Comrades on River and Lake Page 8

  CHAPTER VIII--THE GAME END

  "The bases full and no one out!"

  How many times has this cry shaken the nerves of the home rooter, as hesaw his favorite players apparently in a hole they could not get out ofwithout allowing one or more scores?

  The friends of Bert Creighton and the other Kattskill Bay boys, whileconfident that the boys from Winton possessed the ability to help Bertwin a victory, saw no loop-hole for shutting off the scores of theCleverdale team in the fifth inning.

  Remembering the two plays of the previous inning, the Cleverdale runnerswere hugging the bases, watching eagle-eyed for a throw from either Chotor Tom. But the Winton battery proceeded to ignore the runnersapparently.

  Never had Windle batted at such an array of curves, mixed with swiftballs and slow balls, as Chot Duncan served up to him during the nexttwo minutes. The best he succeeded in doing was a foul tip which countedas a strike. With two strikes and no balls, he felt that he must hit thenext one, but he did not figure on the drop, and again Chot sent his manalong the strike-out route with his old reliable "fooler."

  "Hit it out, Johnson!" cried Biddle. "A single will do."

  "Johnson isn't making singles to-day," muttered Fleet. Then he grinnedin delight as Chot threw a swift in, and the Cleverdale pitcher struckand missed. Another in the same place brought a second effort fromJohnson, this also unsuccessful. Then the drop again, and Johnsonretired as Mr. Creighton cried:

  "Batter out!"

  King was facing Chot now. He was reputed to be the best and quickest manin getting to first of any of the Cleverdale players, and he hadresolved to show Chot that he could not strike him out again.

  Chot cast his eye around the bases now. The runners were still huggingclose. Chot was tempted to let King hit it, and trust to the Creightonfielders to get under the ball, but decided not to take a chance. Then,suddenly, he resorted to a style of throwing that he had not used in along time--the underhand method. Chot had mastered this style longsince, and could throw ins and outs with equal facility, and with asmuch speed as he ordinarily used for his other delivery.

  King was disconcerted. He had never seen balls come whizzing over theplate in just this fashion. One strike, two strikes, were called andKing began to be alive to the fact that he was apt to go the way theother batters had. Then suddenly Chot swung his arm over his shoulderand the reliable drop went shooting into Tom's mitt. King had hit at itand missed. Chot had struck out three men with the bases full.

  "Oh, there are different methods of doing it," said Fleet, as hecarelessly threw his mitt down near the base and walked in with theother Creighton players.

  Smeed tried to get a hit for his side in the last of the fifth, andsucceeded in sending a grounder to short. He was thrown out. Pod beatout a bunt but Bert surprised his friends by striking out. Fleet lifteda long fly into center, but Burton was playing deep and had littletrouble getting under it.

  Cleverdale again looked dangerous in the sixth, but again Chot and Tom,with Bert's assistance, cut off two runs when it seemed that the rivalside must score.

  Tom led off for Winton. Getting a ball where he wanted it after a strikeand two balls had been called, he sent the sphere into deep right forthree bases.

  Chot struck the first ball pitched, and it went sailing between left andcenter, out into the tall grass, where it was recovered some minuteslater by the combined efforts of Burton and King! By the time the ballwas thrown into the diamond, Chot had made a complete circle of thebases, sending Tom in ahead of him.

  "Gee whiz! Eleven to nothing," said Fleet. "This game should have apoem."

  "Not if we know ourselves!" cried Pod. "Let well enough alone. Don'tbring down a hoodoo by turning loose any bad verse."

  "Speaking of women," said Pod. "Did----"

  "Who said anything about women?" Fleet demanded.

  "Well, speaking of them, anyway, I know a school teacher who is soindustrious that she is knitting all the time while she is teaching."

  "Get out!" cried Fleet. "How can a school teacher knit and teach at thesame time?"

  "This teacher is knitting her eyebrows," said Pod, and dodged out of theway as Fleet made a dash for him. The Kattskill Bay boys laughedheartily at Pod's joke, which caused Fleet to remark:

  "If you heard as many of them as we do, they wouldn't be funny."

  "And if you heard as many bad verses as we do," said Pod, "you'd hate totravel in the company we travel in."

  Fleet glared at him but said nothing, and a moment later, when Joneswent out on a grounder to Corker, all interest became centered on thegame.

  Day flied out to Burton and Lorrens went out on a grounder, Strange toWindle.

  Believing the seventh might be their lucky inning, the Cleverdale boystried their utmost to score. The cry with them grew to be not, "Can wewin?" but "Can we save ourselves from a shut-out?" Captain Biddlethought they could. Chot Duncan had resolved they shouldn't.

