E-text prepared by Roger Frank and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this file which includes the original illustration. See 31396-h.htm or 31396-h.zip: (https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/31396/pg31396-images.html) or (https://www.gutenberg.org/files/31396/31396-h.zip) JACK WINTERS' BASEBALL TEAM Or, The Rivals of the Diamond by MARK OVERTON [Illustration: _Jack tried to keep the boy's head above water_] Made in U.S.A. M. A. Donohue & Company Chicago--New York Copyright 1919, by American Authors Publishing Co. Made in U.S.A. CONTENTS I. Three Boys of Chester 11 II. A Weak Link in the Chain 19 III. The Last Practice Game 28 IV. When Chester Awakened 37 V. Tied in the Ninth Inning 46 VI. Fred Put to the Test 55 VII. The Game Called by Darkness 64 VIII. The Puzzle Grows 73 IX. A Fairy in the Badger Home 81 X. The Warning 89 XI. Sitting on the Lid 98 XII. One Trouble After Another 107 XIII. When the Cramp Seized Joel 116 XIV. A Night Alarm 124 XV. What Happened at the Fire 133 XVI. A Startling Disclosure 142 XVII. Fred Renews His Pledge 150 XVIII. Hendrix Again in the Box 159 XIX. The Lucky Seventh 168 XX. After the Great Victory--Conclusion 177 JACK WINTERS' BASEBALL TEAM CHAPTER I THREE BOYS OF CHESTER "No use talking, Toby, there's something on Jack's mind of late, and it's beginning to bother him a lot, I think!" "Well, Steve, you certainly give me the creeps, that's what you do, with your mysterious hints of all sorts of trouble hanging over our heads, just as they say the famous sword of that old worthy, Damocles, used to hang by a single hair, ready to fall. Look here, do you realize, Steve, what it would mean if Jack went and got himself rattled _just now_?" "Huh! guess I do that, Toby, when, for one thing, we're scheduled to go up against that terrible Harmony nine day after tomorrow." "And if Jack is getting cold feet already, on account of something or other, I can see our finish now, Steve." "Still, we beat them in that first great game, don't let's forget that, Toby, and take what consolation we can from the fact."