THE TENNIS TOURNAMENT
“What luck!” cried Ruth exultantly, as she stood before the big white
card on which the contestants in the tennis tournament were lined up.
“Why, whom do you play first?” asked Doris, leaning over her shoulder.
“Alice and Stanley,” she replied. “So I guess there is no doubt that
Jack and I will reach the second round.”
“And how many sets do we play?” asked Doris, searching for her own name
on the card.
“It’s the best out of three, except for the finals--then the best out
of five.”
“Well, we won’t worry about the finals, will we, Roger?” she turned
smiling toward her partner, who was standing just behind her.
“No, I think David Conner and Ethel Todd will knock us out in short
order!”
“Oh, look!” interrupted Ruth. “Poor Marj has to play Miss Phillips and
Mr. Remington first! Tough luck!”
“What’s this I hear?” asked Marjorie, just coming into the hall.
Ruth repeated her announcement, and Marjorie contemplated the schedule
mournfully. She feared that she would be put out in the first round,
unless her partner, Griffith Hunter, were a perfect genius at the game.
“But you can’t expect to win everything,” said Ruth. “You’re pretty
sure of the canoe meet----”
The conversation was interrupted by the sound of the gong, summoning
them to breakfast. They all turned to answer its welcome call
immediately.
“I suppose you’ve all read the schedule,” said Mr. Andrews, when they
were seated around the table. “Mrs. Andrews pulled the names out at
random, so there can be no dissatisfaction.
“Now would you consider it too strenuous a program to play off the
first match this morning, and then report at luncheon? I think it would
be interesting to have the winning girl announce the victory in each
case.”
“And then if we beat, do we have to play the next match after
luncheon?” asked Ruth.
“That is to be just as you wish,” replied the host. “Or you may leave
it till Friday morning.”
The meal was eaten amid a confusion of questions and answers, everyone
asking everyone else whom they played first, and instantly forgetting
the answer.
“I wish we could begin right after breakfast,” said Ruth. “I hate to
waste time digesting a meal!”
“Aren’t we lucky that it is clear?” observed Jack. “Another day of
suspense would be agony.”
As soon as breakfast was concluded all the young people, except Ruth
and Jack, established themselves on the porch. But this energetic
couple were so restless that, in order to pass the time more quickly,
Jack suggested a walk to the garage to see how the repairs on Harold’s
car were progressing.
“Do you think we stand a chance of winning?” asked Ruth as they made
their way along the winding drive. “I don’t mean the first round--but
the finals!”
“I don’t know,” replied her companion. “I’ve never seen lots of those
people play.”
“It hardly seems fair for Mr. Remington and Miss Phillips to go in it,
does it? Still, so long as they did, it is good luck to have Marj and
Mr. Hunter up against them the first thing. I guess they’ll feel pretty
sick after their first match is over.”
“Marj is pretty good, though,” said Jack; “if I do say it myself. She’s
been playing with me and some of the fellows ever since school stopped,
and I’ve got to hand it to her. Her serve is out of sight!”
“Indeed!” said Ruth, stiffly. “She certainly must have improved, for I
never had any difficulty beating her at school.”
“Well, it all depends upon Hunter,” replied the boy. “We shall see.”
When they returned from their walk, they found the courts already
crowded. Everyone, except Marjorie and Griffith and their opponents,
who had secured the court belonging to the place, was playing at the
club.
As Ruth had surmised, their match with Alice and Stanley was so easy
that she had ample time to watch the others. They took two sets
straight, losing only two games during the entire time.
Ruth noticed that most of the other sets were won just as easily.
Since Frieda was a decided beginner, she and Bob lost heavily to Max
Stanton and Jeanne Trowbridge; and Lily and Dick were defeated in the
same manner by John and Frances. The other two sets were more evenly
contested.
Ruth’s thoughts flew to Marjorie and she wondered how that set was
progressing. If she could only see it--to get some idea of how Mr.
Remington and Miss Phillips played, so that she might be better
prepared to oppose them when her turn came. Glancing toward Jack, who
was sitting beside her on the bench, she suggested,
“Let’s go home, and get a look at Marj’s match! They’re probably being
beaten to pieces.”
“You seem to enjoy the prospect!” laughed Jack.
“Well, it’s only that your sister wins everything she can lay her
hands on, and it is a satisfaction to see her take a back seat once in
a while.”
But when they reached the grounds, they saw the tennis players, hot and
tired, walking toward the house.
“Who won?” called Jack.
“And what was the score?” put in Ruth.
“You’ll find out at luncheon,” returned Miss Phillips, teasingly. “Wait
and see.”
Ruth suppressed an expression of anger, and made no reply. It seemed to
her that Miss Phillips always chose to make herself as irritating as
possible. She resolved, however, to say nothing further to Marjorie.
But when lunch time came, she was almost consumed with curiosity.
“Let us have the announcements,” said Mr. Andrews, when everyone was
served. “Please report in the order your names appear on the tournament
card.”
“6-0, 6-2,” announced Ruth, triumphantly, secretly delighted that her
name led the list.
Frances Wright and Ethel Todd each reported somewhat similar victories;
and then the two Trowbridge girls, who had been invited for luncheon,
reported their successes. While everyone was looking for Miss Phillips
to report her score, to their great consternation, Marjorie Wilkinson
stood up.
“3-6; 8-6; 6-3,” she said smilingly.
“How did you ever do it!” cried Ruth, dropping her bread and butter.
