The Meadow-Brook Girls on the Tennis Courts; Or, Winning Out in the Big Tournament

by Roy J. Snell

  CHAPTER XVI IN CAMP ON THE BATTLE FIELD

  Newtown, as already mentioned, was a summer resort. There were many finesummer homes, excellent bathing, a limited number of hotels, and a largepopulation of fashionable summer visitors.

  This year the tournament had excited more than ordinary interest becausearranged wholly for women. Not a man was to take part in any event,though most of the teams were managed by relatives or family friends.That it was to be a bitter fight was evident from the activity of thepreparations and the care with which the various minor officials had beenchosen. A very large attendance was promised and it was believed thatsome future champions would be developed from the contest. This, as amatter of fact, was the fond hope of Jack Herrington, the manager, whohad arranged this unusual tournament. One team from which much wasexpected was a club of girls from the summer colony, fashionable youngwomen who had spent some years playing tennis.

  This latter club consisted of four girls, just as did the Meadow-Brookentry. One pair was entered as "The Fifth Avenues," the other as "TheRiversides." All their practising had been done on the private courtbelonging to one of the girls, so that no one outside of the few on theinside really knew what they were doing. Then there were other clubs fromvarious parts of the State. One team from Portsmouth, the Scott Sisters,were known to be among the most expert tennis players in the ranks of theyounger players, and among those who claimed to know, it was believedthat the Scott Sisters were sure winners, provided the Fifth Avenues andthe Riversides did not carry off the cup. There was just enough mysteryin the entries of the latter to cause a great deal of speculation andarouse keen interest.

  Jane McCarthy and her passengers arrived in Newtown at eleven o'clock inthe forenoon of the day on which they had left home. Their arrivalattracted no attention, for the girls were unknown to the residents ofNewtown. Jane did not know where to go. Harriet called a halt and soonlearned where the office of the manager was. They repaired there at once,only to find that he was out on the tennis field. They were directed howto get there and drove away in search of it.

  The tennis field was located on the outskirts of the town in an openfield. The nets were not yet in place, but men were working on thecourts, packing these down with hand rollers in some instances, in otherschalking out the lines, taking measurements, working on the covered standwhere seats were held at high prices for such spectators as wished to beunder cover and out of the direct rays of the sun. The girls weredirected to the manager. They waited while Harriet went over to speak tohim.

  "So you are one of the Meadow-Brook Girls, eh?" he exclaimed, extending acordial hand. "George Baker has told me all about you. You look as thoughyou could give a good account of yourself."

  "Thank you."

  "Where are your friends?"

  "In Miss McCarthy's car yonder. We drove over from Meadow-Brook thismorning. Do you know whether Mr. Baker has made our camp or not?"

  "He has," answered Herrington, regarding the brown-faced young womankeenly, pleased both with her manner and her apparently splendidcondition.

  "Will you kindly direct me to it?"

  "With pleasure, Miss Burrell. The camp is pitched just within the edge ofthose trees at the far side of the field yonder," pointing to a grove."You are the only contestants who, so far as I am aware, are camping out.Baker tells me that you prefer it. I consider it an excellent idea,provided the weather is good."

  "Oh, we do not mind bad weather. We are quite well used to all kinds,"answered Harriet, her face lighting up in a happy smile. "Are any of theother players here?"

  "None of those from out of town so far as I know. Some of them may bestaying with friends. None has reported to me. I should like to meet yourcompanions if you have no objection."

  "They will be glad to know you," answered Harriet, turning back towardthe car, with Mr. Herrington walking beside her. The manager waspresented to Miss Elting and each of the Meadow-Brook Girls in turn. Hesaid he knew Grace Thompson's father quite well and that he also knew Mr.McCarthy by reputation.

  "I thought I was the only member of our family who had a reputation,"blurted out Jane. "Between myself and the motor car pretty nearly everyone in our part of the State has met disaster. Is that our camp overyonder?"

  "Yes," answered Herrington, with an amused smile.

  "May I drive the car over?"

  "You may. But please go around the outside edge of the field so as not tocut up the turf near the courts. We have spent some weeks on thesegrounds, and are naturally very careful of them."

  "It is a very beautiful field," remarked the guardian admiringly. "I seethere are no nets up. When will you stretch them?"

  "Any time you may wish after to-day. I suppose you have reference topractice?"

  "Yes."

  "All shall have opportunity to accustom themselves to the various courts,for until the drawings I cannot say what teams will play on certaincourts. The singles are to be played off first. We are reserving thedoubles until the last because there is greater interest in these, and byholding them until the last we shall hold the attendance as well. You seethere is a business side to this tournament, a side that is not whollyunselfish."

