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ONO NONE
-stairs to his mother.
_hire to do it.
‘and- attend to a hundred chickens,
-was.only one thing to do.
* that was needed,
Copyright, 1909, by Da David C CC Cook Publishing Company.’
Vou. VILL. No, 19, {Rupusuen
DAVID C. COOK PUBLISHING Co. Excrn, [LLiNo1s,
AND 36 WASHINGTON Sr.,
Cuiicaco,
‘ May 8, 1909.
THE ATHLETE >
By ZELIA MARGARET WALTERS
Pray Dry Pag PR IOI PI PA
Zs
J
SUPPPOSE mother will have to
said Barry; pausing in. his-
packing. “It Will be. tough -on
poner too. She'll: have to give
that month with Mrs, Miller.
And Mrs. AMiller. is such a jolly person to
visit. Mother: has been counting on it all-
the year.’ Now, if only were a girl,
I might‘take her place.”
Then a thought came “that made bim |
quite forget the packing.” -
“Come to reflect, it isn’t a girl they need -
out there, Ic’s a boy, Aunt Martha is ,
- as well as ever, and it’s Uncle Eben that’s
too weak to attend to things.”
There was farther reflection—very seri+
ous reflection at that. .Then he went down
“T say, mother, I just thought of it, but
are you going to. turn chore boy out at
Uncle Eben’s? - Because, if you are, you
can’t.”
Mrs. Ewart smiled brightly. ~ Barry
was so like his father when he made some
such masterful speech
“Why, no, dear, You see, Uncle Eben
has let his fields out on shareg, and ‘there~
will be only the chickens .and cows—
there are only two of them—and the fruit_
and the garden.. I-can attend to most of
it, and when there is weeding or anything
“heavy to be, done,.I suppose. we can: find
some boy in the neighborhood that we can
T shal] manage nicely.”
“Why can't they hire someone?” de-
manded Barry. ¢
“ Because they are old- fashioned, and so
‘old now that is hard for them to
change their ways.. They would be uncom-
fortable with a stranger about. They want
some of their own folks, , We mustn't
complain, dear. Think how kind they
were to me when I was helpless, I shall
only be paying a little on my great debt
when I’ go there- for the summer. If
_ Uncle Eben doesn’t get stronger, they will
sell one of the cows and horses in the fall;
and, when there is no garden or orchard
work, they think they can manage until the
next summer.”
““T have a vision of you tramping out.
through the early dew to milk two cows
and
do the hundred other little necessary
things,” said Barry, looking at his slen-
der mother in her dainty white dress.
“Tye done it before, and I can again,”
she said, cheerily. “Don’t worry about
” : .
went back to the interrupted packing, and
~he did some more thinking. Ob, very hard
thinking this tine!
Of course, one couldn't allow a mother
like Barry’s to do heavy farm work for a
summer. Suppose that mythical neighbor
boy didn’t. . materialize. Where would.’
mother be then? And Uncle Eben:
wouldn’t be-able to live at all unless the
farm was in such condition as he thought
Proper. Uncle Eben was .“‘a severe old
duffer.” Barry was . not’ fond. of. him,--
though he.never said so, because Uncle. -
-Eben bad. been kind to mother. But ‘there
Ii_ was a boy
and he was the boy,
’ He announced the result of his thinking
at breakfast the next morning. His father
gave him a swift look of such, gratirud?
that Barry felt a glow- of joy. soe
DAE IR IIE IE IRC OEIC IE IE IEICE IOI IEEE SS
Barry said; he wouldn't. worry, but -he-~
-in the gymnasium in the win-
“Oh, no, Barry!
outing. It’s not to be thought of,” said
mother:
- But'Mr, Bwart and this suddenly grown-
up son overruled her, and assured her that
it was not to be thought o
A few days Jater Barry was at the farm.
At the end of the first week he was in such
a state of dépression that. he frankly: ad-
mitted he was homesick. Uncle Eben was
in that state of half-invalidism that made
him extremely, critical, He had worked
hard all his life, and, now that it was not
possible any longer, nothing could be done
quite to please him. : .
'“Fe’s just able to follow me around,
and see that I do it all wrong,” said Barry
to himself, as he sat on the hay that after- «excitedly.
“Yow am’ I going to stand it a
But of course a fellow
noon.
whole. summer?
can stand things.
about anything else. I wonder if there
aren't some boys around here, and if I
couldn't get acquainted and make it a little
pleasanter this summer,
That's always mother’s phil-
osophy, Look out for the lit-
tle, pleasant things. So
guess I won't. let one cloud
coyer.my whole sky.”
As if in answer. to his. |
thought, a- boy came whistling _
around the corner of the barn,
.“JTIellot? he said. “Are
you Mr. Ewart’s nephew ?” ~
* “Yes: IL am Barry Ewart.”
“Tam Tom Jennings, your
next neighbor. I thought
maybe you'd like to go fishing
with me.’ .
“T'd like to, but I’m afraid
I can’t,” said Barry. >“ You
see, uncle is not well, and it
would get on his nerves te-
have tue milking late.’ .
