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+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 43940 ***
+
+Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this
+      file which includes the original illustrations.
+      See 43940-h.htm or 43940-h.zip:
+      (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/43940/43940-h/43940-h.htm)
+      or
+      (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/43940/43940-h.zip)
+
+
+Transcriber's note:
+
+      Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_).
+
+      Text enclosed by equal signs is in bold face (=bold=).
+
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: IT WAS THE LONGEST HIT THAT EVER HAD BEEN MADE ON THE
+POLO GROUNDS.]
+
+
+BASEBALL JOE, HOME RUN KING
+
+Or
+
+The Greatest Pitcher and Batter on Record
+
+by
+
+LESTER CHADWICK
+
+Author of
+"Baseball Joe of the Silver Stars," "Baseball Joe in the Big League,"
+"The Rival Pitchers," "The Eight-Oared Victors," etc.
+
+ILLUSTRATED
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+New York
+Cupples & Leon Company
+
+
+      *      *      *      *      *      *
+
+BOOKS BY LESTER CHADWICK
+
+=THE BASEBALL JOE SERIES=
+
+=12mo. Cloth. Illustrated.=
+
+  BASEBALL JOE OF THE SILVER STARS
+  BASEBALL JOE ON THE SCHOOL NINE
+  BASEBALL JOE AT YALE
+  BASEBALL JOE IN THE CENTRAL LEAGUE
+  BASEBALL JOE IN THE BIG LEAGUE
+  BASEBALL JOE ON THE GIANTS
+  BASEBALL JOE IN THE WORLD SERIES
+  BASEBALL JOE AROUND THE WORLD
+  BASEBALL JOE, HOME RUN KING
+
+
+=THE COLLEGE SPORTS SERIES=
+
+=12mo. Cloth. Illustrated.=
+
+  THE RIVAL PITCHERS
+  A QUARTERBACK'S PLUCK
+  BATTING TO WIN
+  THE WINNING TOUCHDOWN
+  FOR THE HONOR OF RANDALL
+  THE EIGHT-OARED VICTORS
+
+CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY, New York
+
+      *      *      *      *      *      *
+
+Copyright, 1922, by CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY
+
+=Baseball Joe, Home Run King=
+
+Printed in U. S. A.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+ CHAPTER                              PAGE
+      I  A DANGEROUS PLUNGE              1
+     II  A SURPRISE                     17
+    III  REGGIE TURNS UP                33
+     IV  THE ANONYMOUS LETTER           43
+      V  "PLAY BALL!"                   54
+     VI  GETTING THE JUMP               61
+    VII  STEALING HOME                  71
+   VIII  A BASEBALL IDOL                79
+     IX  AN OLD ENEMY                   87
+      X  THREE IN A ROW                 94
+     XI  RIGHT FROM THE SHOULDER       101
+    XII  JIM'S WINNING WAYS            108
+   XIII  A BREAK IN THE LUCK           117
+    XIV  A DELIGHTFUL SURPRISE         123
+     XV  AN EVENING RIDE               131
+    XVI  THE ATTACK ON THE ROAD        136
+   XVII  FALLING BEHIND                143
+  XVIII  IN THE THROES OF A SLUMP      151
+    XIX  A CLOSE CALL                  157
+     XX  SPEEDING UP                   163
+    XXI  THE WINNING STREAK            170
+   XXII  STRIVING FOR MASTERY          178
+  XXIII  HOLDING THEM DOWN             184
+   XXIV  A CRUSHING BLOW               191
+    XXV  LINING THEM OUT               197
+   XXVI  THE TIRELESS FOE              203
+  XXVII  CHAMPIONS OF THE LEAGUE       210
+ XXVIII  THE WORLD SERIES              218
+   XXIX  THE GAME OF HIS LIFE          224
+    XXX  CHAMPIONS OF THE WORLD        230
+
+
+
+
+LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+   IT WAS THE LONGEST HIT THAT EVER HAD BEEN MADE
+   ON THE POLO GROUNDS.
+
+   THERE WAS NO DOUBT OF THE WARMTH OF THAT WELCOME.
+
+   SUDDENLY PICKING UP THE BALL HE HURLED IT TO SECOND.
+
+   "GREAT SCOTT!" HE CRIED. "WHAT’S THE MATTER WITH YOUR HAND?"
+
+
+
+
+BASEBALL JOE, HOME RUN KING
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+A DANGEROUS PLUNGE
+
+
+"I'm going to tie you up in knots, old man," said Jim Barclay, with a
+smile, as he picked up the ball and stepped into the box in batting
+practice at the training camp.
+
+"I've heard that kind of talk before," retorted Joe Matson, known all
+over the country as "Baseball Joe," the king pitcher of the Giants.
+"But untying knots is the best thing I do. Give me the best you have in
+the shop."
+
+Jim wound up and put one over that just cut the corner of the plate.
+Joe made a mighty swing at it, but it was just beyond his reach.
+
+"Nearly broke your back reaching for that one, eh?" laughed Jim, as the
+ball was thrown back to him.
+
+"I was just kidding you that time," grinned Joe. "I'm going to kill the
+next one."
+
+Again the ball whizzed to the plate. It was a fast, straight ball with
+a slight hop to it. Joe caught it near the end of his bat and "leaned
+on it" heavily. The ball soared out between right and center, and
+the outfielders covering that position gave one look at it and then
+turned and ran with the ball. But it kept on and on until it cleared
+the fence, and the discomfited fielders threw up their hands and came
+slowly back to their positions.
+
+Jim looked sheepish, and Joe, who was his chum and best friend, laughed
+outright as he relinquished the bat to the next man in line.
+
+"A sweet home run, Jim," he remarked.
+
+"I should say so!" snorted Jim. "That hit was good for two home runs.
+The ball was ticketed for kingdom come."
+
+"Who was it said that pitchers couldn't hit?" laughed Mylert, the burly
+catcher of the Giant team, as he took Joe's place.
+
+"I'll tell the world that some of them can!" exclaimed Jim, as he
+prepared to try his luck again. "Gee, Joe, if that had happened to me
+in a regular game, it would have broken my heart."
+
+Two keen-eyed men in uniform had been standing near the side lines,
+watching intently every move of the players, as they tried out their
+batting eyes and arms. One was stocky and of medium height, with
+hair that had begun to grey at the temples. The other was stout and
+ruddy, with a twinkle in his eyes that bespoke good nature. Both were
+veterans of many hard-fought baseball campaigns, and both had played
+on the Baltimore Orioles when that great organization of stars was the
+sensation of the baseball world.
+
+"Did you see that hit, Robbie?" asked McRae, the manager of the Giants,
+of his stout companion.
+
+"Not all of it," replied Robson, the coach of the team. "But I followed
+it as far as the fence. That was a whale of a wallop. I'll bet the
+ball's going yet," and the man chuckled gleefully.
+
+"Of course, this was only in practice," mused McRae. "Perhaps Barclay
+wasn't trying over hard."
+
+"Don't kid yourself, Mac," replied Robson. "Barclay wasn't just lobbing
+them up. That ball came over like a bullet. It had a hop on it too, but
+Joe gauged it just right. I tell you that boy is a wonder. If he wasn't
+a wizard in the box, he'd be a terror at the bat."
+
+"I wish there were two of him, Robbie," said the manager, smiling. "One
+to cover the mound and the other to use as a pinch hitter or play him
+in the outfield. That would make a combination hard to beat."
+
+"It was the best day's work you ever did when you got that lad from St.
+Louis," remarked Robson. "I'll bet the Cardinal's manager feels like
+throwing a fit every time he thinks what a fool he was to let him go."
+
+"Well," said McRae, "if everybody's foresight in baseball was as good
+as his hindsight, there'd be no trading done. I don't mind saying that
+I throw out my chest a little for having seen what was in the kid. He's
+certainly been the making of the team."
+
+"One thing is certain; and that is that you wouldn't have the World's
+Championship tucked away if it hadn't been for his great work in the
+Series," rejoined Robson. "He just had those Chicago birds eating out
+of his hand."
+
+"Right you are," admitted McRae. "Here's hoping he'll repeat this
+season."
+
+"Don't worry a bit about that," was Robson's confident answer. "You can
+see for yourself that he's been going great guns in practice. And even
+at that he hasn't been letting himself out. He's taking good care of
+that old soup-bone of his."
+
+"He was never better in his life," declared McRae. "I'll admit that I
+was a little worried for fear that the trip around the world had taken
+something out of him. You know what a strain he was under in that
+All-Star League affair, Robbie. But it hasn't seemed to affect him at
+all."
+
+"He'll need all he's got this year," said Robbie thoughtfully. "We'll
+have to depend more on the pitching than we did last year, because
+we're not so strong on the batting end. When Burkett quit, it took
+away a good deal of our hitting strength, and you've seen that Mylert
+is slipping. On the form he's shown in practice this spring, he won't
+be good for more than a two hundred and fifty per cent average, and
+that's about sixty points below what he showed last year."
+
+"I know it," agreed the manager, a worried look coming into his face.
+"And what makes it worse is that Larry, too, is slow in rounding
+into form. Instead of lining them out, he's sending them up in the
+air. He'll be just pie for the fielders if he keeps it up. I can't
+understand the thing at all."
+
+"Oh, well," said Robbie, whose jolly disposition never let him stay
+long under a cloud, "here's hoping that they'll come to the scratch
+when the season opens. Some of the rookies look pretty good to me, and
+if the old-timers fall down we may be able to fill their places all
+right. Come along, Mac; let's finish working out that schedule for
+the trip north. We'll have to get a hustle on to be in shape to start
+to-morrow."
+
+McRae gave the signal to his men that practice time was over, and the
+young athletes, nothing loth to drop their work and get down to the
+hotel for dinner, began to gather up their bats preparatory to jumping
+into the bus which was waiting outside the grounds. But before they got
+to it, McRae and Robson had climbed in and given the signal to the
+driver to start.
+
+"No, you don't!" he called out with a grin, as the bus started away.
+"You fellows leg it down to the hotel. It's only two miles, and you
+need the exercise. Get a move on, or Robbie and I will clear the table
+before you get there."
+
+There were grunts and groans from the players, for the sun was warm and
+the practice had been strenuous. But there was no help for it, and they
+dropped into a dog trot that was quickened by the thought of the dinner
+that was waiting for them at the end of the journey.
+
+They reached the hotel in good time, took a shower bath, changed into
+their regular clothes, and were soon at the table with an appetite that
+swept the board and made the colored waiters roll their eyes in wonder,
+not unmixed with awe.
+
+After the meal was finished, Joe and Jim were on their way to the
+room they shared together when they passed McRae and Robbie, who were
+sitting in the lobby enjoying their after-dinner cigars.
+
+McRae beckoned to them, and they went over to where the pair was
+sitting.
+
+"Well, boys," said the manager, as he motioned to a couple of chairs
+into which they dropped, "our spring practice is over and I don't mind
+saying that I'm feeling good over the way you fellows ate up your
+work. Both of you look as fit as fiddles."
+
+"That's sure the way we feel," answered Joe, and Jim murmured
+acquiescence.
+
+"In fact you look so good," went on McRae, knocking the ashes from
+his cigar and settling back comfortably in his chair, "that I'm going
+to call training finished, as far as you two are concerned. Just now
+you're right at the top of your form, and I don't want to take any
+chances on your going stale. So I'm going to let you rest up for
+the next week or ten days. All you have to do is to take good care
+of yourselves--and I know you boys well enough to be sure you'll do
+that--and turn up in shape when the season opens week after next."
+
+Joe and Jim looked at each other, and the same thought was in the mind
+of each. This seemed too good to be true!
+
+"We start north to-morrow," went on McRae, "in two lots, playing minor
+league teams on the way to keep in practice. The regulars will go along
+with me, while Robbie will take the second string men and the rookies.
+We'll jog along in easy fashion and hope to reach the Polo Grounds in
+the pink of condition."
+
+By this time Joe had found his voice. He smiled broadly.
+
+"That's mighty good of you, Mac," he said. "I suppose you want us then
+to go right through to New York."
+
+"That's the idea," replied the manager. "Robbie will see to your
+transportation this afternoon."
+
+But just here, Robson, who had been watching the boys' faces, broke
+into a laugh.
+
+"For the love of Mike, wake up Mac!" he adjured his friend. "Don't you
+know that Joe lives only a couple of hundred miles from here right over
+the border? And don't you remember those two pretty girls that were
+with us on the World Tour? And didn't we hear Joe telling Jim a few
+days ago that his sweetheart was visiting his folks? And here you are
+sending the lads straight through to New York with never a stop on the
+way. Mac, old man, I'm ashamed of you."
+
+McRae grinned as he looked at the faces of the young men--faces that
+had grown suddenly red.
+
+"Robbie hit the nail on the head, did he?" he said, with a chuckle.
+"Well, I'm Irishman enough to have a soft spot in my heart for the lads
+and their colleens. Fix it up, boys, to suit yourselves. As long as you
+report on time, that's all I ask. Get along with you now, as Robbie and
+I have got to fix up our routes."
+
+Joe and Jim were only too glad to "get along," and after thanking McRae
+hurried to their room, where they indulged in a wild war dance.
+
+"Glory, hallelujah!" shouted Joe. "A whole week or more to ourselves,
+and home only two hundred miles away!"
+
+"Your home is," replied Jim. "Mine's more than a thousand miles away."
+
+"You old sardine!" cried Joe, throwing a book at his head. "Isn't my
+home yours? Do you think I'd dare show my face there without bringing
+you along? Clara would never forgive me. Neither would Mabel. Neither
+would Momsey nor Dad. Get a wiggle on now, old man, and hunt up a
+time-table."
+
+Jim, with his face jubilant at the thought of soon seeing Joe's
+pretty sister, hustled about for the time-table; and with heads close
+together the young men were soon poring over the schedules. At last Joe
+straightened up with a vexed exclamation.
+
+"Of all the roundabout ways!" he ejaculated. "We'll have to change
+three or four different times with all sorts of bad connections, and
+can't reach Riverside until to-morrow afternoon."
+
+"Wait a minute," said Jim, running his pencil along a column. "Here's
+a line that will get us to Martinsville early to-morrow morning, just
+before daylight. How far is Martinsville from Riverside?"
+
+"About fifty miles more or less," replied Joe. "But crickey, Jim, that
+gives me an idea! What's the matter with going to Martinsville and
+hiring an auto there? I know Hank Bixby who keeps a garage there and
+has autos for hire. He used to live in Riverside, and played with me
+on the old school nine before his folks moved away. I'll send him a
+wire telling him what time we'll get there and asking him to have a
+first-class car ready for us."
+
+"You know the road all right, do you?" asked Jim. "Remember it will be
+dark when we get there."
+
+"I know it like a book," replied Joe. "I've been over it many a time.
+I could travel it in the dark. It's as level as a table until you get
+to Hebron. Just beyond that there's a steep hill that will give the car
+something to do. But Hank will give me a machine that can climb it,
+and, besides, it will be just about daylight by the time we get there.
+It's a cinch that we won't have any trouble. I'll bet a hat--what's the
+matter, Jim?"
+
+For Jim had risen and moved quickly toward the door, which had been
+standing partly open. He put out his head and looked down the corridor.
+Not satisfied with that, he went down the hall to the head of the
+stairs. Then he slowly retraced his steps.
+
+Joe, who had followed his chum to the door, looked at him with
+open-mouthed wonder.
+
+"What's the matter with you?" he queried. "Have you gone daffy?"
+
+"Not exactly," replied Jim. "I thought I saw somebody I knew go past
+the door."
+
+"Likely enough," said Joe, with a touch of sarcasm. "It wouldn't be at
+all surprising. The hotel is full of our fellows."
+
+"It wasn't one of our boys," returned Jim slowly.
+
+"Well, who was it then?" asked Joe, a little impatiently. "Come out of
+your trance, old man."
+
+"I think it was a fellow we know only too well," Jim replied. "I think
+it was Braxton."
+
+"Braxton!" exclaimed Joe with sudden interest. "The fellow that was
+with us on the World Tour?"
+
+"The same one," affirmed Jim. "The fellow you licked within an inch of
+his life in the old Irish castle."
+
+"Are you sure?" asked Joe. "It doesn't seem at all likely that we'd run
+across that rascal in this little training-camp town. What on earth
+would he be doing down here?"
+
+"That's just what I want to know," replied Jim soberly. "As you say,
+it's all against the chances that we should run across him here by
+accident. If he's here, he's come with some purpose. And that purpose
+means nothing good for you. He's exactly the sort of man that won't
+forget that thrashing."
+
+"I guess he won't," replied Joe grimly. "My knuckles ache now when I
+think of it. But if he's looking for another licking, he sure can have
+it."
+
+"He isn't looking for another," Jim returned. "He's looking to get even
+for the first one you gave him. You know he swore at the time that he'd
+pay you up for it."
+
+"He's welcome to try," declared Joe indifferently. "But really, Jim, I
+think you're mistaken. It seems too improbable. There are plenty of men
+in the world who look like Braxton."
+
+"Of course, I wouldn't swear it was he," admitted Jim. "I only saw him
+side-face, and he slipped past the door like a ghost."
+
+"Well, we'll keep our eyes open about the hotel and around the town,"
+rejoined Joe. "But now let's think of pleasanter things. Our train goes
+at six, and we've got lots to do in getting our duds packed. Then, too,
+I've got to wire to Hank and must get the tickets for as far as the
+cars will carry us."
+
+The afternoon proved a busy one, but by train time they had completed
+their packing, said good-by to the rest of the team, who frankly envied
+them their luck, and were snugly ensconced in the day coach, as the
+little road had no sleeping cars, and even if they had the frequent
+changes they had to make would have made a sleeper not worth while. As
+it was, they slept in snatches, had luck in their connections, and
+about an hour before dawn stepped off the train at the little station
+of Martinsville.
+
+Both Baseball Joe and Jim Barclay had expected to find the town asleep,
+but were surprised to find a large number of the inhabitants, chiefly
+the younger men, at the station. Still another group stood in the
+lighted doorway of Hank Bixby's garage, which was directly across the
+street.
+
+"What's the big idea?" Jim asked Joe, as he looked in surprise at the
+crowd that drew close about them.
+
+"Blest if I know," replied Joe. "Maybe there's been a fire or
+something."
+
+But they were soon enlightened, as Hank came bustling across the
+street, his face aglow with welcome and self-importance.
+
+"Howdy, Mr. Matson!" he exclaimed, as he wrung Joe's hand.
+
+"Mr. Matson!" laughed Joe, returning the handshake. "Where do you get
+that stuff? What's the matter with Joe?"
+
+"Well, Joe, then," beamed Hank. "You see, Joe, you've got to be such a
+big fellow now, known all over the United States, that I felt a bit shy
+about calling you by your first name. I got your wire and mentioned it
+to a fellow or two, and by heck it was all over town in no time that
+the greatest pitcher in the country was going to be here. This crowd's
+been waiting here all night to say howdy to you."
+
+The people were all crowding around him by now, waiting their turn to
+shake hands, and Joe, although embarrassed, as he always was when he
+found himself the center of attention, did his best to respond to the
+expressions of good will and admiration that were showered upon him.
+Jim also came in for his share of the crowd's interest as a promising
+and rapidly rising pitcher of the baseball champions of the world.
+It was with a sigh of relief that they settled themselves at last in
+the speedy car which Hank had provided for them and which he proudly
+assured them would "just burn up the road" between Martinsville and
+Riverside.
+
+Joe took the wheel and the car started off, amid a waving of hands and
+a roar of farewell from the crowd.
+
+"Great day for Martinsville," said Jim mischievously, as he settled
+down by the side of his chum and the car purred along over the level
+road. "How does it feel to be a hero, Joe?"
+
+"Quit your kidding," replied Joe, with a grin. "If they'd wrung this
+old wing of mine much more, McRae would have been minus one of his
+pitchers."
+
+"One of the penalties of greatness," chaffed Jim.
+
+"And now for home!" exulted Joe, as he put on added speed and the car
+leaped forward.
+
+"And Clara," murmured Jim under his breath, as he thought of Joe's
+charming sister.
+
+Joe did not hear him, for his thoughts were engrossed with Mabel, the
+girl who had promised to marry him and who he fondly hoped might be at
+this moment dreaming of him, as without her knowledge he was speeding
+toward her. She had been visiting at his father's home as the guest of
+his sister Clara. Since their trip together around the world the two
+girls had become almost inseparable, and Mr. and Mrs. Matson already
+regarded Mabel as a second daughter.
+
+The day for the marriage of Joe and Mabel had not yet been set, but Joe
+was determined that it should take place soon, and he hoped that now he
+would be able to get Mabel to set a definite date for that happy event.
+
+Jim, too, had his dreams, and they all centered about Clara. He had
+fallen desperately in love with her at their first meeting, and he had
+made up his mind that on this visit he would ask the all-important
+question, on the answer to which his happiness depended.
+
+The car dashed along at rapid speed, and as they came near Hebron Joe
+roused himself from his reverie. The darkness was disappearing, and in
+the faint light of the spring morning they could see a steep hill a
+little way ahead. At the side of the road ran a little river, of whose
+murmur they had been conscious for some time, although in the darkness
+they could scarcely see it.
+
+"Here's where we'll see whether Hank was bragging overmuch about this
+car," remarked Joe, as he tightened his grasp on the wheel and put his
+foot on the accelerator. "I'll give her a good start and see how she
+can climb."
+
+The car gathered speed as it neared the bottom of the hill. Joe peered
+forward, and then from his lips came a startled shout.
+
+Directly in front of them, completely blocking the road, was a mass of
+heavy timbers. To strike them at that speed meant maiming or death!
+
+At one side of the road was a steep cliff. On the other side was the
+river.
+
+Joe's brain worked like lightning. There was but one chance. He swung
+the wheel around, the car crashed through a fence at the side of the
+road, suddenly stopped short, and Joe and Jim were sent headlong into
+the river!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+A SURPRISE
+
+
+The water was icy and deep, and at this point the current was swift.
+The force with which the luckless occupants of the car had been
+propelled sent them far beneath the surface and some distance out into
+the stream.
+
+A moment later their heads appeared above the water, and they struck
+out for the shore. Both were strong swimmers, and in a few strokes they
+reached the bank. Fortunately they had escaped striking any part of the
+car in their wild hurtling through space, and apart from the chill and
+wetting were unharmed.
+
+From the mud at the river's edge, they dragged their dripping feet to
+the solid ground of the road. Then they stood still and looked at each
+other. The shock and suddenness of it all still affected them, but as
+they continued to look at the comical figure that each presented, with
+hair plastered over their faces and clothes clinging to their bodies,
+their sense of the ludicrous got the better of them and they burst into
+laughter.
+
+"Talk about scarecrows!" gurgled Jim, as he dragged a wet handkerchief
+from his pocket and mopped his face in a vain attempt to dry it.
+
+"None of them have anything on us," admitted Joe, as he threw off his
+coat and wrung one dripping trousers leg after the other.
+
+"If only the team could get a snapshot of us now, they'd kid us for the
+rest of our natural lives," remarked Jim.
+
+"You said it," agreed Joe. "But now," he added more soberly, "just
+let's take a look at what it was that so nearly killed us or crippled
+us for life."
+
+They made their way to the mass of timber in the road. At first Jim
+thought that it might have fallen off some wagon, unknown to the
+driver. But a closer examination showed that this was an error. The
+timbers were piled in a way that could have been done only by human
+hands, and what made this certain was the fact that rocks had been
+placed on either side to prevent the logs from slipping. It was a
+formidable barrier, and if the car had dashed into it at the rate it
+was going, the occupants would almost certainly have been killed.
+
+"Whoever put those timbers there meant harm," said Joe solemnly, when
+the examination had been completed.
+
+"It looks that way," agreed Jim. "Whoever did it was a scoundrel who
+ought to be in jail."
+
+"It might have been the work of a crazy man," suggested Joe.
+
+"As crazy as a fox," rejoined Jim, looking squarely into his chum's
+eyes.
+
+"What do you mean?" asked Joe, in some perplexity.
+
+"I mean," said Jim, carefully weighing every word, "that the man who
+put that mass of timber there was just as sane as you or I. I mean
+that he intended that some one should be seriously hurt. I'll go even
+further. That man meant to injure Joe Matson, whom he hated with a
+deadly hatred."
+
+"You mean that Braxton did it?" cried Joe.
+
+"I mean that Braxton did it," replied Jim quietly.
+
+They stared at each other with strange emotions stirring in their
+hearts. And while they stand there, as if turned to stone, it may be
+well, for the benefit of those who have not read the earlier volumes of
+this series, to trace the fortunes of Baseball Joe up to the time that
+this story opens.
+
+Joe Matson was born in a little inland village of the Middle West,
+and grew up in a pleasant home amid wholesome surroundings. His first
+experience in the great national game, where he was destined to become
+famous as the greatest pitcher of his time, was gained on the simple
+diamond of his home town, and his natural aptitude was such that
+he soon became known as a rising player all over the county. What
+obstacles he met and surmounted at that time are related in the first
+volume of the series, entitled: "Baseball Joe of the Silver Stars."
+
+Some time later, when playing on his school nine, he had considerable
+trouble with a bully who tried to down him, but found out, as so many
+trouble makers did later on in life, that Joe Matson was not easily
+downed. He put into his playing all that experience, combined with his
+native ability, could teach him, and he served an apprenticeship that
+stood him in good stead when later he went to Yale. The trials and
+triumphs of his school experience are told in the second volume of the
+series, entitled: "Baseball Joe on the School Nine."
+
+With the natural buoyancy of youth, Joe had hoped when he entered Yale
+that he would have a chance to show his mettle in the box in some of
+the great annual games that Yale played with Harvard and Princeton.
+There were many rivals, however, for the honor, including those who had
+already won their spurs in actual contests. But Joe's light was not
+made to shine under a bushel, and one day when the cohorts of Princeton
+came down in their orange and black prepared to "tie the can" to the
+Bulldog's tail, Joe got his chance and sent a very bedraggled Tiger
+back to his lair in Princeton. How Joe won gloriously is told in the
+third volume of the series, entitled: "Baseball Joe at Yale."
+
+Though he enjoyed his college days at Yale, stood high in his studies,
+and was popular with his mates, he felt that he was not cut out for one
+of the learned professions. His mother had hoped that he would be a
+clergyman and had been urgent in having him adopt that profession. But
+Joe, though he respected the noble aims of that calling, was not drawn
+to it. It was the open air life that he craved and for which he was
+fitted, and the scholastic calm of a study had little attraction for
+him. He felt that he had it in him to win supremacy in athletic fields.
+
+His mother, of course, was greatly disappointed when she learned how
+he felt, but she was too wise to insist on her plan when she realized
+that it was contrary to his special gifts. She knew very little about
+baseball, but she had the impression that it was no place for an
+educated man. The fact, however, that so many college men were entering
+the ranks of professional baseball was made the most of by Joe, and she
+finally yielded to his wishes.
+
+His chance was not long in coming, for he was soon picked up by one
+of the scouts who are always looking for "diamonds in the rough," and
+was offered a contract with the Pittston team of the Central League.
+The League was a minor one, but Joe had already learned that a man
+who proved that he had the makings of a star in him would soon have
+an opportunity with one of the majors. How speedily his ability was
+proved and recognized is narrated in the fourth volume of the series,
+entitled: "Baseball Joe in the Central League."
+
+From the bushes to the National League was a big jump, but Joe made
+it when he was drafted into the ranks of the St. Louis Cardinals. The
+team was in the second division when Joe came into action, and was
+altogether out of the running for the championship. But Joe's twirling
+was just what it needed to put new heart and life into it, and before
+the season ended it had climbed into the first division and if the race
+had been a little longer might have made a big stroke for the pennant.
+The story of the team's climb, with all its exciting episodes, is told
+in the fifth volume of the series, entitled: "Baseball Joe in the Big
+League."
+
+McRae, the crafty and resourceful manager of the New York Giants, had
+had his eye on Joe all the season, and when the race was ended he made
+an offer for him that the St. Louis management could not refuse. Now,
+indeed, Joe felt that the ambition of his life was in a fair way to
+be realized. McRae had intended to bring him along slowly, so that he
+could be thoroughly seasoned, but circumstances put on him the heft of
+the pitching, and how fully he justified his manager's confidence is
+narrated in the sixth volume of the series, entitled: "Baseball Joe on
+the Giants."
+
+After the winning of the National League Championship by the Giants,
+came the World Series with the Boston Red Sox, who had won the title
+that year in the American League. The Sox were a hard team to beat,
+and the Giants had their work cut out for them. In addition to the
+strain of the games in which he was slated to pitch, Joe had to contend
+with the foul tactics of a gang of gamblers who had wagered heavily
+on the Sox and did all they could to put Joe out of action. But his
+indomitable will and quick wit triumphed over all obstacles, and his
+magnificent pitching in the last game of the series won the World's
+Championship for the Giants. The story of that stirring fight is told
+in the seventh volume of the series, entitled: "Baseball Joe in the
+World Series."
+
+During these experiences, Joe had not escaped the toils of Cupid.
+Mabel Varley, a charming young girl, had been rescued by Joe at the
+moment that a runaway horse was about to carry her over a cliff. The
+romantic acquaintanceship thus begun soon grew into a deep affection,
+and Joe knew that Mabel held the happiness of his life in her hands.
+Jim Barclay, also, a promising young Princeton man and second string
+pitcher for the Giants, who was Joe's special chum, had grown very
+fond of Clara, Joe's pretty sister, and hoped that some day she would
+promise to be his wife.
+
+The World Series had scarcely ended before Joe and Jim were invited by
+McRae to make a trip around the world with the Giant and All-American
+teams. They were eager for the chance, and their delight was increased
+when it developed that there were to be a number of wives of the
+players in the party so that Mabel and Clara could go along.
+
+The teams played in Japan, in China, and in many of the cities of
+Europe, and the experience would have been a thoroughly happy one
+for Joe, had it not been for the machinations of men who were trying
+to form a rival league and had by the meanest trickery secured Joe's
+signature to what afterward turned out to be a contract. How Joe
+finally unmasked the plotters and had the satisfaction of giving the
+ringleader a tremendous thrashing is narrated in the preceding volume
+of the series, entitled: "Baseball Joe Around the World."
+
+And now to return to Joe and Jim, as they stood in their dripping
+clothes on the country road in the growing light of the spring morning.
+
+For some seconds after Jim's startling statement, Joe stood as though
+rooted to the spot. Then he pulled himself together.
+
+"Come now, Jim, isn't that pretty far-fetched?" he said, with a forced
+laugh, in which, however, there was little mirth. "You haven't a shred
+of proof of anything of the kind."
+
+"No," admitted Jim, "there isn't anything--yet--that would convince a
+judge or a jury. I'll agree that it wouldn't go far in a court of law.
+But just put two and two together. Yesterday afternoon we were talking
+about this trip. You distinctly mentioned the hill near Hebron. It was
+just after you spoke that I saw Braxton pass the door."
+
+"Thought you saw," corrected Joe.
+
+"All right, then," said Jim patiently, "let it go at that--thought
+I saw Braxton passing the door. Now just suppose for a minute
+that I was right and see what comes of it. The man who hates you
+worse, probably, than any man on earth--the man to whom you gave a
+terrible thrashing--knew that you would be driving a car just before
+daylight--knew that you would have to climb a hill--knew that as you
+got near it you'd probably put on speed to carry the car up--knew that
+an obstacle put near the bottom of the hill would almost certainly
+wreck the car and hurt the driver. Knowing all this, might not such a
+man as we know Braxton to be see his chance and take it?"
+
+There was silence for a moment. Then:
+
+"It certainly sounds strong the way you put it," Joe said thoughtfully.
+"But how on earth could Braxton get here in time to do all this? Think
+of the distance."
+
+"It isn't so great a distance," rejoined Jim. "That is, if a man came
+straight across country in a speedy car for instance. It seemed long
+to us because of the roundabout way we had to go by train. Then too
+that was early in the afternoon, and Braxton could have had four hours'
+start of us. He's a rich man and probably has a fast car. He could have
+made it all right and got here hours ago."
+
+"Yes, but even then," argued Joe, "he couldn't have done it all alone.
+It's as much as you and I can do together to handle these timbers."
+
+"That's true," conceded Jim. "But he may have had one or more
+confederates with him. Money you know can do almost anything. I
+shouldn't wonder if that fellow Fleming helped him. He owed you a debt
+too, you remember, and the pair were as thick as thieves on the world
+tour."
+
+"Well, it may be just as you say," replied Joe. "But I hate to think
+that any man hates me so badly as to try to injure me in such a
+cowardly way as that. At any rate, it won't do any harm for us to keep
+our eyes open in the future. But we've got plenty of time to think of
+that. Now let's get busy and hustle these timbers over to the side of
+the road so that nobody else can run into them. Then we'll take a look
+at the car."
+
+They set to work with a will, and in a few minutes had removed the
+obstacles from the road.
+
+"Now for the machine," said Joe, as he led the way to the river bank.
+"I've got an idea that what we owe Hank will put a dent in our bank
+rolls."
+
+To their delight they found, however, that, apart from superficial
+injuries, the car seemed to be intact. The wind shield had been
+shattered and the mud guards were badly bent. But the axles seemed
+to be sound, the wheels were in place, and as far as they could
+judge there had been no injury to the engine. To all appearances the
+expenditure of a hundred dollars would put the car in good shape again.
+
+But the wheels were so firmly imbedded in the mud of the shore that
+despite all their efforts they could not budge the car. They strained
+and pushed and lifted, but to no avail. Joe climbed into the driver's
+seat and set the engine going, but the car was stubborn and refused to
+back.
+
+"Swell chance of our getting home in time for breakfast," grumbled Joe,
+as he stopped to rest for a moment.
