of the conspirators.

"But you said to tie him, and then to the river with him."

"You don't s'pose I'm going to chuck him in; do you?" was the angry
question.

"I don't know."

"Well, I'm not! I'm just going to put him out of the way for a time. I
told him I'd get even with him for not helping me out of a hole, and
then for spreading reports about me, that kept me from getting a place
on the Cardinals, as well as on any other team. I told him I'd fix him!"

So, this was the secret of Shalleg's animosity! He had a fancied
grievance against Joe, and was taking this means of gratifying his
passion for revenge. Joe, dimly hearing, understood now. He longed to be
able to speak, to assure Shalleg that he was all wrong, but they had
bound a rag about his mouth, and he could not utter a sound, even had
not the chloroform held his speech in check.

"Pass over those ropes," directed Shalleg to his cronies in the cab,
which lurched and swayed over the rough stones. The cab held four, on a
pinch, and Joe was held and supported by one of the men. The gag in the
young pitcher's mouth was made tighter, and ropes were passed about his
arms and feet. He could not move.

"What's the game?" asked Wessel, as the trussing-up was finished.

"Well, I don't want to do him any real harm," growled Shalleg, "but I'm
going to put him out of the game, just as I was kept out of it by his
tattling tongue. I'm going to make him fail to show up to-morrow, and
the next day, too, maybe. That'll put a crimp in his record, and in the
Cardinals', too, for he's been doing good work for them. I'll say that
about him, much as I hate him!"

Joe heard this plot against him, heard it dimly, through his half-numbed
senses, and tried to struggle free from his bonds. But he could not.

On rattled the cab. Joe could not tell in which direction they were
going, but he was sure it was along the lonely river front. The effects
of the chloroform were wearing off, but the gag kept him silent, and the
ropes bound his hands and feet.

"Have any trouble trailing him?" asked Shalleg of Wessel, who had
disguised himself with a false beard.

"Not a bit," was the answer. "It was pie! I pretended I had lost my
way."

The men laughed. Either they thought Joe was still incapable of hearing
them, or they did not care if their identity and plans were known.

A multitude of thoughts rushed through Joe's head. He did not exactly
understand what the men were going to d