he folded that contract and put it in his pocket. He bade me
good-bye and hurried off to catch a train, and he never knew the Rube
had pitched the great game on his wedding day.

That afternoon before a crowd that had to be roped off the diamond, I
put the Rube against the Bisons. How well he showed the baseball
knowledge he had assimilated! He changed his style in that second
game. He used a slow ball and wide curves and took things easy. He
made Buffalo hit the ball and when runners got on bases once more let
out his speed and held them down. He relied upon the players behind
him and they were equal to the occasion.

It was a totally different game from that of the morning, and perhaps
one more suited to the pleasure of the audience. There was plenty of
hard hitting, sharp fielding and good base running, and the game was
close and exciting up to the eighth, when Mullaney's triple gave us two
runs, and a lead that was not headed. To the deafening roar of the
bleachers the Rube walked off the field, having pitched Worcester into
first place in the pennant race.

That night the boys planned their first job on the Rube. We had
ordered a special Pullman for travel to Toronto, and when I got to the
depot in the morning, the Pullman was a white fluttering mass of satin
ribbons. Also, there was a brass band, and thousands of baseball fans,
and barrels of old foot-gear. The Rube and Nan arrived in a cab and
were immediately mobbed. The crowd roared, the band played, the engine
whistled, the bell clanged; and the air was full of confetti and
slippers, and showers of rice like hail pattered everywhere. A
somewhat dishevelled bride and groom boarded the Pullman and
breathlessly hid in a state room. The train started, and the crowd
gave one last rousing cheer. Old Spears yelled from the back platform:

"Fellers, an' fans, you needn't worry none about leavin' the Rube an'
his bride to the tender mercies of the gang. A hundred years from now
people will talk about this honeymoon baseball trip. Wait till we come
back--an' say, jest to put you wise, no matter what else happens, we're
comin' back in first place!"

It was surely a merry party in that Pullman. The bridal couple emerged
from their hiding place and held a sort of reception in which the Rube
appeared shy and frightened, and Nan resembled a joyous, fluttering
bird in gray. I did not see if she kissed every man on the team, but
she kissed me as if she h