The runner slid.
Diamond came in just right to take the ball about two feet from the ground, and then he “nailed” it on to the back of the sliding base-runner, catching him at least two feet from the bag.
“Man is out,” announced the umpire.
Frank laughed, and the spectators applauded.
“Good boy, Hodge!” cried Danny Griswold, to the surprise of Frank. “That was a beautiful throw.”
“Oh, those things will happen now and then,” sneered Ned Noon. “He might throw wild next time.”
This did not come with good grace from Ned’s lips, as he and Bart were rivals, but he was so overflowing with spleen that he could not hold it back.
“It was a good throw,” nodded Capt. Hardy. “I didn’t think he had a chance to catch the man after the start Merriwell gave him. If Hodge can keep up the work he has been doing——”
He did not finish, but there was a deep significance in the hiatus.
The next batter obtained a single, and again a man was given a chance to play off first by Merriwell, who seemed remarkably careless.