Page:Waylaid by Wireless - Balmer - 1909.djvu/65

Rh "They had on the wall a box for contributions for the housing and sustenance of invalided cricketers, or inveterate smokers, or some other especially pitiful group of incurables who particularly appeal to the British heart; and every time any of us pocketed a ball, the owner dropped his half crown into this willing receptacle.

"Well, the Britons had me buying crutches and cigars for the home at the very start; but, about half-past nine, the whole seven of them began to play in real form, and I must have had half the invalids in the kingdom well started toward convalescence, when the whole crowd in succession put down my ball again.

"I had stopped paying in half crowns some time before, and was dropping in gold. I took a sovereign from my pocket, therefore, and went over to drop it dutifully into the box when I noticed, with new appreciation, the sign pasted above it—"This box is for voluntary contributions only!"

"I turned about to the English and smiled 47