Baseball Joe Around the World Part 25

"Not in the legal sense, perhaps," said Reggie, dubiously.

"Well, if not in the legal sense, then in no sense at all," persisted Braxton. "The law is supposed to be based on justice, isn't it, and to do what is right?

"Of course," he went on, "it's none of my business; but if I were in Mr.

Matson's place, I shouldn't hesitate a moment in going where my services were in the most demand."

Mabel felt there was sophistry somewhere in the argument, but could hardly point out where it was.

"I wouldn't like to be quoted in this matter, of course," said Braxton, suavely. "And it might be just as well not to mention to Mr. Matson that I have spoken about it. He might think I was trying to pry into his affairs."

As Joe and Jim came up just then from the engine-room of the ship which they had been inspecting, the subject, of course, was dropped, and after a while Braxton strode away with a self-satisfied smile on his lips.

The travelers were now in the heart of the typhoon region but luckily for them it was the winter season when such storms are least frequent and although they met a half gale that for two days kept them in their cabins, they were favored on the whole by fair weather and at the appointed time dropped anchor in the harbor of Yokohama.

Now they were on the very threshold of the Oriental world of whose wonders they had heard and dreamed, and all were on tiptoe with curiosity and interest.

The sights and scenes were as strange almost as though they were on another planet. Everything was new to their young blood and unjaded senses in this "Land of the Rising Sun."

The great city itself, teeming with commerce and busy life, had countless places of interest, but far more enchanting were the trips they took in the jinrikishas drawn by tireless coolies which carried them to the little dreaming, rustic towns with their tiny houses, their quaint paG.o.das, their charming gardens and their unhurried life, so different from the feverish, restless tumult of western lands.

"Really, this seems to be a different world from ours," was Clara's comment.

"It certainly is vastly different from anything we have in America,"

replied Mabel.

"It's interesting--I'll admit that," said Joe. "Just the same, I like things the way we have them much better."

"To me these people--or at least a large part of them--seem to lead a dreamlike existence," was Jim's comment. "They don't seem to belong to the hurry and bustle of life such as we know it."

"And yet there is noise enough, goodness knows!" answered Clara.

"I think I really prefer the good old U. S. A., don't you know," drawled Reggie. "There may be society here, but really it's so different from ours that I shouldn't like to take part in it."

"Yes, there is plenty of noise, but, at the same time, there is a good deal of calm and quiet," said Joe.

But the calm and quiet that seemed to be prevailing features of j.a.panese life were wholly absent from the ball games where the visiting teams met the nines of Keio and Waseda Universities.

The Giants were to play the first named team, while later on the All-Americans were slated to tackle the Waseda men.

In the first game the contrast was laughable between the st.u.r.dy Giant players and their diminutive opponents.

"What are we playing against?" laughed Larry to Denton. "A bunch of kids?"

"It would take two of them to make a mouthful," grinned Denton.

"I feel almost ashamed of myself," chimed in Burkett. "We ought to tackle fellows of our own size."

"You don't find many of that kind in j.a.pan," said Joe. "But don't you hold these fellows too cheap. They may have a surprise in store for us."

The snap and vim that the j.a.ps put into their practice before the game seemed to add point to his prophecy. They shot the ball around the bases with a speed and precision that would have done credit to seasoned veterans and made McRae, who watched them keenly, give his men a word of caution.

"Don't get too gay, boys," he warned.

The game that followed was "for blood." The universities had poured out their crowds to a man to cheer their players on to victory.

And for the first five innings the scales hung in the balance. The Keio pitcher had a world of speed and a tantalizing drop, and only two safe hits were made off him. Behind him his team mates fielded like demons. No ball seemed too hard for them to get, and even when a Giant got to first base he found it difficult to advance against the accurate throwing to second of the j.a.p catcher.

At the bat the home players were less fortunate. They hit the ball often enough but they couldn't "lean against it" with the power of their st.u.r.dier rivals.

They were skillful bunters, however, and had the Giant players "standing on their heads" in trying to field the b.a.l.l.s that the clever j.a.p players laid deftly in front of the plate.

By these tactics they scored a run in the sixth inning, against which the Giants had only a string of goose eggs.

"It's like a bear against a wildcat," muttered Robbie to McRae, as the little j.a.p scurried over the plate.

"And it looks as if the wildcat might win," grunted the Giant manager, not at all pleased at the possibility.

"Not a bit of it," denied Robbie st.u.r.dily. "A good big man is better than a good little man any time."

And his faith was justified when, in the seventh inning, the Giants, stung by the taunts of their manager, really woke up and got into action. A perfect storm of hits broke from their bats and had the j.a.panese players running after the ball until their tongues hung out.

Five runs came in and it was "all over but the shouting." There was not much shouting, however, for the home crowd had seen its dream of victory shattered.

But though the Giants won handily in the end by a score of six to two, it had been a red-hot game, and had taken some of the conceit out of the major leaguers. It was a tip, too, to the All-Americans, who, when they played the Waseda team a little later, went in with determination to win the game from the start and trimmed their opponents handsomely.

"Those j.a.ps are the goods all right," conceded McRae, when at last they were ready to embark for Hongkong.

"You're right they are," agreed Robbie.

"We call ourselves the world's champions," grinned Jim. "But, after all, we're only champions of the United States. The time may come when there will be a real World's Series and then the pennant will mean something more than it does now."

"It would be some big jump between the games," said Joe.

"Lots of queer things happen," said Larry sagely. "The time yet may come when the umpire will take off his hat, bow to the crowd and say--

"'Ladies and gentlemen: the batteries for to-day's game are Matsuda and Nagawiki for the All-j.a.pans, Matson and Mylert for the All-Americans.'"

CHAPTER XXI

RUNNING AMUCK

If j.a.pan had been a revelation to the tourists, China was a still greater one. For j.a.pan, however much she clung to the dreamy life of former times, had at last awakened and was fast adapting herself to modern, civilized conditions.

If j.a.pan was still half dreaming, China was sound asleep. This, of course, was not true of the foreign quarter, where the great English government buildings and commercial houses might have been those of Paris or London.