 
 TROUBLES. 77 
 
 the daily paper, and the base-ball news was read 
 from the post office-steps by the young men, and 
 eagerly listened to by the old. The amount of 
 money which was bet upon the coming match in 
 Milltown assumed prodigious proportions, in 
 common report ; and it was maintained that the 
 agent of the Duck Mills paid all the bills of at 
 least three players on the Milltown nine. Base- 
 ball playing, for the nonce, was more profitable 
 than working in the mills or farming the rocky 
 hill-sides. The village streets were blockaded 
 every evening by men and boys, who threw base 
 balls to each other, or " batted up," as the expres- 
 sion was, much to the annoyance of old farmers, 
 who drove their mares, accompanied by foals, into 
 town to sell eggs ; and to the terror of matrons, 
 who looked upon a base ball as an engine of 
 death. Indeed, the mothers deprecated the 
 present state of things, and cut out of the daily 
 papers all the dreadful base-ball accidents, for the 
 eyes of their sons. Milltown was determined to 
 have its measure of fun out of the mania ; and, in 
 the midst of the stern and determined prepara- 
 tions for the coming match, like laughs and jests 
 one hears in an embattled fort awaiting the sig- 
 nal for a sortie, there were outbreaks of pecul- 
 iarly American humor in Milltown. The town 
 genius drew a sketch of the complete annihila- 
 tion of the Dornfield nine, and it was printed
 
 78 THE GREAT MATCH. 
 
 on one sheet of the Milltown " News," and had a 
 great circulation. Then there were picked-up 
 nines, formed among the thin men and the fat 
 men. The doctor put up an advertisement, that 
 special attention was paid to base-ball accidents ; 
 and the town photographer exhibited two car- 
 toons, which were termed " Before and After." 
 Every young man, as he went along the street, 
 took a ball from his pocket, and amused himself 
 throwing it from behind his back over his head, 
 and catching it in apparently impossible ways ; 
 and nobby fingers became a glory to their pos- 
 sessors. The young ladies fell in with the en- 
 thusiasm. They wore the colors, worked the 
 colors, sang for the colors, and charades were 
 acted for the benefit of the nine. They listened 
 with the most charming patience to long ac- 
 counts of base-ball matters, and prided them- 
 selves upon their knowledge of the fine points of 
 the game. Every bit of information was treas- 
 ured up. The wives, sad to relate, did not 
 partake of the general furor : wives are gener- 
 ally deadly enemies to the junketings of their 
 husbands ; and base ball did lead to such irregu- 
 larities. It seemed as if there was no end to 
 the playing. It was no use, in their minds, to 
 whip a nine, for a dozen, wishing the same lot, 
 seemed to spring up from every defeat ; and with 
 a rapid exaltation of mind, sometimes noticed in
 
 TROUBLES. 79 
 
 the logical processes of a wife's thought, they 
 predicted that the whole world would take to 
 base-ball playing, to the exclusion of every use- 
 ful pursuit. The work of the neighboring farm- 
 ers was much interfered with by the coming 
 match. 
 
 The spirit of rivalry which had always ex- 
 isted between the two villages, was fanned into 
 flames by the knowledge that Tom Milton, the 
 magnate of Dornfield, had made it his boast, 
 that, when it came to any thing but cheating, 
 Dornfield was far ahead of its bustling contem- 
 porary. The ministers in both towns found it 
 necessary to preach sermons on brotherly love, 
 and the sin of excitement in all things ; but each 
 town wanted to whip just once, and then would, 
 perhaps, think of what their pastors inculcated. 
 The excitement in Milltown was fanned by the 
 presence of two young New Yorkers, who were 
 on a visit to their relatives, and who bet heavily 
 on the approaching contest. The young ladies 
 in both villages worked badges for their favor- 
 ites, and even formed base-ball nines among 
 themselves. They made bean-bags, and amused 
 themselves in the cool, rainy days, pitching them 
 about, to practise themselves in catching balls. 
 Base-ball bats, crossed with a gilt ball at the 
 juncture, were favorite breastpins. The photo- 
 graphs of the players on both nines were placed
 
 80 THE GREAT MATCH. 
 
 in a conspicuous position in a photographer's 
 saloon, on the main street in Milltovvn, and were 
 visited by crowds. Young farmers, after a day's 
 hard work, harnessed up old Jerry or the bay 
 mare, and drove into Milltown in the dusk, to 
 gather up the news in regard to the approaching 
 contest.
 
 THE KNAVE OF CLUBS. 8 1 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE KNAVE OF CLUBS. 
 
 "JV/TISS MJLTON, on the afternoon of the day 
 -L*-*- following the fete, was busily occupied 
 in gardening, when Bobbie Snevel, with cheeks 
 aglow with exercise, joined her. 
 
 "Well, Bobbie," said she, with a smile, "where 
 have you been to-day ? " 
 
 " It 's a secret : but I guess I '11 tell you," said 
 the boy, sitting down beside her. 
 
 " Oh, if it 's a secret, you mustn't ! " exclaimed 
 Miss Milton. 
 
 " Oh, I 'm going to, though. I 've been over 
 to Milltown watching the practice of their nine. 
 Ned Black sent me over, for he said they 
 wouldn't suspect a small boy, and he says I 'm a 
 first-rate judge of good play." 
 
 " Oh, my ! what a compliment," said Miss 
 Milton. " So you 've been watching the practice 
 of the Milltown nine." 
 
 " Yes : and I 'm going over every day. We 
 are determined to beat next time. Mr. Milton 
 and Ned Black back me up." 
 4* F
 
 82 THE GREAT MATCH. 
 
 " Back you up ! " exclaimed the young lady in 
 astonishment. 
 
 " Yes : they want me to find out all about the 
 players over there." 
 
 " My uncle and Ned Black are sly dogs. Well, 
 Bobbie, why don't you take me along with you, 
 some time ? we could ride over in the pony- 
 wagon." 
 
 " That would be jolly ; first-rate. But they 
 would suspect us." 
 
 " They don't know that I know any thing 
 about the game," said Miss Milton. 
 
 " But you do, though," said her companion. 
 "It would be risky." 
 
 " Well, perhaps it would," said the young lady, 
 meditatively, leaning upon her rake, and looking 
 down at her flower-bed. 
 
 " I should admire to have you go ! " exclaimed 
 Bobbie. " You are so handsome ; and wouldn't 
 we cut a dash ! " 
 
 " So you like to be with me because I attract 
 attention, do you, Bobbie ? " 
 
 "No: it aint that, nuther ; I like I like to 
 have you with me, cause I love you." 
 
 Miss Milton suddenly sat down on the grass, 
 and kissed the boy. 
 
 Her companion blushed violently, and picked 
 the grass in handfuls, as they both sat together 
 in the shade.
 
 THE KNAVE OF CLUBS. 83 
 
 " I wanted to ask you if you 'd wait for me, 
 wait till I 'd grovved up, and then I 'd marry 
 you." 
 
 " Oh, I shall faint ! " exclaimed Miss Milton, 
 with a merry laugh. " Marry me ! " 
 
 " Yes," said Bob, stoutly, " when I get to be a 
 man." 
 
 " Bobbie, you are funny ! " exclaimed the young 
 lady, taking both of his hands in her own. 
 " Why, I 'm twelve years older than you ; I shall 
 be a little old woman when you are a young 
 man." 
 
 " Don't make any difference to me," said Bob- 
 bie, seizing Miss Milton's hands. 
 
 " No : I tell you, we shall be very, very good 
 friends always, Bobbie, and you shall come this 
 afternoon and show me where the maidenhair 
 fern grows." 
 
 "We'll see, we'll see," said Bob, with almost 
 a tear. 
 
 " We '11 see," replied the young lady, with a 
 joyous laugh, " who will get to the garden-gate 
 first ; " and set off with a merry step, followed by 
 her sturdy little adherent. 
 
 " I declare, if there aint that Mr. Grandhurst, 
 who sniffs at every thing, and goes round pointing 
 his cane at the homeliest old houses in town ! " 
 exclaimed Bob. " It will be too bad if he 's com- 
 ing to see you."
 
 84 THE GREAT MATCH. 
 
 " Sh, Bobbie ! he is a very fine young man, 
 just returned from Europe." 
 
 " Don't know a thing about base ball ; calls it 
 rounders, and says it aint half as scientific as 
 cricket. Oh, he 's a muff." 
 
 " Come, Bob, mustn't talk so. Ah, Mr. Grand- 
 hurst, very glad to see you. We are just off for 
 some ferns ; won't you accompany us ? " 
 
 " By ! " exclaimed Bob Snevel, in a loud 
 whisper. 
 
 " Should be very happy," said Mr. Grandhurst, 
 glancing askance at Bob Snevel. 
 
 " That will be jolly; and Bob is going to show 
 us where to find them." Bob manfully struggled 
 with a desire to forsake the party, but, remem- 
 bering that Miss Milton did not know where to 
 find the plants they were in search of, led the 
 way. 
 
 " That group of elms yonder is very fine, Mr. 
 Grandhurst," said Miss Milton. 
 
 " Ye-es," replied her companion ; " fine mass 
 of green ; not quite in keeping with its surround- 
 ing; that old, ragged fence ought to be swept 
 away, and the stones of yonder pasture gath- 
 ered up." 
 
 " Now, I like this primitive landscape ; and that 
 ragged fence is very picturesque in my eyes," 
 replied his companion, looking through her half- 
 closed hand at the elms.
 
 THE KNAVE OF CLUBS. 85 
 
 " The values of an American landscape are 
 hard to combine, so as to produce an artistic 
 picture," said Grandhurst, gazing with head half 
 turned, and outlining the objects in the air with 
 his slender cane. 
 
 They had not proceeded far on their way 
 before they were joined by Black. Miss Milton 
 welcomed him with great pleasure, for he was 
 the bean ideal of the young ladies in Dornfield. 
 She was especially fascinated by his address. 
 His figure was large, and perfectly proportioned. 
 One never caught him in an ungraceful attitude. 
 As the party disappeared down the wood-path, 
 he bent his fine, manly profile down to listen 
 with an air of tenderness and courtesy to her. 
 The only amusement he seemed to have was 
 base ball ; and he was an adept in this manly 
 sport. No one could catch as he could. The 
 balls resigned themselves to their fate, and 
 " curbed their bright career " wherever he was. 
 Even the bat seemed instinct with life in his 
 hands. He hit no safe flies to the fielders. The 
 ball rebounded from his bat, through the legs of 
 the most active short-stop, took quick and un- 
 expected turns, like a gray rabbit, past the bases, 
 and ricochetted over the heads of the panting 
 fielders. His name was on the lips of all the 
 town boys, and was mentioned wherever mus- 
 cular prowess was held in estimation. Every one
 
 86 THE GREAT MATCH. 
 
 liked him, too. The possessor of great physical 
 powers, if he chooses to be "a hail-fellow well 
 met," can be a small sovereign, and have troops 
 of followers. 
 
 Perhaps the only enemy that Black had in 
 Dornfield was Dick Softy. The two young men 
 had played together at school, and had been 
 always thrown together. Fate seemed to decree 
 that they should be rivals in every thing, save 
 muscular prowess ; for in this respect Ned Black 
 had a towering advantage. They had striven 
 for the love of the same pretty little Polly Adams, 
 when boys of ten. They had struggled to see 
 who would find the most birds'-nests, the first 
 may-flower, and the most prolific chestnut-trees. 
 Later, they contested for the same prize in the 
 High School, and, after graduation, had both 
 desired the same position in the country bank. 
 In every thing Dick had to acknowledge himself 
 beaten by his brilliant schoolmate. Every one 
 said that the small patrimony which Dick Softy 
 had inherited had made him the indolent, care- 
 for-nothing exquisite that he was ; while Ned 
 Black's poverty had stimulated him to constant 
 successes. The young men had always been 
 friends outwardly ; but the dark hemlock-grove 
 on the edge of Dornfield could tell a story of 
 a fight which took place within its shades. 
 Black had grossly insulted Dick at a picnic ; and
 
 THE KNAVE OF CLUBS. 87 
 
 the latter, meeting his foe as he returned from a 
 late call at the Miltons', boldly stepped up to 
 him and slapped his face. The two young men 
 immediately threw off their coats and began to 
 spar. It required but a moment for Ned to 
 whip his adversary ; and Dick had to keep his 
 room for a week, with a black eye and a swollen 
 nose. From that day, Dick began to exercise 
 his flabby muscles. We have detailed his system 
 of gymnastics. A mighty purpose had grown 
 up within him to whip Black. He was also 
 spurred on by the taunts of Miss Milton. In 
 Dick's love for that dashing young lady he 
 seemed to have escaped the rivalry of Ned Blaek ; 
 but, grown slightly morbid from long encounters 
 with his adversary, he expected every day to 
 see Black step in and bear off that young lady 
 triumphantly. It is true that Black seemed to 
 be quite attentive to pretty Rose Snevel ; but 
 Dick thought that he knew Black's heart thor- 
 oughly, and expected to see him make a bold 
 push for the money and position of the heiress. 
 His suspicions seemed to amount to a certainty 
 on the night of the fete. The philosophy with 
 which Dick had hitherto regarded the base-ball 
 struggles of the two villages gave way, and he 
 betook himself, also, to practising with the bat. 
 He hired Pat O'Callahan to practise with him 
 in an unoccupied field, remote from observation.
 
 88 THE GREAT MATCH. 
 
 Pat was sworn to secrecy. It is needless to say 
 that the loyal young Irishman kept the secret 
 religiously. In return for this loyalty, Dick's 
 fate and the base-ball man's were inseparably 
 joined. Having gained another staunch friend, 
 Pat felt at liberty to contract more debts, to 
 dress more elegantly, and to be more idle than 
 ever. He inculcated upon Dick the necessity 
 of the regularity of his practice in ball playing, 
 and, apparently in order to keep his pupil's mind 
 upon this necessity, made the young man always 
 keep an eye upon him when he went over to 
 Milltown, so that he might have some one to 
 bring him home in season for the next day's 
 practice, in case Tim Murphy's hospitality should 
 prove too overpowering. Dick, however, thor- 
 oughly recognized the excellence of his teacher, 
 and daily gained a little in the knack of catching 
 hot balls and in batting. 
 
 "When you see the ball coming, put the palms 
 of yer two hands togither," said Pat, "and be 
 ready to resave it. Draw 'em away jist a bit, 
 when the ball touches 'em. That's the talk. 
 Now take the bat, and let me see you knock up 
 a ball or two. Stand firm on your pins, throw 
 the ball well up with the right hand, and thin 
 seizing the bat, which ye have held manewhile 
 in your left, with the two hands hit me a good 
 one."
 
 THE KNAVE OF CLUBS. 89 
 
 Dick did as he was told. Five times did the 
 ball drop to the ground, as the young man swung 
 round in a complete circle, with his coat-tails 
 rapidly following his outstretched bat. 
 
 " Take it cool and aisy ! " cried Pat from the 
 distance where he had stationed himself in the 
 expectance of a fly. 
 
 Dick essayed again. This time the ball was 
 struck, and went up in a straight line, about ten 
 feet above his head. The next four attempts 
 were failures. Then came comparative success, 
 in the shape of a grounder, which Pat scooped 
 up and flung back to the batter. 
 
 " Ye are getting on," cried Pat, encouragingly. 
 " Let me have the bat, and do ye take to catch- 
 ing again." 
 
 Dick accordingly relinquished the bat, and 
 took his place in the field. His successful cap- 
 ture of a hot ball from Pat's bat was not entirely 
 pleasure unalloyed ; for his little finger got in the 
 way, and made its importance felt in the economy 
 of the hand. The next high fly that came did 
 not awaken any enthusiasm in Dick's breast, as 
 he saw it descend from the blue sky a mere 
 speck at its great altitude. 
 
 " Now ! " cried Pat. 
 
 "All right!" came faintly from Dick, as he 
 saw his fate come rushing down. 
 
 The ball was held for a moment, and then 
 dropped from Dick's nerveless grasp.
 
 90 THE GREA T MA TCH. 
 
 "We'll try a grounder, next," said Pat, who 
 was having the best of the fun in knocking up 
 the balls : accordingly, a grounder came. Dick 
 was sure of the ball, and placed himself in a 
 sitting posture, directly in line. But the ball 
 had no intention of being an easy capture, and 
 suddenly bounded over his head ; and the young 
 man, in his eagerness to capture it, turned a 
 complete summersault, and rolled down a bank. 
 
 " Capital ! " cried two voices ; and Miss Milton, 
 with a merry laugh, issued from the bushes in 
 company with Ned Black. 
 
 " What ! have you taken to base ball, Dick ? " 
 exclaimed Miss Milton. "Well, well, the uni- 
 verse is about to resolve itself into base-ball 
 playing, I really believe. And you do practise 
 so splendidly, Dick ! Ha, ha ! excuse me, but I 
 can't help laughing. I hope you didn't hurt 
 yourself ! " 
 
 " Not in the least," answered Dick, glaring at 
 Black, and brushing the earth off his trousers. 
 
 "It requires a good deal of practice to catch a 
 grounder," said Ned, superciliously, taking up the 
 ball and throwing it back to Pat. In this act his 
 fine figure showed to great advantage ; and it did 
 not escape the observation of Miss Milton. 
 
 " There 's Pat ! " exclaimed that young lady. 
 " Oh ! you 're coaching Dick, I suppose," said she, 
 as the Irishman approached.
 
 THE KNAVE OF CLUBS. 91 
 
 " I was on me way home from a bit of practice, 
 and Mr. Softy wanted a fly or two," replied Pat. 
 
 " Oh ! that 's it, is it ? " said Miss Milton, casting 
 a comical look at Dick Softy. " By the way, 
 Dick, I especially admire the way in which you 
 hit up balls : seems to me I never saw it better 
 done, you hit every ball so nicely. Ha, ha, 
 ha!" 
 
 Ned Black, also, could not contain himself, and 
 smiled grimly. 
 
 " Well," drawled Dick, resuming his old man- 
 ner, " I get plenty of exercise out of it, and I see 
 that I also was fortunate enough in amusing a 
 couple of friends who were concealed in the 
 bushes." 
 
 " Oh, you mistake ! " exclaimed Miss Milton, 
 with hauteur. "We had just emerged from the 
 path to Love Pond, when we caught sight of 
 you. Come, go right on with your practice : we 
 will promise not to look." And, thus saying, she 
 walked away, accompanied by her escort. 
 
 Pat resumed the bat, and hit some splendid 
 flies to Dick ; but that young man was more un- 
 successful than ever, and told Pat at length that 
 he had had enough for that day. 
 
 " So, it is as I expected," said Dick to himself, 
 in the depth of chagrin. " That man has again 
 crossed my path. I 'm a fool to endeavor to 
 contest him in his strong points. With what an
 
 92 THE GREAT MATCH. 
 
 air of superiority he threw that ball back to Pat ! 
 Such an easy grace! Well, well, and she, too, 
 made fun of me. I believe all women are flirts. 
 I '11 retake myself to my cigar, my easy hammock, 
 and the latest novel ; that is, after I 've whipped 
 that puppy, Ned Black, just once. There don't 
 seem to be much likelihood of that at present," 
 said Dick, as he walked homeward, after parting 
 with Pat. 
 
 A youn-g man who is disposed to be fast can 
 find a good many opportunities, even in country 
 towns. Black found in Milltown many attrac- 
 tions which did not exist in the more sedate 
 village of Dornfield. There was an excellent 
 livery-stable in Milltown, and the keeper of it had 
 a fast-trotting mare ;' which was supposed to be 
 his own, but which he' kept under his own name 
 for Ned Black. The latter was her real owner. 
 There was a good inn there, provided with an 
 upper room, where young men could congregate 
 and indulge in a game of cards for small stakes. 
 There was also a resort, about four miles out of 
 the manufacturing village, entitled Lakeside, 
 where great suppers could be obtained. Many 
 were the visits that Black made to this place, in 
 company with convivial spirits. All these enjoy- 
 ments required a great expenditure of money. 
 Joined to these pleasures, there were also great 
 opportunities for making money in various man-
 
 THE KNAVE OF CLUBS. 93 
 
 ufacturing enterprises ; for the business created 
 and fostered by the great war had not yet re- 
 ceived that severe check which had been pre- 
 dicted by many wise heads. Black, in company 
 with some ardent and enterprising young New- 
 Yorkers, had entered privately into a stock en- 
 terprise, which promised to speedily make him a 
 rich man. To obtain the requisite funds, he did 
 not scruple to alter the books of the bank ; for 
 there was in his mind an absolute certainty of 
 being able to replace the money before the deficit 
 could be discovered. Every thing went well for 
 a while ; but at length manufacturing began to 
 decline, and Ned found himself getting deeper 
 and deeper. 
 
 After leaving Rose, he walked across the fields 
 to Milltown. There was a full moon, and the foli- 
 age was in all the luxuriance of early June. The 
 scene should have filled the heart of a young 
 lover with rapturous thoughts ; the stars were 
 ready to twinkle happily, and to foretell happy 
 nights, when two hearts should beat as one, 
 as their possessors wandered where their 
 fancy listed. But the peace and beauty of the 
 scene were entirely lost upon the mind of the 
 preoccupied man who stood just on the mental 
 border between youth and middle age. " Stay, 
 young man," said the gentle moon, " and see how 
 gently my light shows the rippling of the river,
 
 94 THE GREAT MATCH. 
 
 and how beautifully yonder red farm-house light 
 contrasts in its reflection in the dark pools of 
 water with my silver radiance. The time may 
 come when you will love the darkness of a night 
 without a moon ; enjoy this peaceful moonlight 
 while you can." The young man strode on : the 
 beautiful landscape had no charms for him. At 
 length he emerged from the pastures, and struck 
 the high-road, and in a few moments was at the 
 door of the hotel in Milltown. He immediately 
 repaired to the billiard-room. 
 
 " Here is our man ! " exclaimed Harry Stetlow, 
 pausing in the attitude of striking a ball. 
 
 " You look tired, Black," said Frank Hender- 
 son, chalking his cue. 
 
 " I am rather tired," said Ned Black ; throwing 
 himself upon a lounge, and putting his hands 
 behind his back. 
 
 "What's the prospect of your nine beating 
 the next game ? " asked Stetlow, after he had 
 missed his ball. 
 
 " Oh ! we shall beat," said Black, gloomily. 
 "Your nine can't hit O'Callahan's balls. 'It's 
 out of the question to compete with a nine which 
 has got such a pitcher." 
 
 " Well, old fellow, your manner belies your 
 words, then," said Henderson. " However, I 
 hear old Tom Milton is ready to bet five hun- 
 dred dollars that Dornfiekl can produce a nine 
 which can beat any which Milltown can raise."
 
 THE KNAVE OF CLUBS. 95 
 
 "Augustus Davis, of the Duck Mills, has a 
 large bet with Milton, I hear," said Stetlow, sit- 
 ting on the edge of the billiard table. " In fact, 
 all the rich old gents in this town are interested 
 in the affair, and betting is all the rage. There 's 
 a chance for some one to make some money out 
 of this match. I Ve got a small wager myself, 
 with Brown of the Gilbert Mill, that the Milltown 
 nine will win. I hope you are going to make 
 something out of all this excitement, Black. 
 You can make six or seven hundred dollars very 
 easily." 
 
 " How ? " asked Black. 
 
 " Oh ! there are various ways," said Stetlow, 
 winking at Henderson, and blowing tobacco- 
 smoke rings in the air. " Come, let 's have some 
 punch and a game of cards : I 'm tired of bill- 
 iards." 
 
 His companions were not averse to his sug- 
 gestion, and they accordingly repaired to a private 
 room. 
 
 " Now, I tell you, Black," said Stetlow, striking 
 the table with his fist, "you are a fool if you 
 don't make a handsome thing out of this match." 
 
 " I propose to," replied Black, watching the 
 smoke from his cigar. 
 
 " In what way ? " asked Henderson. 
 
 " Oh ! in the way of bets ; I Ve already taken 
 several."
 
 96 THE GREA T MA TCH. 
 
 " On the success of your nine, I suppose ? " 
 asked Stetlow. 
 
 " Certainly." 
 
 " You feel sure, then ? " said Henderson. 
 
 " Perfectly." 
 
 " Well, you are a fool if you don't make a pile. 
 You have the game all in your own hands, 
 haven't you ? " 
 
 " I think I have." 
 
 " Well, then, get some one to take Tom Mil- 
 ton's heavy bets, and so manage the play that the 
 Dornfield nine are beaten," said Stetlow, keeping 
 his sharp black eyes fixed upon Ned Black. 
 
 " Who do you take me for ? " asked Black, 
 angrily, putting down his glass of punch. 
 
 " I take you for Ned Black, a man who can't 
 afford to neglect opportunities. We must have 
 some more money, Black, to prop up our stock 
 enterprise. Perhaps you see a way to obtain it : 
 I don't. We must have it." 
 
 " This idea of yours is quixotic, and damned 
 disagreeable, Stetlow." 
 
 " I think Stetlow is right," said Henderson, 
 finishing a glass of liquor. " We ought to make 
 something out of this great excitement. Why, 
 the fellows clown in York don't think any thing 
 of making a cool two or three thousand on a 
 ball game. 
 
 " Yes ; but no honorable players sell a game."
 
 THE KNAVE OF CLUBS. 97 
 
 "Well, there are nice distinctions, I '11 acknowl- 
 edge ; but the crowd have the fun all the same, 
 and then there is the usual luck of the game. I 
 don't see why your hard work and energy in 
 ball-playing shouldn't receive the pay that any 
 other pursuit would have given it, if you had in- 
 vested the same amount of energy in it." 
 
 " We 've got to have more money, and that 
 speedily," said Stetlow. " Here is a ready way 
 of getting it : six or seven hundred dollars will 
 save us as many thousands. Without it, every 
 thing goes by the board. Now, if you will man- 
 age to let the Milltown nine win, why, I will take 
 old Milton's bets as high as he chooses to go ; 
 and*we shall be lifted right out of our difficulties. 
 Then, there are several other bets I can take 
 among Milton's friends : we can make a good 
 thing out of it." 
 
 Black moodily drank and smoked. He felt 
 himself under the power of Stetlow. The latter 
 knew all his embarrassments, and had several 
 secrets of his in his possession. Black had 
 dreaded a demand for money from him for many 
 weeks. It had not come ; but he felt inwardly 
 sure that its coming was only a matter of time. 
 He had looked for aid from their various specu- 
 lations ; but they always needed propping up 
 with additional funds. The sentiment of honor 
 is not sapped all at once : it yields to slow but 
 5 G
 
 98 THE GREAT MATCH. 
 
 persistent attacks. By taking a small sum from 
 the bank, he had dealt it a powerful blow ; but 
 he had consoled himself by the thought that he 
 should speedily replace it. Now he was a.sked 
 to surrender his personal honor in the cause in 
 which muscular prowess and endurance made an 
 open fight for fair play. Villains preserve, some- 
 times tenaciously, honor in prize-fights. The 
 term, "a square man," has much significance 
 and weight with them. To sell a game of base 
 ball cost Ned Black far deeper and more agoniz- 
 ing pangs than to take a small sum of money 
 from the bank, with the idea of speedily replacing 
 it ; besides, if he lost the game, how would the 
 Miltons regard him ? He was now in the height 
 of favor with them ; and Miss Milton had come 
 to regard him in quite a tender light, he felt cer- 
 tain. How could he sell the game, and yet 
 maintain the secret ? His companions continued 
 to dwell upon the great excitement with which the 
 game was expected. Special trains were to run 
 from the neighboring towns on the day of the 
 match, and even in the city of Worcester betting 
 ran high; for the manufacturing firms of Smith 
 & Speller, and Franklin, Brown, & Co., had many 
 friends and business connections in the metrop- 
 olis. Tom Milton was also well known ; and his 
 former business agents took a personal interest 
 in the approaching contest. Business had grown
 
 THE KNAVE OF CLUBS. 99 
 
 dull ; and the minds which had been stimulated 
 by the rush of trade during the war were 
 ready to seize upon any thing which promised 
 excitement. 
 
 " What do you say, old fellow ? " said Hender- 
 son, tapping Black upon the arm with his light 
 cane. 
 
 Black roused himself from a deep reverie, and 
 walked the room backward and forward. 
 
 " It is not in the power of one man to make 
 or mar a game of base ball : the chances are 
 widely distributed." 
 
 " It is in your power," said Stetlow, " to lose 
 that game for the Dornfield nine. You are the 
 catcher." 
 
 " My efforts to lose the game would be too 
 evident ; supposing, for the sake of argument, 
 that I undertook to lose the game." 
 
 " It is easy enough for you to win over the 
 pitcher, O'Callahan ; so that the game lies between 
 you two," said Henderson. 
 
 Black glared at the two men. From their man- 
 ner it was plain that they felt sure of their victim. 
 
 " If you know of any speedier way of raising a 
 requisite sum of money, Black," said Stetlow, 
 "I should like to hear of it. The note which 
 comes due on the twentieth must be paid. 
 Henderson, I 've got to go over and see Green 
 in West Milltown ; don't you want to ride down
 
 100 THE GREAT MATCH. 
 
 with me ? I 'd like to know, Black, your decision 
 in this matter by to-morrow morning." 
 
 Black returned their salutes mechanically, as 
 they left the room. " A precious pair ! " he mur- 
 mured to himself. He sat down beside the empty 
 glasses at the table, and tried to think over his 
 perilous position. The money which he had taken 
 from the bank must be restored at all hazards ; 
 Stetlow must be given money to seal his mouth 
 about certain matters ; and money must be raised 
 to save that which had been already invested in 
 stocks and the manufacturing enterprise whicrK _ . 
 he had entered into with Stetlow and Henderson. \o* 
 Money ! money ! money ! seemed to be written r 
 in letters of fire upon every wall of the room. 
 He thought over the project of selling the gamt 
 It seemed to gain in feasibility the longer he^ 
 thought about it. Why should he not do it? 
 Tom Milton was a very rich man, and he had 
 the excitement of the game whether it was won 
 or lost. How could he prevent his effort to lose 
 the game from becoming too evident ? Pat 
 O'Callahan, it was evident, must be gained over 
 to his side, or disposed of in some way. He was 
 interrupted in his meditations by the entrance of 
 the stable-keeper who kept his mare. 
 
 " Well, Brown, how is the mare ; had any ex- 
 ercise to-day ? " 
 
 " She 's not well to-night."
 
 THE KNAVE OF CLUBS. IOI 
 
 " Not well ! " Black started up, for he had 
 determined to sell her on the following day to 
 Spring, of Worcester, who had long desired to own 
 her. With the money from the sale, he could 
 restore a portion of the money to the bank. 
 
 " She 's been sort of moping all day," replied 
 Brown, " and looks out of condition. Her hair 
 stands up in ridges. I want you to come over 
 and take a look at her." 
 
 Black speedily left the room with his compan- 
 ion, and repaired to the stable. The hostler held 
 up the lantern in the box stall. The mare was 
 reclining on the floor, and breathing heavily. 
 
 " I 'm afeard she's going to make a die of it," 
 said Brown. 
 
 The tears came into the young man's eyes, as 
 he saw the splendid creature look up at him with 
 her eloquent eyes. He stroked her mane ; she 
 gave a slight neigh, and then fell back dead. 
 
 " That 's ended," said Black, stepping out of 
 the box. He gave orders in regard to her final 
 disposition, and walked out upon the village 
 street. The Fates seemed to decree that he 
 should join with Stetlow in an agreement to 
 make money out of the approaching game. He 
 repaired again to the hotel, and wrote a note to 
 Stetlow, assenting to his proposition, and prom- 
 ised to meet him on the following morning to 
 enter into more definite arrangements.
 
 102 THE GREAT MATCH. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 BASE-BALL MATTERS. 
 
 A LTHOUGH Tom Milton was much liked 
 ** by his old business friends for his warmth 
 of heart and his hearty ways ; still, he always 
 provoked intense opposition in business circles, 
 from a certain autocratic manner. It was use- 
 less to oppose one of Tom Milton's speculative 
 moves : he swept every thing before him by 
 his quickness of conception and concentration 
 of aim. He was an emperor in trade. He 
 carried the same traits into his retirement at 
 Dornfield, and ruled wherever he went. When 
 he took up the Dornfield base-ball nine, from a 
 quick sympathy for young men's pursuits and 
 pleasures, his old business friends and rivals at 
 Milltown entered into opposition at first with a 
 certain sense of humor, and afterwards in 
 deadly earnest. They were determined to thwart 
 him, if there was money and enterprise enough 
 in Milltown. The young business men took up 
 the affair with great eagerness ; out of business
 
 BASE-BALL MATTERS. 103 
 
 hours, they had generally occupied themselves in 
 trotting their horses against each other, or in 
 getting up races at a neighboring park. The 
 races that spring had been failures, and the same 
 class of men engaged in the base-ball war with 
 all their might. The coming depression in man- 
 ufacturing, as we have said, contributed also to 
 create an interest in any thing which promised 
 excitement. This state of affairs afforded a good 
 study to Grandhurst, who occasionally drove 
 over to Milltown with the Silvers. 
 
 " This is always the way with the American 
 people," said Mr. Silver, one day after they had 
 witnessed a base-ball match on the green. 
 " They run every thing into the ground, just as 
 they take a locomotive and drive it until the 
 thing bursts under the tension that has gradually 
 relaxed its strength." 
 
 " Curious state of semi-civilization," said Grand- 
 hurst. " Good thing to study, if there was 
 any depth to the thing ; but that 's the trouble. 
 These people take impressions as quickly as a 
 sensitive plate, and the impressions fade out as 
 soon as they are taken." 
 
 " We had certain national characteristics dur- 
 ing the Revolution," remarked Mr. Silver ; " but 
 we are now ready to take up with any thing that 
 suits the hour. Heigh ho ! I 've about made up 
 my mind to go to Europe to live."
 
 104 THE GREAT MATCH. 
 
 " I don't think I can stand this sort of thing 
 long," sighed Grandhurst, in return. As he said 
 this, he caught sight of Miss Milton driving with 
 great speed towards Dornfield, with Bobbie 
 Snevel on the seat beside her. His heart cer- 
 tainly thumped : it was not possible that this 
 hoydenish girl could have fascinated him in the 
 least. She was only a curious psychological 
 study. 
 
 " There goes that girl of Milton's," said Mr. 
 Silver. " She has been over to Milltown with 
 that little urchin to inquire the price of base-ball 
 bats and dead balls, I '11 warrant." 
 
 Miss Milton had been on a much more im- 
 portant errand. Bobbie Snevel had spent the 
 day in gathering it-ems about the players on the 
 Milltown nine, and in watching their practice ; 
 and she had driven over in the evening to bring 
 him home according to her promise. The boy, 
 unobserved, had mingled with the players, had 
 treasured up their remarks, and had carefully 
 noted the practice of each man. He had accom- 
 panied them to the inn, with the admiring crowd 
 of men and urchins, and had gathered up the 
 various opinions he heard expressed. His heart 
 beat high with exultation, when he overheard 
 the base-ball players of Milltown say that no- 
 body could catch like Ned Black. Wasn't Black 
 the intimate friend of his sister and himself?
 
 BASE-BALL MATTERS. 1 05 
 
 Didn't they know the great ball-player better 
 than all the world ? Didn't he know that Black 
 loved his own beautiful sister, and wasn't this a 
 secret which the whole world would be proud to 
 know some day ? He was tempted to laugh out 
 aloud in derision at the playing of the captain 
 of the Milltown nine, in the presence of the 
 Milltown boys ; but prudence restrained him. 
 Wouldn't he hurrah, though, on the day of the 
 match ? With his little straw hat far on the 
 back of his head, and his body thrust eagerly 
 through the motley crowd which always watched 
 the practice of the Milltown nine, he was the 
 embodiment of base-ball enthusiasm. Once, dur- 
 ing the afternoon, Bobbie had found himself in 
 the midst of a group of men, who were carefully 
 canvassing the chances of victory in the coming 
 match. He heard Ned Black's name mentioned 
 repeatedly ; and, apparently full of interest in 
 the practice-game which was going on, listened 
 eagerly to what was said. 
 
