“That’s a long time ago,” laughed Joe, as he took the stranger’s offered hand and shook it heartily. “What team did you play on and what was your position?”
“I played right field on the old Red Stockings of Cincinnati,” was the answer.
Joe almost jumped out of his seat.
“Not the Red Stockings, the team of 1869?” he cried. “Not the team that whipped them all, that went through the whole season without losing a single game?”
“That was my team,” was the answer given calmly, though a gleam of pride and exultation came into the stranger’s eyes as he noted Joe’s enthusiasm.
[CHAPTER XIV]
DIAMOND HEROES
Joe was all excitement and animation. He had never dreamed that he would ever be sitting face to face with one of the famous team that swept through our country like a prairie fire and made a record that has never been equaled in the history of baseball.
“This is sure my lucky day!” he cried. “I’d willingly have traveled hundreds of miles to have a look at you and hear you talk. And here you drop right down at my table! I’ll have something to tell the rest of the boys that will make them green with envy. I give you fair warning that I’m going to keep you talking till bedtime or until I pump you dry.”