Page:Baseball Joe on the School Nine.djvu/122

110 knocked a little pop fly, which was easily taken care of by the second baseman, and the first man on the regular, or school team, as it was called, was out.

"All ready for the next one!" called Catcher Bob.

"Don't you fan!" warned Hiram to Jake Weston, who was next up.

"Just watch me!" exulted Jake as he walked confidently to the plate.

Joe sent in a puzzling drop, with considerable swiftness, but to his chagrin Jake "killed" it, landing on it squarely and lining it out for two bags.

"That's the way to do it!" yelled Luke, capering about.

"Now, where's your star pitcher?" inquired Hiram, and he looked toward Tom Davis, who was playing first. "I guess he isn't so much!"

Tom said nothing. He realized that perhaps his advocacy of Joe's abilities had brought his friend and himself too much in the limelight. But he meant well.

"Oh, well, we just let you hit that one to see how it felt," shouted Bob Harrison, and that brought back Joe's nerve, which, for the moment, had deserted him as he saw his effort go for