“Well, to-morrow then. We
can start earlier, and get back
before milking tim
“Ti be glad to. go. _But,
since you're here, stay awhile, _
and tell me about the: boys
around here.” ‘
“There are enough “boys,”
said Tom, naming over a list,
“but we don’t seem to get to-
gether. very much.” Tell me
what you fellows do in the
city.”
So Barry told about the
baseball club, the Y. M. C. A.’
boys who took a “hike” each
summer and-camped out in
some lonely place for a dappy
month, the athletic contests
ter and the field work in the® .
summer. :
. The country boy listened
me
. to
that?, I’ve always wanted to.
play, but: sve can't. keep a
team going around here.” ~
“Yes, I belonged to it.
base.” And Barry plunged into an ac-
count of the most famous _ Vietories of the.
Eclipse Club.
“Say, there must have, “been an all-right
man on first- base to play a game like
There’s your camping
There’s no use ,talking .
I played first ;
that!” ores Tom,
the tea
“ harry Ewart,” said Barry, laughing.
“VN bet you were the best player in
the bunch !” seried Tom.
“Oh, no,” said Barry. “Our pitchers
were the best. And we had a dandy short-
stop. “Ife wouldn’t.let one of those danger-
-ous grounders get past him. And our
catcher was so quick you couldn’t steal on
him. He’d.always get the ball into the
threatened base so quick and sure that the
fellows that played with us learned not to
try it. And our middle field, he could rua
some.. Ile’d get back and haul in a fly’
’way over by the fence, when it had looked
good for a ‘ome run.. The pitcher is cap-
_tain while I’m away. He pitched a one-
hit game two weeks ago.”
“Say, couldn’t you help us to have a
team here? We couldn't help “making it
go with you. But no; it would be. an
awful lot of trouble for you, and I guess
you have enough to do. Our fellows would
All je awkward beside -a~ player’ like
you.”
“But they could learn!” cried Barry,
“Any boy can learn to do
things. And farmer boys are the ‘best
kind, because they know how to use their
muscles. I'd just like it. And why- not
have an athletic association, so there'd be
- something for the fellows that didn't want
to play ball? And_we could have a field
“Who was captain of,
TRE BOYS PLANNED IT ALL OUT WHILE. FISHING,
cay in the fall.’ It would be no end of -
fun.” ae .
Two enthusiastic boys planned it out
“at afternoon and. the next day while
ze Saturday the first meeting was
‘Wit was in-the pasture, tot at the end
th
. figs
bet,
” Wo . Ye via -
. - Be Noose co,
te we eo. aele . . .
g.7 : wR a:
ie Ls f ‘ Cae
_ before’ him,
of the lane where the noise could not dis-
turb Uncle Eben. Darry found it took all
his tact’and authority as a star player to
‘make his selections for the team without
causing friction.
~ “Vil teli you,” -he said.to Tom in a
moment aside, “there's nothing like team
work to rub the corners off from a fellow, -
and make him understand that the good of
the others comes before his wishes. These
fellows hayen’t worked together, and they
are not willing to-give up when they
should. Now that boy that wants to catch
will never do. He's miles too slow.”
But Barry’s persistence won. Ile put
it before chem squarely that, if they
wanted to play the teams of the towns
about, they must use the best materia] the
neighborhood afforded. A few words about
the way city teams are managed and
their absolute obedience to their captain,
put the boys on their mettler
“Of course,” said Barry, “if any of
you can qualify by practice at home, you'll
get a try-out. It’s the best men’ that go
on this team, and you’ye all got to help and
see that I get the best.”
Then came the training And—well, if
you’ve ever seen raw material /Sained intoa
winning team, you know what Barry had
The boys came in increasing
crowds to ‘the south meadow. The friction
was wearing off. The town boys had be-
gun to scoff at the “ Farmers’ Team,” and
the farmers’ boys were on
théir mettle to prove what
they could do when the meet-
ing should come, .The boy on
third base voluntarily gave up
his place because he was
afraid he wasn’t coming up to
the mark, and he knew anoth-
er boy who could do better.
“Well, you're the
kind!” said Barry.
on practicing at
you'll come in later.
kind always win out.”
Barry was,all over the field,
now .knocking flies and
grounders, and exhorting the
boys: to field them quickly;
now showing the pitcher how
easy it was to find his balls,
then encouraging him te try
a new method, and, above all
. things. not to get “ rattled.’’.
Iie trained his new men in
base running and batting, and’
dirt”. properly for a slide.
All them must learn to
take ‘the captain's signals.
/They learned that they must
be ready to sacrifice. to ad-‘
vance. another man, and that
no one must go out- looking
for laurels for himself. He
instructed them that they’
must study each opponent, and
be ready to play deep or close
in as the case demanded.
to ball, In the last hour the
-other athletes were. trained.
interest, there came the
“inexorable milking-hour, and
Barry had to leave.. Some-
times .his exasperation came
near. boiling over. But he
had said so much to the boys
about the necessity of self-control, that
very shame would have made him go 2 peer.
fully. >
The “ Farmers’ Team” won their first
game from a champion town organization,
(Conctudca on pag ed:
. Not all the. time was given:
