THE WINNING THROW--CONCLUSION
For a moment Tom stood there a bit embarrassed, for he saw that
something unusual had happened.
"I--I hope I'm not intruding," he stammered. "I didn't think--I came
right in as I always do. Has anything----"
"It's all right!" exclaimed Joe quickly. "We just got word that dad has
lost his patent case."
"Gee! That's too bad!" exclaimed Tom, who knew something of the affair.
"What are you going to do?"
"I'm going to pitch against the Resolutes, the first thing I do!" cried
Joe. "After that I'll decide what's next. But is my glove mended, Clara?
Come on, Tom, we mustn't be late. We're going to wallop them--just as
you said."
"I hope you do!" burst out Clara.
"Play a good game and--and--don't worry," whispered Mrs. Matson to her
son as he kissed her good-bye.
The team and substitutes were to go to Rocky Ford in two big stages, in
time to get in some practice on the grounds that were none too familiar
to them. A crowd of Silver Star "rooters" were to follow on the trolley.
The captain and managers of the rival teams watched their opponents
practice with sharp eyes.
"They're snappier than when they beat us before," was Darrell's
conclusion.
"They've got a heap sight better pitcher in Joe than Sam Morton ever
was," concluded Captain Hen Littell of the Resolutes, who twirled for
his team. "I shouldn't wonder but what we'd have a mighty close game."
The last practice was over. The scattered balls had been collected, the
batting list made out and final details arranged. Once more came the
thrilling cry of the umpire:
"Play ball!"
The Resolutes were to bat last, and Seth Potter went up to bat first for
the Stars.
"Swat it," pleaded the crowd, and Seth smiled. But he fanned the air
successively as well as successfully and soon went back to the bench.
Then came Fred Newton's turn and he knocked a little pop fly that was
easily caught before he reached first. Captain Rankin himself was up
next and managed to get to first on a swift grounder that got past the
shortstop. But he died on second, for the next man up fanned. No runs
for the Stars.
The Resolutes were jubilant, thinking this augured well for them, but
they looked a little blank when Joe retired their first two men hitless.
For Joe had started off in good form. With the first ball he delivered
he knew that he was master of the horsehide--at least for a time.
"But oh! I hope I don't slump!" and he almost found himself praying that
such a thing would not happen.
He was in an agony of fear when he heard the crack of the bat on the
ball when the third man came up. The spheroid went shooting off in
centre field, but by a magnificent stop Percy Parnell gathered it in and
the side was retired runless. Things were not so bad for the Stars.
For the next two innings neither side got a run, though there were some
scattered hits. Again was there talk of a pitchers' battle, though in
the strict sense of the word this was not so, as both Joe and Hen
Littell were hit occasionally, and for what would have been runs only
for the efficient fielding on both sides.
"See if we can't do something this inning!" pleaded Rankin when his side
came up in their half of the fourth. The lads all tried hard and Joe
knocked a pretty one that was muffed by the second baseman. However, he
quickly picked it up and hurled it to first. Joe got there about the
same time as the ball did, and to many he seemed safe, but he was called
out.
"Aw, that's rotten!" cried Tom Davis.
"Let it go!" said Darrell sharply, and Tom subsided.
The Stars got another goose egg--four straight--and in their half of the
fourth the Resolutes got their first run. The crowd went wild and Joe
found himself clenching his hands, for the run came in because he had
given a man his base on balls. The runner had successively stolen second
and third, and went home on a nice fly.
"I hope I'm not going to slump!" thought Joe and there was a lump in his
throat. For an instant he found himself thinking of his father's
troubles, and then he firmly dismissed them from his mind. "I've got to
pitch!" he told himself fiercely.
"We've got him going!" chanted the Resolute "rooters." Joe shut his
teeth grimly and struck out the next man. Then he nipped the runner
stealing second and threw him out with lightning speed. That somewhat
silenced the jubilant cries and when Joe managed to retire one of the
Resolute's heaviest hitters without even a bunt a big crowd rose up and
cheered him.
"They're only one ahead," said Rankin as his lads came in to bat. "Let's
double it now."
And double it they did, the Star boys playing like mad and getting
enough hits off Littell to make two runs.
"That's the way to wallop 'em!" sang some one in the visiting crowd and
the song composed for the occasion was rendered with vim.
