satisfaction Winthrop recognized this; and unconsciously he was
now frankly regarding the face of the girl with a smile of
pleasure and admiration.

"And I used to tie him to the fence just opposite first base,"
Vera went on excitedly, "and shout -- for you!"

"Don't tell me," interrupted Winthrop, in burlesque excitement,
"that you were that very pretty little girl, with short dresses
and long legs, who used to sit on the top rail and kick and
cheer."

Vera shook her head sternly.

"I was," she said, "but you never saw me."

"Oh, yes, we did," protested Winthrop. "We used to call you our
mascot."

"No, that was some other little girl," said Vera firmly. "You
never looked at me, and I" -- she laughed, and then frowned at
him reproachfully -- "I thought you were magnificent! I used to
have your pictures in baseball clothes pinned all around my
looking glass, and whenever you made a base hit, I'd shout and
shout -- and you'd never look at me! And one day -- " she
stopped, and as though appalled by the memory, clasped her
hands. "Oh, it was awful!" she exclaimed; "one day a foul ball
hit the fence, and I jumped down and threw it to you, and you
said, Thank you, sis! And I," she cried, "thought I was a young
lady!"