we'll see some real pitching," Sam sneered as he sulked away
to the bench.

Joe turned red, and was nervous as he took his place.

Perhaps if Joe had made a fizzle of it Willard might have forgiven him,
but Joe, after a few rather poor balls, tightened up and struck out
several men neatly, though they were not star batters.

"The Boy Wonder!" sneered Willard after the game. "Better order a cap a
couple of sizes larger for him after this, Roger," he went on to the
coach.

"Oh, dry up!" retorted Boswell, who had little liking for Willard.

And so the hard work went on. The men, whitened by the indoor life of
the winter, were beginning to take on a bronze tan. Muscles hardened and
become more springy. Running legs improved. The pitchers were sending in
swifter balls, Joe included. The fungo batters were sending up better
flies. The training work was telling.

CHAPTER XV

ANOTHER THREAT

"Play ball!"

"Batter up!"

"Clang! Clang!"

The old familiar cries, and the resonant sound of the starting gong,
were heard at the Reedville diamond. It was the first real game of the
season, and it was awaited anxiously, not only by the players, but by
Manager Watson, the coach, and by the owners back home. For it would
give a "line" on what St. Louis could do.

Of course it was not a league contest, and the work, good, bad or
indifferent, would not count in the averages. Joe hoped he would get a
chance to pitch, at least part of the game, but he was not likely to,
Boswell frankly told him, as it was desired to let Barter and Cooney
have a fairly hard work-out on this occasion.

"But your turn will come, son," said the coach, kindly. "Don't you fret.
I think you're improving, and, to be frank with you, there's lots of
room for it. But you've got grit, and that's what I like to see."

Reedville was a good baseball town, which was one of the reasons why
Manager Watson had selected it as his training camp. The townspeople
were ardent supporters of the home team, and they welcomed the advent of
the big leaguers. In the vicinity were also other teams that played good
ball.

The bleachers and grandstand were well filled when the umpire gave his
echoing cry of:

"Play ball!"

The ball-tossers had been warming up, both the Cardinals and the home
team, which proved to be a husky aggregation of lads, with tremendous
hitting abilities, provided they could connect with the ball. And that
was just what the St. Louis pit