Boy Scout Fire Fighters; Or Jack Danby's Bravest Deed Read online

  CHAPTER IV

  THE DOUBLE HEADER

  Pete Stubbs had wanted to tell everyone of the trick that Lawrence hadtried to play on Jack, and of Jack Danby's clever way of turning thetables on him, but Jack dissuaded him.

  "That won't do any good," he said. "After all, he may not have meantto do anything wrong, and we'd better give him the benefit of thedoubt."

  "Aw, sure he meant to be mean, Jack! I ain't got no use for him. Ifwe told the others he'd get a ragging he wouldn't forget in a hurry,I'll bet."

  "I guess you can stand it if I can, Pete. Keep quiet about it, becauseI want you to."

  "All right, Jack, if you want me to, I will. Say, there's one thing Ihadn't thought of. If he takes all that trouble to find out how youpitch, he must be afraid of you!"

  "I hope he is, Pete. That's half the battle, you know, making theother fellow think you're better than he is, whether you are ornot--and thinking so yourself. Often it makes it come out right."

  Full grown men would have been appalled by the program that had beenmapped out for the Boy Scout Field Day.

  Baseball filled the morning and early afternoon. There were to bethree games in all. First the Crows were to play the Whip-poor-wills.Then the Whip-poor-wills were to play the Raccoons, and finally theCrows and Raccoons were to meet. There was to be an hour of rest forthe baseball players between the games, and during that time there wereto be running races and jumping contests, and also a race for smallsailing boats on the lake, with crews from the three Patrols for threecatboats. Durland owned one, Dick Crawford another, and the third, theone to be used by the Crows, was lent by Mr. Simms, the president ofthe company that employed Jack Danby and Pete Stubbs.

  The first event of all on the program was the baseball game betweenCrows and Whip-poor-wills. The Whip-poor-wills, or the Willies, asthey were called for short, by the rooters, were not as strong as theCrows and the Raccoons, and were expected to lose both their games,leaving the championship to be fought out between the Crows arid theRaccoons in the afternoon.

  Bob Hart, captain of the Crows, came up to Jack Danby in the earlymorning at the campfire.

  "We'll let Tom Binns pitch the first game, Jack," he said, "and saveyou for the Raccoons. They're saving Lawrence, too, and he'll pitchagainst you. So you want to be fresh and ready for him. You play leftfield. That'll give you some exercise, and won't tire your arm out."

  "I think I could pitch the two games, if you wanted me to," said Jack,"but I'll be glad to see Tom get a chance to pitch. He's a goodpitcher, and he ought to beat them easily."

  So the teams lined up with Jack in left field, and the game began.

  "Gee," said Pete, in the fourth inning, as he and Jack waited theirturn to bat, "we can't seem to hit their pitcher at all. Tom'spitching an elegant game, but I thought we'd have eight or nine runs bythis time, and the score's really two to one in their favor."

  "There's plenty of time to begin hitting later, Pete. No need to worryabout that yet. There's nine innings in a ball game, and a run in theninth counts for just as much as one we make now."

  Pete Stubbs made a home run and tied the score in the sixth inning, andafter that, until the ninth there was no more scoring.

  The despised Willies were playing better than they knew how, as PeteStubbs said, and the Raccoons, who stood around to watch the game,began to look anxious, for they had expected to see the Crows walk awaywith the game.

  But in the ninth inning there was quite a break in the game. Bob Hart,who batted first, led off with a screaming two bagger, and went tothird, when Tom Binns was thrown out. Pete Stubbs batted next, and wasso anxious to make a hit that he popped up a little fly to the firstbaseman. But Jack Danby, with a rousing drive to center field, put histeam ahead, for he ran so fast that he beat the throw to the plate, andmade a home run, as Pete had done before him.

  "That's great, Jack!" cried Tom Binns. "Gee, I thought we'd never geta lead on them! They can't hit much, but they've certainly got a goodpitcher."

  Jack trotted contentedly out to his position for the last half of theninth inning. The Crows seemed certain to win now, because Tom Binns'pitching had been getting better every inning, and in the last twotimes they had been at bat the Whip-poor-wills hadn't been able to geta man to first base, much less get anywhere near making a run.

  The first man up now made a little tap, and the ball rolled toward thethird baseman, who muffed it. The next got a base on balls, and thethird was hit. The whole game was changed in a second. Tom Binnsseemed to be rattled. Try as he would, he couldn't get the ball overthe plate, despite Bob Hart's efforts to steady him, and in a moment hepassed the fourth batter, forcing in a run, and leaving theWhip-poor-wills only one run behind, with the bases full and none out.

  Two or three of the Crow fielders looked anxiously at Jack, and PeteStubbs called from his position at shortstop.

  "I say, Bob," he cried, "better change pitchers. Tom's wild and can'tsee the plate."

