th
his arms folded and his jaw protruding, he limped toward the umpire.

"Did you call me out?" he asked, in a voice plainly audible to any one
on the field.

"Yes," snapped Carter.

"What for? I beat the ball, an' Mannin' played dirty with me--gave me
the hip."

"I called you out."

"But I wasn't out!"

"Shut up now! Get off the diamond!" ordered Carter, peremptorily.

"What? Me? Say, I'm captain of this team. Can't I question a
decision?"

"Not mine. Spears, you're delaying the game."

"I tell you it was a rotten decision," yelled Spears. The bleachers
agreed with him.

Carter grew red in the face. He and Spears had before then met in
field squabbles, and he showed it.

"Fifty dollars!"

"More! You cheap-skate you piker! More!"

"It's a hundred!"

"Put me out of the game!" roared Spears.

"You bet! Hurry now--skedaddle!"

"Rob-b-ber!" bawled Spears.

Then he labored slowly toward the bench, all red, and yet with
perspiration, his demeanor one of outraged dignity. The great crowd,
as one man, stood up and yelled hoarsely at Carter, and hissed and
railed at him. When Spears got to the bench he sat down beside me as
if in pain, but he was smiling.

"Con, I was all in, an' knowin' I couldn't play any longer, thought I'd
try to scare Carter. Say, he was white in the face. If we play into a
close decision now, he'll give it to us."

Bogart and Mullaney batted out in short order, and once more the
aggressive Bisons hurried in for their turn. Spears sent Cairns to
first base and Jones to right. The Rube lobbed up his slow ball. In
that tight pinch he showed his splendid nerve. Two Buffalo players,
over-anxious, popped up flies. The Rube kept on pitching the slow
curve until it was hit safely. Then heaving his shoulders with all his
might he got all the motion possible into his swing and let drive. He
had almost all of his old speed, but it hurt me to see him work with
such desperate effort. He struck Wiler out.

He came stooping into the bench, apparently deaf to the stunning round
of applause. Every player on the team had a word for the Rube. There
was no quitting in that bunch, and if I ever saw victory on the stern
faces of ball players it was in that moment.

"We haven't opened up yet. Mebbee this is the innin'. If it ain't,
the next is," said Spears.

With the weak end of the batting list up, there seemed little hope of
getting a run on Vane that inning. He had so m