"Say, that's queer! I was thinking the same thing." Jim paused for a moment. "Won't it be fine to have the others with us again?" "Yes; I'll be very glad to see Mabel, and glad to see Clara, too. I suppose you've been getting letters pretty regularly, eh, Jim?" "I don't believe I've been getting any more letters than you have, Joe," returned the other. "Well, you're welcome to them, Jim. I wish you luck!" said Joe, and placed a hand on his chum's shoulder. For a moment they looked into each other's eyes, and each understood perfectly what was passing in the other's mind. But Jim just then did not feel he could say too much. "I'll be glad to see Reggie again, too," remarked Joe, after a moment of silence. "He's something of a queer stick, but pretty good at that." "Oh, he's all right, Joe," answered Jim. "As he grows older and sees more of the seamy side of life, he'll get some of that nonsense knocked out of him." They ate their supper that night with a sense of relaxation to which they had long been strangers. For the first time since they had gone to the training camp at Texas in the spring, they were out of harness. There had been the fierce, tense race for the pennant that had strained them to the utmost. Then, with only a few days intervening, had come the still more exciting battle for the championship of the world. They had won and won gloriously, but even then they had not felt wholly free, for the long trip across the continent which they had just finished was then before them, and although this struggle had been less close and important, it had still kept them on edge and in training. But now their strenuous year had ended. Before them lay a glorious trip around the world, a voyage over summer seas, a pilgrimage through lands of mystery and romance, the fulfillment of cherished dreams, and with them were to go the two charming girls who represented to them all that was worth while in life and who even now were hurrying toward them as fast as steam could bring them. "This is the end of a perfect day," hummed Jim, as he sat back and lighted a cigar. "You're wrong there, Jim," replied Joe, with a smile. "The perfect day will be to-morrow." "Right you are!" Yet little did Baseball Joe and his chum dream of the many adventures and perils which lay ahead of them. CHAPTER XVI PUTTING THEM OVER As the two baseball players sauntered down the corridor after supper they chanced upon Iredell. He was sitting at a reading table, intent upon a letter which had attached to it what looked like an official document of some kind. It was a chance for which Joe had been looking, and he gave Jim a sign to go on while he himself dropped into a seat beside the famous shortstop. "How are you, Dell, old boy?" he said, genially. "Able to sit up and take nourishment," replied the other, at the same time thrusting the document into his pocket with what seemed like unnecessary haste.