 " I tell you," said one of the men, whom he 
 heard called Stetlow, " we shall make the thing 
 sure. Black is all right ; we understand each 
 other perfectly ; and the only question is, how to 
 throw the dust. Ned will manage O'Callahan. 
 We must not appear in the matter, except in a 
 dark way : you understand ? "
 
 106 THE GREAT MATCH. 
 
 "There's a large margin of risk," said another 
 dark-featured man. 
 
 " Oh ! but there is no risk," said Stetlow, 
 speaking in a low, determined voice. "I tell 
 you, Black must lose the game. I 've made my 
 bets. We understand each -other perfectly. 
 Now, it 's only a question whether you will join 
 us." 
 
 " I want to talk with Black myself, first," said 
 his companion. 
 
 " Well, I agree to that. Black is coming over 
 this evening to have the last talk, and you will 
 have an opportunity. I tell you," said Stetlow, 
 in a whisper, as they moved away from Bobbie's 
 neighborhood, " Black has got to lose this game ; 
 and he will do it." 
 
 Bobbie stood transfixed among the crowd of 
 urchins who surrounded him. He did not like 
 the looks of the men ; and there was something 
 in their conversation that excited him greatly. 
 " Black must lose the game ! " How could that 
 be ? He resolved to tell his sister the conversa- 
 tion, and see if she could unravel the mystery. 
 No ; he wouldn't. Rose didn't know any thing 
 about base ball. He would ask Miss Milton, 
 wouldn't he ? or would he ? As he walked up 
 the Dqrnfield road, busily thinking, he found 
 himself presently face to face with old Cherry, 
 Miss Milton's horse. He started back in aston- 
 ishment.
 
 BASE-BALL MATTERS. 1 07 
 
 "Well, Bobbie, are you going to run old 
 Cherry down ? " exclaimed Miss Molly, with a 
 hearty laugh. 
 
 " My ! " exclaimed Bobbie. " I got right into 
 him, didn't I ? Guess you thought I was a sup- 
 perambulist ? " \ 
 
 " A somnambulist, Bobbie ! " 
 
 " Yes ; that 's it. Well, I was thinking." 
 
 " What about ? " 
 
 " Them fellers over there can't play with our 
 fellers : they muff right along. Once, the cap- 
 tain caught a high ball, and they applauded as if 
 he had done a big thing. Why, Ned Black 
 wouldn't have thought any thing of it. I 've 
 seen him jump three feet, and catch a red-hot 
 one. Their short-stop plays too wide too ; and 
 they let fellers steal bases right and left." 
 
 " How does their new man, Masters, play ? " 
 asked the young lady. 
 
 " Well, he aint much : fellers have to tell him 
 when to run. But he has got a powerful long 
 arm, and he swoops in all the balls that come 
 within ten feet of him. I 've heard lots of things 
 to-day." 
 
 " You have, I know. Tell them to me, Bobbie. 
 Ned Black is coming up to see uncle to-morrow 
 morning ; and we want to know every thing." 
 Bobbie suddenly became silent. " You are walk- 
 ing in your sleep again, aren't you ? " said Miss
 
 108 THE GREAT MATCH. 
 
 Milton, bending down, and looking him comically 
 in the face. 
 
 " I aint nuther." 
 
 " Well, there is something the matter, I know. 
 Tell me, Bobbie." 
 
 " 1* heard lots of fellers say that Ned Black is 
 the best ball-player in the whole country. They 
 talked about him as if they knew him as well as 
 I do." 
 
 " Of course, they don't ! " exclaimed his com- 
 panion. " He always speaks of you, and says 
 you know as much about the game as he does." 
 
 " Did he say that ? " said Bobbie, with a look of 
 gratified pride. 
 
 " Yes : we both are great friends of his, Bob- 
 bie. I like him too," said Miss Milton, with a 
 blush. There could be no harm in acknowledg- 
 ing an interest in Black to the boy. 
 
 Bobbie immediately related all that he had 
 heard. His companion in her turn became ex- 
 tremely thoughtful. " Oh ! he has some business 
 speculations in Milltown. That is what they were 
 talking about. You know, business men talk 
 about their ' little game/ and use slang phrases." 
 She quieted the curiosity of the boy by this 
 answer ; but his communication awakened a 
 train of thoughts within her. 
 
 The material of the Dornfield nine was excel- 
 lent. The weakest spot in the nine was, to
 
 BASE-BALL MATTERS. 109 
 
 speak paradoxically, also the strongest. O'Cal- 
 lahan was a superb pitcher, every one agreed ; 
 but he could not be depended upon off the ball- 
 field. Once engaged in a game, and he played 
 gallantly ; but the difficulty was to keep him in 
 good trim from day to day. He fully understood 
 his importance ; and was determined to profit 
 by it to the utmost. He ruled the nine with a 
 rod of iron. " O'Callahan has taken a miff, and 
 there can't be any practice to-day ; " or, " O'Cal- 
 lahan is on a spree, and Mr. Milton is search- 
 ing Milltown for him." The young Irishman 
 knew that he would be taken care of, and he 
 consequently went his own way. After his sprees 
 he was moody, and thought that the rest of the 
 nine considered themselves above him ; and he 
 wouldn't play until all had abased themselves be- 
 fore him, like the subjects of an Eastern monarch. 
 Mr. Tom Milton fumed and fretted. He would 
 give Pat a lesson some day. Just let them win 
 this match, and then the Irishman should see 
 who was master ; but, nevertheless, Pat was 
 master now. He wore the best black broadcloth, 
 and lived on the fat of the land. He sent for 
 his first cousin in Ireland ; and got him a place 
 through the influence of Mr. Milton ; and he 
 seriously meditated matrimony with the widow 
 of Mike Carney, who lived in Milltown with her 
 five children. We have related the struggles of
 
 110 THE GREAT MATCH. 
 
 Mr. Milton to keep Pat from the grasp of the 
 law in Milltown. These struggles became greater 
 from day to day. It happened fortunately for 
 the morality of Dornfield and Milltown, but un- 
 fortunately for Mr. Milton that the temperance 
 cause had begun to be unusually agitated ; and 
 it was resolved to proceed against all illegal 
 dealers in liquor in both villages. Some of the 
 deacons of the church began to denounce base 
 ball, and pointed to Pat O'Callahan as a proof 
 that it encouraged drinking. Tom Milton was 
 accused of countenancing the use of liquors. 
 Mr. Milton held his standing in the community 
 very jealously, and was much troubled by the 
 talk which arose ; but he did not flinch. Pat 
 should pitch for them, at all costs. Finally, it 
 was determined that Pat should have a room in 
 the neighborhood of Black's ; and that young 
 man promised to see that he was in bed at nine 
 o'clock every evening. Pat was given a serious 
 talking to by Mr. Milton, and he was all repent- 
 ance and tears ; for it was after a fresh release 
 from the lock-up at Milltown, where a severe 
 penalty had stared him in the face. 
 
 " Now, Black, we have done our part," said 
 Stetlow, as he related the endeavors in Milltown 
 to get Pat sentenced and out of the way. " You 
 must do yours, any way it seems best ; but the 
 fact is, Pat must not pitch against our nine."
 
 BASE-BALL MATTERS. Ill 
 
 Black felt that he was getting deeper and 
 deeper into the toils. So Pat came to have a 
 nice room next to his. He dressed in the best, 
 and wore shoes which were masterpieces of 
 workmanship. They were stitched in the most 
 ornamental fashion ; and were fashioned to a 
 point which, like the horns of a species of ante- 
 lope, threatened to turn back so far as to pene- 
 trate the body. He purchased a fiddle, and 
 learned to play Rory O'More. Some of the 
 deacons of the church said they heard high 
 noises of wassail in Pat's room late at night : but 
 they were felt to be mistaken ; for Ned Black, 
 it was well known, had taken charge of the 
 pitcher. 
 
 When it began, Rose could not tell ; but Ned 
 Black grew less attentive and loving. He was 
 often silent and preoccupied when they were 
 together. He had met her, on the morning after 
 he had seen her father at the garden-gate, wi'th 
 the same openness of demeanor, and had con- 
 vinced her of his love for her in the same man- 
 ner that he had always done. The change she 
 noticed was perhaps due to the coming base-ball 
 game. His mind was occupied with it. It 
 seemed as if the nine practised more than ever. 
 There were few afternoons or evenings that they 
 could be together. Rose sat in her chamber 
 watching incessantly for his coming, gazing out
 
 112 THE GREAT MATCH. 
 
 through the blinds. One evening she saw him 
 walk by with Miss Molly Milton. They were 
 talking merrily together. Rose flung herself 
 upon a couch, and wept bitter tears, and then 
 proudly rose and removed all trace of them. 
 " She was too silly : of course he could walk with 
 Miss Milton, occasionally." Her father grew 
 more exacting from day to day, and came home 
 more helpless night after night. Rose perceived 
 that some one helped him through the gate : she 
 could not recognize Mr. Graham, and thought 
 that it was her lover. The sweet thought that 
 this watchfulness was done for love of her was 
 turned to bitterness by pride arid a feeling of dis- 
 honor. Mr. Graham saw that she was troubled, 
 and he made her realize by his courteous 
 manner that he was a much-interested friend. 
 But one has to bear the severest pangs of life 
 alone. Her father despised Graham. " Who 
 were the Grahams ? " he asked Rose, frequently, 
 in a contemptuous tone. Mr. Graham angered 
 him by his rigidity in business matters. Mr. 
 Snevel looked upon commercial pursuits as be- 
 neath a gentleman ; and he regarded, further- 
 more, the man who disputed or questioned a 
 Snevel's right to borrow on insufficient security 
 as a base-born churl. A man's habit of loose- 
 ness in money matters is never questioned by 
 one person alone ; and Mr. Snevel's notes of
 
 BASE-BALL MATTERS. 113 
 
 hand were looked upon, generally, with distrust 
 by the well-to-do farmers about Dornfield. The 
 management of the Snevel mansion fell into 
 much disorder ; for Mr. Snevel was so very ex- 
 acting of his cook, and expected her to take 
 so large a share of her wages in the honor of 
 living with a family of the Snevels' standing, 
 that he was generally poorly served. Rose had 
 to bear the brunt of her father's displeasure at 
 the poorness of their table. His rebukes were 
 always administered in the most courtly manner, 
 but withal in a very cutting one. So that, after 
 restraining her brother's impulsive defence of his 
 sister, she withdrew to her own room to have a 
 good cry. It is not to be wondered at, perhaps, 
 that a man like Mr. Snevel, accustomed in his 
 youth and middle age to adulation and atten- 
 tion, should, after spending a tiresome morning 
 among his books, dress himself with the utmost 
 elegance, even to putting a rose in the lapel of 
 his double-breasted coat, and seek the society 
 of his congenial friend, Mr. Bandy. 
 
 Miss Milton called on Rose, frequently. But 
 they never could be very intimate ; although Miss 
 Milton greatly admired her friend, and was 
 ready to be very demonstrative. Rose's reserve, 
 however, was impenetrable. She had been 
 brought up in the notion that it was the sign of 
 low-born people to manifest much feeling ; and
 
 1 1 4 THE GREA T MA TCH. 
 
 her father had cultivated in her a certain exclu- 
 siveness. Miss Milton, on the other hand, had 
 grown up in an atmosphere of demonstrative 
 affection. She was speedily chilled by the aris- 
 tocratic bearing which Rose manifested, almost 
 unconsciously. Miss Milton had conferred upon 
 her the name of the " Rose of Dornfield," and 
 was always loud in her expressions of admiration. 
 Since Black had been a frequent visitor at the 
 Miltons', the two young women saw less of each 
 other. Rose, whenever they met, showed much 
 liantcur ; which angered Miss Molly at first, and 
 afterward fascinated her. 
 
 "Don't you think Miss Rose Snevel is abso- 
 lutely bewitching ? " she said to Ned Black, one 
 evening, in an innocent way. 
 
 The young man colored ; but it could not have 
 been that his companion should have noticed 
 his blush, for they were sitting in the twilight. 
 
 " Yes," he replied ; " she is very pretty." 
 
 " Pretty ! why I call her absolutely beautiful. 
 I don't see what the young men are thinking of, 
 not to pick such a rose." 
 
 " There are so many beautiful flowers in Dora- 
 field," said Black, with a bow. 
 
 " Of course, the place is celebrated ; but there 
 is but one rose here. I think she has a face 
 that a poet might dream about. The gaze of 
 those large eyes fairly intoxicates me."
 
 BASE-BALL MATTERS. 115 
 
 " You talk like a young man," laughed her 
 companion. 
 
 " I wouldn't merely talk if I were one," re- 
 torted his companion. 
 
 " Is it possible," said Black to himself, as he 
 went home, " that Miss Milton thinks I am en- 
 gaged to Rose ? Yes, Rose is beautiful ; but 
 what a fool I was not to go in for this rich 
 girl!" 
 
 Miss Milton had revolved Bobbie's communi- 
 cation carefully over in her own mind. She was 
 a girl of much penetration, and she watched Ned 
 Black narrowly ; resisting with a strong will the 
 fascination which she felt creep over her in his 
 presence. It was not possible that he was act- 
 ing in an underhanded way in this coming game. 
 He seemed to be the soul of honor ; and such a 
 manly fellow ! She felt positively irritated at the 
 contrast between him and Dick Softy. She 
 liked the latter ; but she despised his effemi- 
 nacy. 
 
 " Dick," said she one day to the latter, as he 
 strolled in to see her, " do they ever sell base- 
 ball games ? Now don't try to pun : I want a 
 fair answer." 
 
 " You fire your questions at me as if they 
 were cannon-balls," said Dick. " Suppose I 
 should ask, What are you continually working 
 on that blue stuff for ? Now, no subterfuge."
 
 Il6 THE GREAT MATCH. 
 
 " Well, this blue stuff is for the badges of our 
 nine. But, honestly now, do they ? " 
 
 " Do they ? " 
 
 " Ever sell base-ball games ? " 
 
 " In Boston, I believe you can get 'em at the 
 shops : let me see, down there in Cornhill." 
 
 " Come, come, you know what I mean : do 
 they ever lose a game for money ? " 
 
 "Yes," said Dick, looking her honestly in 
 the face, with his blue eyes expressing much 
 curiosity. "They do in the large cities, some- 
 times ; but we are so honest in Dornfield that it 
 is not to be thought of." 
 
 " I am glad to hear it. Well, Dick, I was 
 truly glad to see you playing base ball the other 
 day. I suppose you can hit a ball, once in a 
 while, now ? " 
 
 " No doubt of it, not the least. Deused bore, 
 however, this base-ball excitement. I 'm longing 
 for it to be over, so that people will become 
 rational again." 
 
 "Now, don't you talk like Mr. Grandhurst," 
 exclaimed his companion. " I want you to have 
 some enthusiasm ; and not think every thing is a 
 bore, and that there is nothing good that is 
 American. That man angers me beyond meas- 
 ure. He hasn't any healthy enjoyment of things. 
 He has lived on French cooking -so long that 
 his whole system partakes of its mawkish, unsat-
 
 BASE-BALL MATTERS. 1 17 
 
 isfying fastidiousness. He wants to convert the 
 freshest and purest impulses of nature, which he 
 should accept, into subjects for dissection. He 
 psychologizes about every thing. I like a fresh 
 man ; one who can run a race, or play' ball, or 
 act out whatever there is in him, without consult- 
 ing mental processes. A man like my uncle ; 
 simple and natural, strong and noble, that is 
 the kind of man I would have." 
 
 " Would have ! " continued Dick, in a jesting 
 tone. - 
 
 " Never mind," replied Miss Milton, coloring 
 slightly, and bending over her work. 
 
 " I think of going away soon," said Dick, in a 
 sad tone, watching her narrowly. 
 
 "Going!" she exclaimed, quickly lifting her 
 eyes. 
 
 " Yes, to supper." 
 
 " Oh ! I would go instantly. Don't let me de- 
 tain you one instant. I think I hear your supper- 
 bell now. Do go. Sha'n't I have John harness 
 up, and take you home ? " She arose, and swept 
 across the room to touch the bell. 
 
 " I wouldn't pull it," said Dick, lazily. 
 
 " I shall pull it." 
 
 " No : I wouldn't, really." 
 
 " Why not ? " 
 
 " Simply because John has taken your uncle 
 over to Milltown."
 
 Il8 THE GREAT MATCH. 
 
 "It seems to me," exclaimed Miss Milton, 
 " that you keep informed in regard to the mo- 
 tions of John, to say the least." 
 
 " Oh ! I know all that is going on in this 
 house," said Dick, "especially when it is told to 
 me. I met John on the way over." 
 
 " Why didn't you say so ? " 
 
 " Why should I ? " 
 
 " Of course you should." 
 
 " I don't see why." 
 
 " Don't anger me." 
 
 "Miss Molly," said Dick, rising, and repress- 
 ing the tones of his voice, " why can't we be good 
 friends ? " 
 
 " Why, aren't we ? " exclaimed the young lady, 
 extending her hand, and looking at him with 
 wonder. 
 
 " I seem to provoke you always," said Dick. 
 
 " You do not provoke me," said Miss Milton, 
 rising and speaking very calmly, as she stood 
 looking at the young man. " But you know, 
 Dick, that I think you are growing effeminate in 
 your ways ; and I long to see you true to those 
 manly instincts which I know you have, and 
 which you conceal under your indolent habits. 
 I would have you like Ned Black, active, ener- 
 getic, with his whole body trained to be at the 
 beck of a healthy mind." 
 
 Dick smiled, and held out his hand, and said,
 
 BASE- BALL MATTERS. 1 19 
 
 " We shall understand each other, some day," 
 and left her abruptly. 
 
 " What can he mean ? " exclaimed Miss Milton, 
 thoughtfully, as she watched him disappear 
 down the lawn. " Dick is a first-rate fellow ; I 
 like him better every day ; if he only had more 
 vim ! Bless me ! I never could marry such a 
 fellow. Marry ? ' What an idea for me to be 
 talking ! ' as Bridget says."
 
 120 THE GREAT MATCH. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 A BIT OF RAILLERY. 
 
 evening after Miss Milton had enter- 
 tained in succession Mr. Grandhurst, 
 Dick Softy, and Ned Black, she burst into her 
 uncle's study, and impulsively put her arms 
 about the old gentleman's neck. " I shall never 
 leave you, uncle," said she. 
 
 " Why, my girl, what is the matter ? " 
 
 " I shall never leave you," sobbed his niece. 
 
 " I know you will not ; who expected you 
 should ? " said the old gentleman, kissing her 
 cheek with fond pride. 
 
 " I hate men." 
 
 "You do, you jade," laughed Mr. Milton ; 
 "that's a strange remark." 
 
 " Well, I hate that Mr. Grandhurst. He de- 
 spises every thing that is American, and thinks 
 the country is going to ruin, and affects the 
 European in every thing ; finds no congenial 
 atmosphere in this country : every thing is too 
 crude."
 
 A BIT OF RAILLERY. 121 
 
 "It's a mistake to bring an American boy up 
 in Europe, I've always maintained," said her 
 uncle. "They get into ways which don't suit 
 here: they can't seem to fit into things, that's 
 the whole amount of it. Dilettants, dilettants, 
 
 that 's what I call 'em ; dilly-dallies, dilly- 
 dallies, in plain English. What has Mr. Grand- 
 hurst said this 'evening that has provoked you 
 especially ? " 
 
 " Oh ! he dwelt upon the pleasures of living 
 abroad ; and turned up his nose at our base-ball 
 games, and lamented the crudeness of every 
 thing. I was tempted to call him refined sap, 
 and Dick Softy crude sap." 
 
 " Has Dick been here this evening ? " 
 
 " Yes ; and doesn't that fellow provoke me ? 
 Oh ! I shall go crazy with him, some day." 
 
 " What is the matter with Dick ? he is a good 
 fellow." 
 
 " He is so dreadful namby-pamby ; and the 
 worst of it is, that he seems to take pride in 
 being so. Oh ! I 'm mad with Dick ; I wish I 
 knew of something that could rouse the fellow, 
 
 dynamite, nitro-glycerine, or any thing." 
 
 " Love," said the old gentleman, slyly pinching 
 his niece's cheek. 
 
 " Love ! " she echoed in disdain. " That fellow 
 fall in love ! Never : it would take too much ex- 
 ertion for him. He said that he hadn't been to 
 6
 
 122 THE GREAT MATCH. 
 
 see me before, because he hadn't been able to 
 catch a ride on some cart coming this way." 
 
 " Oh ! he was joking," said her uncle. 
 
 " No, he was not, uncle : he said it in down- 
 right earnestness, and I believe him." 
 
 " Well, Dick is an honest fellow ; he '11 come 
 out all right some day : there 's good blood in his 
 veins." 
 
 " It runs awful sluggishly," replied Miss Mil- 
 ton. " He don't manifest the least interest in our 
 approaching game. He says, however, that he 
 has hired Bobbie Snevel to wake him out of his 
 hammock at the seventh innings ; for he says that 
 two innings in a ball game is all he can stand. 
 Can you imagine such a lazy good-for-nothing ? " 
 
 " Why don't you rouse the fellow, Molly ? " 
 said Mr. Milton. "There's something in the 
 chap. I saw Ned Black coming up the avenue. 
 He has been here has he not to-night ? " 
 
 " Yes ; and it was refreshing to have a caller 
 who was downright enthusiastic. I do so like 
 men with some go to them ! Mr. Black was 
 delightful ; he always is, you know. Don't you 
 think he is a fine young man, uncle ? " 
 
 " Oh ! very. I think him a promising young 
 fellow." 
 
 " He says that we are sure of winning the 
 next match. We talked over the matter of 
 colors. He says that the Milltown folks have
 
 A BIT OF RAILLERY. 123 
 
 adopted red. What do you think, uncle, of our 
 taking blue ? " 
 
 "Blue is a good color, 'true blue,' that's 
 what they always called me on 'change, Molly." 
 
 " You are true blue," said his niece, kissing 
 him, impetuously. " Now, I think blue will be a 
 splendid color. Mr. Black thinks so too. He 's 
 got handsome blue eyes, hasn't he, uncle ? " 
 
 " I never noticed, girl. Bless you ! I don't go 
 round looking into young fellows' eyes." 
 
 " Well, I don't either ; but couldn't help see- 
 ing 'em when they are, they are " 
 
 " Looking right into yours ? " 
 
 " No : I '11 tell you some time ; but, honestly 
 now, you do like blue ? Well, I 'm so glad. I got 
 such a beautiful blue bonnet, which will be just 
 the thing for the match. Then, Mr. Black says 
 there is going to be such a crowd here. Special 
 trains are going to run up from Worcester to 
 Milltown, and there are to be three lines of 
 stages put on between that place and this. Mr. 
 Black is sure that we shall win. I have no doubt 
 of it, for he is such a splendid player." 
 
 " Of course we shall win," replied her uncle. 
 " Tom Milton never failed to win in any thing he 
 ever undertook." 
 
 " I 'm so sorry about Dick Softy," said Miss 
 Milton, meditatively. " If he had only a little of 
 Ned Black in him ! He might have played in this
 
 124 THE GREAT MATCH. 
 
 match, if he had Only practised. Mr. Black has 
 great contempt for him, I can see." 
 
 " Wake him up, Molly ; wake him up. He is 
 a fair subject for any girl to flirt with." 
 
 " He won't flirt, uncle ; that is the worst of it : 
 he only cares for himself and his own comforts. 
 I despise him : he will be one of those detestable 
 club-men, don't I know him? He says he is 
 going to the city in the winter, and intends to 
 join the club." 
 
 " Well, if he does, there 's the end of him," 
 said her uncle ; for he was firmly convinced 
 that club-life had ruined more men than war 
 ever did. 
 
 His niece presently left him to arrange for 
 making the blue badges for the base-ball club. 
 Mr. Milton watched his niece, with great pride, 
 as she left the room. " That 's one girl in a 
 thousand," said he to himself. " She is impetu- 
 ous, quick as a flash, sympathetic, and high- 
 strung, just the sort of girl I should have mar- 
 ried when I was a young man. Heigh ho ! It 
 might have been ; but I lead a jolly old life 
 here, after all. Molly is as good as a daughter 
 to me, and I mean to be a good father to her. 
 Bless her ! I Ve seen the evil of interfering with 
 a young girl's loves, and I mean to let her select 
 for herself. These young fellows, Grandhurst, 
 Dick Softy, and Ned Black, are all unobjection-
 
 A BIT OF RAILLERY. 125 
 
 able, as far as I can learn. Black is a gallant 
 chap, and my heart warms to him the most. I 
 hear he 's a good fellow, and has first-rate busi- 
 ness ability. Well, well ! we shall see : time 
 enough for Molly yet." 
 
 On the morning after the call of the young 
 men, Miss Milton set out in her basket-wagon, 
 accompanied by Mr. Grandhurst, to search for 
 rhododendrons, which grew in abundance in the 
 neighborhood of Dornfield. She had promised 
 to show him a delightful ride through the woods. 
 As they drove through the village, they met 
 Dick Softy, who was walking somewhat heavily 
 with a cane. He had turned his ankle slightly 
 in his secret gymnastics. 
 
 "Did you fall out of your hammock?" asked 
 Miss Milton, with an intense air of sympathy, 
 reining in her horse. 
 
 " Ye-es, yes," drawled the young man ; " fear- 
 ful hammock accident in Dornfield." 
 
 " Really, now, are you hurt ? you look pale ; 
 let me carry you home." 
 
 " All right," said Dick : " I never refuse a 
 ride." And, thus saying, he took the footman's 
 seat behind. Miss Milton started up her horse 
 vigorously, and they went bowling down the 
 street. 
 
 " Miss Milton has evidently forgotten that I 
 live in Dornfield," said Dick. " We are appar-
 
 126 THE GREAT MATCH. 
 
 ently bound now either for the neighboring 
 village of four corners, or Liverpool, London, 
 and Paris." 
 
 " Don't be afraid ; I '11 see that you get home," 
 said the young lady. 
 
 "This is jolly," said Dick, reclining* at his 
 ease. " I 'm glad I met you." 
 
 " Ha, ha ! seems to have been a fortunate 
 meeting," smiled Grandhurst, who ill relished 
 the impending interruption of his tte-a-tete with 
 Miss Milton. 
 
 " Wasn't it ? " repeated Dick. " Miss Molly, 
 there is a big stone there in the road." 
 
 " Where ? " asked Miss Milton. 
 
 "Right ahead." 
 
 " Is that it ? " she asked, as she drove over a 
 big boulder. 
 
 " Ya-as," replied Dick : "that felt like it." 
 
 " Do you like to drive, Mr. Grandhurst ? " she 
 asked. 
 
 " Not particularly." 
 
 " Don't you ever drive ? " 
 
 " Oh, yes ! sometimes." 
 
 "Won't you drive now ? I feel a little tired." 
 
 " Certainly," said Grandhurst, taking the reins. 
 The road at this point was very rough ; and the 
 horse, feeling a new hand at the reins, quickened 
 his pace. Grandhurst held a tight rein, with 
 both elbows out. They tore down the rocky
 
 A BIT OF RAILLERY. I2/ 
 
 road. The horse was evidently beyond Grand- 
 hurst's control. 
 
 " I think I will take the reins again," said 
 Miss Milton, grasping them from her companion's 
 hand just in time to avert disaster. 
 
 " I wouldn't," said Dick. " You drive so fear- 
 fully slow : this pace is glorious." 
 
 Miss Milton said nothing ; but, firmly com- 
 pressing her lips, set about controlling the horse. 
 In a few moments they were proceeding at a 
 slow trot down a fine avenue, which led through 
 a wood. 
 
 " This horse is accustomed to my way of driv- 
 ing," said she, apologetically. 
 
 " He evidently was restive under my reins," 
 said Grandhurst, who wished himself well out of 
 this excursion. The road which Miss Milton took 
 was completely arched over by the light green 
 of the early summer foliage. The road was just 
 wide enough for the basket-wagon. The sun- 
 light mottled the back of the horse, and played 
 over the figures of the occupants of the carriage. 
 The wood-thrush whistled sweetly in the depth 
 of the green-wood. A robin flew across the road, 
 fearful of the fate of its newly fledged offspring, 
 which winged heavily after the mother. A par- 
 tridge whirred suddenly at their right hand. 
 
 " Isn't this glorious ? " cried Miss Milton, with 
 intense enthusiasm.
 
 128 THE GREAT MATCH. 
 
 " Fine wood," remarked Grandhurst, in a 
 moderate way ; " reminds me of a ride in the 
 Bois du Boulogne." 
 
 " It 's ever so much finer than any thing in 
 Europe," insisted Miss Milton. " The woods 
 there haven't our splendid forest odor." (Dick 
 sniffed loudly from behind.) " Look at that 
 graceful birch standing against the dark green 
 of the pine. Where in Europe can you see such 
 a graceful combination ? See that glorious 
 woodbine winding itself about that young elm, 
 which is striving to overtop the forest of young 
 trees about it. In the fall, it will look like a 
 pillar of flame. What's the English ivy to the 
 American woodbine ? See the variety of flowers, 
 even in this sheltered wood. Oh my ! " 
 
 With a sudden exclamation, she stopped the 
 horse, flung the reins to Grandhurst, and jumped 
 out of the wagon. 
 
 "See a snake?" drawled Dick, brandishing 
 his cane, and preparing to descend. 
 
 " Cypripedium ! " cried Miss Milton, holding 
 up a pink, balloon-like flower. " Lady's-slippers, 
 see ! Here 's another ! and another ! I did not 
 know they were to be found in this wood." 
 
 Grandhurst could not help admiring the hand- 
 some young girl, as, with hat half off her head, 
 she rushed from spot to spot, picking the showy 
 orchids.
 
 A BIT OF RAILLERY. 129 
 
 "There they sit!" murmured Miss Milton to 
 herself, glancing at her companions. " Two 
 noodles. Men are too funny for any thing. 
 They haven't a particle of enthusiasm. Mr. 
 Grandhurst is so refined, and so well dressed ! 
 And Dick is so nonchalant! I should like to 
 see him disturbed, just for once. I believe I'll 
 try to arouse them. ' Help ! help ! ' ' she 
 shrieked, and sprang back, pointing tragically at 
 the ground. 
 
 Both young men sprang out of the wagon, and 
 rushed into the wood. 
 
 " Don't leave the horse, don't leave the horse ! " 
 cried Miss Milton, in an agitated manner. 
 
 Grandhurst stopped, and went back to the 
 side of tKe animal ; while Dick bounded to Miss 
 Milton's side, apparently forgetting his lameness. 
 
 " Thought you were lame, Dick ? " said she, 
 mischievously, as he approached. 
 
 " What is the matter ? " cried the latter. 
 
 " It was a great, big, enormous green 
 snake." 
 
 " Ten feet long, I suppose," drawled Dick, "and 
 big in proportion." 
 
 " He went right in there," said Miss Milton, 
 pointing under a log. " Look at Mr. Grandhurst 
 standing there beside old Polly. He evidently 
 thought she was of more consequence than I 
 was." 
 
 6* i
 
 130 THE GREAT MATCH. 
 
 " Course he did," replied Dick : " we are three 
 miles from home. Oh my ! how you made 
 my heart beat ! I believe my foot is worse 
 too." 
 
 " Too bad ! " exclaimed the young lady. " Do 
 take my arm. I '11 help you to the carriage." 
 
 " I can't make that girl out," said Grandhurst, 
 as he saw her approach with Dick on her arm. 
 " She is refined ; and yet she isn't. I shall 
 begin to believe that she is a perfect hoyden." 
 
 Miss Milton explained to Grandhurst, with an 
 air of hauteur, that it was a snake" ; and that she 
 had a perfect horror of reptiles. And, taking the 
 reins, they all got into the carriage, and drove 
 on. Presently, the road passed through a pine- 
 wood. The road was carpeted with th'e brown, 
 odorous, pine spangles ; and it seemed as if they 
 were driving over a carpet, so smoothly did the 
 carriage wheels pass over the soft covering of 
 the ground. Here and there, the prevailing 
 brown color of the road was dappled with the 
 bright gold of sunlight. 
 
 "This reminds me of a cathedral," said 
 Grandhurst, outlining the picture in the air with 
 his cane. 
 
 "It's a great deal finer than any old, musty 
 cathedral," said Miss Milton. "You can find 
 such woods as these only in Dornfield. Oh, 
 how I love them ! "
 
 A BIT OF RAILLERY. 131 
 
 " ' I love the cats, 
 I love the rats, 
 I love the mice, 
 In my dear home at Rye. 
 There is no place so nice 
 As my dear home at Rye,' " 
 
 sang Dick. 
 
 " These woods are unmistakably fine," said 
 Grandhurst. " I doubt, however, if an artist 
 could find them available for a picture. This 
 scene suggests an American forest clearing. 
 One almost expects to see a paper collar lying 
 round here, somewhere." 
 
 " I see that you will have to go back to 
 Europe to exist," remarked Miss Milton, quick- 
 ening the pace of her horse. 
 
 " There are powerful attractions in America 
 too," said Grandhurst, significantly. 
 
 " How can there be ? " asked Miss Milton, 
 turning her innocent eyes upon the speaker. 
 
 Grandhurst adjusted his eye-glasses, and 
 looked up at the branches overhead. He was 
 nettled. " Give me a woman of tact," said he 
 to himself. " This girl is a perfect furnace of 
 impulses and unregulated enthusiasms." 
 
 At length the party emerged from the pines 
 into an open lot. 
 
 " There are the rhododendrons ! " exclaimed 
 Miss Milton, pointing at some rising ground
 
 132 THE GREAT MATCH. 
 
 near a brook. " Come, Dick : we will get Mr. 
 Grandhurst to hold the horse." 
 
 Grandhurst wondered whether there was any 
 irony in her remark. He began to feel that he 
 should have left the horse to her fate, on the 
 previous occasion, when Miss Milton saw the 
 snake. However, he sat in the wagon holding 
 the reins, while Miss Milton and Dick proceeded 
 into the open lot. He began to feel decidedly 
 nettled. This imperious young beauty seemed 
 to be continually putting him into unpleasant 
 situations. " It seems rather spooney to sit here 
 watching this old nag," said he to himself ; " but 
 what am I to do ? " Grandhurst felt thoroughly 
 at home in the formal circles in which he had 
 moved abroad. No one was more observant 
 of etiquette. In company with this American 
 girl, however, he felt utterly at a loss. Mean- 
 while, Miss Milton and her companion had 
 reached the rhododendrons, and were busily occu- 
 pied in gathering them. They were laughing 
 merrily, and apparently having a great romp. 
 Grandhurst saw Dick go down to the brook, and 
 fill his drinking-cup, and present it to Miss Milton. 
 They then, apparently, had a slight altercation, 
 and the young lady threatened to throw the con- 
 tents of the cup into the young man's face. He 
 caught her hand, and the two swung round, 
 each evidently desirous of pouring the water
 
 A BIT OF RAILLERY. 133 
 
 upon the other. They shrieked with laughter. 
 Finally, Miss Milton gained the cup ; and Dick 
 fled, closely pursued by her. Presently, he 
 turned in an imploring manner, and received 
 the water directly in his-face. Then Miss Milton 
 was evidently moved with compassion ; and the 
 two proceeded again to gather flowers. 
 
 " Shouldn't you think, Dick, that Mr. Grand- 
 hurst would leave that wagon, and join us?" 
 said Miss Milton. 
 