+
+"Lucky if we get there in time for supper," muttered Jim. "We'll have
+to go somewhere and borrow a shovel so that we can dig the wheels out
+of the mud."
+
+But just at this moment they heard the rumbling of a cart, and running
+to the road they saw it coming, drawn by two stout horses, while the
+driver sat handling the reins in leisurely fashion.
+
+They waved their hands and the cart came to a halt, the driver scanning
+curiously the two young men who had appeared so unexpectedly from the
+side of the road. He was a bluff, jovial person, and his eyes twinkled
+with amusement as he noted the wet garments that were clinging to their
+limbs.
+
+"Been taking a bath with all your clothes on?" he asked, as he got down
+from his seat.
+
+"Something like that," replied Joe, with a laugh, "but the bath came as
+a sort of surprise party. The road was blocked, and it was either the
+morgue or the river for us, so we chose the river."
+
+"Road blocked?" repeated the newcomer, looking about with a puzzled
+expression. "I don't get you. Looks clear enough to me."
+
+"It wouldn't if you'd been here half an hour ago," replied Joe,
+and then, as the man listened with interest that soon changed to
+indignation, he recounted briefly the events of the morning.
+
+"Whoever did that ought to be jailed," he burst out, when the boys had
+concluded their story. "And he can't be very far away, either. This
+road was clear when I passed over it last night. Jump in and I'll drive
+you into town and we can send out an alarm."
+
+"Not much use of that I'm afraid," replied Joe. "The man or men may be
+fifty miles away by this time. But if you'll give us a hand to get this
+auto out of the mud, you'll do us a big favor."
+
+"Sure I'll help you," said the friend in need, whose name they learned
+was Thompson. "I've got a spade right here in the cart. We'll dig
+around the wheels a little. Then I'll hitch a trace chain to the
+machine and my horses will yank it out in a jiffy."
+
+A few minutes of work sufficed to clear the wheels. Then boards were
+placed behind them, the chain was attached to the rear axle, and the
+horses drew the car back into the road.
+
+It presented rather a forlorn appearance, but the boys cared little for
+that. What they were far more concerned about was their own bedraggled
+condition.
+
+"We match the car all right," remarked Jim disgustedly, as he looked at
+his own clothes and those of his companion.
+
+"It will never do to let Mabel and Clara see us like this," responded
+Joe lugubriously.
+
+"Don't let that worry you," laughed their new friend. "Just drive into
+town and stop at Eph Allen's tailor shop. It's pretty early, but Eph
+sleeps in the back of his shop and he'll let you in and fix you up in
+no time."
+
+This was evidently the best thing to be done, and the young men, after
+repeated thanks to their newly made friend and with fullest directions
+as to how to find the tailor shop in question, jumped into the auto and
+started on the way back to Hebron.
+
+"Old bus seems to work as well as ever," commented Joe, as the car
+moved on without any visible evidence of injury.
+
+"That's one bit of good luck," replied Jim. "And it's certainly coming
+to us to make up in part for the bad."
+
+They thanked their stars that it was too early yet for many people to
+be stirring in the town, and were relieved when they found themselves
+in front of Allen's shop. Eph must have been a pretty sound sleeper,
+for it took a good deal of knocking to wake him up, and when at last he
+thrust his tousled head through the door to ask what was wanted, he was
+not in the best of temper. But as soon as he learned the circumstances
+that had occasioned the early call, he became at once all interest and
+attention, and hustled about to put their clothes in presentable shape.
+
+It was a fairly good job that he at length turned out after he had
+ironed and pressed their suits, though they had by no means the Beau
+Brummel effect with which the boys had planned to impress the girls.
+
+By this time the sun had fully risen and Joe looked at his watch.
+
+"Perhaps we'll be in time to catch them at breakfast yet," he remarked.
+"It's only about twenty miles from here to Riverside. Maybe they won't
+be surprised when we break in on them. They don't think we're within
+several hundred miles of them."
+
+"Perhaps we ought to have telegraphed that we were coming," said Jim.
+
+"It might have been just as well, I suppose," admitted Joe. "But that
+would have taken away the fun of the surprise. I want to see the look
+on their faces."
+
+"Of course we won't say anything about what happened to us this
+morning," suggested Jim, as the machine bowled along over a road that
+with every minute that passed was growing more familiar.
+
+"Not on your life," replied Joe earnestly. "None of them would ever
+have another easy minute. They'd be seeing our mangled remains every
+night in their dreams. All we'll tell them is that we had a little
+spill and got wet. But not a word about the blocked road or what we
+suspect regarding Braxton."
+
+Before long they were passing the straggling houses that marked the
+outskirts of Riverside. Joe pulled his cap down over his eyes so that
+he would not be recognized and stopped by any of the people of the
+town, where he was regarded as something of an idol. All he wanted to
+do was to get to his family and Mabel, or, as perhaps he would have put
+it, get to Mabel and his family.
+
+His ruse was successful, for there was no sign of recognition from the
+few he passed on the streets, and in a few minutes he brought the car
+to a stop in front of the Matson home.
+
+The young men jumped out, and with Joe leading the way ran lightly up
+the steps. He tried the front door and found that it yielded to his
+touch. With his finger on his lips as a warning to Jim, he tiptoed
+softly through the hall to the door of the dining room.
+
+The odor of coffee and bacon came to them and from the click of plates
+and cups, as well as the murmur of several voices, they knew that the
+family was still at the breakfast table.
+
+Joe waited no longer but threw open the door.
+
+"Hello, folks!" he cried.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+REGGIE TURNS UP
+
+
+If Joe had counted upon producing a surprise, his success surpassed his
+wildest expectations.
+
+At first there was a second of paralyzed silence. Then there was a wild
+hubbub of delighted cries, as four figures started up from the table
+and launched themselves upon the stalwart figure that stood framed in
+the doorway.
+
+"Joe!" "Mabel!" "Clara!" "Momsey!" "Dad!" "Jim!" The names were repeated
+in quick succession and were punctuated with hugs and kisses.
+
+In a moment Joe had his right arm around Mabel, his left about his
+mother, while Clara had thrown her arms about his neck and his father
+was attempting to get hold of one of his hands. There was no doubt of
+the warmth of that welcome.
+
+[Illustration: THERE WAS NO DOUBT OF THE WARMTH OF THAT WELCOME.]
+
+Nor was Jim left out in the cold. Joe naturally had the center of the
+stage, but after the first rapturous greeting had passed, they all made
+Jim feel how delighted they were that he had come along with Joe. In
+Clara's eyes especially there was a look that Jim hoped he read aright.
+Her flushed and sparkling face was alive with happiness that might not
+be due altogether to the return of her brother, dearly as she loved him.
+
+For a few minutes questions and answers followed close on each other's
+heels, and it was Mrs. Matson at last who suggested that probably the
+boys were hungry. They agreed with her emphatically that they were. The
+girls flew about, and in a short time fresh coffee and hot biscuits and
+bacon and eggs were set before them in tempting profusion. Then while
+they ate like famished wolves, the others, who had been just finishing
+breakfast when they burst in upon them, sat about the table and talked
+and laughed and beamed to their hearts' content. Perhaps in all the
+broad land there was no happier group than was gathered about that
+table in the little town of Riverside.
+
+"You ought to have telegraphed that you were coming, Joe," said Mrs.
+Matson. "Then we could have had a good breakfast ready for you."
+
+"What do you call this?" laughed Joe, as he helped himself to another
+biscuit, watching at the same time the bewitching way in which Mabel
+was pouring him another cup of coffee. "There couldn't be anything
+better than this this side of kingdom come."
+
+"You're right there, old man," observed Jim, his own appetite keeping
+pace with that of his chum.
+
+"Seems to me, Joe, that your clothes look a little seedy this morning,"
+Clara remarked, with a sister's frankness, during a moment's pause
+in the conversation. "The last time you came home you looked like a
+fashion plate. But now your shirt front is wrinkled, your collar is
+wilted, and the colors in your necktie have run together. Looks as
+though you'd got wet through and hadn't dried out yet."
+
+"Perhaps they've been in the river," laughed Mabel gaily, little
+thinking how near she came to hitting the nail on the head.
+
+Mrs. Matson's motherly heart was quick to take alarm.
+
+"What's that?" she asked. "Nothing really has happened to you, has it,
+Joe?" she inquired, looking anxiously at her son, who after one glare
+at the sister who had precipitated the topic, was trying to assume an
+air of nonchalance.
+
+But this direct inquiry from his mother left him no recourse except to
+tell her a part of the truth, though not necessarily the whole truth.
+
+"We did have a little spill this morning," he returned indifferently.
+"I turned the car a little too much to the right and we went through
+a fence and into a little stream at the side of the road. Jim and I
+got wet, but after we got over being mad we had a good laugh over it.
+Neither one of us was a bit hurt, and it's only our clothes that got
+the worst of it."
+
+"Oh, but you might have been killed!" exclaimed Mrs. Matson, clasping
+her hands together nervously. "You must be more careful, Joe. It would
+break my heart if anything happened to you."
+
+"Don't worry a bit, Momsey," replied Joe, placing his hand affectionately
+over hers. "Only the good die young, you know, and that makes me safe."
+
+They all pressed him for the details of the accident, and he and Jim
+both made light of it, making a joke out of their plight and their
+visit to the tailor, so that apprehension vanished, and after a while
+the matter was dropped.
+
+Joe was eager for a chance to get alone with Mabel, and Jim was quite
+as keen for a tête-à-tête with Clara. The girls were quite as eager,
+but as there was no servant in the simple little household the girls
+flew around to clear the table, while Joe had a chance for a quiet talk
+with his mother, and Jim beguiled his impatience by going out on the
+porch with Mr. Matson for a smoke before the latter had to go downtown
+to business.
+
+"How have you been feeling, Momsey?" Joe asked when they had settled
+down in a cosy corner of the living room. "It seems to me that you're
+a little thinner than you were."
+
+"I'm not feeling any too well," replied Mrs. Matson. "I have trouble
+with my breathing whenever I go up or down stairs. But I'll be all
+right pretty soon," she added, with an attempt at brightness.
+
+"I'm afraid you've been working too hard, Momsey," replied Joe, patting
+her hand. "Why don't you let me get you a maid to help out with the
+work? The money doesn't matter, and you know how glad I'd be to bear
+the expense."
+
+"I don't want any regular servant, Joe," replied Mrs. Matson. "I
+haven't been used to one, and she'd be more bother than help. We have a
+wash woman. There isn't much to be done in this little house, and Clara
+is the dearest girl. If I did what she wanted, I'd just fold my hands
+and sit around in the living room. And Mabel, too, has spoiled me since
+she's been here. She's already like a second daughter to me."
+
+"She'll be really your daughter before long, if I have anything to say
+about it," replied Joe. "I'm going to put it right up to her to marry
+me while I'm here this time."
+
+Mrs. Matson was both delighted and flustered at the boldness of this
+announcement.
+
+"You take my breath away, talking like that," she replied. "But I'm
+afraid Mabel won't let herself be carried off her feet in that way. A
+girl wants to get her trousseau ready. And then, too, she'll want to be
+married in her father's house. You're a dear boy, Joe, but you've got a
+lot to learn about women."
+
+"Mabel will agree all right," replied Joe confidently, though his
+masculine assurance had been slightly dashed by his mother's prediction.
+
+The opportunity to make sure about that important matter came a few
+minutes later, when Mabel came into the room looking more lovely, Joe
+thought, than he had ever seen her before. Mrs. Matson lingered only a
+moment longer, and then made an excuse to leave the room. The door had
+hardly closed behind her before Mabel was in Joe's arms.
+
+It was a long time before they were able to talk coherently, and when
+at last Mabel told Joe that he was too greedy and laughingly bade him
+be sensible, she was more rosy and beautiful than ever, and Joe was
+deeper in love than before, if that could be possible.
+
+Joe was not long in putting his mother's prediction to the test.
+
+"Do you remember what Jim said when we said good-by to McRae after the
+World Tour was over?" he asked, with a twinkle in his eye.
+
+The flush in Mabel's cheeks deepened.
+
+"Jim talks so much nonsense," she countered.
+
+"Think a minute." Joe was jogging her memory. "Wasn't it something
+about bells?"
+
+"How should I remember?" asked Mabel, though she did remember perfectly.
+
+"Well, I remember," said Joe. "He said I'd soon be hearing wedding
+bells. Now do you remember?"
+
+"Y-yes," admitted Mabel at last, hiding her face on Joe's shoulder,
+which was very close to her.
+
+"I want to hear those wedding bells, very soon, dearest," said Joe
+tenderly. "Next week--this week--to-morrow----"
+
+Mabel sat up with a little scream.
+
+"Next week--this week--to-morrow!" she repeated. "Why, Joe dear, we
+can't!"
+
+"Why can't we?" asked Joe with masculine directness.
+
+"Why--why--we just can't," replied Mabel. "I haven't got my wedding
+clothes ready. And I'll have to be married in my own home. What would
+my family think? What would my friends think? It would look like a
+runaway affair. People would talk. Oh, Joe dear, I'd love to, but I
+just can't. Don't you see I can't?"
+
+Joe did not see at all, and he renewed his importunities with all his
+powers of persuasion. But Mabel, though she softened her refusal with
+lover-like endearments, was set in her convictions, and Joe at last
+was forced to confess in his heart with a groan that his mother was
+right, and that he had a lot to learn about women.
+
+He suggested in desperation that they go on at once to her home in
+Goldsboro and be married there, but although that would have taken away
+one of her arguments, the others still continued in full force, and she
+added another for good measure.
+
+"You see, Joe, dear, your mother isn't well enough just now to travel
+so far, and it would break her heart if she weren't present at our
+marriage. By fall she may be better."
+
+"By fall!" echoed Joe in dismay. "Have I got to wait that long?"
+
+"I think it would be better, dear," said Mabel gently. "You see if we
+got married any time after the baseball season had commenced, you would
+find it hard to get away from your club. In any case, our honeymoon
+trip would have to be very short. Then, too, if I traveled about the
+circuit with you, you'd have me on your mind, and it might affect your
+playing. But I promise you that we shall get married in the fall, just
+as soon as the baseball season is over."
+
+And as she sealed this promise in the way that Joe liked best, he was
+forced to be content.
+
+The days passed by, as though on wings, with Joe grudging every minute
+as it passed that brought him nearer to the day when he would have to
+rejoin his team. The hours were precious and he spent every one of them
+that he could with Mabel.
+
+Jim, too, was finding his vacation delightful. He was getting on
+famously with Clara, and the latter's heart was learning to beat very
+fast when she heard the step and saw the face of the handsome young
+athlete. The prospects were very good that two weddings would be
+celebrated in the fall, and that Baseball Joe would gain not only a
+wife but a brother-in-law.
+
+During that week the moon was at its full, and almost every night
+saw the two couples out for a stroll. They would start out from the
+house together and walk down the village street, with only a few yards
+separating them. However, they usually lost sight of each other before
+they had gone far.
+
+Joe was happy, supremely happy. Mabel had never been so dear, so
+affectionate. He knew that he possessed her heart utterly. Yet there
+was a faint something, a mysterious impression to which he could
+scarcely give a name, that at times marred his happiness and caused him
+to feel depressed. He chased the feeling away, and yet it returned.
+
+There were moments when Mabel grew quiet and seemed as though brooding
+over something. Her face would become sad, and only brighten with a
+gayety that seemed a little forced, when she saw that he was studying
+her and seeking to learn what troubled her. At times she would cling to
+him as though she feared he was to be taken from her. Once or twice he
+questioned her, but she laughed his fears away and declared that there
+was nothing the matter. Despite her denials, he remained vaguely uneasy.
+
+The day before his brief vacation came to an end there was a ring at
+the bell of the Matson home. Mabel, who happened to be in the hall at
+the time, opened the door. There was an exclamation of surprise and
+delight as the newcomer threw his arms about her.
+
+"Reggie!"
+
+"Mabel!"
+
+There was a fond embrace, and then Mabel came into the living room
+where the family were assembled, while close behind her came Reggie
+Varley, her brother, the same old Reggie, monocle, cane, lisp, English
+clothes, English accent, fancy waistcoat, fitted in topcoat, spats and
+all--a vision of sartorial splendor!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+THE ANONYMOUS LETTER
+
+
+All rose to their feet in hearty welcome. It was not the first time
+Reggie had visited the Matson home, and all were fond of him. Joe and
+Jim especially gave him a hilarious greeting.
+
+"Hello, Reggie, old man," cried Joe, as he shook hands. "I'm tickled to
+death to see you. What good wind blew you down this way? I didn't think
+you were within a thousand miles of here."
+
+"Well, old top," explained Reggie, as he gracefully drew off his gloves
+and divested himself of his topcoat, "it was so beastly quiet in
+Goldsboro, don't y'know, that I got fed up with it and when the guv'nor
+suggested that there was a bit of business I could attend to in Chicago
+I just blew the bally town and ran out there. Then bein' so near, I
+thought I'd run down and see Sis and the rest of you. It's simply
+rippin' to see y'all again, don't y'know."
+
+He sat down in a chair, carefully adjusting his trousers so as not to
+mar the creases in the legs, and beamed blandly upon the friendly
+faces that surrounded him.
+
+Joe and Reggie had first met under rather unpleasant circumstances,
+that bore no promise of a close friendship later on. Reggie had left
+his bag in a seat of a railroad station while he went to buy his
+ticket. Upon his return he missed his bag, which had been left in a
+seat adjoining the one in which Joe had in the meantime seated himself,
+and had practically accused Joe of taking it. As may be readily
+imagined, Joe was not the one to take lightly such an accusation, and
+Reggie had to apologize. It was only after Joe had met Mabel that he
+again encountered Reggie and learned that he was the girl's brother.
+But apart from his relationship to Mabel, Joe had found further reason
+for liking Reggie, as time wore on and he became better acquainted with
+him.
+
+Reggie had never been restrained much by his father, who was rich and
+indulgent. He had an inordinate love of fine clothes and an affectation
+of English customs and manner of speech. But these, after all, were
+foibles, and at heart Reggie was "true blue." He was a staunch friend,
+generous, kindly and honorable. He idolized his charming sister, who in
+return was devotedly attached to him.
+
+Another thing that strengthened the friendship between Joe and Reggie
+was that they were both ardent lovers of the great national game.
+Reggie was a "dyed-in-the-wool fan," and though his general information
+was none too great he had the records of individual players and the
+history of the game at his tongue's end, and could rattle on for an
+hour on a stretch when he once got started on his favorite theme. He
+was a great admirer of Joe as a player, and intensely proud that he was
+going to be his brother-in-law. Whenever the Giants played and Joe was
+slated to pitch, the latter could be perfectly certain that Reggie,
+even if he chanced to be at the time in San Francisco, was "rooting"
+for him to win.
+
+Jim also had met Reggie frequently and liked him thoroughly. The other
+members of the Matson family liked him, both for Mabel's sake and his
+own. So it was a very friendly circle into which Reggie had come so
+unexpectedly.
+
+"But I didn't expect to see you two chaps here," said Reggie, as he
+looked from Joe to Jim. "I thought you were down in the training camp,
+or else on your way to New York with the rest of the Giants."
+
+"It was just a bit of luck that we are here," replied Joe. "McRae
+thought that we were trained fine enough, and might go stale if we
+worked out in practice any longer. He wants us to be at the top of our
+form when the bell rings at the Polo Grounds."
+
+"Bally good sense, I call it, too," replied Reggie, looking admiringly
+at their athletic forms. "Just now you look fit to fight for a man's
+life, don't y'know."
+
+"Never felt better," admitted Joe. "Nor happier either," he added, as
+he glanced at Mabel, who dropped her eyes before his ardent look.
+
+"You came just in time to see the boys," put in Mrs. Matson. "They're
+starting to-morrow for New York."
+
+"Bah Jove, I'd like to go with them," said Reggie. "I'd give a lot to
+see that opening game on the Polo Grounds. But this beastly business in
+Chicago will make it necessary for me to go back there in a few days.
+In the meantime I thought that perhaps you might put me up here for a
+little while, don't y'know?"
+
+He looked toward Mr. Matson as he spoke, and both he and Mrs. Matson
+hastened to assure the young man that they would be only too glad to do
+so.
+
+All had a lot to talk about, and the evening passed quickly, until at
+last Mrs. Matson excused herself on the plea that she wanted to see
+about Reggie's room. Mr. Matson soon followed, and the young people
+were left to themselves.
+
+"Well, what do you think the chances are of the Giants copping the flag
+again, old top?" asked Reggie, as he pulled down his cuffs and put up
+his hand to make sure that his immaculate tie was all right.
+
+"The Giants look mighty sweet to me," answered Joe. "They've had a
+good training season and shown up well in practice. They've won every
+game they've played with the minor leaguers so far, and haven't had to
+exert themselves. Of course that doesn't mean very much in itself, as
+the bushers ought to be easy meat for us. But we've got practically the
+same team with which we won the pennant last year, and I can't see why
+we shouldn't repeat. Jim here has been coming along like a house afire,
+and he'll make the fans sit up and take notice when they see him in
+action."
+
+"Oh, I'm only an also ran," said Jim modestly.
+
+"Indeed you're not," Clara started to say indignantly, but checked
+herself in time. Not so quickly, however, that Jim failed to catch her
+meaning and note the flush that rose to her cheek.
+
+"Funny thing happened when I was in Chicago," mused Reggie. "I heard a
+chap say in one of the hotels that there was heavy betting against the
+Giants winning this year. Some one, he didn't know who, was putting up
+cash in great wads against them, and doing it with such confidence that
+it almost seemed as though he thought he was betting on a sure thing.
+Taking ridiculous odds too. Queer, wasn't it?"
+
+"A fool and his money are soon parted," remarked Joe. "That fellow
+will be a little wiser and a good deal poorer when the season ends, or
+I miss my guess. Who's going to beat us out? Nothing short of a train
+wreck can stop us."
+
+"Now you're talking!" cried Jim.
+
+"Another thing that's going to help us," said Joe, "was that trip we
+had around the world. We had some mighty hot playing on that tour
+against the All-Americans, and it kept the boys in fine fettle."
+
+"Speaking about that trip, old chap," put in Reggie, "reminds me of
+another thing that happened in Chicago. I was going down State Street
+one afternoon, and almost ran into that Braxton that you handed such a
+trimming to over in Ireland."
+
+"Braxton!" cried Joe.
+
+"Braxton!" echoed Jim.
+
+"Sure thing," replied Reggie, mildly puzzled at the agitation that the
+name aroused in the two chums. "I'm not spoofing you. Braxton it was,
+as large as life. The bounder recognized me and started to speak, but
+I gave him the glassy eye and he thought better of it and passed on.
+Funny what a little world it is, don't y'know."
+
+"It surely is a little world," replied Jim, as a significant glance
+passed between him and Joe.
+
+"I glanced back," Reggie went on, "and saw him getting into a car
+drawn up at the curb. As classy a machine as I've seen, too, for a long
+time. Built for speed, y'know. If he hadn't driven off too quickly, I'd
+have made a note of the make. My own is getting rather old, and I've
+been thinking about replacing it."
+
+The conversation turned into other channels and finally began to drag a
+little. The others made no sign of being ready to retire, and at last
+Reggie woke to the fact that he would have to make the first move.
+He looked at his watch, remarked that he was rather tired after his
+journey, and thought that he would "pound the pillow."
+
+Joe showed him to his room, chatted with him a few minutes, and then
+returned to the living room where he found Mabel alone, as Clara and
+Jim had drifted into the dining room. It was the last night the boys
+would have at home, and the two young couples had a lot to talk about.
+To Jim especially the time was very precious, for he had made up his
+mind to ask a very momentous question, and there is little doubt but
+that Clara knew it was coming and had already made up her mind how it
+should be answered.
+
+It was an exceedingly agitated Jim that asked Mr. Matson for a private
+interview the next morning, and it was an exceedingly happy Jim that
+emerged from the room a few minutes later and announced to the family
+already seated at the breakfast table that Clara had promised to be
+his wife. There was a stampede from the chairs, to the imminent danger
+of the coffee being upset, and Clara was hugged and kissed by Mabel
+and hugged and kissed and cried over by her mother, while Jim's hand
+was almost wrung off by Joe and Reggie in the general jubilation. For
+Jim was a splendid fellow, a Princeton graduate, a rising man in his
+chosen calling, and an all round good fellow. And there was no sweeter
+or prettier girl than Clara in all Riverside, or, as Jim stood ready to
+maintain, in the whole world.
+
+Needless to say that for the rest of that morning Reggie and Joe had
+no other masculine society than each could furnish to the other, for
+Jim had shamelessly abandoned them. Soon Reggie, too, had to chum with
+himself, as Joe and Mabel had found a sequestered corner and seemed to
+be dead to the rest of the world.
+
+Just before noon, however, when Mabel had gone in to help Mrs. Matson
+to prepare lunch, Joe had a chance to talk with Reggie alone.
+
+"Mabel's looking rippin', don't you think?" remarked Reggie, as he
+caught a glimpse of his sister passing the door of the room in which
+they sat.
+
+"Most beautiful girl that lives," returned Joe, with enthusiasm.
+
+"I guess she's stopped worrying about----" began Reggie, and then
+checked himself as though he had said more than he intended to.
+
+"Worrying about what?" asked Joe, with the quick apprehension of a
+lover.
+
+"Oh, about--about things in general," replied Reggie, in some confusion
+and evading Joe's searching eyes.
+
+"Look here, Reggie," said Joe with decision. "If anything's worrying
+Mabel, I've got a right to know what it is. I've noticed lately that
+she seemed to have something on her mind. Come now, out with it."
+
+Reggie still tried to put him off, but Joe would have none of it.
+
+"I've got to know, Reggie," he declared. "You've simply got to tell me."
+
+Reggie pondered a moment.
+
+"Well, old top," he said at last, "I suppose you have a right to know,
+and perhaps it's best that you should know. The fact is that Mabel
+got a letter a little while ago telling her that it would be a sorry
+day for her if she ever married Joe Matson. Threatened all sorts of
+terrible things against you, don't y'know."
+
+"What!" cried Joe, wild with rage and leaping to his feet. "The
+scoundrel! The coward! Who signed that letter? What's his name? If I
+ever lay my hands on him, may heaven have mercy on him, for I won't!"
+
+"That's the worst of it," replied Reggie. "There wasn't any name signed
+to it. The bounder who wrote it took good care of that."
+
+"But the handwriting!" cried Joe. "Perhaps I can recognize it. Where is
+the letter? Give it to me."
+
+"I haven't got it with me," Reggie explained. "It's at my home in
+Goldsboro. The poor girl had to confide in somebody, so she sent it to
+me. And even if you had it, it wouldn't tell you anything. It was in
+typewriting."
+
+"But the postmark!" ejaculated Joe. "Perhaps that would give a clue.
+Where did it come from?"
+
+"There again we're stumped," responded Reggie. "It was postmarked
+Chicago. But that doesn't do us any good, for there are two million
+people in Chicago."
+
+"Oh!" cried Joe, as he walked the floor and clenched his fists until
+the nails dug into his palms. "The beastliness of it! The cowardice of
+it! An anonymous letter! That such a villain should dare to torture the
+dearest girl in the world! But somewhere, somehow, I'll hunt him out
+and thrash him soundly."
+
+"Don't take the beastly thing so much to heart," returned Reggie. "Of
+course it's just a bluff by some bally bounder. Nobody ought to do
+anything with such a letter but tear it up and think no more about
+it. Some coward has done it that has a grudge against you, but he'd
+probably never have the nerve to carry out his threats."
+
+"It isn't that I care about," answered Joe. "I've always been able to
+take care of myself. I'd like nothing better than to have the rascal
+come out in the open and try to make his bluff good. But it's Mabel
+I'm thinking about. You know a woman doesn't dismiss those things as a
+man would. She worries her heart out about it. So that's what has been
+weighing on her mind, poor, dear girl. Oh, if I only had my hands on
+the fellow that wrote that letter!"
+
+And here he yielded again to a justified rage that was terrible to
+behold. It would have been a bad day for the rascally writer of that
+anonymous letter if he had suddenly stood revealed in the presence of
+Joe Matson!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+"PLAY BALL!"
+
+
+Just then Mabel came in with her hands full of flowers that she meant
+to arrange for the table. She stopped short in consternation as she saw
+the thundercloud on Joe's brow. For a moment she thought that he and
+Reggie had been quarreling.
+
+"Oh, Joe, what is it?" she asked in alarm.
+
+Joe looked at her lovingly and his brow cleared.
+
+"Nothing, honey," he said, as he came up to her and slipped his arm
+around her. "It's only that I've just found out from Reggie what it is
+that's been worrying you."
+
+Mabel shot a reproachful glance at Reggie, who looked a little
+embarrassed.
+
+"Joe got it out of me, Sis," he explained. "Said he had a right to know
+and all that sort of thing, don't y'know. And 'pon honor, Sis, I don't
+know but what he's right about it."
+
+"Of course I'm right about it," affirmed Joe. "There can't be anything
+now that concerns Mabel that doesn't concern me. Don't you agree with
+me, dearest?"
+
+"I suppose so," returned Mabel, as Joe drew her closer. "But, oh, Joe,
+I didn't want to distress you about it. I was afraid that it would
+weigh on your mind and affect your work this season, and I knew how
+your heart was set on making a record. It was just for your sake,
+dearest, that I kept it to myself. Of course I would have told you
+sooner or later."
+
+"Well, now Mabel, listen to me," said Joe, as he placed a chair and sat
+down beside her. "I don't know what fellow has done this. But whoever
+he is, he is a coward as well as a rascal, and will never dare to carry
+out his threats against me. And even if he should, you know that I am
+perfectly able to take care of myself. You know that others have tried
+to injure me, but I always came out on top. Fleming tried it; Braxton
+tried it, and you know what happened to them. Now what I want you to
+promise me is to banish this beastly thing entirely from your memory.
+Treat it with the contempt it deserves. Will you promise me this?"
+
+"I will promise, Joe," answered Mabel. "I'll try to forget that it ever
+happened."
+
+"That's the girl," commended Joe. "And to set your mind at rest I'll
+promise on my part to take especially good care of myself. That's a
+bargain."
+
+But while Joe had secured the promise of Mabel to forget the letter,
+he had made no such promise himself, and he vowed that if he could
+ever get any trace of the writer of that letter he would give him the
+punishment he so richly deserved.
+
+The train Baseball Joe and Jim Barclay would take was to leave late
+that afternoon.
+
+Somehow general knowledge of that fact had got abroad, and the
+boys were dismayed, on reaching the station, to find that half the
+population of the little town had gathered there to say good-by and
+wish them luck. To many of the townspeople, Joe was a bigger man than
+the President of the United States. He had put Riverside "on the map,"
+and through the columns of the papers they followed his triumphs and
+felt that in a sense they were their own.
+
+Of course Joe appreciated this affectionate interest, but just at the
+moment all he wanted was to be alone with Mabel. He had already bidden
+his mother a loving farewell at the house, as she was not well enough
+to go to the station. Jim also had eyes and thoughts only for Clara.
+
+But there was no help for it, and they had to exchange greetings and
+good wishes with the kindly friends who clustered around them. At the
+last minute, however, the young folks had a chance to say a few words
+to each other, and what they did not have time to say was eloquent in
+their eyes.
+
+The train moved off, and the boys leaned far out of the windows and
+waved to the girls as long as they were in sight. Then they settled
+back in their seats, and for a long time were engrossed in their
+thoughts. Usually they were full of chaff and banter, but to-day it was
+some time before they roused themselves from reverie and paid attention
+to the realities around them.
+
+It was after they had come back from the dining car after supper that
+Joe told Jim about his interview with Reggie and the anonymous letter.
+Jim's wrath was almost as great as that which had shaken Joe himself.
+
+"And the worst of it is," said Joe, "that there doesn't seem the
+slightest chance of getting hold of the cowardly fellow that did it.
+You might as well look for a needle in a haystack."
+
+"Yes," agreed Jim, "that's the exasperating feature of it. It may be
+the work of gamblers who have bet against the Giants and want to worry
+you so that you won't pitch your best ball. Some of those fellows will
+do anything for money. Or it may have been done by some enemy who chose
+that way of striking in the dark."
+
+"If it's an enemy," mused Joe, "that narrows it down. There's old
+Bugs Hartley, but I don't think he has intelligence enough to write a
+letter. Then there's Fleming, with whom I'm just about as popular as
+poison ivy. Add to that Braxton and a few old-time enemies, and you've
+about completed the list."
+
+"I wouldn't put it past Braxton," remarked Jim thoughtfully. "That
+fellow's a rattlesnake. He wouldn't stop at anything to get even with
+you."
+
+"I hate to think he'd stoop as low as to try to strike me through a
+woman," replied Joe. "But, by Jove!" he went on, as a thought struck
+him, "do you remember what Reggie said about meeting Braxton in
+Chicago? You know while we were on the trip he mentioned Chicago as his
+home town. And that letter had the Chicago postmark."
+
+"Oh, well, you couldn't hang a yellow dog on that," Jim replied. "But
+what struck me was what Reggie said about the speedy car that Braxton
+had. It must have been a mighty speedy car that got the fellow who laid
+that trap on the road from the training town to Hebron. Of course those
+things are only straws, of no value separately, though straws show
+which way the wind blows. One thing is certain. We've got to keep one
+man in our mind and guard against him. And that man's name is Braxton."
+
+They reached New York without incident the day before the opening game,
+and found the city baseball mad. The front pages of the newspapers had
+big headlines discussing the opening of the season. The sporting pages
+overflowed with speculation and prophecy as to the way the different
+teams would shape up for the pennant race. In the street cars, in the
+subways, in the restaurants, in the lobbies of the theatres, wherever
+men congregated, baseball was the subject of discussion. The long
+winter had made the populace hungry for their favorite game.
