10
when a stone falls into water. Almost
in. an instant men and women were on
their feet, questioning each other ex
citedly, screaming the news, to their
neighbors.
As the word spread, rank afteriank
of the massed spectators stood up. and
suddenly from the center of the dis
turbed area appeared a group, advancing
as rapidly as the crowded condition of
the aisle would permit toward the front
of the stands. The cheers that arose
from those nearest them when they were
recognized spread like ripples that grew
Into waves of noise, until the great cruwd
was surging with sound and applause
pounded upon the banked masses in the
Stands like surf upon a rocky shore.
Down the aisle in the center of ihe
stands came three persons. In the center
was Helen Holiday, supported on one
side by her father and on the other by
Arthur Metzler. Both men were wan
and sick looking. The girl, although pale,
carried her head erect and walked firmly.
The players, who were changing posi
tions, halted at the outburst of noise and
-stood looking toward the stands to dis
cover the reason for the sudden explo
sion of sound. They saw the trio and
the Greens, rushing forward as one man,
gathered near the president's box and
stood with caps off while the party made
its way forward. In vain old Boh, the
umpire, shouted to the teams to play
ball. The tumult drowned his voice.
The excitement was beginning to sub
side and the spectators, weary with
cheering and asking each other excited
Questions, were beginning to resume
their seats, when from directly back of
the Greens' bench there arose a wfld
yell that dimmed in volume the preced
ing outburst. In an instant the vast
crowd was on its feet again, going from
paroxysm into paroxysm of noise as,
from the tunnel behind the Greens'
bench, Freddie Gordon emerged upon the
field.
He was arranging his uniform as he
ran. His face was cut and bloody, and
his hair disheveled. Without stopping
at the bench he sprinted across to the
box where Bart Kendall was sitting and,
leaning over and making a trumpet of
his hands, he said something to the
gambler. The crowd, raving with excite
ment and screaming queries which noN
one could answer, watohed the tableau.
They saw the tall gambler's face turn
livid as he leaped to his feet. They saw
him brush aside the persons who im
peded his progress and make his way
along the front of the stand toward cne
of the exits. Freddie Gordon watched
the gambier for. an instant, then run
ning to the bench, he said:
"McColMs, there'll be no more inter
ference with the game."
Then he turned and raced for hi po
sition. CHAPTER XXX.
IW Sixth' Inning.
FREDDIE GORDON'S dramatic re
turn revived, the waning spirits of
the Greens and seemed to smash the con
fidence of the Blues.
The vast crowd, still seething with -;x-cltement
over the sudden reappearance
of Holiday, his daughter and his step
son, and Gordon's return, was swept with
rumors. For an instant it seemed as if
Gordon's consultation with . Kendall
would bring the mob, to a point of vio
lence against the gambler. Reporters
were fighting their ways through- the
excited crowds, striving to discover what
It was all about, and, for the moment,,
the game itself was forgotten In the ex
citement Over th dramatic nt, rnt.
forward among the spectators.
Paulln, grasping- the situation in part,
threw his score book to one of his fel
lows, .and - dodging down- under ihe
stands ran through the maze of pas
sage ways, seeking Kendall. - He caught
a glimpse of . the tall grambler fighting
his way out through one of the pas.
. sages, and saw him force his way into
' the crowd outside the gates as a door
swung open a trifle to permit bim to es-
THE SUNDAY FICTION MAGAZINE, JANUARY 21, 1917
cape. He turned and ran back along
the runway, seeking Professor Terpen
ing. In the runway he found pait of
Terpening's instruments, thrown aside as
if hastily, but there was no sign of the
scientist himself.
Puzzled, Paulin made his way slowly
toward the entrance to the Greens'
bench. He found the heavy door closed
and no response came from his repeated
knocks and cries. Baffled, he returned to
the press box. The reporters were busily
engaged telegraphing wild report and
rumors to their papers, together with ac
counts of the scene of magnificent ex
citement. His own paper was clamoring
for an explanation of the reappearance of
the missing ones and there was none to
give.
The game had been resumed and the
Blues were baffled in their attack in the
first half of the sixth inning. Two bat
ters were out for the Greens and no one
on the bases when Gordon came to bat
for the first time. The great standa and
bleachers rocked with applause and ex
citement. To Paulin's keen eyes it was
evident that Gordon was spent almost
to a point of exhaustion and was being
upheld by his nerve force His face was
raasklike from .weariness and the strain
of the situation as he faced Krentzman.
The big pitcher sent a curve shooting
Just outside the corner of the plate and
Gordon, tempted, restrained himself ?nd
drew a ball. He faced Krentzman again,
striving to guess what the master pitcher
of tlxv Blues would do. He knew that the
ordinary pitcher would use either a fast
ball pitched on the inside corner of the
plate or a slow one over the plate.,Know
ing Krentzman, he concluded that in
stead of pitching either the Blue pitcher
would pitch another curve and in ex
actly the same place as the nrst.
