Merry fouled it.

"Foul ball--two strikes!" came from Carker.

The tough crowd back of first howled with satisfaction.

"Strike him out, Bender!" they cried. "Show him up!"

Bender followed with a drop, but it was a ball, and Frank declined to swing at it.

"Three b.a.l.l.s," said the calm, clear voice of the umpire.

"A valk vill take you, Frankie!" cried Dunnerwurst, from the coaching line. "He vill made you a present to der virst pase. Yah!"

Bender pretended to kick a pebble from beneath his feet. Suddenly, without any preliminary swing, he sent over a swift straight ball.

Smash!

Merriwell nailed the ball on the trade-mark.

CHAPTER XL.

A DETERMINED FRONT.

Frank drove the ball out on a line and reached second base by sharp running.

"Vale! vale! vale!" spluttered Dunnerwurst, as he danced round like a huge fat toad. "Dot peen too pad! It vos an awful surprise dot der ball dit not make a home run vor him!"

"Naow we're started, gol ding it!" shouted Gallup excitedly, as he pranced out to coach. "Let's keep her a-goin', fellers!"

Ephraim was in a wildly excited condition. He felt himself tingling and shaking all over. At one moment he was hot and burning, and the next moment he was cold and shivering.

Buck Badger looked dangerous to Bender. The solid, stocky, square-shouldered Westerner seemed like a man who would hit the ball a terrible crack if he hit it at all.

In the stand, sitting amid the ladies of Merriwell's house party, was Winnie Badger, whose eyes gleamed with pride as she watched her husband.

"I hope Buck will get a hit," she murmured. "He used to hit well."

"Oo, eet ees the strange game!" exclaimed Teresa Gallup. "What ees eet Ephraim ees doing now? Does he have to hollaire so loud?"

"He's a coach," explained Elsie.

"A coach?" questioned Teresa. "Why, the coach ees sometheeng for a horse to pull. Ees Ephraim sometheeng for a horse to pull?"

"He isn't just that sort of a coach," laughed Inza. "He's out there to give Frank instructions about running bases."

"Oo!" murmured Teresa. "Does he know more about the way bases to run than Frank knows?"

"Perhaps not," smiled Inza. "But you see the runner can't keep watch of the ball and the players while he's running. He can't tell just what every one is doing if he has to pay attention to himself. A coach can tell him what to do."

Juanita Garcia had not spoken since the beginning of the game, but now she ventured to ask:

"What ees eet Senor Carkaire he play? He keep saying: 'One ball! One strike! Two ball! Two strike!' but he do nothing else."

"He's the umpire. He is the judge who gives the decisions."

"Oo!" breathed Juanita. "He ees the judge! He ees the magistrate! Then he must know everytheeng about the game. He must know more than every one else. Eet ees splendeed! I am so proud of Senor Carkaire!"

Suddenly Winnie Badger clapped her hands, uttered a cry of delight, and started up.

Buck had hit the ball.

A moment later Winnie's joy turned to dismay, for, with a leap, O'Day thrust out his gloved left hand and caught Badger's liner. It was the third put-out, and Merry was left on second.

"That's playing ball!" roared the man with the broken nose. "Now get after Frank Merriwell, and send him to the stable! Put the blanket on him! Polish him off!"

The Rovers trotted in, while the home team took the field.

Casper Silence lighted a fresh cigarette as the players in yellow and black settled down on the bench.

"Beyond question you faced the four leading batters of that team, Bender," said the proprietor of the visitors. "You know now what Merriwell and Badger can hit. If O'Day had not made a great catch, Merriwell would have scored."

"Oh, I'll get onto their style of hitting, all right," nodded Bender.

"Neither of those chaps will touch me next time."

Bearover was speaking to McCann.

"We want to make some runs in this inning, Mike," he said. "If we can roll up a few tallies, it ought to discourage the youngsters. It's not easy to bluff them, but we may be able to get their tails down, and an uphill game is a hard game for any team to play. Start us off, McCann."

The captain of the visitors walked out and hit the first ball pitched to him, although it was fully six inches higher than his shoulders. The hit was a sharp drive into the field, and Carson took it on the first bound and promptly sent it to Badger, which held McCann at first.

Frank believed Mertez would try to bunt, and he kept the ball high.

Mertez fouled the first one, and a strike was called.

McCann was forced to return to first after getting a big start toward second.

Merry fancied he saw a signal exchanged between the batter and the base runner. Something told him McCann would try to steal.

Nevertheless, Frank appeared careless in permitting the captain of the Rovers to get a lead off first. When he pitched, however, Merry whistled the ball over high and wide so that it came into Bart's hands in such a manner that Hodge was in perfect position to throw to second.

McCann was scooting down the line.

Bart threw to second.

Badger covered the sack, took the ball and tagged McCann as the runner was sliding.