Desperately as the Resolutes tried in their half of the fifth to catch
up to their rivals, they could not do it. Joe was at his best and in
that half inning did not allow a hit. He had almost perfect control, and
his speed was good. Only once or twice did he pitch at all wild and then
it did no harm as there was no one on base.
The sixth inning saw a run chalked up for each team, making the score
three to two in favor of the Stars.
"Oh, if we can only keep this up!" exclaimed Darrell, "we'll have them.
Can you do it, Joe?"
"I guess so--yes, I can!" he said with conviction.
Then came the lucky seventh, in which the Stars pounded out three runs,
setting the big crowd wild with joy, and casting corresponding gloom
over the cohorts of the Resolutes. The Stars now had six runs and their
rivals were desperate. They even adopted unfair tactics, and several
decisions of the umpire were manifestly in their favor. The crowd hooted
and yelled, but the young fellow who was calling strikes and balls held
to his opinion, and the Resolutes closed their half of the seventh with
two runs.
"Six to four in our favor," murmured the Stars' manager. "If we can only
keep this lead the game is ours."
"That word 'if' is a big one for only two letters," spoke Captain Rankin
grimly. "But maybe we can."
Neither side scored in the eighth and then came the final trial of the
Stars unless there should be a tie, which would necessitate ten innings.
Joe was to the bat in this inning, and oh! how hard he tried for a run!
He knocked a two bagger and stole third. There was one out when Bart
Ferguson came up, and Bart was a heavy hitter. But somehow he did not
make good this time. He managed to connect with the ball, however, and
as soon as Joe heard the crack he started for home.
But there was brilliant playing on the part of the Resolutes. With a
quick throw to home the shortstop nipped Joe at the plate, and then the
catcher, hurling the ball to first, got the horsehide into the baseman's
hands before Bart arrived. It was a pretty double play and retired the
Stars with a goose egg.
Still they had a lead of two runs and they might be able to hold their
rivals down. It was a critical point in the game. As Joe took his place
and faced the batter he felt his heart wildly throbbing. He knew he must
hold himself well in hand or he would go to pieces. The crowd of
Resolute sympathizers was hooting and yelling at him. Darrell saw how
things might go and ran out to the pitcher.
"Hold hard!" he whispered. "Just take it easy. Pitch a few balls to Bart
and your nerve will come back. We've _got_ to win."
"And we will!" exclaimed Joe. The delivery of a few balls, while the
batter stepped away from the plate, showed Joe that he still had his
speed and control. He was going to be wary what kind of curves he
delivered.
He struck out the first man up with an ease that at first caused him
wild elation, and then he calmed himself.
"There are two more," he reasoned. "I've got to get two more--two
more."
He was almost in despair when he was hit for a two bagger by the next
player, and he was in a nervous perspiration about the man stealing to
third. Then Darrell signalled him to play for the batter, and Joe did,
getting him out with an easy fly.
Then there was a mix-up when the next man hit, and by an error of the
left fielder the man on second, who had stolen to third, went home with
a run, while the man who had brought him in got to the last bag.
"That's the stuff!" yelled the crowd. "Now one more to make it a tie and
another to win!"
"Steady, boys! Steady!" called Darrell, as he saw his team on the verge
of a breakdown. "We can beat 'em!"
There were now two out, one run was in, a man was on third and a heavy
batter was up--one of the best of the Resolutes.
"Swat it, Armstrong! Swat it!" cried the crowd, and the big left fielder
smiled confidently.
"Ball one!" cried the umpire, after Joe's first delivery.
There was a gasp of protest from Bart behind the plate, for the sphere
had come over cleanly. Darrell signalled to the catcher to make no
protest. Joe felt a wave of anger, but he endeavored to keep cool. But
when the second ball was called on him he wanted to run up and thrash
the umpire. The latter was grinning derisively.
"Here's a strike!" cried Joe, in desperation and he was gratified when
Armstrong struck at it and missed.
"Why didn't you call that a ball?" asked Bart of the umpire. The latter
did not answer.
Another ball was called and then a strike. Now came the supreme moment.
Two men out, a man on third waiting to rush in with the tieing run, a
heavy hitter at bat and three balls and two strikes called on him. No
wonder Joe's hand trembled a little.
"Easy, old man!" called Darrell to him. "You can make him fan."
