ice, and
the enthusiasm and high spirits of the boys made up for all defects in
the playing field. It is safe to say that no highly paid athlete,
prancing over the velvet sward of major league grounds, got so much real
fun out of the game as these lads with their makeshift diamond.

Most of the boys playing were members of the Oldtown school team, but
enough others had been picked up to make a scrub game of seven on a
side. Two players had to cover the whole outfield, and each side was
minus a shortstop. Even with this handicap, the game had been a good
one, and, after one more inning had been played, Fred's side had come
out two runs ahead. It was getting late in the afternoon, and the boys,
flushed and dusty, had begun to draw on their coats.

"Oh, don't go yet, fellows," urged Teddy Rushton, Fred's younger
brother. "I haven't had half enough baseball yet. I'm as full of pep as
when I began."

"Oh, come off," retorted Bob Ellis. "Don't you see where the sun is?
It's getting near supper time. It's too late to start another game."

"Who said anything about another game?" replied Teddy. "I'm going to do
some fungo hitting. Get out there, you fellows, and I'll knock you some
flies. Go along, Jim, and I'll take off another nail."

"You'd better not," grinned Jim, but scampered out just the same,
followed by three or four others, whose appetite for the game, like
Teddy's own, had not been fully satisfied.

Teddy had a keen eye and a good arm, and there were few boys of his age
who could hit the ball harder or send it further. Usually, too, he could
gauge the distance and knock a fly so that it would fall almost in the
fielder's hands. But to-day the ball seemed to take a perverse delight
in falling either too short or too far out, and the boys were kept on
the run, with only an occasional catch to reward their efforts.

"Have a heart, Teddy!" shouted Jim, red and perspiring. "Put 'em where a
fellow can get 'em."

"Get a move on, why don't you?" called Teddy in return. "I can't help it
if you run like ice wagons. I hit them all right."

"Hit!" snorted Jim wrathfully. "You couldn't hit the water, if you fell
overboard."

A little nettled by the taunt, Teddy looked about him. He caught sight
of a stage, drawn by two horses, jogging along the road that ran beside
the field. A glint of mischief came into his eyes and he gripped his bat
tightly. Here was a chance to prove that Jim was wrong.

The stage coach was comi