IT WAS a game of head and tails
guess against guess. Gordon stepped
back slightly in the box as if expectm.? a
fast ball, and watched closely. The
pitcher wound up, whirled his long arm
overhead and sent the ball whining
toward the plate. Even as he pitched
Gordon stepped forward a Icng step,
caught the ball with his bat before it
curved and drove it with terrific force
to left center. -He raced to first with
every nerve and- muscle in his body
strained In the effort. He turned the
base in his stride, risking a collision with
Lordney, who held the bag as long as
possible, then leaped aside. Gordon had
an idea. He knew that Jarnigan. the
veteran left fielder of the Blues, a great
player and a smart one, had one bad
habit, and that was carelessness. Time
and again he had seen Jarnigan toss
the ball back Into the infield after Weld
ing such a hit as he had Just driven out
and this time he gave a fleeting glance a
he turned the base, Jarnigan had picked
up the ball and tossed it high and slowly
toward the shortstop. Like a flash Gor
don leaped into full stride again. The
sudden scream of the crowd attested
his movement, and he raced down upon
second base, putting every ounce of his
force into each leap. He saw Haynes,
alarmed, rushing out to meet the slowly
thrown boll. He saw Haynes. grab the
ball and whirling, throw to second and
as the ball came Gordon lunged his body
into the air, struck out one leg despwv
ately and came to a stop, one toe on the
bag. his body beyond it, while Pentman
hurled the unoffending ball against the
ground and cursed Jarnigan.
The brilliantly executed move to gam
an extra base Irritated Krentzman. He
-spoke sarcastically to Jarnigan and
sneered as he.frjied to face Hyde. The
lumbering first baseman of the Greens.
slow, moving, to the eye but covering a!
lot of ground with his long strides, faced
Krentzman. waving his bat threatening-;
ly. nd on the first pitched ball he hooked
his ! bat around and dropped the ball
down the third base foul line. Conniff,
the catcher, leaped after it. Ortsefsen,
caught half asleep, rushed forward. The
two came near colliding and Conniff
grabbed the ball, whirled and made a
vicious' throw toward first. It was evi
dent that Hyde would beat the ball to
first base even before the throw was
made, but the next development was
startling. Gordon, racing for third on
the bunt,-saw the two Blues each striv
ing to field the ball and. whirling around
the' base, he came on behind Ortsefsen.
As Conniff threw to first base Gordon
leaped past Ortsefsen and sprinted for
the, plate. The wild warning shouts
awakened Krentzman and Conniff to the
peril at the same instant. The pitcher
and catcher raced to cover the plate and
reached it a step ahead of the flintf
Green who. with a desperate dlde,
smashed his way between them to the
plate and scored a run.
THE daring brilliancy of Gordon in
scoring the run against great odds
stirred the crowd to new paroxysms of
cheering, which were succeeded by a mur
mur as it was seen that the Green cap
tain staggered as he walked back toward
the bench. The strain had worn upon
him and he was deadly weary. The
shock- of the collision at the plate had
racked bis exhausted body.
The muttered sympathy of the crowd
was lost upon him. His body was sag
ging and his brain reeled. A moment's
rest while the succeeding batter was
retired and he walked to his position
half supported by Haley, whose ques
tions received only half understood head
shakes.
The seventh and eighth innings passed
without a change in the score. The two
runs that had been forced upon the
Blues by -the scientific trickery of the
outsider seemed to spell the doom of the
Greens' pennant hopes. Gordon was so
weary he scarcely could drag one Jeg
after the other. All the noise, the seeth
ing tumult of the stands, came to him
as if deadened. He scarcely cared
whether the team won or lost. His brain
was numb and his body ached in a thou
sand places. He found himself longing
for the game to end that he might roll
Into the luxury of a steaming bath and
ease the torture of tired and outraged
muscles. His eyes persisted in droop
ing and even the frantic efforts of his
teammates to smash the defense of the
Blues and get a start in the attack upon
the icy nerved Krentzman failed to
arouse him.
The last half of the ninth started. The
crowd, which had been frantic, arose to
new heights of noise, pleading, imploring,
screaming, seething with wild enthu
siasm which swelled to a shriek of hope
as Kobow drove a long line fly to left
field. The shriek broke at its highest
note and turned to a half-groan as Olger,
sprinting outward, overhauled the ball
and dragged it down. The scattered ap
plause which greeted his brilliant feat
of fielding was given grudgingly and
the enthusiasm that greeted Robinson as
he strode to the bat was diminished. The
crowd was beginning to shift uneasily,
ready to start toward the exits. Hope
was dying, but dying hard. Robinson
still was fighting. Facing the master
pitcher, he began a duel of wits, and
after five minutes of jockeying, fouling
and waiting he drew a base on balls. A.
scream of revived hope greeted this
opening. For the first time in Innings
the Greens had a runner on first base,
and Hyde, usually the most placid of
players, ran to the plate, gritting his
teeth, crying wild words to the pitcher.
