a sickly grin.

Joe faced the next one. To his alarm the catcher signalled for a
fadeaway. Joe shook his head. He thought he could get away with a
straight, swift one.

But when the batter hit it Joe's heart was in his throat until he saw
that it was a foul. By a desperate run Russell caught it. Joe pitched
the next man out cleanly.

"That's the way to do it!"

"Joe, you're all right!"

"Now we'll begin to do something!"

Thus cried his teammates.

And from then on the Phillies were allowed but one more tally. This
could not be helped, for Joe was weakening, and could not control the
ball as well as at first. But the run came in as much through errors on
the part of his fellow players as from his own weakness.

Meanwhile the Cardinals struck a batting streak, and made good, bunching
their hits. The ending of the eighth inning saw the needed winning run
go up in the frame of the Cardinals, and then it was Joe's task to hold
the Phillies hitless in their half of the ninth.

How he did it he did not know afterward. His arm felt as though someone
were jabbing it with a knife. He gritted his teeth harder and harder,
and stuck it out. But oh! what a relief it was when the umpire, as the
third batter finished at the plate, called:

"You're out!"

The Cardinals had won! Joe's work for the day was finished. But at what
cost only he knew. Pure grit had pulled him through.

"Say, did you pitch with that arm?" asked Boswell in surprise as he saw
Joe under the shower in the clubhouse later.

"Well, I made a bluff at it," said Joe, grimly and gamely.

"Well, I'll be Charlie-horsed!" exclaimed the trainer. "Say, you won't
do any more pitching for a week! I've got to take you in hand."

Of course the story of Joe's grit got out, and the papers made much of
how he had pitched through nearly a full game, winning it, too, which
was more, with a badly hurt arm.

"But don't you take any such chances as that again!" cried Manager
Watson, half fiercely, when he heard about it. "I can't have my pitchers
running risks like that. Pitchers cost too much money!"

This was praise enough for Joe.

And so he had a much-needed rest. Under the care of Boswell the arm
healed rapidly, though, for some time, Joe was not allowed to take part
in any big games, for which he was sorry.

Whether it was the example of Joe's grit, or because they had improved
of late was not made manifest, but the Cardinals took three of the four
games