+
+On the following day, the migration toward the Polo Grounds began long
+before noon. Every train was packed with eager, good-natured humanity
+on its way to the game. By noon the bleachers were packed, and an hour
+before the game was scheduled to begin, every inch of the grandstands
+were packed to overflowing.
+
+The Bostons were to be the Giants' opponents in the opening game. The
+team had finished poorly the year before, but many winter trades had
+strengthened the weak spots, and the spring training of the nine had
+been full of promise. A close game was looked for, with the chances
+favoring the Giants.
+
+McRae was anxious to win the opening game, and had selected Joe to
+"bring home the bacon." Hughson's arm was not yet in shape, and the
+prospects were that Joe would have to bear the heft of the pitcher's
+burden if the Giants were to carry off the flag.
+
+Both teams were greeted with hearty cheers as they came out on the
+field. The Bostons as the visiting team, had the first chance at
+practice, and they uncovered a lot of speed in their preliminary work.
+Then the Giants took their turn in shooting the ball across the diamond
+and batting long flies to the outfielders.
+
+The bell rang and the field was cleared, while a hush of expectation
+fell on the crowds. The blue-uniformed umpire stepped to the plate.
+
+"Ladies and gentlemen," he bawled, "the batteries for to-day's game are
+Albaugh and Menken for Boston, and Matson and Mylert for New York. Play
+ball!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+GETTING THE JUMP
+
+
+Neale, the heavy hitting center fielder of the Bostons, who led off in
+the batting order, came to the plate, swinging three bats. He discarded
+two of them and took up his position, after having tapped his heel for
+luck.
+
+Joe looked him over for a moment. Then he wound up and whipped one
+over the plate. It was a high fast one, and Neale swung at it, his bat
+missing the ball by fully three inches.
+
+"Strike one!" called the umpire, and the crowd roared in approval. It
+was an auspicious beginning.
+
+The next one was wide, and Neale refused to "bite." Again Joe tempted
+him with a bad one, and again Neale was too wary. The next ball
+was a swift incurve that broke so suddenly that it buffaloed Neale
+completely. The lunge he made at it swung him round so that he almost
+lost his balance, and he looked rather sheepish as Mylert, the burly
+catcher of the Giants, grinned at him.
+
+"Had that in my mitt before you swung at it," taunted Mylert. "Gee, but
+you're slow."
+
+Neale glared at him, but made no reply and tightened his grip on the
+bat.
+
+This time Joe floated up a slow teaser that looked as big as a balloon
+as it sailed lazily for the plate. Neale, who was all set for a fast
+one, nearly broke his back reaching for it.
+
+"You're out," declared the umpire, while shouts and laughter came from
+the crowded stands, as Neale, flinging down his bat disgustedly, went
+back to the dugout.
+
+Kopf, the next man up, dribbled a slow one to the box that Joe had no
+trouble in getting to first on time. Mitchell lifted a towering fly
+that Iredell gobbled up without moving in his tracks.
+
+"Classy work, old man!" cried out Robbie, his face glowing with
+satisfaction, as Joe drew off his glove and came in to the bench. "The
+old wing seems to be working as well as ever."
+
+The Giants did a little better in the first inning, though not well
+enough to chalk up a run. Curry started well by lining to center for a
+single, the ball just escaping Warner's fingers, as he leaped into the
+air for it. Iredell tried to sacrifice, but the ball went too quickly
+to the pitcher, who turned and caught Curry at second. Iredell tried to
+get down on the first ball pitched, but Menken showed that his throwing
+arm was right and nipped him by three feet. Burkett lifted one between
+right and center that had all the earmarks of a home run, but Mitchell,
+by a great run, got to it with one hand and froze on to it. It was a
+remarkable catch, and the sportsmanlike New York crowd applauded it as
+heartily as though it had been made by one of their favorites.
+
+"Highway robbery," growled Burkett, who had almost reached second
+before the ball was caught, and was cherishing hopes of having knocked
+out the first home run of the season.
+
+It seemed clear that the Bostons were not to be trifled with, at least
+as far as their fielding was concerned, and the crowd settled down in
+expectation of a close struggle.
+
+The second inning for the Bostons was short. Douglas sent up a pop fly
+to Willis at third. Barber fouled to Mylert. Warner tapped a little one
+in front of the plate that Mylert heaved to first. Each had offered at
+the first ball pitched, so that only three balls had been thrown for
+the entire inning.
+
+The hard hitting that the Giants had done in the first session had
+resulted in nothing, but it had shown them that Albaugh could be hit,
+and they faced him with confidence when they next went to the bat.
+
+But Albaugh had braced in his short breathing spell, and he set the
+Giants down in short order. The best that Wheeler could do was to lift
+a high fly behind second that nestled comfortably in Douglas' hands.
+Willis got to first base on an error by Warner, but Denton hit into a
+double play, Ellis to Douglas to Kopf, and the inning was over.
+
+In the third inning, the Bostons swung their bats in vain. Joe struck
+out Ellis, Menken and Albaugh, one after the other. His fast ball shot
+over the plate as though propelled by a gun. It came so swiftly that
+the Boston batsmen either winced and drew back, or struck at it after
+the ball had passed. His outcurve had a tremendous break, and Mylert
+had all he could do to get it. It was a superb example of pitching, and
+Joe had to remove his cap in response to the thunderous applause of the
+stands.
+
+"Isn't that boy a wonder, Mac?" asked Robbie in exultation. "He's
+simply standing those fellows on their heads. They just can't touch
+him."
+
+"He's the goods all right," agreed the less demonstrative McRae. "But
+don't let's crow too loud. The game isn't over yet by a long shot, and
+anything can happen in baseball."
+
+Allen was the first man up in the Giants' half, and he went out on a
+grasser to Warner, who got him at first by yards. It was Joe's turn
+next.
+
+"Win your own game now, Joe," said Jim, as his chum left the bench for
+the plate. "None of the other boys seem to be doing much. Show them
+one of the clouts you made at the training camp."
+
+Joe grinned in reply and went to the plate. Albaugh looked at him and
+thought he sensed an easy victim. He seldom had much trouble with
+pitchers.
+
+The first ball was wide and Joe let it go by. The second and third also
+went as balls.
+
+"Good eye, Joe," sang out Robbie, who was coaching at third. "Make him
+put it over."
+
+Albaugh now was "in a hole." Three balls had been called on him, and he
+had to get the next one over the plate. He wound up carefully and sent
+over a swift straight one about waist high.
+
+Joe timed it perfectly and caught it near the end of his bat. The ball
+went on a line straight toward the right field stands. On and on it
+went, still almost in a line. Neale and Barber had both started for it
+from the crack of the bat, but it stayed so low and went so fast that
+it eluded them and struck just at the foot of the right field bleachers.
+
+Joe in the meantime was running like a deer around the bases, while his
+comrades leaped about and howled, and the crowds in the stands were
+on their feet and shouting like madmen. He had rounded second and was
+well on toward third before Neale retrieved the ball. He relayed it to
+Douglas like a shot. By this time Joe had turned third and was dashing
+toward the plate. It was a race between him and the ball, but he beat
+the sphere by an eyelash, sliding into the rubber in a cloud of dust.
+
+For a few moments pandemonium reigned, as Joe, flushed and smiling,
+rose from the ground and dusted himself off while his mates mauled and
+pounded him and the multitude roared approval.
+
+"Jumping jiminy!" cried Jim, "that was a lallapaloozer! It was a longer
+hit than you made off of me this spring, and that's going some. And on
+a line too. I thought it was never going to drop."
+
+"It was a dandy, Joe," commended McRae, clapping him on the shoulder.
+"It's only a pity that there weren't men on bases at the time for you
+to bring in ahead of you. But we've broken the ice now, and perhaps the
+rest of the boys will get busy."
+
+Albaugh was rather shaken by the blow, and gave Mylert his base on
+balls. Curry too was passed to first, advancing Mylert to second. The
+stage seemed set for more Giant runs, but Iredell hit a liner to Ellis
+who took it at his shoe tops and made a smart double play by getting it
+to second before Mylert could scramble back.
+
+Still the Giants were a run to the good, and as the fourth and fifth
+innings went by without a score that run began to look as big as a
+meeting house. Albaugh had stiffened up and was pitching superbly,
+while his mates were giving him splendid support. He mowed down the
+heavy batters of the Giants one after another, and McRae began to
+fidget about uneasily on the bench. One run was a slender margin, and
+he was intensely eager to win this first game, not only because of the
+enormous crowd that had turned out to see their favorites win, but
+because of the moral effect on his players of "getting the jump" on at
+least four of the other teams by winning the first game of the season.
+
+When Joe came to the bat for the second time, there was a short
+consultation between Albaugh and his catcher, in which the astute
+manager of the Braves, Sutton, joined. Then Albaugh deliberately
+pitched four wild balls, and Joe trotted down to first.
+
+There was a chorus of jeers and catcalls from the crowds.
+
+"Got you rattled by that homer, did he?"
+
+"You're a sport--I don't think!"
+
+"Don't blame you for being afraid to let him hit it!"
+
+"He'll lose the ball next time!"
+
+"Crawl into a hole and pull the hole in after you!"
+
+But although it was not exactly sportsmanlike, it was within the rules
+of the game, and when Mylert went out on a fly a moment later, making
+the third out and leaving Joe stranded at first, Albaugh took off his
+glove and waved it mockingly at his tormentors.
+
+In the sixth inning the Bostons took their turn at scoring. Kopf sent
+an easy grounder to Iredell, who ordinarily would have eaten it up.
+This time, however, he fumbled it for a moment, and then in his haste
+to make up for the mishap threw wild to first. Burkett made a great
+jump for it, but it went high over his head to the right field fence,
+and before Burkett could regain it Kopf was on third. Mitchell tried to
+bring him home, but his efforts resulted in a weak grounder along the
+third base line. It looked as though the ball would roll over the foul
+line, and Willis waited too long. It proved to be fair, and by this
+time Mitchell was legging it for second. Willis threw low and the ball
+hit the bag, bounding out into center field. Wheeler ran in and got it,
+making a superb throw to the plate. But it was too late, and both Kopf
+and Mitchell had scored, putting Boston in the lead by two runs to one.
+
+Joe put on steam and struck out the next three batters. But the
+mischief had been done. Two miserable errors had given them as many
+unearned runs. Now all they had to do was to keep the Giants scoreless
+and the game would be won.
+
+Poor Iredell and Willis were disconsolate as they came in to the bench
+and their discomfiture was not lessened by the tongue lashing that
+McRae gave them. Joe, too, might naturally have been angered at the
+wretched support accorded to him in a game where he was showing such
+airtight pitching, but he was too fair and generous to find fault with
+comrades for a blunder that all athletes make more or less often.
+
+"Never mind, boys," he said to them in an undertone, as he sat beside
+them on the bench. "Just get busy with your bats and we'll pull the
+game out of the fire yet."
+
+Although the Giants made a desperate rally and in each of the next
+two innings got men on second and third, the score was unchanged and
+the game still "in the fire" when the eighth inning ended. Joe in the
+meantime had pitched with such effect that in the two innings not a man
+reached first.
+
+The ninth inning came, and the Giants took the field for the last time.
+
+"Now Joe," said McRae, as the former picked up his glove to walk out
+to the box, "hold them down just for one more inning, and we'll have a
+chance either to tie or win, if our boobs can wake up enough to do a
+little batting. The head of their batting order is coming up, but the
+way you've been pitching up to now they all look alike to you."
+
+"I'll pitch my head off if necessary," Joe assured him.
+
+The twirling that Joe did in that last inning was phenomenal. His
+control of the ball was almost uncanny. It writhed and twisted about
+the bats like a snake. Neale, the slugger of the Braves, struck out
+on the first three balls pitched. Kopf lifted a foul that came down
+straight over the plate, where Mylert gathered it in. Mitchell drove
+the ball straight over Joe's head, but the latter leaped high in the
+air and speared it with his gloved hand, while the stands rocked with
+applause.
+
+McRae gathered the Giants about him as they came in from the field.
+
+"Now you fellows listen to me," he commanded. "You've got to cop this
+game. No excuses. You've got to. Show these bean-eaters where they get
+off. Make them look like thirty cents. Knock the cover off the ball. Go
+in and win!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+STEALING HOME
+
+
+Willis was first to the bat, and he strode to the plate with blood in
+his eye. He was still smarting from the sharp words of the manager and
+was anxious for a chance to redeem himself. A hit would help to wipe
+out the memory of his error.
+
+The first ball was an outshoot that just cut the corner of the plate.
+Willis struck at it and missed. The next one was a straight ball about
+knee high. Willis gave it a resounding clout, and it soared out toward
+the flagpole in left field.
+
+Willis was off with the crack of the bat, footing it down to first,
+while a roar went up from the stands. It looked like a sure home run,
+and it was clear that the Boston left fielder could not get under it.
+The runner was well on his way to second before the ball touched the
+ground.
+
+"Foul ball!" called the umpire.
+
+There was a groan from the Giant rooters, and Robbie rushed from the
+dugout to protest. The umpire coldly waved him off.
+
+"I said foul and that settles it," he declared, at the same time waving
+to Willis to come back to the plate.
+
+It was a very disgruntled Willis that complied, and he took up his bat
+mumbling something about "blind" and "robber."
+
+"What's that?" asked the umpire sharply.
+
+"Nothing," growled Willis, as he squared himself to meet the next ball.
+It was a bad one, and he let it go by. The next suited him, and he sent
+a sizzling grounder between second and third, on which he might have
+made a double, had he been quicker on his feet. But he was of the "ice
+wagon" type and had to be content with a single.
+
+Still it was a hit, and it put all the Giants on their toes in an
+instant. Their coachers at first and third began a chattering designed
+to rattle the pitcher. McRae hustled Denton out of the dugout with
+directions to sacrifice. The latter did his best, but Albaugh pounced
+on the ball and shot it to second, putting Willis out. Douglas whipped
+the ball to first in an endeavor to complete a double play, but Denton
+beat the ball by a step.
+
+With one man out and the tail end of the Giant batting order coming up
+the outlook was decidedly gloomy. Hope revived, however, when Allen
+laced a single to left. It was a clean hit, but Mitchell ran in on it
+and fielded so smartly that Denton was held at second.
+
+With two men on bases, Joe came to the bat, while the great throng gave
+him an ovation.
+
+"Win your own game, Matson," was shouted at him from thousands of
+throats.
+
+"Give the ball a ride!"
+
+"Another homer, Joe!"
+
+"Give the ball a passport and send it out of the country!"
+
+These and other encouraging cries greeted Joe as he waited for the
+ball. Albaugh looked at him with some apprehension. His respect for him
+as a batter had grown considerably since the beginning of the game.
+
+Joe refused to offer at the first ball, which was high and wide. Menken
+caught it and instead of returning it to the pitcher shot it down to
+second. Denton had taken too long a lead off the base and was trapped.
+His first impulse was to slide back to the bag, but he saw that he
+was too late for that and set out for third. The whole Boston infield
+joined in running him down, and despite his doubling and twisting, he
+was run down and put out near third. During the fracas, Allen reached
+second, but this was poor consolation, for now two men were out.
+
+Albaugh grinned as he picked up the ball and stepped on the mound.
+Baseball Joe resolved to knock that grin off his face.
+
+The ball came toward the plate like a bullet. Joe timed it perfectly,
+and poled a tremendous hit out toward center.
+
+"A homer! A homer!" yelled the crowd, wild with excitement.
+
+By the time Allen had galloped over the plate, Joe had rounded second,
+running like a frightened jackrabbit. But in the meantime, Mitchell, by
+a herculean effort, had managed to knock down the ball, after it had
+struck the ground and was speeding toward the fence. He straightened
+up and threw it in a line to third. It came plump into the waiting
+hands of the guardian of the bag. But Joe had already pulled up there,
+panting a little, but with his heart full of exultation.
+
+"Jumping Jehoshaphat, how that boy can hit!" cried McRae, while Joe's
+comrades jigged about and threw their caps into the air.
+
+"As pretty a three-bagger as I ever saw," declared Robson. "That ties
+the score anyway. Now if Mylert can only bring him in, the game's ours."
+
+Albaugh, though sore and enraged, still maintained perfect control of
+the ball. Twice in succession he sent it whizzing over the plate, and
+twice Mylert missed it by inches. Perhaps he was too anxious, but it
+was evident that his batting eye was off.
+
+Albaugh sensed this, and felt so sure of his victim that he paid
+little attention to third. Suddenly, as Albaugh began to wind up for
+his pitch, Joe darted down the line for the plate. A warning cry from
+Menken and a roar from the crowd told Albaugh what was happening. He
+stopped his windup and threw to Menken, who was covering the rubber and
+yelling to him to throw. He threw high in his excitement. Menken caught
+the ball and bent down, just as Joe slid over the plate in a cloud of
+dust. Menken dabbed frantically at him, and they rolled on the ground
+together.
+
+"Safe!" cried the umpire.
+
+The game was won and the Giants had "got the jump."
+
+The crowd went mad. By thousands they rushed down from the stands and
+swarmed down over the field. Joe saw them coming and made a dash for
+the clubhouse. But before he had reached it, the crowd had closed in
+about him, and it was only by the assistance of his mates, who cleared
+a way for him, that he could get away from their wild enthusiasm and
+slip into its welcome shelter.
+
+In a few minutes more the whole team had gathered there, laughing and
+shouting and going over the details of the game, while they took the
+showers and changed into their street clothes. There too came Robbie
+and McRae, as full of glee and happiness as the rest.
+
+"You old rascal!" chortled Robbie, as he slapped Joe on the back.
+"What are you trying to do? Be the whole team--gyp the other fellows
+out of their jobs? Such pitching, such batting--and then to cap it all
+by stealing home! Joe, old boy, I've seen lots of ball games, but your
+work to-day takes the cake."
+
+McRae, though less demonstrative, was not a whit less delighted.
+
+"Great work, Matson," he said. "Keep that up and there isn't a man in
+either league will be able to touch you."
+
+Jim too was fairly stuttering with his pride in his chum's achievements.
+
+"Picked the game right out of the fire," he exulted. "Tied it first and
+won it afterward. Joe old fellow, you're in a class by yourself. And
+that steal home! They'll talk about it all the season."
+
+"Well," replied Baseball Joe, with a grin, "I got rather homesick on
+third, and that home plate looked mighty good to me."
+
+Then Hughson came along with his congratulations, and these perhaps
+were the greatest reward that Joe could have asked for his day's work.
+
+For Hughson had been Joe's baseball idol for the last ten years. For at
+least that period of time, Hughson had been confessedly the greatest
+pitcher that baseball had ever seen. During that decade he had been
+the mainstay of the Giant team. When Hughson was slated to pitch, his
+mates were ready to chalk that game up in advance as won. And on the
+other hand, the opposing team was almost ready to concede the game
+before it was played. He had speed, curves and everything. At the most
+critical stage of a game he never lost his head. There might be three
+men on bases and none out, but that never disturbed Hughson. He would
+bring his wonderful "fadeaway" into action and the batters would go
+down like ninepins. He had brawn--plenty of it--but in addition he had
+brain, and when it came to strategy and quick thinking there was no one
+to be compared with him.
+
+But it was not merely his remarkable skill that had made him the
+hero of the baseball world. He was a gentleman through and through.
+He had had a college training and could meet and talk with educated
+men on equal terms. He was upright in his principles, clean in his
+living, quiet, plain, and unassuming. He was hail fellow well met
+with the other members of his team, and in fact with baseball players
+everywhere. Everybody liked him, and those who knew him best had a warm
+affection for him.
+
+Nor was there the slightest touch of jealousy about him. If any one
+else could take his laurels by showing that he was a better pitcher,
+Hughson welcomed the opportunity to give him every chance to do so.
+He was wholly wrapped up in the success of his team, and was only too
+glad to see any one helping to gain that success. His treatment of Joe
+since the latter had joined the team had been cordial in the extreme.
+He coached him, encouraged him, and did everything in his power to make
+him the star pitcher he saw he was destined to become.
+
+Hughson had been hurt in a collision just before the final games of the
+previous year, and had not been able to take part in the World Series.
+His arm had become better, but he was still in no condition to pitch.
+So that it had been merely as a spectator that he had witnessed the
+triumph of the Giants in this opening game of the season.
+
+Joe's eyes lighted up as he saw Hughson coming toward him with extended
+hand.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+A BASEBALL IDOL
+
+
+"Put her there, Matson!" cried Hughson, his face beaming with pleasure.
+"I never saw better pitching than you showed us to-day."
+
+Joe's face flushed. He shook Hughson's hand heartily.
+
+"Oh, it's nothing compared with lots of games you've pitched, Hughson,"
+he said. "I'm only in the infant class yet."
+
+"A mighty husky infant," laughed Hughson. "At least that's what the
+Bostons think. It was a hard game for them to lose, just when they
+thought they had it tucked away in their bat bag."
+
+"I feel rather sorry for Albaugh," said Joe. "He pitched a peach of a
+game and deserved to win."
+
+"He sure did," conceded Hughson. "And nine times out of ten that kind
+of pitching would have won. But to-day he had the hard luck to be
+pitted against a better man. They got only one clean hit off of you.
+The other was a scratch. A little more and you'd have pitched a no-hit
+game. And that's going some for the first game of the season, I'll tell
+the world.
+
+"Another thing that tickled me," he went on, "was to see him pass
+you to first rather than give you a chance to hit the ball. That's a
+compliment to all the boxmen of the country. As a rule we're easy meat.
+The other pitchers are glad to see us come up to the plate. It has got
+to be a proverb that pitchers can't hit. But you gave the lie to that
+proverb to-day. Those two hits of yours were ticketed for the fence.
+And that steal home was the classiest thing I've seen for a blue moon.
+That's the kind of thinking that wins ball games. Do the thing the
+other fellow doesn't expect you to do."
+
+"It was a case of touch and go," replied Joe. "I knew that I had
+touched the plate before Menken put the ball on me, but I wasn't sure
+the umpire would see it the same way. But he did, and that's all that
+matters. By the way, Hughson, how is that arm of yours coming along?"
+
+"Not as well as I should like," responded Hughson, while a touch of
+gloom came into his face. "There are days when it feels all right, and
+other days when I can't lift it without pain. I've been down to see
+Reese again about it, and he can't see anything radically wrong with
+it. Says I'll have to be patient and give it time. But it's mighty
+hard to have to sit on the bench when I'm fairly aching to get in the
+box again."
+
+"I know just how you must feel," returned Joe sympathetically. "The
+boys are all rooting for you to get back into harness again. It doesn't
+seem the same old team with you out of the running."
+
+"I'll be back with bells on before long," answered Hughson with a
+smile, as he moved on to have a chat with Robbie.
+
+"Isn't he a prince?" Joe remarked admiringly to Jim, as they watched
+the back of the tall figure.
+
+"He sure is an honor to the game," returned Jim. "Here's hoping that
+he'll soon be on deck again."
+
+The next day the New York papers were full of the story of the game.
+There was a general feeling of jubilation over the auspicious start
+by the Giants, a feeling that was the more pronounced, because of
+the feeling that had previously prevailed that Hughson's continued
+disability would be a serious handicap to the chances of again winning
+the pennant.
+
+One great subject dwelt upon in all the accounts was the marvelous
+pitching that Joe had shown. The sporting reporters "spread themselves"
+on the way he had held the Bostons in the hollow of his hand. To allow
+only two hits in the opening game, and one of them a scratch, was a
+feat that they dwelt upon at length.
+
+But scarcely less space was devoted to his batting. Although it was
+recalled that in the previous year he had had a creditable average at
+the bat, considering that he was a pitcher, his power as a twirler had
+kept his other qualities in the shade. Comment was made on the perfect
+way he had timed the ball and of the fact that his homer had gone
+nearly to the end of the grounds almost on a straight line, a fact that
+attested the tremendous power behind the hit. One of the papers headed
+its article: "Is There to Be a New Batting King?" and went on to say
+among other things:
+
+    "It is an extraordinary thing to pitch a two-hit game at the
+    beginning of the season. But it is still more extraordinary
+    that, despite the strain on the muscles and nerves of the
+    pitcher who achieves that distinction, he should also have a
+    perfect batting average for the day. That is what occurred
+    yesterday. In four times at the bat he was passed twice and
+    the other times poled out a triple and a home run. And this
+    was done against heady and effective pitching, for Albaugh has
+    seldom showed better form than in yesterday's game.
+
+    "One might have thought that with this record Matson would
+    have called it a day and let it go at that. But he was still
+    not satisfied. In the ninth, with two men out and two strikes
+    called on Mylert, he put the game on ice by stealing home from
+    third--as unexpected and dazzling a play as we shall probably
+    be fortunate enough to see this year. It was the climax of a
+    wonderful game.
+
+    "McRae never made a shrewder deal than when he secured this
+    phenomenal pitcher from St. Louis. We said this last year, when
+    Matson's great pitching disposed of Chicago's chances for the
+    pennant. We said it again when in the World Series he bore the
+    heft of the pitcher's burden and made his team champions of
+    the world. But a true thing will bear repeating twice or even
+    thrice, and so we say it now with added emphasis."
+
+All of the comment was in the same laudatory strain, although in
+reference to his batting, one paper cautioned its readers that not too
+much importance was to be attached to that. It was probably one of
+Matson's good days, and one swallow did not make a summer. But whether
+he kept up his remarkable batting or not, the New York public would ask
+nothing more of him than to keep up his magnificent work in the box.
+
+Joe would not have been human if he had not enjoyed the praise that was
+showered upon him in the columns that he and Jim read with interest the
+next morning. It was pleasant to know that his work was appreciated.
+But he was far too sensible to be unduly elated or to get a "swelled
+head" in consequence. He knew how quickly a popular idol could be
+dethroned, and he did not want the public to set up an ideal that he
+could not live up to.
+
+It was for that reason that he read with especial approval the article
+that warned against expecting him to be a batting phenomenon because of
+his performance of yesterday.
+
+"That fellow's got it right," he remarked to Jim, as he pointed to the
+paragraph in question. "I just had luck yesterday in straightening out
+Albaugh's slants. Another time and I might be as helpless as a baby."
+
+"Luck, nothing!" replied Jim, who had no patience with Joe's depreciation
+of himself. "There was nothing fluky about those hits. You timed them
+perfectly and soaked the ball right on the nose. And look at the way
+you've been lining them out in training this spring. Wake up, man.
+You're not only the king of pitchers, but you've got it in you to
+become the king of sluggers."
+
+"Oh, quit your kidding," protested Joe.
+
+"I'm not kidding," Jim affirmed earnestly. "It's the solemn truth.
+You'll win many a game this year not only by your pitching but by your
+batting too. Just put a pin in that."
+
+At this moment a bellboy tapped at the door, and being told to come in,
+handed Joe two telegrams. He tore them open in haste. The first was
+from Reggie and read:
+
+    "Keep it up, old top. Simply ripping, don't you know."
+
+Joe laughed and passed it on to Jim.
+
+"Sounds just like the old boy, doesn't it?" he commented.
+
+The second one was from Mabel:
+
+    "So proud of you, Joe. Not surprised though. Best love. Am
+    writing."
+
+Jim did not see this one, but it went promptly into that one of Joe's
+pockets that was nearest his heart, the same one that carried the
+little glove of Mabel's that had been his inspiration in all his
+victorious baseball campaigns.
+
+After a hearty breakfast, the chums went out for a stroll. Neither
+was slated to pitch for that day, and they had no immediate weight of
+responsibility on their minds. Markwith, the left-handed twirler of the
+Giants, would do the box work that day unless McRae altered his plans.
+
+"Hope Red puts it over the Braves to-day the way you did yesterday,"
+remarked Jim, as they sauntered along.
+
+"I hope so," echoed Joe. "The old boy seems to be in good shape, and
+they've usually had trouble in hitting him. They'll be out for blood
+though, and if they put in Belden against him it ought to be a pretty
+battle. Markwith beat him the last time he was pitted against him, but
+only by a hair."
+
+It was a glorious spring morning, and as they had plenty of time they
+prolonged their walk far up on the west side of the city. As they were
+approaching a corner, they saw a rather shabbily dressed man slouching
+toward them.
+
+Jim gave him a casual glance, and then clutched Joe by the arm.
+
+"Look who's coming, Joe!" he exclaimed. "It's Bugs Hartley!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+AN OLD ENEMY
+
+
+Baseball Joe started as he looked at the man more closely.
+
+"Bugs Hartley!" he ejaculated. "I thought we'd seen the last of that
+fellow. I imagined that by this time he'd be in jail or in a lunatic
+asylum."
+
+"He'll get there some time likely enough," replied Jim. "But just now
+he's here. That's Bugs as sure as shooting."
+
+It was evident that the man had recognized them also, for he stopped
+suddenly, as though debating whether to advance or retreat. He decided
+on the former course, and with an air of bravado came toward them. Joe
+and Jim would have passed him without speaking, but he planted himself
+squarely in their path, a malignant look glowing in his bleary eyes.
+
+"So here you are again," he snarled, addressing himself to Joe.
+
+"Sure thing," answered Joe coolly. "You see me, don't you?"
+
+"I see you all right," replied Hartley, as his eye took in Joe's
+well-dressed form. "All dolled up too. The man who took the bread and
+butter out of my mouth. Oh, I see you all right, worse luck."
+
+Bugs Hartley had been a well known character in baseball for some
+years. He had gained his nickname from his erratic habits. He had never
+been any too strong mentally, and his addiction to liquor had still
+further contributed to throw him off his balance. But he had been a
+remarkable pitcher, with a throwing arm that made up for some of his
+mental deficiencies, and had played in several major league clubs. For
+some years he had been a member of the Giants, and was still a member
+when Joe joined the team. His vicious habits and utter failure to obey
+the rules of discipline had made him a thorn in his manager's side, but
+McRae had tolerated him because of his unusual skill in the box.
+
+Joe had felt sorry for the man, and had done all he could to help him
+along. Once he had found him wandering intoxicated in the streets
+on the eve of an important game, and had got him off quietly to bed
+so as to hide the matter from McRae. But there was no gratitude in
+Hartley's disposition, and besides he was consumed with envy at seeing
+Joe's rapid progress in his profession, while he himself, owing to his
+dissipation, was going backward.
+
+On one occasion, he had tried to queer Joe by doping his coffee just
+before the latter was scheduled to pitch in a game with Philadelphia.
+His hatred was increased when, after being knocked out of the box
+during a game, Joe had taken his place and won out. McRae at last lost
+patience with him and gave him his walking papers. Hartley's twisted
+brain attributed this to Joe, though as a matter of fact Joe had asked
+McRae to give Bugs another chance.
+
+Hartley's reputation was so bad as a man and it was so generally
+understood that he was through as a pitcher that no other club cared to
+engage him. This increased his bitterness against the supposed author
+of his misfortunes. On one occasion he had tried to injure Joe in a
+dark street by hurling a jagged bolt of iron at his head, and the only
+thing that saved Baseball Joe was that at the moment he had stooped to
+adjust his shoelace. At that time Joe might have handed him over to the
+police, but instead he let him go with a warning. Now he had again met
+this dangerous semi-lunatic in the streets of New York.
+
+"Now look here, Bugs," said Joe quietly and decidedly. "I'm just about
+tired of that kind of talk. I've done everything I could for you, and
+in return you've doped me and otherwise tried to hurt me. You've been
+your own worst enemy. I'm sorry if you're hard up, and if you need
+money I'll give it to you. But I want you to keep away from me, and if
+there's any more funny business you won't get off as easily as you did
+last time."
+
+"I don't want your money," snapped Bugs. "I'm after you, and I'll get
+you yet."
+
+"I don't think you'd better try it. It won't get you anywhere, except
+perhaps in jail."
+
+"There's ways of doing it," growled Hartley. "Ways that you ain't
+dreamin' of."
+
+A sudden thought struck Joe.
+
+"Do you mean anonymous letters?" he asked, looking keenly into
+Hartley's eyes.
+
+"Anon-non--what do you mean?" the man asked sullenly. He was an
+illiterate man and had probably never heard the word before.
+
+"Letters without any name signed to them," persisted Joe.
+
+"Aw! what are you giving me?" snapped Hartley. "I don't know what
+you're talking about."
+
+His mystification was so genuine that Joe knew that his shot, fired at
+random, had missed the mark. He could eliminate Hartley at once as a
+possible author of the anonymous letter Mabel had received.
+
+"Never mind," said Joe. "Now one last word, Bugs. Twice you've tried to
+do me up and twice you've failed. Don't let it happen a third time. It
+will be three strikes and out for you if you do."
+
+He made a move to pass on. Hartley seemed for a moment as though he
+would bar the way, but the steely look in Joe's eyes made him think
+better of it. With a muttered imprecation he stepped aside, and the two
+friends moved on.
+
+"A bad egg," remarked Jim, as they walked along.
+
+"I don't know whether he's just bad or is mad," replied Joe regretfully.
+"A combination of both I suppose. He's got the fixed idea that I've
+done him a wrong of some kind and his poor brain hasn't room for
+anything else. It's too bad to see a man that was once a great pitcher
+go to the dogs the way he has. I suppose he picks up a few dollars now
+and then by pitching for semi-professional teams. But most of that I
+suppose is dissipated."
+
+"Well, you want to keep on your guard against him, Joe," warned Jim, in
+some anxiety. "A crazy man makes a dangerous enemy."
+
+"Oh, I don't think there's any need of worrying about Bugs," rejoined
+Joe carelessly. "The chances are ten to one we'll never run across him
+again."
+
+The encounter had rather spoiled their morning, and they hailed a
+taxicab to take them back to their hotel. There they had lunch and then
+rode up to the Polo Grounds for the game.
