that was thursday. the deciding game was to be played in the city on saturday. the holman’s team returned to the well-nigh empty campus and settled down for the wait. gus didn’t make the mistake of working them hard on friday. there was a little batting and a little throwing and a long talk under the shade of the stand; and, of course, the pitchers worked their sweaters off; but there was nothing strenuous that day. one just sat around and waited—and hoped.
late that friday afternoon ginger was an unobtrusive unit in a group of five who lolled on the campus sward where a big elm cast an oasis of shade in a sun-smitten sahara. it was very hot and very still, and the deserted dormitories seemed to have dropped asleep for the summer. conversation had been desultory, but all of the morrow’s game. now captain hal said smilingly, but with an undertone of earnestness: “babe, it’s too bad you didn’t save that homer for to-morrow.”
“there’s another where that came from,” replied babe.
[200]
“not a chance,” said dave. “they’ll walk you every time you come up.”
“i don’t believe,” answered babe. “you see, i haven’t been hitting much, and they’ll think that was just an accident.”
“brainy guys, then,” murmured dave, pillowing his head more comfortably on one of babe’s ample legs.
“is that so, fresh?” babe pressed the heel of a big hand sternly on dave’s classic nose and elicited a groan of protest. “if they’ll put the old pill where i can reach it, dave, it’s going to travel.”
“sure, all you want is a straight one across your chest. that’s not much to ask, eh? seems like they might do you a slight favor like that, what? then, if it happens you can swing that old bridge timber of yours around in time, you’ll maybe get a hit!”
“‘bridge timber!’” chuckled hal. “that’s a new one!” ginger, sitting slightly apart, grinned. babe grinned, too.
“the old bridge timber did the trick yesterday, just the same.” then he laughed reflectively. “ginger was all broke up over that. he’s been after me to use one of those toothpicks, like the rest of you, and when he saw that homer he just dug his face in the dust.”
“ginger’s dead right,” said joe kenton. “you’d hit three times as often if you used a light bat.”
[201]
“sure,” agreed dave.
“do you fellows think so, too?” demanded ginger eagerly.
“of course,” replied joe. “you’ve got the right dope, ginger.”
“i’ll say so,” said dave. “if babe didn’t have a solid concrete dome, he’d know it, too.”
“well, you can’t tell, i guess,” murmured ginger. it was one thing for him to criticize the ways of his hero, and quite another thing to listen to some one else doing it!
“keep your orbs on your uncle babe to-morrow, ginger,” laughed the big fellow. “i’m going to show you unbelievers just what the old bat can do.”
“i—i hope you will,” muttered ginger. “i’d like to see it.”
“you will,” answered babe confidently. “you sure will, son, you sure will. to-morrow about this time you’ll be apologizing to me and the old bat for all the harsh words you’ve spoken, ginger. sack cloth and ashes for you to-morrow, son!”
“i wished i was going to be there,” said ginger longingly. “it’ll be the first game i’ve missed since i took hold.”
“mean to say you’re not going along?” demanded hal, while the rest stared in surprise.
“can’t, cap.” ginger shook his red head regretfully.
[202]
“why not?” asked babe. “who says so?”
“mister naylor. he says he can’t afford to pay my fare. course, i’d pay my own fare, only my—my dividends ain’t been comin’ in very regular lately—”
“well, i’ll be blowed!” ejaculated dave. “the old miser! going to do us out of our mascot for a paltry five or six dollars! what’s it cost to get down there and back, hal?”
“five—something. you can’t blame bert much, though. we haven’t begun to make expenses this spring, and bert’s the guy that’s got to make the alibis. still, it wouldn’t hurt much to loosen up on a fiver.”
“i’ll say it wouldn’t,” declared joe. “look here, you know, you chaps, we’ve got to have ginger! gee, we’d get licked as sure as shooting without our mascot! let’s dig!”
“keep your hands out of your pockets, you guys,” directed babe. “ginger and i are pals, and i look after his finances. you be at the train promptly at nine-eighteen, son, and bring your rabbit’s foot along. something tells me we’re going to need it.”
“i ain’t got any rabbit’s foot,” muttered ginger, flushed, joyous, embarrassed, “but i—i got a lucky dime.”
