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Show i r rr.-j ' i .f- i ; t i .- no' ; i ; ti ir.'TOLis'.'I ! II:?, J'l-.n;.' :.r of a l-'.il plj.vr-r '.h vr. il.it -j V- :i ;i -f- : '-.l.'-h iJ'j. - - ? ; - i h-: .--Ml! r-'.i s t; f; ; j : t. - a of rr.ir.d w;".!:h mri'in t rn a : a -i : - o;l. T:-r:. I vr." Is fifl ir. :-.' fr'! -:i .- h: r -I la ;irr.r-d ri;t of i-;v i" out or r.fs.j hu -i to v. :.:--h ri; li tho j y.-.irs of lii.i lift-. w:i! in- vr-t;m o.' ti : j.r;i':t u;il j"k-. v.r:;-:i v, 'i ':un. . n- . -r j.-iun-l a'. Uot-rc I'-ivi-j I-i-i !.-.-; h"- uas 'Tiii'ht ui a -:.ar: whii.h w:--i to'. -; t--;. I ' for h:s .-aij'.oij.-j f:.-t. U.t wrs ;: on Jt.it; : '. u 1 1 1-- t.i 1 1 1 (, l'op nuiv lay a fijll j h-: - Ml! r'-i h t; '; illl. a'uf rr.'r.'i w:-.!,:h fi' ' I wriMi' hi' an u'. he '-a r - ', V . !! '1 I I la ;s.-d oit of S-.v LtUI, 'I" i ',1 ! "XJ i f i tn.,'b.i-ir... to Ki.fh h: .-... thn b-s- jf' : ,. ! y.-.ifi of lift-- H- wa Ih. vrt:m o.' a f I Vun-l tilVvl'-ri Invu Ir , ; he' as I! Ill --j-T N. f '-nii'ht in a .-:.are veha.h w: s I of v;,?-..;!.! i ' ' ; r; 1 f.,r li:s , ;ni'.o;j.i ft!.;t. U,.,! ;: on ! ' I1 ' i V , I t.i.i c:i-cuii..-t.ili' , l'op nu.v lay a full ' l ' t ' .! 1 i 1 : ' )' Mexico league! Allow nie' v bourne here i.s the Boston club p' vore. first base; John Adam -field : John Hun aid, iitrher' (i,', c:'' Chief Antonio here, is the AtwT.' Kaw Dos. Bald Hornet. "sUi", ano others too nunierotis to mem lerson Havis Johnson is the L'ov "' nothing less than a statesman " lit.ei.T. and I L represent Hit v fonulation with the .San Migu;.n-wiiKiel's. Migu;.n-wiiKiel's. This Keiitleman la our ; linUMre and seoi-ekeejier. Mr. IJart trames are phiyed upon the board i 7 you see on the table the inventin. , '" Chlcaso fan, itiul tho cleverest th, " the sort 1 ever saw. You have",'5 rupted a great duuhle-header betwJ Apaches and Coyotes, and the som l'arks, what is the official score "Eisht to three, favor of the Aiua said l'arks. gravely. "Sinking .M' two more home runs." ' ! l'op looked about him, discover i chair, and found his way to it shaking legs. ty- "VWil. Johnny." ho remarked t. "all I'vo got to say is that you and"!' bunk newspaper have made an " sucker out of me." d . "Oh, 1 say!" cried Kilbotirne. "You're mistaken, Pop." said p. earnestly. "It was the fellow who h'' ed you the, copy of the .Messenger' made a sucker of you." Here t'risbee turned very red, and. still deeper into his chair. "You see, it's this way," cont Johnny. "Wo get out that paper lr,r own amusement, and it's not forger circulation. We print just enousr' send to our friends. Wc fake even;; in it, and there's never been anv V. tion to fool any one. You don't knuiv slowlv the time passes in a place of '. sort, and if a man hasn't somciln-, keep him busy, he's likely to go num "A pal of mine in Chicago hippj . this mechanical ball game device cause he had found it interesting discovered that we could not only regular game on it, but could score : we gave names to the counters. It str mo that wc could got up a four-t league and have a pennant race an; the same time get some live new; our sporting page. It has been a laugh to us and to our friends. If ; body told you this league was on square, he lied, and you'll have to fi5. out with him." The Drinks Were on Pop. There was a long, Hwkward sf Then V'oo Frlsbee swallowed hard acknokledgvd the corn. "It's up to me," he said bravely, swiped that paper off Charlie Ho., desk and I guess it's coining to Johnny!" The Coyote team of the Northern Mexico League stood humbly at Frii1 elbow as befits a