 " No, I shouldn't. And have water poured 
 down his neck ? " 
 
 " Oh ! I should never dare to do that. I 
 should be awful proper with him." 
 
 " Why aren't you proper with me, then ? " 
 
 " Oh ! we are old friends, Dick," said she, 
 extending her hand. 
 
 Dick took it, and gently kissed it 
 
 Miss Milton blushed quickly. " Come, Dick ; 
 we 've got enough rhodos. Let 's carry them to 
 the carriage." 
 
 " Aren't these glorious, Mr. Grandhurst ? " 
 said she. "What do you think of American 
 wild-flowers ? " 
 
 " You seem to forget I 'm an American," 
 remarked the latter, smiling grimly. 
 
 " Oh ! so you are. You are so Europeanized, 
 I forget. Now, what are we going to do with 
 all these flowers ? We can't carry them all."
 
 134 THE GREAT MATCH. 
 
 " We can dispose of one bunch, any way," 
 said Dick, fixing a small bush on the horse's 
 head-gear. 
 
 " That 's a jolly idea," cried Miss Milton. 
 " Let us trim out the old nag with all we can't 
 carry in the wagon." 
 
 Dick and she, accordingly, covered the horse 
 with the pink blossoms, until she was almost 
 hidden. Every loop-hole in the harness had its 
 spray. 
 
 " This is great fun, isn't it, Mr. Grandhurst ? " 
 said Miss Milton, surveying the horse from a 
 little distance. " Oh ! she looks too funny for 
 any thing. Won't we cut a figure, driving 
 through the village ? I don't care." Thus say- 
 ing, she took her seat in the wagon, and they 
 proceeded homeward. At the entrance to the 
 village, they met the Silvers driving out. 
 Grandhurst reddened. He was conscious that 
 he was making himself ridiculous ; but this 
 should be the last time. He was engaged for 
 a sketching excursion with the Silvers, on the 
 following day, and proposed to give them an 
 amusing account of his morning's experience. 
 Mrs. Silver smiled sweetly ; and Mr. Silver 
 bowed, and waved his hand courteously. Their 
 horse, taken with surprise, looked at the be- 
 decked animal of Miss Milton, and started sud- 
 denly to one side, and went off at a smart pace, 
 much to the relief of Grandhurst.
 
 A BIT OF RAILLERY. 135 
 
 On the following morning, he started with 
 the Silvers on their excursion. They were going 
 to Crystal Lake ; and had, on the recommenda- 
 tion of Miss Milton, hired Bobbie Snevel to be 
 their guide, and to assist them with the boat in 
 which they proposed to cross the lake. The 
 party consisted of Mr. and Mrs. Silver, their 
 niece, Miss Gould, of Boston, Grandhurst, and 
 Bobbie. The latter was very unwilling to 
 accompany the party, for there was a practice- 
 game of the Milltown nine that morning with a 
 club from a neighboring town ; but he had been 
 prevailed upon by Miss Milton. Grandhurst 
 found Miss Gould an exceedingly cultivated 
 young lady. She had read much, and was even 
 an accomplished Greek scholar. Mrs. Silver 
 spoke very highly of her talents as an amateur 
 in art. Of her ability in this direction Grand- 
 hurst waited for an opportunity to judge.. She 
 certainly conversed very well. She was a pale- 
 faced young lady, with a very intellectual face, 
 and gave one the impression that she was quite 
 delicate. On the way to the pond, Grandhurst 
 gave an account of his ride after rhododendrons. 
 His companions were very much amused. 
 
 " It was all just like Molly Milton," said Mrs. 
 Silver. " It is a pity her uncle doesn't take her 
 abroad. She is growing up in this country town 
 in a very wild manner."
 
 136 THE GREAT MATCH. 
 
 " She is so intensely patriotic, by Jove ! " 
 said Grandhurst, " that I shall not dare to men- 
 tion Europe to her in the future." 
 
 "Well, she gets that from her uncle," said 
 Mr. Silver, in his slow, measured way. " It 's 
 natural enough. He has been a fortunate man, 
 financially ; but he is narrow in his intellectual 
 sympathies. Imagine a man of his age taking 
 such an interest in these base-ball matters." 
 
 " Miss Milton is a girl of good natural abili- 
 ties," remarked Miss Gould. " We went to school 
 together." 
 
 Bobbie Snevel, who was in front with the 
 driver, looked back at Miss Gould, with a pleased 
 look. 
 
 " Sh ! sh ! " said Mrs. Silver, touching her lips, 
 significantly. " Bobbie Snevel," she whispered 
 to the group, "is a stanch adherent of Miss 
 Milton. You must not speak so freely." 
 
 " That 's another queer freak of the girl/' said 
 Mr. Silver. "The idea of taking up that little 
 chap ! " 
 
 When, under the leadership of Bobbie, the 
 party struck into the wood which skirted the 
 pond, Grandhurst accompanied Miss Gould. He 
 found her extremely intelligent. He had been 
 longing for many days for intellectual stimulus, 
 and was soon deeply engaged in a discussion with 
 her on the degree of reality one should use in
 
 A BIT OF RAILLERY. 137 
 
 sketching from nature. Meanwhile Bobbie went 
 on, accompanied by Mr. and Mrs. Silver. The 
 latter examined all the plants on the way. As 
 Bobbie Snevel afterwards told Miss Milton, " Mr. 
 and Mrs. Silver were queer folk : they gave the 
 most lockjaw names to jack-in-the-pulpits, wake- 
 robins, and lady's-slippers. Then, they were so 
 awful afraid of wetting their feet ! Their voices 
 were so high they skeert all the partridges off 
 their nests." 
 
 "My little man," said Mr. Silver to 'Bobbie, 
 during a pause while they waited for Grand- 
 hurst and Miss Gould to join them, " I hear you 
 are very fond of base ball." 
 
 " Some," replied Bobbie, shaking his head en- 
 thusiastically. 
 
 " Do you play much ? " asked Mrs. Silver, 
 taking off her sundown and fanning herself 
 with it. 
 
 " A little. I 've got so I can hold a pretty hot 
 ball." 
 
 "You can, eh?" said Mr. Silver. "What do 
 you think of the chances of our winning the next 
 game ? " 
 
 " Fust-rate. There 's no beating a nine that 
 has got Ned Black for catcher. Then, he is an 
 awful good batter ! Did you see him make that 
 drive through centre-field in our last game ? " 
 
 " No," ejaculated Mr. Silver. " ' Drive/ hey ? "
 
 138 THE GREAT MATCH. 
 
 " Yes ; and Bill Hayes muffed it, and Clapp 
 stole third on it." 
 
 " ' Drive,' ' muffed,' and ' stole third ' ! " re- 
 peated Mr. Silver. 
 
 " Grandhurst, do you understand this new lan- 
 guage of base ball ? " he said to the latter, who at 
 that moment came up. 
 
 " I don't pretend to," said Grandhurst, super- 
 ciliously. 
 
 " It 's getting beyond me," said Mr. Silver. 
 
 " Well, here we are at the lake," said Mrs. Sil- 
 ver. " Pretty, isn't it ? " 
 
 " Perfectly lovely ! " exclaimed Miss Gould. 
 " What a lovely sketch it would make just from 
 this spot ! " and, thus saying, she formed a hollow 
 tube with her hand, and gazed at the landscape. 
 
 " Why don't you make a sketch of it, Clara ? " 
 said Mrs. Silver. " It won't take you long. Mr. 
 Silver and I will get into the boat, and go over 
 to the other side of the lake, and select a spot for 
 our lunch. Bobbie can row the boat back for 
 you." 
 
 " I don't want to detain any one," said Miss 
 Gould, unpacking her sketching materials, and 
 setting up an umbrella. 
 
 " I should only be too happy to remain with 
 you," said Grandhurst. 
 
 Miss Gould protested ; but finally assented to 
 his remaining.
 
 A BIT OF RAILLERY. 139 
 
 " You could walk round the borders of the 
 lake, and through that beautiful forest-walk, and 
 join us at the sand-beach," said Mrs. Silver. 
 
 "'Fraid they'd get lost," said Bobbie, who sat 
 in the boat, with the oars in position. 
 
 "'Lost'!" repeated Grandhurst, with scorn. 
 " Yes, Mrs. Silver, we will join you at the sand- 
 beach. I will escort Miss Gould through the 
 woods, if she will permit me." 
 
 "I shall be delighted," replied Miss Gould, 
 who was already deeply absorbed in a charcoal 
 sketch. 
 
 " Be they going ? " asked Bobbie, as Mr. and 
 Mrs. Silver got into the boat. 
 
 " Yes," replied Mrs. Silver : " they will come 
 to us by and by, through the woods." 
 
 Bobbie shook his head gravely, as if he saw 
 danger ahead ; but he was anxious to show his 
 muscular power in rowing, and exerted himself 
 to send the old boat surging over the quiet bo- 
 som of the lake. 
 
 While the Silvers were rapidly receding, 
 Grandhurst stretched himself on the grass, be- 
 side Miss Gould. 
 
 " There are some fine values in the view you 
 have taken," he remarked. 
 
 " Yes, and the ripple of the boat makes a fine 
 accentuation. I shall remember to put it in." 
 
 " It seems to me that there is too much accent-
 
 140 THE ORE A T MA TCH. 
 
 uation in an American landscape," said Grand- 
 hurst. " There is such a restless cropping out of 
 all sorts of foliage, such a variegated garb of 
 green. Every tree seems to thrust itself upon 
 you, and say, ' I 'm a free American citizen, and 
 have a perfect right to sparkle all over and cut a 
 dash in the sunlight, even if I am out of place.' " 
 
 "That is what I feel, too," said Miss Gould, 
 looking at her sketch sideways. " It seems to 
 me that one must suppress much, and continu- 
 ally refine every thing." 
 
 "This young lady," said Grandhurst to him- 
 self, looking at his companion beneath the rim 
 of his straw hat, which rested on his nose, " is 
 certainly a great contrast to Miss Milton, an 
 agreeable contrast, I should say. Yet she has 
 not the personal charms of that hoydenish young 
 person. She is of an interesting type : I must 
 study her." 
 
 " I find the Silvers very interesting," said 
 Grandhurst. 
 
 " They are, very. Mrs. Silver is too charming 
 for any thing." 
 
 " Mr. Silver is out of his element in America," 
 said Grandhurst. " Every thing shocks him in 
 this country of great possibilities and small reali- 
 zations. I should not wonder if he went abroad 
 to live." 
 
 " Yes, he is out of his element. I do hope
 
 A BIT OF RAILLERY. 141 
 
 America will become refined some day. Why 
 should it not ? Goethe says, in ' Wilhelm Mei- 
 ster,' that ' practical activities are not so incom- 
 patible with a certain measure of intellectual 
 culture as some suppose.' " 
 
 " Women are better off, in an intellectual way, 
 in America than men," said Grandhurst ; 
 " that is, a certain class of women." 
 
 " Oh, jio ! I can't believe it." 
 
 " They do not receive those rude shocks to 
 their sensibilities which men who have been 
 brought up in Europe receive when they return 
 to America. Women are secluded, to a certain 
 extent. Men are forced into rude contact with 
 the shoulder-hitters of the mart." 
 
 While this conversation went on, Miss Gould 
 was busily occupied with her sketch. Her thin, 
 nervous hand rubbed the charcoal hither and 
 thither. Her delicate frame seemed to thrill 
 to its extremities with artistic feeling. The 
 two conversed on the effect of the drama as 
 a means of elevating the tone of morals in 
 America, on the progress of Spencerian philoso- 
 phy, and on the last article in the " Fort- 
 nightly." Grandhurst began to think that he 
 was enjoying himself. If Miss Gould did not go 
 very deeply into the intellectual subjects which 
 they discussed, he only noticed it sufficiently to 
 recall the fact at a subsequent period. She
 
 142 THE GREAT MATCH. 
 
 excited his intellectual faculties : he felt that he 
 was breathing a rarefied atmosphere. In his 
 psychological analysis of his companion, he did 
 not, however, fail to notice the extreme delicacy 
 of physique of this young American girl : and 
 wondered whether he should be happier in the 
 future with a woman like Miss Milton, who had a 
 constitution which betokened strength, and free- 
 dom from nervous ailments ; or with an intel- 
 lectual girl like his companion, who evidently 
 had more mind than body. At length, the 
 sketch was finished, and they set out through 
 the woods to meet the Silvers. At first, the 
 path was a clear one. It led down an open field 
 to an old mill. The outlet of the pond had been 
 dammed up at this point. The water escaped 
 over the dam in several places, forming graceful 
 cascades. The rocky bed of the stream below 
 the dam was filled with logs of timber. Grand- 
 hurst helped his companion over the pools of 
 water, between the logs, and then they mounted 
 the opposite bank, and went through an opening 
 in the wood. As they walked along, they con- 
 tinued their discussions on philosophical sub- 
 jects. Grandhurst had already begun to feel a 
 trifle bored. The atmosphere he was in was 
 getting a little too rarefied. This young Ameri- 
 can girl was quite interesting for a time ; but 
 he was not of a very vigorous constitution, and
 
 A BIT OF RAILLERY. 143 
 
 he began to feel mentally, as well as physically, 
 tired. He was not sure but he should find 
 Miss Milton quite refreshing when he got home. 
 Miss Gould was in raptures over every singular 
 specimen of vegetation which they met ; and 
 Grandhurst was speedily laden with fungi, ferns, 
 and distorted branches with anomalous leaves.' 
 They had to rest quite frequently ; and it 
 seemed to Grandhurst, that Miss Gould's intel- 
 lectual vigor grew intenser with the decrease 
 of her physical powers of endurance. The path 
 which they had taken ceased at length, at a 
 little brook, and an impenetrable wall of alders 
 and young trees shut out their advance. After 
 much discussion, it was decided to strike at once 
 in the direction of the pond, and signal to the 
 Silvers to send Bobbie with the boat. Accord- 
 ingly they proceeded in what they considered 
 to be the direction of the pond. The way grew 
 thicker and thicker with underbrush. Grand- 
 hurst was speedily divested of his burden 
 of fungi. This was the only thing that con- 
 soled him ; for he began to fear that they 
 were really lost. Nothing could be seen on all 
 sides but an impenetrable swamp. Grandhurst 
 began to have fears of the endurance of his 
 companion. He looked at her continually from 
 the corners of his eyes. He thought he had 
 never seen a more dowdy-looking girl. The
 
 144 THE GREAT MATCH. 
 
 feather had been brushed from her hat ; she 
 had caught up her dress, and it hung in per- 
 fectly straight folds from her waist. Her hair 
 had fallen in a stringy mass down her back ; 
 and Grandhurst caught a glimpse of what she 
 was to be in five years, a typical, strong- 
 minded, weak-nerved, American woman. At 
 that moment, the remembrance of the strong 
 physique and the joyous nature of Miss Milton 
 made a more refreshing picture than even a 
 glimpse of the much-desired lake would have 
 afforded. They now struggled on in absolute 
 silence. Many brilliant fungi were passed, with 
 relief by Grandhurst, and with a deep sigh by 
 his companion. They were getting deeper and 
 deeper into the woods. Grandhurst, smothering 
 his pride, at length concluded to halloo, in the 
 hopes of bringing the sturdy young Snevel to 
 their assistance. He received no answer to his 
 repeated attempts. Finally, they both sat down, 
 completely exhausted. 
 
 "We are in an infernal American morass," 
 said Grandhurst, grimly. 
 
 " I have never been in a situation similar to 
 this before," said his companion, feebly. 
 
 " You feel much exhausted ? " said Grandhurst, 
 quickly turning to gaze at his companion, for 
 her voice had 'the tone of one who was fainting. 
 
 " Physically, yes," replied Miss Gould ; " but
 
 A BIT OF RAILLERY. 145 
 
 my intellect seems to, gain renewed vigor. I 
 wonder how the mind and the body are con- 
 nected. What a mysterious band must unite 
 them ! " 
 
 " Very, very ; but, Miss Gould, really we must 
 make another attempt to get to the lake. The 
 sun is going down, and we have been many 
 hours wandering about." 
 
 His companion, after an effort, arose, and they 
 took a new departure. At the end of an hour, 
 they thought they saw the glimmer of water : it 
 proved to be the lake. Finally they emerged 
 from the tangled wood, and stood upon its 
 border. It was at sunset, and the lake was like 
 a mirror. Each wooded point was perfectly 
 reflected in the water. The western sky was a 
 mass of pink and gold clouds. The two un- 
 fortunates were too tired to enjoy the sight. 
 Grandhurst immediately hallooed. A kingfisher 
 uttered a loud cry, and flew, from his high perch 
 on a decayed tree, over the lake, dropping a 
 small fish which he had just captured. 
 
 " It isn't possible that the Silvers have gone 
 home ? " said Grandhurst, at length. 
 
 " They may have thought that we chose to 
 go home, from sudden illness," replied Miss 
 Gould, reclining upon the shore. 
 
 Grandhurst looked up and down the shores 
 of the lake. They were closely wooded on all 
 J
 
 146 THE GREAT MATCH. 
 
 sides. There was no way to get home, appar- 
 ently : one could not walk along the shore, for 
 the trees grew to the very water's edge. Pres- 
 ently they heard a loud shout, and Bobbie Snevel 
 rowed round a neighboring point. 
 
 " Gracious ! where have you been ? " he ex- 
 claimed, as he caught sight of the party. " The 
 folks thought you had gone home ; and then, 
 when we got home, they couldn't find you, and 
 thought something awful had happened." 
 
 " We lost our way," said Grandhurst. " Come, 
 hurry up ; this young lady must be taken home 
 as speedily as possible," 
 
 " I 've been hurrying for the last two hours," 
 said Bobbie, indignantly. 
 
 Grandhurst, thoroughly nettled, did not reply, 
 but assisted Miss Gould into the boat. The 
 latter's nervous endurance had completely given 
 way in a fit of hysterics. 
 
 " He haint no gret," said Bobbie, to Miss 
 Milton, speaking of Grandhurst. " He 's been 
 in furrin parts ; but he gits lost in a wood, 
 don't know how to row, and don't know any 
 thing about base ball. I didn't let on, any way, 
 where the pogonias grew."
 
 DIREFUL PREPARATIONS. 147 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 DIREFUL PREPARATIONS. 
 
 had been influenced in his last inter- 
 view with Miss Milton by a multitude of 
 conflicting feelings. He had always known, that, 
 notwithstanding her constant raillery, she liked 
 him. Before her acquaintance with his old 
 enemy, Ned Black, he had been content to live 
 his own indolent life, and enjoy Miss Molly's 
 society whenever he felt like it ; but now there 
 was a change. He was not jealous; oh, no ! He 
 was not so silly as to fall in love, before he had 
 gained a profession ; but he didn't like to see 
 Miss Milton so intimate with his sworn enemy. 
 At last it had come to this, Ned Black, with his 
 air of superiority, was about to elbow him out of 
 the Milton mansion. Miss Milton, too, seemed 
 to have been entirely gained over fascinated, 
 bewitched by Black. She held him up as an 
 example to him ! This thought rankled in his 
 breast. He went out of his path, as he walked 
 homeward, to hit with his cane the heads of the
 
 148 THE GREAT MATCH. 
 
 obnoxious weeds, which annoyed him by their 
 uppishness. He stopped frequently, and asked 
 himself what had changed him so. Had he been 
 forced out of his excessive indolence and blas<* 
 manner by the shafts of this young lady, who 
 knew no more about the character of young men 
 and their different pursuits than the veriest 
 baby ? Had he taken up exercise, to be able 
 some day to whip his old enemy ? No : he 
 despised such a thought ; he was to manifest 
 his superiority by a higher stand in the world, 
 which his profession would give him. Had he 
 taken the fever of base ball ? This could not be, 
 for he still despised the game, on account of 
 Black. He would not acknowledge that it was 
 jealousy, nor envy, nor love : it was an uprising 
 of the pugnacious instinct within him. He 
 intended to whip Black, or die in the attempt. 
 To this end, all his training was directed. His 
 studies were given up, and he lived the life of 
 an athlete. We have described his improvised 
 gymnasium. He consulted his anatomical charts 
 daily, to observe the development of certain 
 muscles ; and he devised special exercises to 
 bring them out. His medical studies for he 
 was going to be a doctor aided him materially. 
 Besides the special exercises in his rooms, we 
 have spoken of his base-ball playing. Pat 
 O'Callahan found another liberal patron in
 
 DIREFUL PREPARATIONS. 149 
 
 him ; and they practised daily, in unfrequented 
 fields, until Dick could hold the hottest ball which 
 Pat could throw. He practised catching in 
 unusual positions, and was rewarded by great 
 skill, and with dislocated finger-tips. Finally, 
 no grounder could escape him. His catching 
 provoked the admiration of Pat. In his batting, 
 too, he had caught the knack, after many fail- 
 ures : the ball was thrown up with steadiness, 
 and the bat swung around just at the right time. 
 The coincidences were fitting and sharp, and 
 the ball flew with the report of the blow, which 
 is music to a base-ball man's ears. With his 
 exercise, the upper part of his body had become 
 more developed than his lower limbs. He was 
 still a weak runner. So every night, clad in a 
 light, white flannel suit, he ran his appointed 
 three miles, after the lights of Dornfield had 
 been extinguished. More than once had he 
 frightened the staid old mare of some farmer 
 who was returning late over the road through 
 the wood. Indeed, he was fitted to revive, even 
 in an octogenarian, childish fears of ghosts. He 
 pelted along with a sturdy tramp, breathing 
 heavily through his nose, clad all in white. 
 Once he met Mr. Snevel and Mr. Bandy, as the 
 latter was conducting the former to his home. 
 The reins fell from the nerveless hands of Mr. 
 Bandy, and, notwithstanding the artificial warmth
 
 1 50 THE GREA T MA TCH. 
 
 generated by many potations, his teeth chattered. 
 Mr. Snevel grasped his friend's arm, and both 
 sat staring fixedly after the fleeting spectre. 
 Mr. Snevel was the first to recover himself, and 
 declaimed in a loud whisper, 
 
 "There are more things (hie) in heaven and 
 earth (hie) than are dreamed of in our philoso- 
 phy, Horatius ! " 
 
 The growth of the young man's muscles be- 
 came palpable. He had discovered for himself 
 one fact, which most young men ascertain in 
 time, that it is necessary for the moral health to 
 engage occasionally in some dangerous pleasure, 
 or, rather, in some pursuit that requires fair ex- 
 ertion, to prevent danger. For this purpose, he 
 went over to Farmer Snell's once a week, to ride 
 his stallion, a fierce, half-trained brute. Here he 
 had a hand-to-hand fight, and found a determi- 
 nation equal to his own. Farmer Snell told the 
 young man that he was building a coffin for him ; 
 but Dick was undaunted, and tore about a large, 
 enclosed field, on the back of his fierce charger, 
 with Mr. and Mrs. Snell, the children, and the 
 hired laborers, mounted high on a neighboring 
 fence, as spectators. In this way he strength- 
 ened his physical and moral fibres. It may 
 seem a dangerous and absurd proposition to 
 maintain, that every man needs occasionally 
 something analogous to a fight to keep him in
 
 DIREFUL PREPARATIONS. 151 
 
 good moral health ; but we appeal to the experi- 
 ence of every manly man. This idea lies at the 
 bottom of the Englishman's fondness for fox- 
 hunting, and for Alpine climbing ; the man who 
 does not recognize this want within himself is 
 out of trim. The nation that never goes to 
 war becomes a third-rate power. 
 
 In the mean while, Black and he were on pas- 
 sable terms with each other ; they were forced 
 to meet very often at the Miltons', and at the 
 village entertainments. The quick eye of Miss 
 Milton noticed that there was something between 
 the young men. She felt indignant at Black's 
 contempt for her old friend, even after she had 
 ridiculed Dick's apparent effeminacy. Black 
 occasionally saw a look in the blue eyes of Dick, 
 which showed him that their struggle in the 
 wood, from which he came off the victor, had not 
 been forgotten. This look was answered by a 
 contemptuous stare. The intimacy of Black 
 with the Miltons increased from day to day. 
 He was frequently seen riding with Miss Molly ; 
 and they were continually in conference respect- 
 ing the coming match. Dick was not the only 
 person made unhappy by this intimacy. Rose 
 Snevel pined away, from day to day. She spent 
 much time in sitting under a broad elm by the 
 side of the gently running river, gazing listlessly 
 at the stream. Every thing was joyous about
 
 152 THE GREA T MA TCH. 
 
 her. The golden robin whistled loudly in the 
 branches. He had caught the strain that seemed 
 made to announce the coming again of the sweet, 
 breezy spring. He flashed in and out, trailing 
 after him silvery pieces of dried twine-like grass, 
 to construct his high, swaying abode, that seemed 
 the realization of one's childish dreams of a nest. 
 He stopped occasionally, to flutter his wings in 
 a delicious thrilling way before his mate, and 
 then flung himself out of the green, swaying 
 elm, with a joyous song. A little sparrow came 
 clown to the river's edge, and washed in a nook 
 shaded by a bunch of marsh-marigolds. In an 
 alder copse, two robins plastered their nest with 
 mud from a neighboring sluggish inlet, and con- 
 sulted lovingly together with a busy rustling. 
 Each tried the nest in their turn, and flew away 
 in different directions, in search of material to 
 better it. The swallows bathed in the bright 
 sunlit air, flinging themselves on their backs, 
 turning hither and thither. The bees dropped 
 honey laden from the nodding bunches of clover ; 
 and, after crawling a space in the health-giving 
 sunshine, mounted in great circles above the 
 trees, and set off in an air-line for their hives. 
 Rose was conscious of all the sweet sounds 
 about her ; but there was something within her 
 that made the landscape seem tame and uninter- 
 esting. Bobbie showed her a bobolink's nest,
 
 DIREFUL PREPARATIONS. 153 
 
 with great pride : they had often sought for one 
 together ; but they had never found one. Rose, 
 to her brother's disappointment, seemed to have 
 lost her interest in bird-nesting. She seemed 
 no longer able to take any walks, or to accom- 
 pany him on his tramps in search of new 
 flowers. 
 
 " Why, Rose," said he, in astonishment, 
 " seems to me you can't do any thing now-a-days ! 
 Miss Milton don't think any thing of walking six 
 miles." 
 
 " Bobbie, I don't want to hear you say that 
 Miss Milton does this and does that." 
 
 " Why ! " exclaimed her brother, in astonish- 
 ment. 
 
 " Don't ask why," exclaimed his sister, with a 
 half-repressed sob. 
 
 " I like her, first-rate," said Bobbie, putting a 
 piece of grass in his mouth, as he lolled on the 
 bank beside his sister. " She is always ready for 
 any thing. She knows all about base ball, and 
 can do every thing. Oh ! I like her ; but she 
 isn't half so handsome as you are, Rose : she 
 says so herself." 
 
 Rose smiled tearfully, as her brother insisted 
 upon kissing her. Bobbie's affectionate heart 
 was much troubled by the change in his sister. 
 He noticed that Ned Black came to see her less 
 frequently, and was very often with Miss Mil- 
 7*
 
 154 THE GREAT MATCH. 
 
 ton. He was much interested in the conversa- 
 tion of the captain of the nine with the latter, 
 and felt proud that he could understand it thor- 
 oughly, whenever it was on ball matters. He 
 prized the commendations which they both be- 
 stowed upon him occasionally, for his bright 
 judgments in regard to the condition of affairs. 
 Ned Black was his ideal of what he should be 
 himself some day. He worshipped him devotedly, 
 and held his head very high among the town 
 boys, because Ned Black singled him out to run 
 errands for the club, and generally gave him 
 some commission which admitted him to many 
 of its privileges. Still, he did not like Black's 
 neglect of his sister. He grew indignant at 
 times, and once was absolutely rude to Miss 
 Milton, after she had turned back to rejoin him 
 after a long and interesting tete-a-tete with Ned 
 Black at the gate. 
 
 " Why, Bobbie ! what is the matter with 
 you ? " she exclaimed, as she rebuked him. 
 
 " Nothing : only I 'm mad." 
 
 " Why are you mad ? " 
 
 " I 'm mad, because I am mad." 
 
 " Well," said Miss Milton, with a laugh, " that 
 is an excellent reason. Come, sit right down 
 here in the grass with me, and tell me all about 
 it." 
 
 " Why do you want to get every thing out of
 
 DIREFUL PREPARATIONS. 155 
 
 me ? " said Bobbie, flinging himself on the grass, 
 moodily. 
 
 " I don't want to get any thing out of you 
 which you are unwilling I should know, Bobbie ; 
 but, you know, two friends can't be true friends, 
 unless they confide in each other ; and I 've al- 
 ways told you I wanted you to treat me as a 
 sister, and confide in me." Thus saying, she 
 brushed back the tangled locks from his flushed 
 face. 
 
 Bobbie put both his hands in hers. His sensi- 
 tive lip quivered. He could not tell her that he 
 was indignant with Ned Black. He felt that 
 his sister would shrink from telling Miss Milton 
 any thing that concerned their family matters. 
 He did not like to be disloyal to Ned Black. 
 He looked up at Miss Milton with such a de- 
 spairing look, in which was mingled so much 
 frank, boyish affection for her, that the young 
 lady was fairly overcome, and put her arms 
 about his curly head. 
 
 " Never mind now," said she : " some other 
 time ; but remember, Bobbie, two friends must 
 always be open-hearted towards each other. 
 You know we are not going to have any secrets 
 from each other." 
 
 " I haven't kept any secrets from you," ex- 
 claimed her companion. " Don't you know, 
 I 've always told you every thing. I told you
 
 156 THE GREAT MATCH. 
 
 how I tripped up the schoolmaster, by tying the 
 grass in the field in loops." 
 
 " I know it, Bobbie ; and we came to the con- 
 clusion it wasn't manly, and you went and 
 apologized, I remember : that was a brave thing 
 to do ; and you wouldn't have done it, if it hadn't 
 been for me." 
 
 " I got a whipping for it ; but I 'm glad I didn't 
 sneak." 
 
 " I know you are. My friend must always be 
 a brave, open-hearted man. Some other time, 
 Bobbie, if you don't feel like telling me now." 
 Thus saying, she extended her hand for him to 
 assist her to rise. 
 
 " I love that little fellow," said Miss Milton 
 to herself, as she watched his sturdy figure walk 
 slowly out of her sight. " He will make a fine 
 man, some day. There is a depth of affection in 
 him, which, I fear, is not satisfied at home : 
 certainly not by his father, who is a cold- 
 hearted, disagreeable old aristocrat ; but he is 
 very fond of his sister. I wonder why he is so 
 moody of late when Ned Black is with me. I 
 have heard that Black was once very attentive 
 to Rose Snevel. But, perhaps, this was village 
 gossip. They say she does not look well. Bob- 
 bie will tell me every thing to-morrow. I am 
 determined that that boy shall be the perfection 
 of all that is manly, as long as I have any influ-
 
 DIREFUL PREPARATIONS. 157 
 
 ence over him." As she stood gazing after the 
 boy, she heard footsteps behind her, and turn- 
 ing, saw Mr. Graham. She had always known 
 him as an extremely reserved man, who came 
 to see them punctiliously twice a year ; and she 
 was somewhat surprised to receive a visit from 
 him in the garden. 
 
 " I am glad to see you," said she, warmly. 
 " Will you come into the house, or take a seat 
 here ? " 
 
 Mr. Graham said that he preferred the latter ; 
 and they speedily found themselves chatting on 
 various subjects. 
 
 " I hear that you are going to have a Martha 
 Washington tea-party next week, for the benefit 
 of the base-ball nine," said Graham. 
 
 " Yes : we propose to have it on the lawn ; 
 and I hope to see you there." 
 
 " I shall certainly come," he replied, in an 
 absent manner. " Who are the leaders in it ? " 
 
 " Well, there 's Mrs. Cramer and the Misses 
 Brown, Miss Fowler and Miss Folder, and my- 
 self. Perhaps Mrs. Silver will help." 
 
 " You do not mention Miss Rose Snevel." 
 
 " No," replied Miss Milton, somewhat haugh- 
 tily. " To tell you the truth, I can only get just 
 so far with Rose. She repulses all my advances, 
 and I have made a great many. One gets tired 
 of being snubbed."
 
 158 THE GREAT MATCH. 
 
 " I wish you could prevail upon her to take 
 a prominent part in this festival," said Graham. 
 " She would certainly grace it ; and, I think, she 
 ought to be brought out more into our village 
 society." 
 
 " Grace it ! why, she would be the beauty of 
 the party : there is no denying that ; and I think 
 she is making a great mistake in living in such 
 seclusion. But, frankly, Mr. Graham, I don't see 
 why you should ask me to force myself upon 
 her." 
 
 " I do not ; but there are circumstances in 
 Miss Snevel's life which you do not know. In 
 my position, as executor of her late aunt's small 
 estate, I have become acquainted with certain 
 unpleasant facts in regard to her father. I 
 know, Miss Milton, you will not repeat this ; but 
 the truth is, Mr. Snevel is a self-indulgent, cold- 
 hearted man, full of extreme courtesy and high- 
 bred manners, but without one spark of sincerity. 
 I know I speak strongly," said Graham, perceiv- 
 ing the look of astonishment upon his com- 
 panion's face ; " but, as I have said, I have been 
 brought much in relation with him recently, in 
 regard to his daughter's small patrimony. He 
 appropriates the interest which is due her, and 
 which she should have for her further education 
 and for her dress, and junkets with Mr. Bandy, 
 whom you know to be a man given to the grati-
 
 DIREFUL PREPARATIONS. 159 
 
 fication of his own tastes. Rose never murmurs 
 at this action of her father. If this wertf all, 
 she could still be happy. But her father has 
 lately taken to drinking, and returns almost 
 every night unable to take care of himself " 
 
 " What, the courtly Mr. Snevel ! " exclaimed 
 Miss Milton. 
 
 " Yes ; and, after helping him to find his own 
 gate, I have stood unobserved in the moonlight, 
 and seen that beautiful girl open the door, and, 
 with one hand apparently repressing the throb- 
 bring of her heart, assist him in." 
 
 Graham's voice trembled a little as he said 
 this. Miss Milton uttered an exclamation of 
 hearty sympathy. 
 
 " You can see," continued Graham, "why this 
 proud girl should desire to live in seclusion ; 
 why she should avoid having intimate friends ; 
 and why her conduct should appear strange to 
 those who do not know her trying circumstances, 
 and to one, like yourself, who has always had a 
 wealth of affection bestowed upon you." 
 
 " I shall go to Rose at once ! " exclaimed Miss 
 Milton. " Thank you heartily, Mr. Graham. 
 I wish we might see more of you too," she said, 
 with sudden warmth. 
 
 Mr. Graham seemed to put aside his reserve, 
 and thanked her heartily, and they sat and 
 talked about the tea-party.
 
 160 THE GREAT MATCH. 
 
 " I now understand Bobbie Snevel's manner 
 lately," said Miss Milton, after a pause ; and she 
 told her companion about his moods. " I have 
 noticed them especially when Mr. Black has 
 been here," said she, in an inquiring manner. 
 
 Graham's face grew stern as he listened. 
 
 " He is a fine little fellow," said he, after a 
 pause. " He confessed to me that he strove to 
 conceal his father's infirmity for a long time 
 from his sister, and had succeeded in doing so, 
 until Mr. Snevel took to returning late at night, 
 while he was sound asleep. Then Miss Rose 
 strove in her turn to keep it from her brother. 
 But it was useless ; they both know all." 
 
 Graham saw Miss Milton's fine face glow at 
 the mention of Bobbie's devotion. 
 
 " How uncharitable I have been towards 
 Rose ! " she exclaimed. " I shall insist upon 
 loving her." 
 
