Fast Nine; or, A Challenge from Fairfield by AnonYMous

  CHAPTER XII.

  STEALING THE SIGNALS.

  "WHAT'S that you're talking about, Jasper?" demanded the pitcher,whirling on the smallest of the scouts, whose father kept a tailoringestablishment in town and made the khaki suits worn by the Hickory Ridgetroop.

  Jasper was a very timid fellow as a rule. His chums were often jokinghim about the truth of the old saying, to the effect that it took ninetailors to make a man, and that in consequence he had a heap to pick up.But Jasper took these things in good part, because he knew his failingseven though trying the best he could to overcome them.

  He was looking very much worried when Elmer turned on him. The hand thathad been gripping the sleeve of the pitcher's sweater fell to his sideagain. Elmer noticed that the boy shot a quick glance toward a group offellows who, seeing practice was over for the day, seemed to be gettingtheir wheels out, as if intending to ride away.

  "Why, I'm afraid it's all over but the shouting for Fairfield, Elmer!"replied the small scout, in answer to the question Elmer fired straightat him.

  "You don't say?" retorted the other, laughing. "Well, my work must bepretty bad, if even Jasper Merriweather calls it rotten. Whew! the boyshad better be trotting out their other pitcher, if I'm going to be sentto the stable so easy."

  "Oh, it ain't that, Elmer, sure it ain't, because don't I believeyou're the best pitcher in the whole world?" pleaded Jasper, lookingpained that his fidelity was being doubted in the least.

  "Then whatever ails you, Jasper?" continued the other, realizing all ofa sudden that perhaps there _might_ be something worth noticing in thisstrange conduct of the scout belonging to the Beaver Patrol.

  "It's the signals, Elmer; the signals you and Mark have been practicing,don't you see?" Jasper cried.

  "Hello! so that's what troubles you, is it?" remarked Elmer, seriously."What's wrong with my signals, tell me, Jasper? I don't suppose youcould understand what we were doing most of the time; and even if youdid, a Hickory Ridge Scout would never think of betraying a secretbelonging to his troop. What about my signals?"

  "Didn't you see him?" asked Jasper, eagerly.

  "Well, now, I have seen a few dozen fellows this same morning, so Idon't know which one you mean," replied Elmer, shaking his head in thenegative.

  "Lon Braddock!" almost whispered Jasper, looking after the group offellows just starting away on their wheels.

  Elmer shook his head and smiled.

  "You've got me this time, Jasper," he remarked; "because, you see, Idon't know that I ever heard that name before. Is he a new boy inHickory Ridge; and does he say my work is off color?"

  "But--he don't live in Hickory Ridge at all, Elmer," expostulated theother; "that's the trouble, you see."

  "Oh, is it? Well, I don't see, and you'll sure have to explain what youmean. If he doesn't live in our town, perhaps he's visiting here"; andElmer waited to see how Jasper took this.

  "I think he came over to see Bob Harris, because they were togetherpretty much all the time," Jasper went on, nodding his head with almostevery word in his eagerness to be emphatic. "You see, he is a Fairfieldfellow, Elmer!"

  "What?" exclaimed the other, suddenly stiffening up, as a consciousnessof what tremendous possibilities there might be in this morning visit ofa Fairfield boy dawned upon his mind.

  "And when I was over there a few days ago I heard Felix Wagner, thesecond baseman of the Fairfield team, say that they had made a good findin Lon Braddock, who promised to be an even better pitcher than Matthimself."

  Elmer was showing considerable eagerness now.

  "Hold on there, Jasper," he said, in his quiet, but impressive, way; "goslow, boy, and let me understand just what you mean. This fellow isnamed Lon Braddock, you tell me; and he's a newcomer at Fairfield. Thataccounts for the fact that none of our fellows recognized him as he satthere watching me. And now, more than that, you say he's an extrapitcher of the Fairfield Scout team. Have I got that all O. K., Jasper?"

  "Yes, that's all to the good, Elmer," declared the smaller lad,earnestly. "And honest, now, I believe that fellow came over here thismorning just on purpose to get some points about your pitching. He knowswhat signal work does in a game, and he wants to knock you out. Why,Elmer, I tell you, before three hours every fellow on the Fairfield teamwill know that code of signals you and Mark have been practicing."

  "Now you're not just guessing, are you, Jasper? Because I'm the last onein the wide world to want to condemn a fellow on general principles. Hemight have had a genuine errand over here, and just dropped around totake my size."

  "Perhaps he did, Elmer, perhaps he did; but was there any need for himto put it all down in a little notebook he carried, and waiting till hethought nobody was watching him?" demanded Jasper.

  "Say, did you see him do that?" asked the other, sternly.

  "At least three times, Elmer," came the quick reply. "And every timeafter he had made some note he'd nod his head and grin like he was justtickled to death over something."

  Elmer whistled, and Mark, turning, saw him wave a hand. Apparently thecatcher must have said a hasty good-by to the pretty little miss in thepony cart, for she whipped up her steed and Mark started toward hischum.

  "Oh, what can you do, Elmer?" exclaimed Jasper. "He's gone off now withBob Harris, and pretty soon it'll be too late."

  "Too late for what, Jasper?" asked the pitcher.

  "Why, I thought, you see, that perhaps a lot of us might get hold of himand make him give up that notebook," explained Jasper.

  "You don't say!" laughed Elmer. "What particular good would that do us,tell me, when he's sure got everything down pat in his mind, just thesame? And we can't lock a Fairfield fellow up, even for stealing signs."

  "Then he'll get away with it!" burst forth Jasper, with almost a wail.

