“Play!” called the umpire, one of the teachers from another school.
Dan Baxter held the ball a second, looked at the plate, and let drive.
“Strike one!” sang out the umpire, although Pepper had not struck at the sphere.
Again the ball was delivered, and Pepper sent the bat around as quickly as he could.
“Strike two!”
Then came a ball,—just a little too high. Then the sphere was delivered once more.
“Strike three! Batter out!”
“Good for Baxter! That’s the way to do it!”
“That ball shot up at the last instant,” said Pepper to Jack.
“It must be the new curved ball,” answered the the young major.