"Hi, Bonner!" they said to the boy at the plate. "That bat's busted."
The Belden captain lifted a wary head. He was clearly suspicious of some fresh trick, and he never took his eyes off Bunny. S. S. guessed he expected a strike might be sneaked over if he turned away. But when Bunny waited politely, the boy banged the end of the bat against the plate. It rang hollowly, and he promptly discarded it for another.
In another minute, when S. S. saw the grounder come zipping toward him, he wondered why on earth he had warned the batter. This hit ball was going to be hard to handle. But he set himself, with legs close together this time, and waited for it to reach him. He even had time to judge its speed, and to follow its course through grass and dust, and to decide that he could get the runner at home. He glowed with confidence.
Just at the last, though, the ball hit a pebble and bounced high over his head. With a frantic upward fling of his gloved hand, S. S. speared it neatly. But the unbraced feet and the chug of the ball were too much for his balance. He toppled over backward, and sat down with a pronounced thump.
It was clearly too late to throw across the diamond to first. If the play were to be made at all, it must be at home; and S. S. realized in a flash that by the time he came to his feet and threw, the runner would have scored. There was just one thing to do, and he did it. Still sitting awkwardly on the ground, he drew back his arm and shot the ball with all his might to the waiting Bi.
The runner slid. But good, old reliable Bi Jones, straddling the plate, took the perfect throw and clamped the ball on him a long ways from the rubber—oh, a good three or four inches, S. S. decided. He nodded at the umpire's decision. The fellow was out, of course; S. S. knew it all the time.
Coming in to the bench, he passed Bonner, who was grinning a little wryly. "Thanks," the Belden captain said to S. S.
"For what?" snapped Zane, quickly on the defensive.
"Why, for telling me the bat was broken. I liked that. You didn't suppose I was thanking you for throwing out Clark at home, did you? That was a dandy play, let me tell you, even if it was against us; yes, sir, as pretty a stop and throw as I ever saw."
S. S.'s face glowed like a full moon. "Oh, it wasn't much," he said carelessly.