A GAME AND A PLOT.
The second game with the Excelsiors, for the championship of Lakeport,
was now close at hand, and for several days the boys of the town talked
of nothing else. As before, opinions were about evenly divided as to
which club would win.
In place of Sidney Yates, Si Voup had obtained a player of more than
ordinary excellence, a boy named Kyle Fenton, who had lately moved to
Lakeport. Kyle was a fine batter and a splendid runner and Voup counted
on him to help the score a great deal.
The game brought forth a crowd fully equal to that which had witnessed
the first contest. As previously agreed, it was played on the
Lakeports' grounds and our young friends did all they could to make
the spot attractive. They had erected a flagpole and from this Old
Glory flapped bravely to the breeze, and the grand stand was likewise
decorated with flags.
The umpire on this occasion was an old player named Cameron. Although
Joe and his fellow members did not know it, Cameron was a personal
friend to Mr. Voup and bent on favoring Si and his club all he could.
This was a handicap which cost the Lakeports dearly.
The first two innings of the game were quickly over, with the score 1
to 0, in favor of the Excelsiors. The third inning brought a "goose
egg" for each club and the next inning did likewise.
"This is certainly a close game," said more than one.
"Looks now as if the Lakeports were going to be whitewashed."
"Well, the game is young yet."
As sometimes happens, things "broke loose" in the fifth and sixth
innings and the latter left the score, Excelsiors 6, Lakeports 4. In
the sixth inning Paul Shale scored a home run and Joe a three-base hit,
both of which performances brought forth a wild storm of applause. In
this inning the Excelsiors were given two runs by such a close decision
that Joe at once entered a protest and was backed up by Link, Fred and
some others.
"I don't want to listen!" growled the umpire.
"I do not consider those runs fair," said Joe. "One man cut third base
and the other did not touch the plate."
"It was all right," returned Cameron, stubbornly.
"If we have any more such work I shall either call for another umpire
or throw up the game," said Joe sharply. The decision was so unpopular
that the umpire was roundly hissed, while a few yelled to "Throw him
out!"
In the seventh inning Kyle Fenton made a home run and this was all the
scoring that was done up to the beginning of the ninth. The score board
now read: Excelsiors 7, Lakeports 4.
"This looks bad," said Fred, as the club went to the bat, "we have got
to make three runs to tie the score."
The first boy to the bat went out on a foul. The second, however, made
a safe hit to first, and this was followed by a "two-bagger" which
brought in one run. Then came another streak of luck, and when the
first half of the inning ended the score was tied.
"Now to shut them out," said more than one member of the Lakeports.
"I shall certainly do my best," returned Joe.
He pitched with extreme care, but Cameron was still favoring the other
nine and called several pitches balls when they should have been
strikes.
"That was a strike!" cried Joe finally.
"It was a ball--too high," growled the umpire.
"A strike! A strike!" yelled the crowd.
"Put the umpire off the field!"
"He has been favoring the Excelsiors right along!"
There was a sudden rush, and fearful of attack Cameron began to sneak
from the field. But Joe waved the crowd of angry boys back.
"Don't touch him," he said loudly. "We can handle this case."
"Well, stand up for your rights," came from a man in the crowd. "Make
them put in a new umpire."
Si Voup wanted to defend Cameron, but he saw that it would be useless
to attempt to do so. Nearly everybody was calling for his removal.
"I'll give it up!" called out Cameron. "Get another umpire. I'm sick of
it!" And he ran rather than walked from the field.
Another umpire was quickly chosen--a fellow known to be strictly fair.
Then the game went on and soon two players were out. But a runner
had got to third and the next boy to the bat was Kyle Fenton. Kyle
watched his chances and getting a ball about right rapped it smartly to
centerfield. This brought in the runner from third; and the game went
to the Excelsiors by a score of 8 to 7.
As soon as the last run came in the Excelsiors and their friends went
wild with excitement. But the general public took the result coldly,
for many felt that the game had not been fairly umpired by Cameron.
"The score should really be, Lakeports 7, Excelsiors 6," said Mr.
Monroe Corsen. "The umpiring was simply outrageous."
"Wait till we play the third of the series," answered Joe. "I'll
warrant that we'll have a fair and square umpire; somebody we know we
can trust."
Of course the Excelsiors insisted upon it that the game had been fairly
played. The only "kicker" was Kyle Fenton, the new member, who shortly
afterwards sent in his resignation.
"That crowd makes me sick," he declared to Harry. "When I play ball I
want to do it on the level."
