we were
both delighted to see one another.

"'Boy,' said my father to me, 'you sure are a hardhead. You know I
didn't mean what I said ten years ago.'

"'What about you, Dad?' I said. 'You're as stubborn as I am. I thought
you never wanted to see me again. I thought you meant it.'

"'Of course I didn't,' he said.

"After we talked a while, I said, 'Did you see the game today?'

"'Yes,' he said, 'I did.'

"'Where were you sitting?' I asked him.

"'Well, you know the man who wears that funny thing on his face?'

"'You mean the mask? The catcher?' I said.

"'I guess so,' my father said with a smile. 'Well, anyway, I was halfway
between him and the number one--you know, where they run right after
they hit the ball?'

"'You mean first base?' I asked.

"'I don't know,' he said. 'I don't know what they call it. I was sitting
in the middle there.'

"'How many ball games have you seen since I became a ballplayer, Dad?' I
wanted to know.

"'This is the first one,' he said.

"Well, he stayed in New York with me for a few weeks, and we had a
great time. Finally, he had to go back to Cleveland. After he'd left,
the newspapers heard about my Dad and they wanted to know his address
back home. So I gave it to them, and doggone if they didn't send
reporters and photographers to Cleveland to interview him.

"They took his picture and asked him a lot of questions. One of the
things they asked him was whether he had ever played very much baseball
himself.

"'Oh,' he told them, 'of course I did, when I was younger. I used to
love to play baseball. I used to be a pitcher, just like my son
Richard--I mean, like my son Rube.'

"'Are you proud of your son?' they asked him.

"'I certainly am,' Dad said. 'Why shouldn't I be? He's a great baseball
player, isn't he?'"

The group of Ozites was silent for a few moments as the Forest Monster
carried them along toward Yoraitia. The large pachyderm could feel a
tear welling up in his left eye, and he brushed it away with his trunk.

CHAPTER 15

THE RESTORATION OF THE LUNECHIEN FOREST OF OZ

The little party arrived in Yoraitia in a short time. When they got
there, it looked like as happy a township as any other in the Marvelous
Land of Oz.

"I knew there could not be any really serious drought in our fairyland,"
said Elephant happily. "After all, Oz is always pleasant and lovely.
Lurline's enchantment has always seen to that."

"I thought that Lurline was only a