“Hurrah!” yelled the crowd of Americans. “That’s a daisy! Run! Run!”
“It’s a home run. Go it, longlegs, go it!”
“Don’t let them stop you at third! You’ve got lots of time!”
The yelling continued. In the meantime the center fielder was racing after the ball like mad. He caught it up just as the runner was leaving third for the home plate and threw it to the catcher with all his strength. But it fell short of its mark and was captured by the pitcher, who whirled around and delivered it home just as the runner slid in amid a cloud of dust and a yelling which could be heard for half a mile. Then those close by saw the catcher leap for the ball, capture it in one hand and fall in a heap on top of the man who had slid in to victory.
“He’s safe!” was the cry, as the crowd saw the umpire keep his hand down. “Oh, wasn’t that a dandy run!”
“And wasn’t that a dandy hit!”
It was several seconds before the dust cleared away and then it was seen that something was wrong. The runner had been kicked in the arm by the catcher and the latter had tumbled and bruised his knee. Both had to be helped from the field and time was called while the hurts were attended to by a doctor who happened to be present.
“They say that runner is out of the game,” was the report which went the round a little later. “And that second baseman has retired too. He’s suffering from cramps. The catcher is all right.”
“If the Roosevelts lose two men they will be one man short,” said Sam. “They had only one substitute at the bench.”
“Perhaps the others are somewhere around,” answered Darry.