Joe thought rapidly. He had studied the batter and he thought that by
delivering a swift in-shoot he could fool Armstrong. It was his last
chance, for another ball meant that the batter would walk, and there was
even a better stick-man to follow.
Joe wound up, and sent in a swift one. His heart was fluttering, he
could hardly see, there was a roaring in his ears. And then he dimly saw
Armstrong strike at the ball desperately. Almost at the same moment Joe
knew he would miss it.
The ball landed in the centre of Bart's big glove with a resounding
whack. He held it exactly where he had caught it. Joe had delivered the
winning throw.
"Strike three--batter's out!" howled the umpire, and then his voice was
drowned in a yell of joy from the sympathizers of the Stars.
For their team had won! The Resolutes were retired with but one run in
the ninth and the final score was five to six in favor of our friends.
They had beaten their old rivals on their own grounds and they had won
the county championship!
"Great work, old man! Great!" yelled Darrell in Joe's ear. "You saved
the day for us."
"Nonsense!" exclaimed Joe modestly.
"Three cheers for Baseball Joe!" yelled Tom Davis, and how those cheers
did ring out.
"Three cheers for the Stars--they beat us fair and square!" called
Captain Littell, and this was quite a different ending than that which
had marked the previous game.
Some wanted to carry Joe around on their shoulders but he slipped away,
and got off his uniform. Soon the team was on its way back to Riverside.
"You ought to be in a bigger team," Darrell told Joe. "You've got the
making of a great pitcher in you."
"Well, I guess I'll have to stick around here for a while yet," replied
our hero, as he thought of the fallen finances of his father. Never in
all his life had he so longed for the chance to go to boarding school,
and thence to college. But he knew it could not be, chiefly through the
treachery of Benjamin and Holdney. Joe felt a wave of resentment against
them sweep over him, and his thoughts were black and bitter.
Tom walked as far as Joe's street with him. He had a silent sympathy
that spoke more than mere words could have done.
"So long," he said softly as they parted. "It was a great game, Joe, and
I'm almost glad you've got to stay with the Stars."
"Well, did you win?" asked his mother, as Joe entered the house--entered
it more listlessly than winning a big game would seem to warrant. "Did
you beat the Resolutes, Joe?"
"Yes, we did--why, mother, what's the matter?" cried the young pitcher,
for there was a look of joy and happiness on her face, a look entirely
different than when he had left her after the bad news. "Has
anything--anything good happened?" he asked.
"Yes!" she exclaimed, "there has. I just had another telegram from your
father. Everything is all right. He gets back his patents."
"No!" cried Joe, as if unable to believe the news.
"But I tell you yes!" repeated Mrs. Matson, and there was joy in her
voice. "At first your father believed that all was lost, just as he
wired us. Then, most unexpectedly he tells me, they were able to obtain
some evidence from outside parties which they had long tried for in
vain.
"It seems that a witness for Mr. Benjamin and his side, on whom they
very much depended, deserted them, and went over to your father and his
lawyer, and----"
"Hurray for that witness, whoever he was!" cried Joe.
"Be quiet," begged Clara, "and let mother tell."
"There isn't much to tell," went on Mrs. Matson. "With the unexpected
evidence of this witness your father's lawyer won the case, almost at
the last moment. In fact your father had given up, and was about ready
to leave the court when the man sent in word that he would testify for
them. That was after your father sent the telegram that came just before
you went off to the game, Joe."
"Oh, I'm so glad!" cried Clara.
"Now it's your turn to be quiet and listen," admonished Joe, with a
smile at his sister.
"I have about finished," went on their mother. "The judge decided in
your father's favor, and he doesn't even have to share the profits of
the invention with the harvester company or with Mr. Rufus Holdney, as
he at one time thought he would, for they have violated their contract.
So we won't be poor, after all, children. Aren't you glad?"
"You bet!" exploded Joe, throwing his arms around his mother's neck.
"And we won't have to leave this nice house," added Clara, looking
around the comfortable abode.
"Then I can go to boarding school--and pitch on the school nine; can't I
mother?" cried Joe, throwing his arms around her.
"Oh, yes; I suppose so," she answered, with half a sigh. "But I do wish
you'd do something else besides play baseball."
