t place at all. She wasn't
a Fifth-ave. girl--you could tell that by the way she wore her hair
bunched down on the nape of her neck--but it was a cinch she wasn't any
poor relation.

[Illustration: Mother, sister, and Lady Evelyn.]

"Lost their way goin' to the matinee, eh?" says I.

Jarvis, he gets pink clear down to his collarbone. "I beg pardon,
professor," says he. "It's only mother and the girls. I'll send them
off."

"That's right; shoo 'em," says I.

But mother wouldn't shoo any more'n a trolley-car. "Now, don't be silly
about it, Jarvis, dear," says she. "You know how Lady Evelyn dotes on
athletics, and how your sister and I do, too. So we're just going to
stay and watch you."

"Oh, come, mother," says Jarvis; "it isn't just the thing, you know."

"Ask Lady Evelyn," says mother. "Why, she's one of the patronesses of
the Oldwich Cricket Club, and pours tea for the young men at their
games. Now, go ahead, Jarvis; there's a dear."

He looks at me for a tip, and that gives him a hunch. "But the
professor--" says he.

"Oh, Professor McCabe doesn't mind us a bit; do you now, professor?"
says sister, buttin' in, real coy and giddy.

"I can stand it if you can," says I, and she tips me a goo-goo smile
that was all to the candied violets.

"There!" says the mother. "Now go right on as though we were not here
at all. But remember not to be too rough, Jarvis, dear."

I grins at that, and Jarvis dear looks foolisher than ever. But the
ladies had settled themselves in front seats, and there didn't seem to
be anything to do but to play marbles or quit an' go home. And say, I
don't know which looked more like a stage-hand caught in front of the
drop, Jarvis or me. We went through some kind of motions, though, until
I begins to get over bein' rattled. Then I tries to brace him up.

"Little faster with that right counter there," says I. "And block more
with your elbow. Ah, you're wide open--see?" and I taps him once or
twice. "Now look out for this left lead to the face. Come, use that
right a little. 'Tain't in a sling, is it? Foot-work, now. You side-step
like a truck-horse. There, that's the article. Now let 'em come--block,
counter, guard!"

You see, I was doin' my best to work up a little excitement and get
Jarvis to forget the audience; but it wasn't much use. About all we did
was to walk around and pat each other like a pair of kittens. There'd
been as much exercise in passin' the plate at church.

Mot