Therefore his work steadily improved. While, perhaps, not so spectacular and dashing as Bert Elgin’s, it showed evidence of thought and clear judgment; and very soon it became apparent that he was crowding his rival close, if not actually surpassing him in general ability and resourcefulness. The one drawback to an otherwise pleasant period was Janet Harting’s behavior. She and Lefty had come perilously close to their first quarrel, and all because of his absolute refusal, not alone to make up his differences with Bert Elgin, but to tell her of what those differences consisted. After her first coolness she had been very nice about it, but somehow Lefty had a feeling that she was not quite the same. She was pleasant and cordial, and went twice to the baseball park to see him pitch before she and her father left Ashland for the mineral springs at Billings. In spite of all that, however, Lefty sensed the faint rift in their friendship, and it troubled him. Instinctively he laid it to Elgin, whom he knew visited Miss Harting almost as frequently as he did, and he despised the man more than ever for it. It was one of those cases, however, in which a person can do nothing. Locke simply had to sit still and let events take their course. He worried and fussed a bit at first, but presently his whole mind became so engrossed in the struggle to make good and win out that he ceased to be actively troubled over something which he could not remedy. After all, if he could only manage to outpitch Elgin on the diamond and prove himself the better player, there was more than a chance of his showing, at the same time, the girl he cared for that he was the better man. CHAPTER XXVII A CHANCE TO MAKE GOOD Jack Stillman lolled in the big cushioned chair, his eyes fixed on the backs of two men, carrying suitcases, who were just leaving the hotel in company with half a dozen of their fellow players. “Back to the hay fields for yours,” he murmured sardonically. “Another couple of years, and you may be ready for fast company. This is the beginning of the exodus, Lefty.” For an instant Locke’s face was rather serious. Then he smiled faintly. “You’re a stony-hearted ruffian, Jack,” he said. “I feel sorry for them. After working hard and getting your hopes away up, it’s a beastly disappointment to be told you haven’t made good. I suppose you’ll think it’s a joke when I pack my little bag and go forth into the cold world.” “I’d laugh myself sick,” chuckled the newspaper man. “At present, however, I don’t see any chance of that coming about. At the risk of giving you a swelled head, I’ll tell you, old chap, that you’re liable to stick around.” “This from the oracle!” laughed the southpaw. “I’m overwhelmed. But seriously, Jack, if I have improved a little, so has Bert Elgin. Of course, I’d never admit it to any one else, but it’s my private opinion that he’s the better pitcher.”