  Strange was up for Cleverdale, and he knocked a single into right. Noman had yet tried to steal a base on Tom, so Strange resolved to be theone to humiliate Bert Creighton's catcher. He was a swift runner, andfelt that with a good lead he could make it. With the first ball Chotthrew, he was off for second. Burton, knowing that Strange was going toattempt a steal, struck wildly at the ball to bother Tom.

  But Tom was always at his best in situations of this kind, and withapparently no effort he shot the ball down to Bert, who put it onStrange when he was ten feet from the bag, Tom having anticipated therunner and thrown that far to the right, where Bert stood just a foot orso back of the base line.

  A cheer went up from the Creighton rooters. This was the sort of playingthey liked best to see.

  Burton knocked a little fly back of second which Pod caught easily.

  Windle hit the ball hard, but it was a liner straight to Bert, and thesecond baseman smothered it in his glove, retiring the side.

  The seventh was over and still Cleverdale had not made a score.

  "Why don't you give them just one?" cried someone, as Bert and hisplayers came in for their turn at bat.

  "Give 'em one and they'll want a dozen," replied Bert, smiling. "A coatof whitewash will look good on Cleverdale."

  The Creightons then proceeded to add another run to their already largelist. Smeed secured a base on balls. Pod struck out, but Bert advancedhis center fielder to second with a sacrifice, and Smeed came home amoment later on Fleet's long hit between first and second. Tom flied outto King, and the side was out.

  Johnson struck out as usual, Chot giving him no opportunity to hit theball. He seemed afraid to stand up to the plate, and a batter who istimid is easy prey for the opposing pitcher.

  King pounded out a two-bagger, Smeed getting the ball in center in timeto hold him on the second bag.

  Cotton bunted safely, King taking third, and Gregg advanced to theplate. Gregg was the Cleverdale slugger. He did not always hit the ball,but when he did it usually went somewhere. He stood in his favoriteposition to wait for a suitable ball, knowing that one of his long hitsnow would score both King and Cotton.

  A moment later he was walking slowly down to first. Chot haddeliberately given him his base on balls.

  "I don't like that," he said, glaring at Chot.

  "Sorry," responded the latter and made ready to throw to Captain Biddle,who, with the bases full and no one out, was confident that he couldsave his side from a whitewash, at least.

  He struck viciously at the first ball thrown, but missed. He triedagain, but Chot was using all the speed he had, resolved that theCleverdale team should be whitewashed until the end. Two strikes werecalled on Biddle. Then came one just where he wanted it--or, so itseemed to him. He struck with all his might, and succeeded in tippingthe ball. Not enough to deflect it from its course however, and itlanded in Tom's mitt and Biddle was out.

  Corker knocked a long fly into left, but Lorrens had no difficulty ingetting under it, and the first of the eighth was over.

  Winton went ou
t in one, two, three order, in the last half of theinning, and the ninth opened with Strange at the bat. Cleverdale wasresolved to have another try at scoring.

  Strange succeeded in bunting safely, Tom getting the ball, but fumblingit until it was too late to throw to Fleet.

  Burton waited and got his base on balls. Chot had sent over a couple ofteasers and the umpire had ruled them balls, and Chot realized when toolate that he had made a mistake.

  Two men on bases and no one out.

  Windle was up, a look of determination on his face.

  Then Chot commenced to burn them over. Such dazzling speed had neverbeen seen in the Creighton pasture before. Mr. Creighton nearly forgotthat he was umpiring in his amazement at the way Chot sent the ballswhizzing over the plate.

  A strike was called, then Windle struck at two more; but he might aswell have tried to hit a bullet from a gun. He was called out onstrikes.

  Johnson surprised everyone by hitting the ball, but it went straightinto Pod's hands, forcing Strange at third.

  Everyone was on tip-toe with excitement as King drove the sphere intodeep right for what seemed to be an extra-base hit. Burton, who was onsecond, raced for home with all his speed. Then Jones, who had beenrunning back to get under the ball, saw that it was going over his head,and with a supreme effort shot into the air and caught the sphere withone hand. It was a sensational catch and received a round of cheers.

  The game was over and the score stood: Creightons 12, Cleverdale 0.

  The little animosities of the game were soon forgotten when it waslearned that Mrs. Creighton had prepared a fine supper on the lawn backof the farm-house, and the boys hurriedly gathered up theirparaphernalia and went in that direction, while the crowd began todisperse.

  The supper was an enjoyable one in every sense of the word, and songsand jokes were heard on all sides. Pod was allowed to turn loose a fewof his latest, and he kept the table in a roar for the better part ofthe time.

  Finally the Cleverdale boys took their leave, after shaking hands warmlywith the boys from Winton, and inviting them to the Lake George countryagain the following summer.

  "When," said Captain Biddle, smiling, "we'll try and make things moreinteresting for you."