Aswiftvisionofabright-faced，cheery-voicedsoldier，feelinghiswayaroundadarkenedroomintheAmoryhome，leapedtoSidney’smindandoverwhelmedhimwithpityandself-reproach。
“DearMissFrances，willyouforgiveme？Ihadn’tquitegotontothething。Iunderstandthegamebetternow。“
“Now，Idon’twanttopoisonyourmind。Ishouldn’thavesaidthat——abouttheflatfeet，Imean。HegoestotheRectory，youknow。Iwanttobefair——“
“Pleasedon’tworry。Weknowallaboutthatsortathome，“saidSidney，touchingherhandforamoment。“Myword，thatwasahotone！Theflat-footedJohnnieisobviouslybewildered。Thelastgamewassheermassacre，eh，what？“
IfMaitlandwasnotinformtherewasnosignofitinhisworkonthecourt。Therewaslittleofcourtesy，lessoffunandnothingatallofmercyinhisplay。Fromfirsttolastandwithoutreprievehedrovehisgameruthlesslytoafinish。Soterrific，soresistlesswerehisattacks，socoldlyrelentlessthespiritheshowed，ignoringutterlyallattemptsatfriendlyexchangeofcourtesy，thattheunhappyandenragedStillwell，becomingutterlydemoralized，losthisnerve，losthiscontrolandhopelesslylosteverychanceheeverpossessedofwinningasinglegameofthesetwhichclosedwiththescoresixtonothing。