tailender. Ho cart; tray, upon which were placed several glasses, in which hfty-cent-a-pou: tinkled expensively. "L.et us all have a little drink,"; Eilly Kilbourne. "Johnny, a toast! Meegan smiled over the top of hU: at Frisbce. "I give you the Phantom League. ; tlemen!" said Johnny. "There'll t be another one like if!" "Amen to that!" said Pop Frlsbee It would be a pleasant thing to end story without mention of its sequel. ' joke, carried too far, sometimes bee; a tragedy. To do Johnny Meegan justice, her intended that the facts concertos r bee's visit should become public prof but the friend whom Johnny ask regard the letter as confidential h; sense of humor developed at the ei: of his good taste. Inside of two s the story appeared In four hundred papers, copied from the original, v was printed in Chicago. Pop Fris'rf the Phantom League became the eU; joke of the "winter leagues" and stove fanning bees. Thev laughed Pop Frlsbee out of !. . ball, and they came near laughing.; into an asylum, so In the end the P torn League became very real to The joke broke his heart, and spoile; best scout in the country' to lift, second-class street-car inspector. Johnny Meegan is back on the asrain. Sometimes he comes across Frisbee in his blue uniform, but Po: wavs happens to be looking the ; way, and Meegan would give a great if the Phantom League had never isted. (Copyright, 1919, by The Bell Syni Inc.) Rohkht l. IH fp.!:-:;:!:k !-,(, l-'i'!: l,.:e for short - 'A a.1 a I.U; l.a,:ij.; I-or Hi-: i.-"iiff!t of tho..; who may Hot l-.No'V ti.: rl tAntHH Of tin: tijh.--l-.all N.'Orjr, .... v. ,.i i,y a ti.L-r on a f of Mir ..n.l:i.,:i.s v.l.i.-h rr.-af.-.l rht-i parti. uii.r ,rmu-U of Li. -.oo, M,, .-,-rr v;r:e. A Ion tun.: ;.(.;, wan a r.Tt-a- t,"- ii IL !, w ir.t.i a :.n)rrf:-.:i:U M"Ti,n.Tif, l,i-o;I.;Il,;,i int., a. r.ft nv, pi'ujo'-,if ion, r.is.l i-j n.-A. in point of in. y in v.-:.i . -I, intT-,-.f.-i f.iiL-..-f and i"M"i!ar fo U.v.l Kj (.ho Kr.Lr:M outdoor ;ini'.i:nir-nt. t-ntfi j.riht- in (ho v;.)rnl. WIhmi i,.--:in to j, the nr.m- a-K'TM ht-t ahf,ut M-oiirirn p:rj.rin. -m v. ho vould draw nioiirty at tin; box offir; that in to Hit y. pliiyf-rs vho -.,.d win k;uiim. Tho Kanir; U-.lf d.:v.:oPf:d along H-iurie l!lit:.H, and hi- l.-riKur- :,mf- nxt, wi'h li'i evcr-lii.M-t-a.Mng d..inand for n-v.v Mood. At I h priori f u ctf Inp, t:!x r-n mn J..r U:, K-ijft rluhs, uilh t-nra.'l.-.s rt-a.-oin into ".'t:i y Milnor lr;.KM- in the coun try, a i- ff-UliK ;ii)oUl C,r tht: voiiiiKHtf-c who fan lay (.WMt-ii to pj.ilt up the Vt:ltT;ui'H Kl)Vl. :iH ,,. ,ir((,lS it. 'Di.! hiK p-aK'i.:; ia an uni't-.-lmt,' sort, nf :in o.'..hjm. 'J'li,! .:.-iv.:r who :; r r u k kU-s (o Hit; t.. Ijoldn Iiim jol) ju.'-t --o hniy as he 'an play hl.s po.itiun a little bit l..'!l.:r tlian any oth'-r whom rhr- mariaf- ni--(it can find, and thh nia naK'-mi-nt is e t-rla.M JriKly on (lif: lookout i'.r that o'.h.-r niati. That. Im wItto thf h.-ouI coin-- Into play. 1 I in Job i.-i to find lc ln,yx who urn Io Ik- tlit .slarn of tomorrow, Sonitini'-H tin-, svout f.s a .supfranmial.-f! ball .layiu-; soni-t i ni'-s lu; ts a man who ii'-v.t had a ba.M.-hall in hin hands. J-(n mirl. hav.t t Im ability to pi.-k it sterling pr-rfornit-r at. a kI.'lihc. lie must haw;j Jinh,'im-nt, Mfcrt t iv.'tiesa and a I't'rtain ainoiini of initiative. A well -bala tired hi'out. will savo a Kinall fortune for tlni Tnanaif.'UifiiL whhdi .-mjiloys hi in num:y whhdi iniKlit of ti.Twi.-f! 1m- sp.-nt in "Lry-iiiK "Lry-iiiK out" unsa tl-farLory rf.