 " She is a beautiful girl," said Graham : " and 
 she has a most loving disposition ; there is 
 danger of its becoming warped in the atmos- 
 phere in which she lives. Mr. Snevel is arbitrary 
 and exacting to the last degree. Her home, 
 believe me, is a very unhappy one." As he 
 said this, he rose, and bade her good-evening. 
 
 At tea, she said to her uncle, as she did th.e 
 honors of his table, " I thought that Mr. Graham 
 was a cold, reserved old bachelor, who was given 
 over to money-making."
 
 DIREFUL PREPARATIONS. l6i 
 
 " What makes you think otherwise, my dear ? " 
 
 Miss Milton related her conversation with 
 Graham. 
 
 " Glad to know another side. Glad to know 
 it ! " exclaimed her uncle, heartily. " I 've al- 
 ways respected the fellow ; for he rose right 
 from the ranks, by his own exertions. His 
 word is as good as his bond, any day. Always 
 thought, though, that he was a stiff and proud 
 man. Well, we never know each other until 
 circumstances show us in our true colors. Poor 
 Rose and Bobbie ! I always disliked old Snevel. 
 He has those aristocratic feelings which I have 
 always despised. They do well enough on Eng- 
 lish soil ; but they are out of place in America. 
 He has a long line of ancestors, to be sure. 
 But I 'm as proud of my humble old father and 
 mother, as he is of his. The Miltons never 
 owed anybody any thing, and were always 
 honest." 
 
 " Mr. Graham is very much interested in Rose, 
 I can see that," said his niece. " Do you sup- 
 pose an old bachelor, such as he evidently is, 
 could fall in love ? " 
 
 " Bless your heart, Molly ; I can fall in love 
 this instant with you." 
 
 " I know it, my dear uncle," said Molly, going 
 to his side and kissing him. " You have a heart 
 formed for love and every noble thing ; but I
 
 1 62 THE GREAT MATCH. 
 
 don't know Mr. Graham. It would be splendid 
 for Rose, if he only could. I think he is a very 
 good-looking man. He has that peculiar iron- 
 gray hair which romantic young ladies admire ; 
 and he has a very good figure. His face is not 
 handsome; but it is a manly one which one likes 
 to study. Then, he is not very old, after all. It 
 is said he can't be caught ; for all the old maids 
 in the village have endeavored to win him." 
 
 " He is like an old trout," laughed Mr. Milton ; 
 " but old trout, even, can be caught in the moon- 
 light, with handsome flies." 
 
 " I don't see what the young men are thinking 
 about, I declare," exclaimed his niece, " to neg- 
 lect such a beautiful creature as Rose." 
 
 " She isn't half as good-looking as you are," 
 said her uncle, stoutly. 
 
 " Oh, uncle ! " 
 
 " Not in my eyes, my dear girl," exclaimed 
 the old gentleman, kissing her fondly. " Molly, 
 I 've got a present for you ; but you mustn't 
 look at it," said her uncle, presenting a little box, 
 "until I get out of the room." Thus saying, 
 with a hearty laugh, he went out to look at the 
 horses. 
 
 His niece gazed at the package curiously. 
 " He is the kindest, dearest old gentleman in 
 the wide world : always doing something to 
 make me happy ; anticipating even my wishes.
 
 DIREFUL PREPARATIONS. 163 
 
 His spirit pervades all about us : even the ser- 
 vants have caught it, and bow down to me as 
 if I were a princess. Could any one be hap- 
 pier than I am ? I wonder what is in this box ! 
 A pair of solitaire ear-rings. Oh ! oh ! how 
 beautiful ! The extravagant, dear old gentle- 
 man ! he shall have a thousand kisses right off." 
 Thus saying, she ran after him, impulsively. 
 
 On the morning of Miss Milton's visit, Rose 
 had been peculiarly tried. Mr. Snevel's spirits 
 in the morning were never so high as they were 
 at night ; and, on the morning of which we 
 speak, he felt very irritable. His elaborate 
 shirts had not come home from the washer- 
 woman as immaculate as he wished. 
 
 " Rose, a man could go out haying in one of 
 these garments ; but a gentleman really does 
 desire something better, and not unreasonably. 
 Then, too, a man really wants a button or two : 
 they are not absolutely necessary, you know ; 
 but comfortable, very. Oh ! of course not, I 
 don't expect absolute perfection in a washer- 
 woman, nor do I wish you to give all your 
 time to household affairs ; but it strikes me that 
 affairs are at rather loose ends. Now, this boor 
 of a servant-girl, what does she mean in putting 
 this dish at my right hand, just where I can 
 sweep it off the table with my elbow ? This 
 coffee would do credit to a boarding-house.
 
 164 THE GREAT MATCH. 
 
 Rose, why can't we have a good cup of coffee 
 once in a while, say once a week ? " 
 
 Mr. Snevel's courtesy never allowed him to say 
 such things to Rose before the servant : he 
 always waited, in a dignified way, until she retired 
 into the kitchen. Rose that morning, in the 
 sweetest manner, endeavored to mollify her 
 father in every possible way. The fortunate 
 arrival of a good cup of coffee brought back a 
 measure of contentment to his face. 
 
 " Father, can you give me a little money to- 
 day ? " said she, timidly. 
 
 " What do you want money for ? " 
 
 " I need a few articles of dress, and Bobbie is 
 out of shoes." 
 
 " I thought your aunt sent you a lot of things 
 a few days ago ; and what 's the use of buying 
 Bobbie shoes, if he runs all round the country, 
 playing ball ? " 
 
 "You said your pride would prevent your 
 receiving things from auntie, and so I sent them 
 back." 
 
 " You sent them back ! " echoed her father, 
 with a look of anger. " Now, what did you do 
 that for ? " 
 
 " You were so angry that she should send us 
 such cheap things ; and you told me to send 
 them back, instantly." 
 
 "Your pardon : I never told you so."
 
 DIREFUL PREPARATIONS. 165 
 
 Rose looked at her father, with a flush on her 
 cheeks which showed him that they should 
 have a scene ; and he, accordingly, rose from 
 the table in a dignified, and yet saddened, man- 
 ner, and shut himself up in the library. 
 
 Shortly after this scene, Miss Milton's basket- 
 wagon was standing outside the gate; and that 
 young lady, with a happy look upon her beaming 
 face, was at the door, desiring to see Rose. 
 She was firmly resolved not to be repulsed or 
 snubbed ; and accordingly, not noticing the air 
 of extreme reserve and coldness with which 
 Miss Snevel greeted her, plunged at once into 
 the Martha Washington tea-party. 
 
 " We depend upon your being one of our chief 
 directoresses, or, what shall we call them ? 
 chief hostesses. You know, we have all got to 
 dress in the old-fashioned style, and wear Martha 
 Washington caps, and little aprons. We want 
 you to take the ice-cream table." 
 
 " I fear you must excuse me," said Rose, half 
 repulsing her visitor's enthusiastic, affectionate 
 manner. She saw her visitor's rich and- tasteful 
 morning-dress ; and her love for Ned Black 
 awakened a feeling of jealousy and envy that 
 shocked even her own mind. 
 
 " The whole village will come," continued Miss 
 Milton ; " and you know the Martha Washing- 
 ton dress will be ever so becoming to you.
 
 1 66 THE GREAT MATCH. 
 
 We have been counting so much upon having 
 you." 
 
 Rose pictured to herself the gay festival, on a 
 beautiful summer evening, and contrasted it 
 with the gloom of her own home ; for Ned Black 
 would certainly be at the party. If he did not 
 come to invite her, she should be wretchedly 
 miserable. If he knew that she was to be one 
 of the young-lady attendants, he would not 
 come for her. Perhaps it would be better to 
 avoid putting him to the test ; for she was not in 
 a mood to bear a disappointment. She finally 
 consented to be one of the attendants. 
 
 " Oh, thank you ever so much ! Now I 'm 
 perfectly happy : all our arrangements seem to 
 come out very nicely. Then, too, my uncle 
 has just made me a present of a pair of splendid 
 solitaires. He is always doing such nice things. 
 I think he is the finest old gentleman in the 
 world. He surrounds me with pleasures. You 
 will come up to see me, won't you, to-morrow ? 
 and we will talk this party over ; there are sev- 
 eral things that must be arranged. We want to 
 see if we can't get up some fanciful designs for 
 the ice-creams." 
 
 Rose accompanied her visitor to her equipage, 
 and stood under the lilacs, watching her as she 
 whirled away. She bitterly contrasted Miss 
 Milton's surroundings with her own. On one
 
 DIREFUL PREPARATIONS. 167 
 
 side was the utmost warmth of affection and 
 devotion ; and on the other, extreme coldness 
 and selfishness. Could she blame Ned Black if 
 he was repelled by her surroundings, and at- 
 tracted by the happy home and the wealth of 
 her rival ? The tears came to her eyes, as they 
 are so apt to do in fits of self-abasement. She 
 stole up stairs to her room, and scrutinized her- 
 self in the glass. She certainly had a better 
 figure than Miss Milton. But was her face as 
 good-looking ? she could n.ot tell. In the attic, 
 among her dear mother's old things, she remem- 
 bered that there was a very rich silk, with large 
 figures of flowers, of a quaint fashion. It had 
 been the dress in which she had gone to the ball 
 given in honor of Lafayette. It would be just 
 the dress for this party ; Ned Black should see 
 her at her best ; and she sprang up the attic 
 stairs. How tender were the emotions awak- 
 ened in the young girl's breast, as she opened 
 the old oaken chest, and looked over her 
 mother's things ! This was not the first time 
 that she had done so : her tears had often 
 spotted some delicate vesture, as she bent over 
 the contents of the chest, longing for the affec- 
 tion which a mother might have bestowed upon 
 her ; which, alas ! it had never been her good 
 fortune to know, for her mother had died when 
 she was a mere child. There were rich, brocaded
 
 1 68 THE GREAT MATCH. 
 
 silk gowns ; old-fashioned, large bonnets that 
 brought a smile to Rose's lips even when her 
 eyes trembled with tears. There were delicate 
 little slippers in great numbers ; for Mrs. Snevel 
 evidently had a beautiful foot, and liked to in- 
 dulge her womanly vanity. Rose frequently 
 sat down upon the hard attic floor, and tried on 
 these slippers ; they were a trifle too large for 
 her. Then she would kiss them, and replace 
 them tenderly. In the chest was laid away the 
 wedding gown. It seemed so small to Rose, in 
 its flattened state, with the highly embroidered 
 sleeves folded over the front of the bodice, with 
 a sad suggestion of a human form. Perhaps the 
 mother, in another, more beautiful state of exist- 
 ence, saw her beautiful daughter bending over 
 her earthly garments, and was glad even to wit- 
 ness her sorrow, from a knowledge of a glorious 
 future state which would be hers when time 
 was annihilated. While Rose bent over the 
 chest, communing with the past, the day out- 
 side was exactly like the one on which her 
 mother had been married, a half a century ago. 
 The shadows of the soft, fleecy clouds pulsated 
 on the green banks ; the songs of the bobo- 
 links came up from the clover-fields ; the 
 cheery call of the ploughman to his oxen re- 
 sounded from the upland ; the swallows twit- 
 tered in the eaves ; and the soft breeze whispered,
 
 DIREFUL PREPARATIONS. 169 
 
 in the same tone, to the old elm in front of the 
 house. The mother might have walked down 
 the garden path, knocked with the old knocker, 
 and ascended to the attic, and found all just as 
 if she had merely awakened from a dream, 
 save the presence of this beautiful girl, who bent 
 in tears over her mother's antiquated dresses. 
 Rose gazed and gazed. A bee, which had en- 
 tered the attic through some broken window- 
 pane, buzzed against the old skylight, or made 
 impatient excursions in a shaft of sunlight. 
 The soothing noise of his wings, and the alter- 
 nating gloom of the changing cloud-shadows, 
 the absence of jarring sounds, together with the 
 sight of the garments of one long at peace, 
 always could calm the most impetuous emotions 
 of Rose's breast. After a long revery, she took 
 out the dress she was in search of, and, carrying 
 it to her room, arrayed herself. 
 
 It fitted her lithe form to perfection. The 
 high ruff parted to show her pearly throat ; and 
 the open bosom, fringed with rich okl lace, 
 became her to perfection. Could Ned Black 
 find any fault with her, in such a costume ? 
 With all the strange lack of insight of a young 
 girl, she imputed considerations to her lover 
 which should have made her despise him, in- 
 stead of seeking to pander to them.
 
 I/O THE GREAT MATCH. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 A MARTHA WASHINGTON TEA-PARTY. 
 
 /^RANDHURST found much to interest 
 ^-^ him in the village of Dornfield. Mr. Mil- 
 ton insisted upon his staying with him, at least, 
 until the ball-match ; and, therefore, the young 
 man lingered. He walked about the country in 
 English shoes, which the country beaux laughed 
 at, in ignorance of the fact that they were the 
 proper things to have. They ridiculed his large 
 shade- umbrella, and whispered, "You know" 
 and " aw " to each other, behind his back, bliss- 
 fully unconscious that their pronunciation and 
 provincialisms were equally laughable to the 
 returned traveller. Grandhurst was very critical 
 of Miss Milton : he saw much in her to dislike. 
 She was too demonstrative, and was wanting in 
 the fine equipoise which marks a woman of cul- 
 ture and refinement. He left her often in a fit 
 of indignation, to seek the society of the Silvers 
 and of Miss Gould. But he found, after an hour 
 or two, that they stimulated his aesthetic faculties
 
 A TEA-PARTY. 1 71 
 
 to so high a degree that he came back to Miss 
 Milton to be refreshed, and to criticise anew 
 her hoydenish ways. 
 
 " Well, are you going to this Martha Washing- 
 ton tea-party?" said Mr. Silver to him one even- 
 ing. 
 
 " Yes : I suppose so. Somewhat of a bore, 
 though. The Miltons are immensely interested 
 in it. The old gent enters into it as if the future 
 of this village depended upon it." 
 
 " He is a queer, old, good-souled creature," said 
 Mr. Silver, rising from his chair, with an air of 
 genteel invalidism. " It strikes me that a good 
 deal of his rush and gush is put on, don't you ? " 
 
 " O Francis ! I don't think so," exclaimed 
 Mrs. Silver. " I think he is a real good man. 
 He certainly does every thing for his niece." 
 
 " Like most women," said her husband, " you 
 bring forward citations to disprove what I don't 
 advance. I grant that he is good, attentive to 
 his niece, and all that. But what I maintain is, 
 that he has a habit of enthusiasm which he has 
 cultivated. My question is, whether it is the 
 true thing or not." 
 
 " Perhaps it is a little affected," replied Mrs. 
 Silver ; " but I think that there is much that is 
 genuine. It is a pity that he hasn't more of the 
 reserve and courtly manners of Mr. Snevel." 
 
 " Snevel's manners are perfect," said Grand-
 
 1/2 THE GREAT MATCH. 
 
 hurst. " I noticed he addressed you last even- 
 ing, Mrs. Silver, with an air which would have 
 done credit to any court in Europe." 
 
 " You know he was an attache once of our 
 Legation in Paris, don't you ? " said Mr. Silver. 
 
 " No : was he ? Why, I must make further 
 advances to the old gent. Miss Rose, too, is a 
 fine girl. By Jove ! how she would shine in 
 England ! She is not disposed to talk much, 
 however. I haven't devoted much attention to 
 her yet; been so deusedly bored by all this 
 base-ball enthusiasm. Shall try to see more of 
 her." 
 
 " Get out your genealogical tree," said Mr. 
 Silver.- " Snevel is perched upon the topmost 
 limb of his. He is aristocratic to the last 
 degree. The servants who have been in his 
 house tell queer stories." 
 
 " Oh, don't, Francis ! " laughed Mrs, Silver, 
 in a deprecating way. " Mr. Grandhurst will 
 think we are village gossips. They do tell 
 funny stories, however. You remember, Francis, 
 how our last cook, who had also been a servant 
 of the Snevels, used to talk about the master's 
 fine manners, and the starvation in his kitchen ? " 
 
 " Yes. ; but these stories were evidently based 
 upon pique and resentment. I like old Snevel : 
 there is an air of refinement about him which is 
 refreshing in this country."
 
 A TEA-PARTY. 173 
 
 " He is a grand old cock," said Grandhurst. 
 " I shall cultivate him : they say he is a little 
 given to the bottle." 
 
 " Oh, that 's a slander ! " said Mr. Silver. " I 
 shouldn't blame him much, if he did drink in 
 this prosy, do-nothing place." 
 
 " Why, Francis ! " exclaimed Mrs. Silver, look- 
 ing up from her copy of " Middlemarch." Mr. 
 Silver fell back into his arm-chair, and put his 
 finger-ends in juxtaposition, as if he were ready 
 to maintain his position. 
 
 " He looks as if he meditated it too, doesn't 
 he, Mr. Grandhurst ? " said Mrs. Silver, giving 
 her husband a little affectionate thrust with the 
 paper-cutter. " If you hadn't happened upon 
 us, in our out-of-the-way retreat, to refresh us 
 with news from dear Florence, I think Francis 
 and I should have perished like babes in the 
 wood." 
 
 The Martha Washington tea-party was des- 
 tined to make a great sensation. It was uni- 
 versally acknowledged that it was a much more 
 refined affair to have than the fair, which was 
 about to be held in Milltown for the benefit of 
 their nine. After all, there was a very good 
 reason for the Milltownites not having a Martha 
 Washington tea-party : no one had any ances- 
 tors over there. There were no old gowns, no 
 rich, brocaded silks, no colored stockings, which
 
 174 THE GREAT MATCH. 
 
 had been handed down. It was very easy to 
 see why they inclined to a fair. 
 " This base-ball business is destined to unite 
 all the diverse interests in the village," said 
 Tom Milton to Grandhurst, as they rode over 
 the hills. " Dornfield has been a cliquey place ; 
 but this ball business, and the Martha Washing- 
 ton, bid fair to bring the folks together." Every 
 one did seem to take hold in real earnest. The 
 farmers' wives among the hills looked over their 
 collections of old garments, in order to fit out 
 Hetty or Ann for the party. The old grand- 
 mothers were consulted, and grew eloquent over 
 their memories. 
 
 "The ladies' dresses were smaller in those 
 days than they are now, weren't they ? " asked 
 Dick Softy of Grandmother Snell, one day as 
 he came into the house, a moment after his 
 weekly exercise with the untamed horse. 
 
 " Wall, they hadn't any flummery overskirts 
 in them days, and the dresses were shorter." 
 
 "Sorter stiff, weren't they?" said Farmer 
 Snell. 
 
 " Wall, they laced up considerable in them 
 days : wore stays. Then, I remember the stock- 
 ings : they had a clock on the sides, a sort of 
 seam embroidered, and some of 'em were open 
 worked. Bless you ! I used to wear black silk 
 stockings."
 
 A TEA-PARTY. 1/5 
 
 " You must have looked fine, indeed," said 
 Dick. 
 
 " She was a great beauty in her day," whis- 
 pered Farmer Snell. 
 
 " I remember," said Grandmother Snell, with 
 a far-off look over the pastures, " the first party 
 your father," pointing to Farmer Snell, "took 
 me to. It was about this season o' the year. I 
 wore a low-necked, blue, brocaded silk. My hair 
 was arranged in great puffs, and held up with a 
 great turtle-shell comb. I wore white stockings, 
 open worked, and I had the prettiest slippers 
 good money could buy. I remember your father 
 said I was the prettiest girl in the room, and 
 there was a powerful lot of 'em ; some in ruffs, 
 and some without. Mrs. Cramer's mother was 
 there in a white silk ; and Mrs. Forder's mother, 
 in a wine-colored one. Some one, in a buff- 
 colored silk with great figures. I disremember 
 who it was. Who could it have been ? I shall 
 think soon. Wall, now, that 's strange. I can 
 see the whole party before me as clear as day. 
 Who could it have been ? I came home through 
 the grass lot, and ruined my bronzed slippers; 
 and wa'n't my mother mad ? But it was your 
 father's fault : he wouldn't let me go home in 
 the wagon with the rest of the girls. Who could 
 it have been ? " 
 
 " Now, what is a Martha Washington tea-
 
 1 76 THE GREA T MA TCH. 
 
 party ? " asked Dick, who was a great favorite of 
 the old lady. 
 
 " Lord bless you ! Caps. That 's what it is : 
 caps." 
 
 " ' Caps ' ? " repeated Dick. 
 
 " Yes : caps, and aprons, and old-fashioned 
 dresses, at a tea-party." 
 
 " Oh ! that 's it," repeated Dick. " Couldn't 
 imagine what it was." 
 
 " It will be fine," said the old lady, in a tone of 
 enthusiasm. " Folks are coming back to the 
 old times. Wonder if the young fellows are 
 going in knee-breeches and stockings. They 
 ought to go." 
 
 " Sam and Hetty," said Farmer Snell to his 
 tall son and angular daughter, " you go upstairs, 
 and dress up in the old fashion. Your mother, 
 Hetty, will let you take her wedding gown ; and, 
 Sam, you will find the knee-breeches and stock- 
 ings in the old trunk beneath the stairs." 
 
 " No, you don't ! " said Sam. 
 
 " Yes, do," said Dick, seconding Farmer 
 Snell. 
 
 " I 'm off," exclaimed Sam, disappearing 
 through the window. 
 
 The politic ones in Dornfield commended 
 Miss Milton's idea of such a party more and 
 more, as the time approached for its occurrence. 
 It happened that many families which had hith-
 
 A TEA-PARTY. 177 
 
 erto held less prominent positions in society 
 than others now came to the front, by reason of 
 their accumulated heirlooms. And so the vil- 
 lage society promised for once to meet on a level 
 of good feeling, 
 
 It was to be expected that the Milltownites 
 should ridicule the affair, and call it an old- 
 grandmothers' tea fight. The ladies, neverthe- 
 less, in Milltown were intensely excited about it, 
 and talked of sending over spies to give accounts 
 of the dresses. They were dissuaded from this 
 step by their lords, who remarked, cynically, 
 that all they had to do was to let the old maids 
 in Dornfield alone, and all would come out. 
 
 At length the much-expected afternoon ar- 
 rived. The day was a beautiful one in June. 
 The Miltons' lawn had been lately clipped, and 
 was soft as velvet. Mr. Milton had had a large 
 tent spread, and had planted his azaleas in pots 
 on the green turf beneath the canvas. The 
 azaleas, covered with a mass of white, scarlet, 
 pink, and mauve colored flowers, had been care- 
 fully trimmed in pyramids and globes, and ex- 
 cited the admiration of the rapidly arriving 
 guests. Upon the lawn in front of the house 
 were placed little tables, with chairs ; and in the 
 midst of the evergreens were the tables at which 
 ice-cream, tea and coffee, and other refreshments, 
 could be obtained. Among the young ladies
 
 178 THE GREAT MATCH. 
 
 who were dressed in Martha Washington caps, 
 white aprons, and short dresses, were to be 
 seen Miss Milton and Rose Snevel. Miss Mil- 
 ton was the pride of her uncle's heart, as she 
 moved gracefully hither and thither. His eyes 
 glistened with pride, and he held up his teacup 
 repeatedly, to have the pleasure of seeing her 
 cross the sward in order to reach him. 
 
 " She looks deusedly like an English girl," 
 said Grandhurst to his friends the Silvers, who 
 had taken one of the tables. "There's nothing 
 American-looking about her." 
 
 " Except her beauty," said Mrs. Silver, with a 
 slight tone of patriotism ; " for you must ac- 
 knowledge the beauty of American girls." 
 
 " It is generally of another kind," said Mr. 
 Silver ; " a kind of beauty like that of some 
 exquisitely handsome lilies, of which the corolla 
 slips off at the touch, and leaves only bare, frag- 
 mentary stamens." 
 
 " Fine face she has," said Mrs. Silver, looking 
 up at Miss Milton as she passed, with a beaming 
 look ; " one of those faces which compels you 
 to believe that it is the exponent of all that is 
 lovely and good within." 
 
 " My wife is in love with that girl," said her 
 husband. " Women have their loves among 
 women, you know. Now, there's Miss Snevel : 
 she is much more to my taste."
 
 A TEA-PARTY. 179 
 
 The two looked in the direction which he 
 pointed. Rose was helping to ice-cream, at a 
 table beside a rookery, which was covered with 
 a mass of beautiful ferns. The white cap, with 
 its large, full top and its snowy frill, was placed 
 upon the back of her head, and her blonde 
 hair was puffed up somewhat more than usual 
 in front, and partly escaped, notwithstanding 
 her precautions, in one long wavy curl behind. 
 She wore a high ruff, and her mother's lilac, fig- 
 ured silk, with its short skirts ; and her dainty 
 feet were clad in bronzed slippers, with pink 
 roses for bows. 
 
 " She is handsome, by Jove ! " exclaimed 
 Grandhurst. "A Marie Antoinette at Petit 
 Trianon." 
 
 " No : you mean a beautiful rose of Dornfield, 
 in America," said Miss Milton, who, in passing, 
 heard and understood his remark. 
 
 " Patriotic now and always," said Mrs. Silver, 
 smiling. " Molly, your party is going to be a 
 great success. How lovely those azaleas are ! 
 and what a pretty sight the people make upon 
 the lawn ! " 
 
 " Yes, the azaleas are pretty, and I think 
 we shall have a fine time ; but what a pity it is 
 that all the people didn't come in old-fashioned 
 clothes ! Why couldn't every one enter into the 
 thing heartily, and break away from the present
 
 l8o THE GREAT MATCH. 
 
 tyranny of fashion ? Now, Mrs. Silver, you have 
 come with your long train, and your costume 
 d la mode ; why couldn't you have dressed, just 
 for once, in the old style ? " 
 
 " I haven't any old-style dress," exclaimed Mrs. 
 Silver : " all my dresses were made in Paris." 
 
 " Well, Mr. Silver might have come in knee- 
 breeches." 
 
 " Sorry I couldn't," said Mr. Silver ; " but the 
 thinness of my limbs, and the abundant ward- 
 robe of a London tailor, effectually prevented 
 me." 
 
 " What a pity ! " said Miss Milton. " And you 
 Mr. Grandhurst, also, in your London coat. 
 Why, I certainly thought I should see you in 
 knickerbockers. They do wear knickerbockers 
 abroad, don't they ? It is so hard to get many 
 Americans of the present day to think and act 
 for themselves. Now, there comes Farmer Snell 
 and his wife, dressed as they should be, in 
 the real old style. I 'm going to thank them 
 from the bottom of my heart. I declare they 
 do look funny, though. I mustn't laugh. Now, 
 it is too bad : you can see the folks are looking 
 at them in an amused way. They will be the 
 only ones here dressed in the real old style. 
 I must run and make my uncle put on his knee- 
 breeches, to make Mr. Snell feel less awkward." 
 Thus saying, she ran in the direction of the 
 house.
 
 A TEA-PARTY. l8l 
 
 " Good-hearted girl ! " exclaimed Mrs. Silver. 
 " She hit you, Francis ; and you also, Mr. Grand- 
 hurst." 
 
 " I choose to show my independence in being 
 hit," said Mr. Silver. " Now look at old Snell. 
 Should you want me, or any human being, to 
 make such a guy of himself ? " 
 
 Farmer Snell and wife, not being able to per- 
 suade Sam and Hetty to go in their grandfather's 
 and grandmother's clothes, actuated by the en- 
 thusiasm for old times which the conversations 
 of late had excited, for Grandmother Snell 
 had kept them up until the small hours, for 
 many nights, during the past week, listening to 
 her reminiscences, had determined to go to 
 the party themselves in the old style, notwith- 
 standing the protestations of Sam and Hetty. 
 Accordingly, Mr. Snell put on a shirt with 
 immense ruffles, and knee-breeches, with black 
 silk stockings, together with old shoes with sil- 
 ver buckles, and took his large felt hat under 
 his arm ; for Sam set up such a shout when he 
 saw it on his father, that he almost shook a 
 well-settled determination. Mrs. Snell wore a 
 red-sprigged muslin, with a calash well over 
 her forehead. Her hair was arranged in great 
 puffs, which entirely filled the capacious interior 
 of her bonnet. She wore over her muslin an 
 immense red cape of light material, and bore a
 
 1 82 THE GREAT MATCH. 
 
 staff with a silver handle, which reached nearly 
 to her head. Sam drove his father and mother 
 and Hetty down to the village in a closed carry- 
 all. Hetty was dressed in the modern style, in 
 a very full pink silk, with her hair done up in 
 crimps ; and Sam was in a full suit of broad- 
 cloth, with a bright neck-tie. Sam, however, did 
 not intend to go into the grounds of tne Mil- 
 tons' with his father and mother. He loitered 
 behind, and peeked through the hedges to wit- 
 ness their reception. As he saw them go up 
 the walk, stared at by the fashionables, and 
 laughed at by the young village maidens who 
 had been his companions at previous Dornfield 
 festivities, he broke out from the hedgerow, 
 kicked up his heels with a gesture of fun min- 
 gled with a comical expression of anguish, and 
 set off towards home, repeating, "Dad and ma 
 have made fools of themselves, sure ! " 
 
 Miss Milton found her uncle on the piazza, 
 talking with old Justice Tooms, from Milltown. 
 She hurriedly informed him of the arrival of 
 Mr. Snell. 
 
 " I '11 go and put on a pair of knee-breeches, 
 right off ! " he exclaimed. " Glad you put me in 
 mind of it, Molly. Farmer Snell is an excellent 
 man. I wouldn't have his feelings hurt for the 
 world. If they laugh at him, they must laugh at 
 me too. I thought of doing it before. It was
 
 A TEA-PARTY. 183 
 
 the proper thing ; and Farmer Snell and Mis- 
 tress Snell have given us a good rebuke, by their 
 independence." Thus saying, he excused him- 
 self, and ran off like a boy. 
 
 "Why didn't you come in knee-breeches, 
 too, Mr. Tooms ? " Miss Milton exclaimed. " You 
 would have looked so grand in them." 
 
 " It don't make any difference what we old 
 men wear," replied the justice, taking a pinch 
 of snuff. "Why don't you pitch into the young 
 chaps, hey ? " 
 
 " We worship age to-day," said Miss Milton. 
 " Oh, dear, dear ! I 've forgotten that I left Mr. 
 Grandhurst holding a pitcher of milk in one 
 hand, and a sugar-bowl in the other. ' What a 
 bore ' it will be ! And ' how deused awkward ! ' ' 
 Thus saying, she disappeared, with a quick cour- 
 tesy. 
 
 The old justice laughed, as he shook his head 
 at her, and then fell to dreaming of a Martha 
 Washington tea-party, way in the past ; and of 
 a young girl of whom Miss Milton suddenly 
 reminded him. 
 
 Farmer Snell and wife found it very awkward, 
 as they advanced up the lawn, to be the cyno- 
 sure of all eyes. They met the Misses Brown 
 in fashionable modern party attire, with merely 
 little apologies for caps upon their heads, who 
 laughed politely as they bowed. Mrs. Cramer
 
 1 84 THE GREAT MATCH. 
 
 immediately ran out of a group of observers, who 
 were convulsed with laughter, and, with smil- 
 ing face, began to closely examine Mrs. Snell's 
 attire. 
 
 " Why, my dear, where did you get all these 
 things ? Oh, my ! ha, ha ! Well, now, isn't that 
 curious, stick and all ? " 
 
 Mr. Milton by this time advanced down the 
 lawn, clad in old-fashioned costume, with wig, 
 ruffles, and ornamented coat, slit very high in 
 the back, and his fine calves showing to great 
 advantage in white hose. He greeted Mrs. Snell 
 with the deep courtesy of the olden time ; putting 
 one hand upon his heart, and taking a dancing 
 step. 
 
 "Now, this is what I call doing the right 
 thing," he exclaimed. " Dame Snell, allow me to 
 conduct you to the tea-table." Thus saying, he 
 offered his arm, and the two swept through the 
 guests, who ceased to look amused. Mr. and 
 Mrs. Snell had evidently done the proper thing. 
 
 " Wished I had put on my mother's brocaded 
 gown ! " exclaimed Mrs. Brown. " Great deal 
 finer than that sprigged muslin of Mrs. Snell." 
 
 After the arrival of Mr. and Mrs. Snell, a few 
 more of the old inhabitants arrived in the cos- 
 tumes of the past. The waitresses were gener- 
 ally dressed in Martha Washington attire ; but 
 the village maidens and their beaux were rigged 
 out in their best modern costumes.
 
 A TEA-PARTY. 185 
 
 " It would be a pretty affair," said Grandhurst, 
 looking at the groups of people scattered among 
 the trees, and speaking to Miss Gould, who 
 happened to be beside him, " if there was only 
 something distinctive in the costumes, some- 
 thing characteristic in the surroundings. . But 
 there is the modern house of the Miltons, with 
 its French roof, and its American, senseless com- 
 bination of a Roman villa and the Parthenon ; 
 and here we are in an English garden, with 
 people wandering about in heterogeneous attire. 
 Now, in Normandy, one could see something at 
 a village fete" 
 
 " Oh, how I should love to go to Normandy ! " 
 said Miss Gould, with a sigh. " There isn't any 
 to see in America, is there, Mr. Grandhurst ? 
 Do you suppose we shall ever get over our 
 chromo civilization ? " 
 
 Her companion thought that something might 
 come out of the whirlpool in the future. 
 
 " Even this old costume this Martha Wash- 
 ington affair has nothing innate about it : it is 
 a mongrel affair, part English and part French, 
 of the age of Louis Philippe," said he. 
 
 Presently, the lawn was covered with vil- 
 lagers, and the f$te was at its height. A band 
 discoursed sweet music for a time ; and then 
 played for dancers, in the long dining-hall of the 
 house. The minister of the prominent church
 
 1 86 THE GREAT MATCH. 
 
 in Dornfield, who had been lately preaching a 
 series of sermons against the sin of dancing, 
 thereby provoking much criticism from the more 
 liberal church societies in Milltown, had been 
 talking in a merry way with the chief ladies of 
 his church, as they ate their ice-cream, in a cor- 
 ner of the piazza. But his countenance immedi- 
 ately lengthened when he heard the dance-music, 
 and all the faces of those about him sympathized. 
 
 " I have my fears about Mr. Milton's conduct 
 in these ball matters," said Deacon Brown. " I 
 fear that he is encouraging dangerous notions 
 among the young men. There is an increase 
 of drinking and idleness." 
 
 "I fear so, too," said the minister, with a deep 
 sigh. " The young men are not at the prayer- 
 meetings, and I see even Richard Softy, our 
 Sunday-school teacher, whirling in the dance." 
 
