CHAPTER XVII
FALLING BEHIND
"Braxton's the more likely one of the two to use violence--or have itused," said Jim. "Not but what either one of them would be mean enoughto do it. But Braxton has got more nerve than Fleming. Then, too, Ihappen to know that Fleming has run pretty well through his money,while Braxton is a millionaire. He was pretty hard hit by the failureof the All-Star League to go through last year, but he's got plentyleft. He could give those rascals a thousand, or five thousand ifnecessary, and never feel it."
"Speaking of money," said Joe, "reminds me of something else that maybe connected with this case. Do you remember what Reggie told us whenhe was in Riverside about that fellow in Chicago that was betting greatwads of money that the Giants wouldn't cop the flag? Betting it, Reggiesaid, as though he had something up his sleeve, as though he werebetting on a sure thing. Now what could be a surer thing in a race asclose as this than to cripple the Giant team by robbing it of one ofits pitchers? He'd be getting a double satisfaction then--making a pileof money to make up for his losses last season and getting even with mefor the thrashing I gave him. That is, of course, if the man is reallyBraxton."
"By Jove, I believe you're right!" exclaimed Jim. "Of course thatmight seem a little far-fetched, if it weren't for the other thingsthat point to the same man. But when you remember that Braxton hailsfrom Chicago, that the anonymous letter had a Chicago postmark, whenyou recall that somebody tried to injure us in that road blockade theday after I thought I saw Braxton in the training town, and that hewas the only one besides ourselves who knew the road we were goingto take--when you take all these things together, it seems a deadopen-and-shut proposition that Braxton was the man that plotted allthis scoundrelism."
"Some day soon I hope we'll know the truth," said Joe. "And when thatday comes----"
He did not finish the sentence, but his clenched fist and flashing eyeswere eloquent.
The next morning the chums went around early, to learn how the girlswere feeling after their trying experience. They found them still alittle nervous and overwrought, but the society of the boys and theknowledge that they had come through without injury soon brightenedthem up, and before long they were their natural selves again. The waythe boys had carried themselves in the fight with their assailants madethem more than ever heroes in the eyes of those they loved best, and ifit had not been for the deeper knowledge they had of the affair, Joeand Jim would have been rather glad it happened.
Reggie, of course, had been told of the holdup and was almoststuttering in his wrath and indignation. But he, like the girls,figured that it had been an attack simply for the purpose of robbery,and the boys were not sure enough of Reggie's discretion to tell himthe real facts. They feared that some slip of the tongue on his partmight reveal the matter, and they knew that a constant fear would fromthen on shadow the lives of Mabel and Clara.
In about ten days the next Western trip of the Giants was to begin, andthen Clara would return home, while Mabel would go on with Reggie toGoldsboro. But those precious ten days were enjoyed to the full by theyoung folks. Every hour that the boys could spare from the games wasspent in the society of the girls, and every day that a game was playedMabel and Clara occupied a box in the grandstand at the Polo Grounds.The knowledge of the bright eyes that were following their every moveput the boys on their mettle, and they played up to the top of theirform. Jim's progress as a boxman was evident with each succeeding game,and Joe covered himself with laurels as both pitcher and batsman. Butmore than once, after Joe had let down an opposing team with but afew hits, he had an involuntary shudder as he looked at the mightyarm that had scored the victory and thought of it as hanging witheredand helpless at his side. And only by the narrowest of margins had heescaped that fate.
The hour of parting came at last, and it was a great wrench to all ofthem. There were promises on both sides of daily letters, that wouldserve to bridge the gulf of separation.
The fight for the pennant was waxing hotter and hotter. The Giants andthe Pittsburghs were running neck and neck. First one and then theother was at the head in victories won. At times one would forge aheadfor a week or two, but the other refused obstinately to be shaken offand would again assume the leadership. Everything promised a ding-dong,hammer-and-tongs finish.
