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diff --git a/34100.txt b/34100.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b1e731f --- /dev/null +++ b/34100.txt @@ -0,0 +1,7801 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, Lefty Locke Pitcher-Manager, by Burt L. +Standish, Illustrated by Charles L. Wrenn + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: Lefty Locke Pitcher-Manager + + +Author: Burt L. Standish + + + +Release Date: October 19, 2010 [eBook #34100] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LEFTY LOCKE PITCHER-MANAGER*** + + +E-text prepared by Juliet Sutherland, Roger Frank, and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.fadedpage.net) + + + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustration. + See 34100-h.htm or 34100-h.zip: + (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/34100/34100-h/34100-h.htm) + or + (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/34100/34100-h.zip) + + + + + +LEFTY LOCKE PITCHER-MANAGER + +by + +BURT L. STANDISH + + Author of "Lefty o' the Bush," "Lefty o' the Big League," + "Lefty o' the Blue Stockings," "Brick King, Backstop," + "The Making of a Big Leaguer," etc. + +Illustrated by Charles L. Wrenn + + +[Illustration: Lefty had sprained his ankle so seriously that he required +assistance to walk from the field. (_See Page 103_)] + + + + + + + +Publishers +Barse & Co. +New York, N. Y.--Newark, N. J. + +Copyright, 1916 +By +Barse & Co. + +LEFTY LOCKE, PITCHER-MANAGER + +Printed in the United States of America + + + + + CONTENTS + CHAPTER PAGE + I An Unexpected Offer 11 + II Something Queer 20 + III The Federal Policy 28 + IV The Magnetized Ball 37 + V A Man of Mystery 48 + VI Peculiar Behavior 56 + VII The Test 64 + VIII At Necessity's Demand 72 + IX Torturing Doubt 79 + X The Only Door 86 + XI Burning Speed 93 + XII Too Much Temptation 103 + XIII The Perplexing Question 113 + XIV Only One Way 120 + XV Signing the Manager 132 + XVI The Wrong Stool Pigeon 139 + XVII Getting into Action 146 + XVIII The First Deal 155 + XIX A Fleeting Glimpse 165 + XX A Riddle to Solve 175 + XXI The Man Ahead 180 + XXII A Doubtful Victory 186 + XXIII All Wrong 194 + XXIV Wheels Within Wheels 202 + XXV Hidden Tracks 210 + XXVI Not Much Show 219 + XXVII The Suspended Ax 226 + XXVIII The Gage of War 233 + XXIX The Jaws of the Trap 240 + XXX One Against Three 248 + XXXI Light on a Dark Spot 255 + XXXII One Chance 266 + XXXIII One in a Million 274 + XXXIV Weegman's Proposal 281 + XXXV The Shattering Stroke 288 + XXXVI The Test of Mysterious Jones 296 + XXXVII The Return of Lefty 308 + + + + +LEFTY LOCKE, PITCHER-MANAGER + + + + +CHAPTER I + +AN UNEXPECTED OFFER + + +Lefty Locke gave the man a look of surprise. The soft, bright moonlight +was shining full on Weegman's face, and he was chuckling. He was always +chuckling or laughing outright, and Locke had grown tired of it. It was +monotonous. + +"What do you mean?" the pitcher asked. "Tinware for Kennedy! I don't +believe I get you." + +Weegman snapped his fingers; another little trick that was becoming +monotonous and irritating. "That's poor slang perhaps," he admitted; +"but you've been in the game long enough to understand it. Collier is +going to tie the can to old Jack." + +Lefty moved his chair round on the little vine-covered porch in order to +face his visitor squarely. Frogs were chorusing in the distance, and the +dynamo in the electric power house on the edge of the town kept up its +constant nocturnal droning. + +"I could scarcely believe you meant just that," said the star slabman +of the Blue Stockings soberly. "Being Charles Collier's private +secretary, and therefore to a large extent aware of his plans, I presume +you know what you're talking about." + +"You can bet on it," laughed Weegman, leaning back and puffing at his +cigar. "I'm the man Collier left to carry out his orders regarding the +team. I have full instructions and authority." + +"But I'm sure Kennedy has no inkling of this. I correspond with him +regularly, and I know he expected a new contract to sign before Mr. +Collier went abroad. He wrote me that the contract was to be mailed him +from New York, but that he supposed Collier, being a sick man, forgot +it at the last moment." + +Weegman took the cigar from his mouth, and leaned forward on the arm of +his chair. "A new manager of the right sort is hard to find," he stated +confidentially, "and Collier wasn't ready to let go all holds until he +had some one else in view at least." + +Locke uttered a smothered exclamation of incredulity. "Do you mean to +tell me that Charles Collier was handing old Jack Kennedy a deal as +deceitfully crooked as that?" he cried. "I can't believe it. Kennedy +has been a faithful and loyal manager. Three years ago, when Collier +secured the controlling interest in the club, his bad judgment led +him to drop Kennedy and fill his place with Al Carson. You know what +happened. Carson made a mess of it, and old Jack was called back at +the last moment to save the day. He did it and won the championship +for the Blue Stockings by a single game. Since then--" + +"Come now!" chuckled Weegman, snapping his fingers again. "You know +you were the man who really won that championship by your air-tight +pitching. Why do you want to give somebody else the credit? Kennedy +merely went in as a pinch hitter--" + +"And pounded the only run of the game across the rubber. No matter how +air-tight a pitcher's work may be, to win games the team behind him has +got to hit. Kennedy was there with the goods." + +"That's ancient history now. What has he done since then? As a player, +he's a has-been. He's lost his eyes so that he can't even bat in the +pinches now. His sun has set, and he may as well retire to his farm and +settle down for old age." + +"He hasn't lost his brains," asserted Locke warmly. "Playing or pinch +hitting is a small part of a manager's business. Once since then he's +copped the bunting for us, and last year it was hard luck and injury +to players that dropped us into third position." + +"I don't blame you," said Weegman good naturedly. "You ought to +stand up for him. It shows the right spirit. He gave you your +chance--practically plucked you from the brambles. But," he supplemented +disparagingly, "he was desperately hard up for twirlers that season. +You were sort of a lucky guess on his part. Save for the fact that +he's never been able to win a world's championship, old Jack's +been picking four-leaf clovers all his life. He's too soft and +easy-going for a manager; not enough drive to him." + +It was Lefty Locke's turn to laugh, but his merriment held more than a +touch of irony. "Jack Kennedy has won pennants or kept in the first +division, at least, with teams that would have been fighting for the +subcellar under any other manager. When meddlers have not interfered +he's always been able to get the last ounce of baseball out of every +man under him. While he has handled it the club has always been a big +paying proposition. What he has done has been nothing short of miraculous +considering the niggardly policy forced upon him by those in power. +It's the lowest-salaried team in the league. We have men getting +twenty-five hundred or three thousand who should be drawing down twice +as much, and would be with any other winning Big League club. Only a +man with Kennedy's magnetism and tact could have kept them going at +high pressure, could have kept them from being dissatisfied and lying +down. What they've accomplished has been done for him, not for the +owners. And now you tell me he's to be canned. There's gratitude!" + +"My dear man," chirruped Weegman, "baseball is business, and gratitude +never goes far in business. Granting what you say may have been true in +the past, it's plain enough that the old man's beginning to lose his +grip. He fell down last season, and now that the Feds are butting in +and making trouble, he's showing himself even more incompetent. Talk +about gratitude; it didn't hold Grist or Orth, and now it's reported +that Dillon is negotiating with the outlaws. You know what that means; +our pitching staff is all shot to pieces. If the players were so +true to Kennedy, why didn't they wait for their contracts?" + +"How could Jack send them contracts when he hasn't one himself? If +he had the authority now, perhaps he could save Dillon for us even yet. +Billy Orth is hot-headed and impulsive, and he thought he wasn't given +a square deal. As for Grist, old Pete's days are numbered, and he +knows it. He was wise to the talk about asking waivers on him. It was a +ten-to-one shot he'd have been sent to the minors this coming season. +With the Federals offering him a three-year contract at nearly twice +as much as he ever received, he'd have been a fool to turn it down. +All the same, he had a talk with Kennedy before he signed. Jack couldn't +guarantee him anything, so he jumped." + +"That's it!" exclaimed Weegman triumphantly. "There's a sample of +Kennedy's incompetence right there. He should have baited Grist along, +and kept him away from the Feds until the season was well under way, +when they would have had their teams made up, and probably wouldn't +have wanted Pete. Then, if he didn't come up to form, he could be let +out to the minors." + +Lefty's face being in the shadow, the other man did not see the +expression of contempt that passed over it. For a few minutes the +southpaw was too indignant to reply. When he did, however, his voice +was level and calm, though a trifle hard. + +"So that would have been your way of doing it! Grist has had hard luck +with all his investments; I understand he's saved very little. He's a +poor man." + +Weegman lolled back again, puffing at his cigar. "That's his lookout. +Anyway, he's not much loss. But these confounded Feds aren't through; +they're after Dirk Nelson, too. What d'ye know about that! Our best +catcher! They seem to be trying to strip our whole team." + +"Knowing something about the salaries our players get, probably they +figure it should be easy stripping." + +Suddenly the visitor leaned forward again, and gazed hard at Locke. He +was not laughing now. "Have they been after you?" he asked. + +"Yes." + +"I thought likely. Made you a big offer?" + +"Yes." + +"What have you done?" + +"Nothing." + +"Good!" exclaimed Weegman. "It's a good thing for you that you kept +your head. They're outside organized ball, and any man who jumps to them +will be blacklisted. All this talk about the money they have behind them +is pure bluff." + +"Think so?" + +"I know it. They're plunging like lunatics, and they'll blow up before +the season's over. They haven't got the coin." + +"Then how does it happen they are signing players for three years, and +handing over certified checks in advance for the first year, besides +guaranteeing salaries by bank deposits for the full tenure of contracts?" + +"Oh, they've got some money, of course," admitted Weegman lightly; +"but, as I say, they're spending it like drunken sailors. When the +Feds explode, the fools who have jumped to them will find themselves +barred from organized ball for all time; they'll be down and out. The +outlaws may hurt us a little this year, but after that--nothing doing. +Just the same, I own up we've got to put a check on 'em before they +rip the Blue Stockings wide open. That's what brings me down here to +Fernandon to see you." + +"Really!" said Lefty interestedly. "You seem to be shouldering a lot +of responsibility." + +"I am," chuckled Charles Collier's private secretary. "It was all +arranged with Mr. Collier before he sailed. He left me with proper +authority. I am to sign up the manager for the team." + +"Is that right?" exclaimed Locke, surprised. "Then, according to +your own statement, if you want to save the Blue Stockings from being +riddled, you'd better be about it." + +"I am," said Weegman. "That's why I've come to you." + +"For advice?" + +"Oh, no!" He laughed heartily. "I don't need that. I know what I'm +about. I've brought a contract. I want you to put your name to it. Your +salary will be advanced fifteen hundred dollars." + +"The Feds offered to double it. As a pitcher--" + +"You're not getting this extra money on account of your pitching," +interposed Weegman promptly. "I'm offering you the increase of salary +to assume the additional duties of manager." + + + + +CHAPTER II + +SOMETHING QUEER + + +The expression of amazement that leaped into the eyes of Lefty Locke was +masked by a shadow. He stiffened, and sat bolt upright, speechless. + +Bailey Weegman, having stated the business that had unexpectedly brought +him down from the North to the Florida town where the great left-hander +of the Blue Stockings was spending the winter with his wife, once more +settled back, taking a long, satisfied pull at the stump of his fragrant +Havana. He was chuckling beneath his breath. A gentle breeze crept +into the leaves of the vine-covered porch and set them whispering like +gossips. The dynamo droned drowsily in the distance. + +Presently Lefty found his voice. "What's the joke?" he asked a trifle +harshly. + +"No joke," assured the jovial visitor. "I'm not given to joking. I'm +a man of business." + +"But it's preposterous! A pitcher for manager!" + +"Clark Griffith isn't the only pitcher who has succeeded as a manager." + +"Griffith's success came when he was on the decline as a pitcher." + +"What's the use to argue, Locke? There's really no good reason why a +pitcher shouldn't manage a ball team. You've been doing it with the +little amateur club you've been running down here in Fernandon this +winter." + +"Because necessity compelled. Nobody else would take hold of it. I +organized the team for a special reason. It's made up mainly of +visitors from the North. No salaries are paid. I had located here for the +winter, and I wanted to keep in trim and work my arm into shape for +the coming season. I couldn't find anybody else to organize the club +and handle it, so I had to. I have only three other players who have +been with me from the start. The rest of the nine has been composed of +changing players who came and went, college men, or just plain amateurs +who have taken to the sport. We have played such teams as could be +induced to come here from Jacksonville, St. Augustine, and other +places. Handling such a club has given me absolutely no reason to +fancy myself qualified to manage one in the Big League." + +"I've been keeping my eye on you," said Weegman patronizingly, "and I +am satisfied that you can fill the position of playing manager for the +Blue Stockings." + +"You're satisfied--you! How about Charles Collier?" + +"As you know, he's a sick man, a very sick man. Otherwise he'd never +have dropped everything just at this time to go to Europe along with +a physician and trained nurses. He has been too ill to attend properly to +his regular business outside baseball, and therefore his business has +suffered. He has had heavy financial reverses that have worried him. +And now the meddling of the Feds has hurt the value of the ball club. +The stock wouldn't bring at a forced sale to-day half what it should +be worth. Mr. Collier trusts me. He was anxious to get some of the load +off his shoulders. He has left me to straighten out matters connected +with the team." + +"Where is Mr. Collier now?" asked Locke quietly. + +"He was taking the baths at Eaux Chaudes when last heard from, but he +has since left there. I can't say where he is at the present time." + +"Then how may he be communicated with in case of emergency?" + +Chuckling, Weegman lighted a fresh cigar, having tossed the remnant of +the other away. The glow of the match fully betrayed an expression of +self-satisfaction on his face. + +"He can't be," he said. "It was his doctor's idea to get him away +where he could not be troubled by business of any nature. He may be in +Tunis or Naples for all I know." + +"It's very remarkable," said Lefty slowly. + +"Oh, I don't know," purred the other man, locking his fingers over +his little round stomach which seemed so incongruous for a person who +was otherwise not overfat. "Really, he was in a bad way. Worrying over +business reverses was killing him. His only salvation was to get away +from it all." + +Locke sat in thought, watching the serene smoker through narrowed +lids. There was something queer about the affair, something the southpaw +did not understand. True, Collier had seemed to be a nervous, high-strung +man, but when Lefty had last seen him he had perceived no indications of +such a sudden and complete breakdown. It had been Collier's policy +to keep a close and constant watch upon his baseball property, but now, +at a time when such surveillance was particularly needed because of +the harassing activities of the Federals, having turned authority +over to a subordinate, not only had he taken himself beyond the range of +easy communication, but apparently he had cut himself off entirely +from the sources of inside information concerning baseball affairs. +Furthermore, it seemed to Locke that the man who claimed to have been +left in full control of that branch of Collier's business was the +last person who should have been chosen. What lay behind it all the +pitcher was curious to divine. + +Presently Weegman gave a castanet-like snap of his fingers. "By the +way," he said sharply, "how about your arm?" + +"My arm?" said Lefty. "You mean--" + +"It's all right, isn't it? You know there was a rumor that you hurt +it in the last game of the season. Some wise ginks even said you'd never +pitch any more." + +"I've been doing some pitching for my team here in Fernandon." + +"Then, of course, the old wing's all right. You'll be in form again, +the greatest left-hander in the business. How about it?" + +"I've never been egotistical enough to put that estimate on myself." + +"Well, that's what lots of the sharps call you. The arm's as good as +ever?" + +"If you stop over to-morrow you'll have a chance to judge for yourself. +We're scheduled to play a roving independent nine known as the Wind +Jammers, and I hear they're some team, of the kind. I shall pitch part +of the game, anyhow." + +"You've been pitching right along?" + +"A little in every game lately. I pitched four innings against the +Jacksonville Reds and five against the Cuban Giants. We've lost only +one game thus far, and that was our second one. The eccentric manager +and owner of the Wind Jammers, who calls himself Cap'n Wiley, threatens +to take a heavy fall out of us. He has a deaf-mute pitcher, Mysterious +Jones, who, he claims, is as good as Walter Johnson." + +Weegman laughed derisively. "There's no pitcher as good as Johnson +anywhere, much less traveling around with a bunch of hippodromers and +bushwhackers. But about your arm--is it all right?" + +"I hope to win as many games with it this year as I did last." + +"Well, the team's going to need pitchers. The loss of Orth is bound +to be felt, and if Dillon jumps--Look here, Locke, we've got to get busy +and dig up two or three twirlers, one of top-notch caliber." + +"We!" + +"Yes, you and I. Of course we can't expect to get a first-stringer +out of the bushes; that happens only once in a dog's age. But perhaps +Kennedy has some good youngsters up his sleeve. You should know about +that. I'm wise that he has consulted you regularly. He's sought your +advice, and listened to it; so, in a way, you've had considerable to do +with the management of the team. You say you've corresponded with him +right along. You ought to know all about his plans. That's one reason +why I came to figure on you as the man to fill his place." + +"I wondered," murmured Locke. + +"That's one reason. For another thing, you've got modesty as well +as sense. You don't think you know it all. You're not set in your +ways, and probably you'd listen to advice and counsel. Old Jack is +hard-headed and stiff; when he makes up his mind there's no turning him. +He takes the bit in his teeth, and he wants full swing. He's always +seemed to feel himself bigger than the owners. He's butted up against +Mr. Collier several times, and Collier's always had to give in." + +"As I understand it," said Lefty smoothly, "you think the manager +should be a man with few fixed opinions and no set and rigid policy." + +"In a way, that's something like it," admitted Weegman. "He mustn't +go and do things wholly on his own initiative and without consulting +anybody, especially those who have a right to say something about the +running of the team. Mr. Collier has placed me in a position that makes +it imperative that I should keep my fingers on the pulse of things. I +couldn't conscientiously discharge my duty unless I did so. I know I +could never get along with Kennedy. The manager must work with me; we'll +work together. Of course, in most respects he'll be permitted to do +about as he pleases as long as he seems to be delivering the goods; +but it must be understood that I have the right to veto, as well as the +right to direct, policies and deals. With that understanding to start +with, we'll get along swimmingly." He finished with a laugh. + +Lefty rose to his feet. "You're not looking for a manager, Weegman," +he said. "What you want is a putty man, a figurehead. Under any +circumstances, you've come to the wrong market." + + + + +CHAPTER III + +THE FEDERAL POLICY + + +Weegman was startled. "What--what's that?" he spluttered, staring +upward at the towering figure in white. "What do you mean?" + +"Just what I've said," replied the pitcher grimly. "Under no +circumstances would I think of stepping into old Jack Kennedy's shoes; +but even if he were a perfect stranger to me you could not inveigle me +into the management of the Blue Stockings on the conditions you have +named. Management!" he scoffed. "Why, the man who falls for that +will be a tame cat with clipped claws. It's evident, Mr. Weegman, that +you've made a long journey for nothing." + +For a moment the visitor was speechless. Lefty Locke's modest, +unassuming ways, coupled with undoubted ambition and a desire to get +on, had led Charles Collier's secretary to form a very erroneous +estimate of him. + +"But, man alive," said Weegman, "do you realize what you're doing? +You're turning down the chance of a lifetime. I have the contract right +here in my pocket, with Collier's name properly attached and witnessed. +If you doubt my authority to put the deal through, I can show you my +power of attorney from Mr. Collier. In case sentiment or gratitude is +holding you back, let me tell you that under no circumstances will +Kennedy again be given control of the team. Now don't be a chump and--" + +"If I were in your place," interrupted Locke, "I wouldn't waste any +more breath." + +Weegman snapped his fingers, and got up. "I won't! I didn't suppose +you were quite such a boob." + +"But you did suppose I was boob enough to swallow your bait at a gulp. +You thought me so conceited and greedy that I would jump at the chance +to become a puppet, a manager in name only, without any real authority or +control. It's plainly your purpose to be the real manager of the +team, for what reason or design I admit I don't quite understand. Just +how you hypnotized Charles Collier and led him to consent to such a +scheme I can't say; but I do say that no successful ball team has ever +been run in such a way. You're not fit to manage a ball club, and you +wouldn't dare assume the title as well as the authority; probably you +know Collier wouldn't stand for that. Yet you intend to force your +dictation upon a pseudo-manager. Such meddling would mean muddling; +it would knock the last ounce of starch out of the team. If the Blue +Stockings didn't finish a bad tailender it would be a miracle." + +Bailey Weegman was furious all the way through, but still he laughed and +snapped his fingers. + +"You're a wise guy, aren't you?" he sneered. "I didn't dream you +were so shrewd and discerning. Now let me tell you something, my knowing +friend: I've tried to save your neck, and you won't have it." + +"My neck!" exclaimed the pitcher incredulously. "You've tried to save +my neck?" + +"Oh, I know your old soup bone's on the blink; you didn't put anything +over me by dodging and trimming when I questioned you about your arm. You +knocked it out last year, and you've been spending the winter down +here trying to work it back into shape. You can pitch a little against +weak bush teams, but you can't even go the whole distance against one +of them. That being the case, what sort of a figure do you expect to +cut back in the Big League? Up against the slugging Wolves or the +hard-hitting Hornets, how long would you last? I've got your number, +and you know it." + +"If that's so, it seems still more remarkable that you should wish to +hold me. Certainly I'd be a great addition to a pitching staff that's +smashed already!" + +"Did I say anything about your strengthening the pitching staff? I +offered to engage you in another capacity. Think I didn't know why you +declined to dicker with the Feds when they made you a big offer? You +didn't dare, for you know you couldn't deliver the goods. Having that +knowledge under my hat, I've been mighty generous with you." Weegman +descended to the top step, chuckling. + +"Good night," said Locke, longing to hasten the man's departure. + +"Think it over," invited Charles Collier's representative. "Now +that I'm here, I'll stick around and watch you pitch against these +bushwhacking Wind Jammers to-morrow. I imagine your efforts should be +amusing. Perhaps you'll change your mind before I catch the train north +at Yulee." His chuckling became open laughter. + +Lefty turned and entered the cottage, while Weegman walked away in the +moonlight, the smoke of his cigar drifting over his shoulder. + +Certain circumstances had led Philip Hazelton to enter professional +baseball under the pseudonym of "Tom Locke," to which, as he was a +left-hander, his associates had added the nickname of "Lefty." These +names had stuck when he abruptly moved upward into the Big League. +His rise having been rocketlike, the pessimistic and the envious had +never wholly ceased to look for the fall of a stick. Thus far, in spite +of the fact that each year of his service with the Blue Stockings saw him +shouldering more and more of the pitching load, until like Jack Coombs +and Ed Walsh he had become known as "the Iron Man," they had looked +in vain. And it came to pass that even the most prejudiced was forced +to admit that it was Lefty who kept his team "up there" fighting +for the bunting all the time. + +Toward the close of the last season, however, with the jinx in close +pursuit of the Blue Stockings, Locke had pushed himself beyond the +limit. At one time the club had seemed to have the pennant cinched, but +through the crippling of players it had begun to slip in the latter +part of the season. In the desperate struggle to hold on, going against +Manager Kennedy's judgment and advice, Lefty did more pitching than +any other two men on the staff, and with a little stronger team to +support him his winning percentage would have been the highest of any +pitcher in the league. It was not his fault that the Blue Stockings +did not finish better than third. + +In the cozy living room of the little furnished cottage Locke had leased +for the brief winter months a remarkably pretty young woman sat reading +by a shaded lamp. She looked up from the magazine and smiled at him as he +came in. Then she saw the serious look upon his face, and the smile faded. + +"What is it, Phil?" she asked, with a touch of anxiety. "Is anything +wrong?" + +He sat down, facing her, and told her all about his interview with Bailey +Weegman. As she listened, her mobile face betrayed wonderment, annoyance, +and alarm. + +"It's a raw deal for Kennedy," he asserted in conclusion; "and I +believe it's wholly of Weegman's devising. I'm sure, when the season +ended, Collier had no idea of changing managers. There isn't a more +resourceful, astute man in the business than old Jack." + +"You're always thinking of others, Phil," she said. "How about +yourself? What will happen to you if you don't come to Weegman's +terms?" + +"Hard to tell," he admitted frankly. "In fact, I've been wondering +just where I'd get off. If my arm fails to come back--" + +She uttered a little cry. "But you've been telling me--" + +"That it was growing better, Janet, that's true. But still it's +not what it should be, and I don't dare put much of a strain on it. I +don't know that I'd last any time at all in real baseball. Weegman +is wise, yet he offered me a contract to pitch and to manage the team. On +paper it would seem that he had retained one star twirler for the staff, +but if I failed to come back we wouldn't have a single first-string +slabman. As a manager, I would be sewed up so that I couldn't do +anything without his consent. There's a nigger in the woodpile, Janet." + +She had put the magazine aside, and clasped her hands in her lap. He went +on: + +"It looks to me as if somebody is trying to punch holes in the team, +though I don't get the reason for it. Following Jack Kennedy's advice, +I've invested every dollar I could save in the stock of the club. As +Weegman says, it's doubtful if the stock would bring fifty cents on the +dollar at a forced sale to-day. Collier has met with heavy financial +reverses in other lines. He's sick, and he's in Europe where no one +can communicate with him. Is somebody trying to knock the bottom out +of his baseball holdings in order to get control of the club? It looks +that way from the offing." + +"But you," said Janet, still thinking of her husband, "you're not +tied up with Weegman, and the Federals have made you a splendid offer. +You can accept that and land on your feet." + +He smiled, shaking his head slowly. "There are several reasons why I +don't care to follow that course. The first, and strongest, is my +loyalty to Jack Kennedy, the man who gave me a square deal. Then I +don't care to bunko anybody, and unless my arm comes back I won't be +worth the money the Feds have offered for my services. Lastly, I'm +not sure the new league is going to be strong enough to win out against +organized baseball." + +"But you've said that they seem to have plenty of money behind them. +You've said, too, that their plan of dealing directly with players, +instead of buying and selling them like chattels or slaves, was the only +system that gave the players a just and honest deal." + +"That's right," affirmed Lefty. "Slavery in baseball is something +more than a joke. The organization has been one of the biggest trusts in +the country, and it has dealt in human beings. It has been so that when +a man signed his first contract he signed away his right to say what he +would do as long as he remained in the game. After that he could be +bought, sold, or traded without receiving a dollar of the purchasing +or trading price. He had to go where he was sent, regardless of his +personal likes, wishes, or convenience. He had to accept whatever +salary a manager chose to give him, or get out. Even if his contract +had expired with one manager, he couldn't go to another and make a +bargain, no matter how much the other manager was willing to give him; +the reserve clause held him chained hand and foot. To-day, if the +powers chose, I could be sent down to the minors at any old salary +the minors chose to pay. I could be sold, like a horse or a dog, and +if I didn't like it I could quit the game. That would be my only +recourse." + +"It's terribly unfair," said Janet. + +"Unfair? That's a tame word! On the other hand, the Federals are +dealing directly with the players. If they think he's worth it, they +give a man a good salary and a bonus besides. The bonus goes to the +player, not to the club owner. Added to that, the Federal contracts +provide that a club must increase a player's salary at least five per +cent. each year, or give him his unconditional release, thus making it +possible for him to deal with any other club that may want him." + +"It's plain your sympathy is with the Federals." + +"If they're not trying to jack up organized baseball and sell out," +said Lefty, "I hope they come through." + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE MAGNETIZED BALL + + +"What are your plans?" asked Janet, after they had discussed the +situation in all its phases. "Have you decided on anything?" + +The southpaw answered: "I'm going to put Jack Kennedy wise. I'm +going to write him a letter to-night, and I shall send him a telegram +as soon as the office opens in the morning. It's up to him to get in +communication with Collier if there's any way of doing it. You have +not received a letter from Virginia lately?" + +Virginia Collier, the charming daughter of the owner of the Blue +Stockings, was Janet's closest friend. + +"No, I have not heard from her in over three weeks, and I don't +understand it," returned his wife. + +"She seems to have stepped off the map, along with her father. The whole +business is mysterious. Why don't you write her at once, explaining +what is going on, and send the letter to her last address?" + +"I will." + +"It may not reach her, but there's no harm in trying. Meanwhile, I'll +get busy on mine to Kennedy. There doesn't seem to be much chance to +spike Weegman's guns, but it's worth trying." + +Locke had the knack of writing a succinct letter; the one he wrote old +Jack was concise, yet it was clear and complete. Within two minutes after +opening it, doubtless Kennedy would know as much about the situation +as did Lefty himself. Yet it was probable that, like the pitcher, the +manager would be mystified by the surprising and seemingly sinister +maneuvers of Bailey Weegman. + +Following Lefty's advice, Janet wrote to Virginia Collier. + +Locke rose early the following morning and posted the letters for the +first outward mail. He sent a telegram also. Returning past the Magnolia +Hotel, to his surprise he perceived Collier's private secretary sitting +on the veranda, smoking. Weegman beamed and chuckled. + +"Morning," he cried, waving his cigar between two fingers. "The +early bird, eh? Been firing off a little correspondence, I presume. +Our communications will reach Kennedy in the same mail; and I wired him, +too. Quite a little jolt for the old man, but it can't be helped. Of +course, he'll have the sense to bow gracefully to the inevitable, +and that will clear the air. Afterward, perhaps, you may change your +mind regarding my offer." + +"Perhaps so," returned Lefty pleasantly. "But if I do, I shall be +a fit subject for a padded cell." The agreeable look was wiped from +Weegman's face as Locke passed on. + +Some time after breakfast Lefty returned to the Magnolia to learn if +Cap'n Wiley and his ball players had arrived. Approaching, he perceived +a queer assortment of strangers lounging on the veranda, and from +their appearance he judged that they were members of the team. Many +of them looked like old stagers, veterans who had seen better days; +some were youthful and raw and inclined to be cock-a-hoop. There was +a German, an Italian, an Irishman, and a Swede. One was lanky as a +starved greyhound, and apparently somewhere near six feet and six +inches tall from his heels to his hair roots. Another was short and fat, +and looked as if he had been driven together by some one who had hit +him over the head with a board. + +In a way, these strangers in Fernandon were most remarkable for their +attire. With scarcely an exception, the clothes they wore were weird and +fantastic samples of sartorial art; various, and nearly all, prevailing +freaks of fashion were displayed. With colored shirts, flaring socks, +and giddy neckties, they caused all beholders to gasp. They were most +amazingly bejeweled and adorned. With difficulty Locke suppressed a smile +as his quick eyes surveyed them. + +Near the head of the broad steps leading up to the veranda sat a +somewhat stocky but exceptionally well-built man of uncertain age. +He was almost as swarthy as an Indian, and his dark eyes were swift +and keen and shrewd. His black hair was graying on the temples. His +coat and trousers, of extravagant cut, were made from pronounced +black-and-white-striped material. His fancy waistcoat, buttoned with a +single button at the bottom, was adorned with large orange-colored +figures. His silk socks were red, his four-in-hand necktie was purple, +and the band that encircled the straw hat cocked rakishly upon his +head was green. He was smoking a cigar and pouring a steady flow of +words into the ear of Bailey Weegman, who made a pretense of not +noticing Locke. + +"Yes, mate," he was saying, "old man Breckenridge was the most +painfully inconsiderate batter I ever had the misfortune to pitch +against. Smoke, curves, twisters, slow balls, low balls, and high +balls--they all looked alike to him. Now I have a preference; I prefer +a high ball, Scotch and carbonic. But it made no difference to Breck; +when he put his fifty-five-ounce ash wand against the pill, said pill +made a pilgrimage--it journeyed right away to some land distant and +remote and unknown, and it did not stay upon the order of its going. +When it came right down to slugging, compared with old Breck your +Home-run Bakers and Honus Wagners and Napoleon Lajoies are puny and +faded shines. And he always seemed able to make connections when he +desired; if he rambled forth to the dish yearning for a hit, there was +no known method by which the most astute and talented pitcher could +prevent him from hitting." + +"Quite a wonder, I must admit!" laughed Weegman, in high amusement. +"Rather strange the Big Leagues didn't get hold of such a marvelous +batsman, isn't it?" + +"Oh, he was on the roster of some Class A team at various times, +but he had one drawback that finally sent him away to the remote and +uncharted bushes: 'Charley horse' had him in its invidious grip. A +spavined snail could beat Breck making the circuit of the sacks, and +cross the pan pulled up. Yet, with this handicap, the noble old slugger +held the record for home runs in the Tall Grass League. Naturally I had +heart failure and Angie Pectoris every time I was compelled to face him +on the slab. Likewise, naturally I began meditating with great vigor upon +a scheme to circumvent the old terror, and at last my colossal brain +concocted a plan that led me to chortle with joy." + +"I am deeply interested and curious," declared Weegman, as the narrator +paused, puffing complacently at his weed. "Go on." + +Locke had stopped near at hand, and was listening. Others were hovering +about, their ears open, their faces wreathed in smiles. + +"It was a simple matter of scientific knowledge and a little +skulduggery," pursued the story-teller obligingly. "I possessed the +knowledge, and I bribed the bat boy of old Breck's team to perform the +skulduggery. I sent to the factory and had some special baseballs +manufactured for me, and in the heart of each ball was hidden a tiny but +powerful magnet. Then I secretly furnished the rascally bat boy with a +specially prepared steel rod that would violently repel any magnet +that chanced to wander around into the immediate vicinity of the rod. I +instructed the boy to bore Breck's pet bat surreptitiously when the +shades of night had fallen, insert the steel rod, and then craftily +plug the hole. And may I never sail the briny deep again if that +little scoundrel didn't carry out my instructions with the skill of a +cutthroat, or a diplomat, even! Nature intended him for higher things. +If he isn't hanged some day it won't be his fault. + +"Well, the next time old Breck brought his team to play against us +upon our field, I used the magnetized baseballs. I was doing the hurling +and in the very first inning the old swatter came up with the sacks +charged and two out. He smiled a smile of pity as he bent his baleful +glance upon me. 'You'd better walk me, Walter,' says he, 'and +force a run; for if you put the spheroid over I'm going to give it a +long ride.' I returned his smile with one of the most magnanimous +contempt. 'Don't blow up, old boy,' says I. 'With the exception of +your batting, you're all in; and I've a notion that your batting eye is +becoming dim and hazy. Let's see you hit this.' Then I passed him a +slow, straight one right over the middle of the rubber. He took a mighty +swing at it, meaning to slam it over into the next county. Well, mate, +may I be keelhauled if that ball didn't dodge the bat like a scared +rabbit! Mind you, I hadn't put a thing on it, but the repulsion of +that deneoutronized steel rod hidden in the bat forced the ball to +take the handsomest drop you ever beheld, and the violence with which +old Breck smote the vacant ozone caused him to spin round and concuss +upon the ground when he sat down. It was a tremendous shock to his +nervous system, and it filled me with unbounded jubilance; for I knew I +had him at my mercy, literally in the hollow of my hand. + +"He rose painfully, chagrined and annoyed, but still confident. 'Give +me another like that, you little wart!' he ordered savagely, 'and I'll +knock the peeling off it.' Beaming, I retorted: 'You couldn't knock +the peeling off a prune. Here's what you called for.' And I threw him +another slow, straight one. + +"Excuse these few tears; the memory of that hallowed occasion makes +me cry for joy. He did it again, concussing still more shockingly when +he sat down. It was simply an utter impossibility for him to hit that +magnetized ball with his doctored bat. But, of course, he didn't know +what the matter was; he thought I was fooling him with some sort of a +new drop I had discovered. The fact that I was passing him the merry +cachinnation peeved him vastly. When he got upon his pins and squared +away for the third attempt, his face was the most fearsome I ever have +gazed upon. He shook his big bat at me. 