"Something else besides baseball, mother! Why, there's nothing to be
compared to it. Hurray! I'm going to boarding school! I'm going to
boarding school!" and Joe, catching Clara around the waist, waltzed her
around the room. Then he caught his mother on his other arm--the arm
that won the victory for the Stars that day--and her, too, he whirled
about until she cried for mercy.
"Oh, but this is great!" Joe cried when he stopped for breath. "Simply
great! I must go and tell Tom. Maybe he can go to boarding school with
me."
And whether Tom did or not, and what were our hero's further fortunes on
the diamond, will be related in the next volume, to be called: "Baseball
Joe on the School Nine; or, Pitching for the Blue Banner."
There was an impromptu feast that night for the victorious Silver Stars
and Joe was the hero of the occasion. He was toasted again and again,
and called upon to make some remarks, which he did in great confusion.
But his chums thought it the best speech they had ever heard.
"Three cheers for Baseball Joe!" called Tom Davis, and the room rang
with them, while Joe tried to hide his blushes by drinking glass after
glass of lemonade.
And now, for a time, we will take leave of him, crying as his chums did
after the great victory on the diamond: "Hurrah for Baseball Joe!"
THE END
_Dear Reader_:
If you enjoyed Baseball Joe and wish to follow his further
adventures see the books listed on the following page.
THE BASEBALL JOE SERIES
By LESTER CHADWICK
_12mo. Illustrated. Price 50 cents per volume. Postage 10 cents
additional._
[Illustration]
1. BASEBALL JOE OF THE SILVER STARS
_or The Rivals of Riverside_
2. BASEBALL JOE ON THE SCHOOL NINE
_or Pitching for the Blue Banner_
3. BASEBALL JOE AT YALE
_or Pitching for the College Championship_
4. BASEBALL JOE IN THE CENTRAL LEAGUE
_or Making Good as a Professional Pitcher_
5. BASEBALL JOE IN THE BIG LEAGUE
_or A Young Pitcher's Hardest Struggles_
6. BASEBALL JOE ON THE GIANTS
_or Making Good as a Twirler in the Metropolis_
7. BASEBALL JOE IN THE WORLD SERIES
_or Pitching for the Championship_
8. BASEBALL JOE AROUND THE WORLD
_or Pitching on a Grand Tour_
9. BASEBALL JOE: HOME RUN KING
_or The Greatest Pitcher and Batter on Record_
10. BASEBALL JOE SAVING THE LEAGUE
_or Breaking Up a Great Conspiracy_
11. BASEBALL JOE CAPTAIN OF THE TEAM
_or Bitter Struggles on the Diamond_
12. BASEBALL JOE CHAMPION OF THE LEAGUE
_or The Record that was Worth While_
13. BASEBALL JOE CLUB OWNER
_or Putting the Home Town on the Map_
14. BASEBALL JOE PITCHING WIZARD
_or Triumphs Off and On the Diamond_
_Send for Our Free Illustrated Catalogue._
CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY, Publishers New York
THE BOMBA BOOKS
By ROY ROCKWOOD
_12mo. Cloth. Illustrated. With Colored jacket._
_Price 50 cents per volume. Postage 10 cents additional._
[Illustration]
_Bomba lived far back in the jungles of the Amazon with a half-demented
naturalist who told the lad nothing of his past. The jungle boy was a
lover of birds, and hunted animals with a bow and arrow and his trusty
machete. He had only a primitive education, and his daring adventures
will be followed with breathless interest by thousands._
1. BOMBA THE JUNGLE BOY
2. BOMBA THE JUNGLE BOY AT THE MOVING MOUNTAIN
3. BOMBA THE JUNGLE BOY AT THE GIANT CATARACT
4. BOMBA THE JUNGLE BOY ON JAGUAR ISLAND
5. BOMBA THE JUNGLE BOY IN THE ABANDONED CITY
6. BOMBA THE JUNGLE BOY ON TERROR TRAIL
7. BOMBA THE JUNGLE BOY IN THE SWAMP OF DEATH
8. BOMBA THE JUNGLE BOY AMONG THE SLAVES
9. BOMBA THE JUNGLE BOY ON THE UNDERGROUND RIVER
10. BOMBA THE JUNGLE BOY AND THE LOST EXPLORERS
11. BOMBA THE JUNGLE BOY IN A STRANGE LAND
12. BOMBA THE JUNGLE BOY AMONG THE PYGMIES
13. BOMBA THE JUNGLE BOY AND THE CANNIBALS
14. BOMBA THE JUNGLE BOY AND THE PAINTED HUNTERS
15. BOMBA THE JUNGLE BOY AND THE RIVER DEMONS
16. BOMBA THE JUNGLE BOY AND THE HOSTILE CHIEFTAIN
These books may be purchased wherever books are sold
_Send for Our Free Illustrated Catalogue_
CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY, Publishers New York
CHAMPION SPORTS STORIES
By NOEL SAINSBURY, JR.
