finally he took her elbow and led her away from the other two men . dad explained , his eyes begging me to understand why he 'd done what he had . he watched her do it and he watched her grab her coat from a chair in the hall . `` let me have the snake , '' she demanded over her shoulder . something in her spirit would n't relax . conductor has the ticket in case i 'm not there already . not bad , he thought , seven runs wins most baseball games . 