“All right,” he said.
The crowd looked at it otherwise, however. One howl of indignant surprise went up as Ironton was seen to be safe. The mob threatened to pour out on the field, and only when Frank was seen to be taking up his position again did the fans restrain themselves.
As for the Clippings, they could not understand the decision. It looked to them like foul play, though Merry saw that the umpire had not meant to be unfair. Nippen started to bellow out his rage, Spaulding managed to quiet him, and the game proceeded. But the Clippings had been demoralized.
This became evident when Johnson popped up a foul. McCarthy went after it, and let it drop. He made a throw to catch Ironton at the plate, and sent the ball into the grand-stand wiring. Ironton scored and Johnson stopped at second.
Frank saw that the balloon was going up, and wasted no more time. He struck out Murray with three pitched balls, and then Carson slouched up to the plate with a wide grin.
“Good-by!” he called cheerfully. “Here’s where we knock the Fardale wonder out!”
His hopes were not realized, however. Frank handed him a fadeaway, and Carson swung vainly. Billy called for the double shoot. Carson saw the ball break for an in, and brought down his bat, but the sphere suddenly curved away from him.
“Strike—uh—two!”
Mindful of the fellow’s threats, Frank put all his speed into the next ball. It was a shoulder-high, straight one, that nipped the inside corner of the plate. So fast was it, that Carson instinctively jumped back, then flung down his bat with a curse. As he did so, Johnson leaped toward third.
Billy whipped off his mask and slapped the ball to Dan. The lanky chap took it and slammed it down on Johnson in a cloud of dust. The Clippers were retired.