Gay saw the smile and it increased his determination to do his best and to help win the game for the home team.
"Play!" called the umpire, and the game commenced.
The pitcher, thinking he had nothing to fear, began by putting the ball right on the bat. Gay astonished him by driving it well towards the right field and taking two bases.
This hit delighted Gay's admirers. "Take the third, Brown," one of them shouted.
"What's the color of the grass, now?" cried another.
"The color of two bases," answered a third.
"A two-bagger the first hit!" Ned remarked, casting a triumphant glance at his Plainville neighbors.
"Don't crow too soon," one of them advised. "One hit doesn't make an inning. When Jones goes to the bat he'll beat her pace."
Jones was the crack player of the Plainvilles, and the one that the home team feared most. But this did not seem to Ned to be any reason why he should not say "Oh, Jones!" with a rising inflection that made his companion's face flush.