While they took their positions, and Merry was given a moment to warm up, the crowd fell silent. Even the Franklin rooters had cheered, for they were clean sportsmen, but the Fardale fans began to realize that Merry had arrived too late.
“They can’t do anything now except hold ’em down,” declared Coach Trayne.
New life had been infused into the team, however. Villum Kess was capering around in right field trying to stand on his head, and almost succeeding. The ball was being snapped around the bases in wonderful fashion. One and all, the team were leaping into action as if the coming of Merry and his friends had turned the tide.
Yet the score stood four to one, and the bases were filled, there were none out.
The Franklin batter stepped into his box. Merry poised himself on the mound and nodded at Billy’s eager signal.
He knew that the men behind him had regained confidence, and he proceeded to show his confidence in them by lobbing over a slow, straight ball. The batter almost gasped with astonishment, but swung and took it on the nose.
The crowd came up on its toes. The ball drove across the field like a bullet, so quickly that it could hardly be seen what had happened. The shortstop put out his glove, and the ball struck. Instantly he leaped to second.
The runners had leaped at the crack of the bat. Touching second, the shortstop whipped the ball to Clancy. It came straight and true, and the man on first tried to get back, but too late. Three men had been retired, in less than twenty seconds from the time the ball was hit!
“Great Scott!” gasped Trayne, watching with bulging eyes. “It’s incredible!”
The crowd went mad with excitement. Such playing had rarely been seen on Fardale field since the time of Frank Merriwell, senior. The Fardale players had moved like clockwork, with such absolute precision that they had accomplished a triple play before they themselves realized the fact!
Small wonder that the fans went crazy as the team trotted in. The grand stand was in bedlam, screaming and shouting and stamping. The bleachers shrieked that the game was not lost yet, and implored Crockett to send Merry to bat.
Crockett did not lose his head in the excitement, however. He himself was up, and he was fairly confident of a hit. As he strode out to the plate, the uproar died away. After all, Franklin was three runs to the good, and the case for Fardale looked hopeless.