'One more,' he raged; 'give me +one more, and drop flat on your face the moment you pitch the ball, or +I'll drive it straight through the meridian of your anatomy!' + +"Let me tell you now, mate, that Breck was a gentleman, and that was +the first and only time I ever knew him to lose his temper. Under the +circumstances, he was excusable. I put all my nerve-shattering steam into +the next pitch, and, instead of dropping, the ball hopped over his +bat when he smote at it. I had fanned the mighty Breckenridge, and +the wondering crowd lifted their voices in hosannas. Yet I know they +regarded it in the nature of an accident, and not until I had whiffed +him three times more in the same game did either Breck or the spectators +arrive at the conviction that I had something on him. + +"After that," said the narrator, as if in conclusion, "I had him +eating out of my hand right up to the final and decisive game of the +season." + +Weegman begged the fanciful romancer to tell what happened in the last +game. + +"Oh, we won," was the assurance; "but we never would have if Breck +had been wise the last time he came to bat. It was in the ninth inning, +with the score three to two in our favor, two down, and runners on +second and third. Knowing it was Breck's turn to hit, I was confident +we had the game sewed up. But the confidence oozed out of me all of a +sudden when I saw the big fellow paw the clubs over to select a bat +other than his own. Clammy perspiration started forth from every pore +of my body. With any other swat stick beside his own, I knew he was +practically sure to drive any ball I could pitch him over the fence. +The agony of apprehension which I endured at that moment gave me my +first gray hairs. + +"Although I did not know it at the time, it chanced that Breck had +selected the bat of another player who had had it bored and loaded with +an ordinary steel rod. This, you can clearly understand, made it more +than doubly certain that he would hit the magnetized ball, which would +be attracted instead of repelled. Had I known this, I shouldn't have +had the heart to pitch at all. + +"As the noble warrior stood up to the pan, I considered what I could +pitch him. Curves could not fool him, and he literally ate speed. +Therefore, without hope, I tossed him up a slow one. Now it chanced that +the old boy had decided to try a surprise, having become disheartened by +his efforts to slug; he had resolved to attempt to bunt, knowing such a +move would be unexpected. So he merely stuck out his bat as the sphere +came sailing over. The magnet was attracted by the steel rod, and the +ball just jumped at the bat, against which it struck--and stuck! I +hope never to tell the truth again, mate, if I'm not stating a simple, +unadulterated, unvarnished fact. The moment the ball touched the bat it +stuck fast to it as if nailed there. Breck was so astonished that he +stood in his tracks staring at the ball like a man turned to stone. I +was likewise paralyzed for an extemporaneous fraction of time, but my +ready wit quickly availed me. Bounding forward, I wrenched the ball from +the bat and tagged old Breck with it, appealing to the umpire for +judgment. There was only one thing his umps could do. He had seen the +batter attempt to bunt, had seen bat and ball meet, and had seen me +secure the ball on fair ground and put it on to the hitter. He declared +Breckenridge out, and that gave us the game and the championship." + +Bailey Weegman lay back and roared. In doing so, he seemed to perceive +Lefty for the first time. As soon as he could get his breath, he said: + +"Oh, I say, Locke, let me introduce you. This is Cap'n Wiley, owner +and manager of the Wind Jammers." + + + + +CHAPTER V + +A MAN OF MYSTERY + + +The swarthy little fabulist rose hastily to his feet, making a quick +survey of the southpaw. "Am I indeed and at last in the presence of the +great Lefty Locke?" he cried, his face beaming like the morning sun +in a cloudless sky. "Is it possible that after many weary moons I have +dropped anchor in the same harbor with the most salubriously efficacious +port-side flinger of modern times? Pardon my deep emotion! Slip me your +mudhook, Lefty; let me give you the fraternal grip." + +He grabbed Locke's hand and wrung it vigorously, while the other members +of the Wind Jammers pressed nearer, looking the Big League pitcher over +with interest. + +"In many a frozen igloo," declared Wiley, "I have dreamed of this +day when I should press your lily-white fingers. Oft and anon during my +weary sojourn in that far land of snow and ice have I pictured to myself +the hour when we should stand face to face and exchange genuflections and +greetings. And whenever a smooched and tattered months-old newspaper +would drift in from civilization, with what eager and expectant +thrills did I tremulously turn to the baseball page that I might +perchance read thereon how you had stung the Hornets, bitten the Wolves, +clipped the claws of the Panthers, or plucked the feathers from the White +Wings!" + +"And I have been wondering," confessed Lefty, "if you could be the +original Cap'n Wiley of whom I heard so many strange tales in my +boyhood. It was reported that you were dead." + +"Many a time and oft hath that canard been circulated. According to +rumor, I have demised a dozen times or more by land and sea; but each +time, like the fabled Phoenix, I have risen from my ashes. During the +last few fleeting years I have been in pursuit of fickle fortune in +far-off Alaska, where it was sometimes so extremely cold that fire froze +and we cracked up the congealed flames into little chunks which we sold +to the Chilkoots and Siwashes as precious bright red stones. Strange to +say, whenever I have related this little nanny goat it has been received +with skepticism and incredulity. The world is congested with doubters." + +"When you wrote me," admitted Locke, "proposing to bring your Wind +Jammers here to play the Fernandon Grays, I thought the letter was a +hoax. At first I was tempted not to answer it, and when I did reply it +was out of curiosity more than anything else; I wanted to see what the +next twist of the joke would be." + +"Let me assure you that you will find playing against the Wind Jammers +no joke. I have conglomerated together the fastest segregation of +baseball stars ever seen outside a major league circuit, and I say it +with becoming and blushing modesty. Look them over," he invited, with +a proud wave of his hand toward the remarkable group of listeners. +"It has always been my contention that there are just as good players +to be found outside the Big League as ever wore the uniform of a major. I +have held that hard luck, frowning fate, or contumelious circumstances +have conspired to hold these natural-born stars down and prevent their +names from being chiseled on the tablet of fame. Having gathered unto +myself a few slippery shekels from my mining ventures in the land +where baseball games begin at the hour of midnight, I have now set out to +prove my theory, and before I am through I expect to have all balldom +sitting up agog and gasping with wonderment." + +"I wish you luck," replied Lefty. "If you don't do anything else, +you ought to get some sport out of it. I presume you still ascend the +mound as a pitcher?" + +"Oh," was the airy answer, "on rare occasions I give the gaping +populace a treat by propelling the sphere through the atmosphere. When my +projector is working up to its old-time form, I find little difficulty +in leading the most formidable batters to vainly slash the vacant +ether. The weather seeming propitious, I may burn a few over this p.m. +I trust you will pitch also." + +"I think I shall start the game, at least." + +Bailey Weegman butted in. "But he won't finish it, Wiley. Like +yourself, he's not doing as much pitching as he did once." His laugh +was significant. + +The owner of the Wind Jammers looked startled. "Tell me not in mournful +numbers that your star is already on the decline!" he exclaimed, looking +at Locke with regret. "That's what the Big Leagues do to a good man; +they burn him out like a pitch-pine knot. I've felt all along that +the Blue Stockings were working you too much, Lefty. Without you on +their roster ready to work three or four times a week in the pinches, +they never could have kept in the running." + +"You're more than complimentary," said Locke, after giving Weegman a +look. "But I think I'll be able to shake something out of my sleeve +this season, the same as ever." + +"Then don't let them finish you, don't let them grind you to a +frazzle," advised Wiley. "For the first time in recent history you +have a chance for your white alley; the Federals are giving you that. If +you're not already enmeshed in the folds of a contract, the Feds will +grab you and hand you a square deal." + +Weegman rose, chuckling and snapping his fingers. "All this talk about +what the Feds can do is gas!" he declared. "They're getting nothing +but the soreheads and deadwood of organized baseball, which will be +vastly better off without the deserters. Cripples and has-beens may +make a good thing out of the Feds for a short time. Perhaps Locke would +find it profitable to jump." His meaning was all too plain. + +Lefty felt like taking the insinuating fellow by the neck and shaking him +until his teeth rattled, but outwardly he was not at all ruffled or +disturbed. "Mr. Weegman," he said, "is showing pique because I have +not seen fit to sign up as manager of the Blue Stockings. He professes +to have authority from Charles Collier to sign the manager, Collier +having gone abroad for his health." + +"If anybody doubts my authority," shouted Weegman, plunging his hand +into an inner pocket of his coat, "I can show the documents that will--" + +The southpaw had turned his back on him. "I understand you have a clever +pitcher in the man known as Mysterious Jones, Wiley," he said. + +"A pippin!" was the enthusiastic answer. "I'll give you a chance to +see him sagaciate to-day." + +"He is a deaf-mute?" + +"He couldn't hear a cannon if you fired it right under the lobe of his +ear, and he does his talking with his prehensile digits. Leon Ames in +his best days never had anything on Jones." + +"Strange I never even heard of him. Our scouts have scoured the bushes +from one end of the country to the other." + +"I never collided with any baseball scouts in Alaska," said Wiley. + +"Oh! You found Jones in Alaska?" + +"Pitching for a team in Nome." + +"But baseball up there! I didn't know--" + +"Oh, no; nobody ever thinks of baseball up there, but in the all too +short summer season there's something doing in that line. Why, even +modern dances have begun to run wild in Alaska, so you see they're right +up to the present jiffy." + +"Where did this Jones originally hail from?" + +"Ask me! I don't know. Nobody I ever met knew anything about him, +and what he knows about himself he won't tell. He's mysterious, you +understand; but his beautiful work on the slab has caused my classic +countenance to break into ripples and undulations and convolutions of +mirth." + +"Where is he? I'd like to give him the once over." + +"I think he's out somewhere prowling around the town and sizing up +the citizens. That's one of his little vagaries; he has a combustable +curiosity about strangers. Every place we go he wanders around for hours +lamping the denizens of the burg. Outside baseball, strange people +seem to interest him more than anything in the world; but once he has +taken a good square look at a person, henceforth and for aye that +individual ceases to attract him; if he ever gives anybody a second +look, it is one of absolute indifference. Oh, I assure you with the +utmost voracity that Jones is an odd one." + +"He must be," agreed Lefty. + +"Ay tank, cap'n," said Oleson, the Swede outfielder, "that Yones now +bane comin' up the street." + +Wiley turned and gazed at an approaching figure. "Yes," he said, +"that's him. Turn your binnacle lights on him, Lefty; behold the +greatest pitcher adrift in the uncharted regions of baseball." + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +PECULIAR BEHAVIOR + + +Jones was rather tall and almost slender, although he had a fine pair +of shoulders. His arm was as long as Walter Johnson's. His face was as +grave as that of the Sphinx, and held more than a touch of the same +somber sadness. His eyes were dark and keen and penetrating; with a +single glance they seemed to pierce one through and through. And they +were ever on the move, like little ferrets, searching, searching, +searching. As he approached the hotel, he met a man going in the opposite +direction, and he half paused to give the man a sharp, lance-like stare. +Involuntarily the man drew aside a trifle and, walking on, turning to +look back with an expression of mingled questioning and resentment. +But Jones had resumed his habitual pace, his appearance that of a person +who, already overburdened, had received one more disappointment. + +Barney O'Reilley, the shortstop, laughed. "Sure," said he, "it's +a bit of a jump old Jonesy hands any one he looks at fair and hard." + +Lefty Locke felt a throb of deep interest and curiosity. There was +something about the deaf-mute pitcher of the Wind Jammers that aroused +and fascinated him instantly. His first thought was that the man might +be mentally unbalanced to a slight degree; but, though he knew not why, +something caused him to reject this conviction almost before it was +formed. Apparently Jones was well named "Mysterious." + +"There's the bird, Lefty," said Cap'n Wiley proudly. "There's the +boy who'd make 'em sit up and take notice if ever he got a show in the +Big League. Yours truly, the Marine Marvel, knew what he was doing when +he plucked that plum in the far-away land of lingering snows." + +A queer sound behind him, like a hissing, shuddering gasp, caused +Locke to look around quickly. The sound had come from Weegman, who, +face blanched, mouth agape, eyes panic-stricken, was staring at the +approaching pitcher. Amazement, doubt, disbelief, fear--he betrayed +all these emotions. Even while he leaned forward to get a better view +over the shoulder of a man before him, he shrank back, crouching like +one ready to take to his heels. + +Like a person pleased by the sound of his own voice, Cap'n Wiley +rattled on in laudation of his mute pitcher. No one save Locke seemed to +notice Weegman; and so wholly fascinated by the sight of Jones was the +latter that he was quite oblivious to the fact that he had attracted any +attention. + +"Smoke!" Wiley was saying. "Why, mate, when he uses all his speed, +a ball doesn't last a minute; the calorie friction it creates passing +through the air burns the cover off." + +"Ya," supplemented Shaeffer, the catcher, "und sometimes it sets my +mitt afire." + +"Some speed!" agreed Lefty, as Jones, his head bent, reached the foot +of the steps. "He looks tired." + +"He's always that way after he tramps around a strange town," said +the owner of the Wind Jammers. "Afterward he usually goes to bed and +rests, and he comes out to the games as full of fire and kinks as a boy +who has stuffed himself with green apples. I'll introduce you, Locke." + +The southpaw looked round again. Weegman was gone; probably he had +vanished into the convenient door of the hotel. Cap'n Wiley drew Lefty +forward to meet the voiceless pitcher, and, perceiving a stranger, +Mysterious Jones halted at the top of the steps and stabbed him with a +stare full in the face. Lefty had never looked into such searching, +penetrating eyes. + +Wiley made some deft and rapid movements with his hands and fingers, +using the deaf-and-dumb language to make Jones aware of the identity +of the famous Big League pitcher. Already the mute had lapsed into +disappointed indifference, but he accepted Locke's offered hand and +smiled in a faint, melancholy way. + +"He's feeling especially downcast to-day," explained Wiley, "and so +he'll pitch like a fiend this afternoon. He always twirls his best when +he's gloomiest; appears to entertain the delusion that he's taking +acrimonious revenge on the world for handing him some sort of a raw deal. +It would be a shame to use him against you the whole game, Lefty; he'd +make your Grays look like a lot of infirm prunes." + +"Spare us," pleaded Locke, in mock apprehension. + +Jones did not linger long with his teammates on the veranda. With a +solemn but friendly bow to Lefty, he passed on into the hotel, Wiley +explaining that he was on his way to take his regular daily period of +rest. Through the open door the southpaw watched the strange pitcher walk +through the office and mount a flight of stairs. And from the little +writing room Locke saw Bailey Weegman peer forth, his eyes following the +mysterious one until the latter disappeared. Then Weegman hurried to the +desk and interviewed the clerk, after which he made an inspection of +the names freshly written upon the hotel register. + +The man's behavior was singular, and Lefty decided that, for some +reason, Weegman did not care to encounter Jones. This suspicion was +strengthened when, scarcely more than an hour later, Charles Collier's +private secretary appeared at the little cottage occupied by Locke and +his wife, and stated that he had made a change from the Magnolia Hotel +to the Florida House, a second-rate and rather obscure place on the +edge of the colored quarter. + +"Couldn't stand for Wiley and his gang of bushwhackers," Weegman +explained. "They made me sick, and I had to get out, even though I'm +going to leave town at five-thirty this afternoon. That's the first +through train north that I can catch. Thought I'd let you know so you +could find me in case you changed your mind about that offer." + +"You might have spared yourself the trouble," said Locke coldly. + +Weegman made a pretense of laughing. "No telling about that. Mules are +obstinate, but even they can be made to change their minds if you build +a hot enough fire under them. Don't forget where you can find me." + +Lefty watched him walking away, and noted that his manner was somewhat +nervous and unnatural. "I wonder," murmured the pitcher, "why you put +yourself to so much discomfort to avoid Mysterious Jones." + +Directed by Locke, the Grays put in an hour of sharp practice that +forenoon. As Lefty had stated, the team was practically comprised of +winter visitors from the North. Some of them had come South for their +health, too. Three were well along in the thirties, and one had passed +forty. Yet, for all such handicaps, they were an enthusiastic, energetic +team, and they could play the game. At least five of them had once been +stars on college nines. Having never lost their love for the game, they +had rounded into form wonderfully under the coaching of the Big League +pitcher. Also, in nearly every game they pulled off more or less of +the stuff known as "inside baseball." + +They had been remarkably successful in defeating the teams they had +faced, but Locke felt sure that, in spite of the conglomerate and +freakish appearance of the Wind Jammers, it was not going to be an +easy thing to take a fall out of Cap'n Wiley's aggregation of talent. +The self-styled "Marine Marvel" had a record; with players culled from +the brambles as he knocked about the country, he had, in former days, +put to shame many a strong minor league outfit that had patronizingly +and somewhat disdainfully consented to give him an engagement on an off +date. Unless the eccentric and humorously boastful manager of the +Wind Jammers had lost much of his judgment and cunning during the recent +years that he had been out of the public eye, the fastest independent +team would have to keep awake and get a fair share of the breaks in order +to trounce him. + +Locke warmed up his arm a little, but, even though he felt scarcely +a twinge of the lameness and stiffness that had given him so much +apprehension, he was cautious. At one time, when the trouble was the +worst, he had not been able to lift his left hand to his mouth. A +massage expert in Fernandon had done much for him, and he hoped that +he had done not a little for himself by perfecting a new style of +delivery that did not put so much strain upon his shoulder. Still, +until he should be forced to the test, he could never feel quite sure +that he would be the same puzzle to the finest batsmen that he had once +been. And it must be confessed that he had looked forward with some dread +to the day when that test should come. + +Suddenly he resolved that, in a way, he would meet the test at once. +Doubtless the Wind Jammers were batters of no mean caliber, for Wiley +had always got together a bunch of sluggers. + +"I'll do it," he decided; "I'll go the limit. If I can't do that +now, after the rest I've had and the doctoring my arm has received, +there's not one chance in a thousand that I'll ever be able to pitch +in fast company again." + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +THE TEST + + +Nearly all Fernandon turned out to the game. Many residents of the +town, as well as a large number of the visitors from the North, came in +carriages and automobiles. The covered reserved seats were filled, +and, shielding themselves from the sun with umbrellas, an eager crowd +packed the bleachers. On the sandy grass ground back of third base a +swarm of chattering, grinning colored people sat and sprawled. Holding +themselves proudly aloof from the negroes, a group of lanky, sallow +"poor whites," few of whom could read or write, were displaying their +ignorance by their remarks about the game and the players. The mayor of +the town had consented to act as umpire. At four o'clock he called +"play." + +"Now we're off!" sang Cap'n Wiley, waltzing gayly forth to the +coaching position near third. "Here's where we hoist anchor and get +away with a fair wind." + +Nuccio, the olive-skinned Italian third baseman, selected his bat and +trotted to the pan, grinning at Locke. + +"Oh, you Lefty!" said he. "We gotta your number." + +"Put your marlinespike against the pill and crack the coating on it," +urged Wiley. + +George Sommers, catcher for the Grays, adjusted his mask, crouched, +signaled. Locke whipped one over the inside corner, and Nuccio fouled. + +"Nicked it!" cried the Marine Marvel. "Now bust it on the figurehead +and make for the first mooring. Show our highly steamed friend Lefty that +he's got to pitch to-day if he don't want the wind taken out of his +sails." + +The southpaw tried to lead Nuccio into reaching, but the batter caught +himself in his swing. "Puta the ball over, Left," he pleaded. "Don't +givea me the walk." + +The pitcher smiled and handed up a hopper. The batter fouled again, +lifting the ball on to the top of the covered seats. + +"I don't think you need worry about walking," said Sommers, returning +after having made a vain start in pursuit of the sphere. "You're in a +hole already." + +Nuccio smiled. "Wait," he advised. "I spoil the gooda ones." + +Another ball followed, then Lefty warped one across the comer. Nuccio +drove it into right for a pretty single, bringing shouts of approval from +the bench of the Wind Jammers. Wiley addressed Locke. + +"Really," he said, "I fear me much that you undervalue the batting +capacity of my players. One and all, individually and collectively, +they are there with the healthy bingle. Please, I beg of you, don't let +them pound you off the slab in the first inning, for that would puncture +a hard-earned reputation and bring tears of regret to my tender eyes. +For fear that you may be careless or disdainful, I warn you that this +next man can't touch anything down around his knees; his arms being +attached to his shoulders at such a dim and distant altitude, he finds it +difficult to reach down so far, even with the longest bat." + +Luther Bemis, the player referred to, was the marvelously tall and lanky +center fielder of the Wind Jammers. He had a queer halting walk, like a +person on stilts, and his appearance was so ludicrous that the spectators +tittered and laughed outright. Their amusement did not disturb him, for +he grinned cheerfully as he squared away, waving his long bat. + +"Don't you pay no 'tention to the cap 'n, Lefty," he drawled, in a +nasal voice. "I can hit um acrost the knees jest as well as anywhere +else. He's tryin' to fool ye." + +"Let's see about that," said Locke, putting one over low and close on +the inside. + +Bemis smashed out a hot grounder and went galloping to first with +tremendous, ground-covering strides. For all of his awkward walk and the +fact that he ran like a frightened giraffe, it would have required an +excellent sprinter to beat him from the plate to the initial sack. + +Norris, the shortstop, got his hand on the ball and stopped it, but it +twisted out of his fingers. It was an error on a hard chance, for by the +time he secured the sphere there was no prospect of getting either runner. + +"Now that's what I call misfortune when regarded from one angle, and +mighty lucky if viewed from another," said Wiley. "Beamy carries a +rabbit's foot; that's why he's second on our batting disorder. He does +things like that when they're least expected the most." + +Schaeffer was coaching at first. "Is it Lefty Locke against us +pitching?" he cried. "And such an easiness! Took a lead, efrybody, +and move along when the Irisher hits." + +"I hate to do ut," protested Barney O'Reilley, shaking his red head +as he walked into position. "It's a pain it gives me, Lefty, but I have +to earn me salary. No bad feelings, ould man. You understand." + +"Just one moment," called Wiley, holding up his hand. "Sympathy +impels me. I have a tender heart. Lefty, I feel that I must warn you +again. This descendant of the Irish nobility can hit anything that +sails over the platter. If it were not a distressing fact that Schepps, +who follows, is even a more royal batter, I would advise you to walk +O'Reilley. As it is, I am in despair." + +The crowd was not pleased. It began to beg Locke to fan O'Reilley, and +when the Irishman missed the first shoot the pleadings increased. + +"Barney is sympathetic also," cried Cap'n Wiley; "but he'd better +not let his sympathy carry him amain, whatever that is. I shall fine him +if he doesn't hit the ball." + +Locke had begun to let himself out in earnest, for the situation was +threatening. It would not be wise needlessly to permit the Wind Jammers +to get the jump. They were a confident, aggressive team, and would fight +to the last gasp to hold an advantage. The southpaw realized that it +would be necessary to do some really high-grade twirling to prevent them +from grabbing that advantage in short order. + +Tug Schepps, a tough-looking, hard-faced person, was swinging two bats +and chewing tobacco as he waited to take his turn. He was a product of +the sand lots. + +"Land on it, Barney, old top!" urged Tug. "Swat it on der trade-mark +an' clean der sacks. Dis Lefty boy don't seem such a much." + +Locke shot over a high one. + +"Going up!" whooped O'Reilley, ignoring it. + +"Get 'em down below the crow's nest," entreated Wiley. "You're not +pitching to Bemis now." + +The southpaw quickly tried a drop across the batter's shoulders, and, +not expecting that the ball had so much on it, Barney let it pass. +He made a mild kick when the mayor-umpire called a strike. "It's +astigmatism ye have, Mr. Mayor," he said politely. + +The next one was too close, but O'Reilley fell back and hooked it past +third base. Even though the left fielder had been playing in, Nuccio +might possibly have scored had he not stumbled as he rounded the corner. +Wiley started to grab the fallen runner, but remembered the new rule +just in time, and desisted. + +"Put about!" he shouted. "Head back to the last port!" + +The Italian scrambled back to the sack, spluttering. He reached it ahead +of the throw from the fielder. Cap'n Wiley pretended to shed tears. + +"Is it possible," he muttered, shaking his head, "that this is +the great Lefty Locke? If so, it must be true that his star is on +the decline. Alas and alack, life is filled with such bitter +disappointments." + +Whether the regret of Wiley was real or pretended, it was shared by a +large part of the spectators, who were friendly to the local team; for +Locke had become very well liked in Fernandon, both by the citizens of +the place and the Northern visitors. + +It must not be imagined that, with the corners crowded and no one down, +Locke was fully at his ease. He had decided to make this game the test of +his ability to "come back," and already it looked as if the first +inning would give him his answer. If he could not successfully hold +in check this heterogeneous collection of bush talent, it was easy to +understand what would happen to him the next time he essayed to twirl +for the Blue Stockings. A sickening sense of foreboding crept over him, +but his lips wore a smile, and he showed no sign of being perturbed. + +Schepps was at the plate, having discarded one of the bats he had been +swinging. He grinned like a Cheshire cat. "Always t'ought I could bump +a real league pitcher," he said. "Put one acrost, pal, an' I'll tear +der cover off." + +Locke hesitated. He had been using the new delivery he had acquired to +spare his shoulder. In previous games it had proved effective enough to +enable him to continue four or five innings, but now-- + +Suddenly he whipped the ball to third, sending Nuccio diving headlong +back to the sack. The crafty little Italian had been creeping off, ready +to make a flying dash for the plate. He was safe by a hair. + +"Not on your movie film!" cried Cap'n Wiley. "It can't be done!" + +Lefty did not hear him. He was gazing past the Marine Marvel at the +face of a man who, taking care to keep himself unobtrusively in the +background, was peering at him over the shoulders of a little group of +spectators--a grinning, mocking derisive face. + +It was Weegman. And Weegman knew! + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +AT NECESSITY'S DEMAND + + +Even after the ball was thrown back from third, and Lefty had turned +away, that grinning, mocking face continued to leer at him. Wherever he +looked it hovered before his mental vision like a taunting omen of +disaster. He was "all in," and Weegman knew it. The man had told +him, with sneering bluntness, that his "old soup bone was on the +blink." Yet, entertaining this settled conviction regarding Locke's +worthlessness as a pitcher, Weegman had made a long and wearisome +journey in order that he might be absolutely sure, by putting the deal +through in person, of signing the southpaw for the Blue Stockings at +an increased salary. The very fact that he had been offered the position +of manager, under conditions that would make him a mere puppet without +any real managerial authority, gave the proposition a blacker and more +sinister look. + +Sommers was signaling. Lefty shook his head to rid himself of that +hateful chimera. Misunderstanding, the catcher quickly changed the +sign. The pitcher delivered the ball called for first, and it went +through Sommers like a fine shot through an open sieve. + +Nuccio scored from third with ease, Bemis and O'Reilley advancing at +the same time. The Wind Jammers roared from the bench. Cap'n Wiley threw +up his hands. + +"Furl every stitch!" cried the manager of the visitors. "Batten the +hatches! The storm is upon us! It's going to be a rip-sizzler. I'm +afraid the wreck will be a total loss." + +Covering the plate, Lefty took the ball from Sommers. + +"How did you happen to cross me?" asked the catcher. + +"It was my fault," was the prompt acknowledgment; "but it won't +happen again." + +"I hope not," said Sommers. He wanted to suggest that Locke should +retire at once and let Matthews take up the pitching, but he refrained. + +The southpaw was doing some serious thinking as he walked back to the +mound. However well his newly acquired delivery had seemed to serve +him on other occasions, he was convinced that it would not do now; either +he must pitch in his own natural way and do his best, or he must retire +and let Dade Matthews try to check the overconfident aggressors. If +he retired, he would prolong the uncertainty in his own mind; he would +leave himself in doubt as to whether or not there was any prospect of +his return to the Big League as a twirler worthy of his hire. More than +doubt, he realized, he would be crushed by a conviction that he was +really down and out. + +"I've pampered my arm long enough," he decided. "I'm going to find +out if there's anything left in it." + +Perhaps the decision was unwise. The result of the game with the Wind +Jammers was of no importance, but Locke felt that, for his own peace +of mind, he must know what stuff was left in him. And there was no one +present with authority, no coach, no counselor, to restrain him. There +was a strange, new gleam in his eyes when he once more toed the slab. +His faint smile had not vanished, but it had taken lines of grimness. + +Schepps tapped the plate with his bat. "Come on, pal," he begged; +"don't blow up. Gimme one of der real kind, an' lemme have a swat at +it." + +The crowd was silent; even the chattering darkies had ceased their noise. +Only the Wind Jammers jubilated on the bench and the coaching lines. + +Poising himself, Locke caught Sommer's signal, and nodded. Then he swung +his arm with the old free, supple, whiplash motion, and the ball that +left his fingers cut the air like a streak of white, taking a really +remarkable hop. Schepps' "swat" was wasted. + +"Now, dat's like it!" cried the sandlotter. "Where've you been +keepin' dat kind, old boy? Gimme a duplicate." + +Lefty watched Bemis, the long-legged ground coverer, working away +toward the plate, and drove him back. But he seemed to have forgotten +O'Reilley, and the Irishman was taking a lead on which he should have +little trouble in scoring if Schepps drove out a safety. Farther and +farther he crept up toward third. + +Sommers tugged at his mask with an odd little motion. Like a flash the +southpaw whirled about and shot the ball to second, knowing some one +would be there to take the throw. Mel Gates was the man who covered the +bag, and O'Reilley found himself caught between second and third. Gates +went after him, and the Irishman ran toward third. But Locke had cut +in on the line, and he took a throw from Gates that caused O'Reilley +to turn back abruptly. Behind Gates, Norris was covering the cushion. +Tremain came down a little from third to back Lefty up. + +Colby had raced from first base to the plate in order to support Sommers, +for Bemis was swiftly creeping down to make a dash. On the coaching +line, Cap'n Wiley did a wild dance. The spectators were thrilled by +the sudden excitement of the moment. + +Lefty ran O'Reilley back toward second, and he knew Bemis was letting +himself out in an attempt to score. Swinging instantly, Locke made a +rifle-accurate throw to Sommers, who jammed the ball on to the +long-geared runner as he was sliding for the plate. The affair had +been so skillfully managed that not only was O'Reilley prevented from +advancing, but also the attempt to sneak a tally while the Irishman +was being run down had resulted disastrously for the Wind Jammers. + +"Dat's der only way dey can get us out," said Schepps. "Dis Lefty +person looks to me like a lemon!" + +Cap'n Wiley was philosophically cheerful. "Just a little lull in the +tornado," he said. "It's due to strike again in a minute." + +Lefty looked the confident Schepps over, and then he gave him a queer +drop that deceived him even worse than the swift hopper. The spectators, +who had been worried a short time before, now expressed their approval; +and when, a minute later, the southpaw whiffed the sandlotter, there was +a sudden burst of handclapping and explosions of boisterous laughter +from the delighted darkies. + +"Wh-who's dat man said lemon?" cried one. "Dat Lefty pusson sho' +handed him one dat time!" + +"Is it possible," said Cap'n Wiley, "that I'm going to be compelled +to revise my dates regarding that wreck?" Then he roared at the Swede: +"Get into the game, Oleson! It's your watch on deck, and you want to +come alive. The wrong ship's being scuttled." + +"Aye, aye, captain!" responded Oleson. "Mebbe Ay do somethin' when +Ay get on the yob. Yust keep your eye on me." Believing himself a hitter +superior to the men who had touched Locke up so successfully at the +beginning of the game, he strode confidently forth, for all of the +failure of Schepps. + +Sizing up the Swede, Lefty tested him with a curve, but Oleson betrayed +no disposition to reach. A drop followed, and the batter fouled it. His +style of swinging led the southpaw to fancy that he had a preference +for drops, and therefore Locke wound the next one round his neck, +puncturing his weakness. Not only did Oleson miss, but he swung in a +manner that made it doubtful if he would drive the ball out of the +infield if he happened to hit one of that kind. + +"Hit it where you missed it!" implored Wiley. "Don't let him +bamboozle you with the chin wipers." Then he turned on O'Reilley. +"Cast off that mooring! Break your anchor loose and get under way! +Man the halyards and crack on every stitch! You've got to make port +when Ole stings the horsehide." + +In spite of himself, Lefty was compelled to laugh outright at the Marine +Marvel's coaching contortions. "Calm yourself, cap'n," he advised. +"The hurricane is over." + +"How can I calm myself when calamity threatens?" was the wild retort. +"You are a base deceiver, Lefty. Such chicanery is shameful! I don't +know what chicanery means, but it seems to fit the offense." + +And now the spectators fell to laughing at the swarthy little man, who +did not seem to be so very offensive, after all, and who was injecting +more than a touch of vaudeville comedy into the game. + +Oleson waited patiently, still determined to hit, although somewhat +dismayed by his two failures to gauge the left-hander's slants. But +when Lefty suddenly gave him another exactly like the last, he slashed +at it awkwardly and fruitlessly. The crowd broke into a cheer, and the +Swede turned dazedly from the plate, wiping beads of perspiration from +his brow. + +"That Lefty he bane some pitcher," admitted Oleson. "He got a good +yump ball." + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +TORTURING DOUBT + + +To a degree, Locke had satisfied himself that he still had command of +his speed and carves; but the experience had also taught him that his +efforts to acquire a new delivery as effective as his former style of +pitching, and one that would put less strain upon his shoulder, had been +a sheer waste of time. Working against batters who were dangerous, his +artificial delivery had not enabled him to pitch the ball that would +hold them in check. He had mowed them down, however, when he had resorted +to his natural form. + +But what would that do to his shoulder? Could he pitch like that and go +the full distance with no fear of disastrous results? Should he attempt +it, even should he succeed, perhaps the morrow would find him with his +salary wing as weak and lame and lifeless as it had been after that last +heart-breaking game in the Big League. + +Involuntarily, as he left the mound, he looked around for Weegman, who +had disappeared. It gave Lefty some satisfaction to feel that, for the +time being, at least, he had wiped the mocking grin from the schemer's +face. + +Cap'n Wiley jogged down from third, an expression of injured reproof +puckering his countenance. "I am pained to the apple core," he said. +"My simple, trusting nature has received a severe shock. Just when I +thought we had you meandering away from here, Lefty, you turned right +round and came back. If you handed us that one lone tally to chirk us +along, let me reassure you that you made the mistake of your young life; +I am going to ascend the hillock and do some volleying, which makes it +extensively probable that the run we have garnered will be sufficient +to settle the game." + +"Don't be so unfeeling!" responded Locke. "Give us Mysterious Jones." + +"Oh, perchance you may be able to get on the sacks with me pushing 'em +over; but if Jones unlimbered his artillery on you, he'd mow you down +as fast as you toddled up to the pentagon. You see, I wish the assemblage +to witness some slight semblance of a game." + +In action upon the slab, Wiley aroused still further merriment. His +wind-up before delivering the ball was most bewildering. His writhing, +squirming twists would have made a circus contortionist gasp. First +he seemed to tie himself into knots, pressing the ball into the pit of +his stomach like a person in excruciating anguish. On the swing back, he +turned completely away from the batter, facing second base for a moment, +at the same time poising himself on his right foot and pointing his +left foot toward the zenith. Then he came forward and around, as if he +would put the sphere over with the speed of a cannon ball--and handed +up a little, slow bender. + +But he need not have troubled himself to put a curve on that first one, +for Fred Hallett, leading off for the Grays, stood quite still and stared +like a person hypnotized. The ball floated over, and the umpire called a +strike, which led Hallett to shake himself and join in the laughter of +the crowd. + +"What's the matter? What's the matter?" spluttered Wiley. "Was my +speed too much for you? Couldn't you see it when it came across? Shall I +pitch you a slow one?" + +Hallett shook his head, unable to reply. + +"Oh, vurry, vurry well," said the Marine Marvel. "As you choose. I +don't want to be too hard on you." Then, after going through with a +startling variation of the former convulsions, he did pitch a ball that +was so speedy that the batsman swung too slowly. And, a few minutes +later, completing the performance to his own satisfaction, he struck +Hallett out with a neat little drop. "I preen myself," said he, "that +I'm still there with the huckleberries. As a pitcher of class, I've +got Matty and a few others backed up against the ropes. Bring on your +next victim." + +Charlie Watson found the burlesque so amusing that he laughed all the +way from the bench to the plate. The eccentric pitcher looked at him +sympathetically. + +"When you get through shedding tears," he said, "I'll pitch to you. +I hate to see a strong man weep." + +Then, without the slightest warning, using no wind-up whatever, he +snapped one straight over, catching Watson unprepared. That sobered +Watson down considerably. + +"I'm glad to see you feeling better," declared the manager of the Wind +Jammers. "Now that you're quite prepared, I'll give you something +easy." + +The slow one that he tossed up seemed to hang in the air with the +stitches showing. Watson hit it and popped a little fly into Wiley's +hands, the latter not being compelled to move out of his tracks. He +removed his cap and bowed his thanks. + +Doc Tremain walked out seriously enough, apparently not at all amused +by the horseplay that was taking place. With his hands on his hips, Wiley +stared hard at Tremain. + +"Here's a jolly soul!" cried the pitcher. "He's simply laughing +himself sick. I love to see a man enjoy himself so diabolically." + +"Oh, play ball!" the doctor retorted tartly. "This crowd isn't here +to see monkeyshines." + +"Then they won't look at you, my happy friend. And that's a dart of +subtle repartee." + +Wiley's remarkable wind-up and delivery did not seem to bother Tremain, +who viciously smashed the first ball pitched to him. It was a savage line +drive slightly to the left of the slabman, but the latter shot out his +gloved hand with the swiftness of a striking rattlesnake, and grabbed +the whistling sphere. Having made the catch, the Marine Marvel tossed +the ball carelessly to the ground and sauntered toward the bench with +an air of bored lassitude. There was a ripple of applause. + +"You got off easy that time, cap'n," said Locke, coming out. "When +are you going to let us have a crack at Jones?" + +"A crack at him!" retorted Wiley. "Don't make me titter, Lefty! Your +assemblage of would-bes never could get anything remotely related to a +crack off Jones. However, when ongwee begins to creep over me I'll let +him go in and polish you off." + +"Colonel" Rickey, leading off for the Wind Jammers in the second, +hoisted an infield fly, and expressed his annoyance in a choice Southern +drawl as he went back to the bench. + +Peter Plum, the fat right fielder, followed, poling out an infield drive +which, to the amazement of the crowd, he nearly turned into a safety +by the most surprising dash to first. Impossible though it seemed, the +chunky, short-legged fellow could run like a deer, and when he was cut +down by little more than a yard at the hassock he vehemently protested +that it was robbery. + +Locke was taking it easy now; he almost seemed to invite a situation +that would again put his arm to the test. There was a queer feeling in +his shoulder, a feeling he did not like, and he wondered if he could +"tighten" in repeated pinches, as he had so frequently done when +facing the best batters in the business. But, though he grooved one to +Schaeffer, the catcher boosted an easy fly to Watson in left field. + +Wiley went through the second inning unharmed, although, with two down, +Colby landed on the horsehide for two sacks. Coming next, Gates bit at a +slow one and lifted a foul to the third baseman. + +"Now give me my faithful bludgeon," cried the Marine Marvel, making for +the bats. "Watch me start something! I'm going to lacerate the feelings +of this man Lefty. I hate to do it, but I hear the clarion call of duty." + +Locke decided to strike Wiley out. Wiley picked out a smoking shoot, and +banged it on a line for one sack. + +"Nice tidy little bingle, wasn't it, mate?" he cried. "I fancied +mayhap Dame Rumor had slandered you, but alas! I fear me you are easy +for a real batter with an eye." + +Nuccio was up again, and he also hit safely, Wiley going to third on +the drive. Locke's teeth clicked together. Was it possible that real +batters could find him with such ease? If so, the Big League would see +him no more; he would not return to it. If so, his days as a pitcher +were surely ended. For a moment Bailey Weegman's grinning face again +rose vaguely before him. + +"I must know!" he muttered. "I must settle these infernal doubts that +are torturing me." + + + + +CHAPTER X + +THE ONLY DOOR + + +Luther Bemis blundered. He had been given the signal to let Nuccio steal, +but he hit at the ball and raised a foul to Colby, who stepped back +upon first and completed a double play unassisted, the Italian having +made a break for second. Nuccio was disgusted, and Cap'n