The sight of those burly gladiators, locked in a fond embrace, threatened the sanity of the onlookers, but the farce was ended when Curry finally wriggled out from the anaconda grasp of his opponent and took a chance for the plate. Then there was a hot debate, as the umpire, himself laughing until the tears ran down his face, tried to solve the situation. Had Curry been touched by the ball, or had he not? Had the ball been caught or not? Players on both sides tugged at him as they debated the matter _pro_ and _con_. "I don't know what that umpire's name is," grinned Jim to Joe, who was weak with laughter, "but I know what it ought to be." "What?" asked Joe. "Solomon," chuckled Jim. CHAPTER XV THE BEWILDERED UMPIRE But whatever the umpire's name might have been, he only resembled Solomon in one respect. He was inclined to compromise and cut the play in two, giving one part to the major leaguers and the other to the Oakland team. He was not to blame for being bewildered, for the baseball magnates who had framed the rules had never contemplated the special case of a player catching the ball in his pocket. Between the opposing claims he pulled out his book and scanned it carefully but with no result. "It's easy enough," rasped McRae. "He tried to catch a ball and muffed it. It goes for a hit and Curry scores." "Not on your life," barked Everett, the manager of the Oakland team. "He got the ball and it never touched the ground." "Got it," sneered McRae. "This is baseball, not pool. He can't pocket the ball." There was a laugh at this, and Mackay, the third baseman, looked a little sheepish. The baited umpire suggested that the whole play be called off and that Curry go back to third while Larry resumed his place at the bat. Larry set up a howl at this, as he saw his perfectly good three-baser go glimmering. "Oh, hire a hall," snapped Everett. "Even if the umpire decides against the catch it was only an error and you ought to have been out anyway." "You can't crawl out of it that way," said McRae to the umpire. "A play is a play and you've got to settle it one way or the other, even if you settle it wrong." The umpire hesitated, wiped his brow and finally decided that the ball was caught. That put Larry out, and he retreated, growling, to the bench, while Everett grinned his satisfaction. "That's all right, Ump," said the latter. "But how about Curry? Mackay put the ball on him all right and that makes three out." "Say, what do you want, the earth?" queried McRae. "He didn't put the ball on him. He didn't have the ball to put. It was in his pocket all the time." "Of course I put the ball on him," declared Mackay. "I must have. When I fell on him I hit him everywhere at once." The umpire finally decided that Mackay had not put the ball on Curry, and the red-headed right-fielder chuckled at the thought of the run he had scored. "That makes it horse and horse," said the umpire. "Get back to your places."