That was the beginning of Joe’s batting success. After that day he faced the pitcher, whoever he might be, with a confident smile reflecting the inward conviction that he could hit. There was nothing remarkable about his batting that season and he was never spectacular. Usually his contribution proved a single, infrequently a double. He was in no danger of being dubbed “Home-Run” Faulkner. And frequently enough, more frequently than he approved of, you may be sure, he struck out just as ingloriously as anyone else on the team. But, somehow, he showed a reliability that began to be talked about toward the end of the season. It was a fair wager, when he went to the plate, that he would deliver a hit. Often he didn’t; more often he did. And what made his hits go safe was that practice in the baseball cage, for through that he had attained an almost uncanny ability to place them. Few pitchers could make him hit where he didn’t want to. Jack once declared that Joe, who was a right-handed batter, could hit a fast ball to right field and a slow one to left any time he wanted to! This was somewhat of an exaggeration, but certain it is that Joe was a clever batter when it came to “putting them where they ain’t,” and his title of Lucky Faulkner was felt to have been wisely bestowed. But I am ahead of my story, for Joe’s batting prowess, although it came into being that April afternoon at the net, was of gradual growth. When all is said, the way to learn to bat is to bat. And that is the way Joe learned. Amesville played Lynton one warm, cloudy afternoon on the former’s grounds and took her first beating. Lynton had a way of winning from Amesville when all the signs pointed toward defeat. She never played remarkable ball; never, in fact, won from any other club of Amesville’s ability. But, somehow, almost every year Lynton managed to secure the decision in one or another of the two games played. And every year there came a loud and impatient demand for a third and deciding contest. But the third contest seldom occurred, seldom when it was demanded, because by that time both teams had filled their dates, and never by arrangement at the beginning of the season because at such times Amesville smiled confidently and said: “Well, this year we won’t have any fooling. We’ll take ’em both!”