Wiley made a +few remarks to Bemis that caused the lengthy center fielder to retire to +the bench in confusion. + +"There has been a sudden addition to the bone crop," concluded the +vexed manager of the Wind Jammers. "Beamy, in order to avoid getting +your dates mixed, you should carry a telescope and take an occasional +survey of the earth's surface." + +"Niver mind, cap'n," called O'Reilley. "I'll put ye across whin +I hit." + +With a twinge of apprehension, Locke sought to trick the confident +Irishman into biting at a curve. And, even as he pitched, he was annoyed +with himself because apprehension prevented him from bending the ball +over. O'Reilley stubbornly declined to bite. + +There was a sudden chorus of warning shouts as Sommers returned the +ball, and the pitcher was surprised to see Cap'n Wiley running for the +registry station. The foxy old veteran was actually trying to steal home +on the Big League pitcher. Laughing, Lefty waited for the ball, aware +that Sommers was leaping into position to nail the runner. Without +undue haste, yet without wasting a second, the slabman snapped the +sphere back to the eager hands of the catcher, who poked it into the +sliding man's ribs. Wiley was out by four feet, at least. + +"Why didn't you wait for O'Reilley to hit?" Locke asked. + +"I wanted to spare your already tattered nerves," was the instant +answer. "You see, sympathy may be found elsewhere than in the +dictionary." + +Still floundering in the bog of doubt, Lefty was far from satisfied. He +had told himself that he invited the test which would give him the answer +he sought, yet he realized that, face to face with it, he had felt a +shrinking, a qualm, akin to actual dread; and he was angry with himself +because he drew a breath of relief when the blundering and reckless +playing of the Wind Jammers postponed the ordeal, leaving him still +groping in the dark. + +Sommers led off with a hot grounder, which O'Reilley booted. Playing +the game, Locke bunted, advancing Sommers and perishing himself at first. + +"Cleverly done," admitted Cap'n Wiley, "but it will avail you naught. +I shall now proceed to decorate the pill with the oil of elusion." + +A friend called to Lefty in the crowd back of first, and the pitcher +walked back to exchange a few words with him. He was turning away when a +hand fell on his arm, and he looked round to find Weegman there. The +man's face wore a supercilious and knowing smile. + +"I didn't mean to attend this game," said Weegman, "but, having the +time, I decided to watch part of it, as it would give me a good chance +to settle a certain point definitely in my mind. What I've seen has +been quite enough. Your arm is gone, Locke, and you know it. You're +laboring like a longshoreman against this bunch of bushers, and, working +hard as you are, you couldn't hold them only for their dub playing. I +admit that you struck out some of their weakest stickers, but you were +forced to the limit to do it, and it made that injured wing of yours +wilt. They had you going in the last round, and threw away their chance +by bonehead playing." + +"Weegman," said Locke, "I'm tired of hearing you talk. The sound of +your voice makes me weary." + +But instead of being disturbed the man chuckled. "The truth frequently +is unpleasant," he returned; "and you know I am speaking the raw +truth. Now I like you, Locke; I've always liked you, and I hate to +see you go down and out for good. That's what it means if you don't +accept my offer. As manager of the Blue Stockings, you can hold your +job this season if you don't pitch a ball; it'll enable you to stay in +the business in a new capacity, and you'll not be dependent on your +arm. A pitcher's arm may fail him any time. As a manager, you may +last indefinitely." + +"It would be a crime if the sort of a manager you want lasted a month." + +"If you don't come at my terms, you may kiss yourself good-by. The Feds +are going to learn that your flinger is gone; be sure of that." + +"That's a threat?" + +"A warning. If their crazy offer has tempted you, put the temptation +aside. That offer will be withdrawn. Every manager and magnate in the +business is going to know that as a pitcher you have checked in. There's +only one door for you to return by, and I'm holding it open." He +laughed and placed his hand again ingratiatingly upon Locke's arm. + +Locke shook it off instantly. "Were I as big a rascal as you, Weegman," +he said, with limitless contempt, "I'd make a dash through that door. +Thank Heaven, I'm not!" + +The baffled man snapped his fingers. "You are using language you'll +regret!" he harshly declared, although he maintained his smiling +demeanor to such a degree that any one a few yards distant might have +fancied the conversation between the two was of the pleasantest sort. + +Lefty returned to the coaching line, taking the place of Tremain; for +Wiley had issued a pass to Hallett, Watson was at bat, and the doctor +followed Watson. Instantly sizing up the situation, the southpaw signaled +for a double steal, and both runners started with the first movement of +the pitcher's delivery. Schaeffer's throw to third was not good, and +Sommers slid under. Hallett had no trouble about reaching second. + +"What are you trying to pull off here?" cried the manager of the Wind +Jammers. "Such behavior is most inconsiderate, or words to that effect. +However it simply makes it necessary for me to inject a few more kinks +into the horsehide." + +Admittedly he did hand up some peculiar curves to Watson, but his control +was so poor that none of the twisters came over and like Hallett, the +left fielder walked. This peopled the corners. + +"Here," said Wiley, still chipper and undisturbed, "is that jolly soul +who obligingly batted an easy one into my fin the last time. I passed +the last hitter in order to get at this kind party again." + +Tremain let one pitch go by, but the next one pleased him, and he +cracked the ball on the nose. It was a two-base drive, which enabled +the runners already on to score. As the three raced over the plate, +one after another, Wiley was seen violently wigwagging toward the +bench. In response to his signal, Mysterious Jones rose promptly and +prepared to warm up with the second catcher. + +"I'm off to-day; perhaps I should say I'm awful," admitted the Marine +Marvel. "A spazoozum like that is sufficient to open my eyes to the +humiliating fact that I'm not pitching up to class. In a few minutes, +however, you'll have an opportunity to see Mr. Jones uncork some of +the real stuff." + +Wiley dallied with the next batter for the purpose of giving the dummy +pitcher time to shake the kinks out of his arm. Apparently Jones did +not need much time in which to get ready, for when the sailor presently +dealt out another pass the relief twirler signified his willingness to +assume the burden. + +As Jones walked out upon the diamond, Locke looked around vainly for +Weegman. It was possible, of course, that Collier's private secretary +had departed at once following his last rebuff, but somehow Lefty felt +that he was still lingering and taking pains not to be seen by Mysterious +Jones. Suddenly the southpaw felt a desire to bring the two men face to +face, wondering what would happen. There was more than a possibility that +such a meeting might present some dramatic features. + +Turning back, Lefty's eyes followed Jones. The interest and fascination +he had felt at first sight of the man returned, taking hold upon him +powerfully and intensely. There was something in the solemn face of the +mute that spoke of shattered hopes, deep and abiding sorrow, despair, +tragedy. He was like one who stood aloof even while he mingled with +mankind. Knowing other mutes, many of whom seemed happy and contented, +Locke could not believe that the peculiarities of Mysterious Jones were +wholly due to resentment against the affliction which fate had placed +upon him. Behind it all there must lay a story with perhaps more than one +dark page. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +BURNING SPEED + + +As a pitcher, Jones displayed no needless flourishes. His style of +delivery was simple but effective. Into the swing of his long arm he put +the throwing force of his fine shoulder and sinewy body. Wiley had +exaggerated in boasting of the mute's speed; nevertheless that speed +was something to marvel at. Norris, the clean-up man of the Grays, +who preferred smokers to any other kind, was too slow in striking at +the first two pitched to him by Jones. Norris looked astounded and +incredulous, and the spectators gasped. + +"That's his slow one, mates!" cried Wiley. "Pretty soon, when he +gets loosened up, he'll let out a link or two and burn a few across. +The daisies are growing above the only man he ever hit with the ball." + +Although Norris was not slow in swinging at the next one, the sphere +took a shoot that deceived him, and the mute had disposed of the first +hitter with three pitched balls. + +"And the wiseacres say there are no real heavers left in the bushes!" +whooped Cap'n Wiley. + +Locke was thrilled. Could it be that here was a discovery, a find, a +treasure like a diamond in the rough, left around underfoot amid +pebbles? The Big League scouts are the grubstakers, the prospectors, +the treasure hunters of baseball; ceaselessly and tirelessly they scour +the country even to the remote corners and out-of-the-way regions where +the game nourishes in the crude, lured on constantly by the hope of +making a big find. To them the unearthing of a ball player of real +ability and promise is like striking the outcroppings of a Comstock +or a Kimberly; and among the cheering surface leads that they discover, +a hundred peter out into worthlessness, where one develops into a +property of value. More and more the scouts complain that the ground +has been raked over again and again and the prizes are growing fewer +and farther between; yet every now and then, where least expected, +one of them will turn up something rich that has been overlooked by +journeying too far afield. The fancy that Mysterious Jones might be one +of these unnoticed nuggets set Locke's pulses throbbing. + +Jones had appeared to be a trifle slender in street clothes, but now +Lefty could see that he was the possessor of fine muscles and whipcord +sinews. There was no ounce of unnecessary flesh upon him anywhere; he +was like an athlete trained to the minute and hardened for an enduring +test by long and continuous work. There seemed little likelihood that +protracted strain would expose a flaw. He had speed and stamina; if +he possessed the required skill and brains, there was every reason to +think that he might "deliver the goods." With the advent of the silent +man upon the mound, Locke's attention became divided between doubts +about himself and interest in the performance of the mute. + +Hampton, who followed Norris, was quite as helpless against the dazzling +speed of Jones; he could not even foul the ball. "Great smoke, Locke!" +he exclaimed, pausing on his way to center field. "That man's a terror! +He seems to groove them all, but you can't see them come over." + +"Perhaps he can't keep it up," said Lefty. + +"I hope not. If he does, we've got to win on the runs we've made +already; there'll be no more scoring for us. It's up to you to hold +them down." + +The southpaw held them in the fourth, but he did so by working his +head fully as much as his arm. By this time he had learned something +of the hitting weaknesses of the Wind Jammers, and he played upon +those weaknesses successfully. To his teammates and the spectators the +performance was satisfactory; to him it proved only that his brain, +if not his arm, was still in perfect condition. + +Mysterious Jones came back with two strikeouts; in fact, he struck +Sommers, the third man, out also; but the whistling, shooting sphere +went through the catcher, and Sommers raced to first on the error. +This brought Locke up, and he was eager to hit against Jones. He missed +the first one cleanly, but fouled the next two, which was better than any +one else had done. Then the silent man put something more on the ball, +and Lefty failed to touch it. + +"Nice little pitcher, don't you think?" inquired Cap'n Wiley blandly. + +"He behaves well, very well," admitted the southpaw. + +The Grays implored Locke to keep the enemy in hand; the crowd entreated +him. This was the game they desired to win. To them it was a struggle +of vital importance, and the winning or losing of it was the only +question of moment. They did not dream of something a thousand times +more momentous involving Lefty Locke. + +Loyal to the team and its supporters, the southpaw could not take +needless chances of losing, no matter how much he longed to be put +upon his mettle and forced to the last notch. Therefore he continued +to work his head while on the slab. Schaeffer fouled out, Jones fanned +indifferently, and Nuccio popped to shortstop. + +"Lucky boy!" called Wiley. "But things won't always break so well +for you. You'll have to go your limit before the game is over." + +"I hope so," said Lefty. + +Hallett caught one of Jones' whistlers on the end of his bat and drove +it straight into the hands of the first baseman. + +"Hooray!" laughed Watson. "At least that shows that he can be hit." + +"A blind man might hit one in a million if he kept his bat swinging," +scoffed Wiley. "Let's see you do as much." + +Watson could not do as much; he fanned three times. Then Jones pitched +four balls to Tremain, and the doctor placed himself in Watson's class. + +The game had become a pitchers' battle, with one twirler cutting the +batters down with burning speed and shoots, while the other held them +in check through the knowledge he had swiftly acquired regarding their +shortcomings with the stick. In every way the performance of Jones was +the most spectacular, and in the crowd scores of persons were beginning +to tell one another that the mute was the greater pitcher. + +The truth was, experience in fast company had taught Lefty Locke to +conserve his energies; like Mathewson, he believed that the eight +players who supported him should shoulder a share of the defensive +work, and it was not his practice to "put everything on the ball," +with the cushions clean. Only when pinches came did he tighten and burn +them across. Nor was he in that class of pitchers who are continually +getting themselves into holes by warping them wide to lure batters into +reaching; for he had found that a twirler who followed such a method +would be forced to go the limit by cool and heady batters who made a +practice of "waiting it out." Having that prime requisite of all +first-class moundmen, splendid control, he sought out an opponent's +weakest spot and kept the ball there, compelling the man to strike at +the kind from which he was least likely to secure effective drives. This +had led a large number of the fans who fancied themselves wise to +hold fast to their often-expressed belief that the southpaw was lucky, +but they were always looking for the opposition to fall on him and +hammer him all over the lot. + +Therefore it was not strange that the crowd, assembled to watch the game +in Fernandon, should soon come to regard the mute, with his blinding +speed and jagged shoots, as the superior slabman. Apparently without +striving for effect, Jones was a spectacular performer; mechanical skill +and superabundant energy were his to the limit. But Locke knew that +something more was needed for a man to make good in the Big League. +Nevertheless, with such a foundation to build upon, unless the fellow +should be flawed by some overshadowing natural weakness that made him +impossible, coaching, training, and experience were the rungs of the +ladder by which he might mount close to the top. + +Loyal to the core, Lefty was thinking of the pitching staff of the Blue +Stockings, weakened by deflections to the Federals, possibly by his +own inability to return. For a little time, even Weegman was forgotten. +Anyway, the southpaw had not yet come to regard it as a settled thing +that Bailey Weegman would be permitted to undermine and destroy the +great organization, if such was his culpable design; in some manner +the scoundrel would be blocked and baffled. + +The sixth inning saw no break in the run of the game between the Grays +and the Wind Jammers. Bemis, O'Reilley, and Schepps all hit Locke, but +none hit safely, while Jones slaughtered three of the locals by the +strike-out method. As Wiley had stated was the silent man's custom, +he seemed to be seeking revenge on the world for giving him a raw deal. + +When Oleson began the seventh with a weak grounder and "got a life" +through an error, Lefty actually felt a throb of satisfaction, for it +seemed that the test might be forced upon him at last. But the Swede +attempted to steal on the first pitch to Rickey, and Sommers threw him +out. Rickey then lifted a high fly just back of first base, and Colby +put him out of his misery. Plum batted an easy one to second. + +"There's only one thing for me to do," thought Locke. "I've got to +work the strike-out stuff in the next two innings, just as if men were +on bases, and see if I've got it. The game will be over if I wait any +longer for a real pinch." + +When Jones had polished off Gates and Sommers, Locke stepped out to +face the mute the second time. Having watched the man and analyzed his +performance, the southpaw felt that he should be able to obtain a hit. +"If I can't lay the club against that ball," he told himself, "then +that fellow's putting something on it beside speed and curves; he's +using brains also." + +Cap'n Wiley jumped up from the bench and did a sailor's hornpipe. +"This is the life!" he cried. "The real thing against the real thing! +Take soundings, Lefty; you're running on shoals. You'll be high and dry +in a minute." + +Straight and silent, Jones stood and looked at the Big League player, +both hands holding the ball hidden before him. Wiley ceased his dancing +and shouting and a hush settled on the crowd. To Locke it seemed that +the eyes of the voiceless pitcher were plumbing the depths of his mind +and searching out his hidden thoughts; there came to Lefty a ridiculous +fancy that by some telepathic method the man on the slab could fathom +his purposes and so make ready to defeat them. An uncanny feeling crept +upon him, and he was annoyed. Jones pitched, and the batsman missed a +marvelous drop, which he had not been expecting. + +"Perhaps I'll have to revise my theory about him not using brains," +was the southpaw's mental admission. + +The next two pitches were both a trifle wide, and Lefty declined to +bite at either. For the first time, as if he knew that here was a test, +Jones appeared to be trying to "work" the batter. Locke fouled the +following one. + +"That's all there is to it," declared Wiley, "and I'm excruciatingly +surprised that there should be even that much. Go 'way back, Mr. Locke!" + +Again Jones surveyed Lefty with his piercing eyes, and for the third time +he pitched a shoot that was not quite across. As if he had known it would +not be over, the batsman made not even the slightest move to swing. + +"Some guessing match!" confessed the Marine Marvel. "Now, however, let +me give you my plighted word of dishonor that you're going to behold +a specimen of the superfluous speed Jonesy keeps on tap for special +occasions. Hold your breath and see if you can see it go by." + +The ball did not go by; Lefty hit it fairly and sent a safety humming +to right. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +TOO MUCH TEMPTATION + + +"Is it poss-i-bill!" gasped Cap'n Wiley, staggering and clutching at +his forehead. "I am menaced by a swoon! Water! Whisky! I'll accept +anything to revive me!" + +Fred Hallett hurried to the pan with his bat. "It's my turn now," he +said. "We've started on him, and we should all hit him." + +Locke signalled that he would steal, and Hallett let the first one +pass. Lefty went down the line like a streak, but Schaeffer made a throw +that forced him to hit the dirt and make a hook slide. He caught his +spikes in the bag and gave his ankle a twist that sent a pain shooting +up his leg. + +"Safe!" declared the umpire. + +Locke did not get up. The crowd saw him drag himself to the bag and sit +on it, rubbing his ankle. Schepps bent over him solicitously. + +"Dat was a nice little crack, pal," said the sandlotter, "and a nifty +steal. Hope youse ain't hoited." + +But Lefty had sprained his ankle so seriously that he required assistance +to walk from the field. A runner was put in his place, although Wiley +informed them that they need not take the trouble. And Wiley was right, +for Jones struck Hallett out. + +It was impossible for Locke to continue pitching, so Matthews took his +place. And the southpaw was left still uncertain and doubtful; the game +had not provided the test he courted. Weegman apparently had departed; +there was no question in the mind of Charles Collier's representative, +and, angered by the rebuff he had encountered, he was pretty certain +to spread the report that the great southpaw was "all in." He had +practically threatened to do this when he declared that every manager +and magnate in the business would soon know that Locke's pitching days +were over. + +The Wind Jammers, spurred on by Cap'n Wiley, went after Matthews +aggressively, and for a time it appeared certain that they were going +to worry him off his feet. With only one down, they pushed a runner +across in the eighth, and there were two men on the sacks when a double +play blighted their prospect of tying up, perhaps of taking the lead, +at once. + +As Jones continued invulnerable in the last of the eighth, the visitors +made their final assault upon Matthews in the ninth. But fortune was +against them. The game ended with Wiley greatly disappointed, though +still cheerful. + +"A little frost crept into my elbow in the far-away regions of the +North," he admitted. "I'll shake it out in time. If I'd started old +Jonesy against Lefty, there would have been a different tale to tell." + +The Wind Jammers were booked to play in Jacksonville the following +afternoon, but they remained in Fernandon overnight. Seated on the +veranda of the Magnolia, Wiley was enjoying a cigar after the evening +meal, and romancing, as usual, when Locke appeared, limping, with the +aid of a cane. + +"It grieves me to behold your sorry plight," said the Marine Marvel +sympathetically. "I cajole with you most deprecatingly. But why, if +you were going to get hurt at all, weren't you obliging enough to do +it somewhat earlier in the pastime? That would have given my faithful +henchmen a chance to put the game away on ice." + +"You can't be sure about that," returned Lefty. "You collected no +more scores off Matthews than you did off me." + +"But you passed us six nice, ripe goose eggs, while he dealt out +only one. There was a difference that could be distinguished with the +unclothed optic. Nevertheless, it seems to me that Jones had something +on you; while he officiated, you were the only person who did any +gamboling on the cushions, and what you did didn't infect the result. +What do you think of Jones?" + +"Will you lend me your ear while I express my opinion privately?" + +"With the utmost perspicacity," said Wiley, rising. "Within my +boudoir--excuse my fluid French--I'll uncork either ear you prefer and +let you pour it full to overflowing." + +In the privacy of Wiley's room, without beating around the bush, Locke +stated that he believed Jones promising material for the Big League, and +that he wished to size up the man. + +"While I have no scouting commission or authority," said Lefty, "if +Kennedy should manage the Blue Stockings this season, he'd stand by my +judgment. The team must have pitchers. Of course, some will be bought in +the regular manner, but I know that, on my advice, Kennedy would take +Jones on and give him a show to make good, just as he gave me a chance +when I was a busher. I did not climb up by way of the minors; I made one +clean jump from the back pastures into the Big League." + +"Mate," said Wiley, "let me tell you something a trifle bazaar: Jones +hasn't the remotest ambition in the world to become a baseball pitcher." + +Locke stared at him incredulously. The swarthy little man was serious--at +least, as serious as he could be. + +"Then," asked the southpaw, "why is he pitching?" + +"Tell _me!_ I've done a little prognosticating over that question." + +"You say he does not talk about himself. How do you--" + +"Let me elucidate, if I can. I told you I ran across Jones in Alaska. +I saw him pitch in a baseball match in Nome. How he came to ingratiate +himself into that contest I am unable to state. Nobody seemed able +to tell me. All I found out about him was that he was one of three +partners who had a valuable property somewhere up in the Jade Mountain +region--not a prospect, but a real, bony-fido mine. Already they had +received offers for the property, and any day they could sell out for +a sum salubrious enough to make them all scandalously wealthy. They had +entered into some sort of an agreement that bound them all to hold on +until two of the three should vote to sell; Jones was tied up under +this contraction. + +"I had grown weary of the vain search for the root of all evil. For me +that root has always been more slippery than a squirming eel; every +time I thought I had it by the tail it would wriggle out of my eager +clutch and get away. I longed for the fleshpots of my own native heath. +Watching that ball game in Nome, my blood churned in my veins until +it nearly turned to butter. Once more, in my well-fertilized fancy, I +saw myself towering the country with my Wind Jammers; and, could I +secure Jonesy for my star flinger, I knew I would be able to make my +return engagement a scintillating and scandalous success. With him for a +nucleus, I felt confident that I could assemble together a bunch of +world beaters. I resolved to go after Jones. I went, without dalliance. I +got him corralled in a private room and locked the door on him. + +"Mate, I am a plain and simple soul, given not a jot or tittle to +exaggeration, yet I am ready to affirm--I never swear; it's +profane--that I had the tussle of my life with Jones. Parenthetically +speaking, we wrestled all over that room for about five solid hours. I +had supplied myself with forty reams of writing paper, a bushel basket +full of lead pencils, and two dictionaries. When I finally subdued +Jones, I was using a stub of the last pencil in the basket, was on the +concluding sheet of paper, had contracted writer's cramp, and the +dictionaries were mere torn and tattered wrecks. In the course of that +argument, I am certain I wrote every word in the English language, +besides coining a few thousand of my own. I had practically exhausted +every form of persuasion, and was on the verge of lying down and +taking the count. Then, by the rarest chance, I hit upon the right +thing. I wrote a paregoric upon the joys of traveling around over the +United States from city to city, from town to town, of visiting every +place of importance in the whole broad land, of meeting practically +every living human being in the country who was alive and deserved to +be met. Somehow that got him; I don't know why, but it did. I saw his +eyes gleam and his somber face change as he read that last wild stab of +mine. It struck home; he agreed to go. I had conquered. + +"Now, mark ye well, the amount of his salary had not a whit to do with +it, and he entertained absolutely no ambish to become a baseball pitcher. +He was compelled to leave his partners up there running the mine, and to +rely upon their honesty to give him a square deal. You have been told +how he promulgates around over every new place he visits and stares +strangers out of countenance. Whether or not he's otherwise wrong in +his garret, he's certainly 'off' on that stunt. That's how I'm able +to keep him on the parole of this club of mine." + +"In short, he's a sort of monomaniac?" + +"Perhaps that's it." + +Lefty did a bit of thinking. "You've been touring the smaller cities +and the towns in which an independent ball team would be most likely +to draw. In the large cities of a Big League circuit there are thousands +upon thousands of persons Jones has never met. He could work a whole +season in such a circuit and continue to see hosts of strangers every +time he visited any one of the cities included. Under such circumstances +he would have the same incentive that he has now. If he can be induced +to make the change, I'll take a chance on him, and I'll see that you +are well paid to use your persuasive powers to lead him to accept my +proposition." + +"But you stated that you had no legal authority to make such a deal." + +"I haven't; but I am willing to take a chance, with the understanding +that the matter is to be kept quiet until I shall be able to put +through an arrangement that will make it impossible for any manager in +organized ball to steal him away." + +Wiley shook his head. "I couldn't get along without him, Lefty; he's +the mainsheet of the Wind Jammers. It would be like chucking the sextant +and the compass overboard. We'd be adrift without any instrument to +give us our position or anything to lay a course by." + +"If you don't sell him to me, some manager is going to take him from +you without handing you as much as a lonesome dollar in return. You +can't dodge the Big League scouts; it's a wonder you've dodged them +as long as you have. They're bound to spot Jones and gobble him up. +Do you prefer to sell him or to have him snatched?" + +"What will you give for him?" + +"Now you're talking business. If I can put through the deal I'm +figuring on, I'll give you five hundred dollars, which, considering +the conditions, is more than a generous price." + +"Five hundred dollars! Is there that much money to be found in one lump +anywhere in the world?" + +"I own some Blue Stockings stock, so you see I have a financial, as +well as a sentimental, interest in the club. I'm going to fight hard to +prevent it from being wrecked. As long as it can stay in the first +division it will continue to be a money-maker, but already the impression +has become current that the team is riddled, and the stock has slumped. +There are evil forces at work. I don't know the exact purpose these +forces are aiming at, but I'm a pretty good guesser. The property is +mighty valuable for some people to get hold of if they can get it +cheap enough." + +"They're even saying that you're extremely to the bad. What do you +think about it yourself, Lefty?" + +Locke flushed. "Time will answer that." + +"You look like a fighter," said Wiley. "I wish you luck." + +"But what do you say to my proposition? Give me a flat answer." + +"Five hundred dollars!" murmured the Marine Marvel, licking his lips. +"I'm wabbling on the top rail of the fence." + +"Fall one way or the other." + +Heaving a sigh, the sailor rose to his feet, and gave his trousers a +hitch. "Let's interview Jones," he proposed. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +THE PERPLEXING QUESTION + + +The following morning Lefty Locke received two letters. One was from +the Federal League headquarters in Chicago, urging him to accept the +offer of the manager who had made such a tempting proposal to him. The +position, it stated, was still his for the taking, and he was pressed +to wire agreement to the terms proposed. + +The other letter was from Locke's father, a clergyman residing in a +small New Jersey town. The contents proved disturbing. The Reverend +Mr. Hazelton's savings of a lifetime had been invested in a building +and loan association, and the association had failed disastrously. +Practically everything the clergyman possessed in the world would be +swept away; it seemed likely that he would lose his home. + +Lefty's face grew pale and grim as he read this letter. He went directly +to his wife and told her. Janet was distressed. + +"What can be done?" she cried. "You must do something, Lefty! +Your father and mother, at their age, turned out of their home! It is +terrible! What can you do?" + +Locke considered a moment. "If I had not invested the savings of my +baseball career in Blue Stockings stock," he said regretfully, "I'd +have enough now to save their home for them." + +"But can't you sell the stock?" + +"Yes, for half what I paid for it--perhaps. That wouldn't he enough. +You're right in saying I must do something, but what can I--" He +stopped, staring at the other letter. He sat down, still staring at +it, and Janet came and put her arm about him. + +"Here's something!" he exclaimed suddenly. + +"What, dear?" + +"This letter from Federal League headquarters, urging me to grab the +offer the Feds have made me. Twenty-seven thousand dollars for three +years, a certified check for the first year's salary, and a thousand +dollars bonus. That means that I can get ten thousand right in my hand +by signing a Federal contract--more than enough to save my folks." + +Janet's face beamed, and she clapped her hands. "I had forgotten about +their offer! Why, you're all right! It's just the thing." + +"I wonder?" + +She looked at him, and grew sober. "Oh, you don't want to go to the +Federals? You're afraid they won't last?" + +"It isn't that." + +"No?" + +"No, girl. If there was nothing else to restrain me, I'd take the next +train for Chicago, and put my fist to a Fed contract just as soon as I +could. I need ten thousand dollars now, and need it more than I ever +before needed money." + +Janet ran her fingers through his hair, bending forward to scan his +serious and perplexed face. She could see that he was fighting a battle +silently, grimly. She longed to aid him in solving the problem by which +he was confronted, but realizing that she could not quite put herself +in his place, and that, therefore, her advice might not come from the +height of wisdom and experience, she held herself in check. Should he +ask counsel of her she would give the best she could. + +"I know," she said, after a little period of silence, "that you must +think of your financial interest in the Blue Stockings." + +"I'm not spending a moment's thought on that now. I'm thinking +of old Jack Kennedy and Charles Collier; of Bailey Weegman and his +treachery, for I believe he is treacherous to the core. I'm thinking +also of something else I don't like to think about." + +"Tell me," she urged. + +He looked up at her, and smiled wryly. Then he felt of his left shoulder. +"It's this," he said. + +She caught her breath. "But you said you were going to give your arm +the real test yesterday. The Grays won, and the score was three to one +when you hurt your ankle and were forced to quit. I thought you were +satisfied." + +"I very much doubt if the Grays would have won had not Cap'n Wiley +insisted upon pitching the opening innings for his team. The man who +followed him did not permit us to score at all. I was the only one who +got a safe hit off him. The test was not satisfactory, Janet." + +Her face grew white. It was not like Lefty to lack confidence in himself. +During the past months, although his injured arm had seemed to improve +with disheartening slowness, he had insisted that it would come round +all right before the season opened. Yet lately he had not appeared quite +so optimistic. And now, after the game which was to settle his doubts, he +seemed more doubtful than before. She believed that he was holding +something back, that he was losing heart, but as long as there was any +hope remaining he would try not to burden her with his worries. + +Suddenly she clutched his shoulders with her slender hands. "It's +all wrong!" she cried. "You've given up the best that was in you +for the Blue Stockings. You've done the work of two pitchers. They +won't let you go now. Even if your arm is bad at the beginning of the +season, they'll keep you on and give you a chance to get it back into +condition." + +"Old Jack Kennedy would, but I have my doubts about any other manager." + +"You don't mean that they'd let you go outright, just drop you?" + +"Oh, it's possible they'd try to sell me or trade me. If they could +work me off on to some one who wasn't wise, probably they'd do it. +That's not reckoning on Weegman. He's so sore and vindictive that +he may spread the report that I've pitched my wing off. I fancy he +wouldn't care a rap if that did lose Collier the selling price that +could be got for me." + +"Oh, I just hate to hear you talk about being traded or sold! It +doesn't sound as if you were a human being and this a free country. +Cattle are traded and sold." + +"Cattle and ball players." + +"It's wrong! Isn't there any way--" + +"The Federals are showing the way." + +"Your sympathy's with them. You're not bound to the Blue Stockings; +you're still your own free agent." + +"Under the circumstances what would you have me do?" + +At last he had asked her advice. Now she could speak. She did so eagerly. + +"Accept the offer the Federals have made you." + +"My dear," he said, "would you have me do that, with my own mind in +doubt as to whether or not I was worth a dollar to them? Would you have +me take the ten thousand I could get, knowing all the time that they +might be paying it for a has-been who wasn't worth ten cents? Would +that be honest?" + +"You can be honest, then," she hurriedly declared. "No one knows for +a certainty, not even yourself, that you can't come back to your old +form. You can go to the manager and tell him the truth about yourself. +Can't you do that?" + +"And then what? Probably he wouldn't want me after that at any price." + +"You can make a fair bargain with him. You can have it put in the +contract that you are to get that money if you do come back and make good +as a pitcher." + +Lefty laughed. "I think it would be the first time on record that a +ball player ever went to a manager who was eager to sign him up, and +made such a proposition. It would be honest, Janet; but if the manager +believed me, if he saw I was serious, do you fancy he'd feel like coming +across with the first year's salary in advance and the bonus? You see +I can't raise the money I need, and be honest." + +She wrung her hands and came back to the first question that had leaped +from her lips: "What can you do?" + +"I don't think I'll make any decisive move until I find out what sort +of queer business is going on in the Blue Stockings camp. I could get +money through Kennedy if he were coming back. Everything is up in the +air." + +"How can you find out, away down here? You're too far away from the +places where things are doing." + +"I've been looking for a telegram from old Jack, an answer to mine. I +feel confident I'll get a wire from him as soon as he reads my letter. +Meanwhile I'll write to my parents and try to cheer them up. It's bound +to take a little time to settle up the affairs of that building and loan +association. Time is what I need now." + +That very day Locke received a telegram from Jack Kennedy: + + Meet me at the Grand, Indianapolis, the twenty-third. Don't + fail. + +A train carried Lefty north that night. