Sam found a letter awaiting him from Tom Pollock. As it was short and
concise we may as well quote it in full. “Dear Sam,” wrote Tom, “when
are you coming home? The reason I want to know is that Lynton is to
play us here on the sixteenth. She beat us the first game and we beat
her last Saturday, 5 to 1, and we’re going to play off the tie. We
want you to catch for us. I looked up that letter from Mr. Langham and
it said the camp ran to September 13th. If that’s so you’ll be back
here by Thursday, I guess. Let me know if you will and if you’ll play
Saturday. All well here and I’m very busy. Sid is kicking his heels
against the counter as I write this and wants to be remembered. Yours
as ever,
“TOM.”
Sam answered the epistle the next morning and saw it off by Jerry the
mailman. (The boys took delight in referring to Jerry according to the
duty he was at the moment engaged in, as “Jerry the scullion,” “Jerry
the iceman,” “Jerry the woodman,” and so on. On one occasion, Dick
Barry discovered the versatile Jerry painfully inditing a letter and
promptly dubbed him “Jerry the scribe.”) Sam told Tom that he expected
to be back in Amesville the sixth and would be glad to catch for the
Blues the following Saturday, if nothing prevented.
A few days later came Visitors’ Day, and the camp took on a gala
appearance. Strings of flags blossomed along the fronts of the
buildings, pine and hemlock branches were festooned about the
dining-hall, floors were scrubbed until they shone, and no one, even
with a microscope, could have discovered a bit of paper or any sort of
litter from the landing back to the pulpit tree. The visitors were not
many in number, for parents and friends living at a distance found
it impossible to reach Indian Lake before noon, but some twenty-odd
appeared, and seemed to thoroughly enjoy the programme supplied for
their entertainment. There was an aquatic carnival in the morning,
with swimming and diving competitions and canoe races, and another
thrilling tilting contest, to say nothing of a swimming exhibition by
Junior Councillor Craig. And at one o’clock there was a special dinner
for the guests, followed by one not quite so “special” for the boys.
There was no siesta that day, which alone made it blessed in the eyes
of the fellows! In the afternoon there were athletic events and a final
ball game between the Indians, “Camp Champions,” as the banner which
they displayed proudly announced, and the Mascots. True to precedent
the Indians won in six innings, thus finishing their season in a final
burst of glory. The score was 16 to 4! But then, George Porter, with
his mother and sister to watch him admiringly, pitched a remarkable
game.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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