"It's a great top piece you have, Lefty, old pal," cried Larry Stark. "That was the trick to get 'em going. Look at Pinwheel champ the bit."
But Hutchinson was back on the bench now, and he directed Crandall to hit the ball out. Reddy, trying to respond manfully, boosted an infield fly, and Stark was forced to remain on the sack while it was caught. Had Anastace, coming next, taken a daring chance and bunted, it is possible that the Bullies might have been thrown into confusion again; but he had orders from Hutchinson to hit, and in trying to do so he succumbed to Murtel's strategy, expiring in the box.
"Oh, this is some game, believe me!" shouted a Kingsbridger. "Hold 'em where they are, Lefty. You've got the stuff to do it. We depend on you."
The Bancrofters who had wagered money on the tussle were not as cocksure as they had been, and doubtless more than one, Manager Riley included, regretted that matters had not been privately arranged in advance so that it would not be necessary to rely almost wholly on the prowess their new left-handed pitcher.
Surely their regrets became still more acute when, in the seventh, Locke showed no let-up in form, and was not even ruffled when McGovern
