<h2><SPAN name="CHAPTER_XXVI">CHAPTER XXVI. <br/><span class="cheaderfont">AN UPHILL GAME.</span></SPAN></h2>
<p>The brilliant stand made by the Australian captain
and Bannman caused intense excitement, and the
attendance on the final day of the match was enormous.
Hundreds of people who anticipated a tame
finish, and a one-sided affair, changed their opinions
upon reading the score in the morning papers. Contrary
to expectation, the third day’s play promised
to be the most interesting of all.</p>
<p>When Murch and Bannman commenced again,
every stroke was followed with interest. Runs came
freely, and Bannman was not disposed of until he
had made seventy. Then Edgar Foster joined his
captain, and the reception he received on going to
the wicket proved his father’s prowess in the field
was not forgotten. Foster, in days gone by, was a
name to conjure by, and people remembered Robert
Foster’s feats with the bat.</p>
<p>Muriel Wylde felt anxious, and whispered to Doris
Foster:</p>
<p>‘I do hope Edgar will make a score.’</p>
<p>‘He will try to do so, because he knows it will
give you pleasure,’ said Doris.</p>
<p>Murch spoke to Edgar when he went in to bat,
and gave him a hint or two as to the bowling.
Edgar played the last ball of the over, and then
Murch scored a couple in the next over.</p>
<p><span class="pagenum">[242]</span></p>
<p>The bowling was splendid. Both Shaw and
Morley were doing their level best. Edgar found
Alf Shaw could deceive a batsman, and put in a
swift ball when least expected. He scored a single
off the last ball, and then faced Morley. Edgar was
partial to swift bowling, as Morley soon discovered,
and the over proved productive.</p>
<p>‘I’m getting well set,’ thought Edgar. ‘I believe
I’m in for a good score.’</p>
<p>The runs came freely, and it was not until he had
made a hundred and sixty runs that Murch was
caught.</p>
<p>He had done splendidly, and his return to the
pavilion was a triumph. Royle joined Edgar and
played steadily.</p>
<p>Grace took the ball and faced Edgar. The English
captain knew Edgar was a free hitter, and placed his
men far out. Then he tried to tempt him to send a
catch. Edgar narrowly escaped being caught at the
second ball of the over, and this made him careful.
The last ball, however, was one he could not resist
hitting. He drove it straight as a dart, and it
landed over the boundary. It was a tremendous hit,
and caused an outburst of cheering.</p>
<p>The next exciting moment came when E. M.
Grace made a magnificent catch at long-on from a
very high hit by Royle. He caught the ball with
one hand, having had to run for it, and, much to
Royle’s surprise, held it.</p>
<p>Donnell came next, and then there was some big<span class="pagenum">[243]</span>
hitting. Both batsmen knocked the bowling about
terribly. When Edgar had scored fifty there was a
hearty cheer, and he appeared likely to make as big
a score as his captain. The Australians were playing
a splendid uphill game, and keeping up their reputation
as ‘men who never know when they are
beaten.’</p>
<p>At the fall of the seventh wicket the two hundred
and fifty-two runs had been wiped off, and they were
over fifty to the good.</p>
<p>The game now became most exciting, as the
Englishmen knew if they did not quickly dispose of
the Australians the game would end in a draw.
Each man worked hard, and the fielding and bowling
was splendid.</p>
<p>Still Edgar Foster kept on increasing his score,
and passed his century, to the great delight of his
father and his friends.</p>
<p>Connor was now in, and his hits were marvellous.
The giant—he was about six feet four—lifted the balls
all over the ground, and safely out of the reach of the
fielders.</p>
<p>When the last wicket fell Edgar Foster was a
hundred and fifty, not out, and the score was five
hundred and two runs, or two hundred and fifty
ahead of the Englishmen.</p>
<p>Such a grand uphill game it was generally acknowledged
had never been played before. Edgar Foster
was overwhelmed with congratulations, and Muriel
Wylde showed her delight on her face.</p>
<p><span class="pagenum">[244]</span></p>
<p>‘It was splendid, Edgar,’ she said. ‘I believe you
would have made two hundred or more.’</p>
<p>‘I felt like it,’ said Edgar. ‘I knew you were
watching me, and that put me on my mettle.’</p>
<p>It seemed well nigh a hopeless task for the
Englishmen to get two hundred and fifty runs in the
short time at their disposal. However, they lost no
time in making a start to try to do so.</p>
<p>Strange to say, they did not bat in anything like
the form shown in their first innings. Three wickets
fell for under fifty runs, W. G. Grace being unluckily
run out.</p>
<p>The Australians fielded with wonderful skill.
