the while his small store of savings were rapidly becoming depleted.
Pop well recalled the early autumn afternoon when Speedy Swift, the younger, was born. It was the year after Pop left the New York team and the second season of Swift's appearance with them.
Swift had not been going well the last month of that summer, after his meteoric career of the previous season. The papers and Manager McGinnis were remarking freely about it. Pop Dillon knew the reason. Tom Swift was worrying. Tom's wife, back in the small Iowa town whence he had come, was not well. Tom had tried to make a flying visit to her on the occasion when the New York team played in St. Louis or Chicago, but he was unsuccessful in getting away. Ball team officials in those days were very strict about granting leaves of absence.
In spite of the rather erratic work of their shortstop in the last weeks of the league race, New York that year landed in the World's Series. Though it meant extra money to him, Tom Swift in his heart was not glad. His wife was worse and he had counted on getting back to her immediately after the close of the team's schedule of games. Now he must remain away for another week or so.
The New York nine and its World's Series opponent that year were very evenly matched. The Series see-sawed for the first six games, each team winning three, with Tom Swift fretting more and more as each day went by. On the afternoon of the seventh and final game, just as the teams were
