This was his rarely used pitch, his
last resort, his fast rise ball that jumped up a
little at the plate. Lane struck under it. How
significant on the instant to see old Cogswell's
hands go up! Again the Rube pitched, and this
time Lane watched the ball go by. Two strikes!
That whole audience leaped to its feet,
whispering, yelling, screaming, roaring, bawling.
The Rube received the ball from Sweeney and
quick as lightning he sped it plateward. The great
Lane struck out! The game was over--Chicago,
1; Philadelphia, 0.
In that whirling moment when the crowd went
mad and Milly was hugging me, and Nan pounding
holes in my hat, I had a queer sort of blankness,
a section of time when my sensations were
deadlocked.
``Oh! Connie, look!'' cried Nan. I saw Lane
and Cogswell warmly shaking hands with the
Rube. Then the hungry clamoring fans tumbled
upon the field and swarmed about the players.
Wereupon Nan kissed me and Milly, and then
kissed Mrs. Nelson. In that radiant moment Nan
was all sweetness.
``It is the Rube's break into fast company,'' she
said.
THE KNOCKER
``Yes, Carroll, I got my notice. Maybe it's no
surprise to you. And there's one more thing I want
to say. You're `it' on this team. You're the
topnotch catcher in the Western League and one
of the best ball players in the game--but you're
a knocker!''
Madge Ellston heard young Sheldon speak.
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