“Great work, old man! Great!” yelled Darrell in Joe’s ear. “You saved the day for us.”
“Nonsense!” exclaimed Joe modestly.
“Three cheers for Baseball Joe!” yelled Tom Davis, and how those cheers did ring out.
“Three cheers for the Stars—they beat us fair and square!” called Captain Littell, and this was quite a different ending than that which had marked the previous game.
Some wanted to carry Joe around on their shoulders but he slipped away, and got off his uniform. Soon the team was on its way back to Riverside.
“You ought to be in a bigger team,” Darrell told Joe. “You’ve got the making of a great pitcher in you.”
“Well, I guess I’ll have to stick around here for a while yet,” replied our hero, as he thought of the fallen finances of his father. Never in all his life had he so longed for the chance to go to boarding school, and thence to college. But he knew it could not be, chiefly through the treachery of Benjamin and Holdney. Joe felt a wave of resentment against them sweep over him, and his thoughts were black and bitter.
Tom walked as far as Joe’s street with him. He had a silent sympathy that spoke more than mere words could have done.
“So long,” he said softly as they parted. “It was a great game, Joe, and I’m almost glad you’ve got to stay with the Stars.”