"Say, who told you to give orders?" asked Sid quickly. "Bricktop is our captain." "Well, we're going to have a little warm-up practice first," remarked Langridge. Then he turned to Tom and said: "So you're going to pitch against me?" "It seems so." "Humph!" was all Langridge said as he walked away. Two or three good batters on each side began knocking flies for the others to catch and Tom and his chums soon found themselves warming up in earnest. The country lad discovered that he could judge the balls quite accurately and he made some good throws from a long distance. "Play ball!" suddenly called Bricktop Molloy. "Come on, fellows! Out in the field. Parsons, let's see what sort of a twirler you are." Tom went to the box. He was a trifle nervous, but he controlled himself as well as he could. The first man up was Langridge, and there was an unpleasant look on the face of the rich youth as he faced his rival. Tom sent in an out curve and he was pretty sure it was going over the plate. But he heard the umpire cry: "One ball!" and he was much surprised. There was a mocking smile on the face of Langridge. Tom held the next ball rather longer. He threw in a peculiar little drop. Langridge saw it coming and struck savagely at it, but a resounding "thump" told Tom that the horsehide had landed safe in Molloy's mitt. "One strike!" yelled the umpire, and Tom's heart was glad. "That's the way to do it!" cried Phil Clinton, from center field. "Strike him out!" Langridge hit the next ball, though it was only a weak liner, which Tom stopped and threw over to first, but there was no need, for Langridge had seen the uselessness of running. "One out. Go on with the game," sang out Bricktop. CHAPTER VI THE POLE RUSH Tom managed to strike out the next man, but the third batter knocked a two-bagger, and Kerr, who followed, sent a beautiful long fly to right field, where Jerry Jackson muffed it. There was wild delight on the part of Pete Backus and his men when they got in three runs before Tom managed to strike out another player, retiring the side. "Well, that's not so bad," spoke Bricktop, but there was some dubiousness in his tone. "My pitching was bum," acknowledged Tom, "but I'll do better next inning." "Of course you will, me lad," said Captain Molloy kindly. "It's a new ground to you." There was a confident air about Langridge when he took his position in the box and it was somewhat justified when he struck out the first two men in quick succession. "He's doing better than I thought he would," said Sid. "He's a good pitcher," admitted Tom honestly, for he saw that his rival had something that he himself lacked--a better control of the ball, though Tom could pitch a swifter curve.