ap in our stone-wall infield, no one but Fred."

"But what's the matter with Fred?" demanded Steve.

"I saw him not an hour ago," spoke up Toby, "and say, he didn't look so
_very_ sick then, let me tell you, Jack. He was swallowing an
ice-cream soda in the drug-store, and seemed to be enjoying it
immensely, too."

"And yet," added Steve, thoughtfully, "now that you mention it, Jack,
seems to me Fred _has_ been acting a little queer lately. There's
been a sort of shifting way he avoids looking straight into your eyes
when you're talking with him. Why, when I got speaking about our next
big game, and hoped he'd play like a regular demon at third sack he
grinned sheepishly, and simply said he meant to try and do himself
credit, but nobody could ever tell how luck was going to pan out."

Jack shook his head.

"That's just it, fellows," he went on to say, gloomily. "I've heard the
same thing from others. In fact, Phil Parker even went on to say it
looked like Fred was getting ready to excuse himself in case he did
commit some terrible crime in juggling a ball when a vital time in the
game came, and a clean throw meant win or lose."

"I'd hate to see that spirit shown under any conditions," said Jack,
"because it means lack of confidence, and such a thing has lost no end
of games. It's the fellow who says he can and will do things that comes
in ahead nearly every time. But listen, boys, that isn't the worst of
this thing."

"Gee whiz! what's coming now, Jack?" asked Toby, wriggling uneasily on
the bench.

"Of course you know that over in Harmony, which is a larger place than
Chester, there is quite a sporting element," Jack continued. "Latterly,
we've been told quite an interest has been aroused in the outcome of
this deciding game between the two rival clubs; and that some rich
sports from the city have even come up to make wagers on the result.
I've heard gentlemen here tell this, and deplore the fact that such a
thing could invade an innocent sport like baseball. You both know this,
don't you, fellows?"

"Yes," said Steve, quickly, "I've heard a lot of talk about it, and how
they are determined to arrest anybody making an open bet on the game at
the grounds when the crowd is there; but even that isn't going to
prevent the laying of wagers in secret."

"I ran across a Harmony fellow yesterday," Toby now remarked, eagerly,
"and he said there was a terrible lot of excitement over there about
this game. You see, t