CHAPTER XVII
"MAN OVERBOARD"
Baseball Joe found Jim waiting for him near the clerk's desk.
"Been having quite a confab," remarked the latter.
"Yes," replied Joe carelessly. "Burkett and Red came along and we had afanfest."
The next day was the first of their real vacation, and they spent themorning strolling about the city and marveling at the quick recovery ithad made from the earthquake. They had a sumptuous dinner on the verandaof the Cliff House, where they had a full view of the famous harbor andwatched the seals sporting on the rocks.
The commerce of the port was in full swing, and out through the GoldenGate passed great fleets with their precious argosies bound for theOrient, for immobile China, for restless and awakened Japan, for theislands of the sea, for the lands of the lotus and the palm, of minaretand mosque and pagoda, for all the realms of mystery and romance that liebeneath the Southern Cross.
It would have been a wrench to tear themselves away had it been any otherday than this, but to-day was the one to which they had looked eagerlyforward through all the month of exhibition playing, since they had leftthe quiet home at Riverside, and they kept looking at their watches to seeif it were not time to go to the train and meet the girls.
They were at the station long before the appointed time, and when at lastthe Overland Flyer drew in they scanned each Pullman anxiously to catch asight of two charming faces.
They were not kept long in suspense, for down the steps of the second cartripped Clara and Mabel, looking more wonderfully alluring than ever,although a month before neither Jim nor Joe would have admitted that sucha thing were possible.
Reggie, too, was there, dressed "to the limit" as usual, and with hissupposed English accent twice as pronounced as ever.
But Reggie for the moment did not count, compared with the lovely chargeswhom he had brought across the continent. Of course, the boys feltgrateful to him, but their eyes and their thoughts were fastened on histwo charming companions.
"I'm awfully glad you've got here at last," cried Joe, as he rushed up toMabel and caught her by both hands. He would have liked very much to havekissed her, but did not dare do it in such a public place.
"Oh, what a grand trip we've had!" declared Clara, as she shook handsfirst with Jim and then with her brother. "I never had any idea ourcountry was so big and so magnificent."
"That's just what Joe and I were remarking on our trip across theRockies," answered Jim. He could not take his eyes from the face of hischum's sister. Clara looked the picture of health, showing that the tripfrom her little home town had done her a world of good.
But if Clara looked good, Mabel looked even better--at least in the eyesof Joe. He could not keep his gaze from her face. And she was certainlyjust as glad to see him.
"Ye-es, it was quite a trip, don't you know," remarked Reggie. "I metseveral bally good chaps on the way, so the time passed quickly enough.But I'm glad to be here, and hope that before long we'll be onshipboard."
"Oh, I'm so excited to think that I'm going to take a real ocean trip!"burst out Clara. "Just to think of it--a girl like me going around theworld! I never dreamed I'd get that far."
"And just think of the many queer sights we'll see!" broke in Mabel. "Andthe queer people we'll meet!"
The girls were all on the _qui vive_ with excitement in their anticipationof the delightful trip that lay before them, and there were no pauses intheir conversation on the way to the hotel.
Here they were introduced to the other members of the party, which by thistime had increased to large proportions, for beside the ladies who hadaccompanied the players across the continent, many others had followed thesame plan as Mabel and Clara and joined their friends in San Francisco.Altogether, there were more than a hundred of the tourists, of whomperhaps a third were women.
All were out for a good time, and the atmosphere of good will and jollitywas infectious. There was an utter absence of snobbery and affectation,and the boys were delighted to see how quickly the girls fell into thespirit of the gathering and with their own fun and high spirits added morethan their quota to the general hilarity.
That night there was a big banquet given to the tourists by the railroadofficials who had had the party in charge from the beginning and by someof the leading citizens of San Francisco. It was a jolly occasion, wherefor once in affairs of the kind the "flowing bowl" was notable for itsabsence. The stalwart, clear-eyed athletes who, with their friends, werethe guests of the occasion, had no use for the cup that both cheers andinebriates.
A striking feature of the table decorations was a cake weighing onehundred and twenty-five pounds, on whose summit was a bat and ball, andwhose frosted slopes were accurate representations of the Polo Grounds andthe baseball park at Chicago. It is needless to say how pronounced a hitthis made with the "fans" of both sexes. It was a great send-off to theglobe-encircling baseball teams.
The next day, Joe and Jim took the girls down to the pier to see the shipon which they were to sail. It was a splendid craft of twenty thousandtons and sumptuously fitted up. The girls exclaimed at the beauty of herlines and the superb decoration of the cabins and saloons.
"The _Empress of Japan_!" read Clara, as she scanned the name on thesteamer's stern.
"Most fittingly named," said Jim gallantly, "since she carries twoqueens."
"What a pretty compliment," said Clara, as she flashed a radiant look atJim.
"I'm afraid," said Mabel, "that Jim's been practising on some of the nicegirls in the party."
"Have I, Joe?" appealed the accused one. "Haven't I been an anchorite, asenobite, an archimandrite----"
"Goodness, I thought you were bad," laughed Clara. "But now I know you'reworse."
"Keep it up, old man, as long as the 'ites' hold out," said Joe. "I guessthere are plenty more in the dictionary. But honest, girls, Jim hasn'tlooked twice at any girl since he came away from Riverside."
"I've looked more than twice at one girl since yesterday," Jim wasbeginning, but Clara, flushing rosily, thought it was high time to changethe subject.
The next day, with all the party safely on board, the ship weighed anchor,threaded its way through the crowded commerce of the bay and then,dropping its tug, turned its prow definitely toward the east and breastedthe billows of the Pacific.
"The last we'll see of Old Glory for many months," remarked Joe, as,standing at the rail, they watched the Stars and Stripes floating out fromthe flag-pole on the top of the government station.
"Not so long as that," corrected Jim. "We will still be on the soil ofGod's country when we reach Hawaii seven days from now."
The first two days of the voyage passed delightfully. The girls provedgood sailors, and had the laugh on many of the so-called stronger sex,who were conspicuous by their absence from the table during that period.
On the afternoon of the third day out, Joe and Mabel were pacing the deckwith Jim and Clara at a discreet distance behind them. It was astonishinghow willing each pair was not to intrude upon the other.
Suddenly there was a tumult of excited exclamations near the stern of thevessel, and then above it rose a shout that is never heard at sea withouta chill of terror.
"Man overboard!"