“But who’d thought he was anything much! He’s a mighty clever actor.”
“I understand he was on the stage once.”
“That accounts for it.”
The captain of the home team did not propose to give the game up. He declared there was a show to win out, and the batters went up to strike under his directions. He told them just what to do, and they obeyed him.
Merry was at a disadvantage, for he did not have his regular catcher. However, Frank worked the first batter cleverly, the fellow being thrown out at first on an easy hit to third.
The next one tried to bunt, but Merry had anticipated the trick and kept the balls high. It is difficult to bunt a high ball successfully, and two tries resulted in two strikes. Then the fellow fanned and struck out.
“The game is all over!” cried a St. Paul man.
Then up rose a Minneapolis man and shouted:
“It’s nothing but a streak of luck. We can beat a team with that boy pitching for it nine times out of ten. I’ll back Minneapolis to win against Frank Merriwell’s own team.”
This created applause, and Merriwell laughed.