"For I'm sure I've met him before, and more than once," reasoned Joe. "But then I've met so many fellows, playing ball all around the country, that it's no wonder I can't recall a certain voice. Maybe I'll get a chance to have a good look at him later."
"You'll come right to our house," said Joe, turning to speak to Mabel and Reggie. "Mother said so."
"Oh, but we have our rooms engaged at the hotel," objected the other youth.
"That doesn't matter. You can go there later, if you like. But mother insisted that I bring you home," Joe went on. "You can be more comfortable there—at least, until you get over this cold trip."
"It's perfectly lovely of your mother," declared Mabel. "But I don't want to put her to so much inconvenience."
"It isn't any inconvenience at all," laughed Joe. "She wants to meet you, and so does my sister Clara."
"And I want to meet them," responded Mabel, with a blush that was unseen in the darkness.
"Well, have it your own way," said Reggie, who was, perhaps, rather too much inclined to give in easily. Life came very easy to him, anyhow. "It's very nice of you to put us up, Joe. By the way, how is your father since the operation?"
"Oh, he has almost entirely recovered. His eyesight is better than ever, he says."
"How lovely!" cried Mabel. "And how lucky it was, Joe, that your share of the money your team got for winning the pennant helped to make the operation possible."