  Jack himself was more than anxious. He felt desperately sorry for poorlittle Tom Binns, who had been tremendously proud of being chosen topitch for his team, and he was afraid, as were the others, that thesudden rally was more than Tom could check.

  "He's going to leave him in," cried the center fielder to Jack as Hartshook his head at Pete's suggestion that he take Tom out of the box.And Tom began pitching again to the fifth Whip-poor-will who stood atthe plate brandishing his bat.

  Jack Danby knew a lot about baseball that was planted in him by sheerinstinct. And now he did something that was against orders andentirely different from what any other amateur outfielder would havethought of doing. It smacked more of big league baseball, wherethinking is quick. He crept in, inch by inch, almost, while Tom Binnspitched two balls and a strike, until he was not more than thirty feetbehind the third baseman.

  "If they hit a long fly one run will come in," he reasoned to himself."A good single, even, will score two runs and win the game. The onlychance is to make a double play. That's why the infielders are alldrawn in close, so that they can throw to the plate. And that batterwill try his hardest to push the ball over their heads."

  "Crack!"

  The sound of the bat meeting the ball fairly came to him, and in amoment he saw the sphere sailing for the outfield, and about to passsquarely over the place the shortstop had just left.

  It looked like a sure hit, and the base runners started at once withthe ball. The center fielder, running in desperately, was too far outto have a chance to catch the ball. But suddenly there was a shout.Jack Danby, who had crept far in without being noticed, sprinted over,and, by a wonderful jumping dive, caught the ball. Like a flash hethrew it to third base, and the runner who had started thence for theplate was doubled easily. He had reached home, and there was no chancefor him to turn back. The runner from second, too, had turned thirdbase, and, as soon as the third baseman had stepped on his bag heturned and threw to second base, completing as pretty a triple play aswas ever made, and winning the game for the Crows.

  "That was a wonderful play, Jack!" said Scout-Master Durland, whoserved as umpire. "I never saw a better one, even in a big leaguegame. You were out of position, but if you hadn't been, that ballwould have fallen fair, and Tom Binns would have lost his game.Really, though, you're the one that deserves the credit for winning it,for your batting put your team ahead, and your fielding kept theWhip-poor-wills from nosing you out in the finish."

  The Whip-poor-wills, disappointed by losing when victory seemed to bewithin their grasp after such a gallant up-hill fight, seemed to haveshot their bolt. Their pitcher had outdone himself against the hardhitters of the Crows, in holding them down so well, and when, after anhour's rest, they lined up against the Raccoons, it seemed that theywere a different team. The Raccoons simply toyed with them. Theypiled up runs in almost every inning, and won with ridiculous ease, bya score of twenty to three.

  Harry Norman, who had come out with his friend Lawrence to
watch thesport, came up to Jack after the Raccoons had given this impressiveexhibition of their strength.

  "Gee," he said, "you might as well forfeit this game, Danby! Youhaven't got a chance against the Raccoons, especially when HomerLawrence begins pitching for them. Look at the way they beat theWhip-poor-wills, and the trouble you had with them. You only beat themfour to three, and you wouldn't have done that if you hadn't made thatlucky catch in the ninth inning."

  "That wasn't a lucky catch," protested Pete Stubbs. "Jack knew thatthe ball might be hit that way, and he took a chance, because if theball had been hit to his regular position it would have meant a runanyhow. That isn't luck--that's baseball strategy!"

  "There wasn't any luck about the twenty runs the Raccoons made anyhow,"said Norman, with a sneer. "And I'll bet you five dollars they beatyou. Money talks--there you are!"

  "We can't afford to bet," said Jack, quietly, while Pete Stubbs lookedangry enough to cry, almost. "We only get small salaries, Norman, andwe have to use all the money we make to live on. We support ourselves,you know."

  "Oh, I suppose that's right," said Norman, contemptuously. Like manyother boys who are fortunate enough to have wealthy parents and to berelieved from the need of starting out when they are little more thanchildren to earn their own way in the world, Norman had an idea that hewas, for that reason, superior to boys like Jack and Pete, when, as amatter of fact, it is just the other way around.

  "Scouts don't bet, anyway," said Dick Crawford, who had overheard theconversation, and showed, by his manner, that he had little use forNorman, of whom he had heard many things that were far from pleasant."We don't want to win money from one another, and betting on friendlygames leads to hard feelings and all sorts of trouble. It's a goodthing to let alone. Come on to lunch, now, fellows. It's all ready."

  The members of the Crow Patrol and two or three volunteers who weretrying to prove that they were really qualified to be Scouts, thoughthey had to wait for vacancies before they could join, had preparedlunch while the second baseball game was being played.

  "Guess I won't eat much today," said Pete Stubbs, sorrowfully. "I likeeating, but if I eat too much I'm never able to play a good game ofball afterward."

