“Well, if he’s got creditors after him,” laughed Jack, “he needs the raise pretty badly right now! But I guess you’re right. We’ll wait and see what happens. He’s an idiot to blow in money like that for pink-striped shirts and things. I’d love to hitch him and Handsome Frank up and drive them tandem down Main Street some afternoon!” And Jack chuckled merrily. “Do you suppose,” asked Joe, after a minute’s silence, “that it would do to ask Bat for a try-out at first? I mean, tell him I’ve played the position and think I could do it again; make a bid for the job to substitute Foley.” “Don’t do it. Bat wouldn’t like it a bit, old man. Bat’s peculiar that way. Tell you what you might do, though. You might sort of hint something of the sort to Sam. Sam wouldn’t mind it, I guess. I believe I’d do that, Joey, some time before long. As I’ve previously remarked, something’s just got to be done about Mr. Foley if we don’t want him to cop that bet we made.” “I don’t see,” said Joe innocently, “how that interests me any. _I_ didn’t bet with him.” “Why, you――you――you ungrateful chump!” exclaimed Jack. “Do you mean to say that you’re going to leave me in the lurch? Didn’t you agree to oust Frank from first base? Didn’t you――――” “No, I didn’t,” Joe laughed. “That was your idea entirely. Besides, what would I get out of it? You couldn’t cut that bat-case in half, could you?” “I’ll let you use it on Sundays,” replied Jack generously. Joe pondered for several days the plan of confiding to Sam Craig his desire to become a first baseman. Once he got his courage almost to the sticking-point, but a troublesome conviction that Sam would think him “fresh” held him back. And then, before he again reached the determination to take the plunge, events made it unnecessary. During the last half of April, Amesville played three games, one with Grammar School on a Thursday and two with outside teams of no great importance. In the Grammar School contest High School was again easily victorious, although the score was somewhat more even than in the first meeting. The Grammar School pitcher who had been so unmercifully drubbed came back strong and proved rather a hard nut to crack, holding High School to eight hits for a total of twelve bases in the seven innings he pitched. The score at the end was 8 to 3. The team journeyed to Sinclair one Saturday and played the high school team there, winning easily, with Tom Pollock pitching five innings and Toby Williams four, by the tune of 11 to 5. On the last Saturday of the month Corby High School came to Amesville and was walloped 14 to 6, Carl Moran presiding on the mound for eight innings and pitching very good ball until a tired arm threatened to bring his downfall, and Tom Pollock was hurried to the rescue.