member of five
lodges, and an habitual delegate. It generally was he who introduced
distinguished guests who spoke at the opera house on Decoration Day. He
called Mrs. Keller "Mother," and he wasn't above noticing the fit of a
gown on a pretty feminine figure. He thought Ivy was an expurgated
edition of Lillian Russell, Madame De Stael, and Mrs. Pankburst.

"Aren't you feeling well, Ivy?" he asked. "Looking a little pale. It's
the heat, I suppose. Gosh! Something smells good. Run in and tell
Mother I'm here."

Ivy kept one slender finger between the leaves of her book. "I'm
perfectly well," she replied. "That must be beefsteak and onions. Ugh!"
And she shuddered, and went indoors.

Dad Keller looked after her thoughtfully. Then he went in, washed his
hands, and sat down at table with Ivy and her mother.

"Just a sliver for me," said Ivy, "and no onions."

Her father put down his knife and fork, cleared his throat, and spake,
thus:

"You get on your hat and meet me at the 2:45 inter-urban. You're going
to the ball game with me."

"Ball game!" repeated Ivy. "I? But I'd----"

"Yes, you do," interrupted her father. "You've been moping around here
looking a cross between Saint Cecilia and Little Eva long enough. I
don't care if you don't know a spitball from a fadeaway when you see it.
You'll be out in the air all afternoon, and there'll be some excitement.
All the girls go. You'll like it. They're playing Marshalltown."

Ivy went, looking the sacrificial lamb. Five minutes after the game was
called she pointed one tapering white finger in the direction of the
pitcher's mound.

"Who's that?" she asked.

"Pitcher," explained Papa Keller, laconically. Then, patiently: "He
throws the ball."

"Oh," said Ivy. "What did you say his name was?"

"I didn't say. But it's Rudie Schlachweiler. The boys call him Dutch.
Kind of a pet, Dutch is."

"Rudie Schlachweiler!" murmured Ivy, dreamily. "What a strong name!"

"Want some peanuts?" inquired her father.

"Does one eat peanuts at a ball game?"

"It ain't hardly legal if you don't," Pa Keller assured her.

"Two sacks," said Ivy. "Papa, why do they call it a diamond, and what
are those brown bags at the corners, and what does it count if you hit
the ball, and why do they rub their hands in the dust and then--er--spit
on them, and what salary does a pitcher get, and why does the red-haired
man on the other side dance around like that between