strode to the crease in an almost eerie silence. David had
taken off his blouse and rolled up his shirt-sleeves, and his teeth were
set, so I knew he would begin by sending me down some fast ones.

His delivery is underarm and not inelegant, but he sometimes tries a
round-arm ball, which I have seen double up the fielder at square leg.
He has not a good length, but he varies his action bewilderingly, and
has one especially teasing ball which falls from the branches just as
you have stepped out of your ground to look for it. It was not, however,
with his teaser that he bowled me that day. I had notched a three and
two singles, when he sent me down a medium to fast which got me in two
minds and I played back to it too late. Now, I am seldom out on a really
grassy wicket for such a meagre score, and as David and I changed places
without a word, there was a cheery look on his face that I found very
galling. He ran in to my second ball and cut it neatly to the on for a
single, and off my fifth and sixth he had two pretty drives for three,
both behind the wicket. This, however, as I hoped, proved the undoing of
him, for he now hit out confidently at everything, and with his score at
nine I beat him with my shooter.

The look was now on my face.

I opened my second innings by treating him with uncommon respect, for
I knew that his little arm soon tired if he was unsuccessful, and then
when he sent me loose ones I banged him to the railings. What cared I
though David's lips were twitching.

When he ultimately got past my defence, with a jumpy one which broke
awkwardly from the off, I had fetched twenty-three so that he needed
twenty to win, a longer hand than he had ever yet made. As I gave him
the bat he looked brave, but something wet fell on my hand, and then a
sudden fear seized me lest David should not win.

At the very outset, however, he seemed to master the bowling, and soon
fetched about ten runs in a classic manner. Then I tossed him a Yorker
which he missed and it went off at a tangent as soon as it had reached
the tree. "Not out," I cried hastily, for the face he turned to me was
terrible.

Soon thereafter another incident happened, which I shall always recall
with pleasure. He had caught the ball too high on the bat, and I just
missed the catch. "Dash it all!" said I irritably, and was about to
resume bowling, when I noticed that he was unhappy. He hesitated, took
up his position at the wicket, and then came