“Mr. Hunter and Miss Wilkinson are some players!” said Mr. Remington.
“Not because they beat us,” he added hastily, in confusion.
“Congratulations to everybody!” said Mrs. Andrews. “I think you all did
well.”
“And are any of you anxious to play this afternoon?” asked their host.
“Not I!” sighed Marjorie. “I’m all in.”
“I’d like to,” said Ruth; “at least if it suits Frances and John.”
“Perfectly,” replied the girl.
The third group followed their example, so that two lively matches were
scheduled for three o’clock.
“Are you sure you’re not tired?” asked Jack, as he and Ruth went to the
club together.
“I never felt better in my life.”
“By the way, Hadley doesn’t look as if he had much pep, does he? I
wonder what’s the matter?”
“Oh, he’s heart broken because Marj chose to go swimming instead of
coming to cheer him on. She is a hard-hearted creature!”
“Marj doesn’t think a whole lot about boys,” replied Jack. “It’s
tennis, and canoeing, and scouts with her, all the time!”
Ruth was right about John Hadley; he went on the court without
enthusiasm, almost as if he regarded the game as lost before he played
it. Ruth and Jack, on the other hand, played for all they were worth.
The first game was hotly contested, but when John lost it finally on a
deuce score, he seemed to abandon all effort. The match resulted in an
easy victory for his opponents.
“And now for the semi-finals,” said Ruth. “I wish it were tomorrow
morning now.”
“I don’t!” cried Jack, emphatically. “I want a good night’s sleep.”
The number of players had now so materially decreased that everyone
could keep track of the games. And everyone knew, too, that both Ruth
and Marjorie were still in the tournament, although they would not be
matched against each other unless they both reached the finals.
This, however, proved to be actually the case. For both Trowbridge
girls, although good players at times, were uncertain and erratic, and
both fell down under the severe strain. Ruth and Marjorie, and their
opponents, and their partners as well, both used their heads, defeating
their opponents by skill in placing the ball. Both matches were
interesting and well fought, and the victories a credit to the winners.
The congratulations poured in from every side.
“But think of playing _five_ sets this afternoon!” gasped Marjorie,
sinking to the ground. “I’m dead!”
“Want to forfeit?” challenged Ruth.
“Never!” declared Marjorie.
“Then you can’t postpone it!”
“Oh, I don’t care. We’ll do the best we can, won’t we, Mr. Hunter?”
“Indeed, we will,” replied the young man earnestly.
Ruth would have preferred to play the match on the club courts, where
everyone in Silvertown might be privileged to attend. But Marjorie’s
request for the use of the private court had already been granted. Ruth
secretly felt that this seeming modesty on the part of her opponent
could be traced to the fact that the other girl expected to lose.
“She wants me to win my victory in private, without glory; tomorrow,
when her big chance comes to win at the canoe meet, she is willing for
all Silvertown to see!”
Ruth smiled grimly; there was nothing to do about it. She concluded to
try to make the victory so overwhelming that the news would spread like
wildfire all over the town. That would be her only hope of revenge.
The contestants were surprised, however, to see a large group of
spectators gathered around the court at three o’clock when the match
was scheduled to begin. It was evident that Griffith Hunter and the
Trowbridge girls had talked widely of the event, for all parts of
Silvertown were represented among those present.
It seemed rather unfortunate to Marjorie to be obliged to play against
her brother, for he not only knew most of her strokes, but he never had
any difficulty in returning her serve. But on the other hand, Marjorie
was just as familiar with Jack’s method of playing.
The court, though a splendid one, was half protected from the sun at
that time in the afternoon. By a stroke of good luck, Ruth won the
right to make her choice, and naturally selected the shady side. So
much, she thought, depended upon the opening games.
Whether it was because she was tired, or dazzled by the sun, Marjorie
lost the first game--her own serve. Encouraged by this triumph, Ruth
put added energy into her serve, and consequently captured the next
game easily. When, during the third game, Griffith sent all his serves
over swiftly without getting a single return, the spectators fairly
shouted in joy. It was not difficult to see which was the more popular
girl.
The enthusiasm for their opponents only made Ruth and Jack play all the
more swiftly. Indeed, it seemed for a while as if Marjorie and Griffith
were not trying. With the exception of the latter’s serves, they won
not a single game; the first set was over quickly with a score of 6-2
in Ruth’s favor.
“Want to rest a while, Marj?” suggested Ruth, in a compromising tone.
“No, indeed!” replied the girl. “I’m just waking up now!”
And it seemed in the minutes that followed that she was right. Trying
out a new serve--a cut--she took the first game without a point against
her. Then, adopting a new system of team play, which allowed her
partner to play net at all times, her side continued to score. The
second set was finished even more quickly than the first with a score
of 6-1, in Marjorie’s favor.
While Marjorie’s reserve strength seemed unfailing, Ruth began to
realize that she had worked too hard at the beginning. She had not
calculated correctly for a five-set match, and she began to be tired.
Marjorie noticed this, and skillfully managed to put the balls just
beyond her reach. Jack attempted several times to cross the court, and
get those his partner missed, but this move proved disastrous in each
case, for Griffith returned the ball to an empty court. As Ruth had
dreamed, the defeat was overwhelming, but not for Marjorie. The score
of the third set was 6-1, and of the final set 6-0.
“I guess you’re sorry now you didn’t play at the club,” whispered Ruth,
as the players made their way toward the spectators.
But Marjorie made no reply.