+
+As Joe had predicted, the Bostons that afternoon were out for blood
+and they evened up the score. Markwith pitched a good game except for
+one bad inning when he lost control, and hits, sandwiched in with
+passes and a wild pitch, let in three runs. He braced up after that,
+but it was too late, and the Giants had to take the little end of the
+score.
+
+In the next two weeks the Giants met the rest of the Eastern teams,
+and, taking it as a whole, the result was satisfactory. They had no
+trouble in taking the Phillies into camp, for that once great team had
+been shot to pieces. The majority of the Boston games also went to the
+Giants' credit. They met a snag, however, in Brooklyn, and the team
+from over the bridge took four games out of six from their Manhattan
+rivals. But then the Brooklyns always had been a hoodoo for the Giants,
+and in this season, as in many others, they lived up to the tradition.
+
+Still the Giants wound up their first Eastern series with a percentage
+of 610, which was respectable if not brilliant. But now their real test
+was coming. They were about to make their first invasion of the West,
+where the teams were much stronger than those of the East. Cincinnati
+was going strong under the great leader who had once piloted the
+Phillies to a championship. Chicago was quite as formidable as in the
+year before, when the Giants had just nosed them out at the finish.
+St. Louis, though perhaps the least to be feared, was developing
+sluggers that would put the Giants' pitchers on their mettle. But most
+of all to be feared was Pittsburgh, which had been going through the
+rest of the Western teams like a prairie fire.
+
+"Pittsburgh's the enemy," McRae told his men, and Robbie agreed with
+him. "Beat those birds and you'll cop the flag!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+THREE IN A ROW
+
+
+The first jump of the team was to Cincinnati, and there they found
+their work cut out for them. The Reds had just lost three out of four
+to Pittsburgh, and they had got such a talking to from their manager,
+from the fans, and from the press of the city that they knew they had
+to do something to redeem themselves. They knew that if they could hold
+the Giants even, it would be something; if they could take three out of
+four they would be forgiven; while if they could make a clean sweep of
+the series they would "own the town."
+
+It was a singular thing what delight all the Western teams, and for
+that matter all the teams of the League, took in beating the Giants. A
+victory over them, of course, did not count any more in the final score
+than a victory over one of the tailenders; but there was a fiendish
+satisfaction in taking the scalps of the team from the "Big Town." So
+that the managers always saved their best pitchers for the games with
+the Giants, while they took a chance with their second string pitchers
+against the other teams. This of course was a compliment; but it was a
+compliment that the Giants did not especially appreciate, for it made
+their task harder than that of any other team in the League.
+
+So when the Giants learned that Dutch Rutter was to try his prowess
+against them in the opening game, they were not surprised. Rutter was
+a left-hander who had made a phenomenal record the preceding year, and
+he had been especially rested up and groomed with the Giant series in
+view. Meran, the manager, had figured that if he could win the first
+game with Rutter he could come back with him in the fourth, and thus
+have at least a chance of getting an even break on the series.
+
+But McRae, anticipating such a move, had so arranged his own selection
+of pitchers that Joe was in line for the first game, and he was not
+afraid to pit his "ace" against the star boxman of the Cincinnatis.
+
+His confidence was justified, for Baseball Joe won out after a
+gruelling struggle. In Rutter he had found an opponent worthy of his
+steel. For six innings neither team broke into the run column. Rutter
+had superb control for a left-hander, and he showed a most dazzling
+assortment of curves and slants. But Joe came back at him with the
+same brand of pitching that he had shown in the opening game, and the
+Cincinnati batsmen were turned back from the plate bewildered and
+disgruntled. In vain their manager raved and stormed.
+
+"Why don't you hit him?" he asked of his star slugger, as the latter
+came back to the bench, after having been called out on strikes.
+
+"Hit him!" Duncan came back at him. "What chance have I got of hitting
+him, when I can't even hit the ball he pitches?"
+
+Still the Giants had a scare thrown into them when in the ninth
+inning, by a succession of fumbles and wild throws, the Cincinnatis
+had three men on bases and none out. As they themselves had only one
+run, scored in the seventh inning by a three base hit by Joe, aided by
+a clean single by Mylert, the chances looked exceedingly good that the
+Cincinnatis might tie the score or win the game. A clean single would
+have brought in one run and probably two.
+
+But Baseball Joe was always at his best when most depended on him.
+While the coachers tried to rattle him and the crowds frantically
+adjured Thompson, who was at the bat, to bring the men on bases in to
+the plate, Joe was as cool as a cucumber.
+
+He threw a swift high one to Thompson which the latter missed by three
+inches. Mylert threw the ball back to Joe, who stopped it with his
+foot and stooped as though to adjust his shoe lace. He fumbled an
+instant with the lace, and then suddenly picking up the ball hurled it
+to second like a shot. Emden, who was taking a long lead off the base,
+tried to scramble back, but Denton had the ball on him like a flash.
+Mellen who was on third made a bolt for the plate, but Denton shot the
+ball to Mylert, and Mellen was run down between third and home. While
+this was going on, Gallagher had taken second, and profiting by the
+running down of Mellen, kept on half way to third. He did not dare go
+all the way to third, because Mellen still had a chance to get back
+to that base. But the instant Mellen was touched out, Joe, who had
+taken part in running him down, shot the ball to Willis at third and
+Gallagher was caught between the second and third bags. Three men were
+out, the game was over, and the Giants had begun their Western invasion
+with a 1 to 0 victory.
+
+[Illustration: SUDDENLY PICKING UP THE BALL HE HURLED IT TO SECOND.]
+
+Joe's quick thinking had cleared the bags in a twinkling. It had all
+come so suddenly that the crowd was dumbfounded. Meran, the Cincinnati
+manager, sat on the bench with his mouth open like a man in a daze. His
+men were equally "flabbergasted." Thompson still stood at the plate
+with his bat in hand. It seemed to him that a bunco game had been
+played on him, and he was still trying to fathom it.
+
+Then at last the crowd woke up. They hated to see the home team lose,
+but they could not restrain their meed of admiration and applause. The
+stands fairly rocked with cheering. They had seen a play that they
+could talk about all their lives, one that happens perhaps once in a
+generation, one that they would probably never see again.
+
+McRae and Robbie for a moment acted like men in a trance. Over Robbie's
+rubicund face chased all the colors of the chameleon. It almost seemed
+as though he might have a stroke of apoplexy. Then at last he turned to
+McRae and smote him mightily on the knees.
+
+"Did you see it, John?" he roared. "Did you see it?"
+
+"I saw it," answered McRae. "But for the love of Pete, Robbie, keep
+that pile driver off my knees. Yes, I saw it, and I don't mind saying
+that I never saw anything like it in my thirty years of baseball. I
+have to pinch myself to make sure I'm not dreaming."
+
+"A miracle man, that's what he is!" ejaculated Robbie. "That wing of
+his is wonderful, but it's the head on him that tops any other in the
+league. He wasn't behind the door when brains were given out."
+
+Meran, the Cincinnati manager, who was a good sport, after he had
+recovered from his astonishment, came over to the Giants' bench and
+shook hands with McRae and Robson.
+
+"It was a hard game to lose, John," he said to the Giants' manager. "I
+thought we had it sewed up in the ninth. But there's no use bucking
+against that pitcher of yours. I'm only glad that you can't pitch him
+in all your games."
+
+Joe, flushed and smiling, was overwhelmed with congratulations, but he
+made light of his feat, as was his custom.
+
+"It was simple enough," he protested. "I had the luck to catch Emden
+off second and the boys did all the rest."
+
+"Simple enough," mimicked Jim. "Oh, yes, it was simple enough. That's
+the reason it happens every day of the week."
+
+It was a good beginning, but the old proverb that "a good beginning
+makes a bad ending" was illustrated in this Western tour. For some
+reason most of the Giant pitchers could not "get going." Jim pulled out
+a victory in the Cincinnati series, but Markwith lost his game, and
+Hughson, who tried to pitch one of the games, found that he was not yet
+in shape.
+
+That series ended two and two. In Chicago the Giants had to be content
+with only one victory out of the series. They hoped to make up for this
+in St. Louis. But they found that the fame of "Murderers' Row" had
+not been exaggerated, and there was a perfect rain of hits from the
+Cardinals' bats that took two games out of three, the fourth that had
+been scheduled being held up by rain.
+
+When the team swung around to Pittsburgh, there were some added
+wrinkles between McRae's brows.
+
+"If we can only break even with Cincinnati and get the little end of
+it in Chicago and St. Louis, what will Pittsburgh do to us?" he asked
+Robbie, with a groan.
+
+"What Pittsburgh will do to us, John," replied Robbie soberly, "is a
+sin and a shame!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+RIGHT FROM THE SHOULDER
+
+
+The Smoky City was all agog over the games. It had won championships
+before, but that was in the days of Fred Clarke and Honus Wagner and
+other fence breakers. It had been a good many years since it had seen a
+pennant floating over Forbes Field, and old-timers were wont to shake
+their heads sadly and say they never would see it again.
+
+But this year the "dope" pointed in the right direction. The management
+of the team had strengthened the weak point in the infield by a winter
+trade that had brought to them "Rabbit" Baskerville, the crackerjack
+shortstop of the Braves. The benefit of the change had been manifested
+in the spring practice when the Rabbit had put new pep and ginger
+in the team. And in the regular games so far they had had little
+difficulty in winning a large majority from their rivals. How they
+would hold out against the Giants was the problem that yet remained
+to be solved. But unless the Giants showed a decided reversal from the
+form in which they had been playing recently, it would not be so very
+hard to take them also into camp.
+
+The Giants themselves felt none too much confidence, as they prepared
+for this important series. One bit of luck came to them, however, in
+the return at this juncture of Larry Barrett to the team. He had been
+down with an attack of intermittent fever that had kept him out of part
+of the spring practice and had prevented him thus far from playing in
+any of the regular games. But on the team's arrival in Pittsburgh, they
+found Barrett waiting for them, looking a little lighter than usual,
+but declaring himself in excellent condition and fit to play the game
+of his life.
+
+The previous year he had guarded the keystone bag, and by general
+consent was regarded as the best second baseman in the League. His
+batting too was a powerful asset to the team, as season after season he
+ranked among the .300 hitters. Apart from his superb playing at bat and
+in the field, he also helped to keep the boys in good spirits. His wit
+and love of fun had gained him the nickname of "Laughing Larry," and no
+team of which Larry was a member could stay long in the doleful dumps.
+
+His coming made necessary a change in the team. Allen, who had not
+made a success in playing the "sun field," was benched, and Denton,
+whose batting could not be spared, was shifted to right field in his
+place, while Larry resumed his old position at second.
+
+On the morning of the day of the first game, McRae called his players
+together for a few words of counsel. At least he called it counsel. The
+players were apt to refer to it as roasting.
+
+"I've been thinking," he said, "that I've got the greatest collection
+of false alarms of any manager in either of the big leagues."
+
+This was not an especially encouraging beginning, but each of the men
+tried to look as though the manager could not by any possibility be
+referring to him. Some of them hoped that he would not descend from
+generalities to particulars.
+
+The manager's keen eyes ranged around the circle as though looking for
+contradiction. There was a silence as of the tomb.
+
+"You fellows haven't been playing baseball," he went on. "You've been
+playing hooky. Look at the way you've let the other teams walk over
+you. The Chicagos took three out of four from you. The Cardinals
+grabbed two out of three, and it's only the mercy of heaven that rain
+kept them from copping another. Look at the way you've been batting.
+Every team in the League except the Phillies has a better average.
+You've got enough beef about you to knock the ball out of the lot, and
+you've been doing fungo hitting, knocking up pop flies. What in the
+name of seven spittin' cats do you mean by it? Every time you collect
+your salaries you ought to be arrested for getting money on false
+pretenses."
+
+He paused for a moment, and some of the more hopeful players thought
+that perhaps he was through. But he was only getting his breath. He
+faced them scornfully.
+
+"Giants!" he exclaimed with sarcasm. "Giants you call yourselves. Get
+wise to yourselves. If you're Giants, I'm a Chinaman. It's dwarfs you
+are, pygmies. Now I want you boobs to get one thing into your heads.
+Get it straight. You've got to win this series from Pittsburgh. Do you
+get me? You've got to! If you don't, I'll disband the whole team and
+start getting another one from the old ladies' home."
+
+Much more he said to the same effect, with the result that when the
+men, with heightened color and nerves rasped by his caustic tongue
+lashing, left the clubhouse, they were in red-hot fighting mood.
+Pygmies were they? Well, on the ball field they'd prove to McRae that
+he didn't know what he was talking about.
+
+An immense crowd was present that filled Forbes Field to capacity when
+the bell rang for the beginning of the game. Joe had pitched only two
+days before, and McRae decided to send Markwith into the box.
+
+In the first inning, Dawley, the Pittsburgh pitcher, found it hard to
+locate the plate, and Curry was passed to first. On the hit and run
+play, Iredell popped to the pitcher, and Curry had all he could do to
+get back to first. Burkett lined a clean hit over the second baseman's
+head, but by sharp fielding Curry was kept from going beyond the middle
+bag. On the next ball pitched, Curry tried to steal third but was
+thrown out. Burkett in the meantime had got to second, but he was left
+there when Wheeler sent a long fly to center that Ralston captured
+after a hard run.
+
+The Pittsburghs were not long in proving that they had their batting
+clothes on. Ralston landed on the first ball that Markwith sent up for
+a home run. The crowd chortled with glee, and the Giants and the few
+supporters they had in the stands were correspondingly glum. The blow
+seemed to shake Markwith's nerve, and the next batter was passed. Bemis
+sent a sizzling grounder to Iredell and it bounced off his glove, the
+batter reaching first and Baskerville taking second on the play. Astley
+dribbled a slow one to Markwith, who turned to throw to third, but
+finding that Baskerville was sure of making the bag, turned and threw
+high to Burkett at first. The tall first baseman leaped high in the air
+and knocked it down, but not in time to get his man. With the bases
+full Brown slapped a two bagger to center that cleared the bases, three
+men galloping over the plate in succession.
+
+It was evidently not Markwith's day, and McRae beckoned him to come
+in to the bench while the crowd jeered the visitors and cheered their
+own favorites. Poor Markwith looked disconsolate enough, and after a
+moment's conference with McRae, which he was not anxious to prolong, he
+meandered over the field to the showers.
+
+"Bring on the next victim!" taunted some of the spectators. "All
+pitchers look alike to us to-day. Next dead one to the front."
+
+McRae held a brief consultation with Robbie, and then nodded to Jim.
+
+"Go to it, Jim," encouraged Joe. "I'm rooting for you, old man. Pull
+some of the feathers out of those birds. It's a tough job bucking
+against a four run lead, but you're the boy to do it."
+
+"I'll do my best," answered Jim, as he put on his glove and went into
+the box.
+
+It was the cue for the crowd to try to rattle him. The coachers began
+chattering like a lot of magpies, and the man on second began to dance
+about the bag and shout to Garrity, the next batsman, to bring him in.
+
+Jim sent one over the plate that cut it in half, but the batsman had
+orders to wait him out, under the supposition that he would be wild.
+So he let the second one go by also.
+
+"Strike two!" called the umpire.
+
+Garrity braced. This was getting serious. This time Jim resorted to a
+fadeaway that Garrity swung at with all his might. But the ball eluded
+him and dropped into Mylert's mitt.
+
+"You're out!" snapped the umpire, waving him away from the plate.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+JIM'S WINNING WAYS
+
+
+"Good boy, Jim!" cried Joe, as his chum came in to the bench. "You put
+the Indian sign on that fellow all right. Just hold them down and trust
+to the boys to bat in some runs to even up the score."
+
+But if the boys had any such intentions they certainly took their time
+about it. Larry, to be sure, poled out a long hit to right that had all
+the signs of a homer, but Astley backed up and fairly picked it off the
+wall. Denton cracked out a single between first and second. Jim hit
+sharply to third, and O'Connor by a superb stop got the ball to first
+in time, Denton in the meantime reaching second. Mylert swung savagely
+at the ball, but it went up straight in the air and Dawley gathered it
+in.
+
+In their half of the second, the Pittsburghs increased their lead to
+five. O'Connor struck out on the first three balls pitched, but Jenkins
+caught the ball on the nose for a single to center. Curry thought he
+had a chance to make a catch, and ran in for it, instead of waiting for
+it on a bound. By this mistake of judgment the ball got past him, and
+before it could be retrieved Jenkins by fast running had crossed the
+plate. Dawley was easy on a bounder to Willis, and Ralston, in trying
+to duck away from a high incurve, struck the ball with his bat and sent
+it rolling to Burkett for an out.
+
+"Not much nourishment for us in that inning," muttered McRae, as he
+watched the man chalking up another run for Pittsburgh on the big
+scoreboard at the side of the field.
+
+"No," agreed Robbie. "But you'll notice that the run wasn't earned.
+If that hit had been played right, Jenkins would have been held for a
+single."
+
+"Give them a row of goose eggs, Dawley," was the advice shouted to the
+Pittsburgh pitcher, as he stepped into the box.
+
+Dawley grinned with supreme confidence. And for the third and fourth
+inning his confidence seemed justified. The ball came zipping over the
+plate with all sorts of twists and contortions, and the Giants seemed
+helpless before him. They either struck out or put up feeble flies
+and fouls that were easily gathered up. Only one hit went outside the
+diamond and that plumped square into the hands of the waiting center
+fielder.
+
+But in the meantime, the Pittsburghs were getting a little uneasy
+about the kind of pitching that Jim was sending across. His fast ball
+went so swiftly that the eye could scarcely follow it. He had perfect
+control, and the "hop" on the ball just before it got to the plate
+was working to perfection. The way he worked the corners of the plate
+was a revelation. And in the fourth inning, when he struck out the
+side on nine pitched balls, a ripple of applause was forced from the
+spectators, despite their desire to see the home team win.
+
+"You're going like a house afire, old man," exclaimed Joe, as the
+Giants came in for their turn.
+
+"That's what he is," agreed Robbie, who had overheard the remark. "But
+it won't do any good unless our boys wake up and do something with
+their bats. That five run lead is bad medicine."
+
+It did not look any better to the Giants than it did to Robbie, and
+in the fifth inning they began to come to life. Dawley, for the first
+time, seemed to be a little shaky in his control. He passed Iredell
+and then tried to fool Burkett on a slow ball. But the latter timed
+it exactly and poled it out between left and center for a beautiful
+three-bagger. Iredell scored easily and a roar went up from the men in
+the Giants' dugout as he crossed the plate.
+
+"Here's where we start a rally, boys!" cried Robbie. "Every man on his
+toes now. Here's where we send this pitcher to the showers."
+
+Wheeler went to the plate with directions to sacrifice, which he did
+neatly by sending a slow roller to first, on which Burkett scored.
+Willis clipped out a liner to right, which was really only good for a
+single, but in trying to stretch it to a two baser he fell a victim at
+second. Then Larry came to the bat.
+
+"Show them that your layoff hasn't hurt your batting eye, Larry," sang
+out McRae.
+
+The first ball was wide, and Larry held his bat motionless. On the
+second offering he fouled off. The third was about waist high, and
+Larry swung at it. The ball soared off to right field and landed in the
+bleachers. It was a clean home run and Larry trotted easily around the
+bases, a broad grin on his good-natured Irish face.
+
+"We're finding him!" shouted McRae. "We've got him going! Now, Denton,
+put another one in the same place."
+
+Denton did his best, but it was not good enough. Dawley had tightened
+up and was sending the ball over the plate as though thrown from a
+catapult. Two strikes were called on Denton, and then he put up a fly
+just back of second which Baskerville caught in good style.
+
+The inning was over, but the Giants felt better. There was a big
+difference between five to none and five to three. Besides, they had
+learned that Dawley could be hit.
+
+"Keep them down, Jim, and we'll put you in the lead next inning,"
+prophesied Larry, as he passed him on his way out to second.
+
+Jim proceeded at once to keep them down. He had never been in better
+form. The three runs that his mates had scored had put new heart in him
+and he made the Pittsburghs "eat out of his hand." They simply could
+not get going against him.
+
+His sharp breaking curve had their best batters completely at sea. They
+were swinging in bewilderment at balls that they could not reach. For
+the next three innings not a man reached first base and in the eighth
+inning he mowed them down on strikes as fast as they came to the plate.
+
+"Oh, if we'd only started the game with him!" groaned McRae, as the
+eighth inning ended with the score unchanged.
+
+For in the meantime Larry's prophecy had not been fulfilled that the
+Giant batsmen would gain the lead. They had been hitting more freely
+than in the early part of the game, but had been batting in hard luck.
+Every ball they hit seemed to go straight to some fielder, and the
+Pittsburghs were giving their pitcher magnificent support. There was
+one gleam of hope in the eighth, when with two men out, a Giant was
+roosting on second and another on third. But hope went glimmering when
+Burkett's hoist to center was easily gathered in by Ralston.
+
+"We can win yet," crowed Robbie, with a confidence he was far from
+feeling, as the Giants entered on their last inning. "There's many a
+game been won in the ninth. Go in now and knock him out of the box."
+
+Wheeler started in with a single that just escaped the outstretched
+hands of Baskerville. McRae himself ran down to first to coach him.
+Willis followed with another single on which Wheeler went all the way
+to third. It looked as though the long-hoped for rally had at last
+commenced.
+
+But a groan went up from the Giant dugout when Willis, on the next ball
+pitched, started for second and was nailed by three feet. Still Larry
+was next at bat, and his comrades, remembering his last home run, urged
+him to repeat.
+
+Larry was only too eager to do so, and on the second ball pitched
+laced it to right field for what looked to be a homer but went foul by
+a few feet only. The next was a missed strike. Two balls followed in
+quick succession and then, with the count three to two, slapped out a
+rattling two-bagger to center. Wheeler scored and the tally was five to
+four in Pittsburgh's favor.
+
+Then to Joe's surprise McRae beckoned him from the dugout.
+
+"What's the big idea?" Joe asked, as he came up to his manager.
+
+"I'm going to put you in as a pinch hitter," answered McRae. "I'd
+rather take a chance on you than Denton. Get in there now and knock the
+cover off the ball."
+
+There was a gasp of surprise from the stands. In their experience
+it was usually a pitcher who was taken out to make room for a pinch
+hitter. It was almost unheard of that the procedure should be reversed.
+To them it seemed a sign that McRae was at the end of his rope, and
+there were catcalls and shouts of derision as Joe came to the plate.
+And these redoubled in volume as he missed the first ball that Dawley
+sent over.
+
+"What did I tell you, boys?"
+
+"Nit, on that!"
+
+"Matson is all right as a pitcher, but as a batter, nothing doing."
+
+"Give him two more like that, Dawley!"
+
+"Take your time, Joe!"
+
+"Make him give you the kind you want!"
+
+"Here is where Pittsburgh chews the Giants up!"
+
+"Maybe you can do it somewhere else, but you can't do it here!"
+
+"One, two, three, Dawley, remember."
+
+So the calls ran on as Joe waited for the pitcher to deliver the sphere
+again.
+
+The Pittsburgh rooters thought they had Joe's "goat" and they were
+prepared to make the most of it. They began a chorus of yells and
+groans that grew louder and louder.
+
+They stopped suddenly as Joe caught the next ball about a foot from the
+end of his bat. There was a mighty crack and the ball soared up and up
+into the sky over right field. The fielders started to run for it and
+then stopped short in their tracks, throwing up their hands in despair.
+The ball cleared the bleachers, cleared the wall, and went through the
+window of a house on the other side of the street.
+
+Joe had started running like a deer at the crack of the bat, but as he
+rounded first McRae shouted at him to take his time, and he completed
+the rest of his journey at a jog trot, Larry of course having preceded
+him. There was a wild jubilee at the plate. Robbie threw dignity to the
+winds and danced a jig, and Joe was sore from the thumping of his mates.
+
+"The longest hit that's ever been made on Forbes Field!" cried Larry
+exultingly.
+
+"Old Honus Wagner in his best days never made such a clout," joined in
+Jim. "Joe, old boy, you've saved the game."
+
+"It isn't over yet," cautioned Joe smilingly; "but if you keep up
+the same brand of pitching you've been showing us, they won't have a
+Chinaman's chance."
+
+The next two batters were easy outs and the Giants' half was over. The
+Pittsburghs came in for their last chance, determined to do or die. It
+was exasperating for them to have the game snatched from them when they
+were just about to put it on their side of the ledger. But Jim put out
+the first one on a puny fly and sent the last two back to the bench by
+the strike-out route--and the game was over.
+
+In their first clash with the redoubtable Pittsburghs, the Giants had
+won by six to five!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+A BREAK IN THE LUCK
+
+
+It was a highly elated crowd of Giants that chattered away excitedly in
+the clubhouse after the finish of the game. Jim and Joe came in for the
+major share of the honors, the first because of his superb pitching and
+the latter for the glorious home run that had clinched the victory.
+
+"Some pitching, Barclay," said Hughson, clapping Jim on the shoulder.
+"Do you realize that only thirty-two batters faced you and that eleven
+of them went out on strikes? That's what I call twirling."
+
+"It'll take some of the chestiness out of these Pirates," laughed
+Larry. "They thought we were going to be as easy meat for them as the
+rest of the teams. And, begorra, it looked as though we would from the
+way the game started."
+
+"You did your share all right, Larry," replied Jim. "That home run of
+yours was a beauty. And that two-bagger was no slouch."
+
+"But that clout of Joe's was the real cheese," said Denton generously.
+"Gee, Joe, I was a little sore when McRae put you in to take my turn
+at bat. But when I saw that old apple clear the fence I knew that the
+old man had the right dope. I haven't made a hit like that since I've
+been in the game."
+
+"Who has?" queried Curry. "I'll bet it comes pretty close to being a
+record. If that house hadn't been in the way the ball would be going
+yet."
+
+"Don't forget, Joe, that you'll have to pay for that broken window,"
+laughed Wheeler.
+
+"I guess McRae would pay for a hundred broken windows and never say a
+word," chuckled Iredell.
+
+He would have been still more sure of this had he been able to see
+McRae's face at that moment and overheard what he was saying to Robson.
+
+"You've had a real bit of luck to-day, John," the latter had remarked,
+his broad face radiant with satisfaction. "You've discovered that you
+have another first string pitcher. That work of young Barclay was
+simply marvelous."
+
+"You said it, Robbie," agreed McRae. "It was a rough deal to give a
+young pitcher the job of beating the Pittsburghs after they had a four
+run lead. But he stood the gaff and came through all right. From this
+time on he'll take his regular turn in the box. But it isn't that that
+pleases me most in this day's work."
+
+"What is it then?" asked Robbie.
+
+"It's the batting of Matson," replied McRae thoughtfully. "I've been in
+the game thirty years, and I've seen all the fence-breakers--Wagner,
+Delehanty, Brouthers, Lajoie, and all the rest of them. And I tell you
+now, Robbie, that he's the king of all of them. The way he stands at
+the plate, the way he holds his bat, the way he times his blow, the
+way he meets the ball--those are the things that mark out the natural
+batter. It's got to be born in a man. You can't teach it to him. All
+the weight of those great shoulders go into his stroke, and he makes a
+homer where another man would make a single or a double. Now mark what
+I'm telling you, Robbie, but keep it under your hat, for I don't want
+the kid to be getting a swelled head. In Baseball Joe Matson we've got
+not only the greatest pitcher in the game, but the hardest hitter in
+either league. And that goes."
+
+"Oh, come now, John," protested Robbie, "aren't you going a little too
+strong? The greatest pitcher, yes. I admit that. There's no one in
+sight now that can touch him, now that Hughson's laid up. And between
+you and me, John, I don't believe that even Hughson in his best days
+had anything on Matson. But when you speak of batting, how about Kid
+Rose of the Yankees?"
+
+"He's all to the good," admitted McRae. "He's got a wonderful record;
+the best record in fact of any man that has ever broken into the
+game. He topped the record for home runs last season, and by the way
+he's starting in this year he'll do it again. Up to now we haven't
+had anyone in the National League that could approach him. But I'm
+willing to bet right now that he never made so long a hit as Matson
+made this afternoon. Of course Rose has had more experience in batting
+than Matson, and for the last two or three years he's hardly done any
+pitching. But if I should take Matson out of the box right now and play
+him in the outfield every day, I'll bet that by the end of the season
+he'd be running neck and neck with Kid Rose and perhaps a wee bit ahead
+of him."
+
+"Well, maybe, John," agreed Robbie, though a little doubtfully. "But
+what's the use of talking about it? You know that we can't spare him
+from the box. He's our pitching ace."
+
+"I know that well enough," replied McRae. "But all the same I'm going
+to see that he has many a chance to win games for us by his batting as
+well as by his pitching. On the days he isn't pitching, I'll use him as
+a pinch hitter, as I did to-day. Then, too, when he is pitching, I'm
+going to make a change in the batting order. Instead of having him down
+at the end I'm going to put him fourth--in the cleanup position. If
+that old wallop of his doesn't bring in many a run I'll miss my guess."
+
+The very next day McRae had a chance to justify his theories. Hughson
+had told the manager that he thought he was in shape to pitch, and
+McRae, who had great faith in his judgment, told him to go in. The "Old
+Master," as he was affectionately called, used his head rather than his
+arm and by mixing up his slow ball with his fast one and resorting on
+occasion to his famous fadeaway, got by in a close game. In the sixth,
+Joe was called on as a pinch hitter, and came across with another
+homer, which, although not as long as that of the previous day, enabled
+him to reach the plate without sliding and bring in two runs ahead of
+him.
+
+Two homers in two consecutive days were not common enough to pass
+without notice, and the Pittsburgh sporting writers began to feature
+Joe in their headlines. There was a marked increase in the attendance
+on the third day when Joe was slated to pitch. On that day he "made
+monkeys" of the Pittsburgh batters, and on the two turns at bat when
+he was permitted to hit made a single and a three-bagger. In two other
+appearances at bat, the Pittsburgh pitcher deliberately passed him, at
+which even the Pittsburgh crowd expressed their displeasure by jeers.
+
+On the final day, Markwith was given a chance to redeem himself, and
+pitched an airtight game. But Hooper of the Pittsburghs was also at his
+best, and with the game tied in the ninth Joe again cracked out a homer
+to the right field bleachers, his third home run in four days!
+
+Markwith prevented further scoring by the enemy, and the game went into
+the Giants' winning column.
+
+"Four straight from the league leaders," McRae chuckled happily. "The
+break in the luck has come at last."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+A DELIGHTFUL SURPRISE
+
+
+"Well, we wound up the trip in a blaze of glory, anyway," remarked Jim
+to Baseball Joe, as they sat in the Pullman coach that was carrying
+them and the rest of the team back to New York.
+
+"Yes, and we just saved our bacon by doing it," replied Joe. "Those
+last four games gave us eight out of fifteen for the trip. Not so
+awfully bad for a team on a trip, and yet not good enough to win the
+championship. But even at that I guess McRae won't supplant us with a
+team from the old ladies' home," he added, with a laugh.
+
+"We've got a long series of games on the home grounds now," put in
+Larry, the optimist. "We'll show these other fellows how the game ought
+to be played. Just watch us climb."
+
+"Here's hoping you're right," chimed in Burkett. "A slice of the World
+Series money this year would look mighty good to me."
+
+"That's looking pretty far ahead," said Curry. "Still, if Joe keeps up
+the batting he's been showing us in Pittsburgh, I'll bet we cop the
+flag."
+
+"That may be just a flash in the pan," cautioned Joe. "I may have had
+just a few good days when everything broke just right for me. I'm a
+pitcher, not a batter."
+
+"Not a batter, eh?" remarked Larry, in feigned surprise. "How surprised
+Dawley and Hooper and the other Pittsburgh pitchers will be to hear
+that. They seemed to think you could pickle the pill all right."
+
+The players found the baseball circles of New York in a ferment of
+interest and excitement over the team. There had been considerable
+despondency over the poor showing of the Giants in the first three
+series they had played on the trip. But the four rattling victories
+they had gained over Pittsburgh had redeemed them in the minds of their
+followers, and hopes for the pennant had revived.
+
+But the one thing that obscured everything else was the tremendous
+batting that Joe had done in that last series. The sporting columns of
+the newspapers had headlines like: "The New Batting Star;" "A Rival
+to Kid Rose;" "Is There to Be a New Home-Run King?" and "The Colossus
+of Swat." Joe found his footsteps dogged by reporters eager to get
+interviews telling how he did it. Moving picture operators begged the
+privilege of taking him in all positions--as he gripped his bat--the
+way he stood at the plate--as he drew back for his swing. Illustrated
+weekly papers had full page pictures of him. Magazines offered him
+large sums for articles signed with his name. He found himself in the
+calcium light, holding the center of the stage, the focus of sporting
+interest and attention.
+
+Joe was, of course, pleased at the distinction he had won, and yet
+at the same time he was somewhat uneasy and bewildered. He was not
+especially irked at the attention he was attracting. That had already
+become an old story as to his pitching. He was hardened to reporters,
+to being pointed out in the streets, to having a table at which he
+happened to be dining in a restaurant or hotel become the magnet for
+all eyes while whispers went about as to who he was. That was one of
+the penalties of fame, and he had become used to it.
+
+But hitherto his reputation had been that of a great pitcher, and in
+his own heart he knew he could sustain it. The pitching box was his
+throne, and he knew he could make good. But he was somewhat nervous
+about the acclamations which greeted his batting feats. He was not at
+all sure that he could keep it up. He had never thought of himself as
+any more than an ordinary batter. He knew that as a pitcher he was not
+expected to do much batting, and so he had devoted most of his training
+to perfecting himself in the pitching art. Now he found himself
+suddenly placed on a pedestal as a Batting King. Suppose it were, as he
+himself had suggested, merely a flash in the pan. It would be rather
+humiliating after all this excitement to have the public find out that
+their new batting idol was only an idol of clay after all.
