"That's the talk, give him another like that, Carson!"

Again the ball came whizzing over the plate. The batsman struck it
fairly, and it sailed down toward second base. The runner was off like
a shot, but it availed him nothing. The second baseman caught the fly
with ease.

"Hurray! One down! Now for the other two!"

The second man at the bat went out in one-two-three order. Then the
third player up knocked a short fly to first.

"Three out. That's the way to do it, Roxley!"

"Now, for a few runs!"

It must be confessed that Tom was a trifle nervous when he took the
ball and walked down to the box. The eyes of over twelve hundred
spectators were on him, and those included the eyes of the girl he
thought the dearest in all the world. He gave a short sigh, and then
suddenly braced up. "I've got to do it," he muttered to himself. "I've
simply got to!"

As was to be expected, Roxley had its best batters on the top of the
list. The first fellow to face Tom was a hitter well-known for his
prowess. As Tom had heard that this man loved a low ball, he purposely
sent in the sphere rather high.

"One ball."