Again the ball came in. It was swiftly delivered by Joe, but by good luck the Brookside player struck it squarely and sent it high up in the air towards leftfield.
"Run! run!" shouted a hundred voices. "Run!" And the batter, as well as those on the bases, started to run with might and main.
"Catch it, De Vere!" came the cry from the Lakeport supporters.
"It's an easy fly!"
"Those runs won't count!"
The ball was well up in the air and almost directly over Augustus De Vere's head. But strange to say the dudish player ran first backward and then forward and then skipped from side to side.
"Don't miss that, Gus!" yelled Joe. "It's your ball and it's easy, old man!"
"He's going to miss it as sure as fate!" groaned Harry.
"Oh, he can't miss that," came from another player.
One runner was already home and the others were well on the way when the ball came within a foot of Augustus De Vere's hands. He put up one hand feebly, stared hard at the sphere, and then let it roll behind him on the ground.