+
+He confided some of his apprehension to Jim, but his chum only laughed
+at him.
+
+"Don't worry a bit over that, old man," Jim reassured him. "I only wish
+I were as sure of getting a million dollars as I am that you've got the
+batting stuff in you. You've got the eye, you've got the shoulders,
+you've got the knack of putting all your weight into your blow. You're
+a natural born batter, and you've just waked up to it."
+
+"But this is only the beginning of the season," argued Joe. "The
+pitchers haven't yet got into their stride. By midsummer they'll be
+burning them over, and then more than likely I'll come a cropper."
+
+"Not a bit of it," Jim affirmed confidently. "You won't face better
+pitching anywhere than we stacked up against in Pittsburgh, and you
+made all those birds look like thirty cents. They had chills and fever
+every time you came to the bat."
+
+The matter was not long left in doubt. In the games that followed Joe
+speedily proved that the Pittsburgh outburst was not a fluke. Home runs
+rained from his bat in the games with the Brooklyns, the Bostons and
+the Phillies. And when the Western teams came on for their invasion
+of the East, they had to take the same medicine. All pitchers looked
+alike to him. Of course he had his off days when all he could get was
+a single, and sometimes not that. Once in a long while he went out on
+strikes, and the pitcher who was lucky or skilful enough to perform
+that feat hugged it to his breast as a triumph that would help him the
+next season in demanding a rise in salary. But these occasions were few
+and far between. The newspapers added a daily slab to their sporting
+page devoted to Joe's mounting home run record, giving the dates, the
+parks and the pitchers off whom they were made. And there was hardly
+a pitcher in the league whose scalp Joe had not added to his rapidly
+growing collection.
+
+In the business offices of the city, in restaurants, at all kinds of
+gathering places, the daily question changed. Formerly it had been:
+"Will the Giants win to-day?" Now it became: "Will Baseball Joe knock
+out another homer?"
+
+And the fever showed itself in the attendance at the Polo Grounds. Day
+by day the crowds grew denser. Soon they were having as many spectators
+at a single game as they had formerly looked for at a double-header.
+The money rolled into the ticket offices in a steady stream, and the
+owners and manager of the club wore the "smile that won't come off."
+The same effect was noted in all the cities of the circuit. The crowds
+turned out not so much to see the Giants play as to see if Baseball
+Joe would knock another home run. Joe Matson had become the greatest
+drawing card of the circuit. If this kept up, it would mean the most
+prosperous season the League had ever known. For the Giants' owners
+alone, it meant an added half million dollars for the season. Already,
+with not more than a third of the games played, they had taken in
+enough to pay all expenses for the year, and were "on velvet" for the
+rest of the season.
+
+Nothing in all this turned Joe's head. He was still the same modest,
+hardworking player he had always been. First and all the time he worked
+for the success of his team. Already the Giants' owners had voluntarily
+added ten thousand dollars to his salary, and he was at present the
+most highly paid player in his League. He knew that next year even this
+would be doubled, if he kept up his phenomenal work. But he was still
+the same modest youth, and was still the same hail fellow well met, the
+pal and idol of all his comrades.
+
+What delighted Baseball Joe far more than any of his triumphs was the
+information contained in a letter he wore close to his heart that Mabel
+was coming on to New York with her brother Reggie for a brief stay
+on her way to her home in Goldsboro. They had been in almost daily
+correspondence, and their affection had deepened with every day that
+passed. Jim also had been equally assiduous and equally happy, and both
+players were counting the days that must elapse before the wedding
+march would be played at the end of the season.
+
+Luck was with Joe when, in company with Jim, he drove to the station
+to meet Mabel and Reggie. The rain was falling in torrents. Ordinarily
+that would have been depressing. But to-day it meant that there would
+be no game and that he could count on having Mabel to himself with
+nothing to distract his attention.
+
+Jim was glad on his friend's account, but nevertheless was unusually
+quiet for him.
+
+"Come out of your trance, old boy," cried Joe, slapping him jovially on
+the knee.
+
+Jim affected to smile.
+
+"Oh, I know what you're thinking about," charged Joe. "You're jealous
+because I'm going to see Mabel and you're not going to see Clara. But
+cheer up, old man. The next time we strike Chicago we'll both run down
+to Riverside for a visit. Then you'll have the laugh on me, for you'll
+have Clara all to yourself while Mabel will be in Goldsboro."
+
+Jim tried to find what comfort he could from the prospect, but the
+Chicago trip seemed a long way off.
+
+They reached the station ahead of time and walked up and down
+impatiently. The rain and wet tracks had detained the train a little,
+but at length its giant bulk drew into the station. They scanned the
+long line of Pullmans anxiously. Then Joe rushed forward with an
+exclamation of delight as he saw Reggie descend holding out his hand to
+assist Mabel--Mabel, radiant, starry-eyed, a vision of loveliness.
+
+Jim had followed a little more slowly to give Joe time for the first
+greeting. But his steps quickened and his eyes lighted up with rapture
+as behind Mabel Joe's sister Clara came down the steps, sweet as a
+rose, and with a look in her eyes as she caught sight of Jim that made
+that young man's heart lose a beat.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+AN EVENING RIDE
+
+
+There was a hubbub of delighted and incoherent exclamations as the
+young people greeted each other with all their heart in their eyes. Of
+course in the crowded station the greetings could not be just what the
+boys--and the girls, too--desired, but those would come later. Reggie
+too came in for warm handshakes.
+
+"My word!" he exclaimed, as he smiled affably upon them all, "you folks
+seem glad to see one another. I'll just slip over and look after the
+luggage."
+
+They spared him without any regret at all. Indeed, it is doubtful if
+they even heard him. Joe was saying things to Mabel in an undertone,
+and Jim was doing the same thing to Clara. What they said was their own
+affair, but it seemed eminently satisfactory to all concerned.
+
+When at last they had come somewhat to their senses, Joe poked Jim in
+the ribs.
+
+"Some surprise, old man!" he remarked mischievously.
+
+"Surprise!" repeated Jim. "It's Paradise. It's heaven. Don't tell me
+I'm going to wake up and find it all a dream. And you knew this all the
+time, you old rascal, and didn't let me in on it."
+
+"Just a little scheme that Mabel and I cooked up," laughed Joe happily.
+"I thought Sis might like to come on and take a look at her only
+brother."
+
+"Brother," mimicked Mabel saucily. "Don't flatter yourself. You won't
+be looked at much while Jim's around."
+
+Clara flushed and laughed in protest. Joe, however, did not seem
+disturbed at the prospect. As long as Mabel looked at him the way she
+was looking now, he had nothing more to ask.
+
+A taxicab whirled them up to the pretty suite that Joe had reserved for
+the girls in a hotel. There were two rooms in the suite, and it was
+surprising how quickly Joe and Mabel took possession of one of them,
+while Jim and Clara found the other one much preferable. They had so
+much to say to each other that required no audience. Reggie, who had
+an adjoining room, took himself off on the plea of an engagement that
+would keep him till luncheon time, and the happy young people had a
+long delightful morning to themselves.
+
+"Oh, I'm so proud of you, Joe," Mabel assured him, among many other
+things. "You're making such a wonderful record. You don't know how I
+read and treasure all the things the papers are saying about you. They
+give you more space than they give the President of the United States."
+
+"You mustn't make too much of it, honey," Joe replied. "I'm in luck
+just now; but if I should have a slump the same people that cheer me
+now when I make a homer would be jeering at me when I came to the bat.
+There's nothing more fickle than the public. One day you're a king and
+the next you're a dub."
+
+"You'll always be a king," cried Mabel. "Always my king, anyway," she
+added blushingly.
+
+In the meantime Clara and Jim were saying things equally precious to
+themselves and each other, but of no importance at all to the general
+public. Jim was surprised and pleased at the intimate acquaintance she
+had with all the phases of his rapid rise in his profession. She knew
+quite as well as the rest of the world that Jim already stood in the
+very front rank of pitchers, second only perhaps to Joe himself, and
+she had no hesitation in telling him what she thought of him. Sometimes
+it is not a pleasant thing for a man to know what a woman thinks of
+him, but in Jim's case it was decidedly different, if his shining face
+went for anything.
+
+The young people took in a matinee in the afternoon and a musical show,
+followed by dinner, in the evening, and all were agreed in declaring
+it a perfect day.
+
+Jim was slated to pitch the next day and with Clara watching from a
+box he turned in a perfect game, winning by a score of 1 to 0, the run
+being contributed by Joe, who turned loose a screaming homer in the
+sixth. Naturally both young men felt elated.
+
+It was a beautiful summer evening, and they had arranged for an
+automobile ride out on Long Island. Joe had hired a speedy car,
+but dispensed with the services of a chauffeur. He himself was an
+accomplished driver and knew all the roads. A chauffeur would have been
+only a restraint on their freedom of conversation.
+
+They bowled along over the perfect roads, happy beyond words and at
+peace with all the world. Mabel was seated in front with Joe, while Jim
+and Clara occupied the tonneau. All were in the gayest of spirits. Much
+of the time they talked, but speech and silences were equally sweet.
+
+They had dinner at an excellent inn, about forty miles out of the city.
+There was a good string band and the young couples had several dances.
+The evening wore away before they knew it, and it was rather late when
+they turned their faces cityward.
+
+The car was purring along merrily on a rather lonely stretch of road in
+the vicinity of Merrick, when a big car came swiftly up behind them.
+The driver tooted his horn and Joe drew a little to one side to give
+the car plenty of room to pass. The car rushed by and lengthened the
+distance until it was about a hundred yards ahead.
+
+"Seems to be in a hurry," remarked Jim.
+
+"A bunch of joy riders, I suppose," answered Joe. "Hello, what does
+that mean?"
+
+For the car had suddenly stopped and the driver had swung it across the
+road, blocking it.
+
+"Something gone wrong with the steering gear," commented Joe. "Looks
+like a breakdown. Perhaps we can help them."
+
+He slowed up as he drew near the car. The next instant four men jumped
+out of the car and ran toward them. They had their caps drawn down over
+their eyes, and each of them carried a leveled revolver.
+
+"Hands up!" commanded their leader, as he covered Joe with his weapon.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+THE ATTACK ON THE ROAD
+
+
+In an instant Baseball Joe brought the car to a stop.
+
+But in that instant his brain worked like lightning.
+
+Neither he nor Jim was armed. He must temporize. Resistance at the
+moment might be fatal. Shooting would result probably in the death of
+one or more of the party.
+
+Before he had taken his hand from the wheel, he had formed a plan.
+
+The women had screamed and Jim had jumped to his feet.
+
+"Sit down, Jim," said Joe. "Don't you see they have the drop on us. I
+suppose it's money you want?" he went on coolly, addressing the leader
+of the gang.
+
+"No," was the unexpected answer. "We're not after money this time. We
+want a man named Matson."
+
+"I didn't know I was so popular," replied Joe jokingly, though the
+mention of his name in so ominous a way had sent a start through him.
+"My name is Matson, Joe Matson. What do you want of me?"
+
+"Are you giving it to us straight?" asked the leader. "Are you Matson?
+How many men are there with you anyway?" he went on, peering into the
+tonneau.
+
+"There are two of us," replied Joe.
+
+"Then get down in the road, both of you," commanded the bandit. "I want
+to have a look at both of you so that there won't be any mistake. My
+orders are for the man named Matson. No monkey work now!"
+
+Joe and Jim, inwardly boiling but outwardly cool, got down into the
+road. As they climbed down, Joe's hand nudged Jim ever so slightly. Jim
+knew what that meant. It meant to make no move until Joe gave the sign.
+
+"Up with your hands!" ordered the leader curtly. "Bill, frisk them and
+see if they have guns."
+
+The bandit called Bill ran his hands along their bodies and reported
+that they were entirely unarmed.
+
+"Now strike a match and let's have a look at their faces," was the next
+order.
+
+Bill obeyed, and as the light flared up, not only the leader but the
+rest of the band looked over the young men keenly.
+
+"You're Matson, all right," said the leader to Joe, and the rest
+acquiesced. "I've seen your picture in the papers many a time, and I've
+seen you at the Polo Grounds too. All right. You get back in the car,"
+he said to Jim, poking him in the side with his pistol, "and drive off."
+
+"What do you want with me?" asked Joe steadily.
+
+"Oh, we're not going to kill you," replied the leader, with an evil
+grin. "But," he muttered under his breath so low that only Joe could
+hear him, "by the time we're through with you, that pitching arm of
+yours will be out of business. Them's our orders."
+
+"Who gave you those orders?" asked Joe.
+
+"Never you mind who gave them," snarled the bandit. "I've got them, and
+I'm going----"
+
+He never finished the sentence.
+
+Like lightning Joe's foot shot up and kicked the weapon from the
+leader's hand. The next instant his fist caught another of the
+scoundrels a terrific crack on the jaw. The man went down as though
+he had been hit with an axe. At the same moment Jim's hard right fist
+smashed into another straight between the eyes. There was the snap of
+a breaking bone and the man toppled over. The fourth rascal, who had
+been paralyzed with astonishment, forgot to shoot and started to run,
+but Jim was on him like a tiger and bore him to the ground, his hands
+tightening on his throat until the rascal lay limp and motionless.
+
+In the meantime, the leader, nursing his hurt wrist, had hobbled to the
+car, whose engine all this time had remained running. Joe made a dash
+for the car, but the chauffeur put on all speed and darted away into
+the darkness.
+
+The first task of Joe and Jim was to gather up the weapons of the
+assailants. The three still lay dazed or unconscious. Under other
+circumstances, the boys would have waited until the trio had regained
+their senses. But their first duty now was to the girls, who were half
+hysterical with fright. Joe took Mabel in his arms, after assuring her
+again and again in answer to her frantic questions that he was unhurt,
+and Jim comforted Clara until she had recovered her composure.
+
+They laid the bandits at the side of the road, so that they could not
+be run over, and then Joe took the wheel and drove on. To the first
+policeman they saw, Joe reported that he had seen some men who seemed
+to be hurt, alongside the road, and suggested that they be looked
+after. But he said nothing about the attempted holdup. Then he sped on,
+and soon they were in the precincts of the city.
+
+The girls in their alarm had failed to gather the true significance
+of the affair. To them it was like a confused dream. Their general
+impression was that a holdup had been attempted for the purposes of
+robbery. Still Mabel did remember that they had asked specifically for
+Matson.
+
+"Why was it that they asked for you especially, Joe?" she asked,
+snuggling closely to the arm that had so stoutly done its work that
+night. "Why was it?"
+
+"How do I know, honey?" answered Joe. "Perhaps," he said jokingly,
+"they had heard of my increase in salary and thought I was rolling in
+money. Sometimes you know they kidnap a man, make him sign a check and
+then hold him prisoner until they cash it. No knowing what such rascals
+may do."
+
+"Whatever it was, they've lost all interest in the matter now," said
+Jim, with a laugh, as he thought of the discomfited bandits by the
+roadside and the fleeing leader in the automobile.
+
+Both Joe and Jim made light of it to the girls and laughed away their
+fears until they had seen them safely to their hotel. But later on two
+very sober and wrathful young men sat in their own room discussing the
+holdup.
+
+Joe had told Jim what the bandit leader had said about putting his
+pitching arm out of business, and his friend was white with anger.
+
+"The scoundrels!" he ejaculated. "That meant that they would have
+twisted your arm until they had snapped the tendons or pulled it from
+its socket and crippled you for life. If I'd known that when I had my
+hands on that rascal's throat, I'd have choked the life out of him."
+
+"You did enough," returned Joe. "As it is they got a pretty good dose.
+I know I cracked the leader's wrist, and I heard a bone snap when you
+smashed that other fellow. Gee, Jim, you hit like a pile driver."
+
+"No harder than you did," replied Jim. "That fellow you clipped in the
+jaw was dead to the world before he hit the ground."
+
+"After all, those fellows were merely tools," mused Joe thoughtfully.
+"Did you hear the leader say that he had his orders? Who gave him
+those orders? If only the girls hadn't been there, I'd have trussed
+the rascals up, waited until they had got their senses back, and then
+put them through the third degree until I'd found out the name of
+their employer. But I wouldn't for the world have the girls know what
+those scoundrels were up to. They'd never have a happy moment. They'd
+worry themselves to death. We've got to keep this thing absolutely to
+ourselves."
+
+"All the same, I can guess who the fellow was that employed them," said
+Jim.
+
+"I think I can come pretty near it, too," affirmed Joe. "In the first
+place, it was a man who had money. Those fellows wouldn't have taken
+the job unless they had been well paid. Then, too, it was somebody
+who hated me like poison. There are two men who fulfil both of those
+conditions, and their names are----"
+
+"Fleming and Braxton," Jim finished for him.
+
+"Exactly," agreed Joe. "And knowing what I do of the two, I have a
+hunch that it was Braxton."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+FALLING BEHIND
+
+
+"Braxton's the more likely one of the two to use violence--or have it
+used," said Jim. "Not but what either one of them would be mean enough
+to do it. But Braxton has got more nerve than Fleming. Then, too, I
+happen to know that Fleming has run pretty well through his money,
+while Braxton is a millionaire. He was pretty hard hit by the failure
+of the All-Star League to go through last year, but he's got plenty
+left. He could give those rascals a thousand, or five thousand if
+necessary, and never feel it."
+
+"Speaking of money," said Joe, "reminds me of something else that may
+be connected with this case. Do you remember what Reggie told us when
+he was in Riverside about that fellow in Chicago that was betting great
+wads of money that the Giants wouldn't cop the flag? Betting it, Reggie
+said, as though he had something up his sleeve, as though he were
+betting on a sure thing. Now what could be a surer thing in a race as
+close as this than to cripple the Giant team by robbing it of one of
+its pitchers? He'd be getting a double satisfaction then--making a pile
+of money to make up for his losses last season and getting even with me
+for the thrashing I gave him. That is, of course, if the man is really
+Braxton."
+
+"By Jove, I believe you're right!" exclaimed Jim. "Of course that
+might seem a little far-fetched, if it weren't for the other things
+that point to the same man. But when you remember that Braxton hails
+from Chicago, that the anonymous letter had a Chicago postmark, when
+you recall that somebody tried to injure us in that road blockade the
+day after I thought I saw Braxton in the training town, and that he
+was the only one besides ourselves who knew the road we were going
+to take--when you take all these things together, it seems a dead
+open-and-shut proposition that Braxton was the man that plotted all
+this scoundrelism."
+
+"Some day soon I hope we'll know the truth," said Joe. "And when that
+day comes----"
+
+He did not finish the sentence, but his clenched fist and flashing eyes
+were eloquent.
+
+The next morning the chums went around early, to learn how the girls
+were feeling after their trying experience. They found them still a
+little nervous and overwrought, but the society of the boys and the
+knowledge that they had come through without injury soon brightened
+them up, and before long they were their natural selves again. The way
+the boys had carried themselves in the fight with their assailants made
+them more than ever heroes in the eyes of those they loved best, and if
+it had not been for the deeper knowledge they had of the affair, Joe
+and Jim would have been rather glad it happened.
+
+Reggie, of course, had been told of the holdup and was almost
+stuttering in his wrath and indignation. But he, like the girls,
+figured that it had been an attack simply for the purpose of robbery,
+and the boys were not sure enough of Reggie's discretion to tell him
+the real facts. They feared that some slip of the tongue on his part
+might reveal the matter, and they knew that a constant fear would from
+then on shadow the lives of Mabel and Clara.
+
+In about ten days the next Western trip of the Giants was to begin, and
+then Clara would return home, while Mabel would go on with Reggie to
+Goldsboro. But those precious ten days were enjoyed to the full by the
+young folks. Every hour that the boys could spare from the games was
+spent in the society of the girls, and every day that a game was played
+Mabel and Clara occupied a box in the grandstand at the Polo Grounds.
+The knowledge of the bright eyes that were following their every move
+put the boys on their mettle, and they played up to the top of their
+form. Jim's progress as a boxman was evident with each succeeding game,
+and Joe covered himself with laurels as both pitcher and batsman. But
+more than once, after Joe had let down an opposing team with but a
+few hits, he had an involuntary shudder as he looked at the mighty
+arm that had scored the victory and thought of it as hanging withered
+and helpless at his side. And only by the narrowest of margins had he
+escaped that fate.
+
+The hour of parting came at last, and it was a great wrench to all of
+them. There were promises on both sides of daily letters, that would
+serve to bridge the gulf of separation.
+
+The fight for the pennant was waxing hotter and hotter. The Giants and
+the Pittsburghs were running neck and neck. First one and then the
+other was at the head in victories won. At times one would forge ahead
+for a week or two, but the other refused obstinately to be shaken off
+and would again assume the leadership. Everything promised a ding-dong,
+hammer-and-tongs finish.
+
+Some of the other teams were still in striking distance, but the first
+two were really the "class" of the League. The great pitching staff of
+the Brooklyns had gone to pieces, and it looked as though they were
+definitely out of the running. The Bostons, after a poor start, had
+braced and were rapidly improving their average, but they seemed too
+far behind to be really dangerous. The unfortunate Phillies were in
+for the "cellar championship" and did not have a ghost of a chance.
+Of the Western teams, outside of Pittsburgh, no fear was felt, though
+the consistent slugging of the Cardinals gave the leaders some uneasy
+moments. Still, batting alone could not win games, and the Cardinals'
+pitching staff, though it had some brilliant performers, was surpassed
+in ability by several teams in the League.
+
+In the American League also a spirited contest was going on. The White
+Sox, who had usually been a dangerous factor, were out of the running
+because they had had to build up practically a new team. But the
+Clevelands were as strong as they had been the year before, and were
+making a great bid for the flag. Detroit had started out brilliantly,
+and with its hard hitting outfield was winning many a game by sheer
+slugging. Washington loomed up as a dangerous contender, and only a
+little while before had won fifteen straight games.
+
+But the chief antagonist of the Clevelands was the New York Yankee
+team. For many years they had struggled to win the championship, but
+though they had come so close at one time that a single wild pitch beat
+them out of it, they had never been able to gain the coveted emblem.
+
+"It seems at times as though a 'jinx' were pursuing the Yankees,"
+remarked Jim. "But this year they have got together a rattling good
+crowd in all departments of the game. Most of all that counts in their
+hopes, I imagine, is the acquisition of Kid Rose."
+
+Kid Rose was a phenomenal batter of whom every baseball fan in the
+United States was talking. He had been a pitcher on the Red Sox and
+had done fine work in the box. It was only after he had been playing
+some time in that position that he himself, as well as others, began
+to realize the tremendous strength that resided in his batting arm and
+shoulders. He was a left handed batter, so that most of his hits went
+into right field, or rather into the right field bleachers, where they
+counted as home runs. In one season he accumulated twenty-nine home
+runs, which was a record for the major leagues.
+
+The Yankee owners made a deal with the Red Sox by which the "Kid" was
+brought to the New York club at a price larger than had ever been paid
+for a player. It was a good investment, however, for the newcomer was
+excelling his home run record of the year before and drew so many
+people to the parks where he played that a constant golden stream
+flowed into the strong boxes of the club. He made as many home runs as
+all the other players of his team together. Now, owing to his work,
+the Yankees were fighting it out with the Clevelands for the lead, and
+the papers were already beginning to talk of the possibility of both
+championships coming to New York. If this should be the case, the World
+Series games would probably draw the greatest crowds that had ever
+witnessed such a contest, and the prize money for the players would
+undoubtedly be larger than ever before in the history of the game.
+
+Joe and his comrades needed no such spur as this to make them play
+their best. A strong loyalty to the club marked every player of the
+team. Still it was not at all an unpleasing thought that the result of
+winning would add a good many thousand dollars to the salary of every
+member.
+
+The Giants started out in high hopes on this second Western invasion.
+
+"Sixteen games to be played on this trip, boys," McRae had said to
+them, as they boarded the train at the Pennsylvania Station. "And out
+of that sixteen I want at least twelve. Nix on the breaking even stuff.
+That won't go with me at all. I want to get so far ahead on this trip
+that we'll be on easy street for the rest of the race."
+
+"Why not cop the whole sixteen, Mac?" asked Larry, with a broad grin.
+
+"So much the better," answered McRae. "But I'm no hog. Give me an
+average of three out of four in each series and I'll ask for nothing
+better."
+
+The team started out as though they were going to give their manager
+what he wanted. Their first stop this time was Pittsburgh, and here
+they won the first two games right off the reel. The third, however,
+was lost by a close margin. In the fourth the Giants' bats got going
+and they sent three Pirate pitchers to the showers, winning by the
+one-sided score of eleven to two. So that it was in high spirits that
+they left the Smoky City for Cincinnati.
+
+Here they met with a rude shock. The Reds were in the midst of one
+of their winning streaks and were on a hitting rampage. They had the
+"breaks," too, and cleaned up by taking every game. It was a complete
+reversal, and the Giants were stunned.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII
+
+IN THE THROES OF A SLUMP
+
+
+Robson's round face had lost its usual smile. McRae's was like a
+thundercloud, and the players evaded him as much as they could. Even
+Larry was "Laughing Larry" no longer. It was a disgruntled crowd of
+baseball players that shook the dust of Cincinnati from their feet and
+started for Chicago.
+
+"Better luck next time," Joe comforted his mates. "After all it's the
+uncertainty of the game that makes baseball. How many people would have
+been at the park if they thought their pets didn't have a chance to
+win?"
+
+"That's all very well," grumbled Curry, "but we ought at least to have
+had our share of the breaks. We hit the ball hard enough, but every
+time it went straight to the fielders. They didn't hit any better, but
+the ball went just out of the reach of our fellows. Talk about fool
+luck! If those Cincinnati players fell in the water they'd come up with
+a fish dinner."
+
+"That's just the reason we're due for a change," argued Jim. "We'll get
+it all back from the Cubs."
+
+But here again there was disappointment. Joe pitched the first game and
+won in a close fight, although the Cubs tied it up in the ninth and Joe
+had to win his own game in the eleventh by a homer. But the next two
+went to Chicago, and in the fourth game, which Jim pitched, the best
+he could do was to make it a tie, called in the twelfth on account of
+darkness.
+
+This time it was not luck that gave to the Giants only one game out of
+three. They had as many of the breaks of the game as their opponents.
+They simply slumped. One of those mysterious things that come to almost
+every team once at least in a season had them in its clutches. Perhaps
+it was overanxiety, perhaps it was a superstitious feeling that a
+"jinx" was after them, but, whatever it was, it spread through the
+team like an epidemic. Their fingers were "all thumbs." Their bats had
+"holes" in them. The most reliable fielders slipped up on easy chances.
+They booted the ball, or if they got it they threw either too high or
+too low to first. Double plays became less frequent. Two of the best
+batters in the team, Larry and Burkett, fell off woefully in their
+hitting.
+
+In vain McRae raged and stormed. In vain Robbie begged and pleaded
+and cajoled. In vain Jim and Joe, who still resisted the infection,
+sought to stem the tide of disaster. The members of the team with a few
+exceptions continued to act as if they were in a trance.
+
+McRae did everything in his power to bring about a change. He laid off
+Willis and Iredell, and put two promising rookies, Barry and Ward, in
+their places. This added a little speed on the bases to the team, but
+did not materially add to the batting or fielding, for the rookies were
+nervous and made many misplays, while they were lamentably short on the
+"inside stuff" that takes long experience to acquire. He shook up the
+batting order. But the hits were still few and far between.
+
+St. Louis gave the Giants a sound trouncing in the first game, but in
+the second the Giants came to life and reversed the score.
+
+Joe was in the box in this contest, and as he came in to the bench in
+the fourth inning, he noted, sitting in the grandstand, a figure that
+seemed familiar to him. The man seemed to have seen Baseball Joe at the
+same time, but he hid himself behind the form of a big man sitting in
+front of him, so that Joe could not be sure of his identification.
+
+"What were you looking at so steadily, Joe?" inquired Jim, as his
+friend sat down on the bench beside him. "Did you by any chance catch
+sight of the jinx that's been following us?" he continued jokingly.
+
+"Maybe I did, at that," replied Joe. "I could have sworn that I got a
+glimpse of Bugs Hartley in the grandstand."
+
+"Bugs Hartley?" echoed Jim in surprise. "How could that old rascal have
+got as far as St. Louis?"
+
+"Beat his way, perhaps," answered Joe. "Of course I'm not dead sure but
+that I might have been mistaken. And I won't have much time to look for
+him while I'm in the box. But suppose in the meantime you go down to
+the coaching line near first. While you're pretending to coach, you can
+take an occasional look at the grandstand and see if you can pick out
+Bugs. He's somewhere about the third row near the center. Just where
+the wire netting is broken."
+
+Jim did as suggested, and studied the grandstand with care. He had only
+a chance to make an affirmative nod of the head as Joe, the inning
+ended, went out again to the box, but when he returned after pitching
+the side out on strikes, Jim told Joe that he was right.
+
+"It's Bugs all right," he said. "I had a good chance to see that ugly
+mug of his, and there can't be any mistake. But what in thunder can he
+be doing in St. Louis?"
+
+"Oh, panhandling and drinking himself to death, I suppose," answered
+Joe carelessly, his mind intent upon the game.
+
+"But how did he get here?" persisted Jim. "I don't like it, old man. It
+takes money to travel, and I don't think Bugs could hustle up railroad
+fare to save his life. And if somebody gave him the money to get here,
+why was it done? I tell you again, Joe, I don't like it."
+
+"Well, perhaps it's just as well we caught sight of him," admitted Joe.
+"It will help us to keep our eyes open."
+
+In the seventh inning for the Giants, with the score tied at 3 to 3,
+Larry started a rally for the Giants by lining out a screaming single
+to right. Denton followed with a hit to short that was too hot for
+the shortstop to handle. He knocked the ball down, however, and got
+it to first. Denton had thought the play would be made on Larry, who
+was already on his way to third. Denton, therefore, had rounded first
+and started for second, but saw the ball coming and scrambled back to
+first. There was a grand mixup, but the umpire declared Denton safe.
+
+It was a close play, and the St. Louis team was up in arms in a moment.
+Some of them, including their manager, rushed to the spot to argue with
+the umpire. The crowd also was enraged at the decision and began to
+hoot and howl. One or two pop bottles were thrown at the umpire, but
+fell short.
+
+Joe, who was next at bat, had taken his stand at the plate, awaiting
+the outcome of the argument. Suddenly a bottle, aimed with great skill
+and tremendous force, came through the broken wire netting, whizzed
+close by his head, the top of it grazing his ear in passing. If it had
+hit his head, it would have injured him greatly beyond a doubt.
+
+Joe turned toward the stand and saw a man hastily making his way out
+toward the entrance. He could only see his back, but he knew at once to
+whom that back belonged.
+
+"Stop him! Stop him!" he shouted, as he threw aside his bat and rushed
+toward the stand.
+
+But Jim had already vaulted over the barrier and was rushing through
+the aisle.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX
+
+A CLOSE CALL
+
+
+The people in the grandstand had not fully grasped the significance of
+the cowardly attack, as the attention of most of them was centered upon
+the dispute at first base. But the shout of Baseball Joe and the rush
+of Jim through the aisle of the stand had brought them to their feet,
+and some of them started in pursuit or tried to stop the flying figure
+of the fugitive.
+
+But this very desire of so many to apprehend him helped in his escape.
+Men crowded in the aisle, and Jim, who could otherwise have captured
+him, found himself in the midst of a throng that effectually hindered
+his progress. He pushed his way through desperately, using his arms and
+hands to clear a passage, but by the time he arrived at the outer edge,
+the man had disappeared. Either he had mixed with the enormous crowd
+or had found his way through one of the numerous exits. In any event,
+he was not to be seen, and at last Jim, flaming-eyed and dripping with
+sweat from his exertions, had to come back empty-handed.
+
+In the meantime, the umpire had asserted his authority at first base,
+and given the St. Louis players one minute by his watch to resume play.
+With much muttering and grumbling they obeyed. The decision stood, and
+Larry was on third, while Denton danced around on first and "kidded"
+the Cardinal first baseman on the umpire's decision.
+
+Joe again took up his position at the plate, the fairer-minded among
+the spectators giving him a cheer as he did so, to express their
+indignation at the dastardly attack that had been made on him. He was
+somewhat shaken by the close call he had had, and the first two balls
+were strikes. Then he took a grip on himself, and when the next one
+came over he smashed a beauty to right. It went for two bases, while
+Larry scored easily, and Denton by great running and a headlong slide
+also reached the plate. The next man up sacrificed Joe to third,
+but there he remained, as the next two batters, despite McRae's
+adjurations, were not able to bring him in.
+
+The Giants, however, had now broken the tie and had a two-run lead, and
+although that ended their scoring, it was sufficient, as Joe put on
+extra steam and mowed down the Cardinals almost as fast as they came to
+the bat. One hit was made off him for the remainder of the game, but as
+the batter got no farther than first there was no damage done.
+
+Joe and Jim did not care to discuss the matter before their mates, and
+the attack was put down to some rowdy who was sore at the umpire's
+decision and took that method of showing it. But the two friends knew
+that it was much more than that.
+
+"Well, what do you think now of my hunch?" demanded Jim, when the chums
+were alone together. "Was I right when I said I was uneasy about that
+fellow being in the grandstand?"
+
+"You certainly were, Jim," answered Joe. "It must have been Bugs
+who threw that bottle. I know at any rate that it was he whom I saw
+hustling out of the stands. And when I looked at where he had been
+sitting the seat was empty."
+
+"It was Bugs all right," affirmed Jim with decision. "I saw his face
+once, when he glanced behind him while he was running. Then, too, only
+a pitcher could have hurled the bottle with the swiftness and precision
+that he did. It went nearly as far as the pitcher's box before it
+struck the ground. Gee! my heart was in my mouth for a second when I
+saw it go whizzing past your ear. If it had hit you fair and square, it
+would have been good night."
