"Nothing to do till to-morrow," chimed in Denton. "And not much even then." "Don't you boys go patting yourselves on the back," smiled Robbie, looking more like a cherub than ever, as he stopped beside their seats on his way along the aisle. "These games, remember, are to be the real thing--there's going to be no sloppy or careless work just because you're not playing for the championship. They're going to be fights from the time the gong rings till the last man is out in the ninth inning." If Robbie wanted action, he got it, and the first games had a snap and vim about them that augured well for the success of the trip. It is true that the players had not the stimulus that comes from a fight for the pennant, but other motives were not lacking. There was one game which was a nip-and-tuck affair from start to finish. At the end of the fourth inning the score stood 1 to 1, and at the end of the sixth inning the score had advanced so that it stood 2 to 2. "Say, we don't seem to be getting anywhere in this game," remarked Jim to Joe. "Oh, well, we've got three more innings to play," was the answer. In the seventh inning a most remarkable happening occurred. The All-Americans had three men on bases with nobody out. It looked as if they might score, but Joe took a sudden brace and pitched the next man at the bat out in one-two-three order. The next man up knocked a pop fly, which Joe gathered in with ease. "That's the way to do it, Joe!" sang out one of his companions. "Now go for the third man!" The third fellow to the bat was a notable hitter, and nearly every one thought he would lace out at least a two-bagger, bringing in probably three runs. Instead, however, he knocked two fouls, and then sent a liner down to first base, which the baseman caught with ease; and that ended the chance for scoring. "That's pulling it out of the fire!" cried McRae. The showing had been a good one, but what made the inning so remarkable was the fact that in one-two-three order the Giants got the bases filled exactly as they had been filled before. Then, more amazing still, the next man was pitched out, the second man knocked a pop fly to the pitcher, and it was Joe himself, coming to the bat, hit out a liner to third base, which was gathered in by the baseman, thus ending the Giants hope of scoring. "Well, what do you know about that!" cried Brennan. "The inning on each side was exactly alike, with the exception that our third man out flied to first base, while your man flied to third." But that ended the similarity both in batting and in scoring, for in the eighth inning the Giants added another run to their score, and held this lead to the end, even though the All-Americans fought desperately in the effort to tie the score. "Oh, we had to win," said one of the Giants. "Too many of our folks looking at us to lose." Many members of the teams had their wives or sisters with them, and defeat would have been galling under the eyes of the fair spectators.