''
``Thank you, Pat. I think I understand now.
And--oh, yes, there's another thing I want to
ask you. What's the matter with Billie Sheldon?
Uncle George said he was falling off in his game.
Then I've read the papers. Billie started out
well in the spring.''
``Didn't he? I was sure thinkin' I had a find
in Billie. Well, he's lost his nerve. He's in a
bad slump. It's worried me for days. I'm goin'
to release Billie. The team needs a shake-up.
That's where Billie gets the worst of it, for he's
really the makin' of a star; but he's slumped, an'
now knockin' has made him let down. There, Miss
Madge, that's an example of what I've just been
tellin' you. An' you can see that a manager has
his troubles. These hulkin' athletes are a lot of
spoiled babies an' I often get sick of my job.''
That afternoon Miss Ellston was in a brown
study all the way out to the baseball park. She
arrived rather earlier than usual to find the grand-
stand empty. The Denver team had just come
upon the field, and the Kansas City players were
practising batting at the left of the diamond.
Madge walked down the aisle of the grand stand
and out along the reporters' boxes. She asked
one of the youngsters on the field to tell Mr.
Sheldon that she would like to speak with him a
moment.
Billie eagerly hurried from the players' bench
with a look of surprise and expectancy on his sun-
tanned face.
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