But the incident had been effective as far as delaying the game was concerned, and before it again got fairly under way the rain came down in torrents and the Giants were cheated out of another probable victory.
With only two losses out of eleven games they moved on to St. Louis.
There, what they did to the Cardinals was, as Jim expressed it, a sin and a shame. They wanted those games and they took them, all four of them, winding up in a blaze of glory the most successful trip that any Giant team had made for years.
“Oh, you pennant, come to papa!” sang out Larry Barrett, as the hilarious crowd swung aboard the train and started on the long journey home.
CHAPTER XXIV
A STARTLING DISCOVERY
The Giants did not have to slink into New York this time as they did on the return from the disastrous western trip of the year before.
They were almost mobbed by their admirers at the station and the press of the city welcomed them back as conquering heroes.
In the columns devoted to their exploits Joe got the lion’s share of attention. His great pitching and batting received their full meed of praise, and it was generally agreed that it was his comeback that had revived the flagging spirits of the team and set them again on the road to victory.
Joe would not have been human if he had not been gratified at this recognition of his work. But he did not lose his head or become unduly vain. He was only profoundly grateful at his sudden recovery on the road from the mysterious ailment that his arm had suffered from at home.