It was good advice that the captain gave, and the members of the club all followed it so far as speaking of the matter to outsiders was concerned. It was asking too much that they should not talk it over among themselves. By common consent, however, Ben Burton was avoided by all hands. He stood about the house until after supper, then, without leaving any word as to his intentions, he quietly disappeared and was seen no more. "What a wretched streak of luck!" murmured Larry Boyne to Neddie Ellis. "If that despatch had been sent to Al Heaton, or to Hiram at the ball grounds, all would have been well. We could have withdrawn Ben Burton and put Will Sprague, or Al Heaton, in his place, before the game began. Oh, why did Tom do such a foolish thing as to send the message here?" "Tom is an idiot!" said Neddie, indignantly. "He's a feather-head; always was, and always will be! Let's look at that despatch again, captain." Critical examination of the message showed that it was received in Chicago at half-past one o'clock. It had left Catalpa at half-past eleven o'clock in the forenoon. "Two hours to send that little message!" almost shrieked Neddie Ellis. "It's that giddy, flirting girl that works the telegraph office in Catalpa! That's what's the matter with the message. Now you just remember that, boys." "Softly! softly! Neddie," said Larry. "You mustn't accuse the operator. Perhaps the line was down, or somebody else blundered. At any rate, the mischief is done. We'll wait until we get home before we try to find out what it all means." "Aha!" cried "The Lily," as if he had seen a sudden burst of light. "Now we know why Ben was late in the field. Don't you remember he stole out after we had got through practicing, this noon, and was gone half an hour, or so? Where was he? Why, he looked as if he had been stealing sheep when he came back. I'll tell you where he had been. He had been to the telegraph office on the corner below the grounds, telegraphing to some confederate in Catalpa." "Smart boy, Bill; but why should he go to the next block below the grounds when there is an office in the building? And how could his telegram to his confederate, if he has one, get back here in Tom Selby's message?" "That's more than I know, Cap, but I should say that he wouldn't dare to send any crooked message from the ball grounds, where he is known." "There is good sense in that, Billy boy," said Charlie King, who had joined the party while the discussion was going on. "There is plausibility in it, too, for I remember seeing Ben go into that office and make some inquiries, as we were going to the grounds, day before yesterday, to practice."