TO THE RESCUE
Joe Matson looked so worried at the information imparted by the station
master that the latter asked him:
"Any particular friends of yours on that train?"
"Very particular," declared the young ball player. "And I hope no harm
comes to them."
"Well, I don't know as any great harm will come," went on the station
master. "The train's snowed in, and 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
during his freshman year on the class team, Joe was picked as one of the
pitchers for the varsity.
Then, indeed, he was proud and happy, but he knew it would not be as
easy as it had been at Excelsior Hall. Every step upward meant harder
work, but Joe welcomed the chance.
And when finally the deciding game came--the one with Princeton at the
Polo Grounds, New York--Joe had the proud distinction of pitching for
Yale--and he pitched to victory.
Joe's ambition, ever since he had taken an interest in baseball, had
been to become a professional player. His mother had hoped that he
would become a minister, or enter one of the more learned professions,
but, though Joe disappointed her hopes, there was some compensation.
"Better let the boy have his own way," Mr. Matson had said. "I would
rather see him a good ball player than a half-rate lawyer, or doctor;
and, after all, there is good money to be made on the diamond."
So, when Joe received an offer from the manager of one of the minor
league professional teams, he took it. In "Baseball Joe in the Central
League; Or, Making Good as a Professional Pitcher," the fourth volume of
the series, I related Joe's experiences when he got his start in
organized baseball. How he was instrumental in bringing back on the
right path a player who had gone wrong, and how he fought to the last,
until his team won the pennant--all that you will find set down in the
book.
I might add that Joe lived with his father, mother, and sister in the
town of Riverside, where Mr. Matson was employed in the Royal Harvester
Works, being an able inventor.
Joe had many friends in town, one in particular being Tom Davis, who had
gone to Excelsior Hall with him. Of late, however, Joe had not seen so
much of Tom, their occupations pursuing divergent paths.
It was while Joe was on his way to join the Pittston team, of the
Central League, that he made the acquaintance of Reggie Varley, a rich,
and somewhat dudish, young man; and the acquaintance was made in an odd
manner. For Reggie practically accused Joe of knowing something of some
jewelry that was missing from a valise.
Of course Joe did not take it, but for some time the theft remained
quite a mystery, until Joe solved the secret. From then on he and Reggie
were good friends, and Reggie's sister Mabel and Joe were----
Oh, well, what's the use of telling on a fellow? You wouldn't like it
yourself; would you?
The baseball season came to an end, and the Pittston team covered itself
with glory, partly due to Joe's good pitching. Cold weather set in, and
the players took themselves to their various Winter occupations, or
pleasures. Joe went home, to wait until the training season should open,
in preparation for league games on the velvety, green diamonds.
Several weeks of inaction had passed, the holidays were over, Winter had
set in with all earnestness, and now we find Joe hurrying along, intent
on the rescue of Reggie and his sister from the snow-stalled train.
"I hope they will not freeze before I get to them," thought Joe, as he
staggered through the blinding snow. "They can't, though, for there'll
be sure to be steam for some hours yet. I guess I'll stop home, and get
something to eat for them, and a bottle of coffee. I'll put it in one of
those vacuum flasks, and it will keep hot."
So intent was Joe on his rescue that, for the time, he gave no more
thought to the matter of joining the St. Louis nine, important as that
matter was to him.
"I'd better get a team of horses, and a light sled," he mused, as he
turned in the direction of the livery stable. "There will be some heavy
going between here and Deep Rock Cut, and I'll need a good team to pull
through."
A little later he was leaving his order with the proprietor.
"I'll fix you up, Joe," said the stable boss, who was a baseball "fan,"
and a great admirer of our hero. "I'll give you the best team in the
place, and they'll get you through, if any horses can. I expect I'll
have other calls, if, as you say, the train is stalled, for there'll
likely be other folks in town who have friends aboard her. But you've
got the first call, and I'm glad of it."
"I'll be back in a little while," called Joe, as he hurried off. "I'm
going around to my house to put up some lunch and coffee."
"Good idea! I'll have everything ready for you when you come back."
On Joe hurried once more, through the swirl of white flakes that cut
into his face, blown on the wings of a bitter wind. He bent his head to
the blast, and buttoned his overcoat more closely about him, as he
fought his way through the drifts.
It had been snowing since early morning, and there were no signs to
indicate that the storm was going to stop. It was growing colder, too,
and the wind seemed to increase in violence each hour. Though it was
only a little after one o'clock in the afternoon, it was unusually dark,
and Joe realized that night would soon be at hand, hastened by the
clouds overhead.
"But the snow will make it light enough to see, I guess," reasoned Joe.
"I hope I can keep to the road. It wouldn't be much of a joke to get
Reggie and Mabel out of the train, into the comfortable sled, and then
lose them on the way home."
Quickly explaining to his mother and sister his plan of going for the
two friends in the stalled train, Joe hastily put up some sandwiches,
while Clara made coffee and poured it into the vacuum bottle.
"Perhaps you'd better bring them here, Joe, instead of taking them to
the hotel," suggested his mother. "Mabel will be wet and cold, perhaps,
and I could make her more comfortable here than she would be at the
hotel. We have room enough."
"She can share my room," proposed Clara.
"That's good of you," and Joe flashed a grateful look at his sister. "I
hope you will like Mabel," he added, softly.
"I guess I will; if you do," laughed Clara.
"Well, I sure do," and Joe smiled.
Then, with a big scarf to wrap about his neck, and carrying the basket
of food and coffee, Joe set out for the livery stable, to start to the
rescue.