"Oh, the team can get along without me. It's Jim who'll be missed," replied the boy.
"Don't you believe it, father," returned the school pitcher. "Bart Montgomery has more speed than I have. He won the game last year."
"He may have more speed, but he hasn't your control nor jump, Clothespin," returned Fred. "Besides, he gets rattled. Landon knows that, and they'll certainly go after him with their tin horns."
"I'm sorry if I have jeopardized Baxter's chances of winning, but it is just as well you boys should realize that business is of more importance than baseball, or anything else," came from the lawyer. "Furthermore, if your nine loses to-day, you still have an opportunity to win on Saturday."
At the mention of business—the first reference that had been made to the cause of their presence in Manchester—both boys pricked up their ears. But to their disappointment, the lawyer turned the conversation to other topics.
With the appetites of healthy young athletes, the lads did full justice to the luncheon.
When all had finished, Mr. Bronson dismissed the waiter, requesting him to send in the two men the Markhams had seen in the office.
"These are Mr. Howard and Mr. Abbot, Fred," said the lawyer, when the men had entered. "They are investigators.
"The reason that I sent for you two boys is that I need help in a matter concerning Mr. Markham's affairs, and I knew that I could trust you implicitly. You mustn't even breathe a word of the matter to any one.
"Charlie Gibbs is in Manchester for some purpose that Mr. Abbot and Mr. Howard will soon learn. But he is here under a name not his own—that of Henry Sanders.