Free At the Old Ballgame by Jeff Silverman

“Here’s my money, too!”
    â€œMake it twenty-five and I will go you,” drawled Harris.
    â€œAll right, I’ll make it twenty-five.”
    The money was staked.
    Derry, also a heavy hitter, was second on Harvard’s list. Derry had a bat that was as long and as large as the regulations would permit, and as heavy as lead; yet, despite the weight of the stick, the strapping Vermonter handled it as if it were a feather.
    Frank sent up a coaxer, but Derry refused to be coaxed. The second ball was high, but Derry cracked it for two bags, and Hinkley got around to third.
    It began to seem as if Merriwell would be batted out in the first inning, and the Yale crowd looked weary and disgusted at the start.
    The next batter fouled out, however, and the next one sent a red-hot liner directly at Merriwell. There was no time to get out of the way, so Frank caught it, snapped the ball to third, found Hinkley off the bag, and retired the side without a score.
    This termination of the first half of the inning was so swift and unexpected that it took some seconds for the spectators to realize what had happened. When they did, however, Yale was wildly cheered.
    â€œWhat do you think about it now, Harris?” demanded Harry, exultantly.
    â€œI think Merriwell saved his neck by a dead lucky catch,” was the answer. “If he had missed the ball he would have been removed within five minutes.”
    Pierson, who was sitting on the bench, was looking doubtful, and he held a consultation with Costigan, captain of the team, as soon as the latter came in from third base.
    Costigan asked Frank how he felt, and Merriwell replied that he had never felt better in his life, so it was decided to let him see what he could do in the box the next inning.
    Yedding, who was in the box for Harvard, could not have been in better condition, and the first three Yale men to face him went out in one-two-three order, making the first inning a whitewash for both sides.
    As Merriwell went into the box the second time there were cries for Heffiner, who was on the bench, ready to pitch if forced to do so, for all of the fact that it might ruin his arm forever, so far as ball playing was concerned.
    In trying to deceive the first man up Merriwell gave him three balls in succession. Then he was forced to put them over. He knew the batter would take one or two, and so he sent two straight, swift ones directly over, and two strikes were called.
    Then came the critical moment, for the next ball pitched would settle the matter. Frank sent in a rise and the batter struck at it, missed it, and was declared out, the ball having landed with a “plunk” in the hands of the catcher.
    The next batter got first on a single, but the third man sent an easy one to Frank, who gathered it in, threw the runner out at second, and the second baseman sent the ball to first in time to retire the side on a double play.
    â€œYou are all right, Merriwell, old man,” enthusiastically declared Heffiner, as Frank came in to the bench. “They haven’t been able to score off you yet, and they won’t be able to touch you at all after you get into gear.”
    Pierson was relieved, and Costigan looked well satisfied.
    â€œNow we must have some scores, boys,” said the captain.
    But Yedding showed that he was out for blood, for he allowed but one safe hit, and again retired Yale without a score.
    Surely it was a hot game, and excitement was running high. Would Harvard be able to score the next time? That was the question everybody was asking.
    Yedding came to the bat in this inning, and Merriwell struck him out with ease, while not another man got a safe hit, although one got first on the shortstop’s error.
    The Yale crowd cheered like Indians when Harvard was shut out for the third time, the freshmen seeming to yell louder than all the others. They originated a cry which was like this:
    â€œHe is doing very well! Who? Why,