Hanson took the ball and touched Merry, but Frank was lying with his hand on the plate.
“Safe!” declared the umpire.
Frank had stretched a three-bagger into a home run, and the score was tied.
Of a sudden, a great change had come over the game.
“It’s all over, boys!” laughed Ready. “We can’t help winning now! It’s another scalp for us!”
“That’s Frank Merriwell!” cried an excited boy on the bleachers. “You can’t beat him! The whole world can’t beat him!”
Batch was sore. A short time before he had been smiling, but now there was no smile on his face. He looked serious enough as Ready came up. Jack was determined to “keep the ball rolling,” and he got a nice hit off the second ball pitched.
Among the spectators were two men who were watching the game with deep interest. One man was stout and red-faced, with a stubby mustache, while the other was slender and dark, wearing a suit of blue. The stout man choked and gurgled when the umpire declared Merry safe at the plate.
“Rotten!” he snarled. “He was out by a foot!”