The rooters were silent. They were discouraged. Not a few of them wished themselves back to New Haven.

Frank was the only one who seemed calm and unruffled. Bart Hodge was pale.

“That fellow Finch is a wizard, Merry!” he huskily exclaimed. “I don’t believe anybody else can fool Cal Jeffers like that. Why, Jeffers is a hitter!”

“That’s right,” nodded Frank, quietly. “But there is a question.”

“Eh? What sort of a question?”

“Can Finch hold this up?”

“He has a reputation.”

“I don’t care. I’ll go you something that he slumps before the game is over. He is a strike-out pitcher. He likes to do that trick, as it attracts attention to him. That is what will count against him.”

“We don’t have one show in a thousand unless you peel off and get into the game.”

“That is foolishness.”