 Dick certainly did not look very unhappy, or 
 full of compunction, as he danced with Rose 
 Snevel on his arm. He had lounged about for 
 a long time, feeling wretchedly, as he beheld Ned 
 Black and Miss Milton much together. But a 
 sudden determination he had formed to flirt with 
 Rose had somehow given him great pleasure. 
 Wherever he went with Miss Snevel, her beauty 
 attracted immense attention, much to Dick's de- 
 light ; for his appearance with her might awaken 
 unpleasant feelings in Miss Molly's breast. Rose,
 
 A TEA-PARTY. 1 87 
 
 on her part, was actuated by the same motives. 
 She had cast appealing glances at Ned Black, 
 earlier in the afternoon, as she helped him with 
 ice-cream, which he seemed always to desire 
 for some one at a distance ; but she had met no 
 response in the look of his handsome eyes. He 
 was extremely attentive to Miss Milton ; and 
 that young lady seemed to be very well pleased 
 to have him with her. Rose proudly repressed 
 the desire to retire silently, and seek her quiet 
 room to pour out her anguish ; and met the 
 resolve of Dick with a similar resolution. He 
 fanned her, as she languished upon his arm, dur- 
 ing the pauses in the dance. They sought nooks 
 which were in full view of people in general, and 
 especially of Ned Black and Miss Milton, who 
 were dancing together, and were apparently ab- 
 sorbed in each other's society. Their conduct 
 was much criticised by the ladies who boarded 
 at the old inn. " Miss Snevel's pretty limbs 
 were too much displayed by her old-fashioned 
 dress. Shouldn't think she would be there with- 
 out her father or a matron. By the way, where 
 was her father ? " As if to answer this question 
 for himself, Mr. Snevel appeared upon the lawn, 
 in the beautiful glow of the evening. He was 
 dressed with extreme care in the costume of an 
 English gentleman. His silk hat had a very 
 broad brim ; and, as he took it off, with a long
 
 1 88 THE GREA T MA TCH. 
 
 wave of the arm, and he did so very frequently, 
 one was conscious of the perfect propriety of 
 his lavender gloves. Every one could see, how- 
 ever, that Mr. Snevel was much the worse for 
 liquor. It was, undoubtedly, not common liquor, 
 such as could be obtained in low places: it was 
 the best old wine at a late dinner at Mr. Ban- 
 dy's ; but there was no doubt that Mr. Snevel 
 was intoxicated. The news spread like light- 
 ning among the guests. Ned Black saw him 
 among the first, as he went out to get a glass 
 of water for Miss Milton. His better nature 
 prompted him to endeavor to induce him to go 
 home, or to retire into some out-of-the-way 
 chamber, and bathe his head in cold water, in 
 order to spare Rose the shock of meeting him. 
 But he said to himself, " The old cock won't go 
 with me. I should only provoke a scene. I don't 
 see as I 'm called upon in any way." So he went 
 back to Miss Milton. Mr. Snevel made his way 
 into the ball-room, with an excessive manifesta- 
 tion of courtesy, bowing very low to the old 
 ladies, and, in his effort at recovering his would- 
 be-erect position, running into them, much to 
 their consternation. The dancers stood aside for 
 him with alacrity, and he made his zig-zag way 
 down the hall ; passed by Rose, who sat like a 
 statue, cold and motionless, with deep rings 
 about her eyes ; and, without discovering her,
 
 A TEA-PARTY. 189 
 
 disappeared upon the piazza. Rose had been in 
 an unnatural state of gayety ; and had drawn the 
 attention of all upon herself, by her fascinating 
 ways ; and had provoked much criticism, as we 
 have seen. She was conscious of her father's 
 coming, by a strange presentiment, and lifted 
 her eyes, in the act of gazing coquettishly at 
 Dick, only to see Mr. Snevel reeling through the 
 room, and to behold the scrutinizing looks and 
 the evidences of scandal ready to burst forth. 
 The room seemed to swim around, and the 
 figures of the people were turned into demons, 
 who pointed at her with their long fingers, and 
 danced like Indians about a victim at the stake. 
 She uttered a low moan, and fell in a fainting- 
 fit. Dick instantly seized her in his arms, and 
 bore her out into the air. Miss Milton rushed 
 to aid him, leaving Black standing against the 
 wall. The people ran together in knots. Dick 
 whispered to Miss Milton, " I will get her father 
 out of the way ; " and forced his way out of the 
 crowd which gathered around them. In doing 
 so he ran against Black, who was coming forward 
 with a glass of water. 
 
 " Look here," said Black ; " look out where 
 you are going, won't you ?" 
 
 Dick elbowed him to one side, with a con- 
 temptuous look, and hastened in the direction 
 of Mr. Snevel. He found that person in the
 
 1 90 THE GREAT MATCH. 
 
 charge of Mr. Milton, and, on rapidly explaining 
 the state of affairs, found a ready coadjutor in 
 him. Mr. Milton's warm heart was excessively 
 pained by the occurrence. 
 
 Rose in a short while recovered. Bobbie, who 
 had had the superintendence of the post-of- 
 fice which had been established at a corner of 
 the lawn, for the humorous or romantic letters 
 which it was customary to send on such occa- 
 sions, heard that his sister had fainted. He 
 sprang over the lawn, forced his way to her, and 
 put his arms tightly about her. Rose smiled 
 faintly as she met his eager look, and asked him 
 to take her home. Miss Milton, in the most 
 sympathetic way, took her to her own chamber, 
 and tried to prevail upon her to rest there. She 
 showed her her easy-chair, with all its appliances 
 for invalids ; sent for some wine ; and took both 
 of Rose's tremulous hands in her own warm 
 ones. But Rose was firm in her intention, and 
 presently was conducted home by her brother. 
 Miss Milton, after leaving Rose, met Mr. Gra- 
 ham. The look of pallor upon his face, and his 
 impetuous manner of questioning, betrayed his 
 secret to her in an instant. And her sorrow for 
 Rose was quickly turned to a feeling of joy ; 
 for there was happiness in store for her beauti- 
 ful friend yet, and there was no danger of her 
 losing Dick as a friend.
 
 A TEA-PARTY. IQI 
 
 Hardly had the gossip and excitement sub- 
 sided, before another event occurred. In send- 
 ing her invitations, by some accident Miss 
 Milton had omitted the name of O'Callahan. 
 The latter instantly felt that the Miltons were 
 ashamed of him, and were only looking upon 
 him as a tool. He drank savagely of the liquor 
 which Black had secretly put in his way, in 
 a closet adjoining their rooms. As he drank, 
 he brooded more and more upon his wrongs. 
 He would be even with the Yankees yet. He 
 would see if they could treat him with disdain, 
 because he was a poor Irish boy. The O'Calla- 
 hans were descended from the early kings of 
 Ireland. Presently he sprang up, dressed him- 
 self in his light pantaloons, which clung to limbs 
 not of the straightest, until they reached his 
 pointed, turn-up-at-the-end shoes, when they 
 suddenly flared out like a sailor's ; and, seizing a 
 stick, started for the scene of festivities. He 
 was in his most quarrelsome mood, and reeled 
 over the grounds with his hat over his brows, 
 elbowing savagely all who happened to be in 
 his way. He pushed the people aside at the 
 entrance of the ball-room, and strode among the 
 crowd of dancers, with his hat still upon his 
 head, bestowing scowls right and left. 
 
 " There 's Pat ! " exclaimed Miss Milton, 
 clasping her hands. " Oh, dear ! I forgot to in-
 
 1 92 THE GREAT MATCH. 
 
 vite him, I declare! and he has been drinking 
 again, and is evidently furious at our neglect. 
 What shall I do ? He will provoke uncle by his 
 manners. Where is Mr. Black." Thus saying, 
 she ran about in search of the latter. Mean- 
 while Pat had offered his arm, with a real Irish 
 skip of his legs, to Miss Hetty Snell, to lead her 
 forth to the dance, still keeping his hat sav- 
 agely over his eyebrows. As the young girl 
 drew away in affright, he shook his stick above 
 his head. 
 
 " I 'm a raal Irish gentleman of the thrue sort, 
 and demane meeself in asking a Yankee to 
 dance with me. Shoo ! " Thus saying, he 
 stamped his foot upon the floor. 
 
 " Oh, dear ! " exclaimed Miss Milton, looking 
 in at the window, in her wild flight after Ned 
 Black, " where can he be ? Pat will ruin the 
 whole party ; and we shall have such a scene ! 
 No one must offend him ! No one must ! I 'm 
 so afraid my uncle will forget himself." 
 
 Pat presently, in a lordly way, passed out of 
 the ball-room, and sought the place of refresh- 
 ments. His eye presently caught sight of the 
 place where tea and coffee had been dispensed ; 
 and, walking up to it unsteadily, he shouted, 
 " Is there no one to do the honors of the ave- 
 ning? thin, be Jabers, Pat O'Callahan is fit to do 
 them for himself!" and he essayed to pour out
 
 A TEA-PARTY. 193 
 
 a cup of coffee. While thus engaged, Miss Mil- 
 ton came upon him suddenly. 
 
 " Why, Mr. O'Callahan ! why did you not come 
 earlier ? " she exclaimed. " Let me pour out that 
 coffee for you. You must have some ice-cream 
 too." Thus saying, she beckoned to the young 
 girl who had taken Rose's place at the refresh- 
 ment table. 
 
 Pat glared at her ; and then made a motion as 
 if he would remove his hat, the beauty of 
 Miss Milton evidently making an impression 
 upon him. 
 
 " I was not axed," he replied, cocking his hat 
 afresh at the remembrance of his wrongs. 
 
 " By some oversight, your invitation was not 
 sent ; but it was a mistake, Pat. We all wanted 
 you." 
 
 " It 's blarney," said Pat, savagely. 
 
 " Indeed, it is not," replied Miss Milton, heap- 
 ing delicacies upon his plate. 
 
 " I '11 belave you, if you '11 dance with me." 
 
 " Dance with you ! " exclaimed Miss Milton, 
 with a flutter of apprehension. 
 
 " Yes : right among the folks there, time 
 with the music, keeping step with the best of 
 em." 
 
 At that moment Ned Black came in sight. 
 His heart gave a quick leap, as he caught sight 
 of O'Callahan. In leaving him a supply of
 
 194 THE GREAT MATCH. 
 
 liquor, he had never suspected that he would be so 
 bold as to force himself into the presence of the 
 Miltons. He thought that Miss Milton looked 
 at him in an accusing way ; but it was only a 
 suggestion of his own conscience. She was de- 
 lighted to meet him ; for he would see to O'Calla- 
 han. The latter greeted the approach of Black, 
 at first, with an assumption of great- boldness ; 
 but presently allowed himself to be led into the 
 kitchen, where he was entertained in a right 
 hospitable way by some of his own country- 
 women. 
 
 Notwithstanding these unpleasant occurrences, 
 the Martha Washington party was a decided 
 success. The afternoon had closed with a beau- 
 tiful, glowing sunset ; and the company strolled 
 over the lawn, and visited the azalea tent, or 
 sat upon the broad veranda, listening to the 
 sweet music. The early twilight drew light, 
 pearly, green lines down the lines of hedges, 
 and around the masses of trees, as if they were 
 its last line of fortifications against the encroach- 
 ing darkness. The full moon rose in the purple 
 madder of the East, and slowly cleared her 
 serene countenance of its red, warlike tint, as 
 she ascended into the deeper indigo of the clear 
 sky. Lovers paired off, and found out-of-the-way 
 nooks, or walked slowly beneath the overarch- 
 ing elms of the avenues. The elders discussed
 
 A TEA-PARTY. 195 
 
 the dresses and manners of the old times, or 
 watched the dancers go through their evolutions 
 in cotillons or Virginia reels. Mrs. Snell and 
 Mr. Milton led one of the former, and were 
 much observed. Mrs. Snell was delighted. 
 The bright color mounted to her cheeks, and 
 she could hardly rest a moment on her feet. 
 She courtesied very low to Mr. Milton's old- 
 time bow ; and, as they turned, her dress flew 
 partly open in front, and showed her beautiful 
 damask petticoat. Mr. Snell, also, showed 
 astonishing aptitude, with Miss Milton as a 
 partner. 
 
 " Snell, this is glorious ! " exclaimed Tom 
 Milton. 
 
 " It is, and no mistake," replied Farmer Snell, 
 in a glow of enthusiasm. 
 
 " The rest of these folks, who didn't have the 
 independence to come right out in their old 
 clothes," said Mr. Milton, with a hearty laugh, 
 " aren't having half so good a time." 
 
 In truth, they didn't seem to be so joyous. 
 The farmer folk had begun to draw to one side 
 among themselves ; the literary people of Dorn- 
 field were gathered about the Silvers ; and the 
 members of the strict church sat around the 
 minister, looking very solemn. 
 
 " These two sad occurrences," said Deacon 
 Brown, " convince me that Mr. Milton is doing
 
 1 96 THE GREAT MATCH. 
 
 wrong in countenancing, to such a degree, this 
 ball excitement." 
 
 " I fear," said the minister, in a ghostly whis- 
 per, " that Mr. Milton does not throw himself 
 upon the side of temperance ; and he further- 
 more shows a spirit of rivalry which bids fair to 
 alienate us still farther from our neighbors of 
 Milltown." 
 
 " I keep my son carefully away from base ball," 
 said Deacon Brown. " He is a good boy, and 
 shows no desire to run to matches." 
 
 " Your son Moses is a fine boy," said the 
 minister. " Very regular at church." 
 
 "While I live, he shall always be," said the 
 deacon, with pride. 
 
 While the appearance of Pat did not provoke 
 much comment, Mr. Snevel's condition was the 
 universal topic of conversation. It was dis- 
 covered that Mr. Graham went home with him. 
 
 " Doesn't it strike you," said Mrs. Cramer, 
 addressing the group about her generally, 
 "that Mr. Graham goes to the Snevels' pretty 
 often ? I notice that he casts many glances at 
 Rose." 
 
 " He is the executor of her aunt's will," said 
 Miss Susan Brown, a maiden lady, who was 
 much interested in Graham. 
 
 "Well, I pity Rose and Bobbie, I declare," 
 said Mrs. Cramer. All present joined in sym-
 
 A TEA-PARTY. 197 
 
 pathy with her. Miss Susan Brown hoped that 
 it would prove a kind dispensation ; for she 
 thought that Rose had always been too proud. 
 
 Towards the end of the evening, Ned Black 
 secured Miss Milton's company, and they had a 
 delightful stroll over the lawn together. He 
 found no difficulty in persuading her to stay out 
 with him ; for she was fascinated by his society, 
 and by the splendor of the full moon. As they 
 stood looking at the fountain in the moonlight, 
 Dick Softy came up to bid Miss Milton good- 
 night. He turned his back, contemptuously, 
 upon Black, and did not answer an observation 
 which Black addressed to him. The guests 
 were beginning to depart, and Miss Milton re- 
 quested her escort to conduct her to the house. 
 Black did so ; and then started hastily down the 
 avenue, and overtook Dick.
 
 198 THE GREAT MATCH. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 THE DIREFUL FIGHT. 
 
 " T WANT an apology for your insults, sir," he 
 *- said, in a suppressed whisper. 
 
 Dick turned about in the moonlight, and sur- 
 veyed his antagonist. 
 
 " I am not conscious of having insulted you," 
 he replied, looking at Black calmly. 
 
 " You struck me as I was carrying that glass 
 of water. You treated me in a contemptuous 
 way before that young lady." 
 
 " I could readily give reasons for so doing," 
 said Dick; "but I don't choose to." And he 
 turned his back : as he did so, Black grasped 
 him, insolently, by the shoulder : but he had 
 hardly done so before Dick had turned, and 
 given him a blinding blow between the eyes. 
 He staggered about the road ; and then, sud- 
 denly recovering, took off his coat. 
 
 " Not here : there are too many people," said 
 Dick, in his old, languid manner. " Let us go 
 behind yonder wood." Thus saying, he got
 
 THE DIREFUL FIGHT. 199 
 
 over the fence, and led the way to the scene of 
 their old encounter. 
 
 Their way led through a clover-field. The 
 dew was gathering thickly ; and the pink blos- 
 soms of the clover, which were stirred and 
 crushed by their footsteps, gave forth a fresh 
 odor. They disturbed a stray cow, which had 
 broken away from her tethering in a neighbor- 
 ing barn, and was enjoying a feast in the moon- 
 light. Upon a rock, in a neighboring pasture, 
 a whippoorwill, quickly uttered his pulsating cry, 
 which was answered from beyond the green 
 woods, right beneath the moon. Night-hawks 
 cleaved the air, with wings quickly changing in 
 purpose. The two young men passed an old 
 farmhouse, with its well-sweep, beside which 
 stood two lovers, looking at the moon ; and 
 struck across the fields, in a diagonal direction, 
 towards the wood. They marched along, with 
 grim countenances ; and their dark shadows, 
 clearly cut in the bright moonlight, strode over 
 huckleberry bushes, and through thick bushes, 
 as if they were great demons leading captive two 
 pygmies. 
 
 " Here is the place," said Dick, suddenly turn- 
 ing, and throwing aside his coat. 
 
 " You have a very good memory," said Black, 
 sarcastically. 
 
 "Yes, and I propose you shall remember it
 
 200 THE GREAT MATCH. 
 
 this time," said Dick; "for I intend to whip 
 you once in my life." 
 
 He had hardly spoken before his opponent 
 struck at him with his left hand. Dick, sud- 
 denly throwing his head forward and to the 
 right, warded the blow ; and, throwing his left 
 leg forward at the same instant behind Black, 
 with a quick movement of his arm threw him 
 heavily. Black arose, somewhat stunned, and 
 made a more cautious attack. He succeeded in 
 hitting his opponent several times ; but they were 
 light blows, while Dick's made themselves felt 
 on his eyes and nose. Dick, with a thrill of 
 savage satisfaction, gradually began to feel his 
 superiority ; and the new man, which had been 
 slowly awakening in him, came strongly to the 
 front. The two men parried each others' blows, 
 with all the skill in boxing which both pos- 
 sessed, the dull thud of their hits seeming to be 
 quickly appropriated by the groups of silent 
 trees. The noise of their heavy breathing, and 
 their restless tramp on the grass, did not ascend 
 over the hillside which protected the hollow in 
 which the fight took place. Occasionally, a 
 crow had a mind to rest in his night flight upon 
 the top of a neighboring tall pine ; but swung 
 off, from his intended perch, with outstretched 
 claws, when he beheld the struggling forms 
 beneath him. Black began to feel one of his
 
 THE DIREFUL FIGHT. 2OI 
 
 eyes closing, from the swelling of the flesh upon 
 his cheek : his first impulse was always to win 
 at all hazards. He accordingly closed with 
 Dick, by a quick movement, before the latter 
 could prevent him. The two men held each 
 other by the shoulders at arms' length, and 
 swayed from side to side, striving to throw each 
 other. But Black's object was not to throw his 
 opponent by wrestling. He felt, to his astonish- 
 ment, that the pulpy, effeminate Dick Softy 
 had suddenly grown hard and wiry, and he 
 found him more than his master at wrestling. 
 He drew Dick closer and closer, by edging his 
 arms along those of his opponent ; and, when 
 his head was in near proximity to Dick's, he 
 threw his head upward, and then down, intend- 
 ing to strike Dick in the temples with his hard 
 frontlet. He had seen strong men felled in 
 that way in a close fight, as if they had been 
 struck with a hammer. Dick knew the trick ; 
 Pat O'Callahan had shown it to him ; and, 
 dodging his head to one side, he fell over upon 
 his back, throwing Black over his head. Dick 
 arose to denounce his opponent for his under- 
 handed method of fighting ; but Black was 
 stretched motionless upon the sward, his white 
 face gleaming in the moonlight With a quick 
 shudder, Dick bent over him, and loosened the 
 collar about his neck, and called to him in a low, 
 9*
 
 202 THE GREAT MATCH. 
 
 hoarse voice. He saw that, in falling, his oppo- 
 nent's head had been brought in contact with a 
 stone. Dick ran to a neighboring brook, and 
 brought water in his hat, and dashed it upon 
 Black's face. Even in the moonlight, he could 
 see that he had punished him severely ; for his 
 face was much distorted. Black at length 
 opened his eyes, feebly. 
 
 " I hope I didn't hurt you severely," said 
 Dick, in a tone of compunction. 
 
 Black sat up, in a dizzy manner, and held his 
 head in his hands. 
 
 This gesture touched Dick more than words. 
 He knelt down beside his late enemy, and bathed 
 his face with his handkerchief, which he had 
 dipped in the brook. Black did not answer ; but 
 finally fell back again in a swoon. Dick, thor- 
 oughly alarmed, started to his feet, and ran 
 across the fields to the neighboring farm-house. 
 He found the inmates about retiring for the 
 night ; but, on his appeal, two of the laboring 
 men, with a tired yawn, hurriedly drew on their 
 boots, and went back with him to Black. Dick, 
 as he ran, denounced himself for his fete pride 
 in the discovery of his superiority. The feeling 
 of exultation had turned in the hour of triumph 
 to bitterness ; for, if he had killed Ned Black, 
 what would his own future be ? He saw him- 
 self shunned by all those he held most dear.
 
 THE DIREFUL FIGHT. 203 
 
 The laboring men tramped along behind him ; 
 questioning him, with hurried breath, as to the 
 accident. 
 
 " Been fighting ! " said one, as he heard Dick's 
 truthful response. 
 
 " Tsh ! " said the other, in a tone of pity. 
 
 When they arrived at the place, Ned Black 
 was still lying, pale and still, in the moonlight. 
 The men made a chair with their arms, and con- 
 veyed him to the farm-house. And while they 
 swayed from side to side with their limp burden, 
 stumbling as they found their way back over the 
 fields, Dick ran hastily for the village doctor. 
 Even in that crisis, he did not wish that he had 
 kept to his old indolent ways and pursuits : a man 
 clings to the possession of energy and strength 
 as long as he is a man. He did regret forcing 
 a fight upon Black ; for his conscience told him 
 that he could have avoided it. The perfection 
 of his bodily strength should have had a higher 
 motive than merely to vanquish a mortal oppo- 
 nent. The thought that he had perhaps killed a 
 man came upon him with a sickening terror. 
 That white face lying in the moonlight would 
 haunt him till his dying day. Even if the law 
 spared him, he must be a wanderer from all 
 from that dear girl he had known from boyhood. 
 He remembered a sermon in which the preacher 
 said, that the wave of sympathy which rolled
 
 204 THE GREAT MATCH. 
 
 through the breast of a man who had suddenly 
 committed a crime, for the inmates of a state- 
 prison, had something very spiritual in it, came 
 back to him. 
 
 Fortunately, he found the doctor in, and they 
 drove together to the farm-house. As they de- 
 scended the hill, through the dark shadows of the 
 rows of elms, and then boomed across the narrow 
 bridge which spanned the river, Dick related 
 the cause of the accident. The doctor, who was 
 a silent man, shook his head, and whipped up 
 his horse. Although the moonlight was very 
 beautiful, Dick felt that a dark rainy night 
 would have been more to his mind. As they 
 drove past the grounds of the Miltons, he saw 
 a light shining in Miss Milton's chamber. It 
 was soft and rosy, by contrast with the bright 
 silver sheen on the roofs of the chateau-like 
 mansion. It seemed to look reproachfully, over 
 the great rounded masses of green foliage, at 
 Dick. He recalled every look and gesture of 
 Miss Milton. His heart was stirred with a 
 great throb, as he felt how necessary to him 
 had grown her commendation and sympathy, 
 and now by one act he had put himself, per- 
 haps, for ever out of her beautiful world of purity 
 and high standing! When they arrived at the 
 farm-house, they found the inmates attentive 
 to the wounded man. Black had recovered his
 
 THE DIREFUL FIGHT. 205 
 
 consciousness, but he was a terrible-looking 
 sight, as Dick's eye glanced eagerly at him ; for 
 good Mrs. Dean, the farmer's wife, had covered 
 his face with patches of brown paper soaked in 
 water. There was an overpowering odor of 
 camphor in the room ; and the whole stock of 
 medicines which the house possessed were pa- 
 raded upon the table. The doctor, with a look 
 of contempt at the preparations, examined Ned's 
 head, and, after a few minutes, informed Dick, to 
 his great joy, that there were no bones broken ; 
 and that Black would recover from his bruises, 
 which, however, were very severe. Dick felt a 
 great joy in his heart, and could not do enough 
 for his late adversary ; who, however, accepted his 
 attentions with an ill grace. Dick, as he went 
 home, stopped for a moment to look at the light 
 in Miss Milton's window, which still shone. 
 He knew now that he loved her deeply. He 
 thrilled with the remembrance of every smile 
 which she had bestowed upon him, and thought 
 over her conversations with him, and her vari- 
 ous acts toward him, which might have various 
 loving interpretations or not. She would know 
 that he had vanquished Ned Black ; his late com- 
 punctions and gloomy forebodings instantly left 
 him, and he looked up at the smiling moon, and 
 hummed a bit of song, as he walked along, very 
 conscious of his possession of strength and energy.
 
 206 THE GREAT MATCH. 
 
 Rose, accompanied by her brother, with a ter- 
 rible load upon her heart, sought her home. 
 Bobbie, after seeing her safely in her room, ran 
 back to conduct his father away from the party. 
 Rose, with a shudder at the dishonor he had 
 already brought upon his children and upon his 
 name, sank upon her knees by her bedside. 
 Her hair escaped from the Martha Washington 
 cap, and rolled in a dishevelled mass over her 
 shoulders. Her high ruff was crushed, as she 
 tossed her head from side to side in an agony 
 of tears. The bitter thought that Ned Black 
 had neglected her the whole evening, and had 
 devoted himself to Miss Milton, came up, alter- 
 nately, with the remembrance of the shame her 
 father had brought, and perhaps was still bring- 
 ing, upon them. She started up, thinking that 
 she caught the sound of his unsteady foot- 
 steps ; but they were those of a villager on the 
 street. Alas ! she read it in the eyes of Black 
 that he had ceased to love her, and was deter- 
 mined to free himself from his secret engage- 
 ment. Indeed, his manner lately seemed to 
 show that he did not recognize any tie between 
 them. Should he not have escorted her to the 
 party, even if she were going in a public capac- 
 ity ? Should he not have come to her during 
 the evening, and asked her to walk or dance 
 with him? Should he not have aided her in
 
 THE DIREFUL FIGHT. 2O/ 
 
 her bitter distress ? He had witnessed it all, 
 and hated her! She clutched her hands, and 
 sobbed bitterly. She started up in a moment ; 
 for she heard her father's voice, and the pathetic, 
 manly little tones of her brother's voice, as he 
 guided Mr. Snevel into the house.' She heard 
 another voice too. It could not be Ned Black's ? 
 She crept down the stairs, and found Graham sit- 
 ting on the veranda. 
 
 " Do not be alarmed, Miss Snevel," said he, 
 coming forward, with an air of deep sympathy. 
 " We kept Mr. Snevel in a side apartment after 
 you left ; and, in a little while, persuaded him to 
 return home. It was well understood that there 
 had been a great dinner at Mr. Bandy's ; and he 
 had, inadvertently, taken too much wine." 
 
 Rose thanked him in her heart for so quickly 
 informing her of what she wanted to know. 
 She noticed that he did not say " your father," 
 but " Mr. Snevel." It seemed to imply a nice 
 feeling on his part, to separate the blame of the 
 father from any imputation that it involved any 
 shame to her. It was a sweet thought to feel 
 that she could expect keen sympathy from this 
 man, to whom she had always gone for help in 
 her money matters. She unburdened her heart 
 to him in relation to her father. Graham tried 
 to make her think that the scene at the party 
 was not so bad as she thought. Mr. Snevel, he
 
 208 THE GREAT MATCH. 
 
 thought, did not walk very unsteadily, and had 
 behaved with his air of great courtesy. Rose 
 thought bitterly of the hollowness of her father's 
 high-bred ways ; but she was somewhat consoled 
 by Graham's account. The moonlight tempted 
 her to be confidential, and she related the long 
 pent-up struggle which she and her brother had 
 been through. Graham told her that he had 
 known it for some time, and that she had his 
 hearty sympathy. Rose wondered at the touch 
 of feeling in the tones of his voice. Her eyes 
 wandered over his iron-gray locks, and rested 
 upon the well-cut features, which were clearly 
 outlined in the moonlight. He seemed to her 
 like an elder brother, not so much older that 
 she could not confide her youthful fancies to. 
 She felt more at ease, and calmer, as she talked 
 with him ; and, when he bade her good-night, he 
 had the pleasure of seeing even a faint smile 
 upon her face, which had been provoked by his 
 account of the reception of Mrs. Snell's old- 
 fashioned garments at the party. When he had 
 left her alone, Rose fell again to brooding over her 
 lover's neglect. She wished she had a mother to 
 confide in. She sat in the window while the 
 moonlight streamed in, and thought over all the 
 events of the beautiful spring and early summer 
 months. They were to have been so full of 
 pleasure, so bright with loving interviews and
 
 THE DIREFUL FIGHT. 209 
 
 strolls in the woods, or by the river. Instead of 
 this, her troubles had gradually increased, and 
 kept pace with the glory of the coming sea- 
 son. She would willingly die, if it were not for 
 Bobbie. 
 
 Graham, as he walked slowly back to his soli- 
 tary lodgings, was full of thought. He had 
 noticed the increase of Ned Black's neglect of 
 Rose from day to day. At first, the knowledge 
 gave him a throb of delight, and renewed the 
 hope of gaining this beautiful girl, which he 
 thought he had thoroughly crushed. Then, as 
 he saw evidences of Rose's deep love for the 
 young man, and as he witnessed the paling of 
 her cheeks from day to day, his feeling was sub- 
 merged for the time in anger at Black, and he 
 made him the subject of careful study and ob- 
 servation. He knew of Ned Black's false entry 
 in the books of the bank ; but he carefully kept 
 the knowledge which he had gained to himself, 
 wishing to test the young man still farther. 
 His speculations in Milltown were also known 
 to him. He stood ready to save Black for the 
 sake of Rose. His secret love for her had 
 changed the entire current of his thpughts. 
 After all had come out happily for Rose, he 
 should close his business affairs, and wander in 
 Europe for some years. His solitary life in his 
 room at the boarding-house would henceforth be
 
 210 THE GREAT MATCH. 
 
 unendurable. After leaving Rose, he walked, to 
 calm his tumultuous feelings, many miles over 
 the country roads. All nature seemed to be 
 asleep. Far down in the valley the farm-houses 
 brooded beneath the rounded masses of foliage 
 of the protecting elms, their roofs looking in the 
 moonlight as if they were covered with snow. 
 Not a light was to be seen : even that which was 
 usually shining in the window of the sick man 
 who lived near the cross-roads was put out. 
 Either he had recovered, or he had died, and 
 there was no longer any occasion for the light. 
 Graham moodily thought, how some day he 
 should go out of life, with a hired watcher by 
 his bedside, a lonely old man. However, what 
 difference did it make ? Would death be any 
 harder ? Would it not be easier ? He thought 
 of his struggles for money and position. He 
 stood ready to lend to the poorest beggar in the 
 street, to give a moment of happiness to some 
 one, with that which could not gain him any. 
 The young man who marries early, and settles 
 down to his married life before he has got into 
 the thirties, may have many responsibilities and 
 quick-coming cares; but he is spared such a 
 struggle as came to Graham in the years when 
 he had thought that his life-plans were too 
 firmly fixed to be moved by any thing less than 
 an earthquake. They had been changed in-
 
 THE DIREFUL FIGHT. 211 
 
 stantly by the smile of a young girl, and, as 
 often happens to a man with one aim, had taken 
 away the spring of his ambition, and had left 
 him in a purposeless condition. Life seemed 
 utterly stale and profitless, whichever way he 
 might turn.
 
 212 THE GREAT MATCH. 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 THE RESCUE. 
 
 r ["'HE news of Black's condition speedily 
 -*- spread abroad. It was reported that 
 Dick and he had had a quarrel, and that the for- 
 mer had struck Black on the head with a stone. 
 Immense indignation was expressed, especially 
 among the young men. The members of the 
 ball nine came to see their sick captain ; and 
 went away with the impression that Dick had 
 done an underhanded thing, notwithstanding 
 their captain's apparent desire to shield Dick. 
 Generosity was a beautiful trait, they said to 
 themselves, in Black ; but any one could see, 
 that, after knocking his opponent down, Dick 
 had pummelled his face black and blue. Dick 
 should be taught a lesson for this conduct'; and 
 there was much whispering and consulting to- 
 gether in various quarters. Mr. Tom Milton, 
 on hearing of Black's state, immediately went to 
 see him. He was sorry for the young man ; 
 and feared also for the effect of the accident on
 
 THE RESCUE. 213 
 
 the base-ball match, the day appointed for which 
 was now close at hand. 
 
 "Molly," said he, on his return, "don't you 
 ever invite Richard Softy to this house again. 
 He has disgraced himself in my estimation, and 
 in that of all right-feeling persons. I regard his 
 attack upon Mr. Black as simply murderous ! 
 simply murderous!" 
 
 " Is Mr. Black, then, so much hurt ? " said his 
 niece, with a feeling of loyalty to her old friend, 
 Dick, welling up in her heart. 
 
 " Well, he seems to have knocked him down 
 with a stone, and then to have pounded his face 
 until it is hardly recognizable." 
 
 " How shocking ! " exclaimed his niece. 
 
 " Shocking, indeed ! " said Mr. Milton, with 
 emphasis. " A young man who is guilty of 
 such conduct should be avoided." 
 
 " I cannot believe it of Dick," said Miss 
 Milton, sturdily. 
 
 " I found it hard to believe," said her uncle. 
 " Black strives, like a generous fellow, to shield 
 Dick ; but Dick's conduct is evident enough, 
 and there is no word to express it but ' shameful.' 
 We must postpone our match for a week at 
 least ; and I don't know but longer. If Black 
 and O'Callahan are knocked up, we shall have 
 made pretty braggarts of ourselves, and shall 
 get whipped bravely."
 
 214 THE GREAT MATCH. 
 
 Miss Milton perceived that her uncle's feel- 
 ings for Black and condemnation of Dick were 
 a little warped by his eagerness to win at the 
 coming match. And she resolved to see Dick, 
 and learn the truth from him ; for she had great 
 faith in his honesty. She sent him, by the 
 hands of Bobbie, a short note ; asking him to 
 meet her, at the ford of the river, the following 
 afternoon. When Dick received the note, he 
 was enchanted at first, and then began to 
 think over her reasons for desiring to see him. 
 Perhaps she wanted him to show her the path 
 through the woods to the clearing on Sunset 
 Hill ; but why should she wish to meet him at 
 the ford, and not at her uncle's house ? He had 
 met Mr. Milton, that morning, on the village 
 street : he noticed that he did not return his 
 bow ; but he attributed this neglect to absence 
 of mind on the part of the old gentleman: 
 Could it have been intentional ? Dick felt that 
 he was in ill-favor with the ball-playing part of 
 the community, and was ready to see Mr. Mil- 
 ton take their part. Whatever reason Miss 
 Milton had for meeting him, the consciousness 
 remained that the note was written in her dear 
 handwriting, and that he should have an after- 
 noon alone with her. How slowly the hours of 
 the day glided by ! He looked at his watch con- 
 tinually. At length the hour arrived, and he
 
 THE RESCUE. 215 
 
 found himself at the ford. He saw a bit of 
 blue dress through the bushes, and his heart 
 beat tumultuously. Then Miss Milton came in 
 sight, looking more charmingly than he had 
 ever seen her. She wore a Gainsborough hat, 
 which was looped up at the side with pink roses. 
 She was leaning in a pensive attitude against a 
 tall maple, and looking up the river. Her pi- 
 quant features were in a state of unusual solem- 
 nity. She looked up, with a sad smile, as Dick 
 came forward. 
 
 " Have you been waiting long ? " he inquired, 
 as he greeted her. 
 
 " Only a few minutes," she answered. " I 
 sent for you, Dick, to inquire into this sad busi- 
 ness about Ned Black. Won't you tell me all 
 about it? No, not here : let us go up the bank 
 of the river, and sit over there in that grove of 
 maples." 
 
 Dick accompanied her, in silence, to the place 
 she pointed out. The river had taken a sudden 
 turn at this point, and, leaving a sand-bank on 
 one side, had washed out a deep bed beneath the 
 little knoll, which was covered with maples. 
 The denuded roots of a large tree projected far 
 out over the amber-colored pools of the rippling 
 stream ; and had been fashioned by Dick, one 
 day when he had visited the spot with his 
 present companion, into a grotesque arm-chair.
 
 2l6 THE GREAT MATCH. 
 
 Miss Milton seated herself in it, and pointed 
 to his old seat at her feet. 
 
