“Oh no, you won’t.” These words were on Johnny’s lips. They remained unsaid.
“See?” Johnny grinned at Meg as he returned to his place. “Our star pitcher will not be here! What does that mean? What did I tell you?”
“Yes, you and your mysterious Chinaman!” Meg scoffed. “We’ll win, you’ll see!”
Johnny did not truly hear this outburst. He was wondering, in a strange and sudden sort of way, whether there could be any connection between the mysterious little Chinaman and the failure of their star pitcher to appear. “Of course not,” he whispered to himself. All the same, he did not feel quite sure.
If they lost that game it would not be Meggy’s fault. This became evident from the start. With her bright sweater thrown carelessly upon the ground, shapely brown arms waving, nimble feet dancing, she led the cheering as no cheer leader had done before.
And it did seem from the start that old Hillcrest had more than an even chance. Fred Frame, their regular pitcher, whose arm had a mean way of going back on him just at the wrong moment, held his place in the box and pitched remarkably well.
Hillcrest went into the lead in the first inning. They held that lead doggedly until the fifth. In the sixth they slipped. Three runs came in for the rival team, and Hillcrest stood one score behind.
“It’s going to be too bad if we lose,” Johnny said soberly as Meg, seizing his arm to steady herself for a moment, whispered hoarsely, “Every game counts. The fans want victory. They want the pennant, or—”
She did not finish for at that moment Doug Danby, captain of the Hillcrest team, got a homer, tying the score.
“Ray! Ray! Ray! Doug! Doug! Doug!” Meggy was away like a flaming rocket.