pers, a dining car and a smoker.

It was travel _de luxe_, and the sumptuous train was to be their home for
the full month that would elapse before they reached the coast.

"Rather soft, eh, for the poor baseball slaves," grinned Jim, as he
stretched out his long legs luxuriously and gazed out of the window at the
flying telegraph poles.

"This is the life," chanted Larry Barrett.

"Nothing to do till to-morrow," chimed in Denton. "And not much even
then."

"Don't you boys go patting yourselves on the back," smiled Robbie, looking
more like a cherub than ever, as he stopped beside their seats on his way
along the aisle. "These games, remember, are to be the real thing--there's
going to be no sloppy or careless work just because you're not playing
for the championship. They're going to be fights from the time the gong
rings till the last man is out in the ninth inning."

If Robbie wanted action, he got it, and the first games had a snap and vim
about them that augured well for the success of the trip. It is true that
the players had not the stimulus that comes from a fight for the pennant,
but other motives were not lacking.

There was one game which was a nip-and-tuck affair from start to finish.
At the end of the fourth inning the score stood 1 to 1, and at the end of
the sixth inning the score had advanced so that it stood 2 to 2.

"Say, we don't seem to be getting anywhere in this game," remarked Jim to
Joe.

"Oh, well, we've got three more innings to play," was the answer.

In the seventh inning a most remarkable happening occurred. The
All-Americans had three men on bases with nobody out. It looked as if they
might score, but Joe took a sudden brace and pitched the next man at the
bat out in one-two-three order.

The next man up knocked a pop fly, which Joe gathered in with ease.

"That's the way to do it, Joe!" sang out one of his companions. "Now go
for the third man!"

The third fellow to the bat was a notable hitter, and nearly every one
thought he would lace out at least a two-bagger, bringing in probably
three runs. Instead, however, he knocked two fouls, and then sent a liner
down to first base, which the baseman caught with ease; and that ended the
chance for scoring.

"That's pulling it out of the fire!" cried McRae. The showing had been a
good one, but what made the inning so remarkable was the fact that in
one-two-three order the Giants got the bases filled exactly as they had
been fille