CHAPTER XXII.
A GAME AND A PLOT.
The second game with the Excelsiors, for the championship of Lakeport, was now close at hand, and for several days the boys of the town talked of nothing else. As before, opinions were about evenly divided as to which club would win.
In place of Sidney Yates, Si Voup had obtained a player of more than ordinary excellence, a boy named Kyle Fenton, who had lately moved to Lakeport. Kyle was a fine batter and a splendid runner and Voup counted on him to help the score a great deal.
The game brought forth a crowd fully equal to that which had witnessed the first contest. As previously agreed, it was played on the Lakeports' grounds and our young friends did all they could to make the spot attractive. They had erected a flagpole and from this Old Glory flapped bravely to the breeze, and the grand stand was likewise decorated with flags.
The umpire on this occasion was an old player named Cameron. Although Joe and his fellow members did not know it, Cameron was a personal friend to Mr. Voup and bent on favoring Si and his club all he could. This was a handicap which cost the Lakeports dearly.
The first two innings of the game were quickly over, with the score 1 to 0, in favor of the Excelsiors. The third inning brought a "goose egg" for each club and the next inning did likewise.
"This is certainly a close game," said more than one.
"Looks now as if the Lakeports were going to be whitewashed."
"Well, the game is young yet."
As sometimes happens, things "broke loose" in the fifth and sixth innings and the latter left the score, Excelsiors 6, Lakeports 4. In the sixth inning Paul Shale scored a home run and Joe a three-base hit, both of which performances brought forth a wild storm of applause. In this inning the Excelsiors were given two runs by such a close decision that Joe at once entered a protest and was backed up by Link, Fred and some others.
"I don't want to listen!" growled the umpire.
"I do not consider those runs fair," said Joe. "One man cut third base and the other did not touch the plate."
"It was all right," returned Cameron, stubbornly.
"If we have any more such work I shall either call for another umpire or throw up the game," said Joe sharply. The decision was so unpopular that the umpire was roundly hissed, while a few yelled to "Throw him out!"
In the seventh inning Kyle Fenton made a home run and this was all the scoring that was done up to the beginning of the ninth. The score board now read: Excelsiors 7, Lakeports 4.
"This looks bad," said Fred, as the club went to the bat, "we have got to make three runs to tie the score."
The first boy to the bat went out on a foul. The second, however, made a safe hit to first, and this was followed by a "two-bagger" which brought in one run. Then came another streak of luck, and when the first half of the inning ended the score was tied.
"Now to shut them out," said more than one member of the Lakeports.
"I shall certainly do my best," returned Joe.
He pitched with extreme care, but Cameron was still favoring the other nine and called several pitches balls when they should have been strikes.
"That was a strike!" cried Joe finally.
"It was a ball—too high," growled the umpire.
"A strike! A strike!" yelled the crowd.
"Put the umpire off the field!"
"He has been favoring the Excelsiors right along!"
There was a sudden rush, and fearful of attack Cameron began to sneak from the field. But Joe waved the crowd of angry boys back.
"Don't touch him," he said loudly. "We can handle this case."
"Well, stand up for your rights," came from a man in the crowd. "Make them put in a new umpire."
Si Voup wanted to defend Cameron, but he saw that it would be useless to attempt to do so. Nearly everybody was calling for his removal.
"I'll give it up!" called out Cameron. "Get another umpire. I'm sick of it!" And he ran rather than walked from the field.
Another umpire was quickly chosen—a fellow known to be strictly fair. Then the game went on and soon two players were out. But a runner had got to third and the next boy to the bat was Kyle Fenton. Kyle watched his chances and getting a ball about right rapped it smartly to centerfield. This brought in the runner from third; and the game went to the Excelsiors by a score of 8 to 7.
As soon as the last run came in the Excelsiors and their friends went wild with excitement. But the general public took the result coldly, for many felt that the game had not been fairly umpired by Cameron.
"The score should really be, Lakeports 7, Excelsiors 6," said Mr. Monroe Corsen. "The umpiring was simply outrageous."
"Wait till we play the third of the series," answered Joe. "I'll warrant that we'll have a fair and square umpire; somebody we know we can trust."
Of course the Excelsiors insisted upon it that the game had been fairly played. The only "kicker" was Kyle Fenton, the new member, who shortly afterwards sent in his resignation.
