"You've said it," replied Hughson. "At least half of the men will have their wives along, and then there's a whole bunch of fans who have been meaning to go round the world anyway who will think this a good chance to mix baseball and globe trotting. Altogether I shouldn't wonder if there would be about a hundred in the party. Some of the fellows will have their sisters with them, and you boys had better look out or you'll lose your hearts to them. But perhaps," he added, as he saw a look of quick intelligence pass between the chums, "you're already past praying for." Neither one of them denied the soft impeachment. "By the way," said Hughson, changing the subject, "while I think of it, Joe, I want to give you a tip to be on your guard against 'Bugs' Hartley." "Why, what's he up to, now?" inquired Joe. "I don't know," Hughson replied. "But I do know that he's sore at you through and through. He's got the idea in that twisted brain of his that you got him off the Giant team. I met him in the street the other day----" "Half drunk, I suppose," interjected Jim. "More than half," replied Hughson. "He's got to be a regular panhandler--struck me for a loan, and while I was getting it for him, he talked in a rambling way of how he was going to get even with you. Of course I shut him up, but I couldn't talk him out of his fixed idea. He'll do you a mischief if he ever gets the chance." "He's tried it before," said Joe. "He nearly knocked me out when he doped my coffee. Poor old 'Bugs'--he's his own worst enemy." "But he's your enemy too," persisted Hughson. "And don't forget that a crazy man is a dangerous man." "Thanks for the tip," replied Joe. "But 'threatened men live long' and I guess I'm no exception to the rule!" CHAPTER IX THE UNDER DOG "Talking of angels!" exclaimed Jim, giving Joe a sharp nudge in the ribs. Joe looked up quickly and saw Hartley coming down the corridor. "It's 'Bugs,' sure enough," he said. "And, for a wonder, he's walking straight." "Guess he's on his good behavior," remarked Hughson. "There's a big meeting of the American League here just now, winding up the affairs of the league, now that the playing season is over. Maybe Hartley thinks he has a chance to catch on somewhere. Like everybody else that's played in the big leagues, he hates to go back to the bushes. He'd be a find, too, if he'd only cut out the booze--there's lots of good baseball in him yet." "He's a natural player," said Joe, generously. "And one of the best pitchers I ever saw. You know how Mac tried to hold on to him." "I don't think he has a Chinaman's chance, though, of staying in big league company," observed Jim. "After the way he tried to give away our signals in that game at Boston, the Nationals wouldn't touch him with a ten-foot pole, and I don't think the American has any use for him either. You might forgive him for being a drunkard, but not for being a traitor."