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +ONLY ONE WAY + + +The registry clerk stated that no Mr. Kennedy was stopping at the Grand +Hotel. Locke was disappointed, for he had expected old Jack would be +waiting for him. However, the veteran manager would, doubtless, appear +later. Lefty registered, and the clerk tossed a room key to the boy who +was waiting with the southpaw's traveling bag. + +As the pitcher turned from the desk he found himself face to face +with a man whom he had seen on the train. The man, Locke believed, +had come aboard at Louisville. There was something familiar about the +appearance of the stranger, yet Lefty had not been able to place him. +He had narrow hips, a rather small waist, fine chest development, and +splendid shoulders; his neck was broad and swelling at the base; his +head, with the hair clipped close, was round as a bullet; his nose had +been broken, and there was an ugly scar upon his right cheek. He did +not look to be at all fat, and yet he must have weighed close to one +hundred and ninety. His hands, clenched, would have resembled miniature +battering-rams. + +This person had not taken a look at the register, yet he addressed the +pitcher by name. + +"How are you, Locke?" he said, with a grin that was half a sneer, half +a menace. "I guessed you'd bring up here." + +Lefty knew Mit Skullen the moment he spoke. One-time prize fighter and +ball player, Skullen now posed as a scout employed by the Rockets; more +often he acted as the henchman and bodyguard of Tom Garrity, owner of +the team, and the best-hated man in the business. Garrity had so many +enemies that he could not keep track of them; a dozen men had tried to +"get" him at different times, and twice he had been assaulted and +beaten up. Skullen had saved him from injury on other occasions. + +Garrity was the most sinister figure in organized baseball. Once a +newspaper reporter, he had somehow obtained control of the Rockets by +chicanery and fraud. Sympathy and gratitude were sentiments unknown +to him. He would work a winning pitcher to death, and then send the +man shooting down to the minors the moment he showed the slightest +symptom of weakness. He scoffed at regulations and bylaws; he defied +restraint and control; he was in a constant wrangle with other owners and +managers; and as a creator of discord and dissension he held the belt. +And he snapped his fingers in the face of the national commission. The +league longed to get rid of him, but could not seem to find any method of +doing so. + +"Been lookin' 'em over a little down South," explained Skullen +superfluously. "Not much doin' this season, but I spotted one pitcher +with a rovin' bunch o' freaks who had more smoke and kinks than you +ever showed before you broke your arm, old boy. And he won't cost a +cent when we get ready to grab him. Nobody's wise to him but me, either. +S'pose you've come on to meet Weegman, hey?" + +"Where'd you run across this find?" asked Locke casually, endeavoring +not to appear curious. + +Skullen pulled down one corner of his mouth, and winked. "T'ink I'll +tell youse, old boy. But then Texas is a big bunch o' the map." + +Texas! The Wind Jammers had come to Florida from Galveston. + +"Did you have a talk with this unknown wizard?" questioned Lefty. + +"He didn't talk much," returned the scout. "Oh, you can't pump me! +I know your old Blue Stocks ain't got a pitcher left that's worth a +hoot in Halifax, or hardly a player, for that matter; but I ain't goin' +to help you out--you an' Weegman. You gotter get together an' do your +own diggin'." + +"Weegman is in Indianapolis?" + +"As if you didn't know! Never had no use for that guy; but, all the +same, I advise you to grab on with him. It's your only chanct for a +baseball job; everybody in the game's wise that you'll never do no +more hurlin'." + +Boiling inwardly, Locke permitted himself to be conducted to the +elevator. While he was bathing he thought, with increasing wrath and +dismay, of the insolent words of Skullen. The question that perplexed +him most was how the bruiser knew anything of Weegman's business, +especially the attempt to sign Locke as a manager. And Weegman was in +Indianapolis! + +Coming down, Lefty went again to the desk to inquire about Kennedy. +He was handed a telegram. Tearing it open, he saw that it was from the +Federal manager who had offered him a three years' contract. It stated +curtly that the offer was withdrawn. Skullen was right; the story had +gone forth that the star southpaw of the Blue Stockings would do no +more pitching. Weegman was getting in his fine work. + +Lefty felt a hand grip his elbow. + +"Locke!" A well-dressed, youngish man grasped his hand and shook it. It +was Franklin Parlmee, who, for a long time, had evinced deep interest +in Virginia Collier. Parlmee, with family behind him, and a moderate +income, had shown a distaste for business and a disposition to live the +life of an idler. Collier had refused to countenance his daughter's +marriage to Parlmee until the latter should get into some worthy and +remunerative employment, and make good. For two years Parlmee had been +hustling, and he had developed into a really successful automobile +salesman. + +"By Jove!" said Parlmee. "I didn't expect to run across you here, +old man. I'm mighty glad to see you. Perhaps you can tell me something +about Virginia. What has Mrs. Hazelton heard from her?" + +The man seemed worried and nervous, and his question surprised Lefty. + +"If any one should know about Miss Collier, you are the person," +returned the pitcher. "Janet has scarcely heard from her since she +sailed with her father. We supposed you were corresponding with her +regularly." + +Parlmee drew him toward a leather-covered settee. "I'm pegged out," +he admitted, and he looked it. "Business forced me to run on or I'd +not be here now. I'm going back to New York to-night. Do you know, +I've received only two letters from Virginia since she reached the +other side, one from London, the other from Eaux Chaudes, in France. +The latter was posted more than a month ago. It stated that Virginia and +her father were leaving Eaux Chaudes for Italy. Since then no letters +have come from her." + +"Do you mean to say you haven't an idea where Miss Collier and her +father are at the present time?" + +Parlmee lighted a cigarette. His hands were not steady. "I haven't an +idea where Charles Collier is. As for Virginia, she cabled me that she +was sailing on the _Victoria_, which reached New York four days ago. I +was at the pier to meet her, but she didn't arrive, and her name was +not on the passenger list." + +Lefty uttered an exclamation. "That was strange!" + +The other man turned on the settee to face him. "The whole thing has +been queer. I had practically overcome Mr. Collier's prejudice and won +his entire approval. Then he broke down; his health went to the bad, and +his manner toward me seemed to change. I had an idea he went abroad more +to take Virginia away than for any other reason. Anyway, I knew there +was something wrong, and the two letters I got from her added to that +conviction. Her father was trying to get her to break with me! There +was another man whom he preferred." + +"Another!" + +"Yes, Bailey Weegman." + +Locke gave a great start, as if he had received an electric thrust. +"Weegman!" he cried guardedly. "That scoundrel! Collier is crazy, +Parlmee!" + +"Now you've said something! I believe the man's mind is affected. +Business reverses may have done it." + +"Do you know that he left his baseball interests practically in the +control of Weegman?" + +"No; but it doesn't surprise me. In some way, that scoundrel has got a +hold on him. Weegman has tried hard to undermine me with Virginia. I've +always disliked him and his detestable laugh. Who is he, anyway? Where +did he come from, and what are his antecedents?" + +"You'll have to ask somebody else." + +"It's Virginia I'm worrying about now," said Parlmee, tossing aside +his half-smoked cigarette. + +"But if she was contemplating sailing for the United States with her +father--" + +"Her cablegram to me didn't mention her father. I got the impression +that she was sailing alone." + +"Alone! Great Scott!" + +"And she didn't sail! Where is she? What happened to her? Do you wonder +I'm rattled? I've made arrangements so that I can have a month, if +necessary, to dig into this business. If that isn't enough, I'll take +all the time needed. It's the deuce to pay, Locke, as sure as you're +a foot high." + +"In more ways than one," agreed Lefty. "I could tell you some other +things, but you've got enough to worry about. We must arrange to keep +in touch with each other. I presume I'll go back to Fernandon when I +get through here." + +"Here's my New York address," said Parlmee, handing over his card, +and rising. + +Five minutes after they separated old Jack Kennedy arrived, dusty and +weary from his railroad journey. His shoulders were a trifle stooped, +and he looked older by years, but his keen eyes lighted with a twinkle +as he grasped Locke's hand. + +"I knew you'd beat me to it, Lefty," he said. "Wouldn't have called +on you to make the jaunt, but I had to chin with you face to face. Let's +talk first and feed our faces afterward." + +The veteran registered, and they took the elevator. Carrying Kennedy's +traveling bag, a boy conducted them. A bar boy, bearing a tray that +was decorated with drinks, was knocking on a door. Within the room +somebody called for him to enter, and he did so as Locke was passing at +old Jack's heels. By chance Lefty obtained a glimpse of the interior +of that room before the door closed behind the boy. Two men, smoking +cigars, were sitting at opposite sides of a table on which were empty +glasses. They were Mit Skullen and Bailey Weegman. + +Left together in Kennedy's room, Locke told the old manager what he had +seen, and immediately Kennedy's face was twisted into a wrathful pucker. + +"You're sure?" + +"Dead sure," replied Locke. + +"Well, it sorter confirms a little suspicion that's been creepin' +inter my noddle. The Blue Stockings are up against somethin' more'n +the Feds, and the Feds have chewed the team to pieces. Within the last +three days they've nailed Temple, Dayly, and Hyland. There's only the +remnants of a ball club left." + +Locke was aghast. "Gene Temple, too!" he cried. "The boy I found! I +thought he would stick." + +"Money gets the best of 'em. Why shouldn't it, when them lads ought +to have been tied up before this with Blue Stockings contracts? The bars +have been left down for the Feds, and they've raided the preserves. +Seems just like they've been invited to come in and help themselves. +Why not, with a team without a manager, and everything left at loose +ends? Never heard of such criminal folly! But mebbe it ain't folly; +mebbe it's plain cadougery. I've had an idea there was somethin' +crooked behind it, but couldn't just quite nose it out. Now, with +Weegman and Mit Skullen gettin' together private, I see a light. +Garrity's the man! You know how he got his dirty paws on the Rockets. +Well, if he ain't workin' to gobble the Blue Stockings I'll eat +my hat! I'll bet that right now Tom Garrity's gathered in all the loose +stock of the club that he could buy, and he's countin' on havin' +enough to give him control before the season opens. He saw his chance, +with the Feds reachin' for every decent player they could lay their +hands on, and he went for it. What if the Blue Stockings do have a busted +team this season? In three years the club might be built up again, +and it's a sure money-maker just as long as it can keep in the first +division. Lynchin' is what a crook like Garrity deserves!" + +Kennedy's eyes were flashing, and he was literally quivering with wrath. +Despite the fact that he was tired, he strode up and down the room. + +"Weegman must be Garrity's tool, the creature who is helping him do +the dirty work," said Locke. + +"You've got his number! How he came to pick you for a mark, I don't +know, unless it was because he thought you let me work you to death, +havin' no mind of your own. He knew he couldn't put anythin' over with +me, and so he decided to get rid of me; but he had to have somebody for +a manager who would appear to be all right. He's got to be blocked. +There's only one way." + +"How?" + +"You'll have to accept, and sign a contract to manage the team." + +Lefty gasped. "But," he said, "I can't do that! You--" + +"I'm out. He wouldn't have me, even if I'd do the work for no +salary." + +"But I can't agree to Weegman's terms. I couldn't do anything of my +own accord; I couldn't sign a player unless he agreed. He made that +plain." + +"But he wouldn't dare put anything like that in the contract. It would +be too barefaced. The minute you have the authority you can get to work +savin' the remnants of the team by signin' up the players the Feds +haven't grabbed already. I have a line on a few good youngsters who went +back to the minors last year because there wasn't room for them. Put +proof of Weegman's treachery before Collier, and Weegman's done for! +It's the one play that's got to be made in this here pinch." + +There was a knock on the door. + +"Come in!" called Kennedy. + +Bailey Weegman entered, smiling. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +SIGNING THE MANAGER + + +Weegman came in boldly. His manner was ingratiating, yet somewhat +insolent, and he chuckled as he saw the look of surprise on the face +of Lefty Locke. "Well, well!" he said. "Here we are! This is first +rate. Now we can get together and do things." + +To the southpaw's increasing astonishment, Kennedy stepped forward +quickly, seized Weegman's hand, and shook it cordially and heartily. + +"I wired for Locke," said the old manager. "I felt sure I could talk +sense into his head. Didn't like to see him make a fool of himself and +let a great opportunity slip through his fingers just because of a false +notion about loyalty to me. But I didn't expect you before to-morrow." + +Lefty was a trifle bewildered. Kennedy had known Weegman was coming +to Indianapolis; in fact, had arranged to meet him there. Collier's +representative beamed on Locke. + +"Sorry I couldn't wait to see the finish of that game in Fernandon," +he said; "but I saw enough to satisfy me. You did well to beat the Wind +Jammers with that bunch of half invalids behind you, and your own arm +all to the bad. Still, Wiley sort of handed you the game." + +"The score was three to two," reminded Lefty. + +"The Wind Jammers couldn't hit. They were a lot of freaks, a burlesque +baseball team." Weegman turned again to old Jack. "If you can talk some +sense into Locke, you'll succeed where I failed. I wasted time, money, +and breath on him; gave him up then. Let me tell you a joke." He began +to laugh, and the southpaw writhed inwardly. "Who do you think wants +to manage the Blue Stockings? You can't guess? Well, it's Skullen; +yes, Mit Skullen. Actually came after the job. Got me cornered and +gave me a great game of talk, trying to convince me that he could fill +the bill. I was listening to his spiel when I caught a glimpse of you +two passing the door of my room. Called the desk and asked the number +of your room. Then I shook old Mit and came around. The idea of Mit +Skullen managing a Big League club! Isn't that funny?" His whole body +shook with merriment as he spoke. + +Kennedy seemed to be amused also, and joined in Weegman's laughter. +"Wonder what Tom Garrity would say to that? Skullen must have forgotten +his old nemesis, John Barleycorn. It was John that put him down and out +as a prize fighter and a ball player." + +"He says he hasn't looked at the stuff for four months. You should +have heard him trying to convince me that he had the makings of a great +manager." + +Lefty knew Weegman was lying regarding the nature of the private +consultation that had been held in a nearby room. But Kennedy seemed to +be unaware of this. + +"You wouldn't take Skullen under any conditions, would you?" asked +old Jack. + +"I wouldn't have him if he was ready to pay to manage the team. Collier +would lift my scalp if I fell for anything like that. But I've got a +line on a good man if--if--" He faltered, and looked at Locke, smiling. + +"We'll settle that right here," declared Kennedy, with a growl. +"Locke's the lad. I haven't had time to talk to him much, but I was +telling him before you came in that he'd have to accept. As for me, +a Class AA team ain't so worse. You're dead sure I can hook up with +St. Paul?" + +"I wired you about the proposition from Byers. He wants you, but he +wasn't going to try to cut in on us. Did you send him word?" + +"Not yet. Decided to have my talk with Lefty first." + +"I've always liked you, Kennedy," said Weegman. "You've been a great +man in your day. You're a good man now, but it needs younger blood, +especially in this fight against the Feds, confound them! About so often +a team needs to change managers, especially when it begins to slip. +The Blue Stockings began to slip last year, and the Feds have given us +a push. Locke's young, and he's got the energy to build the team up. +Working together, we can put it on its feet again. He'll have the very +best counsel and advice. He's a favorite with the fans, and he'll be +tolerated where you would be blamed. He'll come through and win out. +Of that I am certain. The Feds will blow before the season's over, and +the woods will be full of first-class players begging for jobs. Next +season should see the Stockings stronger than ever, and the man who's +managing the team's bound to be popular. He'll get a lot of credit." + +Lefty had taken a chair. He opened his lips to speak, but stopped when +he caught a warning sign from old Jack behind Weegman's shoulder. + +"Is that contract ready for the boy?" asked Kennedy. + +"I've got it in my pocket." + +"Then nail him right now. Push it at him, and we'll make him sign. +Don't let him get away." + +Weegman produced the document. Then, for a moment, he seemed to hesitate, +flashing old Jack a look and giving Locke a hard stare. + +"You understand the conditions?" he said, addressing the latter. + +"Yes," answered Lefty, "you made them plain enough for a child to +understand when you talked to me in Fernandon." + +"Course he understands," cut in Kennedy. "He told me, and I told him +to grab on without makin' no further talk. Just as you say, Weegman, +with proper advice he can swing the thing. It looks pretty big to him, +and he's doubtful. Let him look at that paper." + +He took it from Weegman's hand and looked it over himself. It was +practically the same sort of an agreement old Jack had signed himself +when he took control of the team, and the name of Charles Collier, +properly witnessed, had already been affixed to it. With the contract +in his possession, along with Collier's power of attorney, Weegman could +sign up any one he chose to manage the Blue Stockings. For a fleeting +instant Kennedy's face was twisted into an expression of rage, which, +however, Collier's private secretary did not catch. + +Locke saw that flash of anger and understood; old Jack was playing the +fox, and losing no time about it. + +"Skullen will do for the other witness," said Weegman, going to the +room telephone. "He'll feel bad, of course, but I told him he didn't +have a show in the world." He called the operator and gave the number +of a room. + +While Weegman was engaged, Kennedy handed the agreement over to Locke. +"You sign it just as it is," he directed. "You've had your talk with +Mr. Weegman, and you know what he said to you. You don't have to chin +it over any more." + +By this time Weegman had got Skullen on the phone and asked him to come +round to Kennedy's room, giving him the number. Locke sat grimly reading +the contract until Skullen knocked at the door. + +"Maybe you'll feel bad, Mit," said Weegman, admitting the man, "but +you know I told you there wasn't a show in the world of me signing +you up as manager. It's settled with Locke, and I want you to witness +him put his autograph to the paper. Now don't make a growl, but do as +you're wanted." + +Skullen kept still as directed, but he looked as if Weegman's first +words had surprised him a trifle. + +Kennedy had produced a fountain pen and thrust it into Locke's hand. +"Sign right here, son," he urged. "Let's see how pretty you write." + +"Wait!" cried Weegman, his eyes on the southpaw, who had promptly +moved up to the little table. "You haven't forgotten our talk? You +understand?" + +"I haven't forgotten a thing," asserted Lefty, boldly and swiftly +writing his name. "There it is!" + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +THE WRONG STOOL PIGEON + + +Skullen and Kennedy attached their names as witnesses. The thing was +done; Lefty Locke--Philip Hazelton was the name he wrote on the +contract--was now manager of the Blue Stockings. He received a duplicate +copy, which he folded and slipped into his pocket. + +"Now we're all set for business," said Bailey Weegman. "I +congratulate you, Locke. One time I was afraid you didn't have sense +enough to welcome Opportunity when she knocked. I'll see you later, +Mit, if you're around. We've got to square away now and have a +little conference. Don't cry because you didn't get the job." + +"Cry--nothin'!" said Skullen. "I wouldn't have taken it if you'd +handed it to me with twice the salary." + +"Old Mit's disappointed," chuckled Weegman, when the door closed +behind him, "but he doesn't want anybody to know it. He'll deny he +came looking for the position, of course." + +Kennedy had seated himself, and Weegman drew a chair up to the table, +producing a packet of papers and running them over until he found the +one he wanted. + +"Here's a list of the men the Feds have grabbed off us," he said. +"Grist, Orth, Temple, Nelson, Hyland, and Lewis. Grist is no particular +loss, but Temple and Orth knock a hole in the pitching staff. Nelson +was our reliance behind the bat. With Dayly and Lewis gone, the whole +side of the infield is wide open. We ought to be able to fill Hyland's +place in right garden." + +"It's a swell team that's left!" said Locke. "And you told me that +Dillon was negotiating with the outlaws." + +"He hasn't jumped; he hasn't had the nerve," sneered Weegman, +snapping his fingers. "Instead, he's been howling for a contract. +You'd find him waiting if you didn't sign him until the first of +April." For just a flicker he had actually seemed to betray annoyance +because Pink Dillon had not followed the example of the deserters, +but he ended with a laugh. + +"It seems to me," said the new manager, "that I'd better get busy and +try to save the pieces. The men who haven't jumped should be signed up +without delay." + +"Of course," agreed Weegman blandly. "You must send out the contracts. +Unluckily, I haven't any blanks with me, but I'll see that you are +furnished with them to-morrow." + +"Every day counts, perhaps every hour; by to-morrow we may lose another +good man, or more." + +"Not much danger, and you don't want to make the mistake of getting +into a panic and trying to do things in too much of a hurry. We've been +farming some clever youngsters, more than enough to make up a team; but +you should consult with Kennedy about them, and take only the right ones. +You'll have the most trouble getting hold of pitchers." + +"Youngsters," said Locke, "are all right; but do you mean to suggest +that we should stop the gaps wholly with men who lack Big League +experience? You know how much show that sort of a team would have in +the race. We've got to make some deals that will give us some players +who have ripened. It'll cost money, too." + +"Right there," said Weegman, "is where you're going to need the +check-rein. Charles Collier won't stand for needless extravagance +in that line, I know, and I shall not countenance the purchasing of +high-priced men." + +The blood rose into Lefty's face; he tingled to tell the rascal +something, but again a warning flicker of Kennedy's left eye restrained +him. + +"There are lots of good youngsters coming on," said the veteran +soothingly. "There were three or four I could have used last season if +I'd had room for them. We'll run over the list and see how they'll +fit in." + +For another hour they continued in conclave, and a dozen times Weegman +took occasion to impress upon Locke that he should do nothing definite +without receiving Weegman's approval. When he seemed to feel that he +had driven this into the new manager's head, he excused himself on the +pretext of attending to a pressing matter, and departed, leaving old +Jack and Lefty together. Kennedy quietly locked the door. Lefty jumped +to his feet and began pacing the floor like a caged tiger. + +"Never had such a job to keep my hands off a man!" he raged. "Only +for you, I'd--" + +"I know," said old Jack, returning and sitting down heavily. "I +wanted to kick him myself, and I think I shall do it some day soon. +He's crooked as a corkscrew and rotten as a last year's early apple. +But he ain't shrewd; he only thinks he is. He's fooled himself. You +never agreed to his verbal terms, and, just as I said, he didn't dare +put them in writing. According to that contract, you've got as much +power as I ever had, and you can exercise it. It's up to you to get +busy. Don't wait for contract forms from Weegman; they'll be delayed. +I have plenty. Wire the old players who are left that contracts will +be mailed to them to-night." + +Locke stopped by Kennedy's chair and dropped a hand on the old man's +shoulder. + +"And you're going to St. Paul?" he said. "You've been handed a +wretched deal." + +"Nix on the St. Paul business, son; there's nothing to it. That wolf +thought I swallowed that guff. Byers is Garrity's friend, and it's +plain now that Garrity's mixed up in this dirty business. It was easy +enough to ask if I'd consider hooking up with St. Paul. By the time +I got round to saying yes, Byers could tell me it was off. This time, +Lefty, I'm out of the game for good." His voice sounded heavy and dull, +and his shoulders sagged. + +The southpaw was silent, words failing him. After a few minutes old Jack +looked up into the face of his youthful companion, and smiled wryly. + +"You've got a little glimpse of what goes on behind the scenes in +baseball," he said. "The fans that pay their money to see the games +look on it, generally, as a fine, clean sport--which, in one way, it is. +That part the public pays to see, the game, is on the level. There's +a good reason: the crookedest magnate in the business--and, believe me, +there's one who can look down the back of his own neck without trying +to turn round--knows it would spell ruin to put over a frame-up on the +open field. By nature the players themselves are like the average run of +human critters, honest and dishonest; but experience has taught them +that they can't pull off any double deals without cutting their own +throats. People who talk about fixed games, especially in the World's +Series, show up their ignorance. It can't be done. + +"But when it comes to tricks and holdups, and highway robberies and +assassination, there's always somethin' doing off stage. What you've +seen is only a patch. The men who run things are out for the coin, +and they aren't any better, as a rule, than the high financiers who +plunder railroads and loot public treasuries. They'll smile in a man's +face while they're whetting the knife for his back. Some of them have +put the knife into Charles Collier now, and they intend to sink it to +the hilt. You've been picked as a cat's-paw to help them pull their +chestnuts off the coals. They intend to fatten their batting average at +your expense, and when it's all over you'll be knocked out of the +box for good. You'll get the blame while they pluck the plums." + +"Kennedy," said Locke, his voice hard as chilled steel, "they've +picked the wrong stool pigeon. My eyes aren't sewed up. With your help, +I'm going to find a way to spoil their villainous schemes. I know +you'll help me." + +The veteran sprang up, a bit of the old-time fire in his face. "You bet +your life, son! That's why I wired for you to come on, and that's why I +wanted you to pretend to take the hook and sign up with Weegman. I knew +we could work together, and it puts us in position to get the harpoon +into them before they wise up to what's doing. Let's get busy." + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +GETTING INTO ACTION + + +Locke was for open work and defiance of Weegman, but Kennedy argued +against it. + +"You want to get the jump on that snake," said the old man, digging a +package of contract forms for players out of his traveling bag. "He +won't be looking for you to get into action so sudden, and you'll gain +a lap before he knows it. When it comes to fighting a polecat, a wise man +takes precautions. Weegman's gone to send word to his pals of the slick +job he's put over, and he'll be coming back to bother us pretty soon. +We don't want to be here when he comes." + +So, for the purpose of conducting their private business, another +room was engaged, and an arrangement made whereby no person, no matter +how insistent he might be, should be told where to find them. Then a +telegraph messenger boy was summoned to that room, and telegrams were +sent to the still loyal Blue Stockings players, stating that contracts +were being mailed for their signatures. Then the contracts were filled +out, sealed, and dropped into the mail chute. + +A square meal was ordered and served in the private room, and for nearly +three hours Lefty and Jack talked. They had many things to tell each +other, but their principal topic was the filling of the frightful gaps +made in the team by the Federal raids, and both agreed that the time +had come when the close-fisted financial policy of the Blue Stockings +must be abandoned; players fully as good as the ones lost, or better, if +possible, must be obtained at any cost. Various team combinations that +seemed to balance to a nicety were made up on paper, but how to get the +men coveted was the problem. + +"We've got two catchers left," said Kennedy, "but the best of the +pair ain't in the same class as the man we've lost. We've got to have +a backstop as good as Nelson. And when it comes to pitchers--say, son, +is it possible there ain't any show at all of your coming back?" + +"I wish I could answer that," confessed Locke. "At any rate, we've +got to have two more first-string men. If this Mysterious Jones I told +you of is anywhere near as good as he looked to--" + +"Not one chance in a hundred that he's good enough to carry a regular +share of the pitching the first season, no matter what he might develop +into with experience. The Wolves have been hurt least by the Feds, +and you might pick something worth while off Ben Frazer if you paid his +price. Last fall he offered to trade me that youngster, Keeper, for +Dayly, and since then he's bought Red Callahan from Brennan. That'll +put Keeper on the bench. You know what Keeper is, and I've always +regretted letting Frazer get him off me for five thousand, but it was +Collier's idea. The boy'd look well on our third cushion about now. +But don't lose sight of the fact that it's pitchers we've _got_ to +have." + +Locke took the five-fifty train for New York, leaving Weegman, whom he +had succeeded in avoiding, frothing around the Grand in search of him. +Kennedy knew how to reach Frazer by wire, and he had received a reply +to his telegram that the manager of the Wolves would meet Lefty at the +Great Eastern the following night. Between Kennedy and Frazer there had +always existed a bond of understanding and friendship. + +Despite the burden he had assumed, the new manager of the Blue Stockings +slept well. It was this faculty of getting sleep and recuperation under +any circumstances that had enabled him to become known as the "Iron +Man." + +At breakfast the following morning he received a slight shock. Three +tables in front of him, with his back turned, sat a man with fine +shoulders, a bull neck, and a bullet head. Mit Skullen was traveling +eastward by the same train. Lefty cut his breakfast short and left the +diner without having been observed. + +"If he should see me, he'd probably take the first opportunity to wire +back to Weegman," thought Locke, "and I'm going to follow old Jack's +advice about leaving Weegman in the dark for a while." + +There was a possibility, of course, that Skullen would come wandering +through the train and discover him, but, to his satisfaction, nothing of +the kind happened. All the long forenoon he was whirled through a +snow-covered country without being annoyed by the appearance of +Garrity's henchman, and he had plenty of time to meditate on the +situation and the plans laid by himself and Kennedy. + +But it was necessary to eat again, and shortly before Albany was reached +he returned to the diner, hoping Skullen had already had lunch. The man +was not there when he sat down, but he had scarcely given his order +when the fellow's hand dropped on his shoulder. + +"Hully smokes!" exclaimed Mit, staring down, wide-eyed, at the +southpaw. "What's this mean? I can hardly believe me lamps. You +must have left Indianap' same time I did, and Weeg asked me twice if +I'd seen anything of you." + +"Weegman?" said Lefty, startled, but outwardly serene. "Is he on this +train?" + +"Nix. Last I know, he was tearing up the Grand looking for you. How's +it happened you skipped without dropping him word?" + +"I'm going to see my folks, who live in Jersey," Locke answered, +truthfully enough. + +"But you'll stop in the big town to-night? Where do you hang out?" + +"Usually at the Prince Arthur." This was likewise true, although the +southpaw had now no intention of putting up there on this occasion. + +Mit looked at his watch. "We must be pulling into Albany," he said. "I +want to get a paper. See you later." + +"Go ahead and shoot your telegram to Weegman," thought Locke. "Any +message sent me at the Prince Arthur is liable to remain unopened for +some time." + +He had finished his lunch and was back in the Pullman when Skullen found +him again. The man planted himself at Lefty's side and passed over a +newspaper, grinning as he pointed out an item on the sporting page: + + Even though it was rumored that old Jack Kennedy was to be let + out, the selection of Locke as his successor is a surprise. As + a pitcher Locke has had an amazingly successful career and + has made an enviable reputation, but he has had no managerial + experience, having come to the Big League directly from the + bushes. Whether or not he has the stuff of which capable + managers are made is a matter of uncertainty; but, with the + Blue Stockings badly chewed to pieces by the Feds, Collier + might have been expected, had he decided to drop Kennedy, + to replace the veteran with a man of some practical knowledge + in that line. The policy of the Stockings for the last year or + two has been rather queer, to say the least, and the effect + upon the team can be seen in its present rating. + +That was the final paragraph. Collier, sick and absent in Europe, was +credited with the deal; not a word about Weegman. The rascal, pulling +the wires, was keeping himself in the background. For a moment Lefty +thought of Jack Stillman, a reporter friend, and felt a desire to give +him some inside information which, in cold type, would be pretty certain +to make the interested public sit up and take notice. But the time was +not ripe for a move like that, and he dismissed the thought. + +Still grinning, Skullen jammed his elbow into Locke's ribs. "How do +you like that?" he inquired gloatingly. "That's the way them cheap +newspaper ginks pans you out when they get a chance." + +The southpaw was suddenly attacked by an intense distaste for the +company of Tom Garrity's coarse hireling. He handed the paper back +in silence. But the feeling of dislike and antagonism was evidently +felt by Skullen, for, after a few minutes' silence, he got up and +walked out of the car; and, to his satisfaction, Lefty saw no more of +him during the remainder of the journey. + +An uncomfortable storm of rain and sleet was raging when New York was +reached shortly after nightfall. A taxi bore Locke to the Great Eastern, +where he learned that Frazer had not yet arrived. Having registered, +he took the elevator for his room on the seventh floor, and, as he +was borne upward, a descending car, well filled with people, slipped +silently past, and Lefty caught a momentary glimpse of their faces +through the iron grillwork. One face he saw quite plainly, that of a +charming young woman in her early twenties--a face he recognized at once. + +"Virginia Collier!" gasped Lefty, in astonishment. + +He did not leave the car; back to the main floor he went. After hastily +looking around for the young woman he sought, he made inquiries at +the desk. He was informed that no Miss Collier was stopping in the +hotel. Still confident that he had not been mistaken, and thinking it +probable she was dining there with friends, he had her paged. Even when +the report came that no one answered to the name, he did not give up. +From various vantage points, he spent at least twenty minutes looking +over the people at dinner in the main dining room, the grill, and +the palm room. At the end of that time he was confident that Charles +Collier's daughter was not dining at the Great Eastern. + +"Of course," he admitted to himself, "it's possible I was mistaken, +but I would have sworn it was Virginia." + +He went up to his room and prepared for dinner, burdened by the +conviction that he had been baffled; that fate had played him a +trick. He would have given much for fifteen minutes' conversation with +the daughter of the Big Chief, and he was impressed with the belief +that he had passed her almost within an arm's reach. + +This feeling was followed by one of uncertainty regarding Frazer. Old +Jack had assured him that the manager of the Wolves would meet him at +the Great Eastern, and he had relied on Kennedy without attempting to +get into direct communication with Frazer, and perhaps, after all, he +would not come. + +"Then I'll have to run him down," considered Lefty. "And I want to +get to him before Weegman can get to me. If I don't, he'll be sure to +try to ball up any deal I attempt to put across." + +Choosing to eat in the grill, he notified the desk where he could be +found should any one ask for him. But he had scarcely begun on the first +course when he heard his name spoken, and looked up to find Ben Frazer +smiling down upon him. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +THE FIRST DEAL + + +"Just in time to get in on the eats, I see," said the manager of the +famous Wolves, shaking hands with Locke. "It's a rotten night, my feet +are wet, and I'm awfully hungry. Only for Kennedy's message I'd be +on my way to Chicago." + +A waiter placed a chair, and he sat down, took the menu card, and quickly +gave his order. He was a short, thick-set, shrewd-faced man; his hair +was turning gray on the temples, but he seemed to have lost little of +the nervous energy and alertness that had been his in the old days +when he had been called the swiftest second sacker in the business. He +had been an umpire baiter then, but in later years his methods had +changed, and never once since becoming a manager had he been given the +gate. Nevertheless, while he had gained in diplomacy, he had relaxed no +whit in aggressiveness. Led by old Ben, the Wolves fought to the last +ditch. "Now, tell me about it," he requested, turning to Lefty. "How +in thunder did you happen to let them rope you into such a mess?" + +"You mean--" + +"Getting tied up as manager of the Blue Stockings. Boy, you're the +goat; you've been chosen for the sacrifice. Somebody had to fall, of +course, but it's a shame that you should be the victim. I'd thought +you too wise to tumble into that trap." + +"Then you think it is a trap?" asked the southpaw, feeling the blood +hot in his cheeks. + +"Of course it is! The Stockings have been undermined and blown wide +open. They've got as much show this year as a snowball would have in a +baker's oven. They'll land in the subcellar with a sickening thud, +and there's no way of stopping them." + +"No way--" + +"No way under heaven, take it from me! I've been in the business long +enough to know what I'm talking about. It takes years to build up +such a fighting machine, and, when it's torn to pieces, rebuilding is +bound to be another job of years. The public won't understand. You'll +get the kicks and the curses. As a successful pitcher you've been a +favorite; as an unsuccessful manager you'll be about as popular as a +rusty spike in an automobile tire. Crowds are always fickle. When a +man's winning they howl their heads off for him; but let him strike +a losing streak and they scramble like mad to pelt him with mud and +brick-bats." + +"But somebody has to build up a team." + +"Somebody has to start it and get the blame. He's the goat. Where's +Burkett, who managed the Wolves before I came in? Out in the Border +League. Where's Ashton and Gerrish, who struggled with the Blue +Stockings before Kennedy stepped in on the turn of the tide? One's +running a cigar store in Kewanee, the other's drinking himself to death +in Muskegon; both left the game with busted reputations and broken +hearts. Where's McConnell, who tried to make a ball team of the +Hornets before Brennan's day? He took to the coke, and his friends +are paying for his keep in a private bug-house. Where's Decker, who +had a crack at the Panthers--But what's the use! There's no surer +way for a good man to ruin his career than to manage a losing ball team." + +"In that case," said Locke, "I've got to manage a winner." + +Frazer gazed at him pityingly. "Swell chance you've got! About one +in fifty thousand. You haven't got the makings of an ordinary +second-division team left." + +"I know the Feds have copped off some of our best men, but--" + +"Some! Some! I should so remark! But don't blame it all on the Feds. +They were practically invited to come in and take their pick. The bars +were let down. All your players knew there was trouble. They heard all +sorts of rumors that made them nervous and uncertain. They didn't +see any contracts coming their way to be signed. They knew there was +something the matter with Collier. It was even said he'd gone crazy. +They knew Kennedy was going to get out from under. There was gossip +about old men being shunted and new blood taken on. What they didn't +know was where they were at. It was all nicely worked to get them to +take the running long jump." + +"Then you believe there was a plot to smash the team?" + +"You don't have to be a mind reader to get my opinion, but I'm +saying this here private, man to man. I'm not goin' round talking for +publication." + +"But you're wrong about Kennedy getting out; he was dropped." + +"Was he?" + +"Sure." + +Frazer twisted his face into a queer grimace. "Old Jack Kennedy was too +wise to stick on under any such conditions. He knew what it meant, and +I'll guarantee that he wouldn't have managed the Blue Stockings this +year for twice the salary he got last. What I've got against him is +that he didn't put you wise before you tied up." + +"It was on his advice that I consented to manage the team," replied +Locke. + +"What?" exclaimed Frazer. "Is that straight? He advised you to--The +infernal old scoundrel!" + +Locke warmed immediately in defense of Kennedy. The manager of the Wolves +listened, uncertain, shaking his head doubtfully. + +"He may not have meant it," he admitted presently, "but he's got you +in bad, boy. You haven't got a show against the powers you'll have to +buck, and the conditions that were fixed up for you in advance." + +"As to that, time will tell," said Lefty. "I'm going to make one +almighty try. First, I've got to plug the gaps. What have you got to +sell that I want?" + +"Nothing that you'll pay the price for. I know Collier's policy." + +"Collier is in Europe, and I'm manager of the team, with full authority +to make any deals I please. Here's my contract." He placed it before +old Ben. "Collier will have to stand for any trade I put through. +I'll buy Smoke Jordan off you." + +"You won't! I won't sell him." + +"Then how about Jack Keeper? You've got Red Callahan, and I need a +third baseman." + +Frazer finished his soup. "I won't sell you Keeper," he said; "but +I'll trade him. I need a center fielder in the place of Courtney, who's +retired. I'll trade Keeper for Herman Brock." + +At first Locke had no relish for a trade that would add to the Blue +Stockings infield at the expense of the outfield, even though in his +secret heart he knew Brock had during last season shown vague symptoms +of slowing down. Then he remembered the list of reserves given him by +Kennedy, on which there was one fast, hard-hitting youngster who had +been sent back to the Western Canada League, and had made a brilliant +record covering the middle garden for Medicine Hat. + +"I don't want to trade, I want to buy," he persisted. Then, as if +struck by second thought: "I'll tell you what I will do; I'll give +you Brock for two men. That'll help. We need a catcher. After King broke +his leg you found a great catcher in Darrow. I'll trade you Brock for +Keeper and King." + +"Brick King!" exploded Frazer indignantly. "What do you take me for?" + +"A business man. You've got three first-string catchers now; two are +all you need. You don't even know that King's leg is all right. I'm +willing to take a chance on him. Brock batted over three hundred last +season. He's the hitter you need to fill that vacancy." + +"Not Brick King," said the manager of the Wolves. "If I didn't use +him behind the bat for the whole season, he's a fancy pinch hitter. +You've gotter have pitchers. How about O'Brien?" + +But Locke knew that Chick O'Brien, the veteran, had cracked already. +Even though on hot days, when he could get his wing to work, he showed +flashes of his former brilliant form, and had, under such conditions, +last year pitched three shut-out games for the Wolves, Chick's record +for the season showed a balance on the wrong side. The southpaw held out +for King. Frazer offered one of the second-string catchers. Lefty waved +the offer aside. + +"Hang it!" snapped Frazer. "Give me Brock and ten thousand dollars, +and you may have Keeper and King." + +"You don't want much!" laughed Locke. "I'll give you Brock and five +thousand." + +All the way through to the dessert they dickered and bargained. Frazer +wanted Brock, and wanted him bad. Sympathetic though he might feel toward +Lefty, he never permitted sympathy to interfere with business. Brock +was the man to fill the position left vacant by Bob Courtney, and he +was sure the Wolves would not be weakened by the loss of Keeper. But +Brick King--"What salary are you paying King?" Lefty suddenly asked. + +"Five thousand. The Feds got after him, and I had to make it that." + +The southpaw laughed. "With Darrow doing most of the backstopping, +and Larson ready to fill in any moment he's needed, you're going to +keep a five-thousand-dollar catcher on the bench for a pinch hitter! +I just called you a business man, but I feel like taking it back. Isn't +Madden likely to kick over a five-thousand-dollar pinch hitter?" Madden +owned the team. + +"Madden be hanged!" rasped Frazer, biting off the end of a cigar he had +taken from his case. "I'm the manager! Madden isn't always butting in +and paring down expenses, like Collier." He pulled vigorously at the +cigar, while the attentive waiter applied a lighted match. + +Lefty had declined a cigar. He smoked occasionally, and would have done +so now, but to do so would indicate an inclination to settle down and +continue the dickering, and he had decided to make a bluff at bringing +the affair to an end. He called for the check, and insisted on paying +the bill for both. + +"Sorry I've put you to so much trouble, Frazer," he said. "It was +Kennedy's idea that I might do business with you, but it's evident he +was mistaken. I've got some other cards to play, and time is precious." +He settled the bill and tipped the waiter. + +Old Ben sat regarding Locke thoughtfully, rolling out great puffs of +smoke. The younger man was about to rise. + +"Hold on," requested the manager of the Wolves. "You're a regular +mule, aren't you? How do you expect to make a trade without compromising +at all? You won't even meet me halfway, confound you! You--" + +"I'll own up that I was a bit hasty," said Lefty, showing a nervous +desire to get away. "I made that five-thousand offer without thinking +much, but you understand I'm rather desperate. If Collier were here, +he'd probably put the kibosh on it--if he found out before the trade +was closed. After that he'd have to stand for it, no matter how hard he +kicked. Let's forget it." + +Then Frazer showed that peculiar trait of human nature that makes a +person doubly eager for something that seems to be on the point of +slipping away. In his mind he had already fitted Herman Brock into +that gap in center field that had given him more or less worry. The +adjustment had pleased him; it seemed to balance the team to a hair. It +would give him renewed assurance of another pennant and a slice of the +World's Series money. It was Courtney's hitting in the last series +that had enabled the