find Innocent Amusement.

He started to hang around a Broker's Office but it was no Fun to bet
on a Turn-Up when you couldn't watch the Shuffle. Besides, the Game
was Cold and was being fiercely denounced by the Press.

For a Time he kept warm in a Bowling Alley. Drive a Man into a Corner
and goad him to Desperation and he will go so far as to Bowl, provided
that he lives in a German Neighborhood.

One Evening he went down to see the Walhallas go against the Schwabens,
but the Place was Dark.

The Authorities had interfered.

It seemed that the Manufacture of Bowling Balls involved the
Destruction of the Hardwood Forests, while the Game itself overtaxed
certain Important Muscles ending with "alis," at the same time
encouraging Profanity and the use of 5-cent Cigars.

Steve had one Stand-By left to him. He could prop himself up on the
Bleachers with a bag of lubricated Pop-Corn between his Knees and hurl
insulting Remarks at Honus Wagner, Joe Tinker and Ty Cobb.

When he crawled up in the 50-cent Seats he found the same old Bunch
that used to answer Roll Call at the Pool Room, the Sharkey Club,
and the Betting Ring.

The Law had made them Decent Citizens, but it hadn't made them any
easier to look at.

Steve longed for the Ponies and the good old Prelims between the Trial
Horses, with Blood dripping from the Ropes, but when he picked up the
Pink Sporting Page in the Morning, all he could find was that the
Sacred Heart Academy has wrested the Basket-Ball Trophy away from the
West Division High School.

Base Ball is only Near-Sport to one who has whanged the Wise Ikes that
mark up the Odds. Steve went to it because there was nothing else on
the Cards.

One Day he found every entrance to the Park guarded by a Blue Burly and
the Crowds being turned away.

The Health Department had put in a Knock on the Game, on the Ground
that the Ball, after being handled by various Players and passed from
one to the other, carried with it dangerous Microbes.

The Officials insisted that, after every Play, the Ball should be
treated with an Antiseptic or else that each Player should have an
Individual Ball and allow no one else to touch it.

The Society for the Protection of the Young had put up a Howl because
the Game diverted the Attention of Urchins from their Work in the
Public Schools and tended to encourage Mendacity among Office Boys.

The Concatenated Order of High-Brows had represented to the proper
Authori