CHAPTER III
WHAT THE SPY SAW
The boys who had fought the fire and saved the farm were so tired thenext day that most of them, including Jack Danby and Pete Stubbs, wereglad to spend the whole day in rest. The work had been more exhaustingthan they had been able thoroughly to understand in the heat and rushof getting it done. The next day saw them with aching muscles, sorefeet, and eyes that still smarted from the acrid wood smoke. It wasSunday, so, of course, there was no reason why they should not rest asmuch as they liked.
"We sure want to rest up today, Jack," said Pete Stubbs, in theafternoon, when they had gone to Grant park to lie on the grass andwatch a game of baseball that was being played by two teams of youngmen who had no other day for games of any sort. "Tomorrow's field day,you know."
"I know it is, Pete. I've been practicing long enough to rememberthat!"
Monday of that week was a holiday in that State, and all the Scouts hadthe day to themselves. Durland, always trying to think of things tomake life in his Troop interesting and happy, had devised the plan of afield day, in which there should be games of all sorts. There was tobe a baseball tournament between the three Patrols for the championshipof the Troop, and a set of athletic games, including running, jumping,and all sorts of sports. There were eight Scouts in each Patrol, and,to make up a full nine, each had been allowed to select one boy fromits waiting list so that the roster might be complete.
Jack Danby was the hope of the Crow Patrol in these sports. He was awonderfully fine athlete for a boy of his age, and was proficient inmany games. There had been no other real candidate for the post ofpitcher on the Crow baseball team, and he was expected to make a newrecord in strike-outs the next day.
"How's your arm, Jack?" asked Pete Stubbs, anxiously. "You didn'tstrain it yesterday, did you, digging that ditch?"
"Not a bit," said Jack, with a laugh. "It did it good, I think. I'mnot much of a pitcher, but if we get licked tomorrow the work I didyesterday won't be any excuse. I'm as fit as any of the others, and Iwon't mind admitting that anyone who pitches better than I do tomorrowdeserves to win."
"Gee, Jack, I hope I do some hitting! I'm crazy to make a home run!"
"Don't worry about it, Pete. That's the worst way you can do if youreally want to bat well. And remember that while it's fine to knockout a home run and have everyone yelling and cheering you, the fellowthat sacrifices is often the one that wins the game."
"It seems hard, though, Jack, just to bunt and know you're going to bethrown out when you really might be able to make a hit."
"It's the team that counts, though, Pete. Always remember that. And aScout ought to be able to obey his captain's orders just as well in abaseball game as any other time. Just remember that there's a reasonfor everything, even if you can't always understand it yourself, andyou won't mind making a sacrifice hit when what you want to do is toknock the cover off the ball."
"I'm going to play short stop tomorrow, Jack. Bob Hart brought me infrom the outfield and put Jack Binns out there. He says Tom can playbetter with the sun in his eyes than anyone on the team. I missed acatch the last game we had because I couldn't see the ball."
"It's a mighty hard thing to do, to play the sun field well," saidJack. "I wonder how that new pitcher the Raccoons have will do?"
"He's their extra pitcher, and I guess he's a good one, Jack. Hepitched for the Bliss School team last spring, and they say hispitching was what won the county championship for them."
"Don't you believe it, Pete! He had a good team behind him. That wonthe championship. No one man ever won a championship for a team, orever will. He's a good pitcher, and he probably helped them a lot, butit's the team that does the work, every time."
"Well, I don't know, Jack. In their big game, with the High School, hestruck out fourteen men and the other side didn't get a run. His teamonly made one run off the High School pitcher, so he had to do itpretty nearly by himself. I hope you beat him, anyhow. He's got anawful swelled head. They say the only reason he wants to join theScouts is so that he can get a chance to show he's a better pitcherthan you are. That's Homer Lawrence all over!"
"Oh, I guess he's all right. I think he's a pretty nice fellow. I wastalking to him the other day."
"His father's one of the richest men in this town, Jack. He has allthe money he wants, and he's been taking lessons in pitching from oneof the State League players. That's why he's so good, I guess. Theother fellows don't have a chance to learn things that way."
"It isn't always the fellows who had the most lessons who are the bestplayers, Pete. Ty Cobb never had any lessons in baseball but he's apretty good player. And there are lots of others."
"I don't think it's fair, anyhow, Jack. The Raccoons oughtn't to havepicked him out. He's a long way off from the top of their list, and Idon't believe he'll get in this year."
"That's the rule we made, Pete. Each Patrol needed an extra player,and they were allowed to pick anyone at all they liked from theirwaiting lists. So it's perfectly fair, and we haven't any kick coming."
Jack was willing to rest for quite a while after that, but presently hebegan to feel more energetic.
"Come on, Pete," he said, "I'll pitch a few balls to you somewhere, ifwe can get a bat and a ball, and perhaps that'll help you in yourbatting tomorrow."
