Page:Cricket, by WG Grace.djvu/314

 two longer with advantage. At the beginning of his innings he was sometimes rather excited, and started off for a run as soon as he touched the ball, without looking where it had gone. Once at Lord's he touched one which came straight to me at short-slip; but as usual he was off, and I had thrown the wicket down before he thought of looking round. I can remember now the expression that stole over his face when he realised how impetuous he had been.

He had a keen sense of the ludicrous, and could laugh as heartily, when he had blundered, as anyone. On a certain occasion, after having passed my medical examination, I had travelled all night from Edinburgh to London, and was making my way from the railway station to Lord's, when I overtook Tom. He knew where I had been and my purpose, and was anxious to know the result. "Is it all right, sir?" "All right, Tom," I replied, "I have got my diploma," pointing to the case containing it which I had in my hand. It had rained during the night, and the ground at Lord's was very wet. We batted first, and Tom was fielding at cover-point. In trying to stop a hard hit of mine, he slipped and fell heavily backward, and did not get up for a little. "Are you hurt, Tom?" I asked. He pulled himself together, got up and, pointing to a lovely mud-mark on his trousers, replied, "No, sir; but I have got my diploma!"

Gloucestershire played England in 1878, and Emmett was batting to F. Townsend's curly underhand slows. Rather than run the risk of hitting into cover-point's hands one or two that were a foot or more off the wicket, he allowed them to pass. Townsend persevered, and Emmett, to show his contempt for the bowling, shouldered his bat and smiled as the ball passed him. But the bowler got rather more break than usual on one ball, and the batsman, with uplifted bat, had the