Wolves to divide the big end of that money; and, +like Courtney, Brock was a terror with the ash. + +"You mule!" said Frazer. "Let's go up to your room and fix up the +papers. It's a trade." + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +A FLEETING GLIMPSE + + +Locke betrayed no sign of the triumph that he felt. Had Frazer held out, +he would have given the ten thousand asked, and considered himself +lucky to get a catcher and a third sacker, both young men, and coming, +in exchange for an outfielder who could not possibly last more than +another season or two. Collier might squirm when he learned of the +trade, but perhaps he could be made to see the desperate necessity of +it. The thought that Bailey Weegman would gnash his teeth and froth at +the mouth gave Lefty an added thrill of pleasure. The first move to +circumvent Weegman and the scheming scoundrel behind him, Garrity, had +been put through. + +"All right," he said, with something like a sigh. "If you hold me to +my word, I suppose it's a trade. We may as well make out the papers." + +"What's that about a trade?" asked a voice at the southpaw's back. +"What are you two ginks cooking up? I saw you chinnin', and thought +there was something in the wind." + +Skullen had entered the grill and come up without being observed. There +was nothing thin-skinned about Mit, and apparently he had forgotten the +rebuff given him by Locke on the train. + +"Hello, Mit!" said Frazer. "You're just in time to be a witness. +I've traded King and Keeper for Herm Brock. We're going up to make +out the papers now. Come on!" + +Locke rose, his eyes on the intruder, repressing a laugh as he noted the +man's expression of incredulity. + +"Traded!" exclaimed Skullen. "With Locke? Say, who's backing +Locke in this deal? Weeg told me--when I talked with him about being +manager--that any trade that was made would have to be confirmed by +him. Has he agreed to this deal?" + +"He don't have to," said Lefty. "There's nothing in my contract that +gives him any authority to interfere with any deal I may choose to make." + +Mit followed them from the room and to the elevator. He was bursting +to say more, but he did not know just how to say it. When they were in +Locke's room he began: + +"Keeper and King for that old skate Brock! What's the matter with you, +Ben? You've got bats in your belfry! Why, you've gone clean off your +nut! You've--" + +Frazer cut him short. "That'll be about enough from you, Mit! Don't +try to tell me my business. I'm getting five thousand bones in the +bargain." + +"Hey?" shouted Skullen, turning on the young manager of the Blue +Stockings. "Five thousand bucks! You're coughing up that sum without +consulting anybody? Say, you're going in clean over your head. You'd +better hold up and wire Weegman what you're thinking about. If you +don't--" + +"When I want your advice I'll ask for it," interrupted Locke sharply. +"You seem to be greatly interested in this business, for an outsider." + +Skullen was choked off, but he gurgled and growled while the papers were +being filled out; he even seemed disposed to refuse to sign as a witness, +but finally did so, muttering: + +"There's going to be the devil to pay over this, you can bet your sweet +life on that!" + +Lefty didn't care; it was settled, and neither Collier nor his +representative could repudiate the bargain. Let the crooks rage. The +only thing the southpaw regretted was that Weegman would, doubtless, +quickly learn what had been done; for it was a practical certainty that +Skullen would lose little time in wiring to him. In fact, Mit soon +made an excuse to take his departure, and, in fancy, Locke saw him +making haste to send the message. + +Frazer was wise, also. "You're going to find yourself bucking a rotten +combination, Locke," he said. "They're bound to put it over you before +you're through." + +"I should worry and lose my sleep!" was the light retort. "Give me a +cigar now, Ben; I haven't felt so much like smoking in a month." + +Locke slept that night in peace. In the infield there were two big holes +left to be filled, short and second; but the reserve list afforded a +dozen men to pick from, and it was Lefty's theory that a certain number +of carefully chosen youngsters, mixed in with veterans who could steady +them, frequently added the needed fire and dash to a team that was +beginning to slow down. Herman Brock was gone, but out in Medicine +Hat Jock Sheridan had covered the middle garden like a carpet, and had +batted four hundred and ten--some hitting! With Welch and Hyland on +his right and left, Sheridan might compel the Big League fans to give +him something more than a casual once over. + +But Locke's great pleasure lay in the fact that he had secured a +backstop he had not dared to hope for. Even now he could not understand +why Frazer had been induced to part with Brick King, the catcher whose +almost uncanny skill in getting the very limit out of second-rate and +faltering pitchers had lifted the Wolves out of the second division +two years ago, and made them pennant contenders up to the final game +of the season. There was the possibility, of course, that old Ben +believed that King had not thoroughly recovered from the injury that +had sent him to the hospital last August; but a broken leg was something +that rarely put an athlete down and out indefinitely. + +"In my estimation," thought Lefty serenely, as sleep was stealing over +him, "King has got more brains and uses them better than any backstop +in the league." + +The morning papers had something to say about the deal: + + The new manager of the Blue Stockings has been getting busy. + By good authority we are informed that he has traded Center + Fielder Herman Brock for two of Ben Frazer's youngsters, + King and Keeper. Through this deal he has obtained a catcher + and a third baseman, but has opened up a hole in the outfield + big enough to roll an _Imperator_ cargo of base hits through. + Of course, the gaping wounds of the Stockings must be plugged, + but it seems like bad surgery to inflict further mutilation in + order to fill the gashes already made. And when it comes + to driving in scores when they count, we predict that old + Herman and his swatstick are going to be lamented. Keeper is + more or less of an unknown quantity. It's true that Brick + King, in condition, is an excellent backstop and a good + hitter, but it must not be forgotten that he has not played + since he was injured last August. And, incidentally, it should + be remembered that Ben Frazer has a head as long as a tape + measure. An expert appraiser should be called in to inspect any + property on which Frazer shows a disposition to relinquish his + grip. It is a good, even-money proposition that old Ben + and the Wolves will get their hooks into the World's Series + boodle again this year. + +Lefty smiled over this, his lips curling a bit scornfully. The opening +of the real baseball season was yet a long distance away, but the +newspaper writers were compelled to grind out a required amount of +"dope" each day, and were working hard to keep up their average. +Some of them were clever and ingenious in their phrasing, but nearly +all of them betrayed a lack of originality or courage in forming and +expressing individual opinions. The Wolves had won the pennant and the +world's championship last season, and up to date they had been damaged +less than any club in organized ball by the raids of the Federals; +some wise pen pusher had therefore predicted that the Wolves would cop +the bunting again, and was supported in this opinion by all the little +fellows, who ran, bleating, after the wise one, like a flock of sheep +chasing a bellwether. + +It was evident that, with no apparent exceptions, this bleating flock +looked on the Blue Stockings as a drifting derelict that was due to +be blown up and sunk. For Locke they had only pity and mild contempt +because he had permitted himself to be dragged into the impossible +attempt to salvage the worthless hulk. Even old Ben Frazer, than whom +none was reckoned more keen and astute, had expressed such a sentiment +without concealment. A weak man would have felt some qualms; Lefty +felt none. He had not sought the job; in a way, fate had thrust it upon +him; and now the more unsurmountable the difficulties appeared the +stronger he became to grapple with them. Like a soldier going into +battle, exulted and fired by a high and lofty purpose, his heart sang +within him. + +Before going to bed, Lefty had wired Kennedy concerning the deal with +Frazer, and he believed Skullen had made haste to telegraph Weegman. +He rose in the morning fully expecting to get a red-hot message from +Collier's private secretary, and was surprised when nothing of the sort +reached him. While at breakfast, however, he received an answer from +old Jack: + + Good work! Congratulations. Keep it up. + KENNEDY. + +Weegman's silence led Locke to do some thinking, and suddenly he +understood. Skullen had discovered him on the Knickerbocker Special +just before the train had pulled into Albany, and immediately Mit had +hastened away to buy a paper. Of course he had then sent word to Weegman, +who was now on his way to New York. + +"But he can't get here before six o'clock to-night," thought Lefty, +"and my train for the South leaves at three-thirty-four." + +He did not relish running away from Weegman, and it had gone against +the grain when, upon the advice of Kennedy, he had suddenly left +Indianapolis. But he knew old Jack was wise, and the more he could +accomplish without being interfered with by the rascal he despised, the +stronger his position for open fighting would be when it became necessary +to defy him to his face. + +His first duty that day was to visit his parents, and, shortly after +breakfast, he took the tube for Jersey. Less than an hour's journey +brought him to the Hazelton home, and, after something like an hour spent +with them, he left them in a much more cheerful and hopeful frame of mind. + +On returning to the city he called up the office of Franklin Parlmee. +To his disappointment, he was informed that Parlmee had not returned +since leaving for Indianapolis. He had expected the man could inform +him whether or not Virginia Collier was in New York, and, if she were, +how to find her and obtain the brief interview he desired. For he was +sure that a short talk with Charles Collier's daughter would serve to +clear away many of the uncertainties with which he was surrounded. + +But there were other things to be done, and Lefty was kept on the jump, +without time, even, to snatch a hasty lunch. When a person attempts to +accomplish a great deal in a brief period in New York, he often finds he +has shouldered a heavy load. By two o'clock in the afternoon he realized +that it would be impossible for him to take the three-thirty-four +southbound from the Pennsylvania Station. There was a slower train +leaving at nine-thirty; that was the best he could do. + +He believed Weegman would rush to the Great Eastern as soon as he +arrived. Locke had left the Great Eastern, and there was little chance of +encountering the man elsewhere. Once or twice he thought of Skullen, +and wondered if he had made an effort to keep track of him. + +"If so," laughed the southpaw, "he has been some busy person." + +At six o'clock he was appeasing a ravenous appetite in a quiet +restaurant. With the exception of the fact that he had not been able +to find Virginia Collier, he had done everything he had set out to do. +And he had wired Cap'n Wiley that he would soon be on his way with +a Blue Stockings contract for Mysterious Jones to sign. + +In order to pass the time and obtain a little diversion, he went to a +motion-picture show after dinner, having first secured accommodations on +the train, and checked his bag at the station. He left the theater +shortly before nine o'clock, and had reached Broadway and Thirty-third +Street, when a lighted limousine, containing two persons besides the +driver, drove past him. He obtained a good look at both passengers, +a man, who was talking earnestly, and a woman, smiling as she listened. +He knew he was not mistaken this time: the man was Bailey Weegman; the +woman was Virginia Collier. + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +A RIDDLE TO SOLVE + + +Locke stood still, staring after the swiftly receding car. He thought of +pursuit, but, as a heavy rain was falling, there was no available taxi in +the immediate vicinity. By the time he could secure one the limousine +would have vanished, leaving no possible hope of tracing it. + +Weegman and Virginia Collier together and on terms plainly more than +usually friendly! What was the explanation? She had arrived in New +York, after all, and it was apparent that Weegman knew where to find +her when he reached the city. That his company was distinctly agreeable +to her was evident from the fleeting glimpse Lefty had obtained. As +Parlmee's rival, the man held the favor of Charles Collier. Had the +baseball magnate at last succeeded in breaking down the prejudice and +opposition of his daughter? Was it possible that Weegman, not Parlmee, +was the magnet that had drawn the girl back from Europe? + +"Impossible!" exclaimed Lefty. "She'd never throw over Frank for that +chuckling scoundrel." + +But was it impossible? Vaguely he recalled something like a change in the +tone of Virginia's last letters to Janet; somehow they had not seemed +as frank and confiding as former letters. And eventually, to Janet's +worriment and perplexity, Virginia had ceased to write at all. + +Before Locke flashed a picture of Parlmee as he had appeared in +Indianapolis, nervous, perplexed, and, by his own admission, greatly +worried. Parlmee had confessed that he had received only two very +unsatisfactory letters from Virginia since she had sailed for Europe +with her father, and more than a month had elapsed since the second +of these had come to his hands. Of itself, this was enough to upset a +man as much in love with Miss Collier as Parlmee undoubtedly was. But, +at the time, Lefty had vaguely felt that the automobile salesman was +holding something back, and now he was sure. Parlmee's pride, and his +secret hope that he was mistaken, had prevented him from confessing that +the girl had changed in her attitude toward him. + +True, Virginia had cabled that she was sailing on the _Victoria_, and had +asked him to meet her, and although she had not sailed on that ship, yet +she was now in New York. Here was a riddle to solve. Did the solution +lie in the assumption that, having decided to break her tentative +engagement in a face-to-face talk with Parlmee, the girl's courage +had failed her, leading her to change her plans? The fact that he was +with her now seemed to prove that Weegman's information regarding +her movements and intentions had been more accurate than Parlmee's. + +It did not appear plausible that such a girl could be persuaded, of her +own free will, to throw over Franklin Parlmee for Bailey Weegman. +But perhaps she was not exercising her own free will; perhaps some +powerful and mastering influence had been brought to bear upon her. +Was it not possible, also, that her father, whose singular behavior +had lately aroused comment and speculation, was likewise a victim of +this mastering influence? While the idea was a trifle bizarre, and +savored of sensational fiction, such things did happen, if reports +of them, to be found almost daily in the newspapers, could be believed. +But when Locke tried to imagine the chuckling and oily Weegman as a +hypnotist, dominating both Collier and his daughter by the power of +an evil spell, he failed. It was too preposterous. + +One thing, however, was certain: evil powers of a materialistic nature +were at work, and they had succeeded in making a decided mess of Charles +Collier's affairs. To defeat them, the strategy and determination of +united opposition would be required, and, in view of the task, the +opposition seemed weak and insufficient. Even Parlmee, who might render +some aid, was not to be reached. He had obtained a month's leave from +business in order to settle his own suspicions and fears, but he had +not returned to New York. Where was he? + +Lefty glanced over his shoulder as the _Herald_ clock began to hammer +out the hour of nine. Then he set his face westward and made for the +Pennsylvania Station at a brisk pace. Reaching his destination, he +wrote and sent to Parlmee's office address a message that contained, +in addition to the positive assurance that Virginia was in town and +had been seen with Weegman, a statement of the southpaw's suspicions, +which amounted almost to convictions, concerning the whole affair. +There didn't seem to be much more that he could do. He had secured his +accommodations on the Florida Mail, but he expected to be back on the +field of battle in the North within the shortest possible time. + +Before going aboard his train, he bought the latest edition of an +evening newspaper, and, naturally, turned at once to the sporting +page. Almost by instinct his eyes found something of personal concern, a +statement that Manager Garrity would strengthen the Rockets by securing +an unknown "dummy" pitcher who had been discovered by Scout Skullen, +and was said to be a wizard. Skullen, it was intimated, was off with a +commission from Garrity to sign up his find. + +There was no longer any doubt in Locke's mind that Skullen had watched +the work of Mysterious Jones, and intended to nail the mute for the +Rockets. Even now, he had departed on his mission. Probably he had left +at three-thirty-four on the very train Lefty had meant to take. If so, he +would reach Florida many hours ahead of the southpaw, and would have +plenty of time to accomplish his purpose. True, Locke had made a fair +and square bargain with Wiley and Jones, but, having been unable to +get Jones' signature on a Blue Stockings contract at the time, the +deal would not be binding if the mute chose to go back on it. + +Not a little apprehensive, Lefty sent still another message to Cap'n +Wiley. After which he went aboard the train, found his berth, and turned +in. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +THE MAN AHEAD + + +Locke was the first passenger to leap off the train when it stopped at +Vienna. He made for one of the two rickety carriages that were drawn +up beside the station platform. The white-wooled old negro driver +straightened on his seat, signaling with his whip, and called: "Right +dis way, sah; dis way fo' the Lithonia House." + +"Is there a baseball game in this town to-day, uncle?" asked Lefty. + +"Yes, sah, dere sho am. Dey's gwine to be some hot game, so ever'body +say. Our boys gwine buck up against dem Wind Jabbers, an' dere'll be +a reg'ler ruction out to de pahk." + +"What time does the game begin?" + +"Free o'clock am de skaduled hour fo' de obsequies, sah. Dey's out to +de pahk now, sah, an' 'most ever'body could git dere has gone, too." + +Locke looked at his watch. "Thirty minutes before the game starts. How +far is your park?" + +"'Bout a mile, sah, mo' uh less." + +"Two dollars, if you get me there in a hurry." + +"Two dollahs, sah? Yes, sah! Step right in, sah, an' watch dis heah +streak o' locomotion transpose yo' over de earth surface. Set tight +an' hol' fast." + +Tossing his overcoat and bag into the rear of the carriage, Lefty +sprang in. The old negro gave a shrill yell, and cracked his whip with a +pistol-like report. The yell and the crack electrified the rawboned old +nag into making a wild leap as if trying to jump out of the thills. +It was a marvel that the spliced and string-tied harness held. The +southpaw was flung down upon the rear seat, and it was a wonder that +he did not go flying over the low back of it and out of the carriage. +He grabbed hold with both hands, and held fast. Round the corner of +the station spun the carriage on two wabbly wheels, and away it careened +at the heels of the galloping horse, the colored driver continuing to +yell and crack his whip. Two dollars! + +The ride from the station to the baseball park was brief but exciting. +The distance could not have been more than half a mile, and, considering +the conveyance, it was made in record time. + +"Whoa, yo' Nancy Hanks!" shouted the driver, surging back on the +reins and stopping the animal so abruptly that Lefty was nearly pitched +into the forward seat. "Did I heah yo' say you wanted to git heah +in a hurry, sah?" + +Locke jumped out. "That's the shortest mile I ever traveled," he said, +handing over the price promised. "But then, when it comes to driving, +Barney Oldfield has nothing on you." + +Carrying his overcoat and bag, he hurried to the gate and paid the +price of admission. A goodly crowd had gathered, and the local team +was practicing on the field. Over at one side some of the visitors +were getting in a little light batting practice. Mysterious Jones was +warming up with Schaeffer. A short distance behind Jones stood Cap'n +Wiley, his legs planted wide, his arms folded, his ear cocked, listening +to Mit Skullen, who was talking earnestly. Lefty strode hastily toward +the pair. + +"Sell him!" said the Marine Marvel, in reply to the scout, as the +southpaw approached behind them. "Of course I will. But you made one +miscue, mate; you should have come straight to me in the first place, +instead of superflouing away your time seeking to pilfer him off me by +stealth. What price do you respectfully tender?" + +Locke felt a throb of resentful anger. Regardless of a square bargain +already made, Wiley was ready to negotiate with Skullen. However, Mit +had not yet succeeded in his purpose, and the southpaw was on hand to +maintain a prior claim. Involuntarily he halted, waiting for the scout's +offer. + +"As you aren't in any regular league," said Mit, "by rights I +don't have to give you anything for him; but if you'll jolly him +into putting his fist to a contract, I'll fork over fifty bones out +of my own pocket. Garrity won't stand for it, so I'll have to come +through with the fifty myself." + +"Your magnanimous offer staggers me!" exclaimed Wiley. "Allow me a +moment to subdue my emotions. However and nevertheless, I fear me greatly +that my bottom price would be slightly more than that." + +"Well, what is your bottom price?" demanded Skullen. "Put it down to +the last notch." + +"I will. I'll give you bed-rock figures. Comprehend me, mate, I'll +pare it right down to the bone, and you can't buy Jones a measly, +lonesome cent less. I'll sell him to you for just precisely fifty +thousand dollars." + +The scout's jaw dropped, and he stared at the little man, who stared +up at him in return, one eyelid slightly lowered, an oddly provocative +expression on his swarthy face. + +Slowly the look of incredulous disbelief turned to wrath. The purple +color surged upward from Mit's bull neck into his scarred face; his +huge hands closed. + +"What are you trying to hand me, you blamed little runt?" he snarled. +"Where's the joke?" + +"No joke at all, I hasten to postulate," said Wiley. "The scandalous +fact is that I couldn't sell him to you at all without scuttling +and sinking my sacred honor. But human nature is frail and prone to +temptation, and for the sum of fifty thousand dollars I'd inveigle +Jones into signing with you, even though never again as long as I should +dwell on this terrestrial sphere could I look my old college chump, +Lefty Locke, in the countenance." + +Skullen's astonishment was a sight to behold. He made strange, wheezing, +gurgling sounds in his throat. Presently one of his paws shot out and +fastened on Cap'n Wiley's shoulder. + +"What's that you're saying about Lefty Locke?" he demanded. "What +are you giving me?" + +"Straight goods, Mit," stated the southpaw serenely, as he stepped +forward. "Too bad you wasted so much time making a long and useless +trip." + +Skullen came round with something like his old deftness of whirling in +the ring when engaged in battle. Never in all his life had his battered +face worn an uglier look. For a moment, however, he seemed to doubt the +evidence of his eyes. + +"Locke!" he gasped. "Here!" + +"Yes, indeed," returned the new manager of the Blue Stockings +pleasantly. "I reckoned you would be ahead of me, Mit; but, as a man +of his word, Wiley couldn't do business with you. And without his +aid there was little chance for you to make arrangements with Jones." + +Skullen planted his clenched fists upon his hips and gazed at the +southpaw with an expression of unrepressed hatred. His bearing, as +well as his look, threatened assault. Lefty dropped his traveling bag +to the ground, and tossed the overcoat he had been compelled to wear +in the North upon it. He felt that it would be wise for him to have +both hands free and ready for use. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +A DOUBTFUL VICTORY + + +"Who sent you here?" demanded the belligerent individual. "What +business have you got coming poking your nose into my affairs? You'd +better chase yourself sudden." + +Instead of exhibiting alarm, Lefty laughed in the man's face. "Don't +make a show of yourself, Mit," he advised. "Bluster won't get you any +ball players; at least, it won't get you this one. I've already made a +deal for Jones." + +"You haven't got his name on a contract; you hadn't time. If you had, +Wiley'd told me." + +"I made a fair trade for him before I went North." + +Into Skullen's eyes there came a look of understanding and satisfaction. +His lips curled back from his ugly teeth. + +"You didn't have any authority to make a trade then, for you weren't +manager of the Stockings. You can't put anything like that over on me. +If you don't chase yourself, I'll throw you over the fence." + +Sensing an impending clash, with the exception of the mute and the +catcher, the Wind Jammers ceased their desultory practice and watched +for developments. A portion of the spectators, also becoming aware +that something unusual was taking place, turned their attention to +the little triangular group not far from the visitors' bench. + +"You couldn't get Jones if you threw me over into Georgia," said +Locke, unruffled. "It won't do you any good to start a scrap." + +"Permit me to impersonate the dove of peace," pleaded Cap'n Wiley. +"Lefty is absolutely voracious in his statement that he made a fair and +honorable compact with me, by which Jones is to become the legitimate +chattel of the Blue Stockings. Still," he added, shaking his head +and licking his lips, "flesh is weak and liable to err. If I had seen +fifty thousand simoleons coming my way in exchange for the greatest +pitcher of modern times, I'm afraid I should have lacked the energy +to side-step them. The root of all evil has sometimes tempted me from +the path of rectitude. But now Lefty is here, and the danger is over. +It's no use, Skully, old top; the die is cast. You may as well submit +gracefully to the inveterable." + +Muttering inaudibly, Skullen turned and walked away. + +"I have a contract in my pocket ready for the signature of Jones," said +Lefty. "Will you get him to put his name to it before the game starts?" + +"It will give me a pang of pleasure to do so," was the assurance. + +There on the field, envied by his teammates, Mysterious Jones used +Locke's fountain pen to place his signature--A. B. Jones was the name +he wrote--upon the contract that bound him to the Blue Stockings. What +the initials stood for not even Wiley knew. For a moment the mute seemed +to hesitate, but the Marine Marvel urged him on, and the deed was done. + +"If you cater to his little giddyocyncracies," said the sailor, +"you'll find him a pearl beyond price. Unless you're afraid Skully +may return and mar your pleasure, you may sit on the bench with us and +watch him toy with the local bric-a-brac. It is bound to be a painfully +one-sided affair." + +"Skullen," laughed Lefty, "has ceased to cause me special +apprehension. The contract is signed now." + +So Locke sat on the bench and watched his new pitcher perform. When he +walked to the mound, Jones seemed, if possible, more somber and tragic +than usual, and he certainly had his speed with him. Yet neither the +ominous appearance of the mute nor his blinding smoke was sufficient to +faze the Vienna batters, who cracked him for three clean singles in the +last half of the opening inning, and then failed to score because of +foolish base running. + +"He seems to be rather hittable to-day," observed Locke. "What's the +matter, Wiley? This Vienna bunch doesn't look particularly good to me; +just a lot of amateurs who never saw real players, I should say." + +"That's it; that's what ails them, for one thing," replied the +manager of the Wind Jammers. "They have accumulated together no special +knowledge of Simon poor baseball talent, and so they don't know enough +to be scared. Even the great Mathewson has confessed that the worst +bumping he ever collided with was handed out by a bunch of bushers who +stood up to the dish, shut their blinkers when he pitched, and swung +blind at the pill. These lobsters don't realize that Jonesy's fast +one would pass right through a batter without pausing perceptibly if it +should hit him, and so they toddle forth without qualms, whatever they +are, and take a slam at the globule. Next round I'll have to get out +there on the turf and warn them; I'll put the fear of death into their +hearts. Get them to quaking and they won't touch the horsehide." + +But such a program didn't suit Locke. "If all Jones has is his speed +and the fear it inspires, he won't travel far in fast company. You ought +to know that, Wiley. Big League batters will knock the cover off the +fast one unless a pitcher puts something else on it. Sit still once, to +please me, and let's see what Jones can do without the assistance of +your chatter." + +"It's hardly a square deal," objected the Marine Marvel. "The jinx +has been keeping company with us ever since we struck Fernandon. From +that occasion up to the present date, Anno Domino, we haven't won a +single consecutive game. Such bad luck has hurt my feelings; it has +grieved me to the innermost abscess of my soul." + +"Do you mean to say that these country teams have been trimming you, +with Jones in the box?" + +"Alas and alack! I can't deny it unless I resort to fabrication, which +I never do. The Euray Browns tapped Jonesy for seventeen heart-breaking +bingles, and the Pikeville Greyhounds lacerated his delivery even more +painfully. My own brilliant work in the box has been sadly insufficient +to stem, the tide of disaster." + +Locke frowned. What success, or lack of it, Wiley had had as a pitcher +was a matter of no moment; but the statement that amateur teams of +no particular standing had found Mysterious Jones an easy mark was +disturbing. Was it possible that he had been led, with undue haste, to +fritter away good money for a pitcher who would prove worthless in +the Big League? True, the mute had seemed to show something in the +Fernandon game, but in similar contests Lefty had seen many a pinheaded, +worthless country pitcher give a fine imitation of Walter Johnson in +top-notch form. The test of the bush was, in reality, no test at all. + +Throughout five innings the southpaw succeeded in restraining Wiley, and +during that portion of the game the Viennas found Jones for nine singles +and two doubles, accumulating four runs. Only for bad judgment on the +paths they might have secured twice as many tallies. In the same period +the local pitcher, using a little dinky slow curve, held the visitors +to one score. The mute seemed to be trying hard enough, but he could not +keep his opponents from hitting. + +With the opening of the sixth, Wiley broke the leash of restraint. +"I've got to get out and get under," he declared. "You can't expect +me to sit still and watch my barkentine go upon the rocks. Here's where +we start something. Get into 'em, Schepps! Begin doing things! We'll +back you up, for in onion there is strength." + +Schepps led off with a hit, and immediately the Wind Jammers, encouraged +by Wiley, leaped out from the bench, dancing wildly and tossing the bats +into the air. Locke smiled as he watched them. He had seen Big League +teams do the same thing in an effort to drive away the jinx and break a +streak of bad luck. But although Lefty smiled, he was not wholly happy. + +"If Jones is a quince," he thought, "I've wasted my time trying to +brace up our pitching staff. Even Mit Skullen will have the laugh on me." + +His anxiety had led him to come straight from New York to Vienna, without +stopping at Fernandon. He had sent a message to Janet telling her that +he would be home the following day. + +The Wind Jammers kept after the local twirler, and succeeded in pounding +two men round to the registry station. Then Wiley did some wigwagging to +Jones, and the gloomy mute nodded assurance. After which he walked out +and fanned three batters in a row. + +"You see, Lefty!" exulted the Marine Marvel. "That's what he needs. +Give him proper encouragement, and he's there with the damsons." + +"Temperamental or yellow, which?" speculated the southpaw. "Either +sort of a pitcher is worthless in pinches." + +The visitors failed to continue their hitting streak in the seventh. +Whether or not Jones was disheartened by this, he let down in the last +half of the inning, and Vienna added another score, Wiley's warnings +having no impression upon them. Nor did the mute show any remarkable +form in the remainder of the game, which terminated with the score six +to four in favor of the locals. + +"The old jinx is still with us," lamented the dejected manager of the +Wind Jammers. "Wouldn't it congeal your pedal extremities!" + +"It is enough to give one cold feet," admitted Locke. "But with Jones +doing any real pitching to-day four tallies would have been sufficient +for you." + +Picking up his overcoat and traveling bag, he started to follow the +well-satisfied crowd from the field. As he approached the gate, Mit +Skullen stood up on the bleachers and singled him out. Mit's face wore +a leering grin. + +"You're welcome to that lemon, Locke!" he cried. "I wouldn't take +him now for a gift. You've got stung good and proper." + +Lefty walked on without replying. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +ALL WRONG + + +When Locke reached Fernandon, he found, as he expected, a furious message +from Weegman awaiting him. In it he was savagely reprimanded, and warned +under no circumstances to make any further deals without consulting +Collier's private secretary. He was also commanded to report at the +office of the Blue Stockings baseball club without unnecessary delay. + +Lefty merely smiled over this, but he did not smile over a long telegram +from Franklin Parlmee, stating that he had not seen Virginia Collier +nor heard anything further from her. Parlmee averred that he could not +believe Virginia was in New York; he expressed the conviction that Locke +had not seen her in the limousine with Bailey Weegman, but had been +deceived by a resemblance. But if she were not in New York, where was +she? And why had he received no word from her? + +Janet watched Lefty frowning and biting his lip over Parlmee's message. +Her own face showed the anxiety she felt. + +"What do you think?" she asked. "It doesn't seem possible that +Virginia could have been with that man, as you thought. You must have +been mistaken." + +He shook his head. "I'm positive, Janet. I would be willing to wager +anything that I made no mistake." + +"Then what does it mean? I can't imagine Virginia being in New York +without letting Frank know." + +"It's got me guessing," Locke admitted. "There's a snarl that needs +to be untangled." + +She grabbed his arm. "You don't suppose--" + +"What?" he asked, as she hesitated. + +"You don't suppose anything terrible could have happened to Virginia? +Perhaps that villain has carried her off--shut her up somewhere! Perhaps +she is helpless in his power this minute. He may be trying to force her +into marrying him." + +Lefty laughed. "That sounds too much like a dime novel, my dear. +Scoundrel though he is, Weegman would scarcely have the nerve to try +anything like that with the daughter of Charles Collier. That's not the +answer." + +"But something's wrong," insisted Janet. + +"No doubt about that," her husband replied. "A lot of things seem to +be wrong. Somebody is dealing the cards under the table." + +"I know," said Janet, "that Virginia didn't care for Mr. Weegman, and +the more her father sought to influence her the less she thought of him. +She was proud of Franklin because he had proved his business ability, and +she thought Mr. Collier would give in soon. But I can't understand why +she stopped writing to me. She hasn't written since arriving on this +side." + +"We're not getting anywhere by speculating like this," said Lefty. +"Can you be ready to go North with me to-morrow?" + +"You are going back so soon?" + +"Just as soon as we can start. I'm thinking I ought to have remained +there. I only came South at all in order to make sure of Mysterious +Jones, and now it looks as though I wasted both time and money by doing +so. Perhaps I would have been better off if Skullen had succeeded in +getting Jones away from me." + +"But the cottage--our lease runs another full month." + +"It can't be helped. We'll have to pay the rental and give it up." + +"And your arm--you thought another month down here might give you time +to work it back into condition." + +"I've got plenty to worry about besides my arm. I've been told plainly +that I've been picked to be the goat by a set of scoundrels who are +trying to put over a dirty piece of work, and, if I fool them, I'll +have to do it with my head, not my arm. I'm going to stake everything +on my ability to put the kibosh on their crooked game, and to stand any +chance of succeeding I must be on the field of battle. So we must leave +Fernandon to-morrow, my dear." + +To accomplish this necessitated no small amount of hustling, but Janet +did her part. With the assistance of her maid and a colored man, the +work was speedily done. There were tears in Janet's eyes when she looked +back at the deserted little cottage, as they drove away in a carriage to +catch the train. + +"It has been pleasant here," she said. "I'll never forget it. We +were so quiet and so happy. Now, somehow, I have a feeling that there's +nothing but trouble ahead of us. You've taken a big contract, Phil." + +"Are you afraid?" he asked. + +She looked up at him and smiled proudly. "Not a bit. You are not the +sort of man who fails. I know you'll win out." + +His cheeks glowed and a light leaped into his eyes. "After hearing you +say that, I couldn't fail, Janet, dear," he said quietly but earnestly. +"It's going to be some fight, but let it come--I'm ready." + +The journey northward was uneventful. Locke had wired both Kennedy and +Parlmee when he would arrive in New York, asking them to meet him at +the Great Eastern. He did not stop off at the home town of the Blue +Stockings, choosing to disregard for the present Weegman's imperative +order for him to report at once at the office of the club. By mail +he had formally notified the secretary of the club of the trade with +Frazer and the purchase of Mysterious Jones, directing that checks be +sent immediately to the manager of the Wolves and to Cap'n Wiley. He +had done this as a matter of formality, but he felt sure that Weegman +would interfere and hold up the payments, even though they could, sooner +or later, be legally enforced. Delay matters as he might, the rascal +could not bring about the repudiation of business deals entered into +by the properly authorized manager of the team. Locke hoped to have the +situation well in hand before he should find it necessary to beard the +lion in all his fury. The showdown must come before long, but ere that +time the southpaw hoped to fill his hand on the draw. + +When he had sent out the players' contracts from Indianapolis he had +instructed the men, after signing, to mail them directly to him in New +York. He had made this request emphatic, warning each man not to return +his signed contract to the office of the Blue Stockings. He had Kennedy +to thank for suggesting this procedure. + +"If the contracts go back to the club office," old Jack had said, +"Weegman may get hold of them and hold out on you. That would leave you +in the dark; you wouldn't know who had signed up and who hadn't, and +so you couldn't tell where you stood. It would keep you muddled so you +wouldn't know what holes were left to be plugged. If you undertook +to find out how the land lay by wiring inquiries to the players, you'd +make them uneasy, and set them wondering what was doing. Some of them +might even try belated dickering with the Feds, and, while you could hold +them by law, it would complicate things still more. If the newspapers +got wise and printed things, the stock of the club would slump still +more, which would help the dirty bunch that's trying to knock the bottom +out of it." + +Beyond question, Kennedy was foxy and farseeing, and Locke looked forward +expectantly to another heart-to-heart talk with the old man at the Great +Eastern. + +A big bundle of mail was delivered to Lefty after he registered at the +hotel. Immediately on reaching his rooms he made haste to open the +letters. + +"Look, Janet!" he cried exultantly, after he had torn open envelope +after envelope. "Here are the contracts--Grant, Welsh, Hyland, Savage, +Dillon, Reilley, and Lumley all have signed, as well as the youngsters +who didn't attract special attention from the Feds. Not a man lost +that the outlaws hadn't gobbled up before Weegman so kindly forced the +management upon me. We've got the makings of a real team left. Some of +the deadwood has been cleared away, that's all." + +With scarcely an exception, the players had sent, along with their +contracts, brief, friendly letters congratulating Locke and expressing +confidence in his ability to manage the Blue Stockings successfully. +He had won the regard of them all; in some cases that regard fell little +short of genuine affection. With him as their leader they would fight +with fresh spirit and loyalty. + +"It's fine, Lefty!" exclaimed Janet, as she read some of those cheery +letters. "There was a time when I could not have believed professional +ball players were such a fine lot of men." + +"I might have had some doubts myself before I was associated with +them," he admitted; "but experience has taught me that they measure +up in manhood as well as any other class. Of course, black sheep may be +found in every business." + +As he spoke, he hurriedly opened a letter that had just attracted his +attention among those remaining. He read it aloud: + + MY DEAR HAZELTON: I am writing in haste before sailing for + Liverpool on the _Northumberland_. As I thought, you were + wrong about having seen Virginia in New York. She is in + London, and in trouble. I've had a cablegram from her which, + however, explains very little. She needs me, and I am going to + her at once. If you should wish to communicate with me, my + address will be the Cecil. As I know that both you and Mrs. + Hazelton feel some anxiety about Virginia, I shall let you + hear from me as soon as I have any news. + + Wishing you the success and good fortune you deserve as a + baseball manager, I remain, sincerely yours, + + FRANKLIN PARLMEE. + +When he had finished reading, he stood staring at the letter in surprise. