other batsman?" Deyes asked.

"Antill, the second bailiff," Mr. Hurd answered. "He's captain, and he
can stay in all day, but he can't make runs."

They all leaned forward to witness the continuation of the match.
Stephen Hurd's career was brief and inglorious. He took guard and looked
carefully round the field with the air of a man who is going to give
trouble. Then he saw the victoria, with its vision of parasols and
fluttering laces, and the sight was fatal to him. He slogged wildly at
the first ball, missed it, and paid the penalty. The lady in the
carriage frowned, and Mr. Hurd muttered something under his breath as he
watched his son on the way back to the tent.

"I'm afraid it's all up with us now," he remarked. "We have only three
more men to go in."

"Then we are going to be beaten," Wilhelmina remarked.

"I'm afraid so," Mr. Hurd assented gloomily.

The next batsman had issued from the tent and was on his way to the
wicket. Wilhelmina, who had been about to give an order to the footman,
watched him curiously.

"Who is that going in?" she asked abruptly.

Mr. Hurd was looking not altogether comfortable.

"It is the young man who wanted to preach," he answered.

Wilhelmina frowned.

"Why is he playing?" she asked. "He has nothing to do with Thorpe."

"He came down to see them practise a few evenings ago, and Antill asked
him," the agent answered. "If I had known earlier I would have stopped
it."

Wilhelmina did not immediately reply. She was watching the young man who
stood now at the wicket, bat in hand. In his flannels, he seemed a very
different person from the missioner whose request a few days ago had so
much offended her. Nevertheless, her lip curled as she saw the terrible
Mills prepare to deliver his first ball.

"That sort of person," she remarked, "is scarcely likely to be much good
at games. Oh!"

Her exclamation was repeated in various forms from all over the field.
Macheson had hit his first ball high over their heads, and a storm of
applause broke from the bystanders. The batsman made no attempt to run.

"What is that?" Wilhelmina asked.

"A boundary--magnificent drive," Mr. Hurd answered excitedly. "By Jove,
another!"

The agent dropped his reins and led the applause. Along the ground this
time the ball had come at such a pace that the fieldsman made a very
half-hearted attempt to stop it. It passed the horses' feet by only a
few yards. The coachman turned round and touched