AT THE FIRST THROW AUNT JANE SHOOK HER HAT
CROOKED.... THE BYSTANDERS CHEERED HER
LOUDLY.
With trembling fingers she handed the man twopence and took the three wooden balls. A sudden hush of astonishment fell on the crowd when Aunt Jane’s curious figure came to the fore. At the first throw she shook her hat crooked, at the second she shook a tail of hair down, at the third she shook off her spectacles. The third ball went wider of the mark than all the others, and hit a young man on the shoulder. Seeing Aunt Jane, however, he only smiled. She demanded another two-pennyworth. The bystanders cheered her loudly. The crowd round the cocoanut-shy stall grew. People from afar thought it was an accident, and crowded up to watch. Then they saw Aunt Jane and stayed.
At last, after her sixth shot, Aunt Jane, flushed and panting and dishevelled, turned to William.
“It’s much more difficult than it looks, William,” she said regretfully, as she straightened her hat and hair. “I would have liked to have knocked one off.”
“What about me?” said William coldly.
“Oh, yes,” she said. “You must try, too.” So she paid another twopence, and William tried, too. But the crowd began to melt away at once, and even the proprietor began to look bored. William realised that he was an anticlimax and felt dispirited.
“You should use more force, I think, William,” said Aunt Jane, “and more directness of aim.”
William growled.
“Well, you didn’t do it,” he said aggressively.
“No,” said Aunt Jane, “but I think with practice——”