 " Now, Dick," said she, putting herself in a 
 listening attitude, " how was it ? " 
 
 " I whipped him, that 's all," said Dick, sen- 
 tentiously. 
 
 Miss Milton looked at him, steadily, with a 
 look of amazement. Could he be telling the 
 truth? Ned Black was renowned for his 
 strength and skill. 
 
 " Did you whip him fairly ? " she asked. 
 
 " It does not become you to ask a gentleman 
 that question," said Dick, proudly, " if you mean 
 to question whether I used fair blows." 
 
 " I was wrong, I was wrong," exclaimed Miss 
 Milton, perceiving his look of anger. " But it is 
 doubted, Dick," she continued ; " and I want to 
 hear the truth from your lips." 
 
 " I don't see why you should doubt me, if all 
 the rest of the world did," said Dick, speaking 
 thickly. 
 
 "I don't doubt you," she said, putting her 
 hand frankly on one of his. " I only want to 
 know how it all happened." 
 
 " Well," said Dick, "we had a quarrel. We 've 
 always quarrelled ; and once he whipped me in a 
 stand-up fight. Since that day I resolved to 
 revenge myself. I have exercised and trained 
 myself by all possible means. And he sought
 
 THE RESCUE. 21 / 
 
 a fight on the night of your party. I did not 
 refuse him. We repaired to the same place 
 where he had once whipped me : and I whipped 
 him so that he could not see out of his eyes ; 
 giving him entire satisfaction, I imagine." 
 
 "You whipped him fairly?" exclaimed Miss 
 Milton; "you whipped him fairly?" 
 
 " Why do you repeat that question ? " said 
 Dick, testily. 
 
 " Forgive me, Dick ; but I want to know all 
 about it." 
 
 " He was about to strike me in an underhand 
 way," said Dick, " and I threw him ; and, in 
 falling, his head came in contact with a stone, 
 which stunned him ; but he had been thoroughly 
 whipped before that occurrence." 
 
 " Are you his superior in boxing ? " said Miss 
 Milton, measuring Dick with her eyes, with a 
 half-sceptical look. 
 
 " Yes," said Dick, carelessly. 
 
 " This is a very sudden change in you," said 
 his companion. 
 
 "Well yes. I have changed somewhat," 
 said he, gazing with all his soul in his blue eyes 
 straight into her face. She colored, and with- 
 drew her hand. 
 
 " There is an impression that you used unfair 
 means in your fight," said she. " How it arises, 
 I don't know ; but my uncle has heard it. He
 
 2l8 THE GREAT MATCH. 
 
 has been to see Mr. Black, and has returned 
 very indignant with you, and desires that you 
 should not be received at our house." 
 
 " I shall not trouble him," said Dick, quickly. 
 He saw a look of pain come over her face, and 
 continued in a softened tone : " Why should 
 people doubt me any more than Ned Black ? If 
 he was fair and square, he would say up and 
 down that I whipped him : he knows that I did." 
 
 " People say that there is not a mark or bruise 
 on your face ; and Mr. Black is much bruised ; 
 and, therefore, considering his skill in boxing, 
 they cannot account for it." 
 
 " They suppose that I knocked him down, and 
 then jumped on him, I believe," said Dick, con- 
 temptuously. " Let them believe so, if they 
 will." 
 
 "Mr. Black denies that you did jump upon 
 him, or any thing of that sort," replied Miss 
 Milton. " But people say that is his generosity : 
 he wishes to shield you." 
 
 Dick laughed aloud, in derision. " I shall not 
 say any thing more : I have my own opinion of 
 Ned Black, and I leave people to theirs. I 
 suppose you will believe in him." 
 
 " I don't know why you should make that 
 speech," said his companion, with hauteur. 
 
 Dick restlessly pulled the spears of the grass 
 nearest him, and tried to throw them far out
 
 THE RESCUE. 219 
 
 upon the pools of the river. His usually placid 
 face assumed a very severe expression. Miss 
 Milton looked at him for some time with eyes 
 full of seeking. Finally, her sense of humor 
 conquered her, and she burst into a merry fit 
 of laughter. 
 
 " Forgive me, Dick ; but I can't help it : it 's 
 too funny for any thing. Your countenance 
 would convict you of murder before old Justice 
 Tooms, at Milltown." 
 
 " You had the long countenance a moment 
 ago," said Dick, curtly. 
 
 "I ? " exclaimed his companion. 
 
 "Yes: you were the judge, condemning me 
 without a hearing." 
 
 "Excuse me, Dick. Ha, ha, ha! I can't 
 imagine you boxing with Ned Black. You 
 didn't keep your dressing-gown on, did you ? 
 or go through the wet grass with only your 
 slippers on?" 
 
 " I don't know how I can convince you of my 
 strength, except by hiring some one to come 
 upon your lawn, and then pitching into him 
 before you." 
 
 " What fun it would be ! Now can't you, 
 Dick ? " 
 
 " Why do you always rally me thus ? Can't 
 you believe that I have a vein of deadly serious- 
 ness running through me ? "
 
 220 THE GREAT MATCH. 
 
 "Running through you? a vein? Why, you 
 are submerged in an ocean of seriousness to-day, 
 Dick." 
 
 " I am deadly in earnest." 
 
 " About what, pray ? another fierce encounter ? 
 From the accounts I hear of Mr. Black's face, 
 I shall drive over to Justice Tooms, and ask him 
 to issue a writ." 
 
 " I wish you would be serious. I am not in a 
 mood for jesting." 
 
 " You would have us both gaze down into the 
 depths of the fiver, with long countenances and 
 deep-drawn sighs, I suppose. I haven't had a 
 fight, you know, and can't join you. What 
 dreadful things fights must be, to transform a 
 light-hearted, merry fellow into a sedate old gentle- 
 man ! Come, Dick, your sighs are too desperate : 
 I'm going." Thus saying, she jumped up. As 
 she did so, her dress caught in a branch of the 
 root of the tree, and, in bending backward hastily 
 to disengage it, she lost her balance, and fell into 
 the dark pool beneath. Dick followed her in- 
 stantly. The tide bore her swiftly under the 
 bank, and threatened to wedge her in between 
 the roots and the trunk of a tree which had 
 been caught between the bank and a rock. 
 Dick seized her as she was disappearing in the 
 foaming eddies, and braced himself against the 
 tree. Now came the test of those muscles he
 
 THE RESCUE. 221 
 
 had so assiduously trained. Throwing his arm 
 over the dead tree, with the other around Miss 
 Milton, he stayed both their flights for a moment ; 
 and then, throwing his leg over the tree-trunk, he 
 managed by an immense exertion of muscle to 
 draw his exhausted charge higher out of the 
 water, and, with a fresh effort, to place her with 
 only her limbs in the water. Then he edged 
 himself along, drawing her after him, until he 
 reached the rocks ; and, taking his dripping 
 burden in his arms, walked up the bank, and 
 placed her upon the green grass. 
 
 Miss Milton had lost consciousness for a 
 moment ; but it quickly returned. She stood 
 up and looked at Dick, and then gazed at her 
 dripping garments. 
 
 " Well, well ! I 'm a pretty sight ! " she ex- 
 claimed. "This was to pay me for laughing at 
 you, Dick. I 'm tempted to laugh at you this 
 minute : you look so wretched with the water 
 running in a stream out of your shoes. But 
 don't I feel wretched, though ? I think I won't 
 laugh any more to-day. Dear, dear ! look at my 
 new silk ; and there goes my Gainsborough, sail- 
 ing down the river ! " 
 
 Hardly had the words escaped her lips, before 
 Dick started off ; and, notwithstanding her pro- 
 testations, swam out into the river again, and 
 returned, after a struggle, with the hat
 
 222 THE GREAT MATCH. 
 
 " I shall never question your bravery or your 
 strength, again," she said, in a tremulous voice, 
 as he handed her the Gainsborough. " Truly, I 
 didn't fall into the river to test it." 
 
 " That was evident enough," said Dick, smil- 
 ing at her serious air. " Young ladies don't 
 sacrifice new attires so recklessly. Come, you 
 must not stand still : we must walk rapidly to 
 the nearest house." 
 
 They were not far from Farmer Snell's resi- 
 dence, and Dick rapidly conducted her thither. 
 Mrs. Snell welcomed them both with open arms ; 
 and speedily conducted Miss Milton to her own 
 chamber, to provide her with dry garments. She 
 would get her husband to take the young lady 
 home, towards evening. Dick promised to call 
 in the evening, and see if she had received no 
 ill effects from her bath ; and, refusing Mrs. 
 Snell's offer of Sam's best go-to-meeting suit, he 
 set off at a round pace for his room. 
 
 What might have happened if this accident 
 had occurred in those old days when his muscles 
 were flabby and weak ! Miss Milton would cer- 
 tainly have perished ; for it took all his acquired 
 strength to drag her from beneath that tree, 
 against the rush of the river. This event repaid 
 him fully for all his endeavors ; this could not be 
 followed by any unpleasant consequences. He 
 felt a glow of joy run through him as he ran;
 
 THE RESCUE. 223 
 
 and hardly dared to think that he had held the 
 beautiful girl to his heart, as he bore her up the 
 bank. It was late in the afternoon, and the cool 
 airs of the evening bore to him delicious odors of 
 ripening strawberries, mingled with that of new- 
 mown hay. He had to cross the ball-field on the 
 way to his room. The nine were there playing a 
 practice-game, without Black. They had put Bob- 
 bie Snevel in as centre-field, and the man who 
 usually played in that position acted as catcher. 
 Dick met Bobbie just as he caught a high-flyer. 
 The boy's face was glowing with pride and 
 enthusiasm. He stood, after returning the ball 
 to one of the other players, stooping down with 
 hands upon each knee, and with his face pursed 
 up with a look of immense responsibility. As 
 Dick accosted him pleasantly, Bobbie was 
 troubled with a multitude of feelfngs. He par- 
 took of the base-ball players' feeling of indigna- 
 tion against Dick most heartily ; for he was 
 extremely loyal to Ned Black: on the other 
 hand, he had always liked Dick ; and he wished 
 him to behold his skill in playing ball. His 
 temporary promotion into the great Dornfield 
 nine had made him, for the time, a prince of 
 egotism. How large he saw himself loom up in 
 the estimation of the other boys, and in that of 
 his elder acquaintances, like Dick ! His curios- 
 ity, also, was greatly excited ; for he noticed the
 
 224 THE GREAT MATCH. 
 
 young man's dripping state. Another high-flyer, 
 fortunately, decided the matter for him ; he ran 
 at a break-neck pace to secure it, and mean- 
 while Dick had passed beyond him. That young 
 man noticed that the players left their positions, 
 and advanced toward him. He stopped in his 
 slow trot, and waited for them. Kennedy, the 
 large, first-base man, came first. 
 
 " You are a pretty fellow," said he, " to strike 
 a man in the head with a stone, and then pound 
 his face to a jelly." As he said this, the other 
 players gathered round the two in a circle. 
 
 " You make a great many assumptions, Ken- 
 nedy," said Dick, nonchalantly ; and, turning 
 his back upon him, thrust those next him away, 
 in order to proceed. 
 
 A half dozen arms were stretched out, and he 
 was forced back into the circle. 
 
 " Tell me up and down," said Kennedy, baring 
 his arms : " Did you or did you not strike Black 
 with a stone ? " 
 
 " I deny your right to address me in this man- 
 ner," said Dick, looking his opponent up and 
 down. " If I say ' no,' you will think you have 
 intimidated me. I say, no ; now make way : I 
 am wet through." 
 
 " I don't believe you," growled Kennedy. 
 
 Hardly had the words left his mouth, before 
 he felt his face slapped by Dick. " You mean
 
 THE RESCUE. 225 
 
 to force me to fight," exclaimed the latter, " what- 
 ever I say ; and you tell me in effect that I lie." 
 
 The ring was quickly enlarged, and the two 
 young men squared off. In a few moments it 
 was clearly evident that Kennedy, notwithstand- 
 ing his long reach, was no match for his wiry 
 antagonist. To the astonishment of svery one, 
 he was completely whipped before the village 
 boys had ceased to run up to the circle. The 
 ring broke, and Dick was suffered to walk away ; 
 for no one dared to attack him. 
 
 After the departure of her rescuer, Miss Mil- 
 ton, dressed in a suit of Hetty Snell's, reclined 
 before a wood fire in the best room of the farm- 
 house. Mrs. Snell bustled about ; bringing her 
 first a glass of wine, and then the yolk of an egg 
 in brandy and sugar, and then a cup of tea. 
 The young lady, in a half-dozing manner, gazed 
 at the old samplers upon the low walls ; at the 
 weeping figure of a maiden reclining beneath 
 a willow upon a tombstone : and at the stiff 
 Puritan visages of the Snells' ancestors, which 
 looked fixedly at her from their old frames. 
 Dick had murmured something as he carried 
 her in his strong arms. It sounded like " Dar- 
 ling : " could it have been ? Perhaps it was 
 " Darndest ! " their condition, truly, merited 
 such an expletive. He was certainly a brave 
 fellow: she had been very unjust to him; she 
 10* o
 
 226 THE GREAT MATCH. 
 
 would not be so any more. If he had been 
 in love with her, he would have kissed her face 
 as it reposed upon his shoulder. If he had, 
 wouldn't she have given it to him ! He had 
 certainly saved her life ; for in a moment that 
 tide would have swept her beneath the tree 
 trunks. She shuddered as she thought of the 
 dark recesses beneath the bank into which she 
 would have been swept, and drowned, in that 
 bright June afternoon, while the flowers nodded 
 on the bank above, and the birds sang gaily. 
 
 " It was lucky you had Mr. Softy with you," 
 said Mrs. Snell, coming in at that moment with 
 some warmer tea: "he is such a strong, brave 
 fellow." 
 
 " He did prove to be very strong and brave. 
 I had always considered him an indolent, and 
 rather effeminate, young man, before this acci- 
 dent." 
 
 " Bless you ! my husband says that he has 
 more nerve and pluck than any young fellow he 
 knows. As for Sam, he worships Dick." 
 
 " The village people have always had my im- 
 pression of him," replied Miss Milton. " How 
 could it be that you have judged him rightly ? " 
 
 " Wall, he used to come, up here every week 
 to ride our horse, Philip." 
 
 " What ! that furious brute ? " exclaimed Miss 
 Milton.
 
 THE RESCUE. 227 
 
 " Yes : you never seed the like. Why, actilly, 
 it made my blood run cold to see that young 
 fellow jump on the horse's back, and go tearing 
 across yender field. My husband wouldn't listen 
 to his mounting of him, for a long while ; but the 
 young fellow was possessed to. They had an 
 awful struggle at the beginning. The horse 
 reared and snorted, and kicked up ; but it was 
 no use. There sat Mr. Softy as cool as a cucum- 
 ber on his back. He has tamed him a little 
 now ; but no one else pretends to ride him. Oh ! 
 he is a brave young fellow. We think there is 
 no one like him." 
 
 " Well, well," said Miss Milton to herself, 
 " these young men are mysteries : I have made 
 up my mind that a girl don't know any thing 
 about them."
 
 228 THE GREA T MA TCH. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 THE FAIR. 
 
 "JV/TILLTOWN was in full possession of all 
 -L*-*- the information in regard to the Martha 
 Washington party, before ten o'clock on the day 
 following it. Mrs. Cramer rode over to her dear 
 friend, Mrs. Baslee, who had been spending the 
 winter at Washington, to gather from that lady's 
 stock of information and to impart from her own. 
 It was speedily reported about town that all the 
 young men were much intoxicated, and that Miss 
 Snevel was so much overcome by repeated toasts 
 of champagne that she had to be conveyed home. 
 It was also reported that many people were very 
 indignant because they were not invited ; and 
 many of those who did go were snubbed by the 
 literary set ; and the old costumes were failures, 
 only two or three people appeared in them, 
 and they were laughed at so much that they 
 went home early. Such was the story circulated 
 at Milltown. It was acknowledged by all that 
 their fair would not be such a complete fiasco.
 
 THE FAIR. 229 
 
 The young ladies had been working assiduously 
 for it. There were bushel-baskets full of pin- 
 cushions made in the shape of hearts and forget- 
 me-nots ; there were base-balls painted -with the 
 letter M in different colors ; there were prize 
 ring-cakes made in the shape of a ball, and orna- 
 mented with bats and base-ball insignia in frost 
 work ; there were pans and pans of doughnuts, 
 cut in the shape of champion players in every 
 attitude. The refreshments promised to be on a 
 most lavish scale. Every one had some part in 
 the preparations. To Miss Deming, daughter 
 of the leading cotton manufacturer, was given 
 the table for fancy handkerchiefs and scarfs ; to 
 Miss Siller, the table for gloves and mittens ; 
 Mrs. Grover, the wife of the head machinist of 
 the machine shops, was given in charge the great 
 tidy, worked in colors, illustrating a ball match. 
 Her daughter, a young lady of eighteen, was to 
 solicit people to buy shares for it. In short, 
 every one had some prominent office, and there 
 was great unanimity and good will. 
 
 Unfortunately, the night of the fair was rainy ; 
 but the wisdom of holding the entertainment in 
 a hall became all the more evident. The place 
 they had selected was used on week-days for 
 town meetings, and on Sundays as a place of 
 worship by one of the religious societies. The 
 interior was as clean as white paint could make
 
 230 THE GREAT MATCH. 
 
 it ; and the tall windows were furnished with 
 immense white curtains. Two chandeliers of a 
 gorgeous pattern betokened at once'the incom- 
 ing of gas and luxury into the place. Their 
 light brought into glaring relief the loaded tables 
 beneath them. The young ladies who tended 
 the tables were dressed in their best. Miss Bas- 
 lee, who had just returned with her mother from 
 Washington, wore a blue silk with a long train, 
 with a white lace overskirt of the most elaborate 
 description. As she walked about, the young 
 ladies and the old held their breaths in an atti- 
 tude of taking in food for reflection and crit- 
 icism. Mrs. Baslee took charge of the prize 
 cake. She was a large, fleshy woman, and sat 
 in state in an arm-chair, clad in a rich, black silk 
 covered with beads. She had enormous soli- 
 taire diamonds for ear-rings, and her hands were 
 covered with rings. She waved her fingers as 
 she had been accustomed to do when she was 
 young and was noted for her pretty hand and 
 arm. Her husband, a little man with gray, red- 
 dish whiskers, was a very prosperous woollen 
 manufacturer. He stood beside her. 
 
 "Mrs. Baslee, we are delighted to see you 
 back," said the agent of the Duck Mills, Mr. 
 Smith, dropping the arm of Mrs. Smith, and tak- 
 ing the opportunity to pull up his dicky. 
 
 " Milltown hasn't seemed nateral while you
 
 THE FAIR. 231 
 
 were away," joined in Mrs. Smith. " You had 
 a real good lime, didn't you ? " 
 
 " S'pose you called on the President," said Mr. 
 Smith, " and gave him our respects." Mr. Smith 
 smiled suddenly, and looked around to see if any 
 one else had heard the joke. 
 
 " Yes, we saw him several times," replied Mrs. 
 Baslee. " Senator Baslee, you know, is a cousin 
 of my husband ; so we had the entrte, and saw a 
 great deal of Washington society." 
 
 " She goes everywhere, sees every thing, and 
 has all that's going," sighed Mrs. Smith, as she 
 was forced away from Mrs. Baslee by the crowd 
 who also desired to pay their respects to that 
 lady. 
 
 " Wall," said Mr. Smith, " he has made lots of 
 money, and can afford it : they say he is worth a 
 million. There 's Mr. Gowen talking to him. 
 They say Gowen is worth five hundred thou- 
 sand dollars." 
 
 " I don't like to have you only agent of them 
 mills, John," said his wife. " We have got just 
 as good right to be rich as Mr. Baslee or Mr. 
 Gowen ; haven't we ? " 
 
 "We will be," said her husband, in a self-sat- 
 isfied whisper. " I 've a little spec in hand." 
 
 " It 's astounding how the women dress now- 
 a-days," grumbled old Justice Tooms, in his seat 
 near the wall, to his cronies, Squire Jones and
 
 232 THE GREAT MATCH. 
 
 Squire Brown. " The times are going to change. 
 Everybody isn't going to make money right and 
 left. When you are on the top wave, get ready 
 to plump into the trough of the sea. Aint that 
 so ? " Thus saying, he took a pinch of snuff, and 
 looked up with an expression of mingled agony 
 and delight, which was interpreted by Miss Gro- 
 ver, who passed by at that moment, to mean that 
 he was anxious to take a share in the tidy. 
 
 "Now that gal," said the justice, after he had 
 growlingly refused, " see how her father and 
 mother have dressed her up. Sorter pretty, 
 too. Grover is a head machinist, and gets fair 
 wages ; but his wife must keep two gals, and 
 dress her daughter up in silk and satin, and not 
 let her do a stroke of work, give her lessons on 
 the piano, and have a French master. It 's only 
 a specimen of the times. I tell you, there 's going 
 to be a change. Look at Mrs. Baslee and 
 daughter ; there 's another example. Baslee, 
 they say, has made lots of money. But the 
 time will come when there will be a shrinkage 
 of values." 
 
 "That's what I tell 'em," said Squire Jones, 
 who had been too cautious to make any money. 
 " There 's going to be a crash." 
 
 Squire Brown, who never made an observa- 
 tion, but always assented to prophecies of cata- 
 clysms, said, " That 's so."
 
 THE FAIR. 233 
 
 The hall by this time was full of people, and pre- 
 sented a splendid scene (in the language of the 
 Milltown papers). The long refreshment tables 
 were resorted to by a crowd of old and young. 
 The young lady waiters, clad in their most mod- 
 ern styles, and presenting a great contrast to 
 the simple attire of the attendants at the Martha 
 Washington tea-party, answered the young base- 
 ball men in fancy neck-ties, who inquired the 
 price of doughnuts, in their sweetest tones ; help- 
 ing them with one hand, and cuffing the ears of 
 obstreperous youngsters with the other. The 
 shells of peanuts began to grate under one's 
 shoes. The post-office in the corner of the hall 
 was surrounded by an eager crowd. The tall 
 clown of the village sat by himself, far in a cor- 
 ner, scribbling epistles to different people, and 
 chuckling to himself at his witticisms, following 
 the motions of his pen with his tongue. 
 
 " This is a great success," said Mr. Myers, 
 the popular minister, a tall young man, dressed 
 in black sack-coat and a colored necktie, 
 addressing Mrs. Devons, the wife of his deacon. 
 
 " Guess we shall realize handsome," said that 
 lady, rapidly twisting up a bag of pop-corn, and 
 handing it to a youngster. " Have you hearn, 
 Mr. Myers, how they get on with their trouble 
 over ter the Brown church ? " 
 
 "Their trouble about turning round to face
 
 234 THE GREAT MATCH. 
 
 the singers ? Well, they are pretty equally 
 divided over there, I guess. John Billings says 
 their side consider it impertinent to turn round 
 and face the singers when the hymns are sung. 
 They are all very set about it ; but he says he 
 is going over to the other side. He don't see, 
 when a fellow is doing his best up there in the 
 choir, why he shouldn't have some one look at 
 him, especially when that fellow is a pretty 
 young lady." 
 
 Mrs. Devons's grim mouth, which had grown 
 more firmly defined than usual in guarding her 
 colored pop-corn from youthful depredators, sud- 
 denly relaxed into a smile in response to that of 
 the minister, and as quickly resumed its more 
 natural look of sternness. 
 
 " They air a stinging swarm over thar," she 
 remarked : " it will take 'em a long time to 
 settle." 
 
 " How air ye ? " said Mr. Bolder, the da'shing 
 young head of Bolder & Co., the flourishing 
 narrow-fabric manufacturers. " I want to con- 
 gratulate you on your last sermon. It was first- 
 rate, went right to the spot ; kind of sermon I 
 like to hear ; sermon for the times ; of the liberal 
 kind, full of science. I tell you what, science 
 is the thing now-a-days, aint it ? Well, now, 
 'tis no mistake, the old theology has got to give 
 way. The world has got to advance : there's no
 
 THE FAIR. 235 
 
 stopping it. Ruts aint for us here in Milltown. 
 We are progressive. Let 'em cling to the past 
 in such dead places as Dornfield, if they want 
 to. And then look at the contrast of the two 
 towns. Why, they haven't grown a mite in 
 Dornfield since they had ter the times the In- 
 dians gave 'em such a scare. Oh, I tell ye ! sci- 
 ence is the thing, and it 's going to win this next 
 game. You see, the reason we lost that last 
 game was, there warn't a man in our nine fit 
 to play : they 'd jist been down to the city to 
 play the Harvards. Our men have got a kink 
 or two. Science, you know." Thus saying, Mr. 
 Bolder twisted his black moustache, and began 
 to flirt with Miss Grover, who was still soliciting 
 for the tidy. 
 
 " You think we shall win the next game," said 
 the preacher. " Hope we shall. This base-ball 
 enthusiasm is a good thing. It keeps the young 
 men in good physical condition, and substitutes 
 out-of-door exercise for in-door dissipation. I 
 should like to play in a game myself." 
 
 " Would you, really ? Now, what do you 
 s'pose a gentleman wants of a tidy, hey ? Now, 
 Mr. Myers, I like to look on at a ball-game ; but 
 I have too much regard for my fingers to play. 
 Take it for my prospective wife, hey ? are they 
 going to put you up at shares, hey ? " 
 
 " She 's snappy, I tell you," exclaimed Bolder,
 
 236 THE GREAT MATCH. 
 
 with a laugh, as the young girl made a flippant 
 remark, and ran away. 
 
 " To tell you the truth, Mr. Myers, and I 
 wouldn't tell any minister but you, I Ve got 
 some heavy bets on that game." 
 
 " Betting is a bad thing," said Mr. Myers, tap- 
 ping him on the shoulder, playfully. 
 
 " If I had time, I 'd argue the point with you," 
 said Bolder, waving his ringers in the air as if to 
 bid adieu, and elbowing his way through the 
 crowd to greet Mrs. Baslee. The minister 
 greeted his folk warmly, right and left. He was 
 speedily surrounded by smiling ladies, who solic- 
 ited him to buy various articles. He had a good 
 word for everybody. His face seemed to glow 
 with the consciousness that he preached and 
 acted out the doctrine of the universal brother- 
 hood of man. 
 
 " We Ve got a prize in our minister," said Mr. 
 Grover, as he sat in the corner, resplendent in a 
 very white shirt, with a small gold model of a 
 steam-engine for a bosom pin. 
 
 "No mistake in that," replied Moses Cutter, 
 the postmaster. " He is a live man : preaches 
 about the events of the day. Nothing of the old 
 Puritan about him. Likes a good-going horse ; 
 who don't ? What a contrast he is to minister 
 Denham, at Dornfield ! Why, he won't even 
 let his parishioners dance, and is continually 
 preaching against the times."
 
 THE FAIR. 237 
 
 "What can you expect in Dornfield," replied 
 Abraham Low, keeper of the largest West India 
 goods store in Milltown. " Why, they are a hun- 
 dred years behind the age over there. They 
 say, however, they have made up their minds to 
 beat us in this next ball-game. Old Tom Mil- 
 ton has got his back up ; and when he does, you 
 know, people have to stand round." 
 
 " Tom Milton," said Mr. Grover, " has had his 
 day. He used to rule in business with an iron 
 hand ; but he belongs to the old school. We 've 
 got lots of men in our town who can beat him in 
 energy and dash. And they have made up their 
 minds to do it, too. Business is dull just now, 
 and we are all ready for some excitement. Bas- 
 lee and Bolder and Stetlow and Davis have all 
 got heavy bets on the result, it is said. Oh ! our 
 boys are bound to win." 
 
 In one corner of the hall a space had been 
 curtained off ; and a large sign, containing the 
 inscription " Fish Pond," had been erected. A 
 young lady sat ensconced within the space, and 
 tied on parcels to the end of the fishing-lines, 
 which were flung over the top of the enclosure, 
 the sportsmen paying five cents for each throw. 
 This booth was surrounded by a hilarious crowd 
 of youngsters. Ranged near it were many grab- 
 baskets, in which people sought their luck. 
 There were, besides, mild lottery schemes in
 
 238 THE GREAT MATCH. 
 
 abundance. Squire Brown had put up his Al- 
 derney calf, in shares of fifty cents each ; the 
 tidy shares were ten cents ; and a piece of cotton 
 goods, contributed to the cause by Mrs. Baslee, 
 went at five cents a share. The noise in the 
 room presently became deafening. The lights 
 burned dimly in the atmosphere of dust created 
 by the hilarious boys, who ran in and out of the 
 crowded groups, to the intense discomfort of 
 every one except the minister, who thought the 
 children were entitled to a good time always. 
 The men gradually accumulated at one end of 
 the room, to talk over the proposed nomination 
 of Mr. Baslee for Congress. That gentleman 
 made himself very agreeable to every one, and 
 took great pains to help to refreshments some 
 bashful Irish laborers, who hugged the wall near 
 the entrance to the hall. 
 
 Presently the minister, Mr. Myers, mounted 
 the platform, with a paper in his hand. 
 
 " Fellow-citizens," said he, enjoining silence, 
 " it is evident to every one that our fair in behalf 
 of our glorious nine has been a great success. 
 We owe it to the exertions of the ladies. Three 
 cheers for the ladies ! " (They were given with 
 a will.) " The ladies are always prominent in all 
 good works. We owe it to the munificence of 
 men whom it is not necessary to name ; one of 
 whom has just given a complete new uniform to
 
 THE FAIR. 239 
 
 the club, and two signal-flags of crimson silk, 
 which, I trust, will be seen in the front ranks of 
 battle, leading on to victory." (Immense ap- 
 plause.) " I will now inform you, that the piece 
 of cotton goods has fallen to the lot of Miss 
 Grover. Now is the chance for that young man 
 of the future." (Great laughter.) "The tidy 
 has been won by John Timmins, by whose 
 hands it will maintain its name, and be ha'nded 
 down to future generations." (Great laughter 
 and giggling : John Timmins was noted for his 
 slouchy appearance.) " The cake has been cut, 
 fellow-citizens, and the ring has fallen to Miss 
 Baslee." (Great applause.) " The young man 
 is on his way from Washington. And I, ladies 
 and gentlemen, I, your humble fellow-servant, 
 diligent in all good works as I have always tried 
 to be, I have won the calf.' The applause 
 and laughter became deafening, as the minister 
 descended, and mingled again in the swaying 
 crowd. 
 
 While Stetlow, Bolder, and other -young busi- 
 ness men stood at the door of the hall, prepar- 
 ing to leave, a base-ball man came in hurriedly, 
 and said that there was a report that Ned Black 
 had been killed. Stetlow turned pale with ap- 
 prehension. The men hastily interrogated the 
 bringer of the report. 
 
 " He had a fight with Dick Softy," said Cham-
 
 240 THE GREAT MATCH. 
 
 bers, the ball-man ; " and it is said Dick struck 
 him in the head with a stone, after he found he 
 couldn't whip him." 
 
 " I s'pose the game is up, and all bets are off," 
 said Bolder. 
 
 " No ? " replied Stetlow, emphatically. " There 
 are bets of Milltown against Dornfield, the 
 best nines that the two towns can bring forward. 
 This accident, or death, makes us all the surer." 
 
 The news spread through the hall with light- 
 ning rapidity, and was the main topic of con- 
 versation of the crowd, as it broke up and 
 dispersed.
 
 BEFORE AND AFTER. 241 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 BEFORE AND AFTER. 
 
 \~\ 7HEN Dick reached his room, after his 
 * * encounter with Kennedy on the green, 
 he found himself very stiff and lame ; but he 
 dressed himself with more than his usual care, 
 in order to call on Miss Milton later in the even- 
 ing, to see if she had suffered from her accident. 
 When he was about to set out, a servant handed 
 him a note. It ran thus : 
 
 " MY DEAR FRIEND, I suffer no ill effects from 
 my involuntary bath, from which you so bravely 
 rescued me. I want to see you some time soon ; but 
 not just now : perhaps next week. Sincerely, 
 
 " MARY MILTON." 
 
 Dick did not know what to make of the note. 
 She had always addressed him before as Dick ; 
 and now it was, "my dear friend." Did she 
 mean to be more formal with him in future ? or 
 had this term "friend" a warmer meaning? 
 Why should she wish to postpone his call until
 
 242 THE GREAT MATCH. 
 
 next week ? Then, too, there were only four 
 lines to the note. The ending too, " Sincerely, 
 Mary Milton," seemed very stiff and formal. 
 Events often transport us far beyond the cus- 
 tomary language of intercourse ; and Miss Mil- 
 ton's note seemed frigid to the last degree to 
 Dick. Again he was plunged into a fit of 
 despair. His gymnastics seemed to have a 
 tinge of bitterness in their triumphs. 
 
 Ned Black was confined to his room for sev- 
 eral days. His injuries were quickly healed ; 
 but his pride prevented his showing himself 
 with his bruised face. Attentions were showered 
 upon him. Mr. Milton sent his man-servant, 
 twice every day, to inquire about him, and to 
 convey him delicacies. The base-ball men spent 
 half their time lounging in his room, and there was 
 a constant train of the towns-people at the door. 
 Bobbie Snevel bore letters from Rose, filled with 
 the most tender expressions: The young girl's 
 affection was at full tide. Her lover was sick, 
 and she could not go to him. Her only solace 
 was to send him a sweet little note, every few 
 hours, by Bobbie. Her brother, also, watched 
 over the sick captain with the devotion of a 
 squire to a knight. He looked up at the doctor 
 with a touching, appealing face, whenever he 
 met him coming from his professional visit to 
 the bruised man ; and manifested his boyish
 
 BEFORE AND AFTER. 243 
 
 affection by running errands at all hours. Ned 
 Black felt dreadfully bored by Rose's tumultuous 
 affection. He skipped the affectionate parts of 
 the notes, at first ; and presently tossed them all 
 aside, unread : for there was nothing but affec- 
 tion in them. Whenever he saw Rose, he was 
 taken captive anew by her beauty, and left her 
 in an affectionate frame of mind ; but when ab- 
 sence had dulled his remembrance of her, he 
 berated his folly in falling in love with a girl 
 who was poor, and had a dissipated " old stick " 
 for a father. Miss Milton grew more attractive 
 to him every day. She was evidently attracted 
 towards him : why should he not, therefore, 
 break off his engagement with Rose ? No one 
 knew of it. It had been entered into lightly, 
 and had given him precious little peace or hap- 
 piness. As for Rose, she might take it hard for 
 a time ; but she would get over it. Yes, she 
 would get over it. Why should he hesitate ? 
 He gathered her letters together into a package, 
 and put them in a corner of his trunk, for 
 neatness, or for a possible decision. 
 
 One evening, before going to the Miltons to 
 tea, the first invitation he had accepted since 
 his accident, he dressed himself with the 
 utmost care. He had a strikingly handsome 
 figure, and his evening dress set it off to perfec- 
 tion. The bruises were still very marked ; but
 
 244 THE GREA T MA TCH. 
 
 they gave a decidedly interesting look to his 
 manly face. He took out a photograph of Rose 
 after he had finished dressing, and gazed at it as 
 he smoked a cigarette. Yes, their intercourse 
 had been decidedly romantic : there must be 
 something devilish attractive in him to have 
 awakened such affection in this reserved girl's 
 breast. She was a harder girl to win, apparently, 
 than Miss Milton. It would be hard to give 
 Rose up ; but what was the use of trifling ? He 
 must put an end to his doubting mood. Fortu- 
 nately, he should not suffer much, and he didn't 
 believe that Rose would : time would make it all 
 right. These young girls, after all, were not 
 capable of the deep devotion of mature women. 
 Rose would have lots of chances yet. He would 
 have been very jealous if there had been a rival 
 for her affections : it would have been harder to 
 break the engagement. He put the photograph 
 in the package of letters ; and sitting down at a 
 table, holding his cigarette between the first and 
 second fingers of one hand, wrote the following 
 note with the other: 
 
 " DEAR ROSE, I desire that our engagement 
 should be broken. I see no prospect of our mar- 
 riage ; for I am poor. I return your letters, and 
 hope that we shall continue friends. 
 "Very truly, 
 
 " EDWARD BLACK."
 
