Barney might have dropped to the ground and thus avoided being hit, but, instead of doing so, he leaned far forward, with his left shoulder advanced and his right shoulder held well back. In this manner he escaped being hit fairly by the ball, which glanced from the back of his right shoulder.
"Take your base!" called Carker promptly.
Instantly there was a howl of protestation from the crowd back of first base.
McCann made a rush at Carker.
"Call him back!" snarled the captain of the Rovers. "He didn"t try to dodge that ball! He didn"t try to get out of the way!"
"The pitcher hit him deliberately," said Greg calmly. "He was threatened before the ball was pitched. Get back into your position."
McCann placed his hands on his hips and glared at Carker.
"Who are ye tellin" to git back?" he rasped. "Do ye know who ye"re talkin" to, young feller?"
"I"m talking to you," said Greg, in the same calm manner. "If you don"t get back in your position and play the game, I"ll put you on the bench."
"What?" shouted the Irishman. "Put me on the bench--you put me on the bench? I"d like to see you do it!"
Greg pulled out his watch.
"I"ll give you just thirty seconds to get into your position and go on with this game," he said.
"If you put me on the bench, I"ll take my team off the field!"
threatened McCann.
"And I"ll forfeit the game to the home team," retorted Carker. "Twenty seconds. You have ten seconds more."
McCann turned and retreated to his position, growling and muttering in an ugly manner.
"Play ball, boys!" he called. "We can win the game, even if the umpire is against us!"
Basil Bearover hurried to the bench of the home players and grasped Frank Merriwell by the shoulder.
"Is this the kind of square deal you promised us?" he demanded.
Merry rose, turned, and faced the man.
"What"s the matter?" was his question. "You know Mulloy was ent.i.tled to his base."
"But your umpire threatened to put one of my men out of the game."
"He has authority to put any player out of the game. He can"t fine the men, but he can order them off the field if they raise a disturbance and make back talk to him. If one of my players should rush at him the way McCann did, I should expect him to put the man on the bench or off the field. If he didn"t do it, I"d do it myself. You know Bender threw that ball at Mulloy to drive him back from the plate, and you also know that Mulloy was in his proper position."
"Aren"t we going to have any sort of a square deal here?" gurgled Bearover furiously.
"You"re going to have as square a deal as you ever received in all your career, but you"re not going to bulldoze the umpire or any one else on this field."
"If we don"t get what we want, we"ll stop the game in the very first inning," threatened Bearover.
"You can stop it by refusing to play," said Frank. "You heard Carker tell McCann that he would forfeit the game if he did such a thing. It will be all over in short order in case you or your captain pulls the team off the field."
"But look at this crowd! You"ll disappoint this crowd! You"ll have to refund the gate money!"
"Which I"ll do," said Merriwell. "I"ll refund every cent that"s been taken at the gate. Did you read the Wellsburg _Herald_ this morning? If so, Mr. Bearover, I presume you saw a little item regarding a ten-thousand-dollar bet. Now, if such a bet has been made, and you lose this game through forfeit, you"ll likewise lose the bet. It may not cost you anything, but it will cost Mr. Silence ten thousand dollars. I don"t think you"ll take your team off the field to-day."
Bearover was purple with anger.
"Look at that bunch of boys back of first," he directed. "If you are not careful, Mr. Merriwell, they"ll waltz onto the field and wipe up the earth with you and your team and the umpire."
"I don"t think they will," said Frank. "At the present time they"re being watched by six deputies, every man of which carries a billy and a pair of handcuffs. In case your tough crowd from Wellsburg attempts to make a disturbance, the ringleaders will find themselves in Bloomfield lockup. We"ve made preparations for you and your paid thugs, Mr.
Bearover."
While this conversation was taking place Bender had pretended to busy himself in tying a shoestring, which he untied and retied several times before it seemed satisfactory to him.
"If you can win this game squarely, Bearover, you"ll win it," said Frank; "but you"ll never win it through intimidation and bulldozing. Now don"t bother me any more. Better keep on your own side and let your men play the game. They"ll have to play the best game they know if they want to win."
All this was quite unexpected by the "big bear" and his companions.
Feeling that he was up against an unusual proposition, Bearover returned to the visitors" bench, where Silence was somewhat nervously smoking a cigarette.
Bart Hodge was in position to strike. Bender whipped the ball over.
Hodge let it pa.s.s.
"One strike!" announced Carker.
Bender"s curve had carried the ball over the outside corner.
The visiting pitcher followed this up with a sharp drop, which came down across Bart"s shoulders. Again Bart declined to swing.
"Two strikes!" cried Carker.
Bart did not kick. He did not even frown, although he realized he had failed to swing at two fair b.a.l.l.s.
The next ball was wide. Then followed a high one.
Hodge hit the next ball and put up an infield fly, which was easily captured by McCann. Mulloy had promptly returned to first as soon as he realized the ball was going to the infield.
Frank Merriwell received an ovation from the crowd as he stepped out with a bat in his hand. He held the bat in a position which was a signal for Mulloy to attempt to steal on the first ball pitched.
Merry swung at the ball, but was careful not to hit it. Mulloy went down to second.
Bancroft made a sharp short-arm throw. Clover took the ball handsomely, and Mulloy was tagged as he slid.
"Out!" announced Carker.
"Why, the kids think they can steal on ye, Mitt!" sneered McCann, while the Rovers, with the exception of Bender, shouted with laughter.
Two men were out, and there was a strike on Merriwell. Bender tried to pull Frank with a couple of wide ones. Failing in this, he whipped over a sharp shoot.