So they left the park, and went back toward their homes. At Jack'sroom they got a bat and ball, and then wondered where they should gofor their practice.
"I know!" cried Pete. "Down by the river there. There's nothing doingthere on Sundays--it's quiet as can be. And maybe we'll find somelittle kid around to chase balls for us."
"Any place you like, Pete; it's all the same to me. I'll be glad tolimber my arm up a little, too. It feels a tiny bit stiff, and a goodwork-out will be fine for it."
Because it was Sunday they tried to keep their bat out of sight.
"I don't think it's wrong for us to practice this way," said Jack. "Wehave to work all week, and I think we need exercise. If we can't getit except on Sunday afternoons, it's all right to practice a little,though I wouldn't play in a regular game, because I do get a chance forplaying on Saturdays now. They don't give you Saturday afternoon offin every office, though, I can tell you."
First of all Pete, highly elated at the chance to further his secretambition of developing into a catcher, put on a big mitt and Jackpitched all sorts of curves to him. Then he took his bat and tried tostraighten out the elusive, deceptive balls that Jack pitched.
"Gee, I can hardly see the ball, much less hit it!" exclaimed Pete,after whiffing ingloriously at the air two or three times and barelytapping the sphere on several other occasions.
"Keep on trying, Pete. Those aren't really bard to hit. The troubleis you don't watch the ball."
"It never goes where I think it will, Jack."
"That's the whole idea of pitching, Pete. Keep your eyes on the ballafter I pitch it, not on me. Then you can see just what it does. Nowyou think I'm going to pitch one sort of a ball, and if I pitchanything else, you're up in the air right away."
At last, in huge disgust, Pete hurled his bat away from him, aftermaking a mighty swing at a slow floater. He seemed to be furious.
"Easy there, Pete!" said Jack, amused at this display of temper, as hepicked up the bat and advanced toward Pete to return it to him.
"I wasn't mad," said Pete, in a low whisper. "I just wanted to talk toyou without anyone knowing that I wanted to. Say, Jack, there'ssomeone watching us."
"Watching us, Pete? Why should anyone do that?"
"It's Lawrence,--that chap that's going to pitch for the Raccoons,Jack. I'm sure of it! He and Harry Norman are behind that fence overthere--the sneaks!"
Jack dropped back to his position without saying anything more. He wascareful for a minute or two not to look in the direction of the fencethat Pete had referred to. But when he did look, his keen eyes werenot long in finding out that Pete had
been right. There were spiesbehind the fence, and they were studying every ball he pitched.
A few moments later he found, or made, another chance to speak to Pete.
"You were right, Pete," he said. "They are watching us from there."
"Let's chase them out of there, Jack!"
"Not a bit of it, Pete. I don't want them to know we've found outthey're there--not now, at any rate. If they're mean enough to try tofind something out by spying that way, I'll be mean enough to give themsomething to look at that won't do them much good!"
"Say, Jack, that's the stuff! That's better than giving them alicking, too. What'll you do?"
"Just wait and see! And hit these balls just as hard as you can."
The ball looked as big as a house now to Pete as it came sailing up tohim. Mysteriously all the "stuff" that Jack had been "putting on" theball was gone and done with. The balls Jack pitched now were eitherstraight or broke so widely that almost anyone could have batted homeruns galore off him. And Pete, who saw the point, swung wildly atevery one of them, hitting them easily.
"That's a fine joke," said Pete. "They won't find out very much aboutwhat you can do as a pitcher from that--that's a sure thing! IfLawrence thinks that's the best thing you can do when you get in thebox I'm afraid he'll get an awful jolt tomorrow."
"I hope so, Pete. The sneak--you were quite right. If he'd come rightout to me and told me he wanted to watch me pitch, I wouldn't haveminded. But that's a mean trick!"
"It won't do him much good, that's one good thing. Say, I don'tbelieve he's as good himself as they make out, or he wouldn't haveplayed such a trick. I bet he's got a big yellow streak in him."
"We'll find that out tomorrow, Pete. I hope not, because he certainlyknows how to pitch. If he does a thing like that, though, he'd be aptto try to cheat in the game, or do something like that, I'm afraid. Idon't care, though. If he wants to win in any such fashion as that,he's welcome to the victory. He must want to win worse than I do."
"I didn't think Harry Norman would play a dirty trick on you after theway you saved his life, Jack. I was surprised to see him there."
"He doesn't like me. I've always been willing to be friendly with him,even when I had to fight him up at Woodleigh. He forced me into that."
"He isn't a Scout, is he?"
"No, he doesn't like the Scouts. I guess he'll never join, either."
"He's no great loss, I guess. We can get along better without him thanwith him if he's going to do things like that. I bet Lawrence won'tjoin either, when this game's over."