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +WHEELS WITHIN WHEELS + + +"Well, now, what do you know about that?" cried Lefty. "Sailed for +Liverpool! The man's crazy!" + +"But he says he has had a cable message from Virginia," said Janet. +"She is in trouble in London. You were mistaken." + +"Was I?" queried the southpaw, as if not yet convinced. + +"You must have been. All along I have thought it likely, but you +persisted--" + +"I saw her distinctly in that passing limousine, which was brightly +lighted. True, I obtained only one passing glance at her, but it was +enough to satisfy me." + +"You are so persistent, Phil! That's your one fault; when you think +you're right, all the argument and proof in the world cannot change +you." + +"In short, I'm set as a mule," he admitted, smiling. "Well, there +are worse faults. A mistake may prove costly or humiliating to an +obstinate person who persists in his error, but, when he is right, such a +person is pretty well qualified to win over all opposition. If I did +not see Virginia Collier in that car, she has a perfect double in New +York. I have great confidence in the reliability of my eyes." + +Janet, however, thoroughly convinced that her husband had been deceived +by a resemblance, made no reply. + +Lefty had looked for some word from Kennedy, but had found nothing from +him in his bundle of mail. It was possible, of course, that old Jack +had found it inconvenient to make the trip to New York just then; but, +naturally, if he could not come on he would have let Locke know. + +Lefty and Janet had not dined on the train, preferring to do so after +reaching their destination. As they were passing the desk on their way to +the dining room, Locke stopped short, staring at the back of a slender, +well-dressed young man who was talking to one of the clerks. Then the +southpaw sprang forward and clapped a hand on the young man's shoulder. + +"Jack Stillman!" he exclaimed impulsively. + +The man turned quickly. + +"If it isn't Lefty Locke!" he cried, grabbing the pitcher's hand. +"And you're the one man I've been palpitating to get hold of. You're +like the nimble flea. But I've got you now!" + +"Murder!" said the southpaw. "My joy at spotting you caused me to +forget. I should have passed you by, old man. For the moment I completely +forgot your profession, and your knack of digging a column or so of +sacred secrets out of any old ball player who knows anything he +shouldn't tell." + +Stillman was the baseball man of the _Blade_, a newspaper with a +confirmed habit of putting over scoops. With the exception of Phil +Chatterton, who was more of a special writer than reporter, Stillman +was almost universally acknowledged to be the best informed pen pusher +who made a specialty of dealing with the national game. He possessed an +almost uncanny intuition, and was credited with the faculty of getting +wise in advance to most of the big happenings in the baseball world. + +"So you would have ducked me, would you?" said the reporter +reprovingly. "Well, I didn't think that of you!" + +"I believe I should, if I'd stopped to figure out the proper play in +advance," confessed Lefty. "I don't care to do much talking for the +papers--at present." + +"Hang you for an ungrateful reprobate!" exclaimed Stillman, with a +touch of earnestness, although he continued to laugh. "Why, I made +you, son! At least, I'm going to claim the credit. When you first +emerged from the tangled undergrowth I picked you for a winner and +persistently boosted you. I gave you fifty thousand dollars' worth of +free advertising." + +"And made my path the harder to climb by getting the fans keyed up to +look for a full-fledged wonder. After all that puffing, if I'd fallen +down in my first game, Rube Marquard's year or two of sojourning on the +bench would have looked like a brief breathing spell compared to what +would have probably happened to me." + +"But you didn't fall down. I told them you wouldn't, and you didn't. +Let the other fellows tout the failures; I pick the winners." + +"Modest as ever, I see," said Locke. "Here's Mrs. Hazelton waiting. +We're just going to have a late dinner. Won't you join us?" + +Janet knew Stillman well, and she shook hands with him. "Mrs. +Hazelton!" he said, smiling. "By Jove! I looked round to see who you +meant when you said that, Lefty. Somehow I've never yet quite got used +to the fact that your honest-and-truly name isn't Locke. I'll gladly +join you at dinner, but a cup of coffee is all I care for, as I dined +a little while ago. Shan't want anything more before two or three +o'clock in the morning, when I'm likely to stray into John's, where +the night owls gather." + +When they had seated themselves at a table in the almost deserted dining +room, Lefty warned Janet. + +"Be careful what you say before him, my dear," he said. "He's looking +for copy every minute that he's awake, and nobody knows when he sleeps." + +Stillman became serious. "Locke," he said, "I've never yet betrayed a +confidence. Oh, yes, I'm a reporter! But, all the same, I have a method +of getting my copy in a decent fashion. My friends don't have to be +afraid of me, and close up like clams; you should know that." + +"I do," declared the southpaw promptly. "I didn't think you were +going to take me quite so seriously. You have been a square friend to +me, Jack." + +"Then don't be afraid to talk. I'll publish only what you're willing +I should. You can tell me what that is. And if you've seen the _Blade_ +right along you must be aware that it's the one paper that hasn't +taken a little poke at you since you were tagged to manage the Blue +Stockings. Nevertheless, here to your face I'm going to say that I'm +afraid you've bitten off more than you can chew." + +Lefty shrugged his shoulders. "As to that, time will tell. For once your +judgment may be at fault." + +"I don't mean that you couldn't manage the team successfully if you +were given a half-decent show," the reporter hastened to make clear. +"I think you could. But I'm afraid you're going to find yourself in +a mess that no man living could crawl out of with credit to himself." + +The southpaw gave the waiter the order. Then he turned to Stillman. + +"I thought I might hear something new from you, Jack," he said, "but +you're singing the same old song. To be frank with you, it's getting a +bit tiresome. If I were dull enough not to know I'd been picked for a +fall guy, I could have obtained an inkling of it from the newspapers. +It's plain every baseball scribe knows the fact that there's a put-up +job, although none of them has had the nerve to come out flat and say +so." + +"They've said all they really dared to--without absolute proof of a +conspiracy. If you know so much, take my advice, hand me the proof, and +give me permission to publish it. But it must be real proof." + +"I can't do it yet. Perhaps, when the time comes, I'll pass you what +you're asking for. Just now, considering your statement that you never +double cross a friend, I'm going to talk freely and tell you how much +I know." + +Sipping his coffee, Stillman listened to Locke's story. That there +was sufficient interest in it the attention of the reporter attested. +Janet watched the newspaper man closely, and once or twice she caught +the flicker of an incredulous smile that passed over his face, giving +her the impression that Stillman had a notion that there were holes in +Lefty's narrative. + +"Do you mind if I smoke?" asked the reporter, when dinner was over, and +the dessert had been placed on the table. + +Having received Janet's permission, Stillman lit a cigarette, and for a +few moments said nothing, being apparently engrossed with his thoughts. + +Presently he said: "I wonder." + +"Wonder what?" Lefty wanted to know. "What I've told you is the +straight fact. Weegman's the crook. Kennedy knew it. I knew it when +I took the position of manager. Garrity's behind Weegman. What ails +Collier, and why he was crazy enough to run away and bury himself while +his team was wrecked, is the unexplained part of the mystery. But if we +can block Weegman we may be able to put the whole game on the fritz." + +"I wonder," repeated Stillman, letting the smoke curl from his mouth. + +Locke felt a touch of irritation. "What are you wondering over? I've +talked; now I'm ready to listen." + +The reporter gave Locke a steady look. "Evidently the possibility +hasn't occurred to you that you may not even suspect the real crook +who is at the bottom of the affair." + +"Weegman conceived it," replied Lefty. "He knew Garrity's reputation. +He was sure Garrity would jump at the chance to help, and to grab a fat +thing at the same time, by stepping in and gobbling the Stockings when +the moment came. Of course, Weegman will get his, for without his +undermining work in our camp the thing couldn't be pulled off. And +Weegman's looking to cop the big chief's daughter when he gets the +chief pinched just where he wants him." + +"Wheels within wheels," said Stillman, "and Weegman only one of the +smallest of them. He's one of those egotistical scoundrels who can +easily be flattered and fooled into doing scurvy work for a keener mind." + +"You mean Garrity?" + +"I wasn't thinking of him when I spoke." + +"Then who--" + +"I had a man named Parlmee in mind," stated the reporter. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV + +HIDDEN TRACKS + + +His lips parted, his eyes wide and incredulous, Locke sat up straight +on his chair and stared at Stillman. Janet, who had been listening +attentively, gave a little cry, and leaned forward, one slim, protesting +hand uplifted. The reporter drew his case from his pocket and lit another +cigarette. + +Presently Lefty found his voice. "You're crazy, Jack!" he declared +resentfully. + +"Am I?" inquired Stillman. + +"Oh, it's impossible!" exclaimed Janet. + +"Absolutely ridiculous!" affirmed the southpaw. + +"Very likely it seems so to you both," admitted the newspaper man, his +calm and confident manner proclaiming his own settled conviction. "I +listened to Lefty's story, and I know he's wise to only a small part +of what's been going on." + +"But Parlmee--Oh, it's too preposterous! For once in your career, at +least, you're way off your trolley, Jack." + +"Prove it to me." + +"Why, it isn't necessary. Franklin Parlmee is a white man, as square +as there ever was, and as honest as the day is long." + +"There are short days in midwinter." + +"But his object--he couldn't have an object, even if he were scoundrel +enough to contemplate such a thing." + +"Couldn't he?" asked Stillman, in that odd, enigmatical way of his. +"Why not?" + +"Why, he's practically engaged to Virginia Collier." + +"But without the consent of her father." + +"Yes, but--" + +"Bailey Weegman is said to have a great liking for Miss Collier. It +was your theory that part of his object in seeking to wreck the Blue +Stockings was to get old man Collier in a tight place and force his hand. +Why couldn't Parlmee make the same sort of a play?" + +The persistence of the reporter began to irritate Locke, who felt his +blood growing hot. Was his life beginning to tell on Stillman? Was it +possible the pace he had traveled had begun to weaken his naturally keen +judgment? + +"Even if Parlmee had conceived such a foolish scheme, he was in no +position to carry it out, Jack. On the other hand, Weegman was. +Furthermore, it's perfectly impossible to imagine Weegman acting as +the tool and assistant of his rival, whom he hates bitterly. Forget it!" + +Unmoved, Stillman shook his head. "Didn't I say that Weegman was an +egotistical dub, and an easy mark? He is naturally a rascal, and he +thinks himself very clever, and so is just the sort to fall for a still +cleverer rascal." + +Janet's cheeks were hot and her eyes full of resentful anger. It was +difficult for her to sit there and hear Parlmee maligned, and she was +confident that that was what she was doing. She could not remain quiet. + +"I know Frank Parlmee, Mr. Stillman," she asserted, "and Lefty is +right about him. There's not a squarer man living." + +"How is it possible for Parlmee to use Weegman as a tool?" asked Locke. + +"Through Garrity," answered the reporter without hesitation. + +"But I don't see--" + +Stillman leaned forward. "Listen: I am not at liberty to disclose +the sources of my information, but it has come to me that this idea +of wrecking the Blue Stockings originated in Parlmee's brain. He +saw himself losing out in the fight for Virginia Collier, and he became +desperate. Conditions were ripe. Collier had hit the toboggan, +financially and otherwise. A man of considerable strength of will, he +had begun to break down. Parlmee knew of his plan to go abroad for his +health, and of the arrangement to leave Bailey Weegman in charge of +affairs. Collier had a great deal of confidence in Weegman's ability, +and this would now be put to the test. If Weegman should make a grand +failure, as Parlmee intended he should, Collier would lose all faith +in him; and probably, in his disappointment, he would hand him the g.b. +That, above all things, was most to be desired by Parlmee, as it +would get out of the way the rival who threatened to defeat him. How +to put the thing across was the question. I am willing to give +Parlmee the credit of a long-headed piece of work. He knew Weegman +must be kept in the dark, must never be permitted to suspect that he was +being used as a tool by his hated enemy." + +"It sounds altogether too impossible," said Locke. But, to his +annoyance, in spite of his persistently expressed faith, a shadowy +uncertainty, a tiny, nagging doubt, was creeping into his mind. Stillman +seemed so absolutely confident of his ground. + +"Through his long association with Miss Collier," the reporter +pursued calmly, "Parlmee had learned much about inside conditions in +baseball. He had plenty of opportunities to get at things entirely +hidden from, or merely suspected by, the general public. He knew +Garrity was a grasping scoundrel, who had long regarded the Blue +Stockings with a covetous eye, and that, being utterly unscrupulous, +he would do anything, as long as he could keep in the background, to +break Collier's grip and get his own soiled paws on the property. +Therefore, Garrity was the man to deal with, and to Garrity Parlmee +went. They met under cover in Chicago, and the deal was fixed up between +them. Then Garrity got at Weegman, the real stool pigeon and the fall +guy of the whole plot." + +Locke was listening without protest now. In spite of his desire not to +believe, Stillman's theory seemed possible; he would not yet admit, +even to himself, that it was probable. Janet, too, was silent. The color +had left her face, and beneath the table her hands were tightly clenched. + +"Weegman was just ass enough to fall for it," continued Stillman +contemptuously. "What Garrity promised him I can't say, but certainly +it must have been a satisfactory percentage of the loot--maybe an +interest in the team when Garrity got control; and Weegman would sell +his soul for money. The moment Collier was out of the way he got to +work. You know as well as I do what success he's had. In order to +cover his tracks as far as possible, he has picked you for the goat, and +he'll try to shunt all the blame on you." + +Lefty's face was grim. He was endeavoring to look at the matter fairly +and without bias. To himself he was compelled to admit that his knowledge +of Parlmee had been obtained through casual association with the man, +not through business dealings, and in no small degree, he, as well as +Janet, had doubtless been influenced by the sentiments of Virginia +Collier. A girl in love may be easily deceived; many girls, blinded by +their own infatuation, have made heroes of thoroughbred scoundrels. It +was practically impossible, however, for Locke to picture Parlmee as +a scoundrel. + +"You have made a statement, Jack," he said, "without offering a +particle of corroborating proof. How do you know all this to be true?" + +"I have the word of a man I trust that Parlmee and Garrity had that +secret meeting in Chicago, just as I have stated. A few days ago Parlmee +made a flying trip to Indianapolis, and--" + +"I know that," interrupted Lefty. "I was in Indianapolis at the time. +I met him there and had a brief talk with him." + +"On his way back," resumed Stillman, "he stopped off at Cleveland to +see Garrity, who happened to be in that city." + +"How do you know that?" + +"My own business chanced to call me out to Cleveland at that time, and +I saw Parlmee and Garrity together at the American House." + +Locke took a long breath, recalling the fact that Parlmee, although +professing to be in great haste when in Indianapolis, had not returned to +his New York office as soon as expected. + +"That may have been an accidental meeting," said the southpaw. "Your +proof has holes in it." + +The reporter lighted a fresh cigarette. "How does it happen," he +asked, "that Parlmee is buying up all the small blocks of the club +stock that he can get hold of?" + +Lefty started as if pricked by the point of a knife. Parlmee, an +automobile salesman, a man who had found it necessary to get out and show +that he could make good in the business world, buying the stock of the +club! + +"Is he?" asked the pitcher. + +"He is," asserted Stillman positively. "I know of three lots that he +has purchased, and in each instance he has paid a little more than it +was supposed to be worth." + +"He--he may have bought it as an investment," faltered Janet. + +The reporter smiled at her. "As far as I can learn, Franklin Parlmee is +not situated, financially, to invest much money in stock of any kind. +With his stock depreciating, and bound to go lower in value, he would be +a chump to purchase it as an investment. The man who pays more than its +market value in order to get hold of it knows something about the doings +behind the scenes that is not known to the general public. Apparently +that man is Parlmee. Who's furnishing him the money to buy the stock? +My own guess is that it is the man who's looking to get control of the +club, and that man is Garrity." + +Still Janet protested that it was impossible, but she looked +questioningly at Lefty, the doubt that she was fighting against was now +beginning to creep into her eyes. + +"Parlmee," said the southpaw, "has gone to Europe. I have a message +from him stating that he would sail on the _Northumberland_. If he's +behind the plot to wreck the Blue Stockings, why should he leave the +field of action at this time?" + +"If I've got his number," returned Stillman, "he's a liar in various +ways. Perhaps he has sailed for Europe; perhaps he hasn't. His message +may be nothing more than a little dust for your eyes. But if he has +sailed, there's only one answer to that." + +"Out with it!" urged Locke. "Of course, you think it another move in +the rotten game?" + +"Sure as death and taxes. He believes the time is ripe to get at +Collier. He's gone across to get at him and twist the control of the +club out of his hands. Probably he'll appear before Collier in the +guise of a friend anxious to save him from complete financial disaster. +He's got just about enough time to make the trip comfortably, get that +business through with, and return before the regular meeting of the +league magnates here in New York. Then, at the meeting, Tom Garrity will +bob up serenely as the real owner of the Blue Stockings." + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI + +NOT MUCH SHOW + + +Tired out, Janet went to bed shortly after Stillman left, but Locke, +knowing he could not sleep, sat up to think the situation over. The +difficulties and problems of his own position seemed greater than +ever. If the plot was as deep and intricate as the reporter believed, +and if the men behind it were moving with haste and certainty to the +accomplishment of their designs, there seemed scarcely a ghost of a +chance for him, practically alone and unaided, to block them. + +For Lefty now felt that, in a way, he was standing alone. Even Kennedy, +having no power, could do little more than offer advice. And where was +Kennedy? + +The southpaw had fancied that he would be given more time to muster his +opposing forces for the battle. He had even imagined, at first, that +the man he would need to contend against and defeat was Weegman. But +now Weegman, the blind tool of craftier creatures, looked insignificant +and weak. In order to defeat him it would be necessary to strike higher. + +How was he to strike? That was the question. Locke had suggested to +Stillman complete exposure of the plot by newspaper publicity. And +right there the reporter, who had seemed so confident of his ground, +had betrayed that, after his usual method, he was working by intuition, +and had no positive and unassailable verification of his conclusions. +It would not do for his paper to charge criminal conspiracy without +proper evidence to back up such an indictment. + +Recalling this, Lefty remembered that Stillman, having heard all the +southpaw could tell, had ended by giving his own theory, and had offered +proof to substantiate it. And then he had been compelled to acknowledge +that the proof he had to offer was not sound enough to base exposure +and open action upon. + +If Stillman were right, doubtless Parlmee had gone abroad with full +knowledge of Charles Collier's whereabouts. That knowledge being denied +Lefty, he could not warn Collier, and the plot would be carried through +as arranged. Then, as the reporter had predicted, at the annual meeting +of the magnates, shortly to be held, Garrity would appear as owner of +the Blue Stockings. When that happened, the fight would be over, and +the conspirators would be triumphant. + +With the door to Janet's chamber closed, Locke walked the floor, +striving for a clear conception of what ought to be done. He felt +like a man bound hand and foot. Of course, he could go on with his +project to strengthen the team, but the harvest of his success would +be reaped by the plotters, if they, too, were successful. There was +little uncertainty about what would happen to him, for he knew that +his conscience would not permit him to become an understrapper for +Garrity. He had left Fernandon with courage and high hope to do battle; +but now the helplessness of the situation threatened to appall him. + +If there were only some way to get into communication with Collier. Again +he thought of his somewhat shaken conviction that Virginia was in New +York. If that were true, some of her family or friends must know it, and, +of course, Virginia would know how to communicate without delay with her +father. + +With this thought came the conviction that in Virginia lay his only +hope. If he had been mistaken, and she were not in the United States, +his chance of doing anything to foil the conspirators was not one in a +thousand. His work for the morrow was cut out for him; he must learn +positively if Charles Collier's daughter was on American soil, and, if +so, he must find her. + +The telephone rang, and when he answered it he was informed that Kennedy +was calling. The faithful old veteran had come, after all! Lefty said +that he was to be sent up at once. + +"Well, son," said old Jack, as he came in, "how are things moving?" + +"None too well," answered Lefty, shaking his hand. + +"So?" grunted Kennedy. "I wondered just what was up, and I came right +along in answer to your call, but my train was delayed. What are the new +developments?" + +"Sit down," said Locke, "and I'll tell you. Since I sent you that +message I've heard something that's got me guessing--and worried." + +"The contracts?" questioned old Jack, sitting down. "The boys signed +up, didn't they?" + +"Every one of them. That's not the trouble. I've had a talk with Jack +Stillman." + +"The only reporter I know with a noodle screwed on right," said +Kennedy. "His bean's packed with sound sense. When he gets an idea +it's generally correct." + +"In that case, unless he's made a bobble this time, the situation's +worse than we suspected, Jack." + +"Give me the dope," urged Kennedy. + +The old man listened to Locke without comment, and when Lefty had +finished, he sat thoughtfully plucking at his under lip with his thumb +and forefinger. + +"Well," he said, after a time, "Stillman usually puts them in the +groove when he shoots." + +"Then you think he's hit it right in this case?" + +"I haven't said so. If anybody else had passed this one up, I'd have +said it missed the plate by a rod. With Stillman doing the pitching, I'm +not so ready to give a decision against him. But you say he finished a +lot more confident than he began?" + +"Yes. Instead of seeking information, he finished up by giving it." + +"Just as though he had talked himself into a settled conviction as he +went along?" + +"That's it." + +"Then we won't accept his statement as fact until he gets some kind of +proof, son. You know more about Parlmee than I do, and you've always +figured that gent on the level, haven't you?" + +"Yes; but I'm compelled to admit that I haven't had sufficient +dealings with him to feel certain that my estimation of his character +is correct. Furthermore, my first impression was unfavorable." + +"First impressions are sometimes the best." + +"But at that time, as you know, my judgment could hardly be +unprejudiced. It was when Collier first took over the team and I had +trouble with Carson, the manager he put in your place. Everything +seemed going wrong then." + +A grin broke over Kennedy's face, and he chuckled softly, a reminiscent +expression in his keen old eyes. + +"Those were some stirring times, boy," he said. "Collier fired me for +Al Carson, and Carson made a mess of it. He's managing a dub league +team now. He thought he could get along without you, just as Collier +reckoned he could dispense with me; but at the finish it was you and me +that came back and saved the day for the Stockings. You pitched the game +of your life that last day of the season. Now it's up to you to come +back again, and I've got a hunch that you will. You'll return, better +than ever. You're going to make the wiseacres that think you're down +and out look foolish." + +Locke shook his head. "Knowing what I do, do you suppose I could do that +if Garrity got hold of the team? I wouldn't have the heart to work for +that scoundrel. Back in the time we're speaking of, it was Stillman's +cleverness that straightened things out. Not another newspaper man got +wise to the real situation. With his usual uncanny intuition, he saw +through it all, and, as usual, he made no mistake." + +"Right you are," admitted old Jack. + +"All the more reason to suppose he is right now. We can't dodge that +fact. To-morrow I'm going to make every effort to find some method of +getting into communication with Charles Collier. It's my only play in +this game. If it fails--good night!" + +Again Lefty began pacing the floor; it seemed that he could not wait +patiently for the coming day; he was burning with a desire to get to +work at once. It had been his purpose to seek Kennedy's advice on other +matters, but these now seemed secondary and unimportant for the time +being. His talk with Stillman had led him to alter completely his plan +of immediate action. To prevent the control of the team from falling +into the clutches of the conspirators was now his sole purpose, as the +problem of rebuilding it and restoring it to its former strength and +prestige could be solved later. + +Kennedy sat thinking, plucking at his under lip, as was the old man's +habit when perplexed. "Yes, son," he said, after a time, "that's what +you're up against. Old P. T. Barnum had a show; but it doesn't look +like you have." + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII + +THE SUSPENDED AX + + +All the next forenoon, Locke kept the wires hot. He 'phoned and +telegraphed to every one he could think of who might be able to give +him the information he desired so desperately. He met with one +disappointment after another. In each instance the reply came back +that both Charles Collier and his daughter were somewhere in Europe, +but no one appeared to know just where. If his efforts established +anything at all, it seemed to be the fact that Lefty had been mistaken in +thinking he had seen Virginia in New York; for if she were there, surely +some of these people would know of it. The feeling of helplessness, +of fighting against greedy and remorseless forces too strong for him +to checkmate, pressed upon him heavily. + +It was a little after noon when he called the office of the _Blade_. He +wanted to talk to Stillman again. If anybody in New York could find a +person wanted, the reporter was the man to do it, and Locke believed that +for friendship's sake Stillman would attempt it. + +Near the telephone switchboard in the hotel were two long shelves, +situated a little distance apart, at which patrons could consult the +different directories. At one of these, several persons were looking +up numbers, so Locke took his book to the other shelf and found the +call for the editorial rooms of the _Blade_. A man at the next shelf +turned, saw the pitcher, and listened when Lefty gave the number to the +operator. Instead of giving his own number, which he had found, the man +noted down the southpaw's call on a card. It was the fourth time during +the day that this same man had made a record of a number asked for by +Locke. + +Returning the card to his pocket, the man pretended to busy himself again +over one of the directories, keeping his back partly turned toward the +pitcher. Soon he heard the switchboard girl repeat Lefty's number, and +direct him to booth No. 1. + +The man closed his book and turned round slowly. The southpaw was +disappearing into a booth at the end of one of the rows, and, in closing +the door behind him, he unintentionally left it slightly open. The +watching man moved quietly forward until he was close to this booth, +through the glass of which he could see that Lefty's back was partly +turned toward him. There he paused, taking some letters and papers from +his pocket and running them over as if searching for something. While +appearing to be absorbed in his own affairs, he could hear every word +that the pitcher spoke into the receiver. + +Getting the editorial rooms of the _Blade_, Locke asked for Stillman. +After a slight delay, he was informed that the reporter was not there. No +one could say just when he would be in. + +"This is important," stated Lefty; "a matter in which he is greatly +interested. I must talk with him as soon as possible. Will you ask him, +as soon as he comes in, to call Philip Hazelton at the Great Eastern? +Yes, Hazelton; that's right. Why, yes, I'm Lefty Locke. All right; +don't fail to tell him immediately he arrives." + +The man outside slipped the letters and papers into his pocket, and +turned away after the manner of a person who has suddenly decided upon +something. He had not walked ten steps, however, before he turned back. +The southpaw was paying for the call. The man watched him now without +further effort to avoid notice, and when the pitcher turned from the +switchboard he stepped forward deliberately to meet him. + +"Hello!" said the man in a voice distinctly husky and unpleasant. "How +are you, Locke?" + +Lefty stopped short and stared. It was Garrity, coarse, complacent, +patronizing. The owner of the Rockets grinned, showing the numerous +gold fillings in his teeth. His features were large, and his jaw was +square and brutal. His clothes were those of a common race-track follower. + +"Quite well, thank you," answered Lefty coldly, thinking of the +pleasure it would be to tell Garrity his private opinion of him. + +"Seems to me you look worried. I don't wonder, though, considering the +job they've handed you. Some job piecing together the tattered remnants, +hey? It's going to make you a busy little manager." + +"I'm busy now," said the southpaw, moving as if to pass on; but +Garrity detained him. "You've got some positions to fill. The Feds +got at you hard. Shame to see a team like the Stockings shot to pieces. +You've got three or four bad holes, and I'd like to help you." + +"_You_ would?" + +"Sure. I've got the very lads you need, too--Mundy and Pendexter. +Both fast men. They work together like two parts of a machine. Mundy +covers the short field like Maranville, and Pendexter sure can play +that keystone cushion. They're the boys for you." + +"How's it happen you are willing to let go of them?" asked Locke, +feeling some curiosity to know what lay behind this particular +proposition. + +"Well, this is between us, mind? I'd just about as soon give up an eye +as part with either Mundy or Pendexter, but it's easier to lose them +than dispense with Pressly, my third sacker. That's been the trouble +with my team. Pressly loves Mundy and Pendexter as he loves aconite, +and they reciprocate. You know what a feud like that means. It knocks +the bottom out of any team. I can't fill Pressly's place, but I've +got a couple of youngsters that I can work in at short and second. I'm +not going through another season with those three scrapping. You need +the very players I'm willing to part with, and there we are." + +Locke knew the man was not honest, and that he was holding something up +his sleeve. In order to make him show his hand, the southpaw asked: + +"What do you want for Mundy and Pendexter?" + +Garrity considered for a minute. "Well," he answered slowly, "I'll +trade them with you for Spider Grant--and cash." + +Lefty stared at him in amazement. Was it possible the man could think he +was such a soft mark? He laughed loudly. + +"You don't want much, do you, Garrity? The 'and cash' was a capper! +Man, I wouldn't trade you Spider Grant for your whole team--and cash!" + +The owner of the Rockets scowled, glaring at Locke, the corners of his +thick-lipped mouth drooping. + +"Oh, you wouldn't, hey?" he growled huskily. "I suppose you think +that's a joke?" + +"Not at all; it's serious. I couldn't use the players you offer, anyhow. +Mundy does cover the short field like Rabbit Maranville--sometimes; but +he's got a yellow streak, and he quits. Pendexter knows how to play +second, and at the beginning of last season he hit like old Sockalexis +when the Indian first broke into the league. But the pitchers all got +wise to his weak spot, close and across the knees, and from a +three-hundred-and-sixty batter he slumped into the two-hundred class. +You were thinking of asking for waivers on him. Spider Grant--and +cash--for that pair! I didn't imagine that even you could think me such +a boob." + +As he listened, Garrity's face showed his anger; his breath came short +and quick; his eyes were blazing with the fury of a wild animal. + +"Have you got that all out of your system?" he asked, when Lefty +stopped. "You're a wise gazabo, ain't you? You know all about baseball +and players and such things! You've got a head bigger than a balloon. +But it'll shrink, give it time. It's plain you think you really +know how to manage a team. By the middle of the season, and maybe +considerable before that, your head will be about the size of a bird +shot. And you'll know a lot more then than you do now, believe me!" + +The southpaw laughed in his face. "Don't lose your temper," he +advised, "just because you couldn't put a raw one over on me. Go +ahead and ask waivers on Pendexter. You'll get mine. I wouldn't +carry him on my team if you agreed to pay his season's salary for me. My +trade with Frazer gave you the notion that you could pick another good +man off me, and weaken the Stockings still more. You fooled yourself that +time, Garrity. Perhaps you'll find out before long that you are fooling +yourself in other ways." + +"What do you mean by that?" + +"I'll let you guess. But just remember what Bobby Burns said about +'the best-laid plans o' mice and men.'" + +With this, Locke passed on, leaving the wrathy owner of the Rockets +glaring after him. + +"You poor fool!" muttered Garrity. "I'll have you whimpering like a +whipped dog before I'm done with you. Your head's liable to roll into +the basket before the season opens. When the time comes, I'll lift my +finger, and the ax'll fall." + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII + +THE GAGE OF WAR + + +Janet had let some friends know that she was in the city, and had been +invited out to a matinee performance at one of the theaters. Lefty urged +her to go. "That's better than sitting around the rooms alone," he +said, "and I'll be so busy that I can't be with you." + +So when, shortly after lunch, her friends appeared in a comfortable +limousine, they had little trouble in persuading her to join them. + +Kennedy dropped in a little later, and Locke told him of Garrity's +proposed trade. + +"He sure did pick you for a mark," said the ex-manager. "You handed it +to him straight about Mundy and Pendexter. You're going to need a +pair of fast boys to stop the holes, but there's better men in the +minors than those two. You've got better ones on the reserve list. +Besides that, I'm doin' a little free scouting on my own hook. I've +got friends scattered all over the country. Whenever an old player, gone +to the scraps, has touched me up for a five or a ten, I've stood +for the touch, asking him to keep his eyes open for anything good he +might run across in the sticks. That way I've got a good deal of +inexpensive scouting done for me. Maybe it'll be worth something in +this pinch. I'm going to interview an old friend over in Jersey this +afternoon." + +"I'm not worrying over players just now," said Lefty. "I'm anxious +to get hold of Stillman." + +"You'll hear from him in time--and Weegman, too. What Garrity knows +Weegman knows, and so he's wise that you're right here. Be ready for +him when he shows up." + +Kennedy had only just gone when Weegman appeared. He laughed when he saw +Locke, but it was an ugly laugh. + +"What do you think you're trying to do?" he demanded. "Didn't you +get my telegram ordering you to report at the office of the club?" + +"Yes." + +"Well, why didn't you obey? What did you mean by coming right through +without even sending me word?" + +"I had immediate business here in New York." + +"Business! I had business for you to attend to. You've been doing a +lot of things without consulting me. Why didn't you wait until I gave +you the contracts for the old players?" + +"There had been too much waiting, and time was precious. Kennedy had +plenty of blanks, so I got them from him, filled them out, and sent them +to the boys without further delay. It was the proper thing to do." + +"Don't tell me what's proper to do! I'll tell you. That was the +distinct understanding, and you know it. Sent out the contracts, did +you? Well, some of them ought to be coming back by this time." + +"They've all come back." + +"What?" + +"Every one of them. The Federals'll get no more players off us this +year." + +Weegman choked, and the sound that came from his lips was not a laugh. + +"I haven't seen anything of them. They didn't come to the office." + +"No, certainly not." + +"Certainly not! Then where--where are they?" + +"I have them in my pocket." + +Lefty said it quietly, not at all disturbed by the wrath of the outraged +schemer. It gave him much satisfaction to see Bailey Weegman shake and +squirm. + +"In your pocket!" spluttered the rascal. "You had them returned to +a different address? Confound your crust! How'd you ever have the nerve +to do a thing like that? Let's see them. Hand them over!" + +Locke made no move to obey. "I think I'll keep them a while," he +answered coolly. "I'll deliver them personally to be locked in the club +safe." + +For a moment it seemed that Weegman would lose all control of himself +and attack the southpaw. + +"You fool!" he raged. "Do you think you're going to get by with this +stuff?" + +"I've made a pretty fair start at it." + +"So you never meant to stand by the private agreement between us when +you signed as manager? That's it, eh?" + +"There never was any private agreement between us. I signed to handle +the team, but I did not agree to become your puppet." + +"You did. You said that--" + +"That I understood the conditions you had proposed, but I did not say +that I consented to them. I had no intention of letting you dictate to +me." + +"Fool! Fool!" snarled Weegman. "How long do you think you'll last? +And you made that crazy trade with Frazer! Do you know what I've done? +Well, I've notified Frazer that the deal was irregular, and won't be +recognized by the club. Not a dollar of that five thousand will he ever +get." + +"You know better than that. The trade was legitimate, and it will +stand. Frazer can collect by law. Any other deal that I make will go +through, too, whether you are aware of it at the time or not. Until +Charles Collier himself takes away my authority, I'm manager of the +team with the legal right to carry out my own plans, and I intend to +do so. I shall ask no advice from you, and any suggestion you may make +I shall look upon with distrust." + +They fought it out, eye to eye, and presently Weegman's gaze wavered +before that of the unawed southpaw. The man he had sought to make his +blind tool was defying him to his face. + +"I see your finish!" he declared. + +"And I see yours," countered Locke. "You think you're a clever crook. +You're merely an instrument in the hands of a bigger and cleverer +scoundrel who doesn't care a rap what happens to you if he can put his +own miserable scheme over. Your partnership with him will be your ruin, +anyhow. If you had half the sense you think you possess, you'd break +with him without losing any time." + +"What are you talking about? I've only planned to do my best to save a +team that has been raided by the Feds. You're killing the last chance +for the Blue Stockings." + +"Tell it to Sweeny!" exclaimed Lefty. "You're trying to deliver the +team into the hands of Tom Garrity. Deny it if you wish, but it isn't +necessary to lie. You've played Judas with Collier." + +"Be careful! Better take that back!" + +Lefty laughed. "I'm ready to add more to it. I haven't told you half +what I know. If I were to do so, you'd realize what a dumb fool you +have made of yourself. You think you're wise to all that was planned, +but you've been let in on only a very little of it. You'll tear your +hair when you get a squint at the foundation stone of this neat little +conspiracy." + +"I--I don't know what you mean." + +"That's right, you don't; but you will know in time. You'll be kept +in the dark as long as it suits Tom Garrity." + +"What's Garrity got to do with it?" + +Locke smiled on him pityingly. "Don't be childish, Weegman. That sort +of a bluff is too thin. I was wise when I signed to manage the team." + +In vain the man stormed, threatened, coaxed, cajoled; he could not bend +Lefty in the least, and at last he realized that he had made a big +blunder in estimating the character of the southpaw. + +"So it's war between us, is it?" he finally asked. + +"I have looked for nothing else," answered the pitcher. + +Weegman snapped his fingers in Locke's face. "All right!" he cried. +"You would have it! Just you wait! You're going to regret it! We'll +see how long you last!" And, turning round, he strode away, muttering +to himself. