tand it, Joe," said Mabel, for at least the tenth
time.

"Well, I can't understand it myself, Mabel," he replied.

"Are you sure you didn't sign that contract, thinking it was something
else--an order for something, or something like that?" questioned Clara.

"I'm not in the habit of signing anything without knowing what it is,"
said the crack pitcher. "If any of those fellows had brought such a thing
to me to sign, I would have handed it back and given the fellow a piece of
my mind. No, there is something else in all this, though what it is I
haven't the faintest idea."

"It's too bad we're so far away from those fellows just at present," put
in Jim. "If we were close by we might interview them, and find out some of
the details that are as yet missing. And then maybe somebody would get a
broken head," he added vigorously.

"Oh, Jim! would you break anybody's head?" burst out Clara in horror.

"I sure would if he was trying to put Joe in such a hole as this!"
returned the young man promptly. "Maybe you don't understand what a black
eye this is calculated to give your brother."

"Oh, yes, I can understand that well enough," sighed Joe's sister.

"I think it's the meanest thing that ever could possibly happen!" burst
out Mabel. "And I don't wonder that Jim is angry enough to break
somebody's head for it," and she looked lovingly at Joe.

"Oh, I suppose it will come out all right in the end," answered Joe. But
he said this merely to ease Mabel's mind. Secretly he was afraid that he
was in for some real trouble.

It was early spring when they landed in Naples, but the winter had been
prolonged more than usual and it was too cold to play. At Monte Carlo and
Nice, however, they were able to get in two games, both of which were won
by the All-Americans. This put the teams again on an equality as to games
won and lost, and revived the hopes of the All-Americans that they might
still come out ahead in the series.

They made but a short stay in Paris, and the weather was so inclement that
games were out of the question. But it would have taken more than bad
weather to prevent the shopping and sightseeing that all had been looking
forward eagerly to in the great French capital, and they enjoyed their
visit to the full.

In London they met with the greatest welcome of their trip. They played at
Lord's Oval, the most famous grounds in the United Kingdom, and before an
audience that included the most distinguished people