Six balls pitched, and not a semblance of a hit, with the surest batters down, gave the Landon captain a scare, and he ran to where his schoolmates sat.
"For the love of Landon, get busy with those horns!" he shouted.
Valiantly the boys and girls responded. But in vain.
Bronson served the third man up a straight, swift ball, a drop, and an in-jump, and the side was retired.
"Bronson! Bronson! Bronson!" chanted the Baxter contingent in appreciation, until Hal waved for silence.
But Mitchell, who pitched for Landon, while not in his rival's class, was a brainy player, and retired his opponents without a run, though Sandow got as far as second on a hit through shortstop and a sacrifice by Fred.
The next six innings passed without a score, though several scratch hits were made off both pitchers.
In the first half of the seventh, however, in accordance with instructions from Hal, Bronson eased up, and Landon made a single and a double, getting a man on first and third, while the batter had one strike and three balls and Mitchell was on deck.
Realizing that now was the time for their nine to score, if ever, the Landon students howled and tooted their horns madly, striving their utmost to rattle Bronson.
"Steady, Clothespin, and show 'em what you can do," encouraged Fred. "Give him three in-shoots. He'll never hit at one with three balls on you."