"The old jinx is still with us," lamented the dejected manager of the Wind Jammers. "Wouldn't it congeal your pedal extremities!" "It is enough to give one cold feet," admitted Locke. "But with Jones doing any real pitching to-day four tallies would have been sufficient for you." Picking up his overcoat and traveling bag, he started to follow the well-satisfied crowd from the field. As he approached the gate, Mit Skullen stood up on the bleachers and singled him out. Mit's face wore a leering grin. "You're welcome to that lemon, Locke!" he cried. "I wouldn't take him now for a gift. You've got stung good and proper." Lefty walked on without replying. CHAPTER XXIII ALL WRONG When Locke reached Fernandon, he found, as he expected, a furious message from Weegman awaiting him. In it he was savagely reprimanded, and warned under no circumstances to make any further deals without consulting Collier's private secretary. He was also commanded to report at the office of the Blue Stockings baseball club without unnecessary delay. Lefty merely smiled over this, but he did not smile over a long telegram from Franklin Parlmee, stating that he had not seen Virginia Collier nor heard anything further from her. Parlmee averred that he could not believe Virginia was in New York; he expressed the conviction that Locke had not seen her in the limousine with Bailey Weegman, but had been deceived by a resemblance. But if she were not in New York, where was she? And why had he received no word from her? Janet watched Lefty frowning and biting his lip over Parlmee's message. Her own face showed the anxiety she felt. "What do you think?" she asked. "It doesn't seem possible that Virginia could have been with that man, as you thought. You must have been mistaken." He shook his head. "I'm positive, Janet. I would be willing to wager anything that I made no mistake." "Then what does it mean? I can't imagine Virginia being in New York without letting Frank know." "It's got me guessing," Locke admitted. "There's a snarl that needs to be untangled." She grabbed his arm. "You don't suppose--" "What?" he asked, as she hesitated. "You don't suppose anything terrible could have happened to Virginia? Perhaps that villain has carried her off--shut her up somewhere! Perhaps she is helpless in his power this minute. He may be trying to force her into marrying him." Lefty laughed. "That sounds too much like a dime novel, my dear. Scoundrel though he is, Weegman would scarcely have the nerve to try anything like that with the daughter of Charles Collier. That's not the answer." "But something's wrong," insisted Janet. "No doubt about that," her husband replied. "A lot of things seem to be wrong. Somebody is dealing the cards under the table."