Cinder Path Tales

ATHERTON'S LAST "HALF" 129 " Perhaps you're right,and I'll notcomplain, but why did you tell me to set pace, if you meant to make me finish?" Or he would say over and over again, " I was not strong enough; Idid the best I could ; I did thebest I could." Indeed, he did not cease talking all the time we were with him, until he was given opiates and taken to the hospital. Here he spent many weary weeks, and was only pulled through after the most per­ sistent care. But though he got on his feet again, he did not fully recover, and even a long trip to the Bermudas did not get his lungs in shape. He spent some months in Southern California, and settled finally among the Carolina hills, the nearest point to his old New England home where he could expect to prolong his days. I have seen many gallant winners, many whose courage anddetermination made them such; but when I tell the story that comes closest to my heart, I tell of one a notch above them all. I tell of Teddy Atherton, of his last "half" which he lost.