-niUs. l'op (''ristif.: was a xontl scout. Ho-t Ho-t vt-eii his t .'i'mh and his thirt ios lie liad fift-n a hall playt-r and a team rapi al n faniouM In tlie ttdimrs. His inability to hit hitfh-rhi.ss plthln bad cond.'innpfl him to upend Ids artiv..- days just outside major lt-airue ora ni.a t ions, but lie was a marvpluUH fit-Id i ng firsr liascinn n, a nd bad a knuck for d--vi oping raw maLerial hi a Hliort .-pace of time. V)u-n -Visbtiu Ih-k.iii to talco on weight ii nd cituld no If hk" "sp a r" the bad throWK at first, )n ),.gau to look ahou t him for a permanent position of some Horl. and Tinmt hy 'ii hill, at t hat tiino nwinaiug th..- Wanderers from the bench, employed i-Yisbe.i a.s a scout. Cahill had once, played second base under Krisbee, and ho bad respect tor J'op's judgment of a yearling. Knew Value of Silence. Krisbee made eood. He took real pride In his work; pride in his record: pride in his ability to ko out into the waste places and come hack with the g,0ds. te knew more about the little leagues of the bush country than any three scouts in tho business, and he never slopped over In his anxiety to impress upon Cuhj!l the necessity for securing an unknov$p A mud est commendation from Pop liisbee meant more than hours of oratory from Keruohan, Henry Mc.Donough, of tho Blues, or Davy Marnn, of the Benedicts. Krisbee went about his work silently. He never hunted ball players w ith a brass band or a torchlight procession, and he kept his mouth eduit. Once during his first year he had opened his heart to a friend, and It had cost him a wonderful right-hand phenomenon whom he had discovered pitching In a timber league lu Michigan. That taught l'op a lesson. Ho kept his own counsel, covered his trail w here he could, and when on the scent was as secretive as a detective. Competition Compe-tition was stiff, and all the clubs were wondering where Krisbee "dug up his live onea," It was lAop Krisbee who found "Gertie" Judson, the Infieldiug sensation of his litre, and nobody ever he.ird so much as Jud son's name before Krisbee trailed in with hii modest report. "Butch" Galloway Gallo-way and "Moose" Terr ill were also In Kop's private gallery, both of whom 'night ha e been in the tall -grass country yet but for old Krisbee's pring eye. Pop enjoyed tho work. o prospector who unearths a "pocket" of migs-ets eer felt more pleased than did this plump, rod-faced, middle -aged man at the sight of an unknown playing big-league baseball base-ball on an unknown diamond. Poo Krisbee has another job now. He is an Inspector for a public, service corporation. cor-poration. Into his work lie puts no enthusiasm, en-thusiasm, and out of it he gets no pleasure. plea-sure. His salary uheck is smaller, too, and the lorg count. a:d is anunJ town this mo:-i;:!'u' with his ia.:np immrd low." We have frequently deplored the prevalence preva-lence of such occurrences m cur het circles. a::d it v.-.u-d seen thai aVolu-l'.c exce:-s ape ii!;d-'r"!iiii:i.: the fou a t leu? of cur s?ci:.l labra-. The furd:m-nial Principe. uf our social structure arc threate.-i.-d. Wc i -it ended to print in thi? mmiber a: great blank ve-- poem eiiiitled. "The , De:r.:m Kum." but our staff poet sought , h:s inspiration in the subjc: of his l':'ty Liic-s. a. id fuur.d so much inpiraiion that . l.e ts r.o.v confined m the F-atile untd tuch time as he ceases to see herds of , red, while and blue elephants, pink mice i and other peculiar animals. j This irui appeared under the heading. "Soaked:" I un tlie same page there was another, startling item : ; Apache Uprising! It was rumored that upon "Wednesday last there was an U' iris inz among the j Jacarillas. This