+
+"It did barely touch me," replied Joe, pointing to a scratch on his
+ear. "The old rascal hasn't forgotten how to throw. How that fellow
+must hate me! And yet I was the best friend that he had on the team."
+
+"He hates you all right," replied Jim. "But it wasn't only his own
+personal feeling that prompted him to do that thing to-day. That isn't
+Bugs' way. He'd dope your coffee on the sly. Or he'd throw a stone at
+your head in a dark street, as he did that time when we'd started on
+our tour around the world. But to do a thing in the open, as he did
+to-day, means that he had a mighty big incentive to lay you out. That
+incentive was probably money. Somebody has put up the cash to send him
+to St. Louis, and that same somebody has probably promised him a big
+wad of dough if he could do you up. The chance came to-day, when the
+fans began to throw bottles at the umpire. He figured that that was the
+time to get in his work. If he'd been caught, he could have said that
+he was only one of a good many who did the same thing, and that he had
+no idea the bottle was going to hit anybody."
+
+"Then you think that Bugs this time was acting as the tool of Braxton,
+or whoever it is that's trying to put me out of business," remarked Joe.
+
+"Think so!" cried Jim. "I'm sure of it. So many things, all pointing to
+deliberate purpose, don't happen by accident. The same fellow who hired
+those auto bandits to cripple you hired Bugs for the same purpose. Lots
+of people have heard of the hatred that Bugs has for you. I suppose
+he's panning you all the time in the joints where he hangs out. This
+fellow that's after your hide has heard of Bugs and put him on the
+job. If he can't get you in one way, he's going to try to get you in
+another. He figures that some time or other one of his schemes will go
+through. Gee!" he exclaimed, jumping up and pacing the floor, "what
+would I give just to come face to face with him and have him in a room
+alone with me for five minutes. Just five minutes! I'd change his face
+so that his own brother wouldn't know him."
+
+"I hope that job's reserved for me," replied Joe, as his fist clenched.
+"He'd get a receipt in full for all I owe him."
+
+"In the meantime, what shall we do about Bugs?" asked Jim anxiously.
+"He ought to be put in jail. It isn't right that a man who's tried to
+cripple another should be at large."
+
+"No," agreed Joe, "it isn't. But I don't see just what we can do about
+it. The chances are ten to one against his being found. Even if he
+were, nobody could be found probably who saw him actually throw the
+bottle. We didn't ourselves, though we feel absolutely certain that he
+did. He could explain his leaving by saying that he was taken ill and
+had to leave. Then, too, if he were arrested, we'd have to stay here
+and prosecute him, and we can't stay away from the team. Besides the
+whole thing would get in the papers, and Mabel and Clara and all the
+folks would have heart failure about it. No, I guess we'll have to keep
+quiet about it."
+
+"I suppose we will," admitted Jim reluctantly. "But some day this
+scoundrel who's hounding you will be caught in the open. And I'm still
+hoping for that five minutes!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX
+
+SPEEDING UP
+
+
+St. Louis was in good form on the following day, and a perfect deluge
+of hits came from their bats. The Giants, too, had a good hitting day,
+and the fans who like to see free batting had their desire satisfied to
+the full. And their pleasure was all the greater because the home team
+had the best of the duel, and came out on top by a score of 17 to 12.
+
+Jim was in the box on the next day, and by superb pitching had the St.
+Louis sluggers hitting like a kindergarten team. They simply could not
+solve him. His team mates had scarcely anything to do, and only by the
+narrowest of margins did he miss turning the Cardinals back without a
+hit. One hit narrowly escaped the fingers of the second baseman, as
+he leaped in the air for it. But it did escape him, and counted for
+the only hit made by the St. Louis in the game. It was a magnificent
+exhibition and wound up a disastrous trip in a blaze of glory.
+
+Still it could not be denied that the trip had put a big dent in the
+Giants' aspirations for the pennant. Instead of the twelve games out
+of sixteen that McRae had asked for, they had only turned in six
+victories. It was the most miserable record that the Giants had made
+for years.
+
+"And we call ourselves a good road team!" snorted Curry in disgust, as
+they settled down in the Pullman for the long ride back from St. Louis
+to New York. "A bunch of school girls could have done better work."
+
+"Luck was against us," ventured Larry. "It sure was against us."
+
+"Luck, nothing!" exclaimed Curry. "We simply fell down, and fell down
+hard. The whole League is laughing at us. Look at the way the other
+Eastern teams held up their end. The Brooklyns copped ten games, the
+Bostons got eleven, and the Phillies pulled down seven. We ought to
+sneak back into New York on a freight train instead of riding in
+Pullmans."
+
+"I guess there won't be any band at the station to meet us," remarked
+Joe. "But after all, any team is liable to have a slump and play like
+a lot of dubs. Let's hope we've got all the bad playing out of our
+systems. From now on we're going to climb."
+
+"That's the way to talk," chimed in Jim. "Of course we can't deny that
+we've stubbed our toes on this trip. But we know in our heart that
+we've got the best team in the League. We've got the Indian sign on all
+of them. The fans that are roasting us now will be shouting their heads
+off when we get started on our winning streak. Remember, boys, it's a
+long worm that has no turning."
+
+There was a general laugh at this, and the spirits of the party
+lightened a little. But not all of the gloom was lifted.
+
+The prediction that their reception in New York would be rather frosty
+was true. Such high hopes had been built on the result of this trip
+that the reaction was correspondingly depressing. And what made the
+Giants feel the change of attitude the more keenly was the fact that
+while they had been doing so poorly, the Yankees at home had been going
+"like a house afire." They had taken the lead definitely away from the
+Clevelands, and it did not seem as though there was any team in their
+League that could stop them. New York was quite sure that it was going
+to have one championship team. But it was quite as certain that it was
+not going to have two. That hope had gone glimmering.
+
+Both teams were occupying the Polo Grounds for the season, while the
+new park of the Yankees was being completed. The schedule therefore had
+been arranged so that while one of the teams was playing at home the
+other was playing somewhere out of town.
+
+Thus on the very day the Giants reached home the Yankees were starting
+out on their trip to other cities. They went away in the glory of
+victory. The Giants came home in the gloom of defeat.
+
+The change of sentiment was visible in the first home game that the
+Giants played. On the preceding day, at their last game, the Yankees
+had played before a crowd of twenty-five thousand. The first game of
+the Giants drew scarcely more than three thousand. Many of these were
+the holders of free season passes, others, like the reporters, had to
+be there, while the rest were made up of the chronic fans who followed
+the Giants through thick and thin. There was no enthusiasm, and even
+the fact that the Giants won did not dispel the funereal atmosphere.
+
+And then the Giants began to climb!
+
+At first the process did not attract much attention. The public was so
+thoroughly disheartened by the downfall of their favorites in the West,
+that they took it for granted that they were out of the running for the
+pennant. Of course it was assumed that they would finish in the first
+division--it was very seldom that a New York team could not be depended
+on to do that--and that by some kind of miracle it might be possible
+to finish second. But there was very little consolation in that.
+New York wanted a winner or nothing. If the Giants could not fly the
+championship flag at the Polo Grounds, nobody cared very much whether
+they came in second or eighth or anywhere between.
+
+The first team to visit the Polo Grounds was the Bostons. They had
+greatly improved their game since the beginning of the season, and
+were even thought to have a look-in for the flag. They chuckled to
+themselves at the thought that they would catch the Giants in the slump
+that had begun out West and press them still deeper in the direction of
+the cellar. At first they thought they might even make a clean sweep.
+They lost the first game, but only by reason of a muff of an easy fly
+that let in two unearned runs in the sixth. That of course disposed of
+the clean sweep idea, but still, three out of four would do. But when
+they lost the second game also, their jubilation began to subside. Now
+the best they could hope for was an even break. But again they lost,
+and the climax was put to their discomfiture when the Giants simply
+walked away with the fourth game by a score of 10 to 0.
+
+But even with this series of four in a row captured by the Giants, the
+public refused to enthuse. It might have been only a flash in the pan.
+It is true that the sporting writers were beginning to sit up and take
+notice. Most of their time hitherto had been spent in advising McRae
+through the columns of their paper how he might strengthen his team
+for next year. The present season of course was past praying for. Yet
+there was a distinct chirking up on the part of the scribes, although
+they carefully refrained from making any favorable predictions that
+afterward they might be sorry for. They would wait awhile and see.
+Besides, the Brooklyns were coming next, and they had usually found it
+easy to defeat the Giants. If the Giants could hold the men from over
+the big bridge to an even break, it might mean a great deal.
+
+The Brooklyns came, saw and--were conquered. Four times in succession
+they went down before superb pitching and heavy batting. Four times
+they called on their heavy sluggers and their best boxmen, but the
+Giants rode over them roughshod. The sporting writers sat up and rubbed
+their eyes. Was this the same team that had come home forlorn and
+bedraggled after their last trip? Had the Giants really come to life?
+Was the pennant still a possibility?
+
+By this time the public had begun to wake up. The stands at the Polo
+Grounds no longer looked like a desert. The crowds began to pack the
+subway cars on their way up to the grounds. Everywhere the question was
+beginning to be asked: "What do you think of the Giants? Have they
+still got a chance?"
+
+It was the Phillies' turn next, and they had also to bend the knee. The
+Giants took them into camp as easily as they had the Braves and the
+Dodgers. And to rub it in, two of the games were shutouts.
+
+Twelve games in a row, and the Giants tearing through the other teams
+like so many runaway horses!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI
+
+THE WINNING STREAK
+
+
+The Giants were in for a winning streak, and New York City promptly
+went baseball mad!
+
+Now there was no question of filling the grounds. It was rather a
+question of getting there early enough to secure seats.
+
+The Polo Grounds could accommodate thirty-five thousand, and again and
+again that number was reached and exceeded. The great amphitheatre was
+a sea of eager faces. Fans stood in hundreds in the rear of the upper
+grandstands. The lower stand too was filled to overflowing, and the
+bleachers were packed. It was astonishing how many business men closed
+their rolltop desks with a bang on those summer afternoons. Young and
+old alike were wild to be at the games and see the Giants add one more
+to their rapidly mounting list of victories.
+
+Thirteen--fourteen--fifteen--sixteen! Were the Giants ever going to be
+stopped? If so, who was going to stop them? The Western teams were
+coming now and the St. Louis team had left their scalps in the Giant's
+wigwam. Chicago was next in line. Could they stop the Giants in their
+mad rush for the flag?
+
+They could not, although they tried desperately, and Brennan, their
+resourceful manager, used all the cunning and guile that his long
+experience had taught him. The Giants tamed the Cubs with a thoroughness
+that left nothing to be desired from a New York point of view. And now
+the string of victories had mounted to twenty.
+
+Old records were got out and furbished up. It was found that once
+before, when Markwith and Hughson were in their prime, the New Yorks
+had won twenty-six games in a row. Could they repeat? Could they beat
+their own record that had been hung up so long for other teams to aim
+at? That was the question that absorbed public interest, not only in
+New York, but in baseball circles all over the country.
+
+The reason for this phenomenal spurt of the Giants, it was recognized,
+could be found in two chief factors. One was the wonderful work being
+done by Joe both as a pitcher and a batter. The other was the marvelous
+advance that had been made by Jim as a twirler.
+
+Joe had never had such complete mastery of the ball as he was showing
+this season. Even the pitching he had done the previous year, in the
+World Series between the Giants and the Sox, paled in comparison with
+what he was doing now. His control was something almost magical. It was
+such a rarity for him to give a base on balls that when it happened it
+was specially noted by the sporting writers. He worked the corners of
+the plate to perfection. He mixed up his fast ones with slow teasers
+that made the opposing batsmen look ridiculous as they broke their
+backs reaching for them. His slants and twists and hops and curves had
+never been so baffling. It was fast getting to the point where the
+other teams were half beaten as soon as they saw Joe pick up his glove
+and go into the box.
+
+But it was not even his pitching, great as it was, that held the
+worshiping attention of the crowds. It was the home run record that he
+was piling up in such an amazing fashion that already he was rated by
+many the equal of the wonderful Kid Rose. That wonderful eye of his
+had learned to time the ball so accurately as it came up to the plate
+that the bat met it at precisely the hundredth part of a second when
+it did the most good. Then all his mighty arm and shoulder leaned on
+the ball and gave it wings. Almost every other game now saw a home run
+chalked up to his credit. In three games of the winning streak he had
+made two home runs in a single game. It was common talk that he was
+out to tie the record of Ed Delehanty, the one-time mighty slugger
+of the Phillies, who in the years of long ago had hung up a record of
+four homers in a game. He had not done it yet, but there was still time
+before the season closed.
+
+More still would have gone to his credit had not the opposing pitchers
+become so afraid of him that they would not let him hit the ball. Again
+and again when he came to the bat, the catcher would stand away off to
+the side and the pitcher would deliberately send over four balls, so
+wide that Joe could not possibly reach them without stepping out of the
+box. This was a mighty disappointment to the crowds, half of whom had
+come with no other object in view than to see Joe smash out a homer.
+They would jeer and taunt the pitcher for his cowardice in fearing
+to match his slants against Joe's bat, but the practice continued
+nevertheless.
+
+Even this, however, was not a total loss to the Giants. It put Joe on
+first anyway, and counted at least for as much as a single would have
+done. And Joe was so fleet of foot on the bases that McRae once said
+jokingly that he would have to have detectives on the field to keep him
+from stealing so many bags. Many a base on balls thus given to Joe out
+of fear for his mighty bat was eventually turned into a run that helped
+to win the game.
+
+One morning when Joe, with the rest of the Giant team, was going out
+on the field for practice, his eye caught sight of a long white streak
+of kalsomine that ran up the right field wall to the top, behind the
+bleachers.
+
+"What's the idea?" he asked, turning to Robbie, who was close beside
+him.
+
+"Don't you really know, you old fence-breaker?" asked Robbie, a smile
+breaking over his jovial face.
+
+"Blest if I do," answered Joe.
+
+"Well, I'll tell you," answered Robbie. "The fact is that you've
+got into such a habit of knocking the ball into the right field
+stands--mighty good habit, too, if you ask me--that the umpires have
+asked us to paint this line so that they can see whether the hit is
+fair or foul. The ordinary hit they can tell easy enough. But yours are
+so far out that they have to have especial help in judging them. It's
+the first time it's had to be done for any hitter in the history of the
+game. Some compliment, what?"
+
+But Joe's work, wonderful as it was, would not alone have started and
+maintained the Giants' winning streak. No one man, however great, can
+carry a whole team on his shoulders. The next most important element
+was the pitching that Jim was showing. It was only second in quality
+to that turned in by Joe himself. Jim was a natural ball player, and
+his close association and friendship with Joe had taught him all the
+fine points of the game. He had learned the weaknesses of opposing
+batters. He knew those who would bite at an outcurve and those to whom
+a fast high one was poison; those who would offer at the first ball and
+those who would try to wait him out; those who would crowd the plate
+and those who would flinch when he wound the ball around their necks.
+He had a splendid head on his shoulders and a world of power in his
+biceps; and those two things go far to make a winning combination.
+
+Another element of strength was the return of Hughson to the team and
+his ability to take his regular turn in the box. His arm still hurt
+him, and it was beginning to be evident that he would never again be
+the Hughson of old. But his skill and knowledge of the game and the
+batters was so great that it more than atoned for the weakness of his
+pitching arm. His control was as wonderful as ever, and he nursed his
+arm as much as possible. He did not attempt to do much striking out,
+as that would have been too severe a strain. More and more he let the
+batsmen hit the ball, and depended upon the eight men behind him to
+back him up. Often he would go through an inning this way and the three
+put outs would be made by the infield on grounders and the outfielders
+on flies. But once let a man get on first and the "Old Master" would
+tighten up and prevent scoring. By thus favoring his arm, he was able
+to turn in his share of the victories.
+
+Markwith also had a new lease of life, and was winging them over as in
+the days when he had been without question the best port side flinger
+in the League.
+
+In fact the pitching staff was at the height of its form and had
+never been going better. And the rest of the team, without exception,
+was playing great ball. There was not a cripple on the list. Willis
+and Iredell had been restored to their positions at third and short
+respectively, and were playing the best ball of their careers. With
+Larry at second and Burkett at first, they formed a stonewall infield
+that seldom let anything get away from them. They made hair-raising
+stops and dazzling double plays, gobbling up grounders on either side,
+spearing high liners that were ticketed for singles, and played like
+supermen. The outfielders had caught the spirit of enthusiasm that
+pervaded the team, and were making what seemed like impossible catches.
+Add to this that the team members were batting like fiends and running
+bases like so many ghosts, and the reason for the winning streak
+becomes apparent. The Giants were simply playing unbeatable ball.
+
+So the Cincinnatis found when the time came for their heads to drop
+into the basket. That series was sweet revenge for the Giants, who had
+not forgotten the beating the Reds had given them on their last swing
+around the circuit.
+
+Twenty-one--twenty-two--twenty-three--twenty-four. Two more games to
+tie their own previous record. Three more to beat it. Would they do it?
+
+Many shook their heads. On the mere law of averages, a break for the
+Giants was now due. The team had been under a fearful strain. Such
+phenomenal work could not last forever.
+
+Besides, the severest test was now at hand. The Pittsburghs were
+coming. The Smoky City boys had been playing great ball themselves.
+They had won nineteen games out of the last twenty-four, and the margin
+of seven games that they had had when the Giants began their streak
+still kept them in the lead by two games. They had boasted that they
+would break the Giants' streak as soon as they struck New York.
+
+The time had come to make good their boast. Would they do it?
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII
+
+STRIVING FOR MASTERY
+
+
+It was Jim's turn to go on the mound in the first game with the
+Pittsburghs, and in the practice work before the game he showed that
+he was keyed up for his work. For so comparatively young a pitcher,
+he might well have been a bit nervous at facing so redoubtable a team
+before the immense crowd that had gathered to see whether or not the
+Giants' winning streak was doomed to be broken. But there was no trace
+of it in his manner, and McRae, looking him over, concluded that there
+was no reason to change his selection.
+
+His confidence was justified. Jim that afternoon was at as high a point
+of pitching form as he had ever reached in his career. He pitched a
+masterly game and held the Pirate sluggers to four hits. His support
+was all that could be desired, and some of the stops and throws of his
+comrades bordered on the miraculous. The Giants came out at the big end
+of the score, their tally being three to the solitary run scored by
+their opponents.
+
+"Twenty-five!" chuckled Joe, as he slapped his friend on the back, when
+the Pirates had been turned back in their half of ninth. "Jim, you're a
+lulu! You had those fellows rolling over and playing dead."
+
+"I guess we had all the breaks," returned Jim, smiling modestly.
+
+"Nothing of the kind," disclaimed Joe. "If anything, they had whatever
+breaks there were. It was simply a case of dandy pitching. You had them
+buffaloed."
+
+"Only one more game to go before we tie our own record," said Jim.
+"Gee, Joe, I wish you were going to pitch to-morrow. We're just in
+sight of the Promised Land. That will be the most important game of
+all."
+
+"Oh, I don't know," replied Joe. "It will be something to tie the
+record, but I want to break it. Day after to-morrow will be the
+big day. That is, if we win to-morrow, and I think we shall. It's
+Markwith's turn to go in, and he's going fine. The Pittsburghs aren't
+any too good against left-handed pitchers, anyway."
+
+But whatever the alleged weakness of the Pirates against southpaws,
+they showed little respect for Markwith's offerings on the next day.
+They had on their batting clothes and clouted the ball lustily. Only
+phenomenal fielding on the part of the Giants kept the score down, and
+again and again Markwith was pulled out of a hole by some dazzling
+bit of play when a run seemed certain. Still he worried through until
+the first part of the eighth. At that time the score was five to four
+in favor of the visitors. The Giants had been batting freely, but not
+quite as hard as the Pirates.
+
+In the eighth, Markwith was plainly beginning to wobble in his control.
+He passed two men in quick succession. That was enough for McRae, and
+Joe, who had been warming up at the right of the grandstand, was sent
+into the box.
+
+The Pirates' scoring stopped then and there. Astley, who was at the
+bat, fanned on three successive strikes. Brown hit to the box and Joe
+made a lightning throw to Larry at second, who relayed it to first for
+a sparkling double play, putting out the side.
+
+The Giants' half of the eighth was scoreless. All the Pittsburghs had
+to do now was to hold them down for one more inning, and the winning
+streak would be broken.
+
+Joe made short work of the visitors in their last inning and the Giants
+came in for their final half.
+
+Willis was the first man up. He made a savage lunge at the first ball
+pitched, but caught it on the under side, and it went up directly
+over the plate. Jenkins the Pittsburgh catcher, did not have to move
+from his tracks to gather it in. Larry sent a fierce low liner to
+Baskerville at short, who made a magnificent catch, picking it off his
+shoe tops. Two out, and the crowd fairly groaned as the winning streak
+seemed at last about to be broken.
+
+All hopes were now pinned on Denton. All he could do, however, was to
+dribble a slow one to the box. It seemed a certain out, and nine times
+out of ten would have been. But the Pittsburgh pitcher, in running in
+on it, snatched it up so hurriedly that it fell out of his hand. He
+recovered it in an instant and shot it to first. But that fumble had
+been fatal, and Denton by a headlong slide reached first before the
+ball.
+
+A tremendous roar arose from the stands, and the people who had started
+to leave sat down suddenly and sat down hard.
+
+In the Giants' dugout, all was excitement and animation. McRae ran down
+to first to coach Denton. Robbie rushed over to Joe, who was next in
+turn and had already picked up his bat.
+
+"For the love of Pete, Joe," he begged, "paste the old apple. Show them
+again what you've been showing us all along. Kill the ball! Just once,
+Joe, just once! You can do it. One good crack, and you'll save the
+winning streak."
+
+"I'll do my best," was Joe's reply.
+
+Frantic adjurations of the same nature were showered on Joe as he took
+up his position at the plate. Then there was a great silence, as the
+crowd fairly held their breath.
+
+But the crafty Pittsburgh pitcher was to be reckoned with. He had no
+mind to see the game go glimmering just at the moment it seemed to be
+won. He signaled to his catcher and deliberately pitched two balls wide
+of the plate. It was evident that he was going to give Joe his base on
+balls and take a chance with Mylert, the next batter.
+
+But the best laid plans sometimes miscarry. The third ball he pitched
+did not go as wide of the plate as he had meant it should. Joe sized it
+up, saw that he could reach it, and swung for it with all his might.
+
+There was a crack like that of a rifle as the bat met the ball and
+sent it mounting ever higher and higher toward the right field wall.
+It seemed as though it were endowed with wings. On it went in a mighty
+curve and landed at last in the topmost row of the right field seats.
+There it was pocketed by a proud and happy fan, while Joe, sending in
+Denton ahead of him, jogged easily around the bases to the home plate.
+The game was won! The winning streak was saved! The Giants had tied
+their record, which had stood untouched for so many years!
+
+The scene in the stands and bleachers beggared description. Roar after
+roar went up, while the crazy spectators threw their straw hats into
+the air and scattered them by scores over the field. The Polo Grounds
+had been transformed into a madhouse, but differing from other insane
+asylums in that all the inmates were happy. All, that is, except the
+Pirates and their supporters, who thought unspeakable things as they
+saw the game in a twinkling torn from their grasp.
+
+Joe's only escape from his enthusiastic well-wishers lay in flight, and
+he made a bee line for the clubhouse. He got inside not a moment too
+soon. For a long time afterward a great crowd hung about the entrance,
+waiting for him to reappear, and it was only by slipping out of a back
+entrance that he eluded them.
+
+The old record had been tied. Could it be beaten?
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII
+
+HOLDING THEM DOWN
+
+
+Baseball circles had rarely been more deeply stirred than by the issue
+of the game, by winning which the Giants had tied their record. It was
+not merely the winning, but the sensational way in which Baseball Joe's
+home run had turned the scales in the last minute and snatched victory
+from defeat that excited the fans.
+
+But now that the record was tied, would the Giants be able to hang
+up a new one? That was the question on every lip, the question whose
+discussion filled column after column of the sporting pages of the
+newspapers.
+
+All agreed that the Giants had been lucky to win. If it had not been
+for the error of the pitcher on Denton's slow dribble, they would have
+lost. But it was conceded that it was not luck that had secured that
+mighty home run that Joe had hammered out to the bleachers. That was
+ball playing. That was muscle. That was determination. Once again his
+cool head and quick eye and powerful arm had shown that the game was
+not over until the last man was out.
+
+It was Joe's turn to pitch, and it was upon that fact more than
+anything else that the vast crowd that stormed the Polo Grounds relied
+for annexing the twenty-seventh game. The Pittsburghs too were holding
+out their star pitcher, Hooper, for that critical game, and it was
+certain that they would put forth superhuman efforts to win.
+
+In more senses than one, the game was an important one. The last two
+victories of the Giants had wiped out the lead that the Pirates had
+had over them, and the two teams were now on even terms in games won
+and lost for the season, so that the Pirates had a double incentive to
+win. If they took the game they would not only prevent the Giants from
+breaking their own record for a winning streak, but would also once
+more stand at the head of the League.
+
+"It's up to you, Joe," McRae said, just before the bell rang for the
+game to begin. "How are you feeling? Are you tired at all from pitching
+those last two innings yesterday?"
+
+"Not a bit tired," replied Joe promptly. "That little work yesterday
+was just the practice I needed to get into form. I'm feeling as fine as
+silk."
+
+"You look it," said the manager admiringly, as his eye took in the
+strong, lithe figure, the bronzed face and clear eyes of his star
+pitcher. "Well go in now Joe and eat them up. Hooper will be in the
+box for them, and I'm not denying that he's some pitcher. But he never
+saw the day that you couldn't run rings around him. Go in and win."
+
+It was evident from the start that there would be no such free hitting
+that day as there had been the day before. Both boxmen were in superb
+form, and by the time the first inning for each side was over, the
+spectators had settled down to witness a pitcher's duel.
+
+Hooper was a spitball artist, and his moist slants kept the Giants
+guessing in the early part of the game. But while he depended chiefly
+on this form of delivery, he had other puzzlers in his assortment, and
+he mixed them up in a most deceptive manner. In the first three innings
+he had four strike-outs to his credit, and when the Giants did connect
+with the ball it went up into the air and into the hands of some
+waiting fielder. His control of the slippery sphere also was excellent,
+and he issued no passes.
+
+In the fourth inning, the Giants began to nibble at his offerings.
+Curry rapped one out to right for the first single of the game. Iredell
+was robbed of a hit by a great jumping catch of O'Connor, who speared
+the ball with his gloved hand. Burkett lined out a two-bagger that
+carried Curry easily to third, but in trying to stretch the hit, he
+was caught by Ralston's magnificent throw to the plate. Burkett in
+the meantime had made a dash for third, but thought better of it, and
+scrambled back to second just in time. The next man up went out from
+short to first and the inning ended without scoring. But the Giants had
+proved to themselves that Hooper could be hit, and it was with renewed
+confidence that they took their places in the field.
+
+Joe in the meantime was mowing his opponents down with the regularity
+of a machine. His mighty arm swung back and forth like a piston rod.
+He had never cared for the spitball, as he knew that sooner or later
+it destroyed a pitcher's effectiveness. But in his repertoire of
+curves and slants he had weapons far more deadly. His fast straight
+one whizzed over the plate like a bullet. He mixed these up with a
+slow, dipping curve that the Pirates endeavored in vain to solve. Only
+with the head of the Pittsburgh batting order did he at times resort
+to the fadeaway. That he kept in reserve for some moment when danger
+threatened. Twice in the first five innings he set down the side
+on strikes, and not a man reached first on balls. It was wonderful
+pitching, and again and again Joe was forced to doff his cap to the
+cheers of the crowd, as he came into the bench.
+
+In the sixth inning, the Giants got busy. Wheeler lashed out a whale of
+a three-bagger to left. Willis laid down a neat sacrifice, bringing
+Wheeler home for the first run of the game. Larry hit the ball on the
+seam for a single, but was caught a moment later in trying to purloin
+second. The next batter up went out on strikes and the inning ended
+with the Giants one run to the good.
+
+The seventh inning came and passed and not a hit had been made by the
+Pirates. Then it began to be realized that Joe was out for a no-hit
+game, and the crowd rooted for him madly.
+
+Joe himself was about the only cool man on the grounds. He measured
+every man that came to the plate and took his time about pitching to
+him. Man after man he fanned or made him hit feeble grounders to the
+infield. And that wonderful control of his forbade any passes. The
+Pirates did not dare to wait him out. It was a case of strike or be
+struck out, and so they struck at the ball, but usually struck only the
+empty air.
+
+That ball! Sometimes it was a wheedling, coaxing ball, that sauntered
+up to the plate as though just begging to be hit. Again it was a
+vanishing ball that grew smaller from the time it left Joe's hand until
+it became a mere pin point as it glinted over the rubber. Still again
+it was a savage ball that shot over the plate with a rush and a hiss
+that made the batter jump back. But always it was a deceptive ball,
+that slipped by, hopped by, loafed by, twisted by, dodged by, and the
+Pirate sluggers strained their backs as well as their tempers in trying
+to hit it.
+
+McRae and Robbie on the bench watched with fascination and delight the
+work of their king pitcher.
+
+"It's magic, I tell you, John, just magic!" blurted out Robbie, as
+another victim went out on strikes and threw down his bat in disgust.
+
+"It sure looks like it," grinned McRae. "He has those fellows jumping
+through the hoops all right. I'm free to say I never saw anything like
+it."
+
+"He's got the ball trained, I tell you," persisted Robbie, rubbing his
+hands in jubilation. "It's an educated ball. It does just what Joe
+tells it to."
+
+Almost uncontrollable excitement prevailed as the Pirates came in for
+their last inning. Their heaviest sluggers were coming to the bat, and
+now if ever was the time to do something. They figured that the strain
+must have told on Joe and that a crack was due.
+
+Their hope grew dimmer, however, when Ralston, after fouling off two,
+fanned on the third strike. But it revived again when Baskerville
+rolled an easy one to Larry, that the latter fumbled for a moment and
+then hurled to first a fraction of a second too late.
+
+There was a roar of glee from the Pirates, and they began to chatter
+in the hope of rattling the pitcher. Bemis, the next man up, came to
+the plate swinging three bats. He discarded two of them and glared at
+Joe.
+
+"Here's where you meet your finish," he boasted, as he brandished his
+bat.
+
+Joe merely smiled and put one over. Bemis drove it straight for the
+box. Joe leaped into the air, caught it in his ungloved hand and shot
+it like lightning to first, catching Baskerville before he could get
+back.
+
+It was as pretty a double play as had ever been made on the New York
+grounds!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV
+
+A CRUSHING BLOW
+
+
+The play had been so swift that the eye could scarcely follow the ball,
+and it was a few seconds before the majority of the spectators could
+grasp what had happened.
+
+Then a tremendous shout went up that rolled across the field in
+increasing volume as the crowds realized that they had seen what would
+probably never be seen again in a single game. They had seen the New
+York team break its own record for straight wins, and in addition they
+had witnessed that rarest of pitching exploits, a no-hit game. Not even
+a scratch hit had marred Joe's wonderful performance, nor had he given
+a single base on balls. It was a red-letter day for the Giants and for
+Joe, and the people who had been there would talk about that game for
+years.
+
+If any one should have been elated by the marvelous result of that
+day's work, it was Joe. He had never stood on a higher pinnacle,
+except perhaps when he had won the last game of the World Series
+the preceding year. He was more than ever a hero in the eyes of the
+baseball public of New York, and within five minutes after the game
+was over the wires had flashed the news to every city of the country.
+But despite his natural pride in his achievement and his pleasure in
+knowing that he had won this critical game for his team, it was a very
+subdued and worried Joe that hurried to the clubhouse after the game
+was over. There his mates gathered, in the seventh heaven of delight,
+and there was a general jubilee, in which McRae and Robson joined.
+
+"We did it, we did it!" cried Robbie, bouncing about like a rubber ball
+in his excitement. "We broke the record! Twenty-seven games in a row!"
+
+"Where do you get that 'we' stuff, you old porpoise," grinned McRae,
+poking him jovially in the ribs. "Seems to me that Joe had something to
+do with it. Put it there, Matson," he went on, extending his hand. "You
+pitched a game that will go down in baseball history and you saved our
+winning streak from going up in smoke."
+
+Joe put out his left hand, and McRae looked a little surprised. Then
+he glanced down at Joe's right hand, and a look of consternation swept
+over his face.
+
+"Great Scott!" he cried. "What's the matter with your hand? It's
+swelled to twice its usual size."
+
+[Illustration: "GREAT SCOTT!" HE CRIED. "WHAT'S THE MATTER WITH YOUR
+HAND?"]
+
+"It was that drive of Bemis', I guess," replied Joe. "When I nabbed it,
+I seemed to feel something crack in the hand. Perhaps, though, it's
+only strained. It will probably be all right by to-morrow."
+
+"To-morrow!" roared McRae, as all crowded around anxiously. "There'll
+be no waiting till to-morrow. That hand is worth a half million dollars
+to the New York club, to say nothing of its worth to yourself. Where's
+the trainer? Where's the doctor? Jump, some of you fellows, and get
+them here quick!"
+
+There was a general scurrying around, and in a few minutes both of
+those men were examining the injured hand with the greatest solicitude.
+They looked grave when they had finished.
+
+"It's hard to tell just what has happened until the swelling has been
+reduced," pronounced the doctor, as he busied himself with splints and
+lotions. "I'm afraid, though, that it's more than a sprain. When it
+swells as much as that it generally means that a bone has been broken."
+
+There was a general groan.