[Illustration]
_Every boy enjoys sport stories. Here we present three crackerjack
stories of baseball, football, and basketball, written in the vernacular
of the boy of to-day, full of action, suspense and thrills, in language
every boy will understand, and which we know will be enthusiastically
endorsed by all boys._
_Large 12mo. Cloth. Illustrated. Jacket in color. Price 50 cents per
volume._
_Postage 10 cents additional._
1. CRACKER STANTON
_Or The Making of a Batsman_
Ralph Stanton, big, rawboned and serious, is a product of the backwoods
and a crack rifle shot. Quick thinking and pluck bring him a scholarship
to Clarkville School where he is branded "grind" and "dub" by
classmates. How his batting brings them first place in the League and
how he secures his appointment to West Point make CRACKER STANTON an
up-to-the-minute baseball story no lover of the game will want to put
down until the last word is read.
2. GRIDIRON GRIT
_Or The Making of a Fullback_
A corking story of football packed full of exciting action and good,
clean competitive rivalry. Shorty Fiske is six-foot-four and the product
of too much money and indulgence at home. How Clarkville School and
football develop Shorty's real character and how he eventually stars on
the gridiron brings this thrilling tale of school life and football to a
grandstand finish.
3. THE FIGHTING FIVE
_Or the Kidnapping of Clarkville's Basketball Team_
Clarkville School's basketball team is kidnapped during the game for the
State Scholastic Championship. The team's subsequent adventures under
the leadership of Captain Charlie Minor as he brings them back to the
State College Gymnasium where the two last quarters of the Championship
game are played next evening, climaxes twenty-four pulsating hours of
adventure and basketball in the FIGHTING FIVE....
CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY, Publishers New York
SORAK JUNGLE SERIES
By HARVEY D. RICHARDS
_The name Sorak means War Cry in the Malay country. He grows up among
the most primitive of the Malay aborigines, and learns to combat all
the terrors of the jungle with safety. The constant battle with
nature's forces develop Sorak's abilities to such an extent that he is
acknowledged the chief warrior in all his section of the jungle._
_12mo. Cloth. Illustrated. Jacket in color. Price 50 cents per volume._
_Postage 10 cents additional._
[Illustration]
1. SORAK OF THE MALAY JUNGLE
_or How Two Young Americans Face Death and Win a Friend_
Two boys, Dick and Jack Preston are shipwrecked off the Malay Peninsula
and are rescued by Sorak. Their adventures in trying to get back to
civilization make an absorbing story.
2. SORAK AND THE CLOUDED TIGER
_or How the Terrible Ruler of the North Is Hunted and Destroyed_
A huge clouded tiger, almost human, leads a pack of red dholes into
Sorak's country, and it takes all of Sorak's ingenuity, and the aid of
his friends to exterminate the pack.
3. SORAK AND THE SULTAN'S ANKUS
_or How a Perilous Journey Leads to a Kingdom of Giants_
Sorak and his friends are trapped by a herd of elephants, and finally
run away with by the leader to an unknown valley where a remnant of
Cro-Magnon race still exists. Their exciting adventures will hold the
reader enthralled until the last word.
4. SORAK AND THE TREE-MEN
_or the Rescue of the Prisoner Queen_
Captured by a band of Malay slavers, Sorak and his friends are wrecked
on an island off the coast of Burma in the Mergui Archipelago. Their
escape from the island with the Prisoner Queen after a successful
revolution brings the fourth book of this series to an exciting and
unusual conclusion.
CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY, Publishers New York
TOP NOTCH DETECTIVE STORIES
By WILLIAM HALL
[Illustration]
_Each story complete in itself_
_A new group of detective stories carefully written, with corking plots;
modern, exciting, full of adventure, good police and detective work._
_Large 12mo. Cloth. Illustrated. Jacket in color. Price 50 cents per
volume._
_Postage 10 cents additional._
1. SLOW VENGEANCE
_or the Mystery of Pete Shine_
A young newspaper man, whose brother is on the police force, becomes
strangely involved in the mysterious killing of an Italian bootblack.
