"And neither one to be sneezed at," grinned Joe.

"We sure had a great season," observed McRae. "If we start next year with
the same team we ought to go through the league like a prairie fire. I
have every reason to think that Hughson will be in tip-top shape when the
season opens, and if he is, there won't be any pitching staff that can
hold a candle to ours. But----"

He paused uncertainly and looked at Joe as though he wanted to speak to
him privately. Jim saw the look and took the hint.

"I guess I'll go into the smoker and see what the rest of the fellows are
doing, if you'll excuse me," he said, rising and strolling back.

McRae greeted his departure with evident satisfaction.

"I'm glad to have a chance to talk to you alone, Joe," he said. "You're my
right bower and I can talk to you more freely than to anyone else, except
Hughson. I don't mind telling you that this new league is worrying me a
lot."

"What is it?" asked Joe with quick interest. "Anything happened lately?"

"Plenty," replied McRae. "I've kidded myself with the idea that the thing
was going to peter out of its own accord. Every few seasons something of
the kind crops up, but it usually comes to nothing. Usually the men who
put up the coin get scared when they see what a big proposition it is
they've tackled and back out. Sometimes, too, they go about it in such a
blundering way that it's bound to fail from the start.

"But this time it's different. They've got barrels of money behind them,
and they're spending it like water. There's one of them named Fleming,
whose father is a millionaire many times over, and he seems to have money
to burn. They certainly are making big offers to star players all over the
country. You saw the way they came at you, and they're doing the same in
other places. There isn't a paper that I pick up that doesn't give the
name of some big player that they're tampering with. The last one I saw
was Altman of the Chicago White Sox. I guess though, that is a wrong
steer, for Altman has come out flat for his old team and denies any
intention of jumping his contract."

"Bully for Nick!" exclaimed Joe. "I guess I helped to queer that deal. I
saw Westland talking to him, and he seemed to have him going, but I put a
few things straight to Nick and he seems to have come to his senses before
it's too late."

"There's Munsey of the Cincinnatis, he's left his reservation," continued
McRae. "He's the crack shortstop of the c