By half-past two the grand stand was comfortably filled and the ground around the diamond was well sprinkled with spectators. Quite a contingent had followed the blue players from Mannig, and their ear-splitting yell was heard continuously. At a few minutes before the half-hour Mannig gave up the field to Laurelville, and the green-and-white-stockinged players trotted out for practice.
When it was twenty minutes of three the Mannig manager returned to the bench where his players were seated and announced that the umpire hadn’t turned up, and that it had been decided to wait until the next train came in.
“When does it get here?” asked Burns.
“Two-fifty-six,” was the answer.
“Gee! That’ll make it mighty late!”
“Yes, but that’s the only thing to do, I guess.”
So they waited. Presently the Laurelville team came off, and the audience on the stand began to inquire, in the polite manner common to baseball audiences, why the game didn’t start. At ten minutes after three the tardy official, a little, round red-cheeked man, put in his appearance, and at twenty minutes after three called “Play!”