第12章

HIS SECOND WIND

The first weeks were not pleasant for The Pilot.He had been beaten, and the sense of failure damped his fine enthusiasm, which was one of his chief charms.The Noble Seven despised, ignored, or laughed at him, according to their mood and disposition.Bruce patronized him; and, worst of all, the Muirs pitied him.This last it was that brought him low, and I was glad of it.I find it hard to put up with a man that enjoys pity.

It was Hi Kendal that restored him, though Hi had no thought of doing so good a deed.It was in this way: A baseball match was on with The Porcupines from near the Fort.To Hi's disgust and the team's dismay Bill failed to appear.It was Hi's delight to stand up for Bill's pitching, and their battery was the glory of the Home team.

"Try The Pilot, Hi," said some one, chaffing him.

Hi looked glumly across at The Pilot standing some distance, away;then called out, holding up the ball:

"Can you play the game?"

For answer Moore held up his hands for a catch.Hi tossed him the ball easily.The ball came back so quickly that Hi was hardly ready, and the jar seemed to amaze him exceedingly.

"I'll take him," he said, doubtfully, and the game began.Hi fitted on his mask, a new importation and his peculiar pride, and waited.

"How do you like them?" asked The Pilot.

"Hot!" said Hi."I hain't got no gloves to burn."The Pilot turned his back, swung off one foot on to the other and discharged his ball.

"Strike!" called the umpire.

"You bet!" said Hi, with emphasis, but his face was a picture of amazement and dawning delight.

Again The Pilot went through the manoeuvre in his box and again the umpire called:

"Strike!"

Hi stopped the ball without holding it and set himself for the third.Once more that disconcerting swing and the whip-like action of the arm, and for the third time the umpire called:

"Strike! Striker out!"

"That's the hole," yelled Hi.

The Porcupines were amazed.Hi looked at the ball in his hand, then at the slight figure of The Pilot.

"I say! where do you get it?"

"What?" asked Moore innocently.

"The gait!"

"The what?"

"The gait! the speed, you know!"

"Oh! I used to play in Princeton a little.""Did, eh? What the blank blank did you quit for?"He evidently regarded the exchange of the profession of baseball for the study of theology as a serious error in judgment, and in this opinion every inning of the game confirmed him.At the bat The Pilot did not shine, but he made up for light hitting by his base-running.He was fleet as a deer, and he knew the game thoroughly.He was keen, eager, intense in play, and before the innings were half over he was recognized as the best all-round man on the field.In the pitcher's box he puzzled the Porcupines till they grew desperate and hit wildly and blindly, amid the jeers of the spectators.The bewilderment of the Porcupines was equaled only by the enthusiasm of Hi and his nine, and when the game was over the score stood 37 to 7 in favor of the Home team.They carried The Pilot off the field.

From that day Moore was another man.He had won the unqualified respect of Hi Kendal and most of the others, for he could beat them at their own game and still be modest about it.Once more his enthusiasm came back and his brightness and his courage.The Duke was not present to witness his triumph, and, besides, he rather despised the game.Bruce was there, however, but took no part in the general acclaim; indeed, he seemed rather disgusted with Moore's sudden leap into favor.Certainly his hostility to The Pilot and to all that he stood for was none the less open and bitter.