Produced by Al Haines [Illustration: Cover art] [Frontispiece: "Now kick his shins"] JIMMY KIRKLAND AND THE PLOT FOR A PENNANT BY HUGH S. FULLERTON ILLUSTRATED BY CHARLES PAXSON GRAY PHILADELPHIA THE JOHN C. WINSTON COMPANY PUBLISHERS Copyright, 1915, by JOHN C. WINSTON COMPANY PRINTED IN U. S. A. To CHARLES A. COMISKEY The man to whom, more than all others, the honesty and high standard of professional baseball is due, this little volume is dedicated with the sincere regard of a student to his preceptor. CONTENTS CHAPTER I. PANTHERS OR BEARS? II. A MIRACLE CALLED MCCARTHY III. HOPE FOR THE BEARS IV. "KOHINOOR" MEETS BETTY V. THE TEMPTER VI. ADONIS MAKES A DEAL VII. MCCARTHY MEETS HELEN VIII. IN THE DEEPER WATERS IX. BALDWIN GETS INTO THE PLOT X. WILLIAMS CAUGHT IN THE NET XI. MCCARTHY IN DISGRACE XII. MCCARTHY DEFIES BALDWIN XIII. MCCARTHY BALKS THE PLOTTERS XIV. "TECHNICALITIES" ON THE JOB XV. BALDWIN BAITS A TRAP XVI. MCCARTHY MAKES A CALL XVII. THE FIGHT IN THE CAFÉ XVIII. TWO MISSING MEN XIX. SWANSON TO THE RESCUE XX. HIDDEN FOES XXI. FAIR PLAY XXII. A VICTORY AND A DEFEAT XXIII. KIDNAPPED XXIV. BAITING A TRAP XXV. MCCARTHY DISAPPEARS XXVI. BALDWIN SHOWS HIS HAND XXVII. SEARCHING XXVIII. WILLIAMS STANDS EXPOSED XXIX. FOUND XXX. A RACE TO SAVE THE DAY XXXI. THE PLOTTERS FOILED XXXII. REJOICING ILLUSTRATIONS "NOW KICK HIS SHINS" . . . . . . . . . . . . Frontispiece BALDWIN STARED AT THE SLENDER YOUTH THE MEN LEAPED OUT "FOURTEEN MILES IN TWENTY-ONE MINUTES" JIMMY KIRKLAND AND A PLOT FOR A PENNANT CHAPTER I _Panthers or Bears?_ The defeat in the opening game of the final series of the season between the Panthers and Bears had been a hard blow to the championship hopes of the Bears, and its effect was evident in the demeanor of the players and those associated with them. It was the second week in September. Since early in May the Blues, the Panthers and the Bears, conceded to be the three strongest teams in the league, had struggled day by day almost upon even terms, first one team leading by a narrow margin, then another, until the interest of the country was centered upon the battle for supremacy. Then, with the Blues holding the lead by the narrowest of margins, Maloney, their premier pitcher, strained his arm, and the Blues, in despair, battled the harder only to overtax the strength of the remaining pitchers, so that the team dropped rapidly into third place, still hoping against hope to get their crippled pitching staff back into condition for the finish.