Some of the other teams were still in striking distance, but the firsttwo were really the "class" of the League. The great pitching staff ofthe Brooklyns had gone to pieces, and it looked as though they weredefinitely out of the running. The Bostons, after a poor start, hadbraced and were rapidly improving their average, but they seemed toofar behind to be really dangerous. The unfortunate Phillies were infor the "cellar championship" and did not have a ghost of a chance.Of the Western teams, outside of Pittsburgh, no fear was felt, thoughthe consistent slugging of the Cardinals gave the leaders some uneasymoments. Still, batting alone could not win games, and the Cardinals'pitching staff, though it had some brilliant performers, was surpassedin ability by several teams in the League.
In the American League also a spirited contest was going on. The WhiteSox, who had usually been a dangerous factor, were out of the runningbecause they had had to build up practically a new team. But theClevelands were as strong as they had been the year before, and weremaking a great bid for the flag. Detroit had started out brilliantly,and with its hard hitting outfield was winning many a game by sheerslugging. Washington loomed up as a dangerous contender, and only alittle while before had won fifteen straight games.
But the chief antagonist of the Clevelands was the New York Yankeeteam. For many years they had struggled to win the championship, butthough they had come so close at one time that a single wild pitch beatthem out of it, they had never been able to gain the coveted emblem.
"It seems at times as though a 'jinx' were pursuing the Yankees,"remarked Jim. "But this year they have got together a rattling goodcrowd in all departments of the game. Most of all that counts in theirhopes, I imagine, is the acquisition of Kid Rose."
Kid Rose was a phenomenal batter of whom every baseball fan in theUnited States was talking. He had been a pitcher on the Red Sox andhad done fine work in the box. It was only after he had been playingsome time in that position that he himself, as well as others, beganto realize the tremendous strength that resided in his batting arm andshoulders. He was a left handed batter, so that most of his hits wentinto right field, or rather into the right field bleachers, where theycounted as home runs. In one season he accumulated twenty-nine homeruns, which was a record for the major leagues.
The Yankee owners made a deal with the Red Sox by which the "Kid" wasbrought to the New York club at a price larger than had ever been paidfor a player. It was a good investment, however, for the newcomer wasexcelling his home run record of the year before and drew so manypeople to the parks where he played that a constant golden streamflowed into the strong boxes of the club. He made as many home runs asall the other players of his team together. Now, owing to his work,the Yankees were fighting it out with the Clevelands for the lead, andthe papers were already beginning to talk of the possibility of bothchampionships coming to New York. If this should be the case, the WorldSeries games would probably draw the greatest crowds that had everwitnessed such a contest, and the prize money for the players wouldundoubtedly be larger than ever before in the history of the game.
Joe and his comrades needed no such spur as this to make them playtheir best. A strong loyalty to the club marked every player of theteam. Still it was not at all an unpleasing thought that the result ofwinning would add a good many thousand dollars to the salary of everymember.
The Giants started out in high hopes on this second Western invasion.
"Sixteen games to be played on this trip, boys," McRae had said tothem, as they boarded the train at the Pennsylvania Station. "And outof that sixteen I want at least twelve. Nix on the breaking even stuff.That won't go with me at all. I want to get so far ahead on this tripthat we'll be on easy street for the rest of th
e race."
"Why not cop the whole sixteen, Mac?" asked Larry, with a broad grin.
"So much the better," answered McRae. "But I'm no hog. Give me anaverage of three out of four in each series and I'll ask for nothingbetter."
The team started out as though they were going to give their managerwhat he wanted. Their first stop this time was Pittsburgh, and herethey won the first two games right off the reel. The third, however,was lost by a close margin. In the fourth the Giants' bats got goingand they sent three Pirate pitchers to the showers, winning by theone-sided score of eleven to two. So that it was in high spirits thatthey left the Smoky City for Cincinnati.
Here they met with a rude shock. The Reds were in the midst of oneof their winning streaks and were on a hitting rampage. They had the"breaks," too, and cleaned up by taking every game. It was a completereversal, and the Giants were stunned.