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX + +THE JAWS OF THE TRAP + + +Lefty had defied Weegman. Henceforth it was to be open war, and he was +glad of it. What the rascal would attempt to do he did not know, and +cared less. It did not seem likely that he could do much, if anything, +that he had not already made preparations to do. Of course, he might +call Collier into the affair, and that, should it bring the owner of +the Blue Stockings back to his own country, was something earnestly +to be desired. Could he but get Collier in private for twenty minutes, +Locke felt sure he could make him realize that he was the victim of a +conspiracy, and that his trusted private secretary had sought to sell +him out into the hands of a rival owner. + +The telephone rang, and, thinking Stillman was calling at last, he +hastened to answer. It was not the reporter's voice that he heard, +but he was informed that some one was speaking from the office of the +_Blade_, and that, after making a fruitless effort to get Locke on +the wire, Stillman had found it necessary to hustle away to keep an +important appointment. + +"But where can I find him?" asked the disappointed pitcher. "How can +I get hold of him?" + +"He wants to talk to you as much as you do to him," was the answer. +"Said it was absolutely necessary. That's why he had me call you. Says +he has something to tell you, personally and privately. He'll try to be +at Mike's saloon, Thompson Street, near Broome, at three o'clock. If +you get there first, wait for him. And don't fail to come, for he'll +have important information. Got that straight?" + +"Yes, but--" + +"All right. I've done my duty. Good-by." There was a click, and the +wire was silent. + +Lefty looked at his watch as he left the phone. It was twenty-two minutes +to three. + +"Just about time enough to make it comfortably," he decided. "Stillman +must be on the track of something." + +The subway being convenient, he chose it instead of a taxi, getting off +at Spring Street. Five minutes ahead of time, he found Mike's saloon, a +somewhat disreputable-looking place when viewed from the exterior. The +neighborhood, likewise, seemed sinister. However, a reporter's business, +thought Locke, carried him into all sorts of places. + +Within the saloon a single patron, who looked like a vagrant, was picking +at the crumbs of a sickly free lunch in a dark corner. A husky-looking, +red-headed bartender was removing an emptied beer schooner and mopping up +the counter. He surveyed the southpaw from head to foot with apparent +interest. + +"I'm looking for a man named Stillman who made an appointment to meet +me here at three," explained Lefty. "I was to wait for him if I got +here first." + +"Jack's here," stated the man behind the bar, in a manner that bespoke +considerable familiarity with the reporter. "Came in three or four +minutes ago. Reckon you're Lefty Locke?" + +"That's right." + +"He told me you might come round. He's in the back room. Walk right +in." The speaker jerked a heavy thumb toward a closed door at the far +end of the bar. + +At the sound of Locke's name the vagrant, who had been picking at +the free lunch, turned to look the famous pitcher over with apparent +curiosity and interest. + +"Lefty Locke," he mumbled huskily. "Lemme shake han's. Ruther shake +han's with Lefty Locke than any man livin'." + +Locke pushed past him and placed his hand on the knob of the door. The +fellow followed, insisting upon shaking hands, and, as Lefty opened the +door, the vagrant staggered, lurched against the pitcher, and thrust him +forward, the door closing behind him with the snap of a spring lock. + +It is remarkable how seldom any one ever heeds premonitions. Even as +he opened that door, Lefty was aware that ever since the telephone call +had come to him some subtle intuition, thus far wholly disregarded, had +been seeking to sound a warning. It had caused him to hesitate at last. +Too late! The push delivered by the vagrant had pitched him forward into +the snare, while the sound of the clicking spring lock notified him that +his retreat was cut off. + +Through a dirty skylight above another door that probably opened upon +a back alley some weak and sickly rays of daylight crept into the room. A +single gas jet, suspended from the center of the cracked and smoky +ceiling, gave a feeble, flickering light, filling the corners with +fluttering shadows. The furniture in the room consisted of a table +and a few chairs. + +At the table three men were sitting, drinking and smoking. Locke, +recovering from the push he had received, stepped back against the +closed door, and looked at them. + +"Hello!" said Mit Skullen. "Don't hurry away, Lefty. Folks that come +in by that door sometimes go out by the other one." + +He was grinning viciously, triumphantly. The look upon his face was one +of satisfaction and brutal anticipation, and amply proclaimed his purpose. + +Skullen's companions were tough characters, fit associates and abettors +of such a man. That they were thugs of the lowest type, who would not +hesitate at any act of violence, there could be no question. One looked +like a prize fighter who had gone to the bad, his drink-inflamed face +and bleary eyes advertising the cause of his downfall. The other had the +appearance of a "coke" fiend, and the criminally bent habitual user +of that drug has neither scruples nor fear of consequences. + +Locke regarded them in silence. His pulses were throbbing somewhat +faster, yet he was cool and self-possessed, and his brain was keenly +active. He knew precisely what he was up against. Slipping one hand +behind him, he tried the knob of the door; but, as he had expected, +the door held fast. + +Skullen continued to grin gloatingly, fancying that Locke's inactivity +was evidence that he was practically paralyzed by amazement and fear. + +"Your friend Stillman was too busy to come," he said, "and so I kept +the appointment for him. Maybe I'll do just as well. Anyhow, I'll +do--for you!" + +He had risen to his feet, and the light of the flickering gas jet +played over his evil face. Lefty flashed another look around, taking in +the surroundings. To his ears came the distant, muffled sound of an +elevated train rumbling along the trestle. Behind him, in the front +of the saloon, all was still. Probably the door leading to the street +was now also locked to prevent any one from entering and hearing any +disturbance that might take place in the back room. The jaws of the trap +held him fast. + +"Oh, it ain't any use to think about runnin' away, Lefty," croaked +Mit. "Not a chance in the world. I fixed it so's we could have our +little settlement without any one buttin' in to bother us. You remember +I told you I had a score to settle with you?" + +As Locke spoke, his voice was calm and steady. "And you engaged a pair +of worthy pals to assist you! You're a brave man, Skullen!" + +"Aw, these lads are only here to see fair play, that's all. They won't +mix in. They won't have to. Last time we met you reckoned you put it +all over me, didn't you? Maybe I ought to thank you for keepin' me +from gettin' a rotter on me hands, for that's what you got in Dummy +Jones. You're welcome to that piece of cheese." + +The southpaw made no retort. He was measuring his chances against all +three of the ruffians, having no doubt that he must soon find himself +pitted against such odds. + +"Some baseball manager, that's what you are!" scoffed Mit, taking keen +delight in prolonging the suspense that he fancied must be getting the +nerve of the intended victim. "You're rattlin' around like a buckshot +inside a bass drum. A busy little person, you are, but you won't be +so busy after I finish with you. You'll find it convenient to take a +nice long rest in a hospital." + +"You fight a lot with your mouth, Mit," said Locke contemptuously. + +"Go ahead an' sail inter him, Skully," urged the ruffian who looked +like a broken-down prize fighter. "You been itchin' fer him to show up +so you could get inter action. Go to it!" + +"Plenty of time, Bill. I enjoy seein' him try to push that door down +with his back. Wasn't he a mut to walk right into this? I'm goin' to +change the look of his face so that his handsome wife won't know him +when she sees him next." + +He began to remove his coat, and Lefty knew the time for action had +come. For an instant his imagination had sought to unnerve him by +presenting a vivid picture of himself as he would appear, battered, +bleeding, beaten up, if the trio of thugs carried out their evil design; +but he put the vision aside promptly. In cases where a smaller force +is compelled to contend with a greater, the advantage is frequently +obtained through swift and sudden assault. Knowing this, Locke did +not wait to be attacked. He hurled himself forward with the spring of a +panther and the force of a catapult. + + + + +CHAPTER XXX + +ONE AGAINST THREE + + +Skullen, in the act of removing his coat, was caught unprepared. Before +he could fling the garment aside Locke was upon him, aiming a well-meant +blow for the point of Mit's jaw. + +Skullen realized that it was no trifling thing to stop such a blow as +that, and he jerked his head aside, as he dropped his coat. The blow +caught him glancingly and sent him staggering, upsetting the chair from +which he had recently risen. Locke grabbed the edge of the table and +pitched it against the ruffian's two companions, who had hastily started +to get up. They fell over, with the table on top of them. + +Lefty followed up his advantage, and kept right on after Skullen. +Uttering a snarl of astonished rage, the latter sought to grapple, but +the southpaw knew that he could not afford to waste time in that sort of +a struggle. Whatever he did must be done swiftly, effectively, and +thoroughly. Delay meant only disaster to him. Avoiding the clutching +hands of his antagonist, he struck Mit on the neck, below the ear, +staggering him again. + +Skullen had not looked for such a whirlwind assault. He had fancied +the trapped man would wait until set upon, and he had believed he +would have little trouble in beating Lefty to the full satisfaction of +his revengeful heart. He was strong and ponderous, and he could still +strike a terrible blow, but years had slowed him down, his lack of +exercise had softened his muscles, his eye had lost its quickness, +while indulgence in drink and dissipation had taken the snap and ginger +out of him. He had not realized before how much he had deteriorated, but +now, witnessing the lightning-like movements of Lefty Locke, he began +to understand, and sudden apprehension overcame him. + +"Bill! Snuff!" he roared. "Get into it! Get at him, you snails! Soak +him!" + +His appeal to his companions was an unintentional admission that he +suddenly realized he was no match for the man he had attempted to beat. +The flickering gaslight had given him a glimpse of a terrible blazing +look in Locke's eyes. Once, in the ring, he had seen a look like that +in the eyes of an opponent who had apparently gone crazy. And he had +been knocked out by him! + +Scrambling up from beneath the capsized table, Bill and Snuff responded. +Lefty knew that in a moment they would take a hand in the fight, and +then the odds would be three against one, and none of the three would +hesitate at any brutal methods to smash the one. Once he was beaten +down, they would kick and stamp him into insensibility; and later, +perhaps, he would be found outside somewhere in the back alley, with +broken bones, possibly maimed and disfigured for life. + +The knowledge of what would happen to him, if defeated, made him doubly +strong and fierce. He endeavored to dispose of Skullen first, believing +that by doing so he would have half the battle won. + +Skullen's howls to his companions came to an abrupt termination. Like +an irresistible engine of destruction, Locke had smashed through the +defense of the ruffian, and, reaching him with a terrible blow, sent +him spinning and crashing into a corner of the room. At the same instant, +Bill, joining in, was met by a back kick in the pit of his stomach, and, +with a grunt, he doubled up, clutching at his middle with both hands. + +This gave the southpaw a chance to turn on Snuff, who had not, so +far, shown any great desire to help his pals. The creature had seemed +physically insignificant, sitting at the table, but now, in action, +he moved with the quickness of a wild cat, in great contrast to the +ponderousness of Skullen. And he had a weapon in his hand--a blackjack! + +The southpaw realized that, of his three antagonists, the creature +springing at him like a deadly tarantula was the most to be dreaded. +Insanity blazed in the fellow's eyes. He struck with the blackjack, +and Lefty barely avoided the blow. + +Locke snapped out his left foot, and caught the toe of the man plunging +past him, sending him spinning to the floor. Snuff's body struck a leg +of the overturned table and broke it off short, but the shock of the +fall seemed to have absolutely no effect upon him; for he rebounded +from the floor like a rubber ball, and was on his feet again in a flash, +panting and snarling. + +"Get him, Snuff--get him!" urged Skullen, coming up out of the corner +where he had been thrown. + +Bill, recovering his breath, was straightening up. All three of the +thugs would be at the southpaw again in another jiffy. Lefty darted +round the table, avoiding the blackjack, but realizing what a small +chance he had with his bare hands. He could not keep up the dodging +long. Then he saw the broken table leg, and snatched it up. With an +upward swing, he landed a blow on Snuff's elbow, breaking his arm. +The blackjack flew to the smoky ceiling, and then thudded back to the +floor. + +Feeling sure he had checked his most dangerous antagonist, Lefty turned, +swinging the table leg, and gave Skullen a crack on the shoulder that +dropped him to his knees. He had aimed at Mit's head, but the fellow +had partially succeeded in dodging the blow. + +Another blow, and the cry of alarm that rose to Bill's lips was broken +short. Bill went down, knocked senseless. + +But Snuff, in spite of his broken arm, was charging again. He was seeking +to get at the southpaw with his bare left hand! The pitcher, however, +had no compunction, and he beat the madman down instantly. + +Groaning and clinging to his injured shoulder, Skullen retreated hastily +to the wall, staring in amazement and incomprehension at the breathless +but triumphant man he had lured into this trap. In all his experience +he had never encountered such a fighter. + +There being no one to stop him now, Lefty walked to the door leading into +the alley, found the key in the lock and turned it. One backward look +he cast at the two figures on the floor and the man who leaned against +the wall, clutching at his shoulder. + +Policemen seemed to be scarce in that neighborhood, and Locke found one +with difficulty. The officer listened incredulously to Lefty's story. +"Mike's is a quiet place," he said. "Didn't make a mistake about +where this happened, did you? Well, come on; we'll go round there and +see about it." + +The saloon was open when they reached it. The red-headed bartender was +serving beer to an Italian and a Swede. The vagrant had vanished. The man +behind the bar listened with a well-simulated air of growing indignation +when the policeman questioned him. He glared at the pitcher. + +"What are you tryin' to put across, bo?" he demanded fiercely. "You +never were in here before in your life. Tryin' to give my place a bad +name? Nothin' like what you say ever happened around here. Nice little +yarn about bein' decoyed here by some coves that tried to beat you up! +Say, officer, is this a holdup?" + +"I've told you what he told me," said the policeman. + +"In my back room!" raged the barkeeper. "There ain't been nobody in +there for the last two hours. Come here an' have a look." He walked +to the door and flung it open. + +Skullen and his partners were gone. Even the broken table had been +removed. There was nothing to indicate that a desperate encounter had +taken place there a short time before. + +"You cleaned up in a hurry," said Lefty. + +At this the barkeeper became still more furious, and was restrained by +the officer, who scowled at the pitcher even as he held the other back. + +"You don't look like you'd been hitting the pipe, young feller," +growled the representative of the law; "but that yarn about being +attacked by three men looks funny. Don't notice any marks of the scrap +on you. They didn't do you much damage, did they? Say, you must have had +a dream!" + +Locke saw the utter folly of any attempt to press the matter. "As long +as you insist upon looking at it in that way, officer," he returned, +with a touch of contempt that he could not repress, "we'll have to +let it go at that. But I'll guarantee that there are three men somewhere +in this neighborhood who'll have to have various portions of their +anatomies patched up by a doctor as the aftermath of that dream." + + + + +CHAPTER XXXI + +LIGHT ON A DARK SPOT + + +Janet returned from the matinee in a state of great excitement. "She's +here!" she cried, bursting in on Lefty. "You were right about it! I've +seen her!" + +The southpaw gazed in surprise at the flushed face of his charming wife. +"You mean--" + +"Virginia! I tell you I've seen her!" + +"When? Where?" + +"As we were leaving the theater. The lobby was crowded, and we were in +the back of the jam. Suddenly I saw her over the heads of the people. She +was just getting into an auto that was occupied by a handsome woman with +snow-white hair. I wasn't mistaken; it was Virginia. I couldn't get to +her. I tried to call to her, but she didn't hear me. I'll never say +you were mistaken again, Lefty. Somehow you seem always to be right." + +Locke scarcely heard these final words. He was thinking rapidly. A sudden +ray of hope had struck upon him. Confound it! Where was Stillman? He +sprang to the telephone and called the _Blade_ office again. + +"Jack is the one best bet in this emergency," he said, as he waited for +the connections to be made. + +He got the reporter on the wire, and Stillman stated that he had not been +in the office ten minutes, and was about to call Lefty. Could he come +up to the Great Eastern right away? Sure. + +The feeling of depression and helplessness that had threatened to crush +Locke began to fall away. The door he had sought, the one door by which +there seemed any chance of passing on to success, appeared to be almost +within reach of his hand. In her excitement at the theater, Janet had not +possessed the presence of mind to call the attention of her friends to +the snowy-haired woman, but he knew that she could describe her with +some minuteness. + +"Stillman knows everybody," Lefty said. "It may be clew enough for +him." + +There was a rap on the door. A messenger boy appeared with a telegram. +Locke ripped it open and read: + + Jones sick. Team busted. I'm busted. Signal of distress. How + about that five hundred? I knead the dough. Don't shoot! Wire + cash. WILEY. + +"Trouble in another quarter," muttered Lefty, handing the message +over to Janet. "How am I going to send him that money? I can't force +Weegman to do it. Wiley has a right to demand it. If I don't come +across, he'll have a right to call the deal off." + +"But Jones is sick," said Janet. + +"Still it was a square bargain, and I mean to stand by it. Jones is +sick. He was sick that day in Vienna; that was what ailed him. He showed +flashes of form when he braced up, but he was too ill to brace up long. +I've wondered what was the explanation, now I have it. Get him on his +feet again, and he'll be all right. I've got to hold my grip on Jones +somehow." + +Kennedy and Stillman appeared at the Great Eastern together. First, Lefty +showed them the message from Cap'n Wiley. Over it the former manager +screwed up his face, casting a sharp look at his successor. + +"If you can trust this Wiley," he said, "send him two hundred, and +tell him to bring Jones north as soon as Jones can travel. Don't worry. +Wiley's outfit didn't come under the national agreement, and Jones' +name on a Stockings contract ties him up." + +"But without drawing money from the club I haven't the two hundred to +spare now. I can't draw." + +"I'll fix that. I've got two hundred or more that you can borrow. +After the training season opens, you'll pretty soon find out whether +or not you've picked a dill pickle in your dummy pitcher." + +Janet told Stillman about seeing Virginia Collier, and gave him a fairly +minute description of the woman Virginia was with. The reporter smoked a +cigarette, and considered. + +"I think I can find that lady with the snow-white hair," he said, after +a time. "Leave it to me. You'll hear from me just as soon as I have +something to tell." + +With a promising air of confidence, he took his departure, leaving +Kennedy and Locke to attend to the matter of Wiley and Mysterious Jones. +Of course, the southpaw told the old manager all about Skullen's attempt +at revenge, but he did not do so within the hearing of Janet, whom he +did not care to alarm. The veteran chuckled over the result of the +encounter in the back room of Mike's saloon. + +"Right from the first," he said, "you was picked for something soft +and easy. I knew you was a fighter, son, but Weegman and his gang didn't +know it. Mebbe they'll begin to guess the fact pretty soon." + +A few minutes after eight that evening, Stillman returned to the hotel +and found Locke waiting with what patience he could command. The reporter +wore a smile, but he declined to answer questions. + +"Mrs. James A. Vanderpool's private car is waiting for us at the +door," he said. "Bring Mrs. Hazelton, Lefty. We're going to make +a call." + +"Mrs. Vanderpool? The widow of the traction magnate? Why, what--" + +"Now don't waste time! Somebody else can gratify your curiosity a great +deal better than I. In fact, I know so little about the facts at the +bottom of this queer business that any explanations I'd make would be +likely to ball things up." + +The magnificent residence of the late James Vanderpool was on upper +Fifth Avenue. They were ushered into a splendid reception room. In a +few minutes an aristocratic-looking woman with white hair entered, her +appearance bringing an involuntary exclamation to Janet's lips. + +"It's the very one!" she breathed excitedly, her fingers gripping +Lefty's arm. Stillman introduced them to Mrs. Vanderpool, who met them +graciously. + +"Virginia will be down in a minute or two," said the lady. "For +reasons, she has been staying with me since she returned from abroad. +I'll let her tell you about it." She regarded Locke with frank +interest, yet in a manner that was not at all embarrassing, for it +plainly contained a great deal of friendliness. "Virginia has told +me much about you," she stated. "It has never before been my good +fortune to meet a professional baseball player. My niece is very fond of +Mrs. Hazelton." + +"Your niece!" exclaimed Lefty. + +"Virginia is my niece, although I have scarcely seen her since she was +a very small child. Here she is now." + +Virginia ran, laughing, to meet Janet. After the manner of girl friends, +they hugged and kissed each other. + +"Really," said Virginia, "I should give you a good shaking for not +answering all my letters!" + +"Your letters!" cried Janet. "I've received only two letters from you +in goodness knows how long! I answered them; and wrote you a dozen to +which I got not a word of reply." + +They gazed at each other in blank uncertainty for a minute or two, and +every trace of laughter died from Miss Collier's face. Her blue eyes +began to flash. + +"Then," she said, "our letters were intercepted. I can't remember +whether I posted any of mine or not, but I was so worried over father +that it is doubtful if I did. I let my maid attend to that. She nearly +always brought the mail to me, too. When I obtained positive proof that +she was dishonest, I discharged her. Even now it's hard to believe she +was so treacherous." + +"But why should she intercept our letters? I don't understand, +Virginia." + +"There has been a dreadful plot to ruin my father. You'll hardly +believe it when I tell you. I find it difficult to believe, even now." +She shivered, some of the color leaving her face. "It was necessary +to cut us off from any true information of what was happening to his +business interests. Letters from you might have given me an inkling, +Janet, and so they were secured and destroyed before they ever reached +my hands. Other letters met the same fate. Mr. Weegman declared he +wrote several which I know my father never got." + +"Weegman!" exclaimed Locke incredulously. "Why, he--" + +"Doctor Dalmers warned Mr. Weegman that father must not be disturbed or +excited in the least over business matters. He said such a thing might +have a fatal effect on his heart. Still Weegman says he wrote guardedly +several times, mildly hinting that things were not going right." + +"The liar!" whispered Lefty to himself. + +A bit in the background, Jack Stillman was listening with keen interest, +thinking what a sensational special article the truth regarding this +affair would make. + +"We were surrounded by wretches who had no compunction," declared +Virginia Collier. "It was I who first suspected them. My father was too +ill, and the doctor kept him under opiates almost all the time, so that +his mind was dulled. After I discharged Annette I became suspicious of +the nurse. I spoke to Doctor Dalmers about her, but he insisted that she +was all right. He insisted too earnestly. I began to watch him without +letting him realize I was doing so. Once or twice I found a chance to +change father's medicine for harmless powders and clear water, and +it seemed to me that he was better than when he took the medicine. He was +very weak and ill, but his mind seemed clearer. I kept the medicine away +from him for two days in succession, and got an opportunity to talk to +him alone. I succeeded in convincing him that the change of climate, +the baths, and the stuff the doctor had given him were doing him no good +at all. In London there was a physician whom he knew and in whom he had +confidence, Doctor Robert Fitzgerald. I urged him to go to Doctor +Fitzgerald, but not to tell Doctor Dalmers of his intention, and I +begged him to refuse to take any more of Doctor Dalmers' medicine. +We were in Luchon, and all the way to London I had to watch like a +hawk to keep that medicine from father, but I succeeded, although I +became extremely unpopular with Doctor Dalmers. The minute we reached +London, I went to Doctor Fitzgerald and told him all that I suspected. +Although he could not believe such a thing possible, he accompanied me +at once to our hotel. Doctor Dalmers was taken by surprise, for he had +not anticipated this move. When I discharged both him and the nurse, he +gave me a terrible look. Of course, I could not have carried this +through, had not Doctor Fitzgerald been a close friend of my father. +Dalmers called Fitzgerald's action unprofessional, and made threats, +but we got rid of him." + +Despite the fact that she was such a mere slip of a girl, it was evident +that she possessed brains and the courage and resourcefulness to use +them. Mrs. Vanderpool seemed very proud of her. Lefty expressed his +admiration. + +"I knew," Virginia continued, "that there must be something behind +such a plot. I did not believe Dalmers had put it through merely to +bleed my father while keeping him ill. I was worried over the fact that +we knew so very little concerning how father's affairs were going over +here. What information we could get by cable or otherwise might be +unsatisfactory. So I determined to come home and investigate for myself. +I got father's consent, and I left him in Doctor Fitzgerald's care. I +intended to sail by the _Victoria_, but there was a misunderstanding +about accommodations, and I was forced to take a later ship. I find +father's affairs involved, and I've sent a statement of conditions as +they appear to be. + +"Of course," she concluded, smiling a little, "I was greatly +relieved to learn from Mr. Weegman that he felt sure he had blocked the +contemptible efforts to smash the Blue Stockings. He felt highly elated +over signing Lefty Locke as manager." + +"Miss Collier," said the pitcher, "did Weegman offer an explanation +of the raid on the team? Did he say who was at the bottom of it?" + +Instantly a little cloud came to her face, and an expression of regret +appeared in her eyes. "Yes," she answered. "He told me. At first I +could not believe it." + +Stillman leaned forward, listening, his lips slightly parted. Locke +turned toward him, but turned back quickly, with another question on +his lips. Virginia was speaking again, however. + +"I can scarcely believe it now," she said sadly. "It seems too utterly +impossible! I can't imagine any one being such a scoundrel--much less +him! But Weegman has made sure; he has the proof. Of course, he has told +you all about it, Lefty; it was necessary that you should know." Her +manner had grown deeply dejected. + +"What did Weegman tell you?" asked the southpaw. "Who did he say was +responsible for what had happened to the Blue Stockings?" + +With an effort the girl answered: "Franklin Parlmee!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXXII + +ONE CHANCE + + +It was like a staggering blow. While it confirmed Stillman's theory +that Parlmee was the chief rascal of the conspiracy, it shattered the +supposition that Weegman, a blind dupe, wholly unaware of the truth, +was being cleverly manipulated as an unconscious tool. The foundation of +that hypothesis melted away like sand before hydrolytic force. + +Locke turned again and looked at the reporter. The latter, standing +like an image of stone, was staring questioningly and incredulously +at Virginia Collier. He, too, realized that this confirmation of his +belief had brought a portion of the postulation fluttering down like a +house of cards, and he was seeking a mental readjustment. + +Janet, frozen with lips slightly parted and eyes wide, was aware of it +also. She was about to speak impulsively when Lefty detected her and made +a repressing gesture. + +Miss Collier felt that she knew the reason for the sudden silence that +had fallen on every one, and a faint flush crept back into her cheeks. +She appeared to be humiliated and ashamed, as well as sorrowful. + +"I understand," she said, in a low tone, "how it must seem to you +to hear me say such a thing about Mr. Parlmee. I have trusted him. I +believed in him, even when my father was losing faith and confidence. I +clung to my own faith, and it hasn't been easy to abandon it, even in +the face of proof. My conscience or something taunts me occasionally. +I--I've cried over it, and I've fought against it. I haven't dared see +him since my return--since I found out the truth--for I knew I should +listen to him and believe in him in spite of everything. I wanted to +face him and accuse him, but Weegman persuaded me to wait. He said it +would merely hasten the crash if we let the scoundrels know they were +suspected." + +"The scoundrels!" exclaimed Locke. "Then he told you that more than +one was concerned?" + +"He claims that a man named Garrity is operating in conjunction with +Franklin Parlmee." + +Another staggerer. To Virginia, Weegman had accused Garrity. Mutely the +southpaw appealed to Stillman. The reporter's forehead was puckered in a +puzzled manner; he caught Lefty's glance, and shook his head slowly. + +"When did he name Garrity, Miss Collier?" he asked. + +"When he called on me to-day--this afternoon," was the answer. "He +has been at work trying to get at the truth." + +Locke improved the opportunity to whisper in Janet's ear: "Keep still! +Don't say a word--now." + +Although she did not understand why he wished her to keep silent, she +nodded. He had been right in other matters; it was best to let him have +his way in this. + +"My niece has been very much upset," said Mrs. Vanderpool. "It has +practically made her ill. She hasn't felt much like seeing people, and +therefore Mr. Weegman's advice to keep quiet was easy to follow." + +Weegman had urged Virginia to remain in obscurity, not to let her friends +know she was in New York; that was evident. He had convinced her that by +doing so she could best assist him in his pretended task of trapping the +conspirators. And while she kept quiet, those conspirators were hastening +to carry through the work they had planned. + +"Miss Collier," said Lefty, "do you think it would be possible for +your father to come home at once? Do you think he is strong enough to +stand the voyage? If he can do so, he had better come. He should be here +now." + +"I don't know," she replied. + +"Give me his address and let me communicate with him," Locke urged. +"He should know something of the truth, at least." + +Virginia was persuaded, for Mrs. Vanderpool agreed that it was the best +course to pursue. The southpaw was elated; he felt that at last he was +getting a grip that would enable him to accomplish something. If he could +baffle the rascals now, it would be a feat worth while. + +Mrs. Vanderpool was called away to the telephone. + +"Auntie has been very kind to me, in spite of her quarrel with father," +said Virginia, when the lady had left the room. "They have not spoken to +each other for years. It is so ridiculous, so childish, for a brother +and sister who have been devoted! Both are stubborn. And yet Aunt +Elizabeth is the kindest, gentlest woman in the world. She lost an only +daughter, and she says I seem to fill the vacant place. She has made me +feel very much at home." + +Then she began chatting with Janet about things of mutual interest. Locke +joined Stillman, who had walked to the far end of the room. + +"This Weegman is either a fool or much cleverer than we thought him," +said the reporter swiftly, in a low tone. "I don't believe he's a +fool." + +"How have you figured it out?" Lefty questioned. "It was a mistake +to think him not wise to Parlmee. And why, if he is hand in glove with +Garrity, did he tell her that Garrity was concerned in the miserable +business?" + +"He told her that to-day?" + +"Yes." + +"Why didn't he tell her before? Weegman is in town. Have you seen him?" + +The pitcher told of his meeting with both Weegman and Garrity, and how +he had defied them. Stillman's face cleared a little. + +"Look here, Locke, that fellow Weegman will double cross any one. You +put him next to the fact that you were wise to Garrity. The whole bunch +must know that Collier has fired his crooked doctor. Of course, Dalmers +notified them. After talking with you, Weegman began to realize that +the whole plot might fall through. He lost no time in beginning to +hedge his bets. He's trying to fix it so that he'll fall safe if the +business blows up." + +"But why did he tell her of Parlmee? We thought he didn't know about +that." + +"I'm not as sure about Parlmee as I was," admitted the reporter +frankly. "Weegman has been trying to blacken him to her right along. +I'll own up now that it was an anonymous communication that first +put me on the track of Parlmee. There have been others of the same sort +tending to incriminate him. I've wondered where they came from. Now +I think I know. Weegman is the answer." + +"By Jove!" exclaimed Lefty. "You believe it was he who directed +suspicion toward Parlmee in the first place?" + +"You've got me. That being the case, instead of being a dupe, this +Weegman has put something over that we didn't suspect him of. He's +after Collier's daughter, and it would help him if he could turn her +against his rival." + +Locke's face cleared. His relief was evident. + +"This is all speculation," said the reporter hastily. "Don't be +too quick to accept it as a settled fact. Parlmee's behavior has been +suspicious enough to require some explaining from him. Perhaps he can +clear it up. We know Weegman has tried to put the Blue Stockings on +the blink, and we're dead certain he hasn't knowingly done so as the +assistant of Parlmee. Now how do you figure on that?" + +"Parlmee's innocent, as I fancied. Weegman is the chief rascal." + +Stillman smiled. "In which case he's beginning to find himself caught +in a quicksand, and he's trying to save himself by climbing out over +his pal, Garrity. He'll swear he had no finger in it. Garrity won't +dare accuse Weegman of being an accomplice, for by doing that he would +acknowledge that there was a conspiracy. Weegman is in no danger in that +direction of anything further than such private revenge as Garrity may +seek to take." + +Lefty turned back and approached Virginia and Janet, addressing the +former: + +"Miss Collier, I want you to promise me that, for the present, at least, +you'll say nothing to Bailey Weegman about having seen and talked with +me." + +The girl looked surprised. "I was just proposing that Janet should leave +the hotel and stay here with me. I know my aunt will approve." + +"I approve anything you may wish, my dear," said Mrs. Vanderpool, +reentering the room. "It would give me great pleasure to have Mrs. +Hazelton visit us and remain as long as possible." + +Locke looked doubtful, for should that arrangement be carried out +Janet might easily be led into telling Virginia more than it seemed +advisable for her to know at the present time. But Mrs. Vanderpool made +her invitation most cordial, and Janet gave him a beseeching glance. +He wavered. + +"Weegman calls here. If he should--" + +Janet's hand fell on his arm. "Trust me," she urged significantly. +"You can't hope to keep him long in the dark. For the present, if he +calls, I'll not be in evidence. You're so busy that I see very little +of you during the day, anyway." + +So he was won over. Janet returned with him to the hotel to gather up the +belongings she would need, and Stillman accompanied them. Lefty made his +wife understand how desirous it was to keep Weegman blinded as long as +possible, explaining that he feared Miss Collier's indignation would +lead her into betraying everything should she learn the whole truth +regarding the two-faced schemer. + +"If you can get Collier home quickly enough, Locke," said Stillman, +"there's a chance that you may be able to spike the enemy's guns, even +at this late hour." + +"I'm going to make a swift play for that chance," returned Lefty. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII + +ONE IN A MILLION + + +The clerk of the Great Eastern surveyed with interest the swarthy small +man in the bright green suit and the plaid raglan overcoat, who leaned +an elbow on the desk and jauntily twirled a light cane, puffing at an +excellent Havana cigar. + +"Beyond a modicum of a doubt you have me, your excellency," said the +stranger. "I'm the real thing, the only and original Cap'n Wiley. It +is frequently embarrassing to be encumbered by fame, and my modesty +often compels me to travel incog-nit-o; but just now, having a yearning +desire to hobnob with my old college chump, Lefty Locke, I am blushingly +compelled to reveal my identity. When Lefty learns that I am here he +will fly like a bird to greet me. Notify one of yon brass-buttoned +minions to inform him of my immediate proximity." + +"Mr. Locke is out at present," said the man behind the desk, winking +slyly at a fellow clerk; "but if you will leave your card--" + +"If one isn't sufficient, I'll leave the whole pack of fifty-two. It +is my habit to carry a deck with me for emergencies. Perchance, however, +you can tell me when Lefty is liable to return." + +At that moment Locke, coming in, saw the sailor, and hurried forward. The +Marine Marvel teetered to meet him, beaming broadly. They shook hands, +and Locke drew the sailor toward two vacant chairs. + +"Jones?" questioned Lefty as they sat down. "Where is he? How is he?" + +"He's right here in this little old burg," was the answer. "Nothing +short of his demise could have prevented me from keeping my agreement +to deliver him to you. He is on the mend, and it is probable that he'll +soon be as frisky and formidable as ever. But I have qualms. I fear +greatly that something has happened to cause Jonesy to lose interest +in baseball forever and for aye. Were I in his boots, I'd go on one +long spree that would reach from here to Hongkong, and even farther. +Hold your breath, Lefty, and hold it hard. Jones has come into a modest +little fortune of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars or thereabouts." + +"Quite a joke!" said the pitcher. + +"I don't blame you for doubting me. In your place I'd have made a +remark a shade more violent. But the seal of voracity is on my lips. I +didn't know it when I saw you last, but at that time he had practically +sold his interest in his Alaska possessions. I have stated the sum he +received for his share in that pretty bit of property." + +"Enough to keep him in pin money for some time," replied Lefty, still +skeptical. + +"If he could be induced to use it for his own wants he could dodge +becoming a pauper for quite a while. But, Lefty, you can't guess what +he's going to do with it. Excuse me while I sigh. I have argued and +pleaded until my fingers became tongue-tied; but I've failed to move him +from his fixed determination. He is going to give every dollar of that +money away!" + +Of course, Locke thought that Wiley was drawing the long bow, as usual. +"I hope he won't overlook his friends when he passes it around," he +said, smiling. + +"His friends won't get a dollar!" declared Wiley. "He's going to +give it to his enemies." + +This was too much for the southpaw. "Let's cut the comedy," he urged. + +The sailor gave him a chastening look. "It isn't comedy; it's tragedy, +Lefty. He believes it his duty. He believes he is bound, as a man of +honor, to do it. Listen and I will elucidate. Did you ever hear of the +Central Yucatan Rubber Company?" + +"I don't think so." + +"Well, it was a fraudulent concern that flourished like a green bay tree +some seven or eight years ago, and withered like a fragile plant when +the government got after it for fraudulent use of the mails. Like many +such grafting stock-selling companies, it had a dummy board of officers +who appeared to be in control, while the real rogues who were harvesting +the coin kept in the background. Jones was president of that company. He +believed it to be on the level, and he had invested some of his own +money--superficially all he had--in it. When the government got busy, +Jones was indicted as the head of the concern. He was thought to be +the originator of the scheme. The real crook had fixed it so that he +seemed to be one of the innocent victims, and he helped swear Jones +into prison. Jones got five years. He served his time." + +At last Locke was impressed. He had never seen Wiley so serious. For +once, the flippant and superficial manner of the swarthy little man +had been discarded; his flamboyant style of speech had been dropped. +Ordinarily he gave one the impression that he was gleefully fabricating; +now, of a sudden, the listener was convinced that he was hearing the +naked truth. It explained the atmosphere of somber sadness, the +appearance of brooding over a great injustice, which had infolded the +mysterious dumb pitcher of the Wind Jammers. For Jones Lefty felt a +throb of genuine sympathy. + +"With the unclothed eye I can perceive that you get me," the sailor +continued. "You can imagine how you would feel if you had been sent +to the jug for five years, as punishment for a crime perpetrated by +somebody else. What if the one who concocted the scheme and benefited +by it swore your liberty away and escaped scot-free himself?" + +"It was monstrous!" exclaimed the pitcher. + +"Precisely so. In prison Jones took a foolish oath. He registered a vow +to pay back every dollar to those who had lost their good money in that +fake rubber company. He didn't know how he was going to do it, but he +was determined that he would. In a way, they were his enemies, for they +had helped prosecute him; the courts had adjudged him guilty, and he felt +that he could never hold up his head as an honest man until those who +had been defrauded got the last cent of coin back. In some way he must +acquire a huge amount of filthy lucre, and acquire it honestly. He +dreamed of gold mines. When the prison spat him forth he made his way +up into Alaska. There his dream came true, for, with his partners, he +located and developed a great mine. They could have sold out a dozen +times, but never for a sum that would permit Jones to accomplish his +purpose with his share of the price. So he held on. And at last a +syndicate made an offer that was sufficient. Jones was notified by his +partners. He accepted. But not until the deal was put through and he had +the certified check for his interest in his clutches did he breathe a +word of it to any one. Then he told me. He was sick, but his success +helped cure him. He was eager to hurry North and set into action the +machinery for distributing that money to the rubber company's victims. +At this very moment he is interviewing a reputable firm of lawyers +and giving them instructions to proceed about the work. He can supply a +full list of the persons defrauded. They'll get back what they lost, and +Jones will find himself poor again--but satisfied." + +Lefty's eyes were shining. "In these days of the great American idea of +grafting and fraud," he said, "a man with a conscience like Jones' is +one in ten thousand." + +"Say, rather, one in a million, mate. I have reviled him +extemporaneously. I have told him that he is a fool. I'm honest +myself--when it's absolutely necessary. But to part with a scandalous +sum like two hundred and fifty thousand without being positively +compelled to do so--oh, pardon me while I sob!" + +"A man with such principles, and Jones' ability to pitch, will not come +to grief. He has a job before him with the Blue Stockings." + +Wiley shook his head. "Apprehension percheth upon me, Lefty. Jones has +accomplished the great purpose of his life. It was what fired him and +spurred him on. I regret to elucidate that since that money came to him +he has displayed no interest whatever in baseball. When I sought to +make him talk about it he wouldn't even wigwag a finger on the subject. +Something seems to tell me that he'll never again ascend the mound +and shoot the horsehide over the pentagon." + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIV + +WEEGMAN'S PROPOSAL + + +For four days Weegman had not troubled Locke, four days during which +Lefty sought in vain to get some word from Charles Collier. His +cablegrams remained unanswered. At the time when he had felt the +most sanguine he seemed to find himself blocked again. He did not +seek to delude himself with the belief that silence on the part of the +conspirators meant they were inactive. Doubtless they were at work +harder than ever. What were they doing? He confessed that he would give +a great deal to know. + +Then Weegman reappeared. His manner was ingratiating. His chuckle seemed +intended to be genial and friendly. + +"A private room where we can talk without the slightest chance of being +overheard, that's what we want," he said. "Your own room should be +all right, as long as your wife is stopping with Miss Collier and her +aunt." He knew about that. How long he had known was a question. + +Locke felt like turning the rascal down flatly. He was on the verge of +doing so when something led him to decide differently. Perhaps a little +patience and cleverness would enable him to get an inkling of what the +enemy was doing. He took Weegman to his room, and shot the door bolt +behind them when they had entered. + +"That's right," said Collier's private secretary. "We don't want to +be interrupted by anybody. I took a great deal of pains that no one who +knew me should see me come here. Garrity mustn't get wise. He ordered me +to keep away from you." Laughing, he flung himself down on a chair. + +"Garrity!" cried Lefty, astonished at the confession. "Then you admit +that you are taking your orders from him?" + +"He thinks I am," was the grinning answer. "Perhaps he'll find +himself fooled. If you and I can get together, I'm sure he will." + +Locke stifled a sense of repulsion. The man was more detestable than +ever. It did not appear possible, and yet he still seemed to think that +Locke would accept a proposal from him. + +"How do you mean?" asked the pitcher, with masterly self-control. "Get +together how?" + +"I hope you realize you can't do anything alone. The combination +against you is too strong, and too much had been done before you began to +get wise to the situation. Let me tell you now that I didn't expect +this affair would go as far as it has when I entered into it." + +The creature was shamelessly acknowledging his participation in the plot, +chuckling as he did so. Lefty waited. + +"Of course," pursued Weegman, "you've been aware for some time of +my unbounded admiration and regard for Miss Collier. The old man favored +me, but I couldn't bring her round. To do so, I decided, it would be +necessary for me to accomplish a coup. If I could apparently save her +father from ruin she might alter her views. Out of gratitude she might +marry me. I'm a man who gets what he wants, by hook or crook. Garrity +approached me with a scheme. I listened to it. I believed I saw a way to +turn that scheme to my own advantage with Virginia. But I'll tell you +now that it never was my intention to put Charles Collier wholly on the +blink. At that time even I didn't know how badly involved he was." + +Even while he told the truth in a way, Weegman was lying in the effort to +palliate his act to some degree. His conscience was warped to such an +extent that he seemed to believe there could be an excuse for the milder +forms of conspiracy and crime. In a bungling way he was actually making +a bid for Locke's sympathy. + +"You must have known of the dastardly arrangement with a crooked doctor +to keep Mr. Collier drugged into apparent illness and detain him in +Europe beyond reach of the friends who might tell him, Weegman. Who +got to that doctor and bought him up?" + +"Not I," was the denial. "I didn't have the money." + +"Was it Garrity?" + +"Of course. Garrity had something on Dalmers, who was concerned in +some mighty shady practices at one time. But he told me that Dalmers was +simply going to keep watch of the old man. I didn't know anything about +the drugging business. When I found that out I was mad as blazes." + +The southpaw fought to prevent his lips from curling with scorn, and to +suppress a look of triumph in his eyes. "What's your proposition to me, +Weegman?" + +The self-acknowledged rascal seemed to hesitate. "You're sure no one +can hear us?" he asked, his eyes roving around the room. + +"You can see that we're quite alone." + +Weegman drummed nervously on the arm of his chair. "I'm sorry this +thing has gone so far," he protested. "I didn't look for it to, at +first. I got involved and couldn't back out. In fact, Garrity threatened +me when I showed signs of holding back. That," he declared, with an +attempt at indignant resentment, "made me sore. Without my help in the +beginning he never could have done a thing. Now he thinks he's got me +foul, he's going to gobble everything. We'll see about that! Perhaps it +isn't too late to stop him. Maybe we can do it, you and I. I'd like +to show him." + +So the rascals had quarreled over the division of the spoils, as rascals +so often do. And now one of them was ready to betray the other, if he +could do so without disaster to himself. At the same time, he hoped to +make an alliance with Lefty by which he might reap some actual benefit +from his underhanded work. Suddenly Locke thought of another man who had +been suspected of complicity. + +"How about Parlmee?" he asked. "Where does he fit in? Did Garrity +send him over the pond to wrench the control of the Blue Stockings from +Collier?" + +"I don't know what Garrity has been doing with Parlmee," Weegman +confessed. "It was natural that I should want to turn Virginia against +Parlmee, but I swear I didn't know he was in this thing when I got +the idea of making her believe he was. That was an inspiration that +came to me all of a sudden. I had to keep her away from him. I faked up +some evidence. She refused to believe at first. Then, by Jove, I found +out that Garrity and Parlmee were really up to something. They've had +dealings." + +Lefty's heart, which had bounded high for a moment, sank heavily. After +all, could it be true that two cleverer scoundrels had combined to work +Weegman as a dupe? Had the confirmation of this fact helped Weegman to +make up his mind to go back on Garrity? Was it not possible that this +was the real cause of the quarrel between the worthy pair? + +The southpaw continued to lead the other on. "What is Garrity's scheme? +What has he told you that he proposed to do?" + +"Unless Collier receives outside assistance, Garrity's got him +cornered. Collier has met reverses generally. Garrity has got hold of a +certain amount of Blue Stocking stock. Collier still holds enough to keep +the balance of power, but he won't hold it long. If he tries to his +interest in the Northern Can Company will go to glory. Garrity has +placed himself in a position to shake the old man out of that concern. +If Collier loses that, he's broke--a pauper. He can't hang on, because +he hasn't the ready resources. He'll have to sell his Blue Stockings +stock to save Northern Can. If he had a hundred and fifty thousand +dollars in ready cash he could pull through. It'll take half of that to +oust Garrity from Northern Can, and the other half is needed for the +team. Garrity will put it up to him to-morrow. In the meantime, can +you and I raise one hundred and fifty thousand?" + +"You and I!" cried Lefty. "Not a dollar! Not a cent! How will Garrity +put it up to Collier to-morrow? Collier is in--" + +"Philadelphia!" cut in Weegman sharply. + +The southpaw stared, thunderstruck. "Philadelphia! You mean that he's +in this country?" + +"He arrived to-day, and took a train at once for Philadelphia. I cabled +him to come, and to keep his coming secret. Those were Garrity's +orders." + +Locke sat down heavily, still staring at Weegman. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXV + +THE SHATTERING STROKE + + +That explained it. Now Lefty knew why he had received no answer to his +cablegrams. Before the first was sent, Charles Collier was on the high +seas, bound for America. He was home, and Garrity held him in the hollow +of his hand. On the morrow the owner of the Blue Stockings was to feel +the crushing grip of the triumphant schemer. + +Weegman watched the southpaw's face, noting the look of consternation +upon it. Suddenly snapping his fingers, he began speaking again: +"That's why I came to you, Locke. What's done must be done quickly. +After eleven o'clock to-morrow it will be too late. You know what +that means for you. Garrity hates you like poison, and you won't last +any time after he gets control. You can raise that money." + +"A hundred and fifty thousand dollars! You're crazy!" + +"You can do it, and save yourself. If you'll do the right thing by me, +I'll tell you how to raise the needful. Together we'll hand Garrity +his bumps. What do you say? Is it a go?" He sprang up and approached, +his hand extended. + +Locke rose and faced him. The scorn and contempt upon his face would have +withered a man less calloused. Weegman recoiled a little, and his hand +dropped to his side. + +"Weegman," Lefty said, "you're the most treacherous scoundrel I +ever had the bad fortune to meet. You're just about as trustworthy as +a rattlesnake. Heaven knows I need money, and I certainly want to hold +my job, but not even to save my own father and mother from being turned +out of the home that has sheltered them so long would I enter into any +sort of partnership with you." + +A look of astonished wrath contorted Weegman's features, and a snarling +laugh broke from his lips. "You poor fool!" he cried. "You've +thrown away your last chance! I did think you would know enough to save +yourself, but I see you haven't an atom of sense in your head." + +There was something almost pitying in the smile Lefty gave him. +Something, also, that caused the man a sudden throb of apprehension. + +"You're the fool, Weegman," returned the southpaw. "You have +confessed the whole rotten scheme. You have betrayed yourself and your +fellow conspirator, Garrity." + +"Bah!" the rascal flung back, snapping his fingers again. "What good +will it do you? I'll deny everything. You can't prove a thing. I was +careful that there should be no witnesses, no one to hear a word that +passed between us." + +Locke grabbed him by the wrist, and snapped him round with a jerk, facing +one wall of the room. "And I," he cried, "took care that every word +we uttered should be heard by two reliable persons. I set the trap for +Garrity, but I have been unable to decoy him into it. You walked into +it unbidden. Look!" + +With two strides he reached a dresser that stood against the wall. He +seized it and moved it aside. With one finger he pointed to a small, +square, black object that clung to the wall two feet from the floor. + +"Look!" he commanded again. + +Weegman stared uncomprehendingly, yet with the perspiration of dread +beginning to bead his forehead. + +"What is it?" he asked huskily. + +"A dictograph!" answered Lefty. "I had it put in two days ago. +When you met me a short time ago and asked for a private interview I +started to turn you down. Then I saw old Jack Kennedy and Stillman, the +reporter, in the background. They gave me a signal. Thirty seconds after +we entered this room they were in the room adjoining, listening by +means of that dictograph to every word that passed between us. We've +got you, Weegman, and we've got Garrity, too. Criminal conspiracy is a +rather serious matter." + +All the defiance had faded from Bailey Weegman's eyes. He trembled; he +could not command even a ghost of a laugh. He started violently, and +gasped, as there came a sharp rap on the door. + +"They want to take another good look at you to clinch matters so that +they can make oath to your identity," said Locke, swiftly crossing and +flinging the door open. "Come in, gentlemen!" + +Kennedy and Stillman entered. Weegman cowered before them. They regarded +him disdainfully. + +"You beaned him all right, Lefty," said the ex-manager. "He wasn't +looking for the curve you put over that time." + +The reporter paused to light a cigarette. "After your arrest, Weegman," +he said, "I advise you to make haste to turn State's evidence. It's +your only chance to escape doing a nice long bit in the stone jug." +He turned, closed the door behind him, and shot the bolt again. "In the +meantime," he added, "I think we can persuade you to refrain from +warning Garrity regarding what is coming to him shortly after eleven +o'clock to-morrow." + +Looking feeble and broken, Charles Collier sat at his desk in the office +of the Blue Stockings Baseball Club. On the desk before him lay the +books of the club and a mass of letters and documents. At one end of the +desk sat Tom Garrity, smoking a big cigar and looking like a Napoleon +who dreamed of no impending Waterloo. He was speaking. His words and +manner were those of a conqueror. + +"You can see how the land lies, Collier. You should have sold out your +interest in the team before going abroad. Weegman made a mess of it. +To-day you can't realize fifty cents on the dollar. I've offered you +my Northern Can stock for your holdings. That's the best way out for +you now. If you refuse you'll lose Northern Can and the team, both. +Better save one by sacrificing the other." + +Collier wearily lifted a protesting hand. "You don't have to repeat it, +Garrity; I know you've got me cornered. I'm merely waiting for Weegman. +He promised to be here at eleven. It's past that hour." + +Without asking permission, Garrity reached for the desk phone. "I'll +call in my lawyers," he said. "They'll be here in a few minutes." + +Before he could lift the receiver from the hook the door swung open, +and Weegman came in, pale and shrinking. At his heels followed Locke, +Kennedy, and Stillman. With an astonished exclamation, Garrity put the +instrument down. + +"I hope we don't intrude," said Lefty, smiling on the startled owner +of the Rockets. "Having learned from Weegman of this little business +meeting, we decided to drop in. I'm very glad to see that you have +arrived home in time, Mr. Collier." + +"Too late!" sighed the hopeless man at the desk. "Too late! You're +just in time to witness the transference of the Blue Stockings to +Garrity." + +"On the contrary," returned the southpaw easily, "we have come to +purchase Mr. Garrity's Blue Stockings stock at the prevailing price. +Likewise his interest in Northern Can." + +Garrity rose, his face purple with wrath. A tremendously explosive +ejaculation burst from his lips. "What in blazes do you mean?" he +roared. + +"Just what I have said," Locke answered calmly. "Since arriving in +town I have made arrangements for this little business matter. I have +opened an account with the New Market National by depositing a certified +check for one hundred and fifty thousand dollars, which is more than +enough to make the purchases mentioned. Mr. Collier's attorney will +arrive in ten minutes or so to see that everything is done in a legal +manner." + +"But you can't buy a dollar's worth of my holdings in either concern." + +"You may think so now. I'm sure you'll change your mind in a few +moments. It is also reported that, for the good of the game, you'll get +out of organized baseball. Have you brought a copy of the second edition +of the _Morning Blade_ with you, Stillman? Show it to Mr. Garrity, +please." + +The reporter drew a newspaper from his pocket, opened it, passed it to +Garrity. One finger indicated a half-column article, with headlines. + + GARRITY TO GET OUT. + + WILL DISPOSE OF HIS INTERESTS IN THE ROCKETS AND ABANDON + BASEBALL. HINTS OF A CONSPIRACY TO WRECK THE BLUE STOCKINGS. + +Garrity's eyes glared. His breath whistled through his nostrils. His +wrath was volcanic. "Somebody'll pay for that!" he shouted, swinging +his ponderous fist above his head like a sledge hammer. "What's it +mean?" + +"It means," answered Stillman, "that more will follow, giving complete +details of the conspiracy--unless you decide to quit baseball for the +good of the game." + +"I'll institute a suit for libel!" + +"No, you won't. You won't dare. We've got the goods on you. Let me +tell you how it happened." He did so with unrepressed satisfaction, and +the man's air of bluster gradually evaporated as he listened. But he +gave Weegman a murderous look. + +The door swung open again, and a sharp-faced little man entered briskly. + +"Here's Mr. Collier's attorney," said Lefty. "Now we can get down +to real business." + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVI + +THE TEST OF MYSTERIOUS JONES + + +The unscrupulous Garrity had long been a menace to organized baseball, +but such efforts as had been made to jar him loose from it had failed. +At last, however, like a remorseless hunter, he was caught in a trap of +his own setting. Twist and squirm as he might, the jaws of that trap +held him fast. Even when the representatives of a syndicate met him +by agreement to take the team over at a liberal price, he showed a +disposition to balk. Stillman was there. He handed Garrity a carbon copy +of a special article giving a complete and accurate statement of the +conspiracy. + +"If you own the Rockets to-morrow morning," said the reporter, "that +will appear, word for word, in the _Blade_. Criminal action against you +will be begun at the same time." + +Upon the following day Garrity was no longer interested in the Rockets. + +The _Blade_ had put over a scoop by being the first paper to announce +that Garrity would retire. It could have created a tremendous sensation +by publishing the inside facts relative to the method by which he had +been forced out. But organized baseball was under fire, and already the +suspicious public was beginning to regard it askance. The menacing +Federals were making no end of trouble. The cry of "rottenness" was +in the air. Through the publication of the story thousands of hasty, +unthinking patrons could be led to believe that, square and honest +though it seemed to be on the field, the game was really rotten at the +core. Stillman knew how that would hurt, and he loved the game. He +was tempted to the limit, but he resisted. Not even his editor ever +found out just how much he knew and suppressed. + +On the usual date the Blue Stockings went South for spring training. Old +Jack Kennedy was among the very first to arrive at the camp. He had been +engaged as coach and trainer. + +The newspapers had a great deal to say about how the Federals had taken +the heart out of the once great machine Collier controlled. Few of +them seemed to think that Locke, the new manager, could repair the +damages in less than a year or two. He would do well, they declared, +if he could keep the club well up in the second division. For it was +said that Lefty himself would pitch no more, and the rest of his staff, +filled out with new men and youngsters, must necessarily be weak and +wabbly. Occasionally a new deaf-mute pitcher, Jones, was mentioned as +showing great speed, but who had ever heard of Jones? Of course he +would lack the experience and steadiness a pitcher must possess to make +good in fast company. + +Behind the bat the Stockings seemed all right, for Brick King would be +there. Still, it was strange that Frazer had let King go. Old Ben was +wise as the serpent, and he certainly had his reasons. The Stockings were +trying out a young fellow named Sheridan in center field, but surely +Herman Brock was worth a dozen ordinary youngsters. Some of the papers +had a habit of speaking of all youngsters as "ordinary." + +Jack Keeper, who seemed slated to hold down the far cushion for the +Stockings, was also a youngster Frazer had not seen fit to retain. +In the few games he had played with the Wolves Keeper had made a +good showing, but the general impression was that the manager had +not considered him quite up to Big League caliber. Various other +youngsters who had been farmed out to the minors were being used at +second and short, and two of them, Blount and Armstrong, from the +Cotton States League, seemed to be the most promising. But what an +infield it would be, with three-fourths of the players "unripened"! +The interest of the fans who read this sort of "dope" turned to the +Wolves, who were almost universally picked as probable pennant winners. + +All this was natural enough. The Wolves had held together before the +Federal raids better than any team in the league. Certainly no one +who knew much about baseball would have chosen the Blue Stockings in +advance for a come-back. But in baseball, and nearly everything else, +there is no fixed rule of reckoning that can't be smashed. Plenty of +old-timers will say this is not so, just as men assert that there is +nothing like luck in the game. The Stockings continued to attract little +attention during their tour North, although they won exhibition games +regularly and with ease. Jones pitched in some of these games. Locke +did not. + +All the same, no day passed that Lefty failed to get out and warm up with +his pitchers. Dillon, Reilley, Lumley, and Savage were the old flingers +left with the staff. The "Glass Arm Brigade," it was called. Savage +was regarded as the only one of the quartet who possessed the stamina +to work through nine hard innings. Counting him out, the team would +have to depend on young twirlers. Of course, Locke warmed up merely from +habit and as an example for the others. Otherwise he would try to pitch +sometimes in a game. + +The season opened with the Blue Stockings playing against the Dodgers, +away from home. Mysterious Jones pitched and shut the Dodgers out, his +team making five runs behind him. Even that created no more than a slight +flurry, for the Dodgers were chronic subcellar champions. Jones had +speed, and it had dazzled them. But wait until he went up against real +batters! + +Reilley and Lumley, taking turns on the mound, succeeded in handing +the Dodgers the second game by a one-sided score. Savage went in and +captured the third contest, but Pink Dillon dropped the fourth after +making a fight for it up to the eighth inning. If that was the best +the Blue Stockings could get, an even break, when facing the habitual +tailenders, what would happen to them when they tackled the Wolves in the +series to follow? + +The crowd turned out loyally to witness the opening game on the home +grounds, but even the most hopeful among the fans permitted their +courage to be tinged with pessimism. They were in that state of mind +that would lead their sympathies easily to turn to the opposition. +True, they hailed Lefty cheerfully and encouragingly from the stands and +bleachers, but they could not have the faith in him as a manager that +they had had as a pitcher. They were stirred, however, by the sight of +old Jack Kennedy, and they gave him a rousing cheer. It warmed the +cockles of the veteran's heart. He doffed his cap to them. + +Frazer came over from the visitors' bench and shook hands with Locke +and Kennedy. + +"I hope," said Ben, "that you're going to give us a crack at that +dummy speed merchant to-day, Lefty. We want to see if he is a real +pitcher." + +Coming forth from the home team's dugout, a swarthy small man, who wore +knickerbockers and a wrist watch, overheard these words. + +"Bo-lieve me, Frazy," said Cap'n Wiley, "you'll never ask for +him again with any great avidity after you face him once. I hope +you'll excuse me for butting in and making that statement without the +polite formality of an introduction to you, but I am so impetuous! +I'm the proud party who sold Jonesy to Lefty. Shortly after that little +transaction I was unnecessarily worried lest he should decide to +abandon baseball, but he has just informed me that, having succeeded in +giving away the last of an infinitesimal fortune of two hundred and +fifty thousand dollars, he is now excruciatingly happy and ready to +follow pitching as a profession." + +Frazer looked the odd character over tolerantly. "So you're the +party who bunkoed Lefty, are you?" He laughed. "You're very much in +evidence before the game begins, but I fancy it'll be difficult to +find you with a microscope when it's finished--if Locke has the nerve +to pitch your dummy wonder." + +"I think I'll start him on the hill, at any rate," said the manager +of the Blue Stockings. + +Apparently Wiley started to cheer, but checked himself abruptly. "I'll +conserve my vocal cords," he tittered. "I doubt not that my voice will +be frazzled to a husky whisper before the contest terminates. Take a +tip from me, Mr. Frazer, and send your premier twirler on to the firing +line. Smoke Jordan's the only pitcher you have who can make the game +interesting with Jones pastiming for the Stockings." + +"Jordan has asked to pitch," returned Ben, "but I have half a dozen +others who would do just as well." + +Locke was passing in front of the section occupied by the newspaper men +when Stillman called to him. "I don't see your wife here, nor Miss +Collier," said the reporter. "I looked for both to be on hand for the +opening game on the home grounds." + +"Unfortunately neither was able to get here, although they planned to +do so," explained Lefty. "You know they have been spending the past +eight weeks in Southern California with Virginia's aunt, who invited +them to accompany her and would not take no for an answer. They'll be +on hand to-morrow, however." + +Stillman leaned toward the wire netting and lowered his voice. "Has +Collier ever caught on to the fact that the sister with whom he had +quarreled furnished the capital to save him from going to smash?" he +questioned. + +"Not yet. It's still a mystery to him how I was able to come forward +at the psychological moment with that loan." + +The newspaper man laughed softly. "He came near passing away from heart +failure that day. He was shocked almost as much as Garrity, but in a +different way." His manner changed to one of concern. "You're going +to use Jones to-day, aren't you? Think you have any chance to win?" + +"Unless I've made a mistake in estimating that man," replied Locke, +"it won't be his fault if we lose. But it'll be a test for the whole +team as well as Jones." + +It was truly a test. A pitcher who was merely a "speed merchant" +could not have lasted three innings against the Wolves, who "ate +speed." It was not long, however, before the anxious crowd, and the +visiting team as well, began to realize that the mute twirler had +something more than speed. Now and then he mixed in a sharp-breaking +curve, and his hopper was something to wonder at, something that made +the batters mutter and growl as they slashed at it fruitlessly. But, +best of all, besides coolness and judgment, he had that prime essential +of all pitchers, control. With never-failing and almost monotonous +regularity, he seemed to put the sphere precisely where he tried to put +it. + +In Brick King, Jones had a valuable aid. King knew his old associates; +if any one of them had a batting weakness, he was aware of it. And not +once during the game did Jones question a signal given him by King. What +Brick called for he pitched, and put it just where it should be put. +With such rifle accuracy, the work of the man behind the bat seemed easy, +save for the fact that occasionally Jones' smokers appeared almost to +lift the backstop off his feet. But King held them as if his big mitt +had been smeared with paste. + +Smoke Jordan was also in fine fettle. It was a pitcher's battle, with +the crowd watching and gasping and waiting for "the break." It must +not be imagined that the Wolves did not hit the ball at all, but for +a long time they could not seem to hit it safely, and for four innings +they could not get a runner on. In the first of the fifth, however, a +cracking single and two errors permitted them to score an unearned run. + +"If I know what I'm talking about," said Ben Frazer, "we had no +license to get that tally. Now, Smoke, you've got to hold 'em. If that +dummy don't crack, I'll acknowledge that he's a real pitcher." + +"I'll hold 'em," promised Jordan. + +But he couldn't keep his promise. In the sixth, with one down, King +beat out an infield hit, reaching the initial sack safely by an eyelash. +He stole second on the catcher for whom he had been discarded, to the +disgust of Frazer. The crowd seemed to forget that Jones was deaf and +dumb, for it entreated him to smash one out, and Cap'n Wiley, from +his place in a box, howled louder than any ten others combined. Jones +drove a long fly into left, but the fielder was there, and King was +held at second. + +Hyland followed. Jordan, a bit unsteady, bored him in the ribs. + +Then Keeper, another Wolf discard, came up and singled to right field. +Covering ground like a hundred yards' sprinter, King registered from +second on that hit, tying the score up. + +The crowd went wild. The Blue Stockings and Mysterious Jones had the fans +with them after that. Constantly that great gathering rooted for another +run--just one more. Hyland perished on third when Spider Grant popped +weakly. + +If possible, the Wolves were fiercer than ever. In the first of the +eighth they got Jones into a hole again through another hit and errors +which peopled the corners, with not a man down. Then Jones won a +roaring ovation from the standing multitude by striking out three men in +succession. + +The game was settled in the last of the ninth, and again Jack Keeper +figured in the play. He had reached second, with one out, when Grant hit +into the diamond. The ball took an amazingly high bound. The shortstop +went for it, at the same time seeing Keeper scudding for third, and +realizing that it would be impossible to get him at that sack. The +moment he got the ball, the shortstop whipped it to first, catching +Grant by a foot. + +There was a shout of warning. Keeper had not stopped at third. Over the +sack at full speed he had flashed, and on toward home. The first baseman +lined the sphere to the catcher, who had leaped into position. Keeper +hit the dirt, twisting his body away from the catcher, who got the ball +and jabbed at him--a fraction of a second too late. + +Keeper had accomplished a feat that is the desire of every base runner's +heart. He had scored from second on an infield out. And that performance +gave the Blue Stockings the game. + +While the crowd was still shouting its rejoicing, Cap'n Wiley found +Frazer shaking hands with Lefty. + +"I demand an apology!" croaked Wiley, barely able to speak. + +"I apologize," said Frazer. "Your dummy _can_ pitch! But a team with +one real pitcher is scarcely equipped to cut much figure in the race. +Who'll you use to-morrow, Locke?" + +"I am thinking of trying out another one of our uncertainties," +answered the southpaw, with an enigmatical smile. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVII + +THE RETURN OF LEFTY + + +The work of patching up his team and whipping it into shape had kept +Lefty Locke busy pretty nearly every minute of his time while awake, +since the beginning of the training season. With that task before +him, and knowing how little attention he could spare for Janet, he had +raised no objections when she had asked to accompany Mrs. Vanderpool +and Virginia on the California trip. While he was not foolish enough to +believe that the reconstructed team could become a pennant contender +that season, he did have hopes of finishing in the first division, +which, under the circumstances, would be a triumph indeed. + +He had found Janet's letters interesting enough, but his concentration +on other matters had prevented him from giving them much thought once +they were read through. She had told him of the rumor that Bailey +Weegman, having been lucky in escaping prosecution for his part in the +conspiracy, had started some sort of mail-order business and was said to +be taking in money "hand over fist." + +Far more interesting, however, although almost as quickly forgotten, was +the gossip about Virginia and Franklin Parlmee. Having returned from his +hasty and fruitless voyage across the pond, Parlmee had felt not only +injured but outraged by the treatment he had received. It was impossible +for Virginia honestly to deny that she had been led to distrust him--and +by Weegman! That cut the deepest. She had kept him ignorant of the fact +that she had returned home, thus allowing him to go rushing off to +Europe in an attempt to find her. That had been his sole purpose; he had +been in no way concerned with Garrity in a scheme to wrest the control +of the Blue Stockings from Collier. It was true that, having come +into a limited inheritance, he had purchased two or three small lots of +the club's stock. His judgment had told him that the price to which +it had dropped made it a good investment. Garrity had been anxious to +get hold of that stock. He had pursued Parlmee and endeavored to buy the +certificates at a price that would have permitted the holder of them to +realize a good profit. But what Garrity had wanted so badly Parlmee +had considered still more valuable, and he had refused to part with +a single share. + +A sense of injury on one side and shame and false pride on the other +had prevented complete reconciliation between Parlmee and Virginia. But +Janet wrote that Miss Collier was not happy, although she made a brave +pretense of being so. Once or twice Janet had detected her alone, crying. + +Lefty had practically forgotten about these things until, on that second +day of battle with the Wolves, only a few minutes before the game was +to begin, he looked toward the club owner's box, occupied as he knew by +Virginia and Janet, and made the discovery that Franklin Parlmee was +likewise there. The southpaw stood still in his tracks, and stared, +smiling; for he saw that Parlmee and Virginia were chatting and laughing, +while Janet watched them with an expression of complete satisfaction +and pleasure. + +"Patched it up at last, thank goodness!" muttered Locke. "I think +I'll keep away until after this game is over. Plenty of time to +congratulate them then." + +He had been warming up, as usual, but to-day it was observed that he did +so alone with Brick King. Many of those who took note of this were led +to speculate. Jack Stillman saw it, and smiled wisely to himself. + +A crowd, bigger than that of the previous day, had turned out. The Blue +Stockings' unexpected opening victory over the Wolves was the cause. +Perhaps that had been no more than a flash in the pan, but the fans +wanted to see for themselves. Deep down in the hearts of most of them +was a sprouting hope that it presaged something more. + +Practice was over. The home team was spreading out on the field and +making ready. Scrappy Betts, first man up for the visitors, was swinging +two bats, prepared to drop one of them and advance to the plate. The +announcer lifted his megaphone, and, sitting forward on the edges of +their seats, the crowd strained their ears to catch the names of the +battery men. "Who's going to pitch for US?" was the question they had +been asking. + +Through the megaphone came the usual hoarse bellow. For an instant +it seemed to strike the great gathering dumb. Then a wild yell of +astonishment and delight went up. Everywhere in the stands and on +the bleachers fans turned to their neighbors and shouted: + +"Locke! It's Lefty! Good old Lefty! Yow! Ye-ee!" + +They rose as one person and roared at him in a mighty chorus when he +walked out to the mound. If he believed in himself, if he had the courage +to go in there against Frazer's hungry Wolves, they believed in him. + +The umpire adjusted his wind pad. Betts dropped one bat and came forward, +pausing a moment a few feet from the plate while Locke sent two or three +across to get the range. That good left arm swung free and unrestrained, +without a single sign to indicate that there had ever been anything +the matter with it. Smiling, the southpaw nodded to Betts as King +pulled on the wire cage. + +"You can patch up crockery, Lefty, old man," said Scrappy as he +stepped into the box, "but you never can make it as good as new." Then, +having tried to work the portsider to the limit, he finally whaled out a +safety. "I knew it!" he cried from first. "Bluff won't mend a +busted wing, old boy!" + +Whether or not Locke was nervous, he passed the next man. + +The cheering of the crowd died away. Disappointment and apprehension +brought silence, save for the confident chattering of the Wolf coachers +and the attempted encouragement of the players behind the southpaw. Hope +began to sicken and wilt. + +Cool and unruffled, Brick King smiled. "An accidental hit and a pass +won't count in the result to-day," he said. "Show Kipper the ball in +your hand. He won't see it again." + +Kipper whiffed three times without making as much as a foul tip. The +crowd began to wake up again. + +Herman Brock sauntered out. Frazer had given him Bob Courtney's position +in the batting order, the "clean-up" place. No man knew Herman better +than Lefty, and the efforts of the German were quite as futile as those +of Kipper. + +The crowd was cheering again as Brock retired disgustedly. Confidence +had been restored suddenly. + +"Oh, you Lefty!" was the cry. "You're there!" + +Locke easily forced the following batter to pop to the infield. He had +settled into his stride. If he could keep it up, the shouting throng +knew he had indeed "come back" as strong as ever. Already they were +telling one another what that meant. With three first-string pitchers +like Lefty and Jones and Savage, the team would have a fighting chance. +The principal question was whether the southpaw could "go the distance." + +Not only did Lefty make it, but as the game progressed he seemed to +take it more and more easily. The desperate Wolves could not get at +him effectively. He certainly had everything he had ever possessed; some +claimed that he had more. His arm showed no sign of weakening. But he +used his head quite as much as his arm. With the support of a catcher +who also had brains, and who worked with him perfectly, he made the +snarling, snapping Wolves appear about as dangerous as tame rabbits. +Before the ninth inning was reached he knew that in Brick King he had +found the one catcher with whom he could do the best work of his career. + +The Blue Stockings won by a score of two to nothing. What fortune the +season brought them in their fight for the pennant is told in the +following volume of the Big League Series, which is entitled, "Guarding +the Keystone Sack." + +The moment it was over Locke made a dash for the clubhouse, getting away +from the furiously rejoicing fans who came pouring down upon the field. +Jones was there ahead of him. As he panted in, Lefty saw the man of +mystery standing in a peculiar attitude not far from the closed door of +Charles Collier's office. He seemed to be _listening_. Involuntarily +the southpaw paused and listened himself. + +From beyond the door came the sound of voices. He heard a man speaking, +and then, suddenly, another man who appeared to be both excited and +distressed. Then he saw Jones spring like a panther toward that door and +hurl it open. Astonished, Lefty quickly followed Jones into the office. + +They burst in upon four persons. Two of them, who looked like +plain-clothes officers, seemed to have a third in charge. This man was +desperately and wildly appealing to Charles Collier. It was Bailey +Weegman. + +"It's an outrage, I tell you!" Weegman was crying. "It's a lie! I +haven't used the mails to defraud. I learned an hour ago that officers +were after me on that charge, and I hurried to you, Mr. Collier. They +followed me here. You must help me! I served you--" + +"You served me a crooked turn," interrupted Collier coldly. "You have +your nerve to come to me!" + +Locke's eyes were on Jones. The man's face was aflame with triumph +and joy and fathomless satisfaction. He flung out his hand, his finger +pointing like a pistol at Weegman. + +"Hanson Gilmore!" he cried in a terrible voice. + +The mute had spoken! Frozen with amazement, Lefty saw Weegman twist +round, saw a light of terror come into his eyes, saw him cower and +cringe, pale as death and shaking like an aspen. + +"You swore away my liberty, you dog!" the voice of Jones rang through +the room. "You were the scoundrel who conceived the Central Yucatan +Rubber Company, and profited by it! When the prison doors closed upon me +I swore I'd never speak again until every dollar you had taken from the +victims of that concern was paid back--until you were brought to book +for your crime. I've kept that vow. I've searched for you, determined +to bring you to justice somehow. Now you have brought justice upon +yourself." + +Crouching like a creature stung by the pitiless lashing of a whip, the +accused wretch appealed chokingly to the officers who had arrested him: +"Don't let him touch me! Look at his eyes! He's mad! Keep him off! +Take me away!" + +"Yes, take him away," said Jones. "And if he doesn't get a prison +sentence for this last piece of work, I'll keep after him until he's +punished for his other crimes." + +"Take him away!" said Charles Collier, with a wave of his hand. + +Tottering weakly, the rascal who had met retribution at last was led out. + +The rejoicing players were stripping for their showers. Locke and Jones +appeared among them. + +"Boys," said Lefty, "let me introduce Martin Bowman, whom you have +hitherto known as Jones. For reasons of his own, he made a vow never to +speak until a certain thing should happen. Happily, events now make it +possible for him to talk." + +"For which I am very thankful," said Martin Bowman quietly. + +They stared at him in limitless astonishment. At last Spider Grant said: + +"Well, this game to-day was enough to make a deaf-and-dumb man talk!" + +Eph, the colored rubber, touched Locke on the arm. + +"Yo' wife and a pahty o' frien's am outside, sah," he said. "Dey +said as how dey'd wait fo' you." + +"Tell them I'll join them as soon as possible," directed Lefty. + + +THE END + + +The next title in this series is "Guarding the Keystone Sack." + +SEE REVERSE SIDE OF COLORED JACKET FOR LIST OF TITLES IN THIS SERIES AND +MANY OTHER SERIES FOR BOYS AND GIRLS OF ALL AGES. + + + + +THE BIG LEAGUE SERIES + +(Trade Mark Registered) + +By BURT L. STANDISH + +Endorsed by such stars as Christy Mathewson, Ty Cobb and Walter Johnson. + +An American boy with plenty of grit--baseball at its finest--and the girl +in the case--these are the elements which compose the most successful of +juvenile fiction. You don't have to be a "fan" to enjoy these books; +all you need to be is really human and alive with plenty of red blood +in your veins. + +The author managed a "Bush League" team a number of years ago and is +thoroughly familiar with the actions of baseball players on and off the +field. Every American, young or old, who has enjoyed the thrills and +excitement of our national game, is sure to read with delight these +splendid stories of baseball and romance. + +Cloth--Large 12 mo. Illustrated + + 1. LEFTY O' THE BUSH. + 2. LEFTY O' THE BIG LEAGUE. + 3. LEFTY O' THE BLUE STOCKINGS. + 4. LEFTY O' THE TRAINING CAMP. + 5. BRICK KING, BACKSTOP. + 6. THE MAKING OF A BIG LEAGUER. + 7. COURTNEY OF THE CENTER GARDEN. + 8. COVERING THE LOOK-IN CORNER. + 9. LEFTY LOCKE, PITCHER-MANAGER. + 10. GUARDING THE KEYSTONE SACK. + 11. THE MAN ON FIRST. + 12. LEGO LAMP, SOUTHPAW. + 13. THE GRIP OF THE GAME. + 14. LEFTY LOCKE, OWNER. + 15. LEFTY LOCKE WINS OUT. + 16. CROSSED SIGNALS. + +Publishers + +BARSE & CO. + +New York, N. Y.--Newark, N. J. + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LEFTY LOCKE PITCHER-MANAGER*** + + +******* This file should be named 34100.txt or 34100.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/3/4/1/0/34100 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. 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