THE TENNIS TOURNAMENT
When Mimi pranced into Tumble Inn and did a fan dance using her tennis
racquet for a fan, Chloe jerked something off the table and stuck it in
her portfolio. Betsy and Sue stepped between Chloe and Mimi, making a
screen.
"Wouldn't keep anything from me, would you, pals?"
Mimi zipped her finger across her neck making a cutthroat gesture.
Chloe paled but Sue giggled. Betsy told.
"We were having a private art exhibit."
"But why can't I see it?"
"You might not appreciate it as much as we."
The elephant-child's curiosity was on a rampage now. Mimi, and the
other girls too, knew that there would be no peace until Mimi saw.
Hesitantly Chloe slipped the paper from its hiding place and handed it
to Mimi.
A tense pause, then Mimi laughed. She doubled up and rolled over on the
bed.
"You've got me exactly, Chloe. I didn't know you were that good."
On the paper was a charcoal sketch of Mimi awkwardly sprawled out on
the icy lake at Wildwood. Chloe had caught the humor amazingly well.
"Why did you hide it? That's the first time I ever posed for an artist
and I'm pleased."
"We didn't intend for you to see it."
"What were you going to do with it?"
No one answered.
"What were you going to do with it?" Mimi shouted.
Still silence prevailed.
Knowing all the vulnerable points, Mimi made for roly-poly Sue and
began to tickle her.
"We--were--wrapping it--to--please, Mimi, please, I'll tell--to mail to
Honky."
"You're worse than traitors," Mimi cried.
"Hold her, Sue," Betsy called. Snatching up the picture, she and Chloe
fled.
As soon as Mimi wrenched herself free, she hunted high and low and
could not find them. They had succeeded in making a getaway. For thirty
minutes Mimi stood guard in the post office. Then she gave up. She had
something else to look for besides two silly girls. She had lost two of
Dit's good tennis balls practicing, and if she didn't find them, it
would take the rest of her week's allowance to buy new ones. Forty-five
cents apiece. Two times forty-five was ninety cents! Mimi ran toward
the tennis courts.
She had lost the first one on a hard serve. That was all right, but
losing the second had been unnecessary. Taking Jill's advice she had
sent the second ball after the first. That meant she had stood in the
same place and served the second ball as nearly like the first as
possible. It had gone wild, too, and disappeared before her very eyes.
She'd be glad when her serve was under control, when she could serve
both balls hard the way Dit did. The way Mimi served now, she batted
the first one as hard as she could, but in case it did not go in the
proper court, which was more than half the time, she eased up on the
second. She could drop an easy serve anywhere in the court she pleased.
Her game was improving. She was hopeful of getting at least to
quarter-finals in the tournament unless she drew a crack player for her
first sets. There were not enough Preps interested in tennis for them
to have a separate tournament. Those desiring to enter must take their
chances against the college girls, too. Mimi turned over her chances in
her mind as she went around behind the backstops and burrowed in the
leaves for the balls. She could not find them. Goodbye ninety cents.
She gave up and hurried in for her shower bath.
On the way, she poked her head in the office and asked the girl on duty
to order two Wright and Ditson balls from Sweirs.
"Come in, Mimi. We've been wanting to see you. The girls have been
talking so much about those grand bean-hole beans you cooked and didn't
get to eat, that I want the recipe."
"I'm glad you liked them."
"Glad _I_ liked them! The whole school has been raving about them.
Don't tell me you didn't know? I've decided that if you will write down
the recipe and the full instructions for digging the hole, etc., that
I'll mimeograph it and give the girls copies."
"Keen!"
Mimi was delighted. Heedless of the fact that supper time was near, she
plopped down in a swivel chair and demanded paper and pencil. No time
like the present to get a job done.
After supper the girls went to Miss Bassett's office and drew for their
places in the tournament. Mimi was lucky. She drew a bye. The matches
were still three days off and Mimi would have four days.
She was spending all her spare time on the courts. She watched the
college girls play. She studied the lazy, relaxed manner Dit had when
she addressed the ball; how careful she was not to "foot fault"--step
inside the base line when she served. More and more she was
understanding that points were won by thinking the ball out of the
opponent's reach rather than by "main strength and awkwardness" as the
adage goes.
She was developing an effective base line drive and Dottie would never
recognize her serve. Wait 'til she got back to B.G. She'd make them sit
up and take notice.
The first day of the tournament, Mimi led small groups on the side
lines in cheers. The preliminaries were not very interesting as the
competition was not keen. Dit mowed her opponent down without getting
up a sweat. A free-for-all tournament had to get well under way before
the players were fairly matched. Mimi and her group moved from court to
court where the matches were the hottest.
Not playing that first day, Mimi kept her eyes open and learned
tournament etiquette. She also had time to stir in her trunk and get
out her white linen shorts with the red pin stripe which she had worn
for "bests" at camp. She cut the sleeves out of a shirt and faced the
arm holes. When she appeared on the courts for her first match, she
could hear girls complimenting her costume. Then before them all, she
pulled a navy bandana from her pocket and tied her hair back. She
thought of Dottie's beloved red bandana at camp and smiled. She wished
Dottie and the other campers were here to root for her. However, she
had a group of supporters--Madge, Olivia, Chloe, Sue and enough others
to make considerable noise were huddled on the side lines of the number
two court where she played and won her first match.
She won again next day and for three straight days, she moved up a
bracket. This landed her in the quarter-finals. She couldn't wait any
longer to tell how well she was doing so she wrote Honky and Dottie
both. If she had not written before the quarter-final match, she would
not have written at all, for she was defeated.
At least Mimi did not cry like Jill did when she was defeated. Nor did
she accuse her opponent of cheating. She was defeated fairly and
squarely and went down smiling. She was pitted against a college girl
who played rings around her.
Mimi was licked before the set was called. The girl across the net from
her was taller, stronger and a far more experienced player. In the face
of such odds, Mimi battled spunkily. The few times she did
score--oftener by her opponent's poor playing rather than her own good
playing--Olivia and the other rooters whooped loud and long.
Mimi hated to lose at anything but when Sue put a sweater around her at
the end of the match, she knew she had done her best.
"Nice match, girls," Miss Bassett said in passing.
That helped but something else helped more.
The day Mimi lost out, Dit moved up to semi-finals. The next day she
advanced another bracket and the day she played in the finals the whole
school, faculty and all, turned out. Mimi had far more than half of
them marshalled in her section to cheer for Dit. Sometimes she was so
enraptured watching Dit serve and volley and chop that she forgot to
yell. Someday she would be able to play like Dit. Dit was no happier
than Mimi when after three grueling sets she was declared winner.
Mimi rushed up with her white sweater and threw it around Dit's
shoulders, shouting her congratulations. She took Dit's racquet from
her perspiring hands and put it in the brace. Then she retrieved the
balls and put them in the box before joining the procession which
trailed Dit in to the showers.
The morning the trophies were awarded in assembly, Mimi scrambled for a
front seat. She didn't want to miss a word. She knew she would be able
to hear Dr. Barnes and Miss Bassett no matter where she sat, but she
wanted to hear what Dit mumbled. Some day she would be winning a
tournament and she wanted to know how to accept it. When Dit said,
"thank you," and reached out her hand for the trophy, Mimi tingled to
the tips of her toes.
She was even happier weeks later when the Annual was out to make
another discovery. Instead of her picture on Blue Boy being in the
beauty section by Chloe's, it was in the sports section opposite Dit's.
That was even better.