+
+"That means, does it, that he will be out of the game for the rest of
+the season?" asked McRae, in notes of despair.
+
+"Oh, I wouldn't say that," the doctor hastened to reassure him. "It may
+be only a trifling fracture, and in that case he will have to be out
+only for a short time. But for the next few weeks anyway, he isn't
+likely to do any more pitching."
+
+"Who's the best specialist in New York?" demanded McRae.
+
+The doctor named a surgeon of national reputation.
+
+"'Phone him to come at once," commanded McRae. "Or, better yet, Joe,
+you'd better come right with me now. My car's outside and I'll get you
+up there in fifteen minutes. Every minute counts now."
+
+Joe hurriedly finished dressing, and McRae bundled him into his
+automobile. It was a speedy machine, and it was to be feared that the
+traffic laws were not strictly observed as it made its way downtown.
+But the traffic policemen all knew McRae and Joe, and there was nothing
+to prevent their getting to their destination in record time.
+
+A telephone call from the clubhouse had already notified the eminent
+surgeon that the pair were coming, and he was waiting for them. Without
+a moment's delay, they were ushered into his inner office, where he
+stripped off the bandages from the hand and made a thorough examination.
+
+"There is a small dislocation," he said when he had finished. "But I
+think it will yield readily to treatment. It will not be a permanent
+injury, and in a little while the hand will be as good as ever."
+
+Both drew a sigh of immense relief.
+
+"A little while," repeated McRae. "Just what do you mean by that,
+Doctor? You know we're fighting for the pennant, and we're depending on
+this king pitcher of ours more than on any one else to win out. Every
+day he's out of the race weakens our chances."
+
+"I can't tell that definitely until to-morrow morning," the doctor
+replied. "But offhand I should say for two or three weeks at least."
+
+"Two or three weeks!" repeated McRae in tones of mingled dismay and
+relief. "In those two or three weeks we may lose the flag. But thank
+heaven it's no worse."
+
+After making an appointment for the next morning, McRae drove Joe to
+his hotel.
+
+"It's bad enough, Joe," he said to him in parting. "I don't know how
+we're going to spare you while we're in the thick of the fight. But
+when I think of what it would mean to the team if you were knocked out
+altogether, I've got no kick coming. We're ahead of the Pittsburghs
+now, anyway, thanks to your splendid work, and if we can just hold our
+own till you get back, we'll pull out all right yet."
+
+Joe found Jim waiting for him, full of anxiety and alarm. But his face
+lighted up when he learned that the injury was not a permanent one.
+
+"It would have been a mighty sight better to have lost the game
+to-day than to have bought it at such a price," he said. "But after
+all, nothing matters as long as your hand is safe. That hand is your
+fortune."
+
+"To-day was my unlucky day," remarked Joe ruefully, as he looked at his
+bandaged hand.
+
+"In one sense it was," replied Jim, "but in another it wasn't. To-day
+you hung up a record. You saved the Giants' winning streak and you
+pitched a no-hit game!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV
+
+LINING THEM OUT
+
+
+The pain in his injured hand was intense that night, and Joe paced
+the floor for hours before he was able to get to sleep. By morning,
+however, the hand had yielded to treatment, and the swelling had
+greatly decreased. At the earliest hour possible Joe, accompanied by
+Jim, was at the surgeon's office.
+
+The doctor's face expressed his satisfaction, as, after an examination,
+he rendered his verdict.
+
+"It isn't as bad as I feared," he said while he deftly rebandaged the
+injured member. "This dislocation is slight and you'll soon be as right
+as ever. But you've got to take good care of it. It will be some time
+before you can pitch."
+
+"But how about batting?" asked Joe anxiously. "That isn't a steady
+strain, as I'd only have to do it three or four times in the course of
+the game."
+
+"I don't know," replied the doctor with a smile. "I'm not familiar
+enough with the game to tell where the strain comes in that case. I
+can imagine, however, that it would be chiefly in the arm and shoulder.
+It's possible that you may be able to bat before you can pitch. But I
+can tell more about that later on, as I see how your hand mends. For
+the present, you'll have to go slow."
+
+The sporting writers had no reason to complain of the dullness of news
+for that day's issue. The papers were ringing with the stirring events
+of the day before. Columns of space were devoted to the story of the
+game, and there was unstinted praise of Joe for his wonderful exploit.
+
+But mingled with the jubilation was a strain of apprehension. The
+accident that had befallen the great pitcher was a subject of the
+keenest anxiety. It was recognized that a great blow had been struck at
+the Giants' hope for the pennant. To have the greatest twirler of the
+team put out of the game just in the hottest part of the fight was a
+disaster that might prove fatal. Pittsburgh stock took a decided upward
+bound in consequence.
+
+The effect on the Giants themselves, as far as their morale was
+concerned, was almost certain to be hurtful. The tremendous strain
+under which they had been, while compiling their twenty-seven
+consecutive wins, had brought them to a point where a sudden blow like
+this might make them go to pieces.
+
+As a matter of fact, that is just what did happen to them that very
+afternoon. The whole team was depressed and had a case of nerves. They
+played like a lot of schoolboys, booting the ball, slipping up on easy
+grounders and muffing flies that ordinarily they could have caught with
+ease.
+
+The Pittsburghs, on the other hand, played with redoubled skill and
+courage. Their hopes had been revived by the misfortune that had
+befallen their most dangerous opponent. Joe was personally popular with
+all the players of the League, and they were sorry that he was hurt.
+But that did not prevent them from taking advantage of the chance to
+make hay while the sun shone.
+
+The game developed into a farce after the third inning, and from that
+time on it was only a question of the size of the score. When the game
+ended, the Giant outfielders were leg-weary from chasing hits, and the
+visitors were equally tired from running bases. The Pittsburghs won by
+a score of 17 to 3, and the Giants' winning streak came to an end.
+
+But for once the team escaped a roasting from McRae. The team had done
+wonderful work, and any nine that wins twenty-seven games in succession
+has a right to lose the twenty-eighth. Besides the break was due, and
+the manager hoped that with this one bad game out of their systems the
+team would pull itself together and start another rally.
+
+For the next week or two, the race see-sawed between the two leading
+teams. By this time it had become generally recognized that the pennant
+lay between them. The other contestants had occasional spurts, when
+great playing for a short period would revive the waning hopes of their
+admirers, but they soon fell back again in the ruck. It was quite
+certain that the flag would fly either over Forbes Field or over the
+Polo Grounds.
+
+In the meantime, Joe's hand was mending rapidly. His superb physical
+condition helped him greatly, and the doctor was visibly surprised and
+gratified by the progress of his patient. But it was hard work for Joe
+to be laid off just at the time that his team needed him most. Still he
+believed in the proverb "the more haste the less speed," and he tried
+to be patient, even while he was "chafing at the bit."
+
+About ten days after the accident, the doctor delighted him by telling
+him that he need not come to see him any more. But he still ordered
+him to refrain from pitching. As to batting, he said cautiously that
+Joe could try that out a little at a time. If he found that after easy
+batting practice his hand did not hurt him, he might be permitted to
+bat in an actual game.
+
+Joe was quick to avail himself of the permission. Very cautiously he
+tried batting out fungo hits. While at first the hand felt a little
+sore and stiff, this soon passed off. Then Joe had Jim pitch him some
+easy ones in practice, and found that he could line them out without
+ill effects. Finally he let Jim put them over at full speed, and was
+delighted to find that he could lift them into the right field stands
+and not suffer much of a twinge. At last he was himself again, as far
+at least as batting was concerned.
+
+His recovery came just in time to be of immense benefit to the team.
+The men had slumped considerably in batting, though they still held up
+to their usual form in fielding. But fielding alone cannot win games.
+Defensive work is all very well, but combined with it must be the
+offensive work on the part of the batsmen. The best fielding in the
+world cannot put runs over the plate.
+
+Joe's return put new spirit into the team at once. The batting picked
+up noticeably, with Joe leading the way. At first he was a little
+cautious about putting his whole strength into his blow, and for a few
+days when he was used in emergencies as a pinch hitter, he gathered a
+crop of singles with an occasional double and triple. But with every
+successive day he let out a new link, and at length he put his whole
+strength into his swing. Home runs became again a common feature, and
+the Giants started in joyously on a new upward climb.
+
+The season was to end this year in the West, and by the time the Giants
+started on their last swing around the circuit, they had a lead of four
+games over the Pirates. It was not necessarily a winning lead, but it
+was very comforting just the same to have those four games as a margin.
+Still, the Pittsburghs were hanging on gamely, ready to forge to the
+front on the least sign of weakening shown by their competitors. It
+was one of the hottest races that had ever been seen in the National
+League, and there was a chance that it would not be decided until the
+last day of the season.
+
+"The last lap," remarked Jim, as the team started on its trip. "Here's
+where we win or lose."
+
+"Here's where we win," corrected Joe.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVI
+
+THE TIRELESS FOE
+
+
+The Giants opened at Chicago, and the results were none too good.
+The Cubs, who just then were in the midst of a spurt, clawed and bit
+their way to victory in two games of the four, and the Giants were
+lucky to break even. As it was, the two games they won were annexed
+by the terrific batting of Joe, who was hitting like a demon. In the
+four games he made three home runs, and two of them were lined out
+when there were men on bases. All pitchers looked alike to him, and he
+played no favorites. The rest he had had from pitching had made him all
+the more effective as a batsman.
+
+His fame as a hitter had spread through all the cities of the League,
+and the Chicago grounds were filled to their capacity during the
+Giants' visit. Most of the spectators were as eager to see him hit one
+of his mammoth homers as they were to see the home team win. Cheers
+greeted him every time he came to the bat. He was the greatest drawing
+card that the Giants had or ever had had.
+
+Opinion was divided as to whether he or Kid Rose of the Yankees was
+the greatest hitter. Each had his partisans. Rose had been longer
+in the limelight, and those who had made up their minds that he was
+the greatest hitter that ever lived were reluctant to see their idol
+replaced by a newcomer. Many confidently predicted that Joe would
+not last, that his work was only a flash in the pan. Others declared
+that he did not have to bat against as good pitching in the National
+League as was shown in the American, and that therefore Rose's work was
+superior. But as Joe kept on, day in and day out, lacing out tremendous
+hits that landed in the bleachers and at times sailed over the fence,
+the doubters grew silent, or joined in the wild applause as Joe jogged
+around the bases and crossed the plate standing up.
+
+The keenest interest was manifested in the race that the Yankees were
+making to land the flag in the American League. If they should come out
+on top, the World Series would be held between New York teams, and Rose
+and Joe could be seen in action against each other. That would help to
+settle the question as to which had a right to wear the batting crown
+of the world. It would be a battle of giants, and it was certain that,
+if such a contest took place, there would be delegations to see it
+from all parts of the country.
+
+McRae was no longer content to use Joe simply as a pinch hitter. He
+wanted to take full advantage of his marvelous hitting, and so he
+put him in the regular line-up and played him every day. Wheeler was
+relegated to the bench and Joe took his place in the field. The manager
+also changed his batting order, putting Joe fourth in the cleanup
+position. And again and again his judgment was vindicated by the way
+Joe cleaned up with homers, sending his comrades in ahead of him.
+
+The day the third Chicago game was played was a very hot one, and Joe
+and Jim were tired and warm. Jim had pitched that day and won, after a
+gruelling contest, and Joe had varied his ordinary routine by knocking
+out two home runs instead of one.
+
+Joe was seated in his hotel room, writing a letter to Mabel. Jim had
+stepped down to the office to get some stationery, for he had the
+pleasant task on hand of writing to Clara.
+
+A knock came at the door, and in answer to his call to enter, a bellboy
+stepped into the room, bearing a pitcher and glasses.
+
+"Here's the lemonade you ordered, boss," he said, as he put his burden
+on a convenient stand.
+
+"Lemonade?" repeated Joe in some surprise. "I didn't order any."
+
+"Clerk sent me up with it, sir," said the bellboy respectfully. "Said
+it was for Mr. Matson, room four-seventeen. This is four-seventeen,
+isn't it?" he asked as he glanced at the number on the door, which he
+had left open.
+
+"This is four-seventeen, all right, and I'm Mr. Matson," Joe answered.
+"But I didn't order anything. I'll tell you how it is though," he
+added, as a thought struck him. "My friend who is sharing the room with
+me has just gone down to the lobby, and he's probably told the clerk to
+send it up. That's all right. Leave it there."
+
+"Shall I pour you out a glass, sir?" asked the boy, suiting the action
+to the word.
+
+"If you like," responded Joe carelessly, taking a quarter out of his
+pocket as a tip.
+
+The boy thanked him and withdrew, closing the door behind him. Joe
+finished the paragraph he was writing, and then picked up the glass. He
+took a sip of it and put it down.
+
+"Pretty bitter," he said to himself. "Not enough sugar. Still it's
+cooling, and I sure am warm."
+
+Again he lifted the glass to his lips, but just then Jim burst into the
+room.
+
+"Whom do you think I saw just now?" he demanded.
+
+"Give it up," replied Joe. "But whoever it was, you seem to be all
+excited about it. Who was it?"
+
+"Fleming!" answered Jim, as he plumped down into a chair.
+
+"Fleming!" repeated Joe with quickened interest. "What's that fellow
+doing here? I thought he hung out in New York."
+
+"That's what I want to know," replied Jim. "Wherever that fellow is,
+there's apt to be dirty work brewing. And the frightened look that came
+into his eyes when he saw me, and the way he hurried past me, made me
+uneasy. He acted as if he'd been up to something. I don't like the idea
+of a pal of Braxton being in the same hotel with us."
+
+"I don't care much for it myself," answered Joe. "Still, a hotel is
+open to anybody, and this is one of the most popular ones in the city.
+It isn't especially surprising that you should happen to run across
+him."
+
+"Not surprising perhaps, but unpleasant just the same," responded Jim.
+"It leaves a bad taste in my mouth."
+
+"Well," laughed Joe, "take the bad taste out with a glass of this
+lemonade you sent up. It isn't very good--it has a bad taste of its
+own--but it will cool you off."
+
+He raised his glass to his mouth as he spoke. But in an instant Jim was
+on his feet and knocked the glass from his hand. It fell on the floor
+and splintered in many pieces.
+
+Joe looked at him in open-eyed amazement, too astonished to speak.
+
+"Don't touch the stuff!" cried Jim. "What do you mean by saying I sent
+it up?"
+
+"Didn't you?" asked Joe. "The bellboy said he had been told to bring it
+to me, and as I hadn't ordered it, I jumped to the conclusion that you
+had."
+
+"Not I!" replied Jim. "But I can guess who did!"
+
+"Who?"
+
+"Fleming."
+
+The two friends looked fixedly at each other.
+
+"Do you mean," asked Joe, after a moment in which surprise and
+indignation struggled for the mastery, "that that lemonade was doped?"
+
+"Doped or poisoned, I'll bet my life," affirmed Jim. "Let's get to
+the bottom of this thing. Quick, old man! Perhaps Fleming is still
+somewhere in the hotel."
+
+"Not a chance," replied Joe, jumping to his feet. "If he's mixed up in
+this, he's getting away as fast as his legs or a car can carry him. But
+we'll go down and see what we can learn from the clerk."
+
+They went to the head clerk, whom they knew very well. He was an ardent
+fan, and his face lighted up as he saw the friends approaching.
+
+"Saw you play to-day, gentlemen," he said. "Those two home runs of
+yours were whales, Mr. Matson. And your pitching, Mr. Barclay, was all
+to the mustard."
+
+"Sorry to beat your Chicago boys, but we needed that game in our
+business," laughed Joe. "But what I want to see you about just now is a
+personal matter. Did you get an order from me or from my room to send
+up any lemonade?"
+
+The clerk looked surprised.
+
+"No," he replied. "I didn't get any such request. Wait a moment until I
+see the telephone operator."
+
+He consulted the girl at the telephone, and was back in a moment. "No
+message of any kind came from your room to-night," he announced.
+
+"But one of your bellboys brought it up," persisted Joe.
+
+"Which one of them was it?" asked the clerk, pointing to a group of
+them lounging about.
+
+"None of them," responded Joe, as he ran his eye over them.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVII
+
+CHAMPIONS OF THE LEAGUE
+
+
+"There are three more of the bellboys doing various errands about the
+hotel," replied the clerk. "If you gentlemen will wait around they'll
+be back in a few minutes."
+
+"All right, we'll wait," said Joe.
+
+Before long, all the bellboys were back, and Joe had had a good look at
+the entire staff. Not one resembled the boy who had come to his room.
+
+"I can't understand it," mused the clerk, to whom the boys had been
+careful not to impart their suspicions. "It must have been sent in by
+somebody from the outside. It's certain that it wasn't sent up from
+here."
+
+"Oh, well," said Joe carelessly, "it doesn't matter. I just wanted
+to find out, so that I could thank the one who did it. Sorry to have
+troubled you."
+
+They strolled off indifferently and returned to their room.
+
+"'Thank' is good," said Jim, as soon as they were out of earshot.
+
+"I'll thank him all right," replied Joe grimly. "In fact I'll thank him
+so warmly that it will stagger him."
+
+"May I be there to see!" replied Jim gruffly. "I can figure out the
+whole thing now. Fleming had had that lemonade doped and it was meant
+to put you out of business. It was easy to find out what hotel you were
+stopping at, as that's been in all the papers. Then it was a simple
+thing to glance over the register and get the number of your room. He's
+either got a bellboy from some other hotel or dressed up somebody in
+a bellboy's uniform. He's probably bribed him well, and it's been all
+the easier because he didn't have to let on to the boy that there was
+anything crooked about it. Told him perhaps that he was just playing
+a little joke on a friend or something like that. There's the whole
+story."
+
+"I guess that's about right," agreed Joe. "Gee, Jim, it's mighty lucky
+that you knocked that glass out of my hand. I had noticed that it
+tasted rather bitter, but put that down to too little sugar."
+
+"Let's send some of the stuff to a chemist and have it analyzed,"
+suggested Jim.
+
+"No," objected Joe, "that wouldn't do any good. The thing would be apt
+to get into the papers, and that's the very thing we mustn't let happen
+for the sake of the folks at home. We know enough about the stuff to
+be sure that it was doctored in some way. Everything about the incident
+tells of crookedness. Fleming was probably the master hand, although he
+may have simply been the tool of Braxton. Those fellows are running up
+a heavy account, and some day I hope we'll get the goods on them. We'll
+just dump the stuff out so that nobody else will be injured. Then we'll
+lay low but keep our eyes open. It's all that we can do."
+
+"Gee, that was one dandy homer, Joe," said the catcher some time later.
+
+"Best ever," added the first baseman.
+
+"Oh, I don't know," answered the young ball player modestly. "I think
+I have done better. But it was great to carry it along to eleven
+innings," he added, with a smile.
+
+"That tenth had me almost going," said the shortstop. "We came close to
+spilling the beans," and he shook his head seriously.
+
+"Well, 'all's well that ends well,' as Socrates said to General Grant,"
+and Joe grinned.
+
+From Chicago the Giants jumped to St. Louis, where, despite the
+stiffest kind of resistance, they took three games out of four. They
+were not quite as successful in Cincinnati, where the best they could
+get was an even break. The Reds saw a chance to come in third, in which
+case they would have a share in the World Series money, and they were
+showing the best ball that they had played all season. The Giants had
+all they could do to nose them out in the last game, which went to
+eleven innings and was only won by a home run by Joe in the wind-up.
+
+Seven games out of twelve for a team on the road was not bad, but it
+would have been worse if the Pirates, in the meantime, had not also had
+a rocky road to travel. The Brooklyns had helped their friends across
+the bridge by taking the Pittsburghs into camp to the tune of three
+games out of four and the Bostons had broken even. With the Phillies,
+however, the Pirates had made a clean sweep of the four games. So when
+the Giants faced their most formidable foes, they still had the lead of
+four games with which they had begun their Western trip.
+
+This, of course, gave the Giants the edge on their rivals. The
+Pittsburghs would have to win the whole four games to draw up on even
+terms with the leaders. In that case a deciding game would be necessary
+to break the tie. On the other hand all the Giants had to do was to win
+one game of the four and they would have the championship cinched. And
+that they would do at least that seemed almost a certainty.
+
+But nothing is certain in baseball, as soon became evident. Perhaps
+it was overconfidence or a sense of already being on easy street that
+caused the Giants to lose the first game. That, however, could not be
+said of the second, when the Giants "played their heads off," Jim said,
+and yet could not win against the classy pitching and stonewall defense
+put up by the Smoky City team. Things were beginning to look serious
+for the Giants, and some of their confidence was vanishing.
+
+Still more serious did they become when the third game went into the
+Pirates' basket. Jim pitched in that game and twirled wonderful ball,
+but his support was ragged, and several Pirate blows that ought to have
+been outs were registered ultimately as runs. They were unearned runs,
+but they counted in the final score as much as though they had been due
+to the team's hitting. The Giants were long-faced and gloomy.
+
+McRae was clearly worried. If the next game were lost, the leaders
+would be tied, and the Pirates would still have a chance to win. It
+would be a bitter pill to swallow if the Giants lost the flag just when
+it had seemed that all was over except the shouting.
+
+Moreover, the manager was in a quandary. All his first string pitchers
+had been beaten. His best one in active service at the present time,
+Jim, had pitched that day and it would not do to ask him to go into the
+box again to-morrow. In his desperation he turned to Joe.
+
+"Joe," he said, "we're up against it unless you can help us out. How
+is your hand feeling? Would you dare to take a chance with it?"
+
+"I think it's all right now, or nearly so," replied Joe. "I've been
+trying it out in practice right along, and it seems to me it's about as
+good as ever. I was putting them over to Mylert yesterday, and he told
+me he couldn't see any difference between them and those I threw before
+I was hurt. The only thing I'm a little skittish about is my fadeaway.
+That gives me a little twinge when I try it. But I guess I can leave
+that out and still pull through."
+
+"That's good!" ejaculated McRae, with great relief. "Go in then, old
+boy, and show these pesky Pirates where they get off. We simply must
+win this game."
+
+There was a startled murmur among the spectators who thronged Forbes
+Field that afternoon when they saw Joe go into the box. They had been
+gloating over the supposition that McRae would have to use again one of
+the pitchers whom the Pirates had already beaten in that series, and
+the way their pets were going, they looked for a sure victory. Now they
+saw the man who had always baffled the Pittsburghs again take up the
+pitcher's burden, and their faces took on a look of apprehension.
+
+The Pirate players too shared in that apprehension. They had a profound
+respect for Joe's ability, and had always had a sinking of the heart
+when they saw him draw on his glove. Still, they comforted themselves
+with the hope that his long layoff had hurt his effectiveness, and they
+braced to give him the battle of his life.
+
+Joe himself felt a thrill of exultation when he stepped on the mound.
+That was his throne. There he had won the laurels that crowned him as
+the greatest pitcher of his League. Now he was back again, back to
+buoy up the spirit of his team, back to justify the confidence of his
+manager, back to uphold his fame, back to bring the championship of the
+National League once more to New York.
+
+He still carried in his pocket Mabel's glove, that he had come to
+regard as his mascot. He touched it now. Then he wound up for the first
+pitch and split the plate for a strike.
+
+It was an auspicious beginning of one of the greatest games he had ever
+pitched in his whole career. The Pirates simply did not have a chance.
+All through the game they were swinging wildly at a ball that seemed to
+be bewitched, a ball that dodged their bats and appeared to be laughing
+at them. Angered and bewildered, they tried every device to avoid
+impending defeat. They bunted, they put in pinch hitters, they called
+the umpire's attention to Joe's delivery in the hope of rattling him,
+they tried to get hit with the ball.
+
+Through it all, Joe kept on smiling and mowing them down. Only three
+men got to first. Not one got to second. Thirteen men went out on
+strikes. And then, to cap the climax, Joe sent a screaming homer into
+the right field bleachers, sending in two men ahead of him.
+
+The final score was 8 to 0. The Giants had won the championship of the
+National League. Now they were to battle for the championship of the
+world!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVIII
+
+THE WORLD SERIES
+
+
+It was a happy team of Giants that left Pittsburgh that night on the
+sleeper for New York. The season's strain was over. The coveted flag
+was theirs. They had fought their way through many discouragements, had
+stood the gaff, and now they were at the top of their League, with none
+to contest their title as champions.
+
+"Some victory, eh, Joe?" remarked Jim to his chum.
+
+"Right, Jim," was the ready reply.
+
+To be sure a great battle loomed up ahead of them, but they welcomed
+that with eagerness. It meant thousands of dollars to every member of
+the team, win or lose. But they had no thought of losing. The return of
+their king pitcher to the box that afternoon, and the proof that he was
+in magnificent form, had filled them chock full of confidence.
+
+And they were doubly glad that the Yankees were to be their opponents.
+That had been settled three days before, when the American League
+season had closed with the Yankees just nosing out the Clevelands at
+the finish. It was settled that every game of the World Series would be
+played in New York.
+
+This meant that there would be no long, tiresome, overnight journeys
+between cities. But it meant more than that. It meant that the question
+would now be settled once for all as to which of the New York teams was
+the better.
+
+This had been a mooted question for a good many years past. Each team
+had its warm friends and admirers, who were ready to back it through
+thick and thin. The Giants, of course, had been established longer, and
+had gained a strong place in the affections of the metropolis. Their
+games, as a usual thing, drew many more spectators than those played by
+their rivals. But of late the acquisition of Kid Rose by the Yankees
+had drawn the greater attention to that team, and the Giants had been
+cast in the shade. They were not used to this and did not relish it.
+They knew the Yankees were a strong team, but at the same time they
+believed that they could take their measure if it ever came to a
+showdown. Now that showdown was at hand, and the Giants were glad of it.
+
+The public, too, were eager to have the question of supremacy settled.
+The metropolis was fairly seething with excitement over the series, and
+the hotels already were filling up with visitors from as far off as
+the Pacific Coast. Not only columns but whole pages of the newspapers
+were filled with comments and prophecies respecting the chances of the
+respective teams.
+
+More than anything else in the public mind was the coming duel between
+Kid Rose and Joe Matson as home run hitters. Which would make the
+longer hits? Which would make the more home runs? These were the
+questions that were on the lips of the fans wherever two or more of
+them met. And the sporting pages of the daily newspapers were full of
+it.
+
+The series this year was to consist of nine games if so many should be
+necessary. The team that first won five games would be the champions of
+the world. The members of the teams were to share in the money taken in
+at the first five games played, so that there would be no inducement to
+spin out the series. After certain percentages had been deducted sixty
+per cent was to go to the winners and forty per cent to the losers. The
+outlook was that each member of the winning team would get about five
+thousand dollars and each member of the losing team between three and
+four thousand, a difference great enough to make each player do his
+best, apart from his loyalty to his team.
+
+Reggie had come up from Goldsboro, bringing Mabel with him, a
+charge of which Joe promptly relieved him. She seemed to Joe more
+distractingly beautiful than ever, and his heart thumped as he realized
+that in less than a month she would be his own. That had been arranged
+in their correspondence. The wedding would take place in Mabel's home
+in Goldsboro, and after their honeymoon they were to go to Riverside,
+to witness the marriage of Jim and Clara. The latter had hoped to come
+on to see the World Series, but Mrs. Matson was not well enough to come
+along, and Clara did not want to leave her. So poor Jim had to exercise
+patience and not be too envious of the almost delirious happiness of
+Joe and Mabel at being together.
+
+A more exciting World Series than that which now began between the
+Giants and Yankees had never been known in the history of the game.
+Both teams were out for blood. Every man was on his toes, and the
+excited spectators were roused almost to madness by the almost
+miraculous stops and throws pulled off by the fielders. From the start
+it was evident that the nines were very evenly balanced, and that
+whichever finally won would in all probability do so by the narrowest
+kind of margin.
+
+Victory seesawed between the teams. Joe pitched the first game, and the
+Giants won by 3 to 1. The Yankees took the second by 5 to 2. Jim held
+them down in the third to two runs, while the Giants accumulated six.
+The Yankees made it "fifty-fifty" by galloping away with the fourth
+game in a free hitting contest, of which Markwith was the victim, the
+final score being 9 to 5. The Giants again assumed the lead by copping
+the fifth by 4 to 0, Joe decorating his opponents with a necklace of
+goose eggs. They repeated on the following day, and with only one more
+game needed to make the five, it looked as though they would be certain
+winners. But the Yankees were not yet through, and they came back
+strong on the two succeeding days and evened up the score. Each had won
+four games. The ninth and final game would determine which team was to
+be the champions of the world.
+
+In these contests, Joe had batted like a fiend. McRae had played him
+in every game, putting him in the outfield on the days that he was
+not scheduled to pitch. In the eight games, Joe had made six circuit
+clouts, in addition to four three-baggers, three two-base hits, and
+some singles. He was simply killing the ball.
+
+Kid Rose also had done sterling work, and had rapped out five homers,
+besides a number of hits for a lesser number of bags. But Baseball Joe
+so far had outclassed him, both in the number and the length of his
+hits. There was no stopping him. High or low, incurve or outcurve, they
+were all the same to him. That eagle eye of his located the course of
+the ball unerringly, and when the ash connected with the ball that ball
+was slated for a ride.
+
+There was no mistake about it. Joe had arrived. The batting crown was
+his. He had long since been recognized as the king of pitchers. Now he
+was hailed by acclamation as the greatest hitter in the game!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIX
+
+THE GAME OF HIS LIFE
+
+
+For the ninth and deciding game, McRae had selected Joe to pitch.
+
+"I don't need to tell you, Joe, how much depends on this game," McRae
+said soberly, as the two came out of the clubhouse and walked across
+the field towards the grandstand, which was crowded to suffocation.
+"You know it as well as I do. I'm just counting on you, my boy. You've
+never failed me yet in a pinch. You won't fail me now."
+
+"Trust me, Mac," replied Joe. "I'll do my best to win out."
+
+Hudson, the manager of the Yankees, was also pinning his faith on
+the leader of his pitching staff, Phil Hays. He was a master of the
+underhand delivery, and had already captured for the Yankees the two
+games of the series in which he had pitched. In both games he had
+sorely puzzled the Giants, for there was no pitcher in the National
+League who used that delivery, and they had found it almost impossible
+to gauge it. He also had a crossfire, that he used at times with
+telling effect. He had not yet matched his pitching strength against
+Joe's, and the crowd was all agog with curiosity to see them battle
+against each other.
+
+Jim had been a little later than Joe in slipping into his uniform, and
+was still in the clubhouse, after his friend had gone out on the field,
+when Reggie came rushing in, panting and out of breath.
+
+"Where's Joe?" he asked, looking wildly around.
+
+"He's just gone out to practice," answered Jim. "Why, what's the
+matter, Reggie?"
+
+"I've got to get Joe," Reggie panted, making a dash for the door.
+
+But Jim caught his arm.
+
+"Look here, Reggie," he said, holding to him tightly. "Joe mustn't be
+upset. I can see that something's happened. Tell me what it is, and
+I'll see about letting Joe know."
+
+"It's M-Mabel!" answered Reggie, stammering in his excitement. "She's
+disappeared."
+
+"Disappeared!" echoed Jim, in bewilderment. "What do you mean?"
+
+"Just that," answered Reggie. "She went out this morning to call on
+a friend, but said she'd get back to go with me to the game. I got
+anxious when she didn't come, and called up her friend, who said she
+hadn't seen her. Just then a messenger boy brought me this," and he
+handed over a typewritten, unsigned note, which read:
+
+    "Miss Varley is in safe hands. If Matson loses his game to-day
+    she will be returned this evening. If he doesn't, it will cost
+    $25,000 to get her back. Personal in papers to-morrow, signed
+    T. Z., will give exact directions for carrying on further
+    negotiations."
+
+"Now you see why I've got to see Joe right away," said Reggie in
+frenzied impatience, snatching the note from Jim's hands.
+
+"You mustn't!" ejaculated Jim, barring the way. "Don't you see that
+that's just what the rascals want you to do? You'd just be playing
+their game. They want to get Joe so frightened and upset that he can't
+pitch. It's the scheme of some gamblers who have bet on the Yanks to
+win. They want to make sure that they will win, and so they want to
+bribe or frighten Joe into losing. But probably if he did, they'd
+demand the ransom money just the same. We'll have to keep it from Joe
+until the game is over. Nothing will be lost by that. I'll give McRae a
+tip and he'll let me off. Then you and I will get busy and do all that
+we can for the next two hours. If we turn nothing up, we'll be back
+here when the game ends and tell Joe all about it. Wait here a minute
+till I see McRae, and then we'll get on the job."
+
+In five minutes he was back with the required permission, and as soon
+as he had got into his street clothes he hailed a taxicab, and he and
+Reggie jumped in and were off.
+
+When the bell rang for the game to begin, the Giants took the field,
+and Milton, the big center-fielder of the Yankees, came to the plate.
+Joe wound a high fast one about his neck, at which he refused to bite.
+The next one split the rubber, and Milton swung savagely at it and
+missed. The next was a called strike. On the following ball, he rolled
+an easy grounder to Burkett at first, who made the put out unassisted.
+The next man, Pender, Joe put out on strikes in jig time. Then the
+mighty Kid Rose strode to the bat.
+
+He grinned at Joe and Joe grinned back. They were both good fellows,
+and each thoroughly respected the other. There was no bitterness in
+their rivalry.
+
+"Now little ball, come to papa!" sang out Rose.
+
+"Here he comes!" laughed Joe. "Take a look at baby."
+
+The ball whizzed over the plate, and Rose missed it by an inch. The
+next he fouled off, as he did the following one. Then Joe tried a
+fadeaway, and Rose fell for it, swinging himself halfway round with the
+force of his blow.
+
+"You're out!" cried the umpire, and the Giant supporters in the stands
+broke out in cheers. It was not often that Rose struck out, and the
+feat was appreciated.
