“I do. I’ll run it just the same. More than that, I’m going to see if I can’t stir up things on the island to-night. We must have a good big crowd of rooters with us in Rockford to-morrow. I will telephone the boys on the island and set them at work getting up a crowd. Dick, do you realize that the game to-morrow is going to be one of the hardest of the season?”
“Haven’t a doubt of it,” nodded Merriwell. “If Rockford won to-day from Maplewood, she’ll be able to hold first place to-morrow whether she loses or not; but if Maplewood won——”
“It seems likely to me,” interrupted Garrett. “Maplewood has been walloping almost everybody but us since getting her new team. A week ago I fancied Rockford might have the strongest team in the league. To-day I’m inclined to think she has the weakest.”
“Time will tell. We’ll find out how the teams stand as soon as we learn what happened in Maplewood.”
Finding the boys were inclined to accept Garrett’s rather gloomy view of the matter, Dick laughed at them and did his best to cheer them up.
“Don’t you worry about us!” cried Obediah Tubbs. “We’ll git into the game to-morrow, dern our picters! If Rockford takes a fall out of us she’ll have to get up and hump herself.”
On arriving in Rockford the boys eagerly looked over the bulletin of the Trolley League games displayed in front of the Star office.
“Great horn spoon!” cried Buckhart. “Just look at that! Maplewood lifted Rockford’s scalp to-day! Nine to two! That was doing it some!”
“The standing is what interests me now,” laughed Dick. “There it is, boys. Talk about teams being bunched! What do you think of that? Seaslope and Rockford are tied, having won twenty each and lost nineteen. Fairhaven and Maplewood are tied, having won nineteen each and lost twenty. That’s the sort of baseball to make your hair curl. It keeps everybody guessing.”
“Well, I’m bub-bub-bub-blamed glad Maplewood did beat Rockford to-day,” chuckled Chip Jolliby. “I ain’t gug-gug-gug-got no love for Maplewood, but it kinder makes things a little more even.”