nd will have to stay there until we can
get together a gang of men and shovel her out. It won't be easy, for
it's snowing harder every minute, and Deep Rock Cut is one of the worst
places on the line for drifts. But no other train can run into the
stalled one, that's sure. The only thing is the steam may get low, and
the passengers will be cold, and hungry."

"Isn't there any way to prevent that?" asked Joe, anxiously.

"I s'pose the passengers could get out and try to reach some house or
hotel," resumed the railroad man, "but Deep Rock Cut is a pretty lonely
place, and there aren't many houses near it. The only thing I see to do
would be for someone to go there with a horse and sled, and rescue the
passengers, and that would be _some_ job, as there's quite a trainload
of them."

"Well, I'm going to try and get _my_ friends that way, anyhow!" cried
Joe. "I'll go to the rescue," and he set off for home through the storm
again, intending to hire a rig at a livery stable, and do what he could
to take Mabel and her brother from the train.

And, while Joe is thus making his preparations, I will tell my new
readers something about the previous books of this series, in which Joe
Matson, or "Baseball Joe," as he is called, has a prominent part.

The initial volume was called "Baseball Joe of the Silver Stars; Or, The
Rivals of Riverside," and began with my hero's career in the town of
Riverside. Joe joined the ball team there, and, after some hard work,
became one of the best amateur pitchers in that section of the country.
He did not have it all easy, though, and the fight was an uphill one.
But Joe made good, and his team came out ahead.

"Baseball Joe on the School Nine; Or, Pitching for the Blue Banner," the
second book in the series, saw our hero as the pitcher on a better
organized team than were the Silver Stars. Joe had taken a step forward.
He did not make the school nine without a struggle, for he had rivals,
and a strong effort was made to keep him out of the game.

But Joe proved his worth, and when a critical time came he pitched to
victory, thus defeating the plans of his enemies.

It was quite a step forward for Joe to go to Yale from Excelsior Hall,
where he had gotten his early education.

Naturally Joe wanted to play on the Yale team, but he had to wait some
time before his ambition was gratified. In "Baseball Joe at Yale; Or,
Pitching for the College Championship," I related how, after playing
durin