Page:Hornung - Fathers of Men.djvu/178

 luckless bowler. "Why the blue blazes didn't you tell us, Rutter?"

"I never thought of it, Shockley."

Curses descended on Jan's head; but the batsman would have to go. The batsman stuck to his crease. The umpires, as usual the two next men in, had a singular point to settle; one gave it "out" with indecent promptitude, and so off with his coat; the other umpire, a younger boy in the batsman's house, was not so sure.

Jan offered a rash solution of the difficulty.

"Suppose I bowl him out again?" he suggested with the dryest brand of startling insolence.

"I don't know your beastly name," cried the batsman, "but you'll know more about me when the game's over."

"Quite right," said Shockley; "it'll do the young lubber all the good in the world." And partly because the batsman was an even bigger fellow than himself, partly out of open spite against Jan, the Shocker allowed the game to proceed.

The batsman took fresh guard, and Jan his shambling run. This time the ball seemed well off the wicket, and the batsman took a vindictive slash, only to find his off stump mown down.

"You put me off, you devil!" he cried, shaking his bat at Jan; but this time he did retire, to vow a vengeance which in the event he was man enough not to take. For the formidable Tiger had secured the remaining wickets at a nominal cost.

In any other game, on any one of the three grounds, such a performance would have led to the player's immediate promotion to the game above; but Shockley managed to keep Jan down, and on his own side, over the next half-holiday, when another untoward event marked the progress of the second Middle game.