fardale field was a pandemonium.
grand stand and bleachers alike were crazy with excitement. the band, unheard, blared forth amid the din. men shouted and shrieked for the score to be tied, begged merry to crack out another homer, hit each other over the head, and threatened to smash the stands with their frenzied stamping.
with suddenness that was almost appalling, the din died away as villum kess was seen walking out to the plate. the rooters held their breath.
“that settles it,” groaned a man near colonel gunn’s box. “that dunderhead will be the first out—it’s all over.”
“confound your impertinence, sir!” roared the irate colonel, twisting about and threatening the fan with personal violence. “it’s not—ah—all over till the last man has—ah—gone down!”
then he turned and sent another roar at the field.
“get a hit! get a hit!”
the crowd took up the swinging words. “get a hit! get a hit!” rose the thunder of many voices, pierced by the shrill yells of the clipper fans, who implored green to “hold ’em down!”
[296]
then kess stepped into the box, and instantly the silence fell anew.
“yaw!” squawked the dutch lad, his voice sounding distinctly all over the field. “didn’t i toldt you i vos goin’ to dood it! you vos a skinch, so hellup me!”
“you’ll get skinned, all right,” yelled olcott. “let the dutchman hit it, old man! he’s easy!”
“shut oop mit your mouth!” retorted villum, turning angrily.
as he did so, green unwound and the sphere came down like a bullet. villum tried to strike, but overreached himself and fell forward, sitting on the plate.
“vot der matter vos?” he inquired blankly. “vhere vos der pall?”
“get up or you’ll have another strike called,” said olcott.
villum scrambled to his feet. his actions disgusted the excited crowd, however, and a storm of objurgation began to rain upon him.
“take him out! send in a ball player!”
“get the hook! get the hook!”
“by yimini, you shoot oop!” roared villum, waving his bat at the grand stand. “how vos i to hear der pall coming vhen you vos making such a yelling?”
green smiled and once more put the ball across while villum was glaring at the crowd. he whirled around as the ball plunked home.
[297]
“vot vos dot?”
“strike—two!” called the umpire.
“vell, by shinks!” gasped villum angrily. “you vos der advantage oof me dake, yes, no?”
“watch out,” advised olcott, with a wide grin. “here it comes again.”
villum spat on his hands, pounded the plate, and settled down. even the nonchalant green was laughing, but his laugh ended suddenly.
for, as the ball came glinting down, villum gathered together, swung mightily, and connected!
“he’s done it!” shrieked the fans, coming to their feet with a howl.
the ball went sizzling along the ground to craven, while villum kess labored toward first. the third baseman was so astonished at his hit that when he scooped up the ball he fumbled it. then he picked it up again and whipped it to first.
“look oudt!” yelled villum. “i vos coming!”
he came, too, in an unheralded slide. smith, the semipro, had probably never seen any one slide for first before in all his life. he was so startled at the action that he missed the ball, which went past him.
instantly villum gained his feet and plunged toward second, repeating his bull-head effort of the fourth inning. while smith chased the ball the crowd began to yell encouragement at him, remembering that he had scored the first tally.
[298]
on reaching second, villum took a look over his shoulder and started for third. smith had gained the ball, and was sending it across the diamond to craven, but none the less he pounded on, head down and elbows working.
he was only halfway from second when craven picked up the ball and started for him with a grin. villum never slacked up, despite the frantic yells that were directed at him. just as craven reached out to tag him, however, he stumbled over his own foot and fell like a shot, headfirst.
he struck squarely against craven’s knees. the latter’s hand was distinctly seen to fly out, while the ball dropped and rolled away. out of the whirling arms and legs emerged villum, bounced to third, and turned toward home.
“i toldt you i vos a home run got!” he bellowed.
this time, however, this amazing luck seemed to have deserted him. craven rolled over and got the ball, and quickly snapped it home. olcott stepped out to get it, flinging aside his mask, and a groan swelled out from the crowd.