+
+In the Giants' half, Hays set them down in one, two, three order. Curry
+flied to Russell in right, Iredell went out by the strike route, while
+Burkett's grounder to Pender at short was whipped smartly down to first.
+
+The Yankees were easy victims in the second. Russell fanned, Walsh
+lifted a twisting foul, on which Mylert made a superb catch close to
+the Giants' dugout and Mullen hit a grounder between first and the box,
+which Joe captured and fielded to Burkett in plenty of time.
+
+Joe was first up in the Giants' half, and had to doff his cap in
+response to the cheers which greeted him as he came to the plate.
+
+Hays sized him up carefully and did not like his looks. The first ball
+he threw him was so wide that Banks, the catcher, had to reach far out
+to nab it with one hand.
+
+That might have been lack of control on Hays' part, but when a second
+followed, that came nowhere in the range of Joe's bat, the crowd jumped
+to the conclusion that he was deliberately trying to pass him, and a
+storm of protests rained down on the diamond.
+
+"You're a game sport--not!"
+
+"Let Baseball Joe hit the ball!"
+
+"Yellow streak!"
+
+"Matson took a chance with Rose. Why don't you take a chance with
+Matson?"
+
+"Where's your sand?"
+
+Whether Hays was stung by these jibes or not, the next ball curved
+over the plate and just above the knee. There was a ringing crack, and
+the ball sailed aloft in the direction of the bleachers with home run
+written all over it. There was no need of hurrying, and Joe simply
+trotted around the bases, while pandemonium reigned in the stands and
+bleachers.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXX
+
+CHAMPIONS OF THE WORLD
+
+
+Wheeler went out on a fly to Milton, Willis fanned, and Larry closed
+the inning with a pop up to second. But the Giants had scored first
+blood, and in such a close game as this promised to be, that run stood
+out like a lighthouse.
+
+In the third, McCarthy fell victim to Joe's curves and went out on
+strikes. Banks was lucky and got to first on a grasser to Iredell that
+took a wicked bound just as the shortstop was all set to receive it and
+jumped into left. He was nipped a minute later, when Joe saw out of the
+corner of his eye that he was taking too long a lead off first and made
+a lightning throw to Burkett. Hays, after fouling off two, struck out
+on a mean drop, and the inning ended without damage.
+
+Hays put one over for Denton that the latter pickeled for a dandy
+grasser between third and short. Rose at left was slow in retrieving
+the ball, and Denton by fleet running and a hook slide reached the
+middle station. Here, however, he was caught napping. Then Hays braced
+and set the next two players down on strikes. It was a deft exhibition
+of "getting out of a hole," and deserved the generous applause that it
+received.
+
+In the Yankees' half of the fourth, Milton sent one to Willis at third
+that the latter stopped neatly but threw to first too wide, the ball
+almost missing Burkett's fingers as he reached for it. Pender knocked
+a grounder to Larry, but the latter hesitated a moment as to whether
+to make the play at first or second, and when he finally chose second,
+Milton had reached that bag, and both men were safe. Then Rose came to
+the bat, with the Yankee partisans shouting wildly for a homer.
+
+Joe fooled him twice, but Rose caught the third one and poled a hit
+to right. Wheeler and Denton both raced for it, and the latter by a
+herculean effort just managed to get under it. In the meantime, Milton
+had started forward, and Pender too was on his way. Quick as a flash,
+Denton straightened up and sent the ball on a line to first. Pender had
+turned and was running back, but was an easy out. Burkett shot the ball
+to Larry, putting out Milton, who was scrambling back to second. It was
+a superb triple play and the crowd went crazy.
+
+Iredell started the Giants' fourth with a liner to McCarthy, that
+settled comfortably in the third baseman's glove. Burkett lammed a
+single into right. Joe walloped a shrieking three-bagger between right
+and center, that brought Burkett galloping to the plate for the second
+run of the game. Wheeler was ordered to sacrifice, but his attempted
+bunt resulted in a little fly to Hays, and Joe was held on third. Hays
+turned on steam and struck Willis out.
+
+The fifth inning passed without scoring by either side. Both Joe and
+Hays were pitching magnificent ball, and the crowds cheered each in
+turn lustily.
+
+The first real hit that Joe yielded came in the sixth, when after
+McCarthy had struck out, Banks lined a beauty into right between first
+and second. It did no harm, however, for Joe tightened up immediately
+and made Hays and Milton hit at empty air.
+
+The Giants in their half went the Yankees one better in the matter of
+hits, and yet could not score. Curry sent a twister over second that
+Mullen could not get under. Iredell followed with a slow roller down
+the third base line, that McCarthy could not reach in time to field. A
+moment later, however, Curry was caught napping at second, and Burkett
+hit into a snappy double play, retiring the side.
+
+In the seventh, the Yankees broke the ice. Pender got a life, when his
+high fly to third was muffed by Willis. Kid Rose came to the bat.
+
+"Put it over, Joe, and see me lose it," he called. "I was robbed last
+time."
+
+"That's nothing, Kid," chaffed Joe. "You'll be killed this time."
+
+The first ball, which completely baffled the most dangerous slugger of
+the American League, seemed to bear out this prediction. On the second,
+however, Rose sent a neat hit to right that was good for two bases and
+brought Pender over the plate, amid the thunderous roars of the Yankee
+supporters. Russell tapped a little one in front of the plate, that Joe
+got in time to put him out at first, but not to head Rose off at third.
+Walsh went out on strikes. Mullen rolled one to Burkett, and Joe ran
+over to cover the bag, but Burkett's throw hit the dirt and Rose came
+over the plate, tying the score. McCarthy fanned, and the inning was
+over. One hit, sandwiched in with errors, had knocked the Giants' lead
+into a cocked hat and tied up the game.
+
+Not for long, however. Joe was the first man up, and came to the plate
+with blood in his eye. The first two offerings he let go by. The third
+was to his liking. There was an explosion like the crack of a gun and
+the ball started on its journey.
+
+That journey was destined to be talked about for years to come. It was
+the longest hit that ever had been made on the Polo Grounds. On it
+went over right field, over the bleachers and over the fence, clearing
+it at a height of fifty feet.
+
+In the wild roar that went up as Joe loped around the bases, even
+the Yankee supporters joined. It was an occasion that rose above
+partisanship, an outstanding event in the history of sport. The
+spectators cheered until they were hoarse, and it was a minute or two
+before play could be resumed.
+
+The rest of the inning was short and sweet. Wheeler, Willis and Larry
+went out in order, the first two on strikes and the latter on a
+grounder fielded by Mullen.
+
+The eighth was on the same snappy order. Joe was determined to maintain
+his advantage, and was invincible. Banks grounded to the box, and Joe
+tossed him out. Hays fanned for the second time and Milton followed
+suit.
+
+Hays, too, was going strong, and the Giant batsmen went down before
+him like a row of tenpins. Denton made three futile attempts and threw
+down his bat in disgust. Mylert cut three successive swaths in the
+atmosphere and went back to the bench, while Curry fouled out to Banks.
+
+In the ninth, the Yankees again sewed it up. Pender got to first, when
+Larry was slow in fielding his grounder. The mighty Rose came up amid
+frantic cheering. But Joe summoned all his cunning, and for the second
+time that day struck him out, while the crowd cheered his sportsmanship
+in not passing him to first. Russell popped up an infield fly that
+Willis and Iredell ran for but collided, the ball dropping between
+them. In the scramble that ensued, Pender reached third and Russell
+made second. Iredell was still a little shaken by the collision, and
+fumbled the easy grounder of Walsh that ought to have resulted in an
+out at the plate, Walsh reaching first in safety. In consequence Pender
+scored, and again the game was tied at 3 to 3. A single now would have
+brought in another run, but Joe by a quick throw caught Walsh asleep at
+first and struck out Mullen, thus ending the inning.
+
+With the frenzied adjurations of McRae and Robbie in their ears, the
+Giants came to the bat for the last half of the ninth. Iredell made
+a mighty effort, but came back to the bench after three fruitless
+swings at Hays' benders. Burkett sent up a towering skyscraper that was
+gathered in after a long run by Milton in center.
+
+On Joe now rested the Giants' hopes. Twice that day he had poled out
+homers, and once he had ripped out a three-bagger. Could he repeat?
+
+Hays was determined that he shouldn't have a chance. Amid the jeers
+and taunts of the crowd, he deliberately sent three balls wide of the
+plate. In attempting to do the same with the fourth, however, he sent
+it a trifle too close. Joe caught it on the end of his bat.
+
+How that ball traveled! Almost on a line it whistled through the air
+in the direction of the right field bleachers. On and on went that
+terrific, screeching liner straight into the crowd in the bleachers who
+scrambled frantically to get out of its path.
+
+Round the bases went Joe, amid shouts and yells that were deafening.
+Down on the home plate he came with both feet. The game was won, the
+series was over and the Giants were the champions of the world!
+
+Like a deer Joe made for the clubhouse, to escape the crowds that came
+swarming over the field. He reached it just as a man was being carried
+inside.
+
+"What's the matter?" he asked. "Any one hurt?"
+
+"Only a glancing blow," remarked the club doctor, who had been looking
+the man over. "He's dazed, but he'll come to his senses soon."
+
+Joe bent over to look at him and started back in surprise.
+
+"Why, I know that man!" he exclaimed. "His name's Fleming!"
+
+"It's Fleming all right," said Jim's voice beside him. "And he's got
+just what was coming to him."
+
+Joe looked up and saw Jim and Reggie. They were grave and worried, and
+Joe's sixth sense told him that something was wrong.
+
+"What's happened?" he asked in alarm. "And where is Mabel? What kept
+her from the game? Don't stand there dumb! Tell me, quick!"
+
+"Now, Joe----" began Jim soothingly, but was interrupted by the injured
+man who opened his eyes, looked wildly around and struggled to a
+sitting posture. His eyes dilated with fright when he saw Joe and Jim.
+
+"I didn't do it!" he half screamed. "I didn't kidnap her! It was
+Braxton. He----"
+
+Jim interposed.
+
+"Clear a space here," he commanded. "This is a private matter for Joe
+and me. Now, Fleming," he went on in short, menacing words that cut
+like a knife, "tell me this instant where Miss Varley is. You know.
+Tell me. Quick! Don't lie, or I'll tear your tongue out by the roots."
+
+Before the blazing fury in his eyes Fleming quailed.
+
+"She's at Inwood," he muttered. "She's safe enough. She's----"
+
+"Reggie," commanded Jim, "jump into the car and take the wheel. Joe,
+help me to get this man into the car. Don't talk. I'll explain as we go
+along. Doyle," he continued, turning to a police lieutenant who was a
+warm admirer of the boys and who happened to be standing near, "come
+along with us if you don't mind. It may be a case for you."
+
+"Sure thing," replied Doyle. "I'm with you."
+
+They half dragged, half carried, Fleming to the car, and Reggie put on
+speed. The lieutenant sat in front with him, and his uniform prevented
+any question on the part of the traffic policemen. Fleming, pale and
+apprehensive, was thrust into a corner of the tonneau, while Jim
+explained the situation to Joe, who was boiling with rage.
+
+The headlong speed at which Reggie drove soon brought them to the
+vicinity of Inwood, and following the faltering directions of Fleming,
+they drew up before a little house that was a block away from any of
+its neighbors.
+
+They tiptoed up the steps, Joe having his hand so tightly on Fleming's
+collar that his knuckles ground into his neck.
+
+"You know what you've got to do, Fleming," he whispered. "If you don't
+do it----"
+
+His grip tightened and his fist clenched.
+
+Trembling, Fleming opened the front door with his latchkey, and the
+party went softly through the hall. They stopped in front of a door
+from behind which a man was heard talking.
+
+"I'm sorry to have to incommode you, Miss Varley," he was saying in
+suave polished tones that the boys recognized at once as Braxton's.
+"But unfortunately it is necessary to the success of my plans. You
+can't complain that we haven't treated you with perfect respect outside
+of the little violence we had to use to get you into the car."
+
+There was no reply, but the party could hear the sound of sobbing.
+
+"Knock," whispered Joe, emphasizing the command by a twist of Fleming's
+collar.
+
+Fleming knocked.
+
+"Who's there?" came from within.
+
+"It's Fleming," was the weak answer. "Open up."
+
+The door opened and the party went in with a rush.
+
+There was a cry of joy from Mabel and a startled exclamation from
+Braxton. He looked toward the door, but the burly policeman had closed
+it and stood with his back against it. The next instant Joe had smashed
+Braxton straight between the eyes and the rascal measured his length on
+the floor. An instant more, and Mabel was in Joe's arms, sobbing her
+heart out against his breast.
+
+For a few moments the reunited ones were dead to the world around them.
+When at last they had come to their senses, Joe, with a final caress,
+relinquished Mabel to Reggie's care.
+
+"You'd better go out to the car, dearest," he said to her. "I'll be
+with you soon. I've got a little business to attend to here."
+
+The brother and sister went out, and Joe turned to the rest of the
+party. Braxton had been yanked to his feet by Jim and jammed down hard
+into a chair, where he sat glowering with rage and fear. Doyle stood
+guard over Fleming, who presented a miserable picture of abjectness.
+
+"Shall I take them in charge, Mr. Matson?" asked the police lieutenant.
+"You seem to have a clear case against them. They ought to get ten
+years at least."
+
+The fear in the rascals' faces deepened.
+
+"No," answered Joe thoughtfully. "I don't want any scandal and I don't
+believe I'll make a charge. At least, not yet. Jim, can you skirmish
+around and find pen and ink?"
+
+In a minute or two Jim had found them.
+
+"Now, you contemptible skunks," began Joe, "listen to me. I'm going to
+get a written confession from you of this whole business. Put down,
+Jim, that matter of the anonymous letter. Don't try to lie out of it,
+you scoundrel," he said, as Braxton started to protest. "Put down, too,
+that hiring of the auto bandits to cripple me." Here Braxton gave a
+violent start. "Put down that attempt to dope me in Chicago. That hits
+you on the raw, doesn't it, Fleming?" he added, as the latter cringed
+still lower in his seat. "We'll pass over the matter of hiring Bugs
+Hartley to do me up in St. Louis, for he may have done that on his
+own account. Now add this kidnaping incident and the record will be
+complete."
+
+Jim wrote rapidly and soon had the document ready.
+
+"Now we'll ask these gentlemen to sign," said Joe, with exaggerated
+politeness.
+
+"I won't sign," snarled Braxton, livid with rage.
+
+"Oh, you won't?" said Joe. "All right, Lieutenant----"
+
+"I'll sign," said Braxton hastily.
+
+Both he and Fleming signed, and Joe put the document carefully into his
+pocket.
+
+"Now," he said, "I have you rascals on the hip. Dare to make one other
+move against me as long as you live, and I'll have you clapped into
+jail so quickly it will make your heads swim. I'll put you where the
+dogs won't bite you."
+
+Both Braxton and Fleming rose to their feet.
+
+"Where are you going?" asked Joe, in apparent surprise.
+
+"You're through with us, aren't you?" growled Braxton.
+
+Joe laughed outright.
+
+"Oh, dear no," he said, as he rose to his feet. "There's just one
+little thing to attend to yet. I'm going to thrash you within an inch
+of your life."
+
+Braxton made a dash for the door, but Joe caught him a clip on the jaw
+that sent him staggering back into a corner.
+
+"Now Jim," said Joe, "suppose you take that little rat out," pointing
+to Fleming, "and drop him somewhere. He got his dose when the ball
+knocked him out in the bleachers, and that perhaps will be enough for
+him. Lieutenant," he went on, turning to Doyle, "you're a policeman,
+and might feel called on to stop any scene of violence. I feel it in my
+bones that there's going to be a little violence here--just a little.
+Would you mind stepping outside and seeing whether the car is all
+right?"
+
+"Sure," replied Doyle, with a grin and a wink.
+
+"Now, you cur," said Joe, as he turned to Braxton, "take off your coat.
+It's a long account I have to settle with you, and I'm going to give
+you the licking of your life."
+
+There was no way out, and Braxton took off his coat and closed in. He
+was a big man and fought with the desperation of a cornered rat. He got
+in one or two wild blows that did no damage. Joe smashed him right and
+left, knocked him down and lifted him to his feet to knock him down
+again, until Braxton, beaten to a finish, refused to get up, and lay in
+a heap in a corner, fairly sobbing with rage and pain and shame.
+
+"Just one little bit of news, Braxton," said Joe, as he turned to
+leave. "You've lost your bets. The Giants won!"
+
+He ran lightly down the steps and jumped into the car, where Mabel
+snuggled up to him.
+
+"What kept you so long, Joe?" she asked anxiously.
+
+"Just settling an account, honey," he replied, as he drew her closer.
+"It was a long one and took some time."
+
+"An account? What do you mean?" the girl asked, and then added
+suddenly: "Oh, Joe, you are all--all mussed up!"
+
+"Am I, dear? Well, if I am you ought to see the other fellow, that's
+all."
+
+"It was a--a fight?" she faltered.
+
+"Hardly that, Mabel. Braxton had it coming to him--and I gave it to him
+with interest. But let us forget it. It's over now, and all I want to
+think about is--you!" And he held her closer than ever.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+A few weeks later the wedding march was played in Mabel's home, and she
+and Joe joined hands for life. Clara was bridesmaid and Jim was best
+man. Mr. and Mrs. Matson, the latter greatly improved in health, were
+present. It was a glorious occasion, and all of them, the bride and
+groom especially, were happy beyond words.
+
+"I'm quite a royal personage," said Mabel, as the happy pair, amid
+a shower of rice, started off on their honeymoon. "To think of poor
+little me marrying the king of pitchers and king of batters."
+
+"As Reggie would say, you're 'spoofing' me," he laughed. "At any rate,
+I'm luckier than most kings. I've picked a perfect queen." And Baseball
+Joe smiled broadly.
+
+And he had a right to smile, don't you think so?
+
+
+THE END
+
+
+
+
+THE BASEBALL JOE SERIES
+
+BY LESTER CHADWICK
+
+
+_12mo. Illustrated. Price per volume, $1.00, postpaid_
+
+[Illustration]
+
+  BASEBALL JOE OF THE SILVER STARS
+  _or The Rivals of Riverside_
+
+Joe is an everyday country boy who loves to play baseball and
+particularly to pitch.
+
+
+
+  BASEBALL JOE ON THE SCHOOL NINE
+  _or Pitching for the Blue Banner_
+
+Joe's great ambition was to go to boarding school and play on the
+school team.
+
+
+  BASEBALL JOE AT YALE
+  _or Pitching for the College Championship_
+
+Joe goes to Yale University. In his second year he becomes a varsity
+pitcher and pitches in several big games.
+
+
+  BASEBALL JOE IN THE CENTRAL LEAGUE
+  _or Making Good as a Professional Pitcher_
+
+From Yale college to a baseball league of our Central States.
+
+
+  BASEBALL JOE IN THE BIG LEAGUE
+  _or A Young Pitcher's Hardest Struggles_
+
+From the Central League Joe goes to the St. Louis Nationals.
+
+
+  BASEBALL JOE ON THE GIANTS
+  _or Making Good as a Twirler in the Metropolis_
+
+Joe was traded to the Giants and became their mainstay.
+
+
+  BASEBALL JOE IN THE WORLD SERIES
+  _or Pitching for the Championship_
+
+What Joe did to win the series will thrill the most jaded reader.
+
+
+  BASEBALL JOE AROUND THE WORLD
+  _or Pitching on a Grand Tour_
+
+The Giants and the All-Americans tour the world.
+
+
+  BASEBALL JOE: HOME RUN KING
+  _or The Greatest Pitcher and Batter on Record_
+
+Joe becomes the greatest batter in the game.
+
+
+  BASEBALL JOE SAVING THE LEAGUE
+  _or Breaking Up a Great Conspiracy_
+
+Throwing the game meant a fortune but also dishonor and it was a great
+honor to defeat it.
+
+
+_Send For Our Free Illustrated Catalogue_
+
+
+  CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY, Publishers      New York
+
+
+
+
+THE MOTOR BOYS SERIES
+
+BY CLARENCE YOUNG
+
+
+_12mo. Illustrated. Price per volume, $1.00, postpaid_
+
+[Illustration]
+
+  The Motor Boys
+  _or Chums Through Thick and Thin_
+
+  The Motor Boys Overland
+  _or A Long Trip for Fun and Fortune_
+
+  The Motor Boys In Mexico
+  _or The Secret of The Buried City_
+
+  The Motor Boys Across the Plains
+  _or The Hermit of Lost Lake_
+
+  The Motor Boys Afloat
+  _or The Cruise of the Dartaway_
+
+  The Motor Boys on the Atlantic
+  _or The Mystery of the Lighthouse_
+
+  The Motor Boys in Strange Waters
+  _or Lost in a Floating Forest_
+
+  The Motor Boys on the Pacific
+  _or The Young Derelict Hunters_
+
+  The Motor Boys in the Clouds
+  _or A Trip for Fame and Fortune_
+
+  The Motor Boys Over the Rockies
+  _or A Mystery of the Air_
+
+  The Motor Boys Over the Ocean
+  _or A Marvelous Rescue in Mid-Air_
+
+  The Motor Boys on the Wing
+  _or Seeking the Airship Treasure_
+
+  The Motor Boys After a Fortune
+  _or The Hut on Snake Island_
+
+  The Motor Boys on the Border
+  _or Sixty Nuggets of Gold_
+
+  The Motor Boys Under the Sea
+  _or From Airship to Submarine_
+
+  The Motor Boys on Road and River
+  _or Racing to Save a Life_
+
+
+THE MOTOR BOYS SECOND SERIES
+
+BY CLARENCE YOUNG
+
+  Ned, Bob and Jerry at Boxwood Hall
+  _or The Motor Boys as Freshmen_
+
+  Ned, Bob and Jerry on a Ranch
+  _or The Motor Boys Among the Cowboys_
+
+  Ned, Bob and Jerry in the Army
+  _or The Motor Boys as Volunteers_
+
+  Ned, Bob and Jerry on the Firing Line
+  _or The Motor Boys Fighting for Uncle Sam_
+
+  Ned, Bob and Jerry Bound for Home
+  _or The Motor Boys on the Wrecked Troopship_
+
+  CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY, Publishers      New York
+
+
+
+
+THE GREAT MARVEL SERIES
+
+BY ROY ROCKWOOD
+
+
+_12mo. Cloth. Illustrated. Jacket in Colors_
+
+_=Price per volume, $1.00, postpaid=_
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+_Stories of adventures in strange places, with peculiar people and
+queer animals._
+
+  1. THROUGH THE AIR TO THE NORTH POLE
+     _or The Wonderful Cruise of the Electric Monarch_
+
+The tale of a trip to the frozen North with a degree of reality that is
+most convincing.
+
+  2. UNDER THE OCEAN TO THE SOUTH POLE
+     _or The Strange Cruise of the Submarine Wonder_
+
+A marvelous trip from Maine to the South Pole, telling of adventures
+with the sea-monsters and savages.
+
+  3. FIVE THOUSAND MILES UNDERGROUND
+     _or The Mystery of the Center of the Earth_
+
+A cruise to the center of the earth through an immense hole found at an
+island in the ocean.
+
+  4. THROUGH SPACE TO MARS
+     _or The Most Wonderful Trip on Record_
+
+This book tells how the journey was made in a strange craft and what
+happened on Mars.
+
+  5. LOST ON THE MOON
+     _or In Quest of the Field of Diamonds_
+
+Strange adventures on the planet which is found to be a land of
+desolation and silence.
+
+  6. ON A TORN-AWAY WORLD
+     _or Captives of the Great Earthquake_
+
+After a tremendous convulsion of nature the adventurers find themselves
+captives on a vast "island in the air."
+
+
+_Send For Our Free Illustrated Catalogue_
+
+
+  CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY, Publishers      New York
+
+
+
+
+THE JACK RANGER SERIES
+
+BY CLARENCE YOUNG
+
+_12mo. Cloth. Illustrated. Jacket in Colors_
+
+_=Price per volume, $1.00, postpaid=_
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+_Lively stories of outdoor sports and adventure every boy will want to
+read._
+
+
+  1. JACK RANGER'S SCHOOL DAYS
+     _or The Rivals of Washington Hall_
+
+You will love Jack Ranger--you simply can't help it. He is bright and
+cheery, and earnest in all he does.
+
+
+  2. JACK RANGER'S WESTERN TRIP
+     _or From Boarding School to Ranch and Range_
+
+This volume takes the hero to the great West. Jack is anxious to clear
+up the mystery surrounding his father's disappearance.
+
+
+  3. JACK RANGER'S SCHOOL VICTORIES
+     _or Track, Gridiron and Diamond_
+
+Jack gets back to Washington Hall and goes in for all sorts of school
+games. There are numerous contests on the athletic field.
+
+
+  4. JACK RANGER'S OCEAN CRUISE
+     _or The Wreck of the Polly Ann_
+
+How Jack was carried off to sea against his will makes a "yarn" no boy
+will want to miss.
+
+
+  5. JACK RANGER'S GUN CLUB
+     _or From Schoolroom to Camp and Trail_
+
+Jack organizes a gun club and with his chums goes in quest of big game.
+They have many adventures in the mountains.
+
+
+  6. JACK RANGER'S TREASURE BOX
+     _or The Outing of the Schoolboy Yachtsmen_
+
+Jack receives a box from his father and it is stolen. How he regains it
+makes an absorbing tale.
+
+
+_Send For Our Free Illustrated Catalogue_
+
+
+  CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY, Publishers      New York
+
+
+
+
+THE COLLEGE SPORTS SERIES
+
+BY LESTER CHADWICK
+
+_12mo. Cloth. Illustrated. Jacket in Colors_
+
+_=Price per volume, $1.00, postpaid=_
+
+[Illustration]
+
+_Mr. Chadwick has played on the diamond and on the gridiron himself._
+
+
+  1. THE RIVAL PITCHERS
+     _A Story of College Baseball_
+
+Tom Parsons, a "hayseed," makes good on the scrub team of Randall
+College.
+
+
+  2. A QUARTERBACK'S PLUCK
+     _A Story of College Football_
+
+A football story, told in Mr. Chadwick's best style, that is bound to
+grip the reader from the start.
+
+
+  3. BATTING TO WIN
+     _A Story of College Baseball_
+
+Tom Parsons and his friends Phil and Sid are the leading players on
+Randall College team. There is a great game.
+
+
+  4. THE WINNING TOUCHDOWN
+     _A Story of College Football_
+
+After having to reorganize their team at the last moment, Randall makes
+a touchdown that won a big game.
+
+
+  5. FOR THE HONOR OF RANDALL
+     _A Story of College Athletics_
+
+The winning of the hurdle race and long-distance run is extremely
+exciting.
+
+
+  6. THE EIGHT-OARED VICTORS
+     _A Story of College Water Sports_
+
+Tom, Phil and Sid prove as good at aquatic sports as they are on track,
+gridiron and diamond.
+
+
+_Send For Our Free Illustrated Catalogue_
+
+
+  CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY, Publishers      New York
+
+
+
+
+THE WEBSTER SERIES
+
+By FRANK V. WEBSTER
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Mr. Webster's style is very much like that of the boys' favorite
+author, the late lamented Horatio Alger, Jr., but his tales are
+thoroughly up-to-date.
+
+=Cloth. 12mo. Over 200 pages each. Illustrated. Stamped in various
+colors.=
+
+=Price per volume, 65 cents, postpaid.=
+
+  Only A Farm Boy
+  _or Dan Hardy's Rise in Life_
+
+  The Boy From The Ranch
+  _or Roy Bradner's City Experiences_
+
+  The Young Treasure Hunter
+  _or Fred Stanley's Trip to Alaska_
+
+  The Boy Pilot of the Lakes
+  _or Nat Morton's Perils_
+
+  Tom The Telephone Boy
+  _or The Mystery of a Message_
+
+  Bob The Castaway
+  _or The Wreck of the Eagle_
+
+  The Newsboy Partners
+  _or Who Was Dick Box?_
+
+  Two Boy Gold Miners
+  _or Lost in the Mountains_
+
+  The Young Firemen of Lakeville
+  _or Herbert Dare's Pluck_
+
+  The Boys of Bellwood School
+  _or Frank Jordan's Triumph_
+
+  Jack the Runaway
+  _or On the Road with a Circus_
+
+  Bob Chester's Grit
+  _or From Ranch to Riches_
+
+  Airship Andy
+  _or The Luck of a Brave Boy_
+
+  High School Rivals
+  _or Fred Markham's Struggles_
+
+  Darry The Life Saver
+  _or The Heroes of the Coast_
+
+  Dick The Bank Boy
+  _or A Missing Fortune_
+
+  Ben Hardy's Flying Machine
+  _or Making a Record for Himself_
+
+  Harry Watson's High School Days
+  _or The Rivals of Rivertown_
+
+  Comrades of the Saddle
+  _or The Young Rough Riders of the Plains_
+
+  Tom Taylor at West Point
+  _or The Old Army Officer's Secret_
+
+  The Boy Scouts of Lennox
+  _or Hiking Over Big Bear Mountain_
+
+  The Boys of the Wireless
+  _or a Stirring Rescue from the Deep_
+
+  Cowboy Dave
+  _or The Round-up at Rolling River_
+
+  Jack of the Pony Express
+  _or The Young Rider of the Mountain Trail_
+
+  The Boys of the Battleship
+  _or For the Honor of Uncle Sam_
+
+
+  CUPPLES & LEON CO., Publishers,      NEW YORK
+
+
+
+
+THE TOM FAIRFIELD SERIES
+
+By ALLEN CHAPMAN
+
+Author of the "Fred Fenton Athletic Series," "The Boys of Pluck
+Series," and "The Darewell Chums Series."
+
+12mo. Illustrated. Price per volume, 65 cents, postpaid.
+
+Tom Fairfield is a typical American lad, full of life and energy, a boy
+who believes in doing things. To know Tom is to love him.
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+  TOM FAIRFIELD'S SCHOOLDAYS
+  _or The Chums of Elmwood Hall_
+
+Tells of how Tom started for school, of the mystery surrounding one of
+the Hall seniors, and of how the hero went to the rescue. The first
+book in a line that is bound to become decidedly popular.
+
+
+  TOM FAIRFIELD AT SEA
+  _or The Wreck of the Silver Star_
+
+Tom's parents had gone to Australia and then been cast away somewhere
+in the Pacific. Tom set out to find them and was himself cast away. A
+thrilling picture of the perils of the deep.
+
+
+  TOM FAIRFIELD IN CAMP
+  _or The Secret of the Old Mill_
+
+The boys decided to go camping, and located near an old mill. A wild
+man resided there and he made it decidedly lively for Tom and his
+chums. The secret of the old mill adds to the interest of the volume.
+
+
+  TOM FAIRFIELD'S PLUCK AND LUCK
+  _or Working to Clear His Name_
+
+While Tom was back at school some of his enemies tried to get him into
+trouble. Something unusual occurred and Tom was suspected of a crime.
+How he set to work to clear his name is told in a manner to interest
+all young readers.
+
+
+  TOM FAIRFIELD'S HUNTING TRIP
+  _or Lost in the Wilderness_
+
+Tom was only a schoolboy, but he loved to use a shotgun or a rifle. In
+this volume we meet him on a hunting trip full of outdoor life and good
+times around the camp-fire.
+
+
+  CUPPLES & LEON CO., Publishers,      NEW YORK
+
+
+
+
+THE SPEEDWELL BOYS SERIES
+
+By ROY ROCKWOOD
+
+
+Author of "The Dave Dashaway Series," "Great Marvel Series," etc.
+
+12mo. Illustrated. Price per volume, 65 cents, postpaid.
+
+All boys who love to be on the go will welcome the Speedwell boys. They
+are clean cut and loyal lads.
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+  THE SPEEDWELL BOYS ON MOTOR CYCLES
+  _or The Mystery of a Great Conflagration_
+
+The lads were poor, but they did a rich man a great service and he
+presented them with their motor cycles. What a great fire led to is
+exceedingly well told.
+
+
+  THE SPEEDWELL BOYS AND THEIR RACING AUTO
+  _or A Run for the Golden Cup_
+
+A tale of automobiling and of intense rivalry on the road. There was an
+endurance run and the boys entered the contest. On the run they rounded
+up some men who were wanted by the law.
+
+
+  THE SPEEDWELL BOYS AND THEIR POWER LAUNCH
+  _or To the Rescue of the Castaways_
+
+Here is an unusual story. There was a wreck, and the lads, in their
+power launch, set out to the rescue. A vivid picture of a great storm
+adds to the interest of the tale.
+
+
+  THE SPEEDWELL BOYS IN A SUBMARINE
+  _or The Lost Treasure of Rocky Cove_
+
+An old sailor knows of a treasure lost under water because of a cliff
+falling into the sea. The boys get a chance to go out in a submarine
+and they make a hunt for the treasure.
+
+
+  THE SPEEDWELL BOYS AND THEIR ICE RACER
+  _or The Perils of a Great Blizzard_
+
+The boys had an idea for a new sort of iceboat, to be run by combined
+wind and motor power. How they built the craft, and what fine times
+they had on board of it, is well related.
+
+
+  CUPPLES & LEON CO., Publishers,      NEW YORK
+
+
+
+
+      *      *      *      *      *      *
+
+
+
+Transcriber's note:
+
+ --Punctuation and spelling inaccuracies were silently corrected
+   except as indicated below.
+
+ --Archaic and variable spellings were preserved.
+
+ --Variations in hyphenation and compound words have been preserved.
+
+ --Inconsistencies in formatting and punctuation of individual
+   advertisements have been retained.
+
+ --A List of Illustrations has been provided for the convenience of
+   the reader.
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 43940 ***