The Narrow House

d abruptly on his way to first, realizing that the double play sent Oakdale back to the field, and t

d hoarsely-"what do you mean by disobe

runs," returned the disobedient player defendingly. "Sacrifi

my instructions. Stone has been hitting Leach hard and safely, and, wit

tily, "but I played baseball before I

you'll have to obey me if you play on this team, and you may as well understand that at

oing this, however, and he walked onward toward third, shrugging his shoulders. His manner was so irritating to Nelson that for the moment, even though Osgood had shown himself to be the best ava

r the defensive work of the home team, which had prevented the Texan from advancing further. Boys and girls of Wy

s pigheaded action, and the Oakdale pitcher was somewhat

e somewhat taciturn catcher, as

Grant; "it was mulish f

their bench, where Leach, seeking for his bat, listened a

," said Baxter. "He's burning 'em over like bullets, and we'

ith a weirdly wild heave over Stone's head that would have counted

leachers; and, in an effort to rattle the pitch

ry and needed adjustment. The entire Oakdale team felt the tension of the moment, and Stone's subterfuge met their ap

n behind the pan and squatted to signal between his knees. Rod shook his

gainst leather, and an instant later Nelson, flinging himself to one side, reached for the grounder. It struck his gloved hand and car

e satisfaction of a player who, lacking whole-souled interest in his team, feels that his own bad work has been minimized by that of a teammate. In this ca

him. Turning, the captain made a signal, which caused Cooper to take his position on second.

e're both hot under the collar, and we'd better cool off a

h Osgood's head!"

n the game. Look out for a sacrifice now.

lay ball!" ho

said the um

er's unsteadiness by uproarious laughter and the repeate

e nod for Cooper to give Grant the ball. Like a flash Rodney shot it to first, and the l

then!" shouted Sprin

coacher, as Crispin squared himself in t

as so palpably a fake that the umpire behind the pitcher, who chanced to be an Oakdale man, refused to let him take first. Naturally, the other umpire, who was in charge of the bases, said nothing, but somehow his manner

e corner slightly below the batter's shoulders, and Crispin made a successful bunt that rolled a

lson's sharp cry to put it to first. It whistled

yndham umpire, with someth

the player a slap on the shoulder. "That was a beaut

the coaching line for Foxhall to hit the ball out;

e. Nevertheless, Foxhall swung uselessly only once. The second time he whipped his bat round he

and made a futile effort to get the hitter. The throw was a case of bad judgm

all, who should have been out, romped on to sec

he visitors from settling down, there was a legitimate excuse for the continued uproar of the home crowd. Although they well knew that Grant was little to blame for the turn of affairs, the Wyndham coachers w

en more chagrined and ashamed. His face

he captain, as calmly as he could. "We've got to stop thi

specially dangerous at this stage of the game, for the nervy Hebrew was one of those rare batters w

tone had seen Foxhall taking a dangerous lead off second and called for a pitch that would put him in easy position to throw. Nelson, awake to precisely what was transpiring between

hall might have been caught napping. As it was, he barely succeeded in sliding back to the sack, feet fir

ater Baxte

! Make him put 'em over n

xt one over, and Cohen, "playing the g

in!" cried Baxter.

d. Craftily Cohen fell back a step to one side, as if to give the catcher room to throw, but with the real purpose of bothering him as much as possible without bringing, by interference, a penalty upon the runner. Possibly this was the reason why Stone threw high, forcing Osgood to reach to the full length of his arms in order to g

Pelty from the coaching line back of third. "Great w

o one realized the danger better than Grant, and when he pitched again he made another clever effort to "pull" Cohen;

," came fro

, Cohen; he's afraid of

hitter, he had decided that such a piece of strategy would be ill advised. Taking into consideration the batter's ability to meet speed, Rod shook his head whe

gely upon his remarkable drop when a strike-out was needed. And so it happened that, seeing Rod decli

a tremendous smash. Away sailed the ball toward center field, some dista

ouch it!" w

rd, Pelty, defiant of coaching rules, spra

stop panted. "Get ready to run! You can

left foot with the right advanced, crouching, his hands clenched, his arms h

e proper moment and thrusting out his bare right hand.

s made Pelty shrieked, "Go," a

e, in spite of the strenuous and sensational one-handed catch in center field; a