This was simply awful. Merriwell saw what was liable to happen, and he started in warming up at once. Frank had made no mistake in his anticipations. Starbright went up in a balloon. The next two men hit him safely, and then he gave a base on balls. The bases were filled when Merriwell went into the box.
The cheering of the Tigers was meant to encourage the home team and rattle the visitors still more. Somebody asked what was the difference between Buffalo Bill and Yale. Somebody else answered that Buffalo Bill had a show and Yale hadn’t. And the crowd laughed at this chestnut.
But the next batter found it impossible to connect with Merry’s shoots. He made two fouls, and two strikes were called on him as a penalty. Then he fanned and missed. The ball plunked into Bart Hodge’s mitt, and the striker ambled sadly back to the bench. That made the second man retired.
The next batter put a long fly into left field, but Gamp pulled it down and retired the side. Princeton, however, had the lead.
In the next inning Yale tied the score; but in the seventh Princeton again took the lead, making two. The crowd roared with joy, for it seemed that Merriwell was going to pieces. Frank, however, steadied down after his own fashion and struck out two men, which retired the Tigers.
But Princeton held the lead, and there was great rejoicing. The Yale rooters kept up their ’rah-’rah-ing. Neither side scored in the eighth, and the ninth came on with the orange and black waving triumphantly.
Merriwell was the first batter up, and he led off with a three-bagger. That seemed to wake the Yale men up, and some lively hitting followed, so that the blue tied the score, setting the rooters crazy with joy.
Princeton was savage, and the first man got a pretty single off Merry. A dropped fly in the outfield let the runner round to third and put the second batter on second.
Hodge was nervous and Frank became afraid of him, for he did not seem to hold the ball after his usual fashion. Merry tried the double-shoot and Bart came near having a passed ball, which must have let in a score.
Then, forced to be careful, Merriwell became too careful, which let Princeton fill the bags by getting the batter down to first on balls.