the preceding books of
this series to sketch something of his life and adventures up to this
time.

Joe's first experience in the great game in which he was to become so
famous was gained on the diamond of his own home town. He did so well
there that he soon became known in the towns around as one of the best
players in the county. He had many mishaps and difficulties, and how he
overcame them is told in the first volume of the series, entitled,
"Baseball Joe of the Silver Stars; Or The Rivals of Riverside."

A little later on, when playing on his school nine, he had obstacles of a
different character to surmount. The bully of the school sought to down
him, but found that he had made a mistake in picking out his victim. Joe's
natural skill and constant practice enabled him to win laurels for himself
and his school on the diamond, and prepared him for the larger field that
awaited him when later on he went to Yale.

As may be easily understood, with all the competition he had to meet at
the great University his chance was long in coming to prove his class in
the pitching box. But the homely old saying that "it is hard to keep a
squirrel on the ground" was never better exemplified than in his case.
There came a time when the Yale "Bulldog" was hard beset by the Princeton
"Tiger," and Joe was called on to twist the Tiger's tail. How well he did
it and what glory he won for his Alma Mater can be read in the third
volume of the series, entitled: "Baseball Joe at Yale; Or, Pitching for
the College Championship."

But even at the top notch of his popularity, Joe was restless at college.
He was bright and keen in his studies and had no difficulty in standing up
well in his classes. But all his instincts told him that he was made for
the out-of-door life.

His mother had hoped that Joe would enter the ministry, but Joe, although
he had the greatest respect for that profession, did not feel that his
life work lay in that direction. He had been so successful in athletic
sports and took such pleasure in them that he yielded to his natural bent
and decided to adopt professional baseball as his vocation.

His mother was sorely grieved at first, and the more so as she felt that
Joe was "stepping down" in entering the professional ranks. But Joe was
able to show her that scores of college men were doing the same thing that
he planned to do, and she had too good sense to press her opposition too
far.

The opening that Joe was l