FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   115   116   117   118   119   120   121   122   123   124   125   126   127   128   129   130   131   132   133   134   135   136   137   138   139  
140   141   142   143   144   145   146   147   148   149   150   151   152   153   154   155   156   157   158   159   160   161   162   163   164   >>   >|  
his." She raised herself slowly. "You said---- Oh, all right, I expect you know. Anyhow, I _have_ scored some already, haven't I?" "Yes. You're eighteen to my nothing." "Yes. Well, now I shall have to aim all over again." She bent slowly over her cue. "Does it matter where I hit the red?" "Not much. As long as you hit it on the red part." She hit it hard on the side, and both balls came into baulk. "Too good," I said. "Does either of us get anything for it?" "No." The red and the white were close together, and I went up the table and down again on the off-chance of a cannon. I misjudged it, however. "That's three to you," I said stiffly, as I took my ball out of the right-hand bottom pocket. "Twenty-one to nothing." "Funny how I'm doing all the scoring," said Celia meditatively. "And I've practically never played before. I shall hit the red hard now and see what happens to it." She hit, and the red coursed madly about the table, coming to rest near the top right-hand pocket and close to the cushion. With a forcing shot I could get in. "This will want a lot of chalk," I said pleasantly to Celia, and gave it plenty. Then I let fly.... "Why did that want a lot of chalk?" said Celia with interest. I went to the fire-place and picked my ball out of the fender. "That's three to you," I said coldly. "Twenty-four to nothing." "Am I winning?" "You're leading," I explained. "Only, you see, I may make a twenty at any moment." "Oh!" She thought this over. "Well, I may make my three at any moment." She chalked her cue and went over to her ball. "What shall I do?" "Just touch the red on the right-hand side," I said, "and you'll go into the pocket." "The _right_-hand side? Do you mean _my_ right-hand side, or the ball's?" "The right-hand side of the ball, of course; that is to say, the side opposite your right hand." "But its right-hand side is opposite my _left_ hand, if the ball is facing this way." "Take it," I said wearily, "that the ball has its back to you." "How rude of it," said Celia, and hit it on the left-hand side, and sank it. "Was that what you meant?" "Well ... it's another way of doing it." "I thought it was. What do I give you for that?" "_You_ get three." "Oh, I thought the other person always got the marks. I know the last three times----" "Go on," I said freezingly. "You have another turn." "Oh, is it like rounders?" "Something. Go on, ther
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   115   116   117   118   119   120   121   122   123   124   125   126   127   128   129   130   131   132   133   134   135   136   137   138   139  
140   141   142   143   144   145   146   147   148   149   150   151   152   153   154   155   156   157   158   159   160   161   162   163   164   >>   >|  



Top keywords:
thought
 

pocket

 

moment

 

opposite

 

Twenty

 
slowly
 
chalked
 

Something


twenty
 

rounders

 

interest

 

winning

 
leading
 

explained

 
coldly
 

picked


fender
 
wearily
 

person

 

facing

 

freezingly

 

scored

 

Anyhow

 

expect


raised

 

matter

 

eighteen

 

chance

 

cannon

 

cushion

 

coming

 
coursed

forcing

 

pleasantly

 

bottom

 
stiffly
 

misjudged

 
practically
 

played

 
scoring

meditatively
 

plenty