Frank Roscoe's Secret; Or, the Darewell Chums in the Woods

BY ALLEN CHAPMAN
AUTHOR OF BART STIRLING'S ROAD TO SUCCESS, WORKING HARD TO WIN, BOUND TO SUCCEED, THE YOUNG STOREKEEPER, NAT BORDEN'S FIND, ETC.
1908
That's the way to line 'em out, Ned!
Go on now! Take another! You can get home!
Wow! That wins the game! Hurrah for Ned Wilding!
Those were some of the shouts, amid a multitude of others, that came from scores of boyish throats as they watched the baseball game between the Darewell High School and the Lakeville Preparatory Academy. The occasion was the annual championship struggle, and the cries resulted from Ned's successful batting of the ball far over the center fielder's head.
It was a critical moment for the score was tie, it was the ending of the ninth inning, and there were two men of the High School nine out. It all depended on Ned.
But Ned was equal to the occasion. He had placed the ball well, and as soon as he heard the crack, when his bat struck it, he had darted for first. Then, running as he never had run before, he kept on to second. The encouraging shouts of his friends induced him to advance toward third, though by this time the center fielder had the ball and was throwing it to the baseman.
Come on, Ned! Come on! Take a chance! yelled Bart Keene, captain of the High School team.
Then Ned, from a baseball standpoint of safety, did what might be termed a foolish thing. He reached third base just an instant before the ball did. He heard it strike the baseman's glove with a loud plunk!
A second later, stooping to avoid being touched, Ned sprang up and ran toward the home plate. It was a desperate chance in a desperate game, for the Lakeville players were cool and experienced hands, and Ned was almost certain to be put out. However, he had chanced it. It was too late to go back now. He was running straight for home, as though there was no such thing as a baseman with a ball close behind him, waiting for a good chance to throw to the catcher and put him out.