  "I reckon he will, my boy; but that isn't saying the knowledge he'sstolen will do him, or any of his mates, any good," chuckled Elmer.

  "But how can you help it?" demanded the smaller boy, dubiously observingthe face of his comrade and wondering why he did not seem to detect anyuneasiness there.

  "How? Oh, by switching the signals, I suppose. I'll put it up to Mark,here. We can mix things around so that every sign stands for somethingdifferent than it did just now. And if the Fairfield fellows expect togain anything from thinking they're onto our signals, they're going tobe badly surprised. You'll see some bally old batting until theyunderstand that fact."

  "What's all this row about?" asked Mark, coming up just then in time tooverhear Elmer's last few words, which, of course, mystified himconsiderably.

  "Why, we've just learned that all the time you and I were practicing oursignals a spy from Fairfield was watching us," said Elmer.

  "Is that straight, or are you just kidding me?" demanded the catcher ofthe nine.

  "Which his name is Lon Braddock; and he's a newcomer, who can pitch aswell as Matt Tubbs himself. Of course, he must be a scout, or else hecouldn't play in this match game; but how a fellow can be a scout and dosuch a ratty thing as that, beats me all hollow," Elmer went on.

  "Tell me the whole story, that's a good fellow," remarked the other."Where did you get it--from Jasper, here?"

  "Yes, I've been watching him," replied the smallest scout, nodding. "Iheard of him over in Fairfield, and he was pointed out to me as the manMatt depended on to fool the Hickory Ridge nine in case he got knockedout of the box himself. Besides, I saw him write something down in anotebook as many as three or four times, and always chuckling to himselfto beat the band."

  "Well, that's a nice surprise to have thrown at your head just after wewere saying we had those signs all down pat. This means another turn atit"; and Mark threw his coat on the grass with an expression ofdisgust.

  "Hold on till that bunch of fellows gets out of sight, Mark, which willbe in a few minutes," remarked Elmer, who failed to look at the thingwith the same shade of annoyance that marked the countenance of hisfriend; "but in the end this may turn out to be in our favor, you know
."

  "Perhaps it may," replied the catcher; "but it's a nuisance, all thesame. Now we've just got to go and unlearn all we fixed up."

  "Easy job, Mark; just push 'em ahead one point and everything's altered.Makes me laugh to think how those fellows will tumble into the trap.Why, I can see one or two strike-outs every inning till they get wise.And say, perhaps our new pitcher, Lon Braddock, will feel like kickinghimself because he was such a fool as to believe all he saw."

  "Now they're around the bend of the road, Elmer, with that strange boyalongside Bob Harris, plying him with questions by the dozen, I reckon.Luckily, Bob doesn't know very much about our nine, for his applicationto be a scout was turned down, you remember, Elmer."

  "So it was," mused the pitcher; "which makes me suspect that perhaps Bobknew why the man from Fairfield was over here. It's pretty hard to findthat there are traitors in your own camp. But let them keep it up; we'regoing to take their number to-day, as sure as you're born, Mark. I justfeel it in my bones. I only hope Matt Tubbs didn't know about thistrick. I'd hate to think he had a hand in it; and after seeing what achange has come over the former bully of Fairfield and Cramertown Iwon't believe it, either."

  So they once more started in, passing the ball. A few of the small boyshad remained to continue their scrub ball game. They wondered what thebattery of the regular nine could be doing and stopped playing to watch;but as Jasper had been particularly cautioned not to breathe a word ofthe valuable discovery he had made, they were none the wiser for theirsurvey and soon went back to their happy-go-lucky game.

  It did not take the two boys long to get familiar with the new versionof the sign code. Even Mark allowed that he had it down just as pat asthe older style.

  "And just as you said, Elmer," he admitted, "if those fellows over atFairfield believe they're onto our signs, they're going to make a heapof trouble for themselves, believe me. I can see a fellow whacking awayat a wide bender that he expects is going to be a swift one over therubber. The only trouble will be for me to keep a straight face throughthe circus."

  "Oh, it won't last long," replied the other. "When a few of them havemade a show of themselves they'll talk it over and conclude the spy gotthe signals mixed. But by that time the mischief may have been done.Remember, Mark, we owe a lot to little wide-awake Jasper, here. He'salways on the watch for chances to build up the credit of Hickory Ridgetroop."

  Each of them gravely shook hands with Jasper, who turned very rosy inthe face at hearing himself spoken of in terms of praise, for there hadbeen times when the boy had begun to despair of ever accomplishinganything worth while in the organization, his size seeming to be so muchof a handicap against him.

  But now hope was taking on new life within him, for he had found thatsize really counts for little in many of the things a scout may do tobring credit on himself and honor to his troop.

  It was nearly noon when Elmer and Mark turned their faces homeward.Earlier in the day the former had walked over to Colonel Hitchins's toget his wheel and ride it home, after putting a plug in the puncture.He was considerably surprised, and pleased as well, to see Phil Lallyworking in the garden as he passed.

  The man looked up and waved a hand cheerily, and it gave Elmer a queerlittle sensation, altogether pleasant, in the region of his boyish heartto realize that that young fellow was laboring honorably there thatbright morning, instead of languishing in jail with a forlorn outlookbefore him, thanks to the kind heart and generous impulse of the man whoowned the estate. And it also pleased Elmer to feel that he, too, hadhad something of a share in what seemed like the reformation of PhilLally.

  And when noon came around the skies still smiled, guiltless of clouds;while a delightful breeze gave promise of a grand afternoon for thegreat game.