And when finally the time came for Scranton to journey over to the rival town, there to take up cudgels with Allandale High, quite a numerous host of the local people went along, bent on learning just how much truth there might be in the stories that had drifted across regarding the invincibility of Big Ed Patterson.
As on previous occasions, there was a tremendous outpouring of interested spectators.

If anything, it was a record crowd, and far excelled in point of numbers and enthusiasm any gathering that had cheered the Allandale team on in their two contests against Belleville.
There was a reason for this, of course, since the latter team had proven to be so woefully weak that they had not thus far managed to win a single game, and were out of the race for the pennant.

On the other hand, Scranton, while beaten in the first combat with the locals, had fought gamely, though terribly handicapped by the absence of their regular star pitcher.

Besides, they had really beaten Belleville both times as badly as had Allandale.
Everybody therefore was anticipating considerable real sport with the two pitchers on the mound pitted against each other, and the regular teams covering the various positions on the diamond.
It was a cloudy day, and looked as though it might rain.

Hugh noted this fact and understood just what Coach Leonard meant when he told them it would be just as well to start right in, and do some scoring.
If the game should be called after a number of innings had been played, whoever was ahead would be adjudged the victor.