"Zip! Hurrah! Roxley!" was the cry, and then followed a great noise from the horns and rattles.

"Brill! Brill! Brill!" was the counter cry, and then the furious din was taken up by the other side.

After that the grandstand filled up rapidly and so did the bleachers, until there was not an available seat remaining. In the meanwhile, a parking place for automobiles and carriages at the far end of the field was also well patronized.

"Some crowd, and no mistake!" was Stanley's comment, as he looked at the ma.s.ses of humanity waving flags and banners and tooting their horns and using various other devices for making noise. "This is by far the biggest crowd we have ever had."

"Roxley has sent word all around that they are going to bury us this year," returned another student standing by. "They claim they have a team that can't be beaten."

Down in the dressing-room Bob was giving some final instructions to his men.

"I want you to play from the word 'go,'" he said. "Sometimes a game is lost or won in the first inning. Don't let them get any kind of a lead if you can possibly help it."

It had been decided almost at the last minute that instead of covering left field Sam should cover third base. There was a big cheer for the Roxley team when it made its appearance on the field, and another cheer when the Brill nine showed itself. Then came the toss-up, and it was decided that Brill should go to the bat first.

The first man to the bat was a tall fellow who played center field, and as he came forward many of the Brill sympathizers cheered him l.u.s.tily.

"Now show 'em what you can do!"

"Knock it over the back fence!"

The ball came in and the batter swung for it and missed it.

"Strike one!"

"That's the way to do it, Muggs!"

Again the ball came in, and this time there was a foul tip.

"Foul! Strike two!"

Following this second strike came two b.a.l.l.s, over which the Brill contingent cheered. Then came a swift inshoot, which the batter missed by the fraction of an inch.

"Strike three! Batter out!" sang out the umpire.

"That's the way to do it, Muggs!" came the yell from the Roxley cohorts, and there followed a din of horns and rattles.

The second man up for Brill managed to get to first, but the next one went out on a pop fly, and then the man on first was caught trying to steal to second.

"That's the way to do it, Roxley! Keep it up!" And as a goose egg was put up for Brill on the score board the opponents cheered as wildly as ever.

But if Roxley had hoped to score in that first inning, her expectations were doomed to disappointment. The first man up went out on a pop fly, the second on a foul, and although the third managed to reach second base on what should have really been a one-base hit, the fourth man up knocked an easy one to first which ended their hopes.

It was not until the second inning that Sam came to the bat. There were two men out when he grasped the ashen stick and took his stand beside the home plate. He had a strike and two b.a.l.l.s called on him, and then sent a clean hit between first and second bases.

"Run, Sam, run!" yelled d.i.c.k.

"Leg it, old man, leg it!" added Tom, and the youngest Rover certainly did speed for first, arriving there just a second before the ball.

"Oh, if only he can get in!" cried Grace, clapping her hands.

"It's a long way around to home plate," put in Chester Waltham. "He's got to have help to do it."

A moment later the next man to the bat knocked an easy fly to second and that ended the chances for Sam's scoring, and another goose egg went up for Brill on the score board.

In the end of the second inning Roxley was fortunate enough to open the play with a neat drive which brought the batter to second. Then came another one-base hit, and amid a wild yelling the runner from second slid in over the home plate.

"Hurrah! Hurrah! A run for Roxley!"

"That's the way to do it! Keep it up! Snow Brill under!"

Bob Grimes walked up to Dare Phelps, who was occupying the pitcher's box.

"Take it easy, Dare," he pleaded. "Don't let 'em rattle you."

"They are not going to rattle me," responded Dare Phelps, and pitched the next batter out in one-two-three order. In the meantime, however, the man on first managed to steal second. A moment later he tried to reach third. The pitcher threw the ball to Sam, who leaped up into the air and caught it, coming down on the runner while he was still a foot from the bag.

"Runner out!" cried the umpire, and Roxley's player arose rather crestfallen and limped off to the benches.

"That's the way to do it, Sam. Nab 'em every time!" cried Tom.

When the inning was ended Roxley had only the one run to its credit.

Brill came to the bat for the third time with a sort of do-or-die look on the faces of the players. It was plucky little Spud who started a batting streak, getting safely to first and followed by another player who managed to reach second, landing Spud on third. Then came two outs.

Before the inning was ended, however, two runs were placed on the board to the credit of Brill.

"Two to one in favor of Brill!" cried one of the students.

"Just wait, this inning isn't over yet!" cried one of the Roxley sympathizers. Then Roxley went to the bat, and because of a bad fumble on the part of the Brill second baseman, they managed to secure another run.

"Two to two!" was the cry, as the figures went up on the big score board.

"Anybody's game, so far," said d.i.c.k Rover, soberly, "but I do hope Brill wins."

"And so do I," answered his brother Tom.

CHAPTER XVII

HOW THE GAME ENDED

In the fourth inning Brill did its best to get in another run. There were two one-base hits made, but these were followed by a strike-out and two pop flies, so the hits availed nothing.

"Such playing as that isn't helping us any," was d.i.c.k's remark in a low tone to Tom.