“No,” she answered, glowing at the knowledge that he had taken so much
trouble to seek for her in the crowd. “I have not seen a game since
the first one you pitched. Father raises such objections that I have
thought best to stay away, even though he has not positively forbidden
me to attend. If I can get an escort, I shall do my best to persuade
him to let me see the next game when Bancroft plays here. Every one in
Kingsbridge seems to think it will be a great battle.”
“Bancroft comes Wednesday, this week.”
“And you will pitch?”
“I don’t know; I presume so.”
“Oh, I’ll see it unless father positively refuses to let me go. I
_must_ see that game! I hope you pitch as well as you did before.”
“I hope so myself,” he laughed, “although for a time in the first
inning I was almost led to believe I couldn’t pitch at all.”
“I’ll never forget it,” she breathed. “It was dreadful. The crowd was
howling at you so, and you seemed utterly unable to get the ball over.
I confess that I, too, thought you were useless as a pitcher. But when
you redeemed yourself, and the crowd became satisfied that you could
hold Bancroft, how quickly the howling turned to cheers! I can hear
them now, crying: ‘Oh, you Lefty!’ It was splendid!”
Janet’s cheeks were bright, and her eyes sparkled with enthusiasm
reawakened by those exciting moments. Watching the movements of her
lips, revealing flitting glimpses of perfect teeth; listening to her
voice, as sweet as that of Bassanio’s beloved maid; entranced by the
violet light of her eyes, all aglow with earnestness; he was stirred as
never before in all his life.
Then and there came the knowledge that she was the one girl for him.
He longed to tell her, but words fit to do him such service seemed
impossible to find; he doubted if they were contained in any language.
The first words were trembling on his lips when suddenly one of the
romping children uttered a cry of pain, followed immediately by other
cries, bringing Janet to her feet in alarm.
“What is it?” she called.
“It’s Jimmy,” answered Tommy Murphy, appearing from behind some bushes.
“He’s cut his foot on somep’n. It’s bleedin’ fierce.”
Locke was at Janet’s side when she reached Jimmy, who was sitting on
the ground, surrounded by the other little boys, and holding one of
his bare feet. It had been gashed by a broken bottle hidden by fallen
leaves and vines.
Without hesitation Janet dropped to her knees to do what she could,
but Tom was equally swift and unfaltering in action. Whipping forth a
spotless handkerchief, he knelt to bind up the injury.
“It will be best to take him to a doctor right away,” he said, “for
there may be pieces of glass in the cut. Let me attend to this, Miss
Harting. I can do it alone; I won’t need any help,” he declared, as he
observed that all the color had departed from her cheeks, leaving them
very pale.
“Let me help,” she urged steadily.
“Yuh――yuh don’t think I――I’ll bl-e-bleed ter death, do ye?” sobbed
Jimmy.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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