"Of course," continued Rube Marquard's shadow, 'when we were on the road, we had a nightly eleven o'clock bed check. At eleven o'clock we all had to be in our rooms and the trainer would come around and check us off. We'd usually have a whole floor in a hotel and we'd be two to a room. I always roomed with Matty all the while I was on the Giants. What a grand guy he was! The door would be wide open at eleven o'clock and the trainer would come by with a board with all the names on it. He'd poke his head in: Mathewson, Marquard, check. And lock the door. Next room, check, lock the door. "As far as I was concerned, I never drank a drop even when I was in show business. In 1912 I made a movie with Alice Joyce and Maurice Costello, and then I was in vaudeville for three years, Blossom Seeley and I. That's when she was my wife. It didn't work out, though. I asked her to quit the stage. I told her I could give her everything she wanted. "'No,' she told me. 'Show business is show business.' "'Well,' I said, 'baseball is mine.' So we parted." "You mentioned that you were with the Giants for seven years, and then the Dodgers for five, did you not? How did it feel when you were traded from the Giants to the Dodgers?" asked Elephant. "Well," said the shadow, "not too bad. See, I traded myself. I didn't seem to be able to get going in 1915 after I pitched that no-hitter early in April, and late in the season McGraw started riding me. That was a very bad year for the Giants, you know. We were favored to win the pennant, and instead we wound up last. So McGraw wasn't very happy. After I had taken about as much riding as I could stand, I asked him to trade me if he thought I was so bad. "'Who would take you?' he said to me. "'What do you mean?' I asked. 'I can still lick any club in the league.' And I could, too! Heck, I wasn't even twenty-six years old then. "'Lick any club in the league?' scoffed McGraw. 'You couldn't lick a postage stamp!' "'Give me a chance to trade myself, then,' I suggested. 'What would you sell me for?' "'Seven thousand five hundred bills,' he answered. "'Okay,' I said. 'Can I use your phone?' "'Sure,' he said. "We were both pretty mad at that point, so I got 'hold of the operator and asked her to get me Wilbert Robinson, manager of the Brooklyn club. You see, Robbie--that's what we called him--had been a coach with us for years before he became the Dodger manager in 1914. After a while, she got Robbie on the phone. "'Hello?' he says. "'How are you, Robbie?' I asked. "Fine,' he said. 'Who is this?' "Now, I had to handle this conversation very carefully. My whole world depended on it. 'How would you like to have a good left-handed pitcher?' I said in a jovial tone. "I'd love it,' he said. 'Who is this? Who's the man? Who are you going to recommend?' "I then dropped the clincher. 'I'm going to recommend myself,' I told him. "'Who are you?' he repeated. "'Rube Marquard,' I said, trying to sound impressive.