Then Joe set his teeth and swung back the hand that held the ball. The crowd expected he would throw to Rattleton, on second. At first it seemed that he had thrown to second, but had failed to get the range correctly.
Then it was seen that Gamp had tried the seemingly impossible task of throwing to the plate to cut the runner off.
“Run, Hanson—run!” shouted the spectators.
Hanson was doing his best to beat the ball to the plate, but that ball came on with amazing speed. It was almost a “line throw” from the far outfield, and the crowd was amazed by the manner in which the ball hung up in the air instead of dropping to the ground. It showed what wonderful force had been put into the throw.
Hodge settled himself in position to take the ball, and suddenly, as Hanson neared the plate, the coachers shrieked for him to slide.
Hanson slid headlong, but Bart caught the ball and “bored” it into his back, actually pinning him to the ground while his hand was yet a foot from the plate. He tried to squirm forward and reach the plate, but the voice of the umpire called:
“Out!”
A hush fell on the witnesses of this amazing piece of work. Only a moment before they had been roaring loudly, but, of a sudden, they were silent. Then somebody with a hoarse voice roared:
“Well, what do you think of that for a throw! Talk about a wing—that fellow’s got it!”
Somebody clapped his hands, and a general volley of applause followed.