 BEFORE AND AFTER. 245 
 
 It was a hard thing to do. It took him a half 
 hour to write the note : it was more than a half 
 hour by his watch. He sighed, and wished he 
 had never got into the thing, and lit another 
 cigarette. Bobbie was coming at seven, and he 
 would take the package and the note to his 
 sister. Seven o'clock sounded, and Bobbie came 
 dancing in to tell of his success as a temporary 
 player on the nine. He had caught every ball : 
 " hadn't muffed once." 
 
 " Dick Softy had a fight with Kennedy. The 
 fellers crowded round 'em so I couldn't see ; but 
 they said Kennedy was up on his boxing. I tell 
 you, aint the fellers mad with Dick ? " 
 
 " Had a fight with Kennedy, had he ? He 
 will have to be taken down one of these days. 
 Bobbie, here is a package I wish you would give 
 your sister." 
 
 " I tried to catch like you," said Bobbie ; " and 
 I hit the balls clown into grounders, just as you 
 do, so as the fellers wouldn't catch me out. 
 Course, I couldn't do it as you do, no one can. 
 Your face is looking better, isn't it ? So glad. 
 Rose will be glad too." 
 
 "Tell her yes, tell her I'm all right now," 
 said Black, turning his back upon the boy. " By 
 the by, take back this copy of ' Lady of the 
 Lake.' " 
 
 " She won't want it. We Ve got anuther."
 
 246 THE GREAT MATCH. 
 
 "Well, I shan't have an opportunity to read 
 it, tell her. Good-night." 
 
 " Good-night," echoed from the sturdy little 
 fellow, as he ran out of the house, with his arms 
 full of his sister's tenderest expressions of love 
 and devotion. Black could hear his joyous 
 " Yodel " as he ran. The man had chosen a fit 
 messenger for his note, truly ! 
 
 Bobbie found his sister waiting for him at the 
 gate, beneath the lilacs. She looked beautifully, 
 dressed in a white silk with blue stripes, with a 
 pink rose in her hair. Her head was surrounded 
 by the halo which the sun made in shining 
 through the brown hairs which the evening 
 breeze lifted. Bobbie jumped up, and flung his 
 arms about her neck in a boisterous manner. 
 
 " They made me one of the nine ! " he ex- 
 claimed. " I was centre-field, and the fellers 
 said I played beautifully. Wasn't it nice ? " 
 
 " It was a great triumph truly, Bobbie. Now, 
 Bobbie, you mustn't : you will rumple my nice 
 silk. Have you got any thing for me ? " 
 
 " I got lots this time, and Ned Black is look- 
 ing first-rate. He told me to tell you that he 
 was all right now." 
 
 " What a nice brother you are ! " she exclaimed, 
 taking his packages. Her heart felt light as a 
 bird ; for her father had been unusually kind that 
 day, and had called her the prettiest and dainti-
 
 BEFORE AND AFTER. 247 
 
 est Snevel of the generation. She reserved the 
 note until she was in the quietness of her room, 
 and ran down the garden-walk with Bobbie, 
 singing merrily. When she reached the veranda, 
 she heard the garden-gate open ; and, looking 
 back, saw Mr. Graham. She received him very 
 cordially upon the steps. He had merely come 
 to tell her that he had found a new servant girl 
 for her, and then took his departure, with a 
 grave bow. 
 
 " What a kind friend he is to me ! " said Rose. 
 " He is always thinking of some way to assist 
 me. If I were in misfortune, I would go to him 
 sooner than any one except Ned ; except Ned, 
 of course, dear Ned ! " Thus saying, she ran 
 up to her room. 
 
 " So you think you will be ready to play next 
 Saturday, do you ? " said Mr. Tom Milton to 
 Ned Black, at the tea-table. "You won't be 
 taking any risks, will you ? Let me see. To-day 
 is Tuesday. All the men are in good trim. 
 O'Callahan is all right ; came to see me to-day, 
 sprig as a cockerel. Now, Mr. Grandhurst, you 
 will be glad you stayed over. We shall show 
 you a real American game. You've never seen 
 a complete game." 
 
 " I expect to be much edified by this game of 
 rounders," said Grandhurst, smiling blandly,
 
 248 THE GREAT MATCH. 
 
 while the lights shone on his eye-glasses, giving 
 his face a very refined blank look. 
 
 " But it isn't rounders, as you term the game," 
 said Miss Milton. " You Englishmen never can 
 be made to drop that idea. You will persist 
 that it is rounders." 
 
 " You also persist, with equal pertinacity, in 
 calling me an Englishman," said Grandhurst, 
 with a little tone of asperity. 
 
 " I should take you for an Englishman any- 
 where," said Ned Black. 
 
 " Should you, now ? Really, I don't know 
 whether to feel complimented or not." 
 
 "You see we have been roughing that's 
 the word, isn't it, Molly? Mr. Grandhurst on 
 his foreign ways. We think we have got things 
 in. this country just as good as there are any- 
 where, especially good ball-players. I 'm not 
 speaking of any one in particular," said the old 
 gentleman, with a merry twinkle of his eye at 
 Black. 
 
 " I 'm gradually ' giving in,' as the expression 
 is," said Grandhurst, gazing at Miss Milton. 
 The latter looked up suddenly at him, and then 
 dropped her eyes as she met his look. Ned 
 Black noticed the by-play. Could he have a 
 rival in this exquisite ? 
 
 " I thought we should bring you round," said 
 Mr. Milton, heartily. "The fact is, we want
 
 BEFORE AND AFTER. 249 
 
 some real hearty, enthusiastic lovers of their 
 country now-a-days. There 's lots of talk about 
 a limited monarchy being better than our repub- 
 lic ; about England being better governed than 
 this country; about corruption at the polls, and 
 all that : but I don't believe it. We talk about 
 every thing in this country. All the scandalous 
 doings at Washington by the government offi- 
 cials are published far and wide. Now, abroad 
 they keep these things quieter. Just as much 
 going on there, just as much as there is here. 
 We are a new people, and must expect to work 
 our way. I think we are getting on splendidly." 
 
 " If the men of education would only take an 
 interest in politics," said Grandhurst, " there 
 would be more hope." 
 
 " Bless you ! they 've got an equal chance with 
 the rest. You are a man of education. You 've 
 come home, enlightened by travel, to take part 
 in our glorious struggle for a republic that shall 
 be an example for the world." 
 
 " If there wasn't such a rascally set in politics. 
 A gentleman must have some self-respect, you 
 know." 
 
 " Oh ! he is going to take a law-office in Mill- 
 town, uncle," said Miss Milton, "and run for 
 Congress, one of these days." 
 
 " Pretty sharp lot over there, unscrupulous 
 set, I 'm sorry to say. Glad there aint many
 
 250 THE GREAT MATCH. 
 
 towns like it," replied Mr. Tom Milton, rising, 
 and leading the way to the parlor. On the way 
 he asked Ned Black to step into the library with 
 him, to talk over the coming match for a moment, 
 and left Grandhurst alone with Miss Milton. 
 That young gentleman had lingered at the Mil- 
 tons' for many days, as their guest. He found 
 Dornfield an idyllic retreat in this unfinished 
 America, very like an English town, in fact. 
 He was alternately fascinated and repelled by 
 Miss Milton. Every day she shocked him by 
 some excess of demonstration or feeling ; and 
 then he walked over to the Silvers', and partook 
 of the rarefied atmosphere of their household, 
 read the " Spectator," and talked about Brown- 
 ing's " Ring and the Book," and " Middlemarch," 
 and sometimes went sketching with Miss Gould. 
 He came back to Miss Milton's society to get a 
 touch of the " emotional," as he termed it, and 
 was again repelled to the Silvers'. So it had 
 been during his entire stay. On the whole, 
 however, he began to think there was something 
 in this volcanic enthusiasm. It was interesting 
 to study. Miss Milton had much in her that 
 was admirable ; he began to think of the possi- 
 bility of his losing his heart. Miss Milton, in 
 turn, studied him intently. 
 
 " The hero's face is pretty well battered and 
 bruised," said Grandhurst, as they sat down op- 
 posite each other near the window.
 
 BEFORE AND AFTER. 251 
 
 " It is," replied his companion, briefly. 
 
 " It was a scandalous thing for Dick Softy to 
 do," said Grandhurst. 
 
 " Do what ? " 
 
 "Why, hit Mr. Black on the head with a 
 stone, and pound him when he was down. That 
 sort of thing, you know, isn't permitted in a civil- 
 ized country." 
 
 " It was all right, then ; for you think we are 
 uncivilized. That is logical, isn't it ? 
 
 " Things are permitted in barbarous countries 
 which are not right, you know." 
 
 " True ; but I don't believe Mr. Softy would 
 do such a thing. Indeed, Mr. Black -says he 
 struck his head against a stone in wrestling." 
 
 " He is a generous fellow. By Jove ! he is 
 the picture of an English fellow I know in Paris, 
 the best boxer and fencer I ever saw." 
 
 " You think, then, that he exculpates Mr. 
 Softy out of generosity ? " 
 
 " That is the general impression," said Grand- 
 hurst. " That little Dick Softy could never have 
 whipped this superb-looking fellow." 
 
 Miss Milton was silent : it looked very im- 
 probable to her also. She thought of Dick's 
 gallantry in rescuing her : could it be possible 
 that he, nevertheless, was capable of a dastardly 
 act ? As she looked at Ned Black, she felt a 
 certain tender thrill of sympathy run through
 
 252 THE GREAT MATCH. 
 
 her. His eyes looked at her in such a pleading 
 way. Even Grandhurst, for once, had used an 
 extravagant adjective, and saw fit to call him a 
 " superb-looking fellow." When Black came out 
 of the library with her uncle, she had a long con- 
 versation with him, while Mr. Milton and Grand- 
 hurst talked politics. It was not possible that 
 Dick could have whipped this man by fair means. 
 His anger must have run away with him. Her 
 heart warmed towards Dick even as she doubted 
 him, as she remembered her accident and the 
 story Mrs. Snell told her of his riding the un- 
 tamed horse ; but if he was capable of a das- 
 tardly attack on another man, his superior in 
 strength, she would have nothing further to do 
 with him. She had kept her accident a secret 
 from her uncle, hoping that his wrath at Dick 
 would soon subside ; and she had therefore 
 written her note to keep Dick away for a few 
 days. She was glad now that she had been so 
 politic ; for she felt her own wrath rising against 
 him. Ned Black went home, late that night, 
 with the consciousness that she was not indiffer- 
 ent to him. He had caught an admiring look 
 several times in her eyes ; and, as for the old 
 gentleman, he was very demonstrative in his 
 liking. His heart sank a moment when he re- 
 flected that he had given bonds, so to speak, to 
 Stetlow to lose this game in which Mr. Milton
 
 BEFORE AND AFTER. 253 
 
 was so much Interested. But, after all, it 
 wouldn't make much difference to the rich man 
 if they won or not. They could made a good 
 fight. If they lost, they only forfeited a small 
 share of reputation ; and, with the money which 
 he should gain, he should be immediately lifted 
 out of his money difficulties, and the way to Miss 
 Milton's heart would be straight and clear. 
 When he retired to rest, he was troubled with 
 some compunctions about Rose. He wondered 
 how she took it. He would miss seeing her. 
 Some old recollections of the love that he had 
 killed throbbed within him, and then went out 
 with the candle.
 
 254 THE GREAT MATCH. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 PROTECTING ARMS. 
 
 T^TIGHT is the time for anguish. Then the 
 * ^ tears melt into the darkness, and seem to 
 make a part of it : they do not obtrude them- 
 selves on one, and shame one into calmness- 
 Morning dries up the weeping eyes : it is written, 
 that " Joy cometh in the morning." The time is 
 often deferred. There is an anguish which 
 awakes with a quick leap from a temporary ex- 
 haustion which has favored a short sleep, and 
 makes the beautiful coming day seem like the 
 conflagration of the entire world. Rose sat up 
 in bed (she had not undressed), and looked out 
 of the glimmering window. There was a glow 
 in the West. One little bird chirped in the dark 
 elm. He was too early ; he was unanswered ; 
 and he fell to sleep again, with his head under his 
 wing, dreaming of meadows bright with daisies 
 and buttercups, and bright green copses along 
 the brook. Three crows flew over, and settled 
 in the sedges of some distant pond. The cock-
 
 PROTECTING ARMS. 255 
 
 erels sleepily answered each other from farm- 
 house to farm-house. Then the heavens flushed 
 more and more ; and, like a chorus suddenly 
 upbidden by a master's bdton, the birds sang in 
 the orchard down the lane with a ring that had 
 the quality of a dying-out peal of bells. The 
 fresh air rolled into the open window, laden with 
 the fragrance of the grape-vine flower, which it 
 had caught on the old wall above the mill. The 
 quick bark of a dog sounded in a distant field : 
 he had driven a chipmonk into his retreat, and 
 stood, with paws wet from the dew in the clover, 
 barking, and sniffing the strength-giving morning 
 air. These scattered notes Rose heard. Some 
 day they would make a sad little symphony in 
 her memory of this time. She buried her face 
 in the pillow, and cried afresh, as it all came 
 upon her. She had not truly realized how much 
 of her life was wrapped up in her lover. If her 
 life had seemed unsatisfactory in any respect, 
 this love had filled the lacuna. Now all seemed 
 unsatisfactory, and there was no love. The 
 morning grew more splendid. A red sunbeam 
 flickered on her chamber wall. Human voices 
 began to be heard mingling with the sounds of 
 birds and animals. The mowers went by, on 
 their way to the clover-fields. The boy with the 
 cattle ran down the lane, and shouted to the 
 stray cow which lingered to crop the grass be-
 
 256 THE GREAT MATCH. 
 
 neath her chamber window. Alas ! only yester- 
 day morning Rose had flung open the blinds of 
 .both windows, and had sung merrily to the 
 morn. 
 
 Mr. Snevel sent Bobbie up to call his sister. 
 She ought to know that he had an early engage- 
 ment with Mr. Bandy : he had told her of it a 
 hundred times the previous evening. Bobbie 
 returned after what seemed to his father an 
 unusual delay: his face was very long, and 
 looked troubled. 
 
 " She feels a little unwell, and hopes you will 
 excuse her, this morning," said he. " She would 
 like to sleep longer." 
 
 " My wishes and my children's always seem to 
 be at variance," grumbled Mr. Snevel. " Why .it 
 should be, I don't know ; but it is so. I will go 
 and see if she is going to be sick ; I suppose 
 she is. We shall be in a devilish fix if she is, 
 with a new girl coming. Heigh ho ! I 'm going 
 to break up this manage. There 's too much 
 pantry about this business. I '11 have a suite of 
 rooms in the city." Thus saying, he went to 
 Rose's door, and knocked. 
 
 " Rose ! " no answer. 
 
 " Rose, why don't you speak ? " 
 
 " What is it, father ? " 
 
 " Are you sick ? " 
 
 " No, only more tired than usual. I shall be 
 all right in a little while."
 
 PROTECTING ARMS. 
 
 " She is well enough," remarked her father to 
 himself, descending the stairs. "She's got a 
 Snevel fit on her. There is no moving her, I 
 perceive by the tone of her voice." 
 
 " No ball-playing to-day, Bobbie. You must 
 stay at home and see to your sister. Tell her I 
 shall be at home in the evening." Thus saying, 
 he brushed himself with the utmost care, selected 
 a fresh rose-bud for his button-hole, and set out 
 for Mr. Bandy's. Bobbie suffered a great disap- 
 pointment ; for he had promised to be on the ball- 
 field punctually at nine, to practise again with 
 the nine. He had dreamed of the event all 
 night, and had been up very early fixing the 
 lacings of his shoes. He walked discontentedly 
 about for an hour ; and then, becoming alarmed 
 for Rose, went to her room. Rose answered his 
 knock in a faint voice, and he entered her cham- 
 ber. The little fellow was shocked at the sight 
 of her pale, woe-stricken face ; and put his arms 
 round her, in the utmost apprehension, entreating 
 her to tell him what was the matter. Rose 
 longed for sympathy. 
 
 " Oh, Bobbie ! I believe my heart will break. 
 Ned doesn't want to know us any more." Thus 
 saying, she thrust the crumpled note into his 
 hand. Bobbie read it with dismay and indig- 
 nation. His love for his sister and pride for his 
 base-ball leader struggled together.
 
 258 THE GREAT MATCH, 
 
 " We don't want to know him. He is a mean 
 fellow. If I were a man I should whip him. 
 I '11 get Dick Softy to do it again for me." 
 
 "Bobbie, don't you say a word about this," 
 cried his sister, with sudden energy. She con- 
 trolled herself until she could persuade her 
 brother to go downstairs and do some necessary 
 errands, and then sank again upon the floor. 
 
 The day wore away slowly. With an effort, 
 she dressed for dinner, and afterwards had an 
 interview with the new girl. Bobbie, somewhat 
 reassured, went out to witness a ball-play at 
 Milltown ; and she retired again to her room. 
 At tea-time Mr. Snevel returned from Mr. Ban- 
 dy's. He was much intoxicated, and some of 
 the neighbors had to assist him to enter the 
 house. Rose stood, with her hand upon her pal- 
 pitating heart, at the landing of the stairs. She 
 heard the tones of Mr. Graham's voice. He 
 told Bobbie, in a loud voice, in order that Rose 
 might hear, that he was going to have a smoke 
 with his father in the library, and that both had 
 been to tea. Rose heard a smothered remon- 
 strance from her father, and then ran to her 
 room, double-locked it, and fell in a swoon. 
 When she came to herself, it was dark. Her 
 head felt strangely confused. She had had a 
 vision of her mother, stretching out her arms to 
 her, and calling " Rose," in a voice that thrilled
 
 PROTECTING ARMS. 259 
 
 her with its tones of affection. When she felt 
 that she was alone in the room she shuddered, 
 and moved her hands before her face, as if waving 
 away the dread images which presented them- 
 selves to her. At length she started up, and, 
 opening her door noiselessly, crept down the 
 staircase, and went out into the night. The 
 old moon swung up above the meadow, look- 
 ing like the remnant of an expiring fire bal- 
 loon. The mists along the course of the river 
 slowly mounted ; wreathing themselves into 
 human-like, floating figures, which the weird 
 moonlight crested with faint crescents of light. 
 Rose seemed to see her mother among the misty 
 forms, beckoning to her again. She wandered 
 down to the banks of the river ; falling now and 
 then with a dull concussion over mounds, and 
 startling the sleeping ground-sparrow from his 
 nest. She felt that her head was strangely light. 
 She clutched at the clumps of bushes, as she 
 crept along, to steady herself. The fire-flies 
 drew quick threads of light through the dark 
 copses ; the frogs piped incessantly in the fen ; 
 the water was dark, and full of crawling things : 
 but life was darker, and the reach of coming days 
 seemed illumined by no sunbeams. There were 
 angels over there. Her mother was calling 
 " Rose ! Rose ! " With a shriek, she sprang 
 into the river towards the mists. In the cold,
 
 260 THE GREA T MA TCH. 
 
 benumbing water, in dreadful awakening con- 
 sciousness, she felt herself seized by a strong 
 man's hand. Graham's voice sounded in her 
 ears. What he said she did not know: she 
 found herself borne in his arms up the bank. 
 She struggled, and he put her upon her feet. 
 
 " Come," said he, " you must hurry home, and 
 get off these wet clothes." 
 
 " Home ! " cried Rose, with a shudder: " I 
 have no home. Oh ! why did you save me ? I 
 heard my mother calling." 
 
 " Rose, Miss Snevel, I must carry you, if 
 you cannot walk." 
 
 "I will come," said she, hurriedly, shrinking 
 from his arms ; " I will come, and you will be 
 my friend, won't you, and save me and save 
 me from these horrible fancies ? " She spoke 
 huskily ; walking close to him again, as if for pro- 
 tection, as they hurried along. 
 
 " I have always been your friend, and shall 
 always strive to protect you from harm, Rose, 
 Miss Snevel," he said with effort. 
 
 " I have no one to confide in, no one to coun- 
 sel me," exclaimed Rose, sinking exhausted by 
 the wayside. 
 
 " I will be your counsellor. Can you not con- 
 fide in me ? Do not sit down in your wet clothes. 
 We must hurry." 
 
 " Where are you taking me to ? " said Rose, 
 looking round in a confused manner.
 
 PROTECTING ARMS. 261 
 
 " I am taking you to Farmer Snail's," he 
 replied, in a determined way. " You can have 
 the proper care there quicker than at your own 
 home." 
 
 " No ! Oh, no ! " cried Rose, shrinking back. 
 
 " They will think that you missed your foot- 
 step as I was conducting you across the step- 
 ping-stones. Come, we must not delay. Dear 
 Rose," he said, in a trembling voice, full of affec- 
 tion, " confide in me. I will bring every thing 
 all right." 
 
 Rose suddenly clung to his arm, as if to pro- 
 tect herself from her own thoughts. " He has 
 broken his engagement," she cried, in a heart- 
 broken voice ; " it is all over ; why should I 
 live?" 
 
 " He is a scoundrel ! " replied Graham, sup- 
 porting her. " Rose, you are well rid of him. 
 He has stolen money from the bank. He is 
 deeply in debt. Think of this, Rose. I have 
 longed to warn you ; but I couldn't make you 
 broken-hearted." 
 
 " Oh, save him, if he has done wrong ! Do 
 not have him arrested ! " cried Rose. " He has 
 broken my heart ; but do not let him suffer ! " 
 
 Graham smiled grimly, and said : " Leave him 
 to me, Rose. Your wishes shall always be law 
 to me. There are bright days in store for you 
 yet. Remember that you are suffering mentally
 
 262 THE GREAT MATCH. 
 
 to-night, and that in the morning all the mists 
 will clear away." 
 
 His companion sobbed at long intervals, as he 
 hurried her towards the farm-house. Every sob 
 hurt him as if he had been stabbed. 
 
 Mrs. Snell was astonished, as Rose came drip- 
 ping into the house. " Well, I never ! Seems to 
 me that river is getting to be drefful dangerous. 
 Off the stones, hey ? Miss Milton had a nar- 
 rerer escape than yourn : came near being 
 drownded down by the maples. I shall be afraid 
 to have Sam and Hetty meander there in future." 
 
 She bustled about, and promised Graham to 
 take the utmost care of Rose. Before going 
 back to the Snevel mansion to inform Bobbie of 
 his sister's whereabouts, he looked at Rose nar- 
 rowly. She smiled faintly, and gave him her 
 hand. The gesture seemed to say, " Do not 
 fear." He pressed it warmly, and quickly dis- 
 appeared. He cautiously called up Bobbie, 
 informed him of his sister's whereabouts, and 
 asked him to watch by her door during the 
 night ; telling him that she might be dangerously 
 sick. In that case, he told him to come for him 
 instantly. 
 
 After he had seen Rose in her own home, he 
 walked backward and forward before her house, 
 many hours in the night, listening anxiously at 
 every sound. All seemed quiet ; and, towards
 
 PROTECTING ARMS. 263 
 
 morning, he went back to his room. How 
 strangely the event of the night had met and 
 rebutted the morbid fancies of his own brain ! 
 He had wandered along the river; struggling 
 with his own hopeless love, and thinking of the 
 uselessness of life, and the weary waste of years 
 before him. It often happens that the desperate 
 acts of others wake us to the realization of the 
 dangerous trains of thought which we have been 
 indulging in. He made frequent visits to Rose 
 during the following day. She was moving 
 about the house, instructing the new servant, 
 and superintending the household affairs, with a 
 calm, impassive look upon her countenance. 
 Tears came to Graham's eyes as he gazed at 
 her. She saw them, and smiled faintly ; coming 
 to him and putting both her hands in his : but 
 no tears stood in her eyes, which were surrounded 
 by large, dark circles. 
 
 Graham walked incessantly during the day, 
 striving to quell his apprehensions. He met 
 Ned Black, but averted his face. He was afraid 
 of the wrath which threatened to burst forth and 
 strike the young man dead before him. Once 
 he met him riding in a basket-wagon with Miss 
 Milton ; he turned aside into a side street until 
 they had passed. He called for the last time to 
 see Rose, about nine o'clock, and learned that 
 she had retired. She left word with Bobbie to
 
 264 THE GREAT MATCH. 
 
 tell him that she was better, and should sleep. 
 Graham went home, feeling a sweet calm come 
 over his spirits. She had begun to confide in 
 him, and to lean upon him. Perhaps he might 
 be contented to be a very dear friend to her, 
 an elder brother. So he went to sleep, thinking 
 that he had contented himself with this hope ; 
 while it was only the larger one that made the 
 lesser hope endurable. At midnight, he dreamed 
 that he heard Rose shrieking to him for help 
 The dream was so vivid that he started up in 
 bed. He certainly heard her voice, calling in 
 low tones to "him. He hastily dressed, and ran 
 downstairs, and out into the garden. He saw a 
 figure at the gate : it was Rose. She held out 
 her arms to him, and whispered, in a shuddering 
 voice, " Save me ! " He took her hands in his ; 
 they were icy cold ; and the same look was 
 upon her face that it bore when he took her from 
 the water. She told him, in a terror-stricken 
 voice, that she had been tempted again to throw 
 herself into the river, and had found herself call- 
 ing to him for help against her own thoughts. 
 Graham stroked her trembling head, and made 
 her walk up and down in the solitary lane near 
 her house, supporting her with his arm ; hoping 
 to calm her nerves by physical exertion. She 
 obeyed him implicitly, and walked ; clinging to 
 him, occasionally, with a shudder. Presently the
 
 PROTECTING ARMS. 265 
 
 reaction came, and she sank into a seat, exhausted. 
 Graham told her to seek her room, and promised 
 to watch outside. She left him, giving him a 
 look of confidence that warmed the man through 
 his lonely vigil, and brought back hope trembling 
 to his heart. The stars that had looked so coldly 
 at him in the nights he had walked in misery 
 now seemed nearer, and had a kindly twinkle. 
 The poetic instinct overwhelmed him. At that 
 moment he could write grand lyrical poems. He 
 felt that love and confidence were worth giving 
 one's life for. He felt, reverently, that he under- 
 stood his Saviour's life better now. What was 
 life worth without love ? He gazed up at her 
 window, and let the night wind cool his brow. 
 
 At early dawn Bobbie came out, and Said that 
 his sister had a fever, and wished for a doctor. 
 Graham's heart again sank within him, and he 
 went hastily for the physician, and busied him- 
 self in finding a nurse. 
 
 While Graham's soul was thus stirred to the 
 depths, Dick Softy was also undergoing tribula- 
 tion. He saw Miss Milton much in the company 
 of his rival. She seemed to greet him very coldly. 
 He did not propose to call upon her again, with- 
 out a special invitatipn. The invitation did not 
 come ; and he grew more proud and wretched. 
 The village people, too, turned a cold shoulder 
 upon him. His guardian, Mr. Denham the min-
 
 266 THE GREAT MATCH. 
 
 ister, read him a long lecture upon the sin of 
 quarrelling and fighting with a fellow-being. All 
 the young men cut him. He half resolved to go 
 to Europe to study, and looked up the advertise- 
 ments of the steamers. Mr. Denham felt that a 
 crisis had come in his pastorship in the village : 
 during the progress of this ball excitement he 
 had noticed an increase of idleness ; a falling off 
 in the attendance on the Friday evening meet- 
 ings, on the part of the young men ; an indul- 
 gence in slang phrases, and, possibly also, in 
 those of a more-to-be-condemned nature. He 
 feared that beer-drinking was also on the in- 
 crease ; and quarrels of a desperate nature had 
 already taken place. He wrote a sermon for the 
 following Sunday on the evils of ball-playing. 
 He considered it his duty, also, to call upon Mr. 
 Milton, and protest against his influence in 
 breaking down the old sacred bulwarks which 
 the Puritans fathers had so carefully erected in 
 Dornfield. When he went to Mr. Milton's house, 
 on his parochial visit, he was told that Mr. Mil- 
 ton was trying his billiard-table with Mr. Grand- 
 hurst. 
 
 " Billiard-table ! " exclaimed the preacher. " It 
 is enough : I will not see him to-day ; " and he 
 turned his back upon the servant. 
 
 " It has come to this at last," he said to him- 
 self, as he walked homeward, and gazed down at
 
 PROTECTING ARMS. 267 
 
 the peaceful village below him. " I have fought 
 a good fight in this land ; but ye Milltownites ! 
 ye threaten to corrupt our youth, and lead them 
 away from the faith, of their fathers. I shall 
 denounce this gray-headed man, this Thomas 
 Milton, from the pulpit. His years shall not 
 save him ; for he has gone over to the enemy."
 
 268 THE GREAT MATCH. 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 THE GREAT MATCH. 
 
 '"T~*HE great match was now close at hand. 
 *- Ned Black marshalled his men, and every 
 one was in readiness. Excursion trains were to 
 be run to Milltown from the neighboring towns : 
 for here was a good opportunity to make some 
 money. A multitude of coaches were chartered 
 to convey the crowd from Milltown to the green 
 in Dornfield, where the last game was to be 
 played. The stores and places of business in 
 both villages were to be closed during the after- 
 noon. The selectmen of Dornfield had many 
 applications, from enterprising Milltownites, for 
 permission to erect booths for the sale of lemon- 
 ade and ginger-beer on the grounds; but they 
 haughtily rejected them. The farmers, far back 
 in the neighboring country, took their old mares 
 out of the pastures, in order, as they expressed 
 it, to "gant 'em up a little" before the day of 
 the game ; for they would have to convey entire 
 families many miles. Mr. Baslee got his landau
 
 THE GREAT MATCH. 269 
 
 from the city just in season, and Mrs. and Miss 
 Baslee's French costumes arrived at the nick of 
 time. Mr. Bolder was going to drive over tan- 
 dem, and the Milltown minister proposed to take 
 the opportunity of speeding his Morgan horse 
 on the road, while Mr. Bolder drove alongside 
 as a gentle critic. The village vagabonds went 
 out to Muddy Pond, and collected the water 
 lilies, proposing to charge two cents apiece for 
 them on the day of the game. Some of the 
 Dornfield boys living on the very outskirts of 
 the village had thought of doing the same thing ; 
 but the Milltown boys got ahead of them, and 
 pulled all the lilies. They were " sharp." 
 
 "We have been very fortunate in keeping 
 O'Callahan straight," said Mr. Tom Milton to 
 Black, on the Thursday before the game. 
 
 " That is true ; he has been a plague, indeed." 
 " Plague ! there is no word in the English 
 language that can do him justice. I would not 
 go through the trials I have had with him for a 
 thousand dollars. No, sir ! Time and time 
 again have I taken him from the Milltown lock- 
 up. Old Justice Tooms has denounced me with- 
 out stint or measure, for upholding drunkenness. 
 My pastor looks at me, every time I meet him, 
 with a long-drawn face ; and I don't feel quite 
 easy myself. The fellow is wily and obstinate, 
 lazy and huffy. Think of his intruding himself,
 
 2/0 THE GREAT MATCH. 
 
 on the night of the party, without an invitation, 
 into my house : what impudence ! He will hear 
 from me after this match. He will find out that 
 we are not all fools. Why, I 'm out of pocket on 
 his account several hundred dollars. I sent for 
 his cousin from Ireland, and got him a place ; 
 and so it has gone on to the end of the chapter. 
 He has kept pretty straight, however, since he 
 has boarded in the same house with you." 
 
 " Yes, pretty straight," said Black. " Oh ! we 
 are sure of him now." 
 
 " We must keep a close watch on him for the 
 next two days," said Mr. Milton, as Black left 
 him. In the early evening, as the old gentle- 
 man was riding out with his niece, on the road 
 which led to Milltown, he met Pat O'Callahan 
 trudging along in his best suit, the pointed boots, 
 and the flaring ends of his broadcloth pantaloon 
 legs covered with dust. Behind him came a 
 short, thick-set Irish-woman, followed by five 
 little children. 
 
 "Eh, what's this? what's this?" said Mr. 
 Tom Milton, suddenly reining up. 
 
 " It 's meeself," said Pat, touching his hat, with 
 a wave of his hand. " Coom up, coom up ! " 
 said he, beckoning to the woman. " This is 
 Mrs. O'Callahan. Mr. Milton, Mrs. O'Calla- 
 han ; Miss Milton also." 
 
 " Your cousin's wife, hey ? when did she come 
 over ? "
 
 THE GREAT MATCH. 2? I 
 
 " She didn't come over at all, at all. This is 
 me wife." 
 
 " Your wife ! " thundered Mr. Milton. 
 
 " Yes : I was married an hour since to Mrs. 
 Ryan." 
 
 Mr. Milton looked up and down the street, and 
 backed his horse into the fence, and then struck 
 him heavily with the whip. The horse plunged 
 forward ; and it took all the driver's efforts for a 
 few moments to subdue him. 
 
 " Those your children ? " said he, at length, to 
 Mrs. O'Callahan. 
 
 " They are, sir," said she, catching at the small- 
 est one, and pulling up its stockings. 
 
 " And fine childer they are," said Pat. 
 " Coom here, Pat ; coom here, Tommy ! We 
 didn't go on a bridal trip, bekase of the match 
 coming." 
 
 " Five of 'em, aint there, Molly ? " said Mr. 
 Milton, gasping for breath. " Whoa, you 
 beast!" 
 
 " Five," said his niece, struggling with a fit of 
 laughter. 
 
 " I was a coming to see if ye could be help- 
 ing me to find a house, squire ? " said Pat, with 
 one foot on the hub of the carriage wheel, 
 settling his hat, with an air of being able to 
 pay off any kindness that might be bestowed on 
 him.
 
 2/2 THE GREA T MA TCH. 
 
 Mr. Milton struck his restive horse again, 
 wrathfully. The steed backed and reared. 
 
 " Keep right on to the house, Pat," exclaimed 
 Miss Milton. " We shall be back in an hour." 
 The horse bore them down the road at a furious 
 pace, leaving Pat and his family enveloped in a 
 cloud of dust. 
 
 " Did you ever, Molly, did you ever ? " ex- 
 claimed her uncle, after he had restrained the 
 horse. " This caps the climax. A widow, with 
 five children ! well, well ! Lucky I was driving : 
 I should have told him, if I had been walking, to 
 take the shortest road to the infernal regions. 
 Whoa, old mare ! those blows were not intended 
 for you. Well, there is one satisfaction : there 
 is nothing more that he can do, as I can see." 
 
 " Why don't you take a cheerful view, uncle ? 
 Pat 's given hostages to fortune." 
 
 " He has, indeed, five of 'em ; regular little 
 tramps. Wonder what Ned Black will say to 
 this ! Well, well : we 've got to stand it. I 
 believe those chaps over in Milltown are at the 
 bottom of this." 
 
 When the Miltons returned, they found Pat 
 and his family encamped on the piazza. Quar- 
 ters were found for them over the stable, for the 
 night ; and, on the following morning, a tene- 
 ment was hastily fitted up in the village. 
 
