one had any
word of praise for him, while several expressed their surprise over the
showing Hooker had made. Even Grant, whose friendly advance had been
met with churlish spleen, commended Hooker. Phil felt as if the very
ground was slipping from beneath his feet, and it made him sore and
sick at heart. He paid little attention to the talk of the fellows
while dressing, until of a sudden the words of Nelson caught his ear.

"Of course, you fellows have heard all about that Clearport-Wyndham
game? I had a talk to-day with a fellow who saw the whole of it.
Cracky! Clearport did come near pulling it out of the fire--actually
batted out a lead of one run in the first of the ninth. If Wyndham
hadn't come back in her half and made two tallies, she'd been stung."

"I hear," said Berlin Barker, "that Clearport pounded Wyndham's
wonderful new twirler off the slab."

"That's right," said Nelson. "They got at Newbert in the seventh and
gave him fits. The score was eight to two in favor of Wyndham when the
'Porters began connecting with Newbert's twists, and they hammered in
three earned runs before the shift was made. Twitt Crowell was sent in
to save the day, but if he hadn't had luck, they'd kept right on. It
was his backing that checked the stampede."

"The Clearporters always have been heavy batters," said Eliot. "If
they could play the rest of the game the way they bat, they'd be almost
sure to win the championship."

"The fellow we put up against them for Saturday will have to have his
nerve with him," grinned Cooper. "If he weakens, they'll murder him."

"Crowell got through the eighth all right," continued Nelson; "but in
the first of the ninth the 'Porters found him and bingled out four
runs. It looked as if they had the game tucked away; but Wyndham rose
to the emergency in the last half and got two, which let them out with
a victory."

"If Clearport can play like that away from home," observed Sleuth
Piper, "my deduction is that she will be a terror to beat on her own
field."

Springer, dressed, stowed his playing clothes in a locker and walked
out of the gymnasium unnoticed. This was the first time he had heard
the particulars concerning that game, although on Saturday the
surprising information had been telephoned to Oakdale that Wyndham had
been barely able to squeeze out a precarious victory on her own
grounds. As Eliot had stated, the Clearporters were batters to be
feared, and Phil was no