run, threw toward third base. Bell
was half way there. The ball shot straight and low with terrific force
and beat the runner to the bag.

"What a great arm!" I exclaimed, deep in my throat. "It's the lad's
day! He can't be stopped."

The keen newsboy sitting below us broke the amazed silence in the
bleachers.

"Wot d'ye tink o' that?"

Old Well-Well writhed in his seat. To him if was a one-man game, as it
had come to be for me. I thrilled with him; I gloried in the making
good of his protege; it got to be an effort on my part to look at the
old man, so keenly did his emotion communicate itself to me.

The game went on, a close, exciting, brilliantly fought battle. Both
pitchers were at their best. The batters batted out long flies, low
liners, and sharp grounders; the fielders fielded these difficult
chances without misplay. Opportunities came for runs, but no runs were
scored for several innings. Hopes were raised to the highest pitch
only to be dashed astonishingly away. The crowd in the grand stand
swayed to every pitched ball; the bleachers tossed like surf in a storm.

To start the eighth, Stranathan of New York tripled along the left foul
line. Thunder burst from the fans and rolled swellingly around the
field. Before the hoarse yelling, the shrill hooting, the hollow
stamping had ceased Stranathan made home on an infield hit. Then
bedlam broke loose. It calmed down quickly, for the fans sensed
trouble between Binghamton, who had been thrown out in the play, and
the umpire who was waving him back to the bench.

"You dizzy-eyed old woman, you can't see straight!" called Binghamton.

The umpire's reply was lost, but it was evident that the offending
player had been ordered out of the grounds.

Binghamton swaggered along the bleachers while the umpire slowly
returned to his post. The fans took exception to the player's
objection and were not slow in expressing it. Various witty enconiums,
not to be misunderstood, attested to the bleachers' love of fair play
and their disgust at a player's getting himself put out of the game at
a critical stage.

The game proceeded. A second batter had been thrown out. Then two
hits in succession looked good for another run. White, the next
batter, sent a single over second base. Burt scooped the ball on the
first bounce and let drive for the plate. It was another extraordinary
throw. Whether ball or runner reached home base first was most
difficult t