“What the dickens——” he cried, and stopped.
Merry was laughing.
“Do that again,” urged Bart, returning the ball.
Frank complied.
“That beats!” gasped Bart. “Why, the ball seems to come down from your hand on a straight line toward the outside of the plate. Four or five feet before it reaches the plate it swerves upward with a combined rise and incurve, passing over the inside corner. It’s marvelous!”
“It’s something like an outdrop reversed—turned bottom up,” said Frank.
“That’s just what it is; but I can’t see how you make it rise so much. Merry, can you control that?”
“I don’t know. I’ve found out how to throw it. I presume control will come with practice.”
“If you can control it, I’ll guarantee you can strike the best of ’em out with it. It will be even more effective than the double shoot. It’s marvelous! If you could start it toward the inside corner and give it the other sweep it would be magic.”