Then there was practice in base running, sliding, etc., particularly the fall-away slide. Ty Robb and Honus enjoyed the sliding. These two stole more bases in practice and regular games than all the other men on the team put together. The rules of the game give the runner absolute right to the base paths, otherwise a baseman could always block a runner. The average player, even though courageous, starts his slide when about fifteen feet from the bag, so that by the time the bag is reached the slider is not coming at very fast speed--he is almost stopped in fact, and it is easy for the baseman to tag him without much danger from spikes. But Ty and Honus were daredevils. Neither knew what fear was. They got onto the fact that by starting to slide when about eight feet from the base they would sail into it full speed, and that nine times out of ten the baseman was afraid to try to touch them even if he had the ball. So Ty and Honus were detailed to teach the others how to slide, and everyone was working hard to perfect the team work. At the end of the week the team took its first trip out of town, when they went to Hudson City for the annual game with Armour, which always had one of the best teams in the East. The boys arrived after an all-night ride in the sleeper, but by the time breakfast was over and they reached the ground for a little warming-up practice, everyone was feeling fine with the exception of Huyler, the substitute infielder who sprained his ankle, and had been sent to a hospital to have it attended to, and Hal, who had been brought along, but who saw no chance whatever to get into the game, since Miner was in fine form and Babe had developed into a pretty steady winner. Nothing but an avalanche of singles, two-baggers, and homers would give him a chance that day. It looked like rain almost up until the game had been called. Hudson City was one of the largest college towns in the country. Fifteen thousand people could be seated in the stands, and they were filled, while five thousand others stood or sat on the ground. A thousand Lowell boys and two thousand Lowell graduates were seated in the stands back of third base where the visiting players’ bench was also located. Down in the field in front of the section where the Lowell boys sat were four Lowell boys with megaphones and without coats or hats who led the yelling and the singing, and the wearers of the green did their best to make as much noise and sing as loud as the more numerous adherents of the orange (Armour’s color), who sat in the stands back of first base and spread out on the field, and who would have won the game purely on their enthusiasm if they could. Last year Armour had played at Lowell and had lost, but they had a good time anyhow with their cheering and their singing, and especially after the game when the Lowell crowd entertained them.