Baseball Joe of the Silver Stars; or, The Rivals of Riverside

"I'm going to pitch against the Resolutes, the first thing I do!" cried Joe. "After that I'll decide what's next. But is my glove mended, Clara? Come on, Tom, we mustn't be late...

There was a carriage waiting just outside the ball grounds, a carriage drawn by one horse. A man whom Joe had never seen before, so far as he knew, held the reins.

Ping! The ball came in between Joe's palms with a vicious thud, but there it stuck, and a moment later the newcomer had tossed it back over the fence with certain and strong aim.

The motorman was grinding away at the brakes but the heavy car continued to slide on, for the hill was steep. The horse lay quiet now, for a man had managed to get to him and si...

There was an uproar in an instant. Players started for Sam and the unoffending lad whom he had struck. There were savage yells, calling for vengeance. Even Sam's mates, used as...

It was his sister Clara who asked the question, and she had noticed that her brother was rather dreaming over his books than studying. It was the Monday night after the Saturday...

"Setting fence posts; eh?" and Darrell Blackney, the young manager of the Silver Star baseball nine of Riverside looked critically at Sam Morton, the team's pitcher. "Well, Sam,...

"Humph!" exclaimed the irate lady. "I don't know what kind of a throw it was but I know _I_ was wild when I saw my kitchen. I never saw such a sight in all my born days--never!...

"Well now, I'm real sorry," said Mrs. Holdney when, a little later, Joe dismounted at her door, and held out the letter for her husband. "Rufus isn't home. You can leave the let...

"Aw what's the matter with you?" cried Sam, starting toward home where Bart stood holding the ball. "That clipped the plate as good as any one would want. You'd better get a pai...

"Well, Joe, are you all ready?" It was Tom Davis, and he had called at Joe's house on his way from school, as Tom had to remain in physics class to finish an experiment, and Joe...

"Your coat. I declare, you've got something in both pockets," and Clara approached her brother as if with the intention of making a personal inspection of two big bulges on eith...

"It isn't exactly the same thing," remarked Darrell, after looking at it carefully, "but it will do, if it's long enough. Would you mind holding Prince's head while I try it? He...

For a moment there was some embarrassment, as Sam was not in the habit of mingling with this crowd of boys. He had his own friends, not very many, to tell the truth, but he was...

The crowd from the stands and bleachers now began thronging about the enraged players. There had always been more or less bad blood between the two rival nines and now, when the...

Joe Matson did not know what to do. He wanted to rush away from where he was concealed, get home as quickly as possible, and tell his father what he had overheard. While Mr. Mat...

Joe Matson felt as though he was walking in the air when he went home that afternoon following the scrub game. That his ambition was about to be realized, and so soon after join...

There was a moment of silence following Joe's remark about being made regular pitcher. Then Clara laughed and it was almost a laugh of relief, for she had been under quite a str...

There was a period of silence following Sam's offer of his resignation, and no one seemed to know just what to say. Several of the lads glanced at Joe, as if expecting him to sa...

"Here it is," answered Rodney Burke, who acted as the amateur surgeon on the few times his services had been required. "I'll bandage it up. Had we better get a doctor?"

These were some of the comments made, not loud enough for Sam to hear, for he was a power in the nine, and none of the lads wanted to get on bad terms with him.

"I was just going past," he said, in needless explanation, "when I heard something banging against the fence. First I thought it might be one of the cattle left over from the la...

"Those desperate men! You must have them arrested at once!" exclaimed Mrs. Matson when Joe, a little later, had reached home, having left the horse and carriage at the local liv...

"Did you want to see any one around the works?" interrupted Mr. Benjamin. "I don't want to seem impolite, after the service you rendered, but we don't allow loiterers here."

These and other frantic appeals and bits of advice were hurled at Joe as he dashed madly on. He had a glimpse of the centre fielder racing madly after the ball, and then he felt...

Joe was plainly nervous. Being called on so suddenly had its effect as did the unexpected action of Sam in resigning because Joe had supplanted him. But the young pitcher knew t...

"Well, when are you fellows going to start?" asked Tony Johnson, captain of the Academy nine, as he ceased his catching practice with Ed. Wilson, the pitcher. "The game ought to...

"I think so myself, but I don't want you to take too many chances. Here comes Sam. You and he get in for some warm-up work, Bart, and I'll get the scrub together."

Whether the Stars were determined to show their opponents what they could do when they tried or whether it was because they wanted to show their confidence in Joe, or even wheth...

There was nothing more to be said, and Joe walked away. He was somewhat stiff and sore, for a number of Sam's blows had landed with telling effect. One in particular, on the mus...