  "Satisfy your hunger, Pete, and don't eat too much," advised Jack."Then you'll be all right. The trouble with you is that when you gethold of something you like, you always feel that you have to eat allyou can hold of it. Don't starve yourself now--just eat a good meal,and stop before you get so full that you feel as if you couldn't eatanother mouthful."

  "I guess he never gets enough to eat except when he's out this way,"said Harry Norman, beneath his breath.

  Jack Danby heard him and was furious, but he restrained himself,although an attack on his friend angered him more than a similar remarkaimed at himself would have done.

  "I don't want any more trouble with you, Norman," he said very quietly,taking the rich boy aside. "But don't say that sort of thing aroundhere. Remember that you're a guest, and that Pete is one of your hostsand helped to pay for the spread that you're going to enjoy."

  "Mind your own business!" said Norman, rudely. "I didn't say anythingabout you. I will if you don't look out--I'll tell them you haven'tgot any right to your name, and that you don't know who your father andmother were!"

  Jack bit his lips and clenched his fists for a moment, but hecontrolled himself, and managed to let the insult pass by withoutgiving Norman the thrashing he deserved.

  After lunch, when the mess had been cleared away, the dishes had beenwashed and everything had been made neat and orderly, the championshipgame between the Raccoons and the Crows was called.

  There was quite a crowd out to see this game. Boys from theneighborhood, attracted by the prowess of the rival pitchers, turnedout in good numbers. Many of Lawrence's school friends were also onhand, and practically every boy employed in the office with Pete andJack was on hand, ready to yell his head off for the success of theCrows. The defeated Whip-poor-wills were anxious for the Crows to win,for the Raccoons had taunted them unmercifully on the poor showing theyhad made in their second game, and they wanted to see the team that hadbeaten them so badly humiliated in its turn. So the crowd of Crowrooters was a little the larger, and if Jack Danby could win this game,his victory was certain to be a popular one, at least. But fewthought that he would have a chance against the clever and experiencedLawrence.

  "I've got an idea that the best way to beat Lawrence is to let him beathimself," said Jack Danby to Bob Hart before the game. "He knows howto pitch two good curves, and he's been striking out ten and twelvefellows in every game he played just because they've swiped at thosecurve balls."

  "That's just what I'm afraid our fellows will do," said Bob. "That'swhat's been worrying me."

  "Well," said Jack, "about every one of those curves breaks outside theplate. That is, if the batter didn't swing at them, the umpire wouldhave to call them balls. Just watch him in practice and you'll seewhat I mean. Why not wait him out and make him pitch over the plate?"

  "Say, that's a good idea, Jack! I'll call the fellows together, andwe'll see how that works. I think that's a good way to save thegame--hanged if I don't!"

  And Bob Hart gave his orders accordingly. But it was harder to get theCrows to do it than to tell them. Time after time they struck attempting balls, that looked as if they were going to split the plate,only to have them break away out of reach of the swinging bats. So, inthe early stages of the game, Lawrence looked just as formidable as hehad in the school games in which his reputation had been made. BobHart himself, and Jack, and Pete Stubbs, who could and would alwaysobey orders, made him pitch to them, and, because they waited andrefused to bite at his tempting curves, they put the star pitcher inthe hole each time.

  He was a good pitcher as far as he went, but his equipment was not aslarge as it should have been. He knew how to pitch a few balls verywell, but if they failed him, he was in trouble. He had nothing buthis wide curves--no straight, fast ball with a jump, no drop, no changeof pace. The first time Jack Danby came up, in the second inning, helet the first three balls that Lawrence pitched go by, and Durlandcalled every one a ball. Then, when Lawrence had to put his ballstraight over or give him a pass, Jack smashed it to right for twobases. But he was left on second, for the two who followed him wereover anxious, and were victims on strikes.

  But Jack himself was pitching high class ball. He didn't try to strikeout every man who faced him, but made it next to impossible for theRaccoons to make long hits off him, and he did have some fun withLawrence, striking him out three times in the first six innings.

  In the seventh inning Bob Hart waited and got a base on balls. By thattime the Crows had begun to understand, and they waited now whileLawrence's best curves went to waste, never offering to hit at any ballthat didn't come straight for the plate. Three passes in quicksuccession filled the bases, and then Jack Danby was up again.

  Lawrence was no poor player. He had a head as well as a good pitchingarm, and he set a trap for Jack. His first three balls werecurves--and called balls. Jack waited. Twice before, in the samesituation, Lawrence had had to pitch him a ball he could hit and he hadswung at it. And now Lawrence expected him to do the same thing, andsent up a floater that looked good for a home run. But Jack onlysmiled, and the ball broke away from the plate.

  It was the fourth ball, and it forced in the first run of the game.Moreover, Lawrence, fooled and outguessed, went up in the air, and theCrows made six runs in that one inning, and five more for good measurein the eighth, while Jack shut out the Raccoons.

  The Crows, thanks to Jack, also won in the races and jumping contests,so it was a great day for them.