CHAPTER XIII
RECALLS THE FACT THAT WHAT’S FAIR FOR ONE IS FAIR FOR ANOTHER, ANDRECORDS A DEFEAT AND A VICTORY
A week later Wickasaw came over to the mainland and met Chicora on thediamond. The final score, when the game came to an end at the lastof the seventh inning, was 18 to 4, and I had rather not say whichside scored the 18. However, defeat is not dishonorable; Chicora hadthat thought to comfort her. Wells, he of the snub-nose, pitched amagnificent game for five innings, and then went so high into the airthat he wasn’t able to get down again while the game lasted. And whilehe was up there Wickasaw unkindly batted in eight runs and scoredseven more on errors, four of them being due to Wells’s wildness.Wickasaw played every last one of her councilors--four in all--andwould probably have won by a small margin even if Wells hadn’t gone topieces. But the result was a disappointment to Bob, and he worried overit a good deal during the ensuing three days. Wickasaw went home inher launch and rowboats audibly pleased with herself, and the next day,beneath her camp-flag on the pole at the landing, floated a square ofwhite sheeting inscribed:
+-------------+ | W. 18; C. 4 | +-------------+
And every time Bob saw that flag floating in the breeze he ground histeeth. And Dan smiled his widest smile, and drew a sketch of the flag_they_ were going to put up after the next game. And in the meanwhileeverybody went to work harder than ever at the batting-net and in thefield; for the lesson of defeat is renewed endeavor.
On the following Saturday Chicora played again, this time with thenine from the Chicora Inn, a nine made up of guests and employees ofthe hotel. It was the finest kind of an August afternoon, warm enoughto limber the players’ muscles, and yet not so hot that the spectatorswere uncomfortable under the shade of the trees. Wells went into thebox again for the Camp, while the Inn had her head clerk, a DartmouthCollege man, do the pitching for her. For the first three innings theCamp had everything its own way. Nelson started things going with athree-bagger in the second, and after the bases had filled up Bobwent to bat and cleared them, himself reaching second. Again, in thethird a base on balls to the second man up proved costly, the runneron first reaching second on a passed ball and taking third on a singleby Carter. Then Wells got in the way of an in-shoot and limped to baseamid the laughing applause of the Camp rooters, and the bags wereall occupied. It was Nelson’s chance again, and he made the most ofit. With two strikes and three balls called on him he found what hewanted, and hit safely for two bases over short-stop’s head. The Innhad meanwhile scored but one run, and so at the beginning of the fourthinning the score stood 6 to 1, and the spectators who were gallantlyflaunting the crimson flags of Chicora Inn were becoming anxious.
When the Inn next went to the bat it was seen that she had substituteda new player for the one who had thus far been holding down secondbase. The new man was about six feet tall, and fully thirty-five yearsold, and his face seemed dimly familiar to Bob. And when, having goneto bat, he lined the first ball pitched between first and second forthree bases, Bob recognized him as “Monty” Williams, an old Princetonplayer who had made a reputation for himself while in college as a starball-player. In that inning the Inn netted three runs, and the scorewas no longer so one-sided. But Bob was worried, and as the teamschanged sides he made his way to the captain of the opposing team.
“Look here,” he said, “I don’t think it’s a fair deal for you fellowsto play Williams. He’s an old college player, and we know that he isn’tstaying at the Inn. He’s visiting over at Bass Island.”
“Oh, what’s the use in being fussy?” asked the other good-naturedly.“This isn’t a championship game; we’re only here for the fun ofplaying. Besides, Williams hasn’t played baseball for at least tenyears.”
“Well, it isn’t according to the understanding,” answered Bob; “but ifyou insist on playing him, all right; it’s a bit raw, though. We’replaying fellows on our side some of whom aren’t sixteen years old; andwe’re not playing a single one of our councilors.”
“Well, why don’t you? Go ahead and play any one you like. We don’t carewho you play; we’re here for the fun of playing, that’s all.”
“All right,” answered Bob; “I don’t intend to be nasty about it. We’llbeat you, anyhow.”
“That’s the stuff,” laughed the other captain. “Go ahead and do it.”