Hardly a ball got past them, and many boundary
hits were saved.</p>
<p>Seven wickets fell for a hundred runs, and now it
was the turn of the Australians to endeavour to get
their opponents out before the call of time.</p>
<p>The Englishmen had reckoned with certainty upon
a draw, but they now had to fight hard to avert
defeat, and even a draw would not be in their favour.</p>
<p>‘It is a most extraordinary game,’ said Robert
Foster. ‘The glorious uncertainty of cricket again.
You never can tell how it will go until a match is
over, no matter how favourable it may look for a
particular side.’</p>
<p>He had joined the ladies, and they were all watching
the game with interest, taking keen note of every
good stroke and every brilliant piece of fielding.</p>
<p>Will Brown looked at his watch.</p>
<p><span class="pagenum">[245]</span></p>
<p>‘They have only half-an-hour left,’ he said. ‘I
should not wonder if they were got out in that time.’</p>
<p>The thousands of spectators also wondered how the
game would end.</p>
<p>Ten minutes before time Morley joined Shaw at
the wickets. They were not good bats—anything
but that, and the crowd knew it. Morley hit out
recklessly and made a couple of fours, and Shaw
played steadily. The Australians did all in their
power to separate them, but, as luck would have it,
they failed to do so. The game ended in a draw,
which practically amounted to a victory for the
Australians, as the English eleven required over
seventy runs to win.</p>
<p>The result of this match was the subject of conversation
for some days, and the grand struggle made by
the Australians was commented upon on all sides.</p>
<p>At Elm Lodge the event was duly celebrated, and,
as Robert Foster promised, the party made a night
of it.</p>
<p>When the tour of the Australians was finished they
left for home, but Edgar Foster did not return with
them. At his father’s request he remained at home.</p>
<p>‘What will Eva think when she finds that I have
not returned?’ said Edgar. ‘I promised her I would
go back.’</p>
<p>‘We must try and get her over here,’ said his
father. ‘I shall feel lonely when you and Doris have
left me, and Eva will be nice company for me.’</p>
<p>‘She is a dear little thing,’ said Edgar, ‘and you<span class="pagenum">[246]</span>
will love her as much as though she were your own
child.’</p>
<p>‘Do you think every soul on board the <em>Distant
Shore</em>, with the exception of Eva and yourself, was
drowned?’ said Robert Foster.</p>
<p>‘There can hardly be any doubt about it,’ said
Edgar. ‘Why do you ask?’</p>
<p>‘Because I have received a rather mysterious letter,’
said Robert Foster; ‘it bears the Sydney postmark,
and contains news that may interest you. I will show
it you.’</p>
<p>Robert Foster unlocked his desk, and put his hand
in one of the pigeon-holes. He looked through the
letters, but could not find the one for which he
searched.</p>
<p>‘Strange,’ he said, ‘I am sure I put it there.’</p>
<p>‘You may have dropped it, or torn it up by
mistake,’ said Edgar. ‘Perhaps you remember the
contents?’</p>
<p>‘The bulk of them,’ said his father. ‘The letter
stated that the writer had been on a cruise to the
South Sea Islands, where he met a man who had
been saved from a wreck. He believes, from hints
the man, who was very reticent, let fall, that he was
saved from the wreck of the <em>Distant Shore</em>. When
he returned to Sydney he met with Wal Jessop, who
was much interested in what he was told about this
man. Wal Jessop described Captain Manton, and
my correspondent says he firmly believes from this
description it is Captain Manton who was saved and<span class="pagenum">[247]</span>
is now in the South Seas. He did not tell Wal Jessop
this, because the man seemed to have a great desire
to be left alone, and had no wish to let people know
he had been saved from the wreck of the <em>Distant
Shore</em>. It is a most extraordinary story, and I wish
I had the letter. I must have torn it up by mistake.