In a frenzy, of overwrought nerve.
Krentzman, cool, cunning, . resourceful,
paused and smiled. He had faced nerv
ous batters many times and he was fig
uring coolly that it would be a useless
risk- to pitch a .good ball to Hyde, who
was beside himself with anxiety to hit
The tall pitcher pawed the slab with
his foot, smiled and sent a fast ball
shooting high above Hyde's head. For
once the cunning of the pitcher was
wasted. As the ball was pitched Hyde,
his face transfixed, leaped and struck at
it. The ball, driven with terrific force,
shot over the second baseman's head,
and before it could be retrieved the run
ners were on first and second and a
base hit would turn the tide.
Gordon was coming to bat He arose
from the bench as a man In a dream.
The roar of the crowd he scarcely heard.
Manager McColljs saw his condition and,
springing from the bench, he grabbed
the captain by the arm.
"Don't go up," he ordered. "You're
all in. I'll send O'Hale to hit for you."
Gordon turned upon him in sudden
fury. He shook loose from the grasp of
the manager, glared at him and walked
unsteadily to the batters' box. The
crowd, watftlng the pantomime, read It
in different ways. It was evident that
Gordon was not himself. He staggered
as he walked and his face was set, his
teeth clenched. He looked out toward
Krentzman as if puzzled. Krentzman
sent hisxurve flashing down and out Just
outside the corner of the plate. Gordon
stood, not moving a muscle, eying the
ball curiously. "One ball," screamed the
umpire. The roar of the crowd was re
. doubled. The noise was like the roar of
surf upon a hard beach. Krentzman
stood as If puzzled. Gordon's tactics
worried him. It was like pitching to a
stone image. He sent his fast ball
straight through the heart of the plate
and Gordon, without moving, let it go
past with no effort to hit at it.
"Something is the matter with Fred
die," said Krentzman as Haynes dashed
forward to consult with him. "I don't
think he saw that one."
"Pitch carefully, Ben," Haynes urged.
"He's dangerous."
Krentzman tried his curve again and
it swept outside the plate for the second
ball, and the hopeful Jubilation of the
multitude was renewed.
Suddenly Freddie Gordon awakened
from his trance. His eyes had been rov
ing aimlessly along the stands, a puzzled
expression on his face. His weary brain
seemed to be groping for an explanation
of all the wild excitement. Suddenly his
eyes rested upon a face, the face of a
girl who was leaning forward, her face
pleading, anxious, beseeching. HU brain
cleared in an Instant. He tightened his
grip upon his long, lean bat and
crouched, watching Krentzman. His
mind was working again. He remem
bered that Krentzman had tried two
. curves, and that a fast ball has whizzed
through the heart of the plate unmolested,
Krentzman would pitch a fast ball again.
Instinctively he gripped the ground with
his feet. The ball came like a rifle shot
straight at the plate, waist high. Gor
don summoned every ounce of his re
maining strength and threw it behind
the swing of the bat. He felt the bat
meet the ball with a ringing crash. He
saw Haynes leap high into the air and
the ball flash over his finger tips. He
reeled toward first base. The wild ap
plause of the great crowd poured down
upon him. He saw Jarnigan, far out la
left field, make a despairing effort to
top the ball with one hand, then turn'
and sprint after it as it rolled toward
the fence. He knew that Robinson and
Hyde were racing for the plate, that hi
drive had won the game, that the Greens
were champions. He saw men pouring
over the barrier walls of stands and
bleachers as water over a precipice. He
felt his feet touch first base and with
a long stagger he reeled Into the arms
of Hatpin Hanklns. who had be coach
In and knew no more.
CHAPTER XXX.
Into Thin Air.
TWO hours after the sensational fin
ish of the final game of the season
that gave the Boston Greens.the cham
pionship a little group, tense with ex
pectant excitement and anxiety that
. toned their triumph, sat at dinner in the
rooms of Charles Holiday.
Mr. Holiday, his face drawn with suf
fering, presided, and at the table were
Freddie Gordon. Paulln IriW ir-..i-
Mtiwcri
mi i . . - ...
ins muiin. I ii, Horror- nn Hi I uaim-
. a
"We are waiting for cne more guest," -"
said Mr. Holiday. "When he arrives I'