Joe nodded.
Once more the young pitcher threw and this time, though the batter swung desperately at it, not having moved his stick before, there came from the umpire the welcome cry of:
"Strike--one!"
Joe was beginning to make good.
I shall not weary you with a full account of the game. I have other, and more interesting contests to tell of as we proceed. Sufficient to say that while Joe did not "set the river afire," he did strike out three men that inning, after a two-bagger had been made. But Joe "tightened up," just in time to prevent a run coming in, and the score was still a tie when the last man was out.
In the next inning Pittston managed, by hard work, and a close decision on the part of the umpire, to add another run to their score. This put them one ahead, and the struggle now was to hold their opponents hitless. It devolved upon Joe to accomplish this.
And he did it.
Perhaps it was no great feat, as baseball history goes, but it meant much to him--a raw recruit in his first professional league, "bush"
though it was. Joe made good, and when he struck out the last man (one of the best hitters, too, by the way) there was an enthusiastic scene on that little ball field.
"Good, Joe! Good!" cried Jimmie Mack, and even the rather staid Mr.
Gregory condescended to smile and say:
"I thought you could do it!"
Collin, suffering from his turn-down, sulked on the bench, and growled:
"I'll show that young upstart! He can't come here and walk over me."
"He didn't walk over you--he pitched over you," said George Lee, the second baseman. "He pitched good ball."
"Bah! Just a fluke! If I hadn't strained my arm yesterday I'd have made this home team look like a sick cat!"
"Post-mortems are out of style," said Lee. "Be a sport! It's all in the game!"
"Um!" growled Collin, surlily.
The team played the game all over again at the hotel that night. Of course it was not much of a victory, close as it was, but it showed of what stuff the players were made, and it gave many, who were ignorant of Joe's abilities, an insight into what he could do.
"Well, what do you think of my find?" asked Jimmie Mack of his chief that night.
"All right, Jimmie! All right! I think we'll make a ball-player of him yet."
"So do I. And the blessed part of it is that he hasn't got a swelled head from his college work. That's the saving grace of it. Yes, I think Joe is due to arrive soon."
If Joe had heard this perhaps he would have resented it somewhat.
Surely, after having supplanted a veteran pitcher, even though of no great ability, and won his first professional game, Joe might have been excused for patting himself on the back, and feeling proud. And he did, too, in a sense.
But perhaps it was just as well he did not hear himself discussed.
Anyhow, he was up in his room writing home.
The next day was Sunday, and in the afternoon Joe went for a long walk. He asked several of the men to go with him, but they all made good-enough excuses, so Joe set off by himself.
It was a beautiful day, a little too warm, but then that was to be expected in the South, and Joe was dressed for it. As he walked along a country road he came to a parting of the ways; a weather-beaten sign-post informed him that one highway led to North Ford, while the other would take him to Goldsboro.
"Goldsboro; eh?" mused Joe. "That's where that 'R. V.' fellow lives, who thought I robbed his valise. I wonder if I'll ever meet him? I've a good notion to take a chance, and walk over that way. I can ask him if he found his stuff. Maybe it's risky, but I'm going to do it."
He set off at a swinging pace to limber up his muscles, thinking of many things, and wondering, if, after all, he was going to like professional baseball. Certainly he had started in as well as could be expected, save for the enmity of Collin.
Joe got out into the open country and breathed deeply of the sweet air.
The road swept along in a gentle curve, on one side being deep woods, while on the other was a rather steep descent to the valley below. In places the road approached close to the edge of a steep cliff.
As the young pitcher strode along he heard behind him the clatter of hoofs. It was a galloping horse, and the rattle of wheels told that the animal was drawing a carriage.
"Someone's in a hurry," mused Joe. "Going for a doctor, maybe."
A moment later he saw what he knew might at any moment become a tragedy.
A spirited horse, attached to a light carriage, dashed around a bend in the road, coming straight for Joe. And in the carriage was a young girl, whose fear-blanched face told that she realized her danger. A broken, dangling rein showed that she had tried in vain to stop the runaway.
Joe formed a sudden resolve. He knew something of horses, and had more than once stopped a frightened animal. He ran forward, intending to cut across the path of this one, and grasp the bridle.
But as the horse headed for him, and caught sight of the youth, it swerved to one side, and dashed across an intervening field, straight for the steep cliff.
"Look out!" cried Joe, as if that meant anything.
The girl screamed, and seemed about to jump.
"I've got to stop that horse!" gasped Joe, and he broke into a run. Then the uselessness of this came to him and he stopped.
At his feet were several large, round and smooth stones. Hardly knowing why he picked up one, just as the horse turned sideways to him.
"If I could only hit him on the head, and stun him so that he'd stop before he gets to the cliff!" thought Joe. "If I don't he'll go over sure as fate!"
The next instant he threw.
Straight and true went the stone, and struck the horse hard on the head.
The animal reared, then staggered. It tried to keep on, but the blow had been a disabling one. It tried to keep on its legs but they crumpled under the beast, and the next moment it went down in a heap, almost on the verge of the steep descent.
The carriage swerved and ran partly up on the prostrate animal, while the shock of the sudden stop threw the girl out on the soft grass, where she lay in a crumpled heap.
Joe sprinted forward.
"I hope I did the right thing, after all," he panted. "I hope she isn't killed!"
CHAPTER VII
THE GIRL