"That crowd makes me sick," he declared to Harry. "When I play ball I want to do it on the level."
"They have to thank you for two runs made," replied Harry.
"Humph! if I had known the sort of fellows they are I should never have joined them."
Kyle wanted to join the Lakeports and was finally put on the list of substitutes. As a substitute he played half a dozen games, and helped the club along a great deal.
"But I can't let you play when we have that final game with the Excelsiors," said Joe. "If I did and we happen to win, they would throw it up to us that we had stolen one of their players."
"All right, I understand your position," came from Kyle. "Just the same, I should like to play against them and give them a good drubbing."
The summer was now moving along swiftly. Each of the boys had more or less work to do, and one week Joe and Harry had to help at the store, their father being sick. During that time Fred took charge of the club and played a game at a place called Ravenwood, winning by the remarkable score of 22 to 11.
"I see you literally doubled up on the Ravenwoods," said Joe, when he heard the news. "Kind of a two-for-one arrangement. I'm glad to hear it."
"Those Ravenwood players were all good at the game," said Fred. "But the team work was miserable—hardly one player supported another."
"That proves what I have often said, Fred. It's the team work that counts. I think Si Voup has some good players, but just when you think they are going to get together and do something big they go to pieces."
"Si is bragging that he will surely win that third game," came from Link, who chanced to be present.
"Maybe he'll want the umpire to win it for him," put in Matt. "We don't want to play against ten men again."
There was a good deal of wrangling over the question of an umpire. Voup wanted one man and Joe wanted another. At last the matter was left to several well-known gentlemen and they procured a man from the city named Cabot, who had often umpired at college games. Cabot was the soul of honor and knew every rule and every trick of the game by heart.
During the summer Si Voup and several of his cohorts had grown remarkably sporty. They attended a number of horse races and frequently made bets on the results. Whenever he could get away from the mill Sidney Yates went with the crowd.
At one of these race meetings Voup ran across Dan Marcy. For a long time Marcy had kept away from Lakeport, fearful that he might be arrested for the stealing of theSprite. To those whom he met he indignantly denied that he had had anything to do with the taking of the sloop.
"I'll go down to Lakeport and show 'em some day that I am honest and that they can't blacken my character in this manner," he growled.
He had seen Joe, Fred and Bart on the day that the boys discovered the sloop hidden in the creek, and he felt certain that the three boys were responsible for the report circulated about him. It may be added here that he was guilty, but he intended to do his best to squirm out of it.
"Betting on the races, eh?" said Si Voup to Marcy when they met.
"Oh, a little. I just won ten dollars."
"You are in luck. I just dropped five."
"Let me give you a tip," went on Dan Marcy. He knew Si well and knew exactly how to handle the youth. The "tip" was accepted, and by luck Si won two dollars on it. This made the pair more friendly than ever and quite a conversation ensued, regarding affairs at Lakeport, and the doings of the two baseball clubs.
"You could win a lot of money on that next baseball game if you wanted to," said Dan Marcy.
"How?"
"By betting on your club and then winning. Now don't think I said that for a joke. I mean, make it a dead sure thing that you will win."
"Yes, but how can we make it a dead sure thing?" questioned Si, with interest.
"Oh, there are several ways to do that."
"I'd like to know just one way."
"I'd let you into the secret if I felt sure I could trust you," went on Dan Marcy, in a lower tone.
Si Voup stared at him for a moment. He understood what sort of a character the former bully of Lakeport was, and felt that the secret must be of a shady nature. Yet he was anxious to win, and the prospect of making money by it appealed to him strongly.
"You can trust me, Dan. I never blab things I hear."
"Over to Springfield the Rocket Club once won a game by doctoring the drinking water the other club used. The stuff in the water made the players dizzy so they couldn't catch the ball for a cent."
"What did they put into the water?"
"I don't know. But I guess a druggist could tell you."
"I shouldn't care to try it. In the first place it would be hard to get at the water they use and in the second place a fellow might run the risk of poisoning one of them," went on Si, who was a coward at heart.
"Well, there's another plan, a good deal better," went on Dan Marcy. "If you mean business, I'll go into it with you."
"Then let me hear the plan," answered Si. "I certainly want to win that game, if not in one way then in another."
Half an hour later Dan Marcy had unfolded his plot in all of its details. It pleased Si Voup and he agreed to take it under consideration and let the former bully of Lakeport know what he would do about it in a few days.