The linesmen were in their places at the sides of the courts, the referee sat in his high chair, where he commanded a clear view of the court over which he was to make decisions. Tommy laughed and poked Harriet in the ribs with her racquet.
“Doethn’t he look funny in hith high chair?” she chuckled. “Jutht like a baby. They ought to give him a bib and tucker.”
“Sh-h-h-h!” The referee was instructing the players as to what was expected of them. This finished, the sides tossed for the courts and service. In the case of the Meadow-Brook team the toss was won by their opponents, giving the opponents the service, the right to serve the first ball, a considerable advantage and one that frequently leads to victory.
The team opposed to Hazel and Jane were Miss Sprague and Miss Collins, the famous Riversides. Each girl was larger than either Hazel or her teammate, but to Disbrow’s keen eyes the two Riverside girls did not appear to be in the fittest condition. They were a little too stout, it seemed to him.
“Play!” called the referee.
Jane and Hazel stood in position, Jane apparently all ready to return the first ball that went over the net. Disbrow uttered a sigh of relief as he saw the lack of force with which Miss Sprague served the ball. Surely his pupil would send it back in the approved “smashing” manner. But Jane stood as if rooted to the spot; her first experience of playing before a crowd of onlookers had given her an unprecedented attack of “stage fright.” She partially recovered when the ball was on its second bounce, but then it was too late, for the Meadow-Brooks had lost the first point. And so it was throughout the six games that followed. Both Hazel and Jane played more like wooden automatons than like the strong, agile girls they were known to be. Their opponents were weak players, but they had entered tournaments before and therefore had more self-confidence than the Meadow-Brook Girls. In nearly every game either Jane or Hazel would manage to get a point or two, but Miss Sprague and her partner succeeded in getting six games before Disbrow’s pupils had won any, and therefore were credited with the first set of the match.
The Tramp Boys had cheered the girls whenever they had the slightest excuse, but they were too despondent to offer any real encouragement to the defeated teammates as they made their weary way to the dressing tent for a seven minutes’ rest. Even Disbrow could not conceal his disappointment, for he knew the Meadow-Brook team had not played as well as they had done in practice. Jane realized this, too, and just before they reached the court for the second set she whispered to Hazel in a very decided tone, “This set we must win. You know perfectly well that we can play better than those girls. If we lose, it will be a disgrace to Mr. Disbrow, and if we make use of all he has so patiently taught us, we shall not lose. Come on, let’s ‘thhow’ him, as Tommy would say.”
The next set told a very different story. Miss Collins and Miss Sprague had become over-confident because they had won the first set so easily; the Meadow-Brook spirit had asserted itself once more, with the result that Jane and Hazel had three games to their credit almost before they knew it. The Tramp Boys were yelling with delight, but the Englishman’s team were so intent on the business at hand that they were hardly conscious of the din. The second set they won easily, the final score being 6-2 in their favor. In the third decisive set of the match every point marked a long struggle, and the Riversides had to fight for every point they gained. The games stood 5-2 in their favor when Jane caught sight of Disbrow’s tense, excited face and tightly clasped hands. That was enough.
“Remember P. E.,” she whispered to Hazel, and thereafter they played with such vim that they brought the score up to 5-5 or deuce. Wild yells from onlookers greeted this feat. However, the longer training and greater poise of the Riversides told in the end, for in their eagerness to return one of the balls, Jane and Hazel both rushed for it, collided in the middle of the court, and the ball passed swiftly by them.
“Game and set for the Riversides!” called out the referee.