the side lines rose and yelled and cheered.

Moore was a left handed hitter, who choked his bat up short, and poked
at the ball. He was a good bunter, and swift on his feet. Wayne had
taken his measure, as he had that of the other players, earlier in the
game; and he knew it was good pitching to keep the ball in close to
Moore's hands, so that if he did hit it, the chances were it would not
go safe.

Summoning all his strength, Wayne took his long swing and shot the ball
over the inside corner with terrific speed.

One strike!

Wayne knew it would not do to waste any balls if he wished to maintain
that speed, so he put the second one in the same place. Moore struck
too late.

Two strikes!

Then Burns signed for the last drop. Wayne delivered it with
trepidation, for it was a hard curve to handle. Moore fell all over
himself trying to hit it. Little Burns dropped to his knees to block
the vicious curve. It struck the ground, and, glancing, boomed deep on
the breast protector.

How the Salisbury supporters roared their approval! One man out--the
bases full--with Reed, the slugging captain, at bat!

If Reed had a weakness, Wayne had not discovered it yet, although Reed
had not hit safely. The captain stood somewhat back from the plate, a
fact that induced Wayne to try him with the speedy outcurve. Reed
lunged with a powerful swing, pulling away from the plate, and he
missed the curve by a foot.

Wayne did not need to know any more. Reed had made his reputation
slugging straight balls from heedless pitchers. He chopped the air
twice more, and flung his bat savagely to the ground.

"Two out--play the hitter!" called Wayne to his team.

Clark, the third man up, was the surest batter on the Bellville team.
He looked dangerous. He had made the only hit so far to the credit of
his team. Wayne tried to work him on a high, fast ball close in.
Clark swung freely and cracked a ripping liner to left. Half the crowd
roared, and then groaned, for the beautiful hit went foul by several
yards. Wayne wisely decided to risk all on his fast drop. Clark
missed the first, fouled the second.

Two strikes!

Then he waited. He cooly let one, two, three of the fast drops go by
without attempting to hit them. Burns valiantly got his body in front
of them. These balls were all over the plate, but too low to be called
strikes. With two strikes, and three balls, and the bases full, Clark
had the advantage.

Ti