  "Of course," agreed Miss Elting. "Have you many entries?"

  "In the doubles? Yes, there are twenty entries. I imagine there will notbe quite so many as that on the second day of the double events," addedMr. Herrington. "George Baker has been scouting for news; he is a regularsleuth. He will tell you all about it. You will find him at the camp; hisown camp is farther back in the woods. And, by the way, I have given himpermission to pitch a dressing tent just beyond the last court on thatside. He will not do that until just before the doubles are called. Anyof the other players who desire it may have the same privilege. I hadn'tthought of it until Baker suggested the idea, which is a good one. Nextyear we shall do this ourselves. I hope you may be with us then."

  "It is quite likely that we shall," answered Harriet.

  "Then you are quite confident of the result this year?"

  "We are going to do our best," replied Harriet Burrell modestly. "We arenew at the game. Five weeks ago we practically knew nothing of the game.What we have done has been done within that time."

  "I wish you luck, my dear young ladies, but you will find yourselves inpretty hot company for girls of your limited experience at the nets. Mostof the contestants have been playing for years at home, though very fewof them, I believe, have ever participated in a public match."

  "I am glad to hear it," said the Meadow-Brook Girl with a smile. This wasgood news to Harriet Burrell and she stowed it away in her mind forfuture consideration.

  "Mr. Baker tells me that Earlington Disbrow is a friend of yours and thathe is coming down here from Boston to-morrow."

  "Yes, Mr. Disbrow has been good enough to take an interest in our work,"answered Miss Elting innocently. "We shall be glad to see an oldacquaintance again."

  Mr. Herrington bowed low, expressing his pleasure at having met sorenowned a party as the Meadow-Brooks, and, requesting that they callupon him for anything in his power to grant, returned to his supervisionof the courts.

  As they neared the edge of the wood the tents began to stand out moreplainly. These were just within the edge of the grove. Out in the field ashort distance from the edge of the grove they saw a number of khaki-cladboys at work. So busy were the latter that up to this time they hadfailed to observe the approach of the motor car.

  Jane blew her horn. The boys heard and recognized the sound.

  "It's the Meadow-Brooks!" shouted George Baker. "Give 'em a cheer,fellows. Hurrah!"

  The boys tossed their hats in the air and whooped so loudly that the menat work on the courts at the opposite end of the field paused in theirwork to look and listen. The Meadow-Brook Girls answered with their clubyell, the car came to a stop in front of the boys and the girls hoppedout. Hand-shaking was the order of the day for the next few minutes,during which the girls were
overwhelmed with questions.

  "Fit as fiddles all around," declared George after a critical look intothe smiling face of each girl. "Miss Brown is the only soft one in theparty."

  "I'm not soft," flung back Margery indignantly. "I'd have you know that.You ought to know it without my telling you."

  "Don't get angry over it, Miss Margery," answered George laughingly. "Ididn't mean to hurt your feelings. What I meant was that you were not inthe pink of condition like the other girls. They have been in trainingfor some weeks, you know, so you could not be expected to come up tothem."

  Buster, somewhat mollified, smiled and sat down. The girls glanced aboutthem inquiringly.

  "What are you boys doing here?" demanded the guardian, glancing curiouslyabout her.

  "Oh, Miss Elting, they are making a practice court," cried Harriet.

  "Why, boys, you shouldn't have gone to all that trouble. The games comeon the day after to-morrow and we shall have very little use for a court.Then, again, you have peeled off the sod. Why couldn't we have practisedon a grass court for the short time?" asked the guardian. "Of course weappreciate this, just as we do everything you have done for us, but youhave done altogether too much."

  "In the first place," replied George, "all you will wish to do on thecourts out there is to warm up, to limber up. You will wish to practisesome of your fancy strokes, which you can do here without any oneobserving you. We shall see to that. We shall stand guard and not let anyone near the court while you girls are at work. The reason we peeled thesod is that you will play on a hard court in the contest. To play on agrass court here for practice might undo all you have accomplished thusfar with regard to foot work. I know P. E. would agree with me in that."

  "Hathn't George got a head to be proud of?" demanded Tommy. "I withh Ihad a head like hith, only much more beautiful."

  "Thank you." Captain George bowed with great ceremony, as though deeplyappreciative of this rather doubtful compliment.

  "You do think of everything, George," remarked Harriet. "You are right,too. This court will be of no little assistance to us for the finishingtouches. I have some new strokes that I have thought out, strokes that Ishould like to try without any one's observing me. Come, let's look atthe tents."

