Dick did put one over, but it looked high, and came down with a sharp drop.
Barney was deceived, and he growled when the umpire called a strike on him. Following this, Dick used a swift, high, straight one, and Mulloy hit it, although it would have been a ball had he let it pass.
It was a clean hit past second. Gamp fielded it in to second in a hurry, preventing Barney from getting two bases.
“Now it starts!” muttered the man with the dog.
Gallup walked out in an awkward manner. He had hit the ball hard before, and he felt confident of doing so again. But the boy used the jump ball to start with, and Ephraim was surprised when he failed to hit anything more solid than the empty air.
Then Dick wasted a ball in trying to “pull” the batter, but sent the next one over the inside corner.
“Two strikes!”
“It’s all over!” cried Jack Ready. “You can’t hit him, Gallup, and you may as well go back to the farm.”
Dick took his time about pitching the ball again. He was on the verge of making the delivery when there came a cry of alarm.
Across the field a big dog was rushing straight at the boy pitcher, his eyes gleaming, and his mouth open. Dick turned and saw the dog coming. For a moment he stood there, evidently wondering if the animal was coming at him, and then he drew back the hand that held the ball.