But it didn’t look very easy during the next two innings. To be sure,the Camp managed to tally two more runs, but the Inn wasn’t idle. Thenext time Williams came to bat the bases were full, and as a resultof the long drive he made into left field three tallies were set downto the Inn’s credit, and a minute or two later Williams made it fourby heady base stealing. That tied the score, 8 to 8. Bob didn’t minda defeat at the hands of Chicora Inn very much, but to be beaten twogames running was more than he could relish; and while he was doing alot of hard thinking Tom came to the rescue:
“Say, Bob,” he whispered, “we’re going to be licked if you keep Wellsin there. That fellow Williams can hit him easy.”
“I know it, but they insist on playing Williams. They say I can put inany one I want to, but we haven’t played our councilors, and I don’twant to start it now. And as for Wells, there isn’t any one on our teamcan do any better.”
“Get Billy Carter to pitch.”
“Billy Carter? Who’s Billy--? You mean Joe’s brother? Can he pitch?Thought he was a crew man.”
“He is, but he pitched for the Yale freshman nine last spring, and I’llbet he’s a peach!”
“Good stuff! Will he play, do you think?”
“I don’t know, but he seems a decent chap. Get Joe to ask him.”
“I will. Oh, Joe! Joe Carter!”
The result of this conference was that two or three minutes laterwhen the teams again changed sides Wells retired to the shade of theapple-trees and his place in the pitcher’s box was taken by a stocky,fair-haired, and sun-burned chap of eighteen who, having discarded hiscoat and cap, picked up the ball and began pitching to Bob in a waythat suggested a good deal of experience. He was a fine-looking fellowwith a chest that brought murmurs of admiration from the spectators.He had rowed on the winning Yale freshman eight and pitched on theYale freshman nine, and so his chest development and the muscles thatplayed so prettily along his arms were there of good reason. He hadreached camp only that forenoon on a visit of two or three days to hisbrother, and there hadn’t been a moment’s hesitation on his part whenJoe, earnestly seconded by Bob, had asked him to play. He had kept intraining since the boat races and had not forgotten his cunning in thebox.
And the opponents had occasion to note the fact. For in the next twoinnings not a man on their team reached first base. Carter’s deliverypuzzled them effectually, and when the mighty Williams had threestrikes called on him and tossed down his bat with a grim shake of hishead the supporters of the blue and gray shouted their delight. Butshutting out the Inn wasn’t winning the game, and when at last theninth inning opened with the score still 8 to 8 Bob had visions ofa tie game. But he had reckoned without the new pitcher. That youthdidn’t have a chance at bat until with one out in the ninth thingswere looking their darkest for the Camp. Then he selected a bat andfaced the Inn’s pitcher calmly. He allowed two balls to go by him,but the third one he liked. And the way in which he lit on to it wasbeautiful to behold; at least that’s the way it seemed to Bob and Danand Nelson and all the other Chicorians. For that ball started off asthough it had got tired of being knocked around so much and was goingstraight home to sit down and rest. That it didn’t get all the wayhome, but only as far as the woods behind center-fielder, didn’t affectthe result of the contest. It went quite far enough. And Billy Carterromped home like a playful giant and subsided under the trees andfanned his face, while about him danced the delighted cohorts from theCamp. After that it was only necessary to keep the Inn from scoring,and with Carter still in the points that was an absurdly easy task.It wasn’t a very decided win, 9 to 8, but it sufficed, and Bob wascomforted.
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After the game was over the captain of the Inn’s forces sought out Bob.
“Who was the chap that pitched for you?” he asked curiously.
“Oh,” Bob answered, “that’s Carter, pitcher on last year’s Yalefreshman team. You told me to play any one I liked, you know;otherwise, of course----”
“Oh!” said the other.
On the way back to camp Dan alone seemed not entirely happy.
“Oh, yes,” he said in response to inquiries, “the game was all rightenough. But did you notice that Wickasaw was over there cheering forthe Inn?”
“I didn’t notice who they cheered for,” answered Bob. “What of it?”
“What of it? Lots! Call that sportsmanlike? Huh! You wait, that’s all,my friends. We’ll get even with Wickasaw!”
Four in Camp: A Story of Summer Adventures in the New Hampshire Woods Page 15