"Hi, hi! Did they ever see a ball before?" yelled "Little Bill."
"Ah—ah! Look at that hit—yi, yi, yi!" came from others.
Mr. Kimball looked worried. "Not working quite enough together, boys," he said. "Take it easy—don't let the noise rattle you. Who's up? You, Havens? Now give us a line drive like Dave's, and we won't find any fault with you."
Havens prided himself upon being a heavy hitter. He swung his bat far around and after missing two good balls landed on the third. Grimshaw dodged. Dugan, at second base, made a wild grab for the sphere, tripped and tumbled head foremost into the grass. Then, as it neared the limits of the grounds, two fielders came together with a crash. Havens ran for all he was worth, did not stop to look around and was home long before the ball had been recovered.
"Good work, old man," cried the delighted Sam Randall. "Only one more, and the score is tied."
Fenton hit safely. Levins was out on a foul tip and Kimball walked to first on balls.
The head of the batting order was again up. Bob had his eye on the ball and another line drive resulted from his efforts, but it went straight into the hands of the waiting second baseman, who easily threw him out.
"How's that for style?" called "Little Bill," a moment after the first baseman's gloves closed on his throw.
"Worst play I ever saw," returned Dave Brandon, who was already at the plate; "you had lots of time to touch second and make a double play."
Dave swung fiercely at the first ball pitched, only to miss it by a very scant margin, and the fielders all played out as far as possible. A tantalizing slow one he failed to aim at, and strike two was called on him.