Joe went back to join the team at Delamont, where they were scheduled to play four games, and then they would return to their home town of Pittston.
From the newspapers Joe learned that his team had taken three of the four contests in Newkirk, and might have had the fourth but for bad pitching on the part of Collin.
“Maybe he won’t be so bitter against me now,” thought Joe. “He isn’t such a wonder himself.”
Joe was glancing over the paper as the train sped on toward Delamont. He was looking over other baseball news, and at the scores of the big leagues.
“I wonder when I’ll break into them?” mused Joe, as he glanced rather enviously at several large pictures of celebrated players in action. “I’m going to do it as soon as I can.”
Then the thought came to him of how hard it was for a young and promising player to get away from the club that controlled him.
“The only way would be to slump in form,” said Joe to himself, “and then even if he did get his release no other team would want him. It’s a queer game, and not altogether fair, but I suppose it has to be played that way. Well, no use worrying about the big leagues until I get a call from one. There’ll be time enough then to wonder about my release.”
As Joe was about to lay aside the paper he was aware of a controversy going on a few seats ahead of him. The conductor had stopped beside an elderly man and was saying:
“You’ll have to get off, that’s all there is to it. You deliberately rode past your station, and you’re only trying to see how far you can go without being caught. You get off at the next station, or if you don’t I’ll stop the train when I get to you and put you off, even if it’s in the middle of a trestle. You’re trying to beat your way, and you know it! You had a ticket only to Clearville, and you didn’t get off.”