Produced by Donald Cummings and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This book was produced from scanned images of public domain material from the Google Books project.)
[Illustration: A breathless silence then. The figure on the ledge settled back]
CHRISTY MATHEWSON AUTHOR OF “PITCHING IN A PINCH,” “PITCHER POLLOCK,” ETC.
NEW YORK DODD, MEAD AND COMPANY PUBLISHERS
CHAPTER PAGE I SAM MAKES A PURCHASE 3 II OFF FOR CAMP 15 III “THE WIGWAM” 26 IV THE BLANKET THAT RAN AWAY 45 V A SLIDE TO THE PLATE 61 VI THE TILTING MATCH 72 VII SAM OFFERS A SUGGESTION 85 VIII THE “BLUES” WIN! 96 IX DOUGHNUTS IN THE RAIN 109 X SIDNEY SINGS A DITTY 118 XI MAKING THE NINE 138 XII ON CONQUEST BENT 150 XIII OUT AT THIRD! 163 XIV TIED IN THE EIGHTH 175 XV STEVE SCORES 188 XVI KIDNAPPED 200 XVII “GREYSIDES” 211 XVIII MR. YORK MAKES A PROPOSITION 229 XIX HOME AGAIN 238 XX THE MAN IN THE PANAMA 249 XXI MR. HALL TALKS BASEBALL 263 XXII BASES FULL! 276 XXIII A THROW TO SECOND 295 XXIV FIRE! 311 XXV SAM SIGNALS FOR A FAST ONE 327 XXVI CATCHER CRAIG 339
A breathless silence then. The figure on the ledge settled back (page 342) _Frontispiece_
“Well, Craig, so you found us, eh?” asked the short man, with a smile and a firm clasp of the hand 36
And above the din and through the red dust-cloud sounded Mr. York’s voice, “_He’s out!_” 198
It was a window to gladden any boy’s heart. Behind the big plate-glass pane were baseball bats of all sorts and prices, masks and protectors, gloves and mitts, balls peeking temptingly forth from their tin-foil wrappers, golf clubs and bags, running shoes and apparel, and many, many other things to send a chap’s hand diving into his pocket.
Sam Craig’s hand was already there, jingling the few coins he had with him, while his gaze wandered raptly over the enticing array. Always, though, it returned to the display of catcher’s mitts.
He was seventeen, a sturdy, brown-haired youth with a well-tanned face from which dark grey eyes looked untroubledly forth. As he stood there in front of Cummings and Wright’s window his feet were planted apart, his attitude seeming to say: “Here I am and here I stay!” And the resolute expression of his face backed up the assertion of his body, so that, had you for any reason wished to move Sam from in front of that window, it would never have occurred to you to try force. If persuasion failed you’d have let him stay there!