It was careless of me to do so.’</p>
<p>Edgar was amazed at what his father said, and
replied:</p>
<p>‘I can hardly credit this story. How any man
could live if washed out to sea on such a night I do
not know. If it is Captain Manton, surely he would
have made some sign before this. It cannot possibly
be Eva’s father, for I saw him standing on the deck
as the ship struck, and from the look on his face, and
the way he waved farewell to me, I knew he meant to
go down with her.’</p>
<p>‘He may have been washed out to sea, and found a
spar or something to support him. I have a peculiar
feeling that this man who was saved from the wreck
is Manton. I have had strange dreams about him
since I received the letter, and I am not a dreamer as
a rule, or a superstitious man. I knew Manton well;
he was a proud man, and very sensitive. If he be
the man so strangely saved, I think it is precisely
what he would do—to hide himself away in some
lonely spot, in order to make people think him dead.’</p>
<p>‘But surely he would come forward and tell the
story of the wreck,’ said Edgar. ‘No blame attaches
to him; he did his utmost to save the ship, and went<span class="pagenum">[248]</span>
down with her when he found he could not do so.
Then there is Eva. He would want to see his child
again; surely he would hear that she had been
saved.’</p>
<p>‘He may not have heard. In such a lonely spot
one hears very little news from the outer world.’</p>
<p>‘Do you really place any faith in your mysterious
correspondent’s letter?’</p>
<p>‘I do, Edgar, and for this reason: I feel no man
would have written such a letter had he not been convinced
of the truth of its contents.’</p>
<p>‘But why should he write to you?’ asked Edgar.
‘Wal Jessop probably told him how you saved
Eva from the wreck, and it would occur to him that
you might wish to know what he thought he had discovered.
He no doubt wrote to me, thinking I would
tell you if I thought it well to do so,’ said Robert
Foster.</p>
<p>‘It may be as you surmise,’ said Edgar. ‘I shall
never be easy in my mind until I have seen the man
who wrote the letter, and heard all he has to tell.’</p>
<p>‘That would mean another trip to Australia,’ said
his father with a smile. ‘What would Muriel say to
that?’</p>
<p>‘I do not think she would object to my going, for
we are not to be married, as you know, until she is
twenty-one. Her mother will not consent to part
with her before that time. In any case I should not
have the journey for nothing, because I could bring
Eva back with me.’</p>
<p><span class="pagenum">[249]</span></p>
<p>‘So you could,’ said Robert Foster. ‘We should
be put down as a couple of foolish fellows if anyone
knew what you went to Sydney for.’</p>
<p>‘I shall tell no one, with the exception of Muriel,’
said Edgar. ‘She will not think it foolish.’</p>
<p>‘I ought to tell you more,’ said Robert Foster.
‘There was a sketch in the letter, and it bore a strange
resemblance to Manton. I cannot make out where
the letter has got to.’</p>
<p>‘Was it a sketch made on the spot, or drawn from
memory?’</p>
<p>‘Drawn in Sydney, I believe the writer said.’</p>
<p>‘Then it may have been drawn from Wal Jessop’s
description,’ said Edgar.</p>
<p>‘Possibly, but I hardly think so. It seemed to
me to be a sketch just as the man who drew it remembered
to have seen him. I did not tell you of
this before, because I thought it might upset you
during the tour.’</p>
<p>‘I should have thought a good deal about it, no
doubt,’ said Edgar; ‘and perhaps it was as well you
did not tell me.’</p>
<p>Edgar pondered over what his father told him, and
the more he thought over it, the more impossible it
seemed to him that anyone, least of all Captain
Manton, should have been saved from the wreck of
the <em>Distant Shore</em>.</p>
<p>The spirit of adventure, however, was still strong
within him, and this letter his father had received
would serve as an excuse, if a poor one, to revisit<span class="pagenum">[250]</span>
Australia. He communicated his intention to Muriel,
and when she heard the reason for his setting out
again she did not consider it so improbable as Edgar
himself did.</p>
<p>So it was arranged that Edgar should again voyage
to the Colonies, and Ben Brody was glad of a comrade
to return with him. Will Brown, having
obtained a situation in a large shipping office, decided
to remain in England, and Doris Foster was consoled
by the thought that if Edgar left again, she would
still have a companion of her own age to whom she
was much attached.</p>
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