merry’s friendship for lenning had been dead against the sentiments and the judgment of clancy and ballard. that merry’s insight into the fellow’s nature had been more keen and more correct than their own, clancy and ballard were forced to admit. nevertheless, they still felt that lenning was more or less of a crook, and it surprised them to have merry mention his name at all in connection with the prospective nine.
“what’s biting you?” asked frank, meeting the stare of his chums good-naturedly.
“can’t you find enough players without taking on lenning?” queried ballard.
“possibly, pink, but i want him.”
“the rest won’t stand for it, chip,” blurted out clancy.
“why won’t they?”
“well, it’s—it’s—— oh, hang it, you know why they won’t, chip, without my going into details.”
“whom do you mean by ‘they,’ red?”
“the ophir fellows—and the gold hillers, too. lenning has proved that he isn’t square. i guess that’s enough to make every one give him the cold shoulder.”
“if you’re going to dig into a fellow’s past, clan, and judge him by what he was rather than by what he is now, of course i haven’t got anything to say. but i don’t call that being square, either.”
“we were off a bit when we accused lenning of helping shoup run away with the bullion,” put in ballard, “but we haven’t had much proof, as yet, that lenning
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has squared away and intends to do the right thing from now on.”
“we’re going to give him a chance, fellows,” merry cried, “and we’ll begin by selecting him for this pick-up nine.”
“there’ll be objections——”
“all right,” cut in merry impatiently, “if the objections come i’ll try and meet them. put down jode lenning’s name first, red.”
clancy secured pencil and paper and, not without some reluctance, wrote as his chum directed.
“where will lenning play?” queried ballard, striving to make the most of what he considered an unwise selection.
“don’t know about that yet,” was the answer. “for the next man put down mexican joe for backstop.”
again clancy and ballard displayed astonishment, but this time it was of another sort.
“who the mischief is mexican joe?” ballard inquired. “never heard of him before.”
“he works in the blacksmith shop at the mine,” said merriwell, “and mr. bradlaugh was telling me about him only the other day. he used to catch for a mexican team, and they say he has the prettiest throw to second of any amateur in arizona. we’ve got to have mexican joe.”
“i wonder,” grinned clancy, “if he’ll do his signalling in the greaser lingo? if he does, chip, you’re liable to get balled up.”
“i’ll chance that part of it, old man,” said merry. “put down owen clancy for the first bag and billy ballard for center field.”
“got that,” reported clancy, writing rapidly, “and also chip merriwell for pitcher.”
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“bradlaugh, junior, for short.”
“check.”
“barzy blunt, second base.”
“he’s a pitcher, isn’t he?” struck in ballard.
“he is, and a good one, but i’m told he’s equally good as a baseman. if i have to be relieved, barzy can be shifted to the pitcher’s box. mose handy will cover the third sack, and jerry spink will take care of left field.”
“you’ve got your nine, chip,” reported clancy, totting up, “and lenning is left for right field. want any substitutes?”
“got to have. benaway, shaw, and reckless will sit on the benches and be prepared to fill in. i hear they are good all-around ball players.”
“it’s a good team,” commented clancy, after studying the list for a few moments, “with possibly one or two exceptions.”
“strikes me, fellows,” said merry, “it’s a mighty fine line-up. i’ll go over to mr. bradlaugh’s office and speak for mexican joe, lenning, and brad. i wish you two fellows would hunt up the others. if you can find them, have them all report at the ophir athletic field not later than four this afternoon. this will be just preliminary to some hard work to-morrow.”
merry grabbed his cap from the veranda floor, where he had dropped it, and started briskly to his feet.
“you can count on pink and me to interview the rest of the fellows, chip,” returned clancy.
“stir around,” frank answered, on his way down the veranda steps. “there’s not much time between now and four. if some of the fellows can’t get out to the clubhouse by four, then any time up till five will do.”
it was not many minutes until merry was in the office of the general manager of the ophir mining company.
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mr. bradlaugh greeted him with a smile and a warm handclasp.
“have you heard,” the lad asked, “that we’re to have a ball game here next saturday?”
“i have,” was the answer, “and i’m pleased almost to death, merriwell. colonel hawtrey left this office not more than five minutes ago. he told me about it. you’ll have to do some tall hustling, my lad, if you dig up a nine that can hold the gold hillers. of course, our nine has got to win. we can’t consider any other result. it would be too bad to have you wind up your stay in ophir with a defeat on the ball field.”
“i believe we’ve picked a winning team,” said merry. “here’s the line-up, mr. bradlaugh,” and he handed clancy’s list to the general manager.
mr. bradlaugh leaned back in his office chair and began examining the list. he had no more than dropped his eyes to the first name than he gave a start, and looked up.
“lenning, merriwell?”
“yes,” nodded frank. “he’s a good player, if all i hear is true, and we need him.”
“er-hem!” coughed the general manager. “no doubt he’s a good player, and would be a decided acquisition, but is it a judicious selection?”
“i think so,” answered frank calmly.
“there are liable to be objections,” suggested mr. bradlaugh, “and if you persist in keeping lenning in the nine, in spite of them, there will be discontent among the players. you know too much about sports, merriwell, for me to remind you what discontent means among a lot of players.”
“the point is here, mr. bradlaugh,” frank observed, with considerable warmth: “lenning is doing his best to be square, but nobody seems to have much use for
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him. he needs friends, and he hasn’t any. here’s a chance for him to win back a few of the friends he has lost. i believe in giving him the chance.”
the general manager wrinkled his brows dubiously.
“i appreciate what you are trying to do, and the generous motive back of it,” said he; “but is it wise to arouse discontent and pave the way for a possible defeat? i’m putting the thing up to you frankly.”
“i’ll tell you just as frankly, mr. bradlaugh,” said merry, with spirit, “that i don’t see why there should be any discontent. let’s go ahead with lenning until we see what happens, anyhow.”
the general manager nodded, still dubious, but content to leave the matter in merry’s hands. he studied the rest of the list.
“with the probable exception of lenning,” he reported, “i think you have made wise selections. i’ll arrange to give mexican joe a three days’ vacation. he’s a wonder as a backstop. brad, of course, will be delighted. if lenning plays, i’ll have burke lighten his duties at the cyanide works. perhaps you’d better go out to the mine and see joe personally?”
“thank you, mr. bradlaugh; i had thought of that. and when i see mexican joe, i’ll also talk with lenning.”
the general manager nodded. “my car’s in front,” said he, “and i have nothing pressing for the rest of the afternoon. i’ll take you out to the mine.”
as mr. bradlaugh pulled down the roll top of his desk, preparatory to leaving, frank noticed that his face wore a troubled look. was it, he asked himself, because he had selected lenning for one of his players? it hardly seemed possible that so small a matter could affect the general manager so seriously.
