"None gone, Tom on third and Joe at bat," mused Mr. Leighton. "I wish Joe was a better hitter, but maybe he can knock out a bingle that will do the trick."
Joe did, though it was more through an error on the part of the second baseman, who muffed the fly, than any ability on Joe's part, that the Jersey twin got to first.
Tom came in, amid a burst of cheers and yells, scoring the tying run. Would there be a winning one, or would ten innings be necessary?
Jerry Jackson struck out, while his friends groaned, but Joe, with desperate daring, managed to steal second. Then up came Dutch Housenlager, and when he hit the ball a resounding whack the heart of more than one lad was in his throat. But, by a desperate run, the left fielder caught the fly, and Dutch was out, while Joe Jackson was on third. He died there, for Phil, to his great chagrin, struck out. The score stood a tie 4 to 4.
"Ten innings! Ten innings!" yelled the crowd.
Bean Perkins and his fellows were singing all the songs they knew. So were the Fairview cohorts, and the scene was a wild one.
"Hold 'em down, Tom; hold 'em down!" implored the coach as the plucky pitcher went to his box.
It looked as if he was not going to do it, for he passed Sam Soden to first, and duplicated the trick for Charley Simonson and with two men on bases, not a man down, and Tom as nervous as a cat, it began to look dubious for Randall. The crowd was on edge. So was Tom, with two lively runners on the first and second bags to watch. Several times he threw to first, hoping to catch Simonson napping, but it was not to be.
Suddenly Pete Backus, who was holding down second base, threw up his hand to shield his eyes, and Tom saw a dazzling streak of light flash across from the grand stand.
"What's the matter, Pete?" asked the pitcher.
"Some girl up there must have bright buttons on, or a hat pin made of diamonds, for they're flashing in my eyes," complained Pete. Then the flash vanished and Tom was about to pitch a ball for Ed Felton, who was up, when, as he gave a comprehensive look at first and second, he again saw the dazzling gleam in Pete's eyes.
"We'll have to stop that!" exclaimed the captain. "I'll ask Kerr or Mr. Leighton to speak to whoever's wearing such bright adornments."