"They have to thank you for two runs made," replied Harry.
"Humph! if I had known the sort of fellows they are I should never have
joined them."
Kyle wanted to join the Lakeports and was finally put on the list of
substitutes. As a substitute he played half a dozen games, and helped
the club along a great deal.
"But I can't let you play when we have that final game with the
Excelsiors," said Joe. "If I did and we happen to win, they would
throw it up to us that we had stolen one of their players."
"All right, I understand your position," came from Kyle. "Just the
same, I should like to play against them and give them a good drubbing."
The summer was now moving along swiftly. Each of the boys had more or
less work to do, and one week Joe and Harry had to help at the store,
their father being sick. During that time Fred took charge of the
club and played a game at a place called Ravenwood, winning by the
remarkable score of 22 to 11.
"I see you literally doubled up on the Ravenwoods," said Joe, when he
heard the news. "Kind of a two-for-one arrangement. I'm glad to hear
it."
"Those Ravenwood players were all good at the game," said Fred. "But
the team work was miserable--hardly one player supported another."
"That proves what I have often said, Fred. It's the team work that
counts. I think Si Voup has some good players, but just when you think
they are going to get together and do something big they go to pieces."
"Si is bragging that he will surely win that third game," came from
Link, who chanced to be present.
"Maybe he'll want the umpire to win it for him," put in Matt. "We don't
want to play against ten men again."
There was a good deal of wrangling over the question of an umpire. Voup
wanted one man and Joe wanted another. At last the matter was left to
several well-known gentlemen and they procured a man from the city
named Cabot, who had often umpired at college games. Cabot was the soul
of honor and knew every rule and every trick of the game by heart.
During the summer Si Voup and several of his cohorts had grown
remarkably sporty. They attended a number of horse races and frequently
made bets on the results. Whenever he could get away from the mill
Sidney Yates went with the crowd.
At one of these race meetings Voup ran across Dan Marcy. For a long
time Marcy had kept away from Lakeport, fearful that he might be
arrested for the stealing of the _Sprite_. To those whom he met he
indignantly denied that he had had anything to do with the taking of
the sloop.
"I'll go down to Lakeport and show 'em some day that I am honest and
that they can't blacken my character in this manner," he growled.
He had seen Joe, Fred and Bart on the day that the boys discovered the
sloop hidden in the creek, and he felt certain that the three boys were
responsible for the report circulated about him. It may be added here
that he was guilty, but he intended to do his best to squirm out of it.
"Betting on the races, eh?" said Si Voup to Marcy when they met.
"Oh, a little. I just won ten dollars."
"You are in luck. I just dropped five."
"Let me give you a tip," went on Dan Marcy. He knew Si well and knew
exactly how to handle the youth. The "tip" was accepted, and by luck Si
won two dollars on it. This made the pair more friendly than ever and
quite a conversation ensued, regarding affairs at Lakeport, and the
doings of the two baseball clubs.
"You could win a lot of money on that next baseball game if you wanted
to," said Dan Marcy.
"How?"
"By betting on your club and then winning. Now don't think I said that
for a joke. I mean, make it a dead sure thing that you will win."
"Yes, but how can we make it a dead sure thing?" questioned Si, with
interest.
"Oh, there are several ways to do that."
"I'd like to know just one way."
"I'd let you into the secret if I felt sure I could trust you," went on
Dan Marcy, in a lower tone.
Si Voup stared at him for a moment. He understood what sort of a
character the former bully of Lakeport was, and felt that the secret
must be of a shady nature. Yet he was anxious to win, and the prospect
of making money by it appealed to him strongly.
"You can trust me, Dan. I never blab things I hear."
"Over to Springfield the Rocket Club once won a game by doctoring the
drinking water the other club used. The stuff in the water made the
players dizzy so they couldn't catch the ball for a cent."
"What did they put into the water?"
"I don't know. But I guess a druggist could tell you."
"I shouldn't care to try it. In the first place it would be hard to get
at the water they use and in the second place a fellow might run the
risk of poisoning one of them," went on Si, who was a coward at heart.
"Well, there's another plan, a good deal better," went on Dan Marcy.
"If you mean business, I'll go into it with you."
"Then let me hear the plan," answered Si. "I certainly want to win that
game, if not in one way then in another."
Half an hour later Dan Marcy had unfolded his plot in all of
its details. It pleased Si Voup and he agreed to take it under
consideration and let the former bully of Lakeport know what he would
do about it in a few days.