bar closed, he went unsteadily to his room,
after informing the bartender that he was the best pitcher in the world.

The Bears faced the Pilgrims for the third game of the series before a
huge Saturday crowd, attracted by the announcement that Puckett, the
star pitcher of the Pilgrims would pitch against Adonis Williams. The
teams battled brilliantly for three innings, although Williams was wild
and unsteady. Twice sharp work by the infielders prevented the
Pilgrims from scoring, and when the fourth inning commenced the crowd
was cheering the Pilgrims wildly and encouraging them to drag down the
Bears from their proud position at the head of the-league. Manager
Clancy, crouching forward near the players' bench, was watching
Williams closely, and every few moments his worried frown and quick
gesture showed that he was not pleased with the manner in which his
best left-hander was working. Between innings the manager talked in
low tones with Kennedy, who was catching, seeking to discover why
Williams seemed wild and what was the matter with his curve ball.

"Get out there and warm up a bit, Will," said Clancy to Wilcox, his
reliable veteran. "They're likely to get after Adonis any minute."

To those in the stands it seemed as if Williams was pitching just as
well as was his rival, but both teams knew that he was not in his best
form, and that it was luck and fast fielding, rather than good
pitching, that was saving him from being batted hard. The Pilgrims
attacked him in each inning with confidence born of the certainty that
sooner or later their hard drives would begin to fall in safe ground,
while the Bears played the harder to prevent the start of a rally.

The break came in the sixth inning. A base on balls to the first
batter gave the Pilgrims the opening for which they had been waiting
and they rushed to the assault like soldiers upon a breached wall.
Douglass, the next batter, hit a line single to right so hard that the
runner going from first was compelled to stop at second. Instead of
delaying and steadying himself while planning a system of defense,
Williams commenced pitching as rapidly as he could get the ball away
from his hand. Almost before the batter was in position he pitched a
fast ball straight over the plate and the batter bunted down toward
shortstop. McCarthy was racing upon the ball, ready to scoop it in
perfect position for a throw. Williams attempted to field the ball
which either M