 Pat wished it to be well understood that he had
 
 THE GREA T MA TCH. 273 
 
 given up his bridal trip, which he might have 
 taken. There was an excursion train just ready 
 to start for the city, and he was urged to go ; 
 but considerations of the coming match induced 
 him to give it up. Ned Black recognized the 
 hand of Stetlow in this effort to get Pat away 
 from the scene of the encounter ; but he kept 
 his own counsel. He was constantly with Miss 
 Milton, arranging the plans for the decorations 
 to be put up after the victory. He heard that 
 Rose Snevel had been seized with a fever, and 
 was quite sick. This news gave him some 
 severe compunctions ; but he speedily overcame 
 them in the fascinating society of Miss Milton, 
 who seemed to incline towards him more and 
 more. He had no doubt of his ability to win 
 her. He noticed that Bobbie Snevel gazed at 
 him with a lowering countenance, and with a 
 contemptuous look. He took the opportunity 
 to push the little fellow hastily one side, at the 
 last meeting of the ball-club before the match ; 
 for the boy was getting too much in the way, 
 and wanted snubbing. 
 
 " What is the matter with you, Bobbie, lately ? " 
 exclaimed Miss Milton, on the Friday evening 
 before the match, as she sat on the piazza, work- 
 ing the initials " N. B." in a blue handkerchief. 
 
 " Nuthin," said Bobbie. " What's ' N. B.' stand 
 for ? "
 
 2/4 THE GREAT MATCH. 
 
 " Can't you imagine?" said Miss Milton, blush- 
 ing slightly. 
 
 " ' N. B.' ' Take notice,' I guess." 
 
 His companion laughed. " Now, Bobbie, what 
 does make you so blue lately ? You are not my 
 bright little friend you used to be. Isn't your 
 sister any better ? " 
 
 She looked at him narrowly : but he did not 
 vouchsafe an answer, and presently walked si- 
 lently down the avenue towards his home. 
 
 " There is something the matter with Bobbie," 
 said she, gazing after him. " He is not the light- 
 hearted, enthusiastic boy he was. It cannot be 
 his sister's illness ; for she is getting better. 
 After this match, I must take him in hand again, 
 I ani not going to allow him to break away from 
 me yet." 
 
 At last, the day of the match arrived, clear 
 and beautiful as could be desired. Mr. Tom 
 Milton arose in great spirits, and gave orders 
 during the morning for the fete which was 
 to follow the match, so certain was he of vic- 
 tory. As he was gazing in admiration at his 
 tulip beds, late in the morning, he heard foot- 
 steps behind him, and turning around saw Mrs. 
 O'Callahan. 
 
 "Ah, Mrs. O'Callahan ! good-morning! Come 
 up for the potatoes, I see. How is your hus- 
 band this morning ? "
 
 THE GREAT MATCH. 275 
 
 "And is he here?" said Mrs. O'Callahan, with 
 a slight snivel. 
 
 " Here ! What do you mean ? was he coming 
 up?" 
 
 " And he did not come home last night, and 
 I thought you might be knowin' where he is." 
 
 Mr. Milton was thunderstruck. He shouted 
 suddenly to his man to harness up ; and, telling 
 Mrs. O'Callahan to seek his niece, set off hastily 
 to find Ned Black. That young man had not 
 heard of the disappearance of Pat. Mr. Milton 
 cocked his hat on one side of his head, as he 
 always did when he was in a temper, and drove 
 rapidly to Milltown to see Justice Tooms, and 
 ascertain if Pat was at his old pranks "again. 
 Pat was not in the lock-up. The justice had 
 not heard of his being in any trouble. After 
 many inquiries, Mr. Milton found a man who 
 had seen Pat walking to Dornfield in the morn- 
 ing. Mr. Milton drove rapidly back. 
 
 Long before the hour appointed for the game, 
 the crowd began to come in from the neighbor- 
 ing villages. Troops of boys and young men 
 walked through the quiet lanes of Dornfield, 
 slashing the graceful overhanging boughs with 
 sticks, throwing base-balls across the street at 
 each other, and shouting out their opinions of 
 prominent players. The boys' hats all seemed 
 to be too small or too large. The young men
 
 276 THE GREAT MATCH. 
 
 strolled along, with their hands in their pock- 
 ets ; many of them smoking. The young Irish- 
 American was there, with pointed shoes first 
 impressing themselves upon the attention, and 
 a countenance expressing his ability to become 
 President of the United States. The coats of 
 their crowd were of that peculiar hue never seen 
 anywhere save on a ball-field, a shade of brown 
 perfected by the united action of the sun and the 
 dust on a hundred battle-fields. The peaceful 
 house dogs, alarmed at the irruption of these base- 
 ball Goths, bayed incessantly ; and occasionally 
 the high voice of a housewife could be heard, as 
 she drove out some boys from her strawberry bed. 
 The inhabitants on the route to Dornfield, also, 
 found them a very thirsty army. These were 
 the skirmishers and the advance-guard. After- 
 wards came the coaches ; their tops covered with 
 men, young and old, from the neighboring towns, 
 and the interior filled with young ladies. Hardly 
 had the boom of one resounded upon the bridge 
 over the river, before it was followed by another. 
 A cloud of unwonted dust began to envelop the 
 coaches and whiten the foliage along the road, 
 and the man in the linen duster looked with a 
 feeling of self-satisfaction on his broadcloth- 
 clad fellow-traveller. After the coaches, came 
 the fine equipages of the newly enriched Mill- 
 townites. The Dornfield people who did not
 
 THE GREAT MATCH. 277 
 
 go to the ball-ground, especially those who had 
 worked during the morning over big dinners 
 for their considerate visitors, who came from a 
 distance, with the baby and the rest of the family, 
 and were now too tired to witness the game, 
 peeked out through the blinds to witness the 
 splendor of Mrs. Baslee's turn-out, the dash of 
 Mr. Holder's tandem, and the fine stepper of the 
 minister, together with a number of emulous 
 imitators. There was Mrs. Smith, wife of the 
 agent of the Duck Mills, in a new basket-wagon, 
 drawn by a horse fresh from the plough ; and 
 Mr. Grover, with a span in perfectly new and 
 shining harness, but attached to an ancient 
 carryall. How inferior the clothes of the Dorn- 
 field people seemed that day ! The gay silk par- 
 asols of the visitors caught the eye, as one looked 
 over the great crowd seated on' the scaffoldings 
 erected around two sides of the ball-field. 
 
 Two o'clock came. The ball-men walked 
 about in their new uniforms, the Milltown 
 nine in crimson leggings, and the Dornfield in 
 blue ; kicking aside bats, or tossing the ball to 
 each other, and running about with that super- 
 fluous energy and strength which was a wonder 
 to valetudinarians like Mr. Silver. 
 
 " Well, now, we are in for it for two mortal 
 hours in the hot sun," said the latter, to his wife, 
 who was accompanied by Miss Gould. " When
 
 2/8 THE GREAT MATCH. 
 
 you 've seen one inning, you 've seen all there is 
 to be seen. A fellar hits at a piece of stuffed 
 leather. Doesn't hit it ; whirls round after his 
 coat-tails, if he had any, he would. Does hit 
 it ; runs to the first base ; is caught out, with 
 immense applause. Another tries ; gets round 
 amid tumultuous cheering. You cheer, my dear ; 
 we all cheer. We don't know exactly why ; but 
 we do. It is just as if a lot of people had been 
 condemned to sit on hard pine boards all the 
 afternoon in a scorching sun, not expecting 
 much, and perfectly delighted at seeing some 
 kind fellow stand on his head once an hour. 
 When you 've seen one inning, you 've seen 
 all." 
 
 " I expect this is to be a severe struggle, my 
 dear," said his wife, arranging a havelock for her 
 husband. " They say that Mr. Grandhurst is to 
 be the umpire : the Miltons have been posting 
 him up in the rules of the game." 
 
 "He'll get enough of that," growled Mr. 
 Silver. 
 
 " I think that a sculptor could get some ideas," 
 said Miss Gould, half shutting one eye, and gaz- 
 ing dreamily with the other, "if they should 
 study the attitudes of the ball-players. See that 
 young man standing, resting his arm upon the 
 shoulder of a friend. The pose is admirable ; " 
 and she immediately took out her sketch-book,
 
 THE GREA T MA TCH. 279 
 
 from which a lot of dried fern-leaves flew out, 
 giving Mr. Silver plenty of occupation to collect. 
 
 " His figure would smack of base-ball," re- 
 joined Mr. Silver, resuming his seat, with a sigh. 
 He informed his wife that he should go home 
 after the first inning. 
 
 The crowd grew impatient : two o'clock had 
 arrived. Every seat was filled, and the neigh- 
 boring tree-tops were loaded with men and boys. 
 Why did they not begin ? Ned Black was in 
 close consultation with Mr. Milton, Miss Mil- 
 ton, and the members of his nine. Mr. Gra- 
 ham had also been invited to join the delibera- 
 tion : while Bobbie Snevel sat beside Miss 
 Milton. The disappearance of Pat had over- 
 whelmed the party with confusion. What was 
 to be done ? 
 
 " I suppose we could postpone the match," 
 said Graham. 
 
 " No ! By all the powers, this affair is going 
 to be played out to-day," exclaimed Mr. Milton. 
 " I 've had enough of this suspense." 
 
 Ned Black thought that the game had better 
 be played. They could put in Kennedy for 
 pitcher, and take Borroughs from centre-field, 
 and put him on first base in place of Kennedy. 
 Sam Bird could play centre-field. Bobbie Snevel 
 uttered an involuntary " my ! " 
 
 " What do you think of this change, Bobbie ? " 
 asked Miss Milton.
 
 280 THE GREAT MATCH. 
 
 " Kennedy can't pitch worth a cent/' he ex- 
 claimed. " The Milltown nine could hit all his 
 balls." 
 
 " The boy is mistaken," said Black, in an angry 
 manner. " I know the capacity of every man on 
 the nine, intimately, of course." 
 
 " Who do you think would be a good pitcher, 
 Bobbie ? " asked Mr. Graham. 
 
 " Dick Softy," answered Bobbie, confidently. 
 " He throws a real twister. I 've seen him play- 
 ing with the Milltown nine, occasionally. He 
 used to go over there to practise. They say 
 over there that he is as good as O'Callahan." 
 
 " Dick Softy ! " exclaimed all present, in min- 
 gled tones of astonishment and anger. 
 
 " Boy, you don't know what you are talking 
 about," said Mr. Tom Milton, in a severe man- 
 ner ; while Ned Black turned indignantly, and 
 went out of the room, with the rest of the nine. 
 
 "I hope you will listen to the counsel of this 
 little fellow," said Graham, in his decided tones. 
 
 " What ! what ! " exclaimed Mr. Milton, who 
 was walking up and down his library in great 
 excitement. 
 
 Graham asked Bobbie to go for a glass of 
 water, went to the door and locked it, and then 
 returned in a calm manner. 
 
 " Mr. Milton," said he, ' perhaps you do not 
 know that Mr. Black intends to sell this game, 
 and has arranged all his plans accordingly."
 
 THE GREAT MATCH. 281 
 
 Miss Milton and her uncle looked at the 
 speaker with astonishment. 
 
 " I repeat it," said Graham ; " I have the best 
 of reasons, based both on direct and indirect 
 testimony, that this is his intention. Money has 
 become a necessity to him. He is involved in 
 several speculations with unreliable fellows in 
 Milltown. They have bet heavily on this game ; 
 excited by your avowed intention, Mr. Milton, to 
 obtain the victory, and taking advantage of the 
 rivalry which has existed between yourself and 
 your old business friends. I have made a study 
 of Ned Black. Furthermore, he has taken 
 money from the bank ; and must return it, or he 
 is ruined." 
 
 Mr. Milton sank into a chair, and gazed at 
 Graham with a look of betrayed confidence, 
 which is so painful to see upon an honorable 
 old gentleman's face. Miss Milton listened, 
 while the color came and went rapidly upon her 
 distressed face. 
 
 " I tell you he means to let our nine be de- 
 feated by some false play," continued Graham. 
 " His friends have made bets with honorable men 
 with that air of certainty which is unmistakable 
 in men of their standing. I know Black to be a 
 man thoroughly destitute of honor." 
 
 "Your prot/g/! " exclaimed Mr. Milton, 
 " that handsome, manly fellow ? "
 
 282 THE GREAT MATCH. 
 
 " Yes, my protigJ" replied Graham, in a bitter 
 tone. 
 
 "Dick shall be put in as pitcher!" exclaimed 
 Miss Milton, jumping up. 
 
 " What shall be done with Black ? " asked her 
 uncle, with an air of perplexity. 
 
 " Let him play until he manifests his inten- 
 tions," said Graham. " He can be watched nar- 
 rowly : I desire to convince you both." 
 
 " It shall be done," said Mr. Milton, excitedly. 
 "We'll block him yet. When he shows his 
 colors, we'll put in a new man. They sha'n't say 
 but that we made a brave fight." 
 
 The door was unlocked, and Ned Black re- 
 entered, presently, to say that the crowd were 
 very impatient. 
 
 " We 've concluded that it will be best to try 
 Dick Softy," said Mr. Milton. 
 
 " Yes," said Miss Milton, casting a glance at 
 Ned Black which he could not interpret, "we 
 think it will be best to try him. Mr. Graham 
 has seen him play, and corroborates Bobbie's 
 story." 
 
 The young man's countenance flushed ; but he 
 offered no opposition, save what was expressed 
 in a contemptuous smile at the mention of his 
 adversary's name. He went out to announce 
 the decision to the club. The men were very 
 indignant, and refused to play. Finally, Black
 
 THE GREAT MATCH. 283 
 
 persuaded them to accept Dick into their ranks ; 
 telling them that Mr. Milton strongly desired it. 
 The old gentleman had been at great expense 
 for them ; and he must be humored. It was 
 strange, however, that the testimony of that 
 little Bobbie Snevel should have such weight. 
 
 So Dick was found ; and, after some consul- 
 tation with the Miltons, he consented to play. 
 His heart throbbed with pleasure as Miss Milton 
 took his hand in both of hers, and said, " We 
 depend upon you." 
 
 The impatient crowd hissed and shouted at 
 the delay. When the ball-players took their 
 respective positions, there was great rejoicing. 
 Dick Softy's appearance as pitcher for the Dorn- 
 field nine was greeted with astonishment ; and 
 his first throws were watched with the utmost 
 interest. In a moment it was evident that he 
 pitched fully as well as O'Callahan. Standing 
 with his left side toward the man at the bat, he 
 looked warily round the field at the different 
 players, turning the ball in his fingers ; and then, 
 with lightning-like rapidity throwing his right 
 foot forward, sent in the ball. It seemed to 
 describe a curve, and when the Milltown players 
 hit at it, eluded their blow, or flew off the bat in 
 a foul ball. Ned Black, who was noted for his 
 skill in catching foul balls, played superbly in 
 the first inning. He seemed to know by instinct
 
 284 THE GREAT MATCH. 
 
 which way the rapidly twisting ball would re- 
 bound when it struck the earth at different 
 angles ; and, while apparently running away 
 from the ball, it rebounded into his hands. Only 
 one man succeeded in getting to the second base 
 during the first inning, and he was put out by 
 the quick eye of Dick, as the player was stealing 
 to the third base. Miss Milton sat beside her 
 uncle. Graham and Bobbie Snevel were also of 
 the party. Never were two players watched 
 with such interest by four people. Miss Milton 
 sat with parted lips, gazing at the two men, as if 
 they were the leaders of opposing forces. Dick 
 seemed inspired. His head was never at rest. 
 His lithe form threatened to be rent by the force 
 with which he sent the ball in. Ned Black's 
 figure showed to great advantage in his handsome 
 uniform. He played in a cool, collected manner, 
 never making a mistake. Miss Milton felt that 
 he often looked in her direction. She was fas- 
 cinated by him. She heard the people about her 
 praise him, and speak of his wonderful skill, and 
 of his extraordinary good looks ; and thought 
 with a dull pain of Graham's report concerning 
 him. Perhaps it was a false one. No errors 
 had been made yet. The game promised to be 
 intensely exciting. What if Black should prove 
 himself true ? It had been decided that Dorn- 
 field should elect an umpire for the first half of
 
 THE GREAT MATCH. 285 
 
 the game ; and Milltown, for the second 
 Through the influence of the Miltons, Mr. 
 Grandhurst, who said that he had played cricket 
 in England, was chosen Dornfield's umpire. 
 Dressed in an English plaid suit, in broad-soled 
 walking shoes, he accordingly stood in the neigh- 
 borhood of the home base. 
 
 " What 's that umpire got on his head," said 
 one of the spectators from Milltown, in a tone of 
 derision, pointing at Grandhurst. 
 
 " It looks like half a dried pumpkin," said a 
 companion. " He don't know the rules of the 
 game, no how. See there ! " he exclaimed, as 
 loud hisses went up from the crowd, when 
 Grandhurst decided that Billy Plummer, who 
 fell flat, and grasped the first base with his hand, 
 shortly before the ball reached the first-base 
 man, was out. The Milltown boys amused 
 themselves by throwing stones at the umpire's 
 hat. Presently, loud laughter arose, when a ball 
 twisted about, evaded the batter's effort, and 
 compelled Grandhurst to present his coat-tails to 
 it. Cries arose of " Fair hit ! " "a good un," 
 mingled with imitations of cat cries and the 
 barking of dogs. 
 
 " This is a pretty business," said Grandhurst. 
 "Why do they throw these balls so deusedly 
 hard ? There is no sense in it. A fellar could 
 get his eyes put out. I feel as if I had got
 
 286 THE GREAT MATCH. 
 
 among a lot of harum-scarum Indians. There 's 
 no science in the game." 
 
 The Miltons were not the only intensely in- 
 terested spectators. The top benches of the 
 scaffolding were covered with middle-aged men, 
 who sat with rounded backs, and hats over their 
 eyes, glaring sharply over the field, and putting 
 down the score. Young ladies chatted merrily 
 with young gentlemen seated on the more eligi- 
 ble benches, and were taught how to record the 
 events of the game. Whenever a Milltown player 
 hit one of Dick's balls, and drove it down the 
 field, the Milltownites all rose on the benches, 
 and leaned far forward, gazing to see its fate, 
 with anxious eyes. Sam Snell was perched upon 
 one of the highest seats. Farmer Snell and son 
 had agreed to draw lots, to see who should 
 spend the afternoon witnessing the game ; for 
 one must remain at home to fill an order for 
 strawberries which had suddenly come in. So 
 they took two straws ; and Sam drew the short 
 one, which condemned him to remain. After 
 the departure of his father, Sam sought the 
 strawberry bed, with a look of resignation ; but 
 when he heard the roars of applause from the 
 distant ball-field, he flung down his dish with its 
 wealth of strawberries, vaulted the fence, and ran 
 incontinently for the scene of the encounter. 
 Minister Denham groaned in spirit as he saw
 
 THE GREAT MATCH. 287 
 
 the crowd, and heard the loud swearing of the 
 boys in the trees. He resolved to go out, and 
 see if he could recognize any of the members of 
 his Sunday school. He stood a moment watch- 
 ing the progress of the game, and grew insensi- 
 bly interested to that degree that he forgot that 
 Miss Sullivan was waiting for him in his library. 
 One, two, three, four innings ; and success for 
 the Dornfield nine ! Dick's pitching seemed to 
 demoralize the Milltown players. Ned Black 
 was on the top wave of popular favor. His 
 intensely interested critics could discover no 
 fault in him. Grandhurst was retired from his 
 position, after several unhappy decisions. He 
 took his seat beside the Silvers, with his impres- 
 sion of the unthankfulness of republics con- 
 firmed. The new umpire took his place, and 
 the game went on. The Dornfield nine went to 
 the bat. Dick Softy got to the second base, 
 while Black was on the first ; for both had suc- 
 ceeded in hitting the ball. Dick began to steal 
 towards the third base, while the Milltown 
 pitcher's back was turned. Black, seeing Dick's 
 movements, ran to the second base. When the 
 catcher received the ball, Dick was so much 
 nearer to the third base than Black to the sec- 
 ond, that the catcher threw to the second-base 
 man. Dick saw this, and ran quickly for home. 
 The second-base man, after vainly endeavoring
 
 288 THE GREA T MA TCH. 
 
 to touch Black, threw the ball back to the 
 catcher, just too late to capture Dick; while 
 Black in the mean time arrived just in season at 
 the third base. Never was such a scene of ex- 
 citement seen on a ball-field ! The crowd grew 
 hoarse with shouting. 
 
 " Tell me there 's no science in base-ball ! " 
 cried Mr. Milton, laughing until the tears stood 
 in his eyes. " Where 's Grandhurst ? I hope 
 he saw that. Capital ! capital ! Dick is a trump, 
 I 've been mistaken about him; and about 
 Black too, I don't see but what he plays splen- 
 didly, Graham." 
 
 " Let us watch," said Graham, in a sober tone. 
 Mr. Milton continued to slap his knees for half 
 an hour in enthusiasm. 
 
 Presently the Milltown nine began to win in 
 their turn. Dick pitched as well as ever ; but 
 Ned Black began to miss the balls, and made 
 several wild throws. Graham touched Mr. 
 Milton's arm, significantly. Bobbie Snevel's 
 face seemed to grow smaller every moment, and 
 his eyes larger. Miss Milton trembled with 
 agitation. The Milltown nine gradually crept up, 
 adding to their score, until the fortunes of war 
 were even. Then they began to win. Ned 
 Black was often apparently over-eager, and sent 
 the balls to the base-men with terrible swiftness, 
 so that they could not in many cases be held.
 
 THE GREAT MATCH. 289 
 
 He made wonderful catches with one hand, 
 which provoked the admiration of the crowd, 
 and disarmed criticism ; but he failed to stop 
 easy balls. Graham looked at Mr. Milton. 
 Miss Milton averted her gaze from the field : 
 she saw unmistakable signs of negligence in 
 Black's playing. At the end of that inning, 
 Mr. Milton and Graham left their seats ; and, 
 stepping out upon the ball-field, took Black one 
 side. Miss Milton watched them, eagerly be- 
 neath her sunshade. She saw her uncle's eager 
 gestures and the dignified bearing of Graham ; 
 and then the Dornfield nine closed about the 
 group, eagerly, and the principal actors were no 
 longer to be seen. Bobbie Snevel was anxiously 
 gazing beside Miss Milton, and uttering various 
 conjectures. " My ! hasn't this been a splendid 
 game so far ! " he exclaimed. 
 
 " I wish I knew how it will result," sighed his 
 companion. 
 
 " Oh ! we shall beat," replied Bobbie, con- 
 fidently. 
 
 While the well-dressed portion of the crowd 
 looked at each other in the lull, the ladies 
 taking a rapid inventory of dresses and bonnets ; 
 the men looking over the score, settling contested 
 points ; the Milltown players basking in the sun, 
 in convoluted knots upon the grass, a crowd 
 of men and boys was seen running down from 
 13 s
 
 290 THE GREAT MATCH. 
 
 centre-field. The policemen ran towards them, 
 and forced them back. Still one man, without 
 any hat and with frantic gestures, kept on. 
 Cries of " Pat O'Callahan ! " resounded from all 
 sides. Mrs. O'Callahan, who had been watching 
 the game in the absence of her husband, with 
 her flock, burst into the enclosure, and, followed 
 by her five children, tried to intercept Pat. He 
 waved her off, however, with a loud exclamation, 
 and kept on. The policemen hustled his family 
 back. When he arrived among the players, he 
 could not speak at first, having utterly winded 
 himself. He opened the palm of his left hand 
 before Mr. Milton, and pounded it with a world 
 of expression with his right 
 
 " They kidnapped me," he shouted, at length 
 finding his voice. 
 
 " Don't you come here and tell me any lies," 
 said Mr. Milton, eying him with contempt. 
 
 " Lies ! " exclaimed Pat, rolling up his eyes : 
 " I swear it." 
 
 " Don't swear," said Mr. Milton, severely. 
 
 " I won't," replied Pat, suddenly wilting be- 
 neath the gaze of the old gentleman. He looked 
 pathetically at Black; but that individual stood, 
 with folded arms, gazing moodily upon the 
 ground. The other men of the nine wore very 
 sad faces. 
 
 " Are you sober, Pat ? " said Mr. Milton, look- 
 ing him up and down.
 
 THE GREAT MATCH. 291 
 
 " As sober as a baby, sur." 
 
 " Well, then, take your place as pitcher ; Dick, 
 you will catch ; Mr. Black, you will retire from 
 the ball-ground. Let the game go on ! " said the 
 autocratic old gentleman. " Men, I leave the 
 honor of your nine in your hands. We are 
 bound to win this game." The players sought 
 their respective positions again ; while Black 
 took his coat, and silently left the field. A re- 
 port spread abroad that he had injured his hand ; 
 but the reputation of a good ball-player is the 
 most evanescent of all reputations. The crowd 
 were soon eagerly following the game, in which 
 O'Callahan had taken his place as pitcher, and 
 Dick stood behind the bat. Pat, like some gen- 
 erals, required a good beating to awaken his 
 genius. His mysterious experience during the 
 night had not affected his base-ball powers. His 
 eyes glistened with the light of genius ; and the 
 ball went from his right hand with all its old 
 subtlety. Dick knew his throwing of old. Up 
 came the score in favor of the Dornfield nine. 
 The trained muscles of Dick found plenty of 
 work to do ; but they surely and steadily won 
 the victory. At the end of the ninth inning, 
 the Dornfield nine won the victory. Loud 
 shouts rent the air ; and the crowd burst 
 through the ropes, and ran across the field in 
 a surging mass. The sun, which had been be-
 
 292 THE GREAT MATCH. 
 
 hind a cloud, sent forth five golden rays, which 
 seemed like giant fingers thrust forth to grasp 
 the rosy arch of light-flying scud which spanned 
 the heavens from North to South. 
 
 " Dick," said Miss Milton, with tearful eyes, as 
 they wandered together down the lawn in the 
 evening, far away from the hilarious crowd, " I 
 have been very unjust and ungrateful. I hope 
 you will forgive me. We can be just as good 
 friends as ever, can't we ? " 
 
 " No," replied Dick, curtly. 
 
 " No ! " echoed Miss Milton, in a sad tone of 
 reproach, looking up at him. 
 
 " No, I can never be merely your friend ; for 
 I love you devotedly." 
 
 Miss Milton dropped his arm, and turned 
 partly away from him. 
 
 " I have engaged my passage for Europe," said 
 Dick, in a broken voice, "for next month. I 
 intend to be gone for three years." 
 
 His companion shuddered, put out her hand, 
 and said in a faltering voice, 
 
 "Don't go, Dick ! dear Dick ! " 
 
 Rose came forth out of her sick chamber, after 
 two months of sickness, much saddened and 
 subdued. Graham's attentions were incessant ; 
 and her eyes were noticed to follow him, and to
 
 THE GREAT MATCH. 
 
 293 
 
 dwell with a certain expression of trustfulness 
 and confidence. People said that they must be 
 engaged. Mrs. Cramer said she always knew 
 that he would marry a young girl. Mrs. Farmer 
 Snell didn't see why he shouldn't ; for he was 
 only thirty-five, and a young-looking man at that. 
 Ned Black left town, and went out West. It 
 was reported in after years that he kept a gam- 
 bling saloon in a mining town in Colorado. The 
 Silvers, together with Grandhurst, sailed for 
 Europe in the fall, to be gone indefinitely. The 
 two villages still impress a stranger with their 
 contrasts. There is a report, however, that a 
 branch railroad is to be put through the beautiful 
 Dornfield intervale.
 
 THE "NO NAME SERIES." 
 
 "IS THAT ALL?" 
 
 " In some respects, this is the best of the three volumes yet published of 
 this series. For, though it does not go so deep as ' Mercy Philbrick,' nor 
 deal in poetic fancies like ' Deirdre,' it is better sustained on its own surface- 
 level than either of those romances. It is not a romance at all in fact, but 
 a pleasing sketch, somewhat too warmly colored, of New England social life 
 in the well-bred circle of a small city, say Hartford. The plot is simple and 
 direct, and the story closes before it has time to become tiresome in any 
 particular. . . . The book is all it professes to be, and something more, and 
 will certainly be popular." Springfield Republican. 
 
 " The new novel of the ' No Name Series ' belongs of right to the class of 
 stories which men and women take with them on vacation journeys. It has 
 little plot, and^what little there is is of the slightest kind. It is meant to be 
 light and amusing, and is so in a high degree. The picture it gives of high 
 life in a provincial city is very fine, and a spirit of bantering which runs 
 through it makes it extremely piquant. As to the authorship it is idle to 
 guess. We leave the solution of the question to the reader's own skill in 
 reading riddles, and commend the anonymous book to his attention as one 
 which will entertain him greatly, whether or not he can guess its origin." 
 New York Evening Post. 
 
 11 ' Is That All ? ' third in order of the conundrums at which the Messrs. 
 Roberts have set the world a-guessing, perplexes conjecture in a greater degree 
 than its predecessors. Its style recalls none of our better-known writers ; and, 
 in spite of the assurance of the publishers, we should be disposed to set it 
 down as the work of a fresh hand, were it not for the practice and finish which 
 it evinces. It is, to use its own words, a 'very meringue of a story,' light, 
 crisp, delicately flavored ; but, for all this sketchiness, it is full of real character 
 and individuality. . . . There is a great deal of bright, natural conversation, 
 some capital love-making, and both humor and good-humor in the pithy, half- 
 sarcastic touches which glance here and there on the page like a smile out of 
 quizzical, friendly eyes." Boston Transcript. 
 
 " It is cleverly constructed in plot, and has the rare merit of seeming too 
 short. The style is bright and animated, the characters are evidently drawn 
 from life, and spiritedly drawn at that. The conversations are sparkling and 
 witty, and the work is unmistakably from the hand of one thoroughly ac- 
 quainted with the world and with good society. It is the best book of the 
 series, thus far, though, as the author says, ' a very meringue of a story.' Its 
 naturalness is not the least of its charms. We have been thoroughly delighted 
 with it, and we assure our readers that they will derive equal pleasure and satis- 
 faction from its perusal. The name of the author has not yet transpired, but 
 we hazard the guess that it is a woman, not owing to any effeminacy or 
 weakness in the style, but from the fact that no one but a woman would write 
 so saucily about the gentler sex. We advise everybody to read tliis clever little 
 story." Saturday Gazette. 
 
 In one volume, IGmo. Cloth. Gilt and red-lettered. 91.00. 
 
 Our publications are to be had of all Booksellers. When not to 
 be found, send directly to 
 
 ROBERTS BROTHERS, Publishers, Boston.
 
 LOUISA M. ALCOTT'S WRITINGS. 
 
 " Miss Alcott is really a benefactor of households." H. H. 
 
 Little Women. Two volumes, $3.00 ; Hospital Sketches and Camp 
 and Fireside Stories, $1.50; An Old-Fashioned Girl, $1.50; 
 Little Men, $1.50; My Boys, &c., $1.00; Shawl-Straps, jji.oo ; 
 Cupid and Chow-Chow, &c., $1.00; Work: A Story of Experi- 
 ence. With Character Illustrations by Sol Eytinge. i6mo, $1.75; 
 Eight Cousins, $1.50; Silver Pitchers; and Independence, a 
 Centennial Love Story, $1.25 ; Rose in .Bloom, $1.50. 
 
 "H. H.'s WRITINGS. 
 
 " The poems of a lady who contents herself with the initials H. If. have 
 rare merit of thought and expression." R. W. EMERSON. 
 
 Verses, $1.25; Bits of Travel, $1.25; Bits of Talk about Home 
 Matters, jgi.oo; Bits of Talk in Verse and Prose for Young 
 Folks, $1.00. 
 
 SUSAN COOLIDGE'S WRITINGS. 
 
 " Not even Miss Alcott apprehends child nature -with finer sympathy, or 
 pictures its nobler traits -with more skill." BOSTON DAILY AD- 
 VERTISER. 
 
 The New- Year's Bargain, $1.50 ; What Katy Did, $1.50 ; What Katy 
 Did at School, $1.50; Mischief's Thanksgiving, $1.50; Nine 
 Little Goslings, $1.50; For Summer Afternoons, $1.25. 
 
 HARRIET BEECHER STOWE. 
 
 " The fen, which more than any other quickened the public heart till the 
 black slavery of centuries was broken, will render a service not less 
 considerable, if it so wake the conscience of men and women that pink 
 and white tyranny of women over men shall be impossible" 
 
 Pink and White Tyranny : a Society Novel. $1.50. 
 
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 not to be found, send directly to 
 
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 BOSTON.
 
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 THE "NO 3 s 
 DEI 
 
 A 000 032 809 6 
 
 ' ' Deirdrc' is a remarkable poem, wimcn m ..>-<>;. .<.*.. ....~, .7.... :. 
 
 perfect case of versification. . . . The author has an enthusiastic and delicate 
 love of nature in all her moods. His battle scenes are all set in glowing land- 
 scapes ; he sings the glories of the earth and of the skies, as well as the 
 achievements of his heroes ; he makes you fcfl the weather and the landscape, 
 the sharpness of late autumn, the life and sweetness of spring. The fault of 
 tlte poem is an excess of its beauties (?)." Boston Daily Advertiser. 
 
 " Such is the story of Deirdre ; a story of extraordinary power and pathos, 
 and one which, though dealing with remote times and barbarous characters, 
 awakens a strong sympathy in the breast of the reader. Some of the passages 
 of the poem are absolutely Homeric, particularly the descriptions of the battles ; 
 while there are here and there subtle touches of nature, all the more potent 
 because of their savage setting. Altogether it is the poem of this day and 
 generation, and worthy a place beside the best work of the best living poets of 
 England or America." Boston Transcript. 
 
 " One's first thought on reading the last line of this poem is of its absolute 
 integrity of excellence. Not a faulty line mars its expansive beauty; not a 
 commonplace sentiment degrades it. .. . . We have never read a poem whose 
 perfection is so steadfastly sustained ; from the first line to the last there is no 
 descent from the original nobility of thought and style. ... Its atmosphere 
 is strangely high and healthful. Honor rules almost every act in the eventful 
 drama. . . . The most exigent sense of duty seems to animate every person in 
 the poem ; and the episode of their deaths illustrates the noblest qualities of 
 human nature. . . . Over the whole sky of his poem there broods an atmos- 
 phere of the most exquisite refinement. . . . But words cannot do justice to 
 the grandeur and beauty of 'Deirdre; ' it is the poem of the century." 
 Literary \Vorhl\ 
 
 " Thus ' Deirdre ' comes forth a grand epic, a poem of which America can 
 be proud as the country from which it issues, and all other reading lands g!ad 
 and satisfied. There is in it the grandeur and magnificence of the Greek of the 
 Iliad and Odyssey; the beauty and grace, the rich imagery of the /Eneid, and 
 the rythmic flow of Dante's writings. The power of the poem is not spasmo- 
 dic, the genius of the writer is not fitful, and the beauty of the verse is nowhere 
 hampered by artifice or lessened by signs of relapsing from the highest standard. 
 On the contrary, steadily, firmly, grandly the story progresses, with a rich fer- 
 tility of poetic skill and rare picturing, to its closing page. The poem is des- 
 tined to live and rank among modern classics." Boston Traveller. 
 
 " ' Deirdre ' would have attracted attention without the adjunct of mystery 
 (Xo Name?). It is a narrative poem, original in its material, boldly conceived, 
 and written with sufficient poetic skill and feeling to separate it wholly from the 
 crowd of crude and ambitious attempts which are constantly issuing from the 
 press." New York Tribune. 
 
 upon us. l-or the pr___ 
 
 is enough that we shall read it and enjoy it, recognizing its richness in all that 
 makes poetry good, and learning to know its spirit andlts significance." New 
 York Rvening Post. 
 
 In one volume, IGino. Cloth. Gilt and red-lettered. $1.00. 
 
 Our publications are to be had of all Booksellers. When not to 
 be found, send directly to 
 
 ROBERTS BROTHERS, Publishers, Boston.
 
 TH EG FIE AT MATCH 
 
 No NAME S ERIE