“It was just touch and go,” agreed Jim. “You did some mighty quick thinking, old man,” he added admiringly.
“It was a case of must,” answered Joe. “I just had to think quickly, or it would have been all up.”
“By the way, are you going to say anything to McRae about this?”
“What’s the use?” returned Joe. “There’s nothing he could do. It would only worry him and make him hopping mad, and he’s got enough on his mind as it is. Besides, I couldn’t tell him the whole story without bringing Mabel’s name into it, and I’d rather cut off my hand than do that.”
Just at that moment McRae came through the car. He was in high spirits, and greeted them cordially as he sat down by them.
“Wouldn’t you boys better have your berths made up?” he inquired. “It’s getting pretty late and I want you to be in good shape for to-morrow. We’ll want that game badly, too. It isn’t enough to have evened up. We want to jump right out into the lead.”
“I suppose you’re going to pitch Markwith to-morrow,” said Joe, after having signaled the porter and told him to prepare the berths.
“I’m not sure yet,” answered McRae thoughtfully. “He certainly pitched pretty good ball in those last three innings to-day, and I’ll see how he warms up to-morrow before the game. But just at this present moment I’m inclined to pitch Barclay.”
Jim’s heart began to thump. He had not expected to figure in the Series, except perhaps as a relief pitcher. It was his first year in the big league and though he had shown some “crackerjack stuff,” he was not supposed to be seasoned enough to work a full game at such a critical time.
To tell the truth, he would not have had a chance of taking part if it had not been for the accident to Hughson. McRae was famous for the way he stuck to his veterans, and though he believed in “young blood,” he always took a long time in developing his new pitchers before he would trust them in a game on which a great deal depended. Sometimes he kept them on the bench for a year or two, absorbing “inside stuff” and watching the older players before he considered them ripe for “a killing.”