“I won’t have anything to do with it!” he promised. “Don’t hit me, Van Horn!” He fell back, and Dirk, unmindful, trotted down to the dock, leaving the despised Blum far in the rear.
That afternoon the promised game with the councilors kept the Lenape team on the jump to defend their positions against prime competition. With Lieutenant Eames on the mound for the leaders, and Chief himself, in mask and chest-protector, behind the plate, the camper squad were hard put to it to score. However, Soapy Mullins got home on a two-bagger made by Lefty Reardon, and in the fifth inning, which was by agreement the last, Blackie Thorne surprised himself as much as the others by hitting a long fly that landed among the rocks of the stone fence, and was not found until he had completed a tour of the bases for the second tally. But when the leaders came up for the last time, they began a merry procession that ended only with Swim Call, leaving the final score 5-2 in favor of the councilors.
“You had us going for a while, Captain,” the Chief called to Lefty as the game ended. “If your team plays as well on Wednesday, Shawnee will have to use ten men to beat you!”
“Thanks, Chief,” responded the pitcher, with a grin. “But it won’t be a cinch by any means. They have the toughest outfit this year they’ve ever had, and I’m sure going into the box with my pockets full of four-leaf clovers!”
Although the game had not been a victory for the camper team, it had ended happily for Dirk Van Horn. Inspired by his resolve of the previous night, he had never played a better game in all his days at prep school. He had fielded like a veteran, and once he scooped in a pop fly in such quick time that he had slammed it down to Brick Ryan on first for a double play against the unprepared Mr. Lane, who was caught trying to regain first base. At the finish, when Lefty told him that his position in left field would be confirmed for the Shawnee game, he glowed with the most pleasant feeling he had enjoyed since he first put foot on the Lenape campus.
He strolled back to Tent One with Lefty, chatting eagerly of their prospects. When the pair reached the tent, they found Sax McNulty and the rest of their comrades gathered in an excited group around Brick Ryan, who was grinning broadly and trying modestly to conceal his pride.