that----"

He stopped short, thinking that, even though he had not wagered his
money, his hatred for Rod Grant and his desire to see the fellow pitch
a losing game would be sufficient to keep him silent concerning the
betrayal of the signals. He sought to convince himself that, as he was
not concerned in that wretched piece of work, he was in no way
responsible. His rebellious conscience, however, kept prodding him
with the knowledge that he was "an accessory to the crime."

Again and again he longed to rise and shout a warning to Eliot--yearned
to tell him loudly, that all might hear, that Wyndham knew Oakdale's
signals. If he were to do such a thing as that--do it dramatically
before that great crowd--would it not serve to restore him to sudden
popularity with the fellows who now held him in contempt because of the
petty, peevish, jealous course he had pursued?

"I wish they'd ha-hammer Grant out," he muttered. "If they'd only do
that, I'd warn Eliot. Of course I wouldn't give it away that I knew
abub-bout the crookedness all the time, for that would queer me worse
than ever. I've got to kuk-keep that a dark secret, sure enough."

He wondered what explanation he could make if he should warn Eliot;
surely he would have to tell how he came to believe that Wyndham was
wise to the signals of her opponents. There seemed only one reasonable
story for him to put forward: he would be compelled to claim that he
had overheard some persons in the crowd telling each other that such
was the case.

And that would be a lie!

"I lied once on account of that fellow Grant, and got caught at it,"
thought Phil. "If I should tell Eliot now, Rackliff might---- But he
doesn't know that I know he gave our signals to Wyndham. Still, if I
come out publicly and warn Roger, Rackliff may get sore and blow around
that part of the money he bet on Wyndham belonged to me."

Thus, wavering, tortured and miserable, he followed the progress of the
game, realizing more and more as it went on that Oakdale had absolutely
no chance at all while the players of the other side could see and
understand every batting and base-running signal that was given.
Fighting against such odds without knowledge of the fact seemed to Phil
to be a most outrageous thing, and he pledged himself that, from this
day forward, he would have no more dealings with Rackliff.

As it was not necessary for the first batter in an inning to signal,
Wyndham could not "la