“he’s done for!”
“nefer!” roared villum, bouncing along desperately.
once more he shot to earth, just as the ball came whizzing along over him. olcott took the[299] ball and fetched it down, but villum had already come to a stop, hands outstretched before him.
“shudgement!” he squawked at the umpire. “you pet me dot i vos safe!”
he had the tips of his fingers on the plate—and had effected a home run without making a hit!
“yaw!” he shrieked, in delight. “vot vos i toldt you! you pet me der score she vos died, yes, no?”
“right you are, villum,” laughed chip, escorting the dutch lad to the bench in mingled wonder and joy. “take off your hat!”
villum did so, then looked at it curiously. his eyes went to chip’s face, then to the grand stand, and for the first time he seemed to realize that the crowds were yelling at him in frantic madness. he bowed, stumbled, stood on his head, and vanished under the players’ shed.
as clancy walked out, green seemed to lose his composure for the first time.
“wake up, you boneheads!” he shouted wrathfully at his amazed team, who were still trying to find out what had happened. “they’ve got four runs on us, with only two hits. and merriwell got them both! wake up and play the game!”
“here’s where we get another hit, southpaw diggs,” said clancy merrily, as he danced into the box. “put her over, old sox!”
green obeyed, and the ball had so much speed[300] that clancy merely leaped backward in actual terror.
“hey!” he cried. “you don’t need to kill a fellow!”
green smiled, having regained his lost poise, and brought out his spit ball in this emergency. clancy swung at it vainly.
“strike—two.”
once more the ball sped down like a white streak. this time clancy connected with a crack that fetched the crowds up standing. but the roar was followed by a groan, as the ball lifted into deep center field and merrell went after it.
merrell was more intent on the ball than on the ground, however. clancy was running along to first and watching him when merrell stumbled and fell. the ball came down a yard beyond him, and o’day sent clancy on to second, while once more the roar swelled out from the bleachers.
“green’s blown up! merry to bat!”
“a hit, merriwell! get a hit! get a hit!”
“one run wins the game! get a hit!”
that fly, which fell well within merrell’s territory, and should have been fielded easily, went as an error instead of a hit. therefore, in spite of the fact that fardale had four runs, merry was the only one who had so far been able to hit green. one of his two hits was a scratch, and the other was a lucky jab by his own admission.[301] therefore, as he came up to the plate, he was anything but confident.
he had already given clancy the hit-and-run signal, for he himself had little hope of making another decent hit. as he stepped in the box and faced green, he saw the man’s lean brown face smiling at him, and knew that the other was even cooler than he himself.
for the second time, green read danger in merry’s eyes and resolved to take no chances. he sent down a wide one, and chip lashed out at it in order to give clancy a chance.
the red-haired chap went to third, safe by a narrow margin. after that, green sent down no more wide ones, but instead he placed them so high that olcott was forced to get on his toes to reach them. yet they never went too high for him; green was a perfect master, and his control was absolute.
three of them sang past, while merry waited desperately. he knew perfectly well that green intended to pass him, in order to strike out the next three men.
“i’d sooner die fighting than be left at the post,” he muttered grimly, taking a firm grip on his bat.
again green smiled, scarcely taking the trouble to wind up for the throw. he sent the ball down to olcott, far too high for a good strike, but[302] chip was past caring whether it was good or not.
with an effort, he swung up and reached for it. there was a crack, and the sphere shot out over second base—for his third hit off green!
merrell made a hard run in for the ball, secured it on the first bounce, and relayed in a beautiful throw to olcott. clancy was tearing for home, and he ran along as he had never run before. glancing around, he saw the ball almost even with him, and as he neared home he went down in a desperate slide.
olcott received the ball perfectly, and there was a moment of suspense as the dust rose and hid the play. then the umpire’s figure emerged, hands down.
fardale had won on merry’s hit—the closest finish ever seen on fardale field.