Suspicion points to a well-known politician but he proves that it was
impossible for him to have done the deed. Then the reporter, who for a
time turns detective, gets a clue revolving about a startling, ancient
method of combat. He follows this up, watches a masked duelist and, with
the help of a girl, catches the murderer who justifies his deed on the
plea of Slow Vengeance. You will be interested in reading how the
reporter got out of a tight corner.
2. GREEN FIRE
_or Mystery of the Indian Diamond_
A golf caddy who has a leaning toward amateur detective work, together
with his younger cousin, are accidentally mixed up in the strange loss,
or theft, of a valuable diamond, known as Green Fire. It was once the
eye of an East Indian idol. To clear his young cousin of suspicion, the
older boy undertakes to solve the mystery which deepens when one man
disappears and another is found murdered on the golf course. But, by a
series of clever moves on the part of the young sleuth, the crime is
solved and the diamond found in a most unusual hiding place. A rapidly
moving, exciting tale. You will like it.
3. HIDDEN DANGER
_or The Secret of the Bank Vault_
A young detective, who, in his private capacity, has solved several
mysteries, decides to open an office in another city. He meets a young
bank clerk and they become partners just when the clerk's bank is
mysteriously bombed and the cashier is reported missing. It is not until
next day that it is discovered that the bank vault has been entered in
some secret manner and a large sum stolen. The regular detectives
declared "spirits" must have robbed the bank but the two young
detectives prove that a clever gang did it and also kidnapped the aged
cashier. Not a dull page from first to last. A clever story.
CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY, Publishers New York
NORTHWEST STORIES
By LeROY W. SNELL
[Illustration]
_A new group of stories laid in the Canadian Northwest by Mr. Snell, a
master writer of the glories and the thrilling adventures of the
Canadian Northwest Mounted Police. Each book is an individual story,
well written, beautifully bound, and contains a story that all boys will
enjoy._
_Large 12mo. Cloth. Illustrated. Jacket in color. Price 50 cents per
volume._
_Postage 10 cents additional._
1. THE LEAD DISK
Tom Baley, leaving college goes north into Canada, hoping to join the
Northwest Mounted Police. His application is turned down by his own
uncle, an officer on the force, but after many thrilling adventures and
encounters with the Disk Gang he is able to win the coveted uniform.
2. SHADOW PATROL
Luke Myers is sent into the Caribou Mountains to solve the mystery of
The Shadow, about whom many conflicting stories are told. There are
struggles with the outlaws, and finally a great running battle down the
fog-obscured mountain trails ... at the end of which the outlaws are
captured and the mystery of The Shadow is solved.
3. THE WOLF CRY
Donald Pierce is sent to solve the mystery of his father's disappearance,
into the unmapped barrens where King Stively weaves his web of
wickedness, and rules a territory the size of a small empire with a
ruthlessness and cunning that baffles the best of the Mounted Police.
Behind all is the dread Wolf Cry which causes brave men to shudder....
4. THE SPELL OF THE NORTH
Sergeant David Stanlaw, stationed at Spirit River, is puzzled by a local
killing, the disappearance of the body, the finding of a code message,
and by the mystery of the "Listening Forest," which casts a shadow of
dread over the little town of Wiggin's Creek. With the help of Jerry
Bartlett they capture the leaders of the gang and solve the mystery of
the "Listening Forest."
5. THE CHALLENGE OF THE YUKON
Robert Wade whose patrol runs from Skagway on Chattam Strait north into
the Yukon country follows in the wake of a stampede to a new gold
strike. With the aid of his friend, Jim MacPhail, Wade frustrates the
outlaws, who try to trap the whole town behind the "Pass of the Closing
Door," and then races them to and across the breaking ice floes of the
Yukon. A strong adventure story all boys will enjoy.
CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY, Publishers New York
Transcriber's Notes:
--Text in italics is enclosed by underscores (_italics_).
--Punctuation and spelling inaccuracies were silently corrected.
--Archaic and variable spelling has been preserved.
--Variations in hyphenation and compound words have been preserved.