g a single chance until the
conclusion of the day's play, when the stumps were drawn at seven
o'clock in the evening.

Young Black had scored by that time no less than eighty off his own bat,
and Hardy forty-one, after being in to their own cheek exactly as long
as the Inimitables' whole innings lasted. It was glorious, one hundred
and eighteen without the loss of a wicket, and the bowling and fielding
must have been good, as there were only seven extras all that long while
our men had been in. Why, that placed us thirty-one runs to the good at
the close of the first day's play. Who would have thought it?

The next morning play began as punctually as on the first day, and the
crowd to witness the match was even greater than before, many coming now
who had stayed away previously, expecting our wholesale defeat in one
innings; and "young Ebony," as Black was called affectionately, and
Prester John resumed their places at the wickets amidst the tremendous
cheering from the whole of the hamlet and twenty miles round.

The bowlers of the Inimitables were on their metal now if they never
were; but they bowled, and changed their bowling, in vain, for young
Jemmy Black continued his brilliant hitting without any cessation, while
Prester John remained on the defensive, except some very safe ball
tempted him, until our score turned the two hundred in our second
innings.

Prester John here retired by reason of his placing a ball in short-
slip's hands; but on our captain taking his place and facing Black, the
run-getting went steadily on until we were considerably a hundred over
our antagonists. Young Black had not given a chance, save one close
shave of a run out, when he got clean bowled for one hundred and fifty-
one. Fancy that; and off such first-class bowling, too!

It was as much as Hardy and I could do to prevent him being torn in
pieces by the excited spectators, who rushed in _en masse_ when he
abandoned the wicket he had defended so well, his face all the time
expanding into one huge grin, which appeared to convert it into all
mouth and nothing else.

Sidney and I, and one or two others, scored well, although nothing like
what our two champion stickers had done; and the whole of our second
innings terminated for two hundred and eighty-eight runs, thus leaving
the Inimitables no less than a hundred and ninety-one to get to tie us,
and one more to win. I fancy that was something like a feather in the
cap of t