  There were two of these, one for Miss Elting, the other for the girls.The boys had given the guardian one of their small camping tents. Thegirls uttered exclamations of surprise when they entered the tent.Everything was arranged with as much taste as they themselves could haveshown. In addition to this the interiors of the two tents were decoratedwith cedar boughs that the lads had gathered by the wayside on their wayto Newtown. On the two end poles crossed tennis racquets had beenfastened with a tennis ball in the crotch formed by each pair ofracquets. In the center of the girls' tent was a small folding tablecovered with a scarf that George had borrowed from his mother, and on thecenter of the table stood a pitcher filled with roses.

  "Oh, you boys, you boys!" exclaimed Miss Elting, her eyes shininghappily. In her own tent she found a similar condition.

  The girls looked their deep appreciation rather than expressing it inmere words.

  "I am going to put up a dressing tent for you before the games," saidGeorge.

  "Yes, Mr. Herrington told us," answered Harriet.

  "Oh, then you've met Jack? There won't be much in the tent but a fewblankets and a cot. You will appreciate that tent when you have a restbetween sets. We shall have water there for bathing your faces to helpyou cool off. I think we are in for some roasting weather."

  "Anybody would think this was a prize fight that was about to be fought,"declared Sam abruptly. George fixed him with a rebuking glance.

  "I see a great deal is expected of us," replied Harriet seriously. "If wedo not do our best, we are unworthy of such friendship. But, George, youknow what I promised you before we even began to practise--that we aregoing to win. I repeat that statement now, and I mean every word of it."

  "That is the talk," said George, but inwardly he groaned. He knew in hisown mind that it was beyond the power of Harriet and her fellow-playersto carry off the cup. "You don't want to practise to-day, do you?"

  "Perhaps late in the afternoon," answered Harriet.

  "Then I'll tell you what let's do," suggested Dill enthusiastically."Let's all go down to the beach for a swim in the surf."

  "Fine! Come on, darlin's," cried Jane.

  "Oh, yeth, let'th go," urged Tommy.

  "I do not think it would be wise," answered Harriet reflectively. "Ishould dearly love a swim, but I do not think it prudent. We might catcha little cold or stiffen our muscles or something of the sort. We havetoo much at stake to take any chances. I for one shall not go in the surfand I hope none of you girls will."

  "Harriet is right," answered George approvingly.

  "Yes, she is," agreed Miss Elting. "But you haven't told us the news. Mr.Herrington said you knew a lot about what had been going on here."

  George's face took on a more serious expression.

  "I've turned up a few facts," he said.

  "I suppose it is all settled as to who is going to win the championshipcup?" said Harriet with a smile.

  He nodded.

  "That's what they say. They say that the championship lies between theScott Sisters and the two pairs known as the Fifth Avenues and theRiversides."

  "Have you seen them play?" asked Harriet.

  "No. But I got hold of a fellow I know who has seen them play a number oftimes. He says they are wonders, regular Indians with the racquets. I'vegot Charlie Mabie scouting now. He will bring back the news."

  "I hope you will not do anything that isn't quite right, George," saidMiss Elting deprecatingly.

  The captain shook his head.

  "No. You'll find they will be doing the same thing here, or trying to.They will get a hard bump if they do," he added under his breath. "Butyou do want to look alive for those Scott Sisters. From all I can learn,they are regular professionals, and those who have seen them play inother matches say they are mighty tricky players."

  "You mean dishonest?" questioned Harriet.

  "Well, you might call it that. I mean they would be if they could getaway with it. But even so, a player sometimes can turn a trick that isn'tfair and not be caught at it, or else is able to convince the umpire thatshe didn't do anything unfair."

  "Nothing of the sort will be done by this team," declared Harriet Burrellfirmly. "But though we shall play fairly, we shall go in prepared tofight to the bitter end, to fight every inch of the way until either wedrive our opponents off the court or are driven off of it ourselves."

  "Hurrah! That's certainly the real hero talk," shouted Sam.

  "Will you please keep still," admonished George. "I was about to say thatI haven't learned anything of interest about the other teams entered forthe doubles. In fact, not much of anything is known here. All of themwill be here to-morrow. Perhaps Herrington told you that the singles areto be played off first. Some of the girls in those are to play in thedoubles also. You ought to be able to get pointers by watching them playin the singles, learning their tricks and so on."

  "That will be helpful," agreed Harriet.

  "What do you wish to do now, sit down and rest?" questioned the captain.

  "We must go back to town and get our food supplies," answered theguardian. "Will you come with us, George?"

  "Yes, thank you. I was going to propose that you go over to town with me.There's something there that I want to show you. Oh, you'll be delightedwhen you see it."