Mr. Langham remained behind with Mr. Scovill, at the latter’s request, to meet the Greenwood party who were just then coming into sight up the road, while one of the councillors was despatched to the kitchen to see about a supply of lemonade which Mr. Scovill had ordered to be prepared and taken to the ball-ground. When Mr. York and his companions reached the field the visiting players had just started their practice and the audience had already begun to assemble. The field was a fine, level expanse of close turf about an eighth of a mile from the camp, reached by a well-worn path through the woods. The foul-lines and boxes had been freshly marked out in honour of the event and the lime shone dazzlingly in the sunlight. By degrees The Wigwam boys gathered together at the farther side of the diamond, making themselves comfortable on the warm grass. Mr. Gifford and Steve Brown were batting to infielders and outfielders respectively, and Sam was at the plate, feeding the balls to Mr. Gifford. The fellows went at practice with plenty of snap and the ball fairly flew about the bases. At ten minutes to three the visitors yielded the field to the home team and at a few minutes past the hour Mr. York called, “Play ball!” CHAPTER XIII OUT AT THIRD! Had you looked over Will Temple’s shoulder you’d have seen, very neatly set down in his score-book--a brand-new one for the occasion--the following batting orders of the rival camps: The Wigwam--Brown, 2b.; Thursby, ss.; Meldrum, rf.; Gifford, lf.; Groom, cf.; Crossbush, 3b.; Murdock, 1b.; Craig, c.; Porter, p. Mount Placid--Cochran, 1b.; Benson, ss.; Smith, lf.; Walters, cf.; Connell, 3b.; Phillips, 2b.; Hanford, c.; Williams, p.; Cather, rf. At the last moment The Wigwam had thought it best to put its full strength in the field at the start, and so it was decided that Mr. Gifford should take Peterson’s place in left. In that way the line-up would contain the best batting talent. In arranging the order of batting Mr. Gifford started out on the assumption that Steve Brown was the fastest man on bases and that, once on first, he would be able to advance without aid. Consequently, Ed Thursby was to follow him, since Ed, although not a hard hitter, was a fast runner between bags. Meldrum was as good a bunter as the team possessed, and Mr. Gifford was placed fourth in the hope that he would be able to score one or more of the preceding players. Groom and Crossbush were fair hitters, while Murdock was rather weak. Sam was to follow the latter and, if possible, clean up. Porter was the weak man at bat. Of the Mount Placid team, Cochran, Connell, Phillips, and Williams were councillors, although, as The Wigwam learned afterwards, only Cochran and Williams were players of experience.