“bring it, kid, bring it!” begged dave.
the league grounds in the city were neutral[203] territory, without a doubt; and they were also very nearly deserted territory when the game started the next day. there was a small and devoted clump of holman’s supporters back of third base and a scarcely larger company of munson cohorts back of first. and there were some six hundred representatives of the general public scattered hither and yon about the rambling stands. it was not an inspiring scene. there was no band, there was but little cheering, there were few pennants. the general public munched peanuts and, still neutral, lolled in its seat and yawned throughout four dismal innings. it seemed that the teams were as depressed and indifferent as the bulk of the spectators. the afternoon was scorchingly, breathlessly hot, and to move from bench to plate started perspiration from every pore.
on the toss-up holman’s had won the slight advantage of last innings, and so munson went to bat first. dave, starting for the light green, held the enemy hitless until the second and scoreless until the fourth. he didn’t have much trouble doing it, either, for munson was listless and without ambition. for the blue-and-gold, nelson, a left-hander also, went to the mound. cross, munson’s best twirler, had worked in both previous games, whereas dave had not worked since wednesday, and some advantage was believed to accrue to holman’s from those circumstances. and yet, if munson failed to[204] hit dave, so holman’s as lamentably failed to punish the blue-and-gold’s substitute twirler. nelson traveled scathless to the last of the fourth, but one pass and a scratch hit being scored against him. it was that fourth inning that captured the somnolent gaze of the spectators and interrupted the steady crunching of peanuts.
munson’s first man up fanned, but the next ambitiously reached for a wide one of dave’s, got it on the end of his bat and sent it arching into right field, four inches inside the foul line and out of reach of either tom or mac. encouraged, the next batsman hit straight down the second base alley, and suddenly there were men on first and third and but one out! the neutrals in the stands began to take sides, and, naturally, rooted for the team that had started going and was promising to give them something for their money. the old ball park woke up from its slumbers and comparative animation reigned. also, there was much noise from the munson section and the munson coachers and the munson bench. dave cinched his belt a notch and woke up, too. but the next batsman was a good waiter and nothing dave pitched suited the umpire behind the plate. most unexpectedly, as things happen in baseball, the three bases were occupied! moreover, the earnest-faced chap now facing dave was munson’s clean-up man!
[205]
to pass him, mused babe, would force in a run and still leave but one out. on the other hand, if he hit safely two tallies would come across; maybe more. he must, therefore, be induced to knock out a fly, even if it was a long one. in response to babe’s signals dave kept them low. the first offering was a strike. the next two were balls. the fourth delivery was fouled into the first base stand. the next was a hair-breadth too low and made the tally 2 and 3. dave had to pitch it over now, but with luck he could still work the batsman for an out. and he did, for the long fly arched down into purves’ waiting hands. the man on third raced home after the catch and beat the ball to the plate by yards. but there were two gone now and holman’s breathed easier. to the next man dave issued the first pass and again the bases were filled. but that ended the drama, for the munson second baseman went out, norwin to wentworth.
holman’s went after that one run lead in her half of the fourth and evened the score. ted purves flied out to center, wentworth reached first on shortstop’s error, joe kenton sacrificed with a slow bunt along first base line and, with tom on second, mac slammed out a two-bagger into center. but that one tally was all that could be had, for bud thomas’ liner went smack into shortstop’s glove.
dave got through the fifth without much trouble,[206] only four men facing him. nelson wobbled a bit more, but also escaped injury, babe fanning for the second time, dave flying out to first and hal norwin knocking a weak grounder to nelson. in the sixth inning both pitchers became unsteady and only sharp fielding saved them. in the seventh dave steadied down and fanned the first two aspirants. then came a double over second base and the munson supporters yelled hopefully. but the next man perished on a foul to babe. the last half of the seventh witnessed the retirement of nelson, warmly applauded by both sides, after he had been hit for a double and had passed two men. cross, with but one down, made dave send up a pop fly to second baseman and then crawled out of a tight hole when captain norwin’s grounder was handled perfectly by third baseman and mac was nailed at the plate.
dave was threatened with disaster in the first of the eighth when, having hit the first of the enemy and sent him, nursing his elbow, to first, he passed the next opponent. a clever bunt filled the bags and things looked black for the light green. the succeeding play, however, resulted in an out at the plate, and then a speedy double, norwin to kenton to wentworth, pulled the fat out of the fire. in the last of that inning captain hal, ted purves and tom wentworth went out in order, hal third baseman to first, and the others on strikes. and, still[207] 1 to 1, the deciding game went into the final inning.
dave pitched real ball in that inning. munson tried all she knew how to break through. with one down, a victim to dave’s puzzling delivery, the munson third baseman succeeded in dropping a texas leaguer behind tom wentworth. a minute later babe’s hurried peg to second went just too wide to nip a steal. a pinch hitter took a hand then for the blue-and-gold, swung at a deceptive drop, knocked a foul back of third, slanted two more into the stand, let two balls pass him and at last hit safely to short left. then, with two on, fortune favored the light green. the munson catcher landed against dave’s first delivery—he had tried to sneak over a straight, fast one—and sent it smashing across the infield, rising as it went. the runners dashed away. joe kenton hurled himself high into the air and to the right, shot up a hand and speared the ball. only the fact that when he came down he landed, or so it appeared, directly on the back of his neck, deprived him of a double play. by the time he had recovered himself and shot the ball to third base the runner there was safe. but there were two gone, now, and holman’s set herself desperately to ward off defeat. the runner on third, instigated by a coach with a voice like a load of furniture falling downstairs, cut wierd didoes on the base path, kicking up the dust, starting at top speed for the plate[208] only to twirl and scuttle back to the bag, dancing and gyrating. none of these antics appeared to affect dave, however. he observed the dervish-like enemy tolerantly and calmly and pitched to the batter, working slowly and carefully, digesting babe’s signals for a long moment before each wind-up. he tried a slow one that settled slowly toward the dust as it crossed the plate and was adjudged a ball. he shot a high one across the outer corner and netted a strike. he followed with a curve, waist-high, and heard it called a ball. babe rewarded the umpire with a look of amazed pity.
“it looked good,” he confided to dave cheeringly. “let’s have it again. come on, dave!” but babe’s words were belied by the signal hidden under the big mitten, and what followed was so palpably a straight ball in the groove that the batter swung smartly—and missed badly.
“two and two!” proclaimed the official.
“nice work, dave!” shouted babe. “that’s pitching, boy! one more now!”
babe’s voice was almost drowned by the strident cries of the coachers. even the munson bench was howling advice and encouragement. the runner on third was for an instant still, under the conditions a suspicious circumstance and suggesting a dash for the plate on the next pitch. dave glanced unconcernedly[209] toward the last station, studied babe’s signal, hesitated, shook his head. babe signaled anew. dave nodded. all this was merely to give the batsman something to think about besides his job of hitting the ball on the nose, for dave seldom refused babe’s signals, and when he did he didn’t shake his head at them but walked toward the plate and held a whispered conference with the catcher. the incident worried the coach a mite, too, and he had half a mind to cancel his signal for an attempted steal from third. but he didn’t, and as dave’s hand holding the ball went back the runner shot for the plate.
dave didn’t hurry his delivery, although the form of the scuttling runner was plain to his sight as his arm shot forward. the ball went true to its goal, the batter started to swing and changed his mind, the ball thudded into babe’s mitten and the umpire swung an arm outward and backward.
“he’s out!” the runner from third slid into the base in a cloud of yellow dust, his performance a wasted effort.
in the stand the little group of holman’s rooters stood and yelled themselves red of face, and between the plate and the holman’s bench a youth pushed a cap to the back of his very red head and spun ecstatically on one heel.
[210]
ginger had kept his emotions sternly in check throughout eight and a half innings, presenting a cheerful, untroubled countenance to the world, performing his duties with all his accustomed masterly efficiency. but now relief demanded expression, and he spun on a worn heel and was inarticulately joyful. then he was at babe’s side, hand outstretched for mask and mitt, saying casually:
“atta-boy, babe! ’at’s holding ’em!”
babe grinned as he unbuckled the strap of his protector. “get a good grip on your lucky dime, ginger, and root for the old bridge timber!” said babe.
ginger looked startled. gee, babe was right, though! joe kenton was up, and then came mac, bud, and babe. ginger hoped hard that the needed run wouldn’t depend on babe, for babe had faced the enemy three times and had failed on each occasion to hit. more than that, it was cross who was now pitching, and only yesterday morning babe had acknowledged that never yet, this year or any other, had cross allowed him a bingle. for cross knew babe’s weakness and didn’t have to have the catcher tell him to keep them low and inside.
“batter up!” called the umpire impatiently, and joe, who had been listening with bent head to coach cousins’ instructions, straightened and walked to the plate very jauntily.
[211]
“you got one comin’ to you, joe,” said ginger, as he rescued the bat relinquished by the left fielder. “bust it on the nose!”
