. He was a
fair-haired, clean-cut young fellow, and his voice rang pleasantly.

"Guilty," replied Wayne.

"My name's Huling. I'm captain of the Salisbury nine. Just learned
you were in town and are going to pitch against us tomorrow. Won't you
walk out into the grounds with me now? You might want to warm up a
little."

"Thank you, yes, I will. Guess I won't need my suit. I'll just limber
up, and give my arm a good rub."

It struck Wayne before they had walked far that Huling was an amiable
and likable chap. As the captain of the Salisbury nine, he certainly
had no reason to be agreeable to the Morristown "ringer," even though
Wayne did happen to be a famous Yale pitcher.

The field was an oval, green as an emerald, level as a billiard table
and had no fences or stands to obstruct the open view of the
surrounding wooded country. On each side of the diamond were rows of
wooden benches, and at one end of the field stood a little clubhouse.

Wayne took off his coat, and tossed a ball for a while to an ambitious
youngster, and then went into the clubhouse, where Huling introduced
him to several of his players. After a good rubdown, Wayne thanked
Huling for his courtesy, and started out, intending to go back to town.

"Why not stay to see us practice?" asked the captain. "We're not
afraid you'll size up our weaknesses. As a matter of fact, we don't
look forward to any hitting stunts tomorrow, eh, Burns? Burns, here,
is our leading hitter, and he's been unusually noncommittal since he
heard who was going to pitch for Bellville."

"Well, I wouldn't give a whole lot for my prospects of a home run
tomorrow," said Burns, with a laugh.

Wayne went outside, and found a seat in the shade. A number of urchins
had trooped upon the green field, and carriages and motors were already
in evidence. By the time the players came out of the dressing room,
ready for practice, there was quite a little crowd in attendance.

Despite Wayne's hesitation, Huling insisted upon introducing him to
friends, and finally hauled him up to a big touring car full of girls.
Wayne, being a Yale pitcher, had seen several thousand pretty girls,
but the group in that automobile fairly dazzled him. And the last one
to whom Huling presented him--with the words: "Dorothy, this is Mr.
Wayne, the Yale pitcher, who is to play with Bellville tomorrow; Mr.
Wayne, my sister"--was the girl he had known he would meet some day.

"Climb up, Mr. Way