The longest five days of my life, and I
was only sixteen at the time. But I did get there. Tired, anxious and
half-starved, I blew into the Illinois Central Station at Waterloo, Iowa
on a freight train early in the evening. Just before it stopped, I
jumped off and went head over heels right in front of the passenger
house. I hardly had time to pick myself up off the ground before the
stationmaster grabbed me and shouted, 'What do you think you're doing?
Come on, get out of here before I run you in!'
"'No,' I said. 'I'm reporting to the Waterloo Ball Club.'
"'You're what?' he says. 'My God! Did you ever wash your face?'
"'Yes I did,' I said. 'But I've been travelling for five days and five
nights, and I am anxious to get to the Ball Park. Where do the
ballplayers hang around?'
"'At the Smoke Shop,' he says. 'Down the street about a half of a mile.
If you walk down there, probably whoever you're looking for will be
there.'
"So I thanked him and said I'd see to it that he got a free pass to the
ball game as soon as I got settled, and started off for the Smoke Shop.
It turned out that two brothers owned the Smoke Shop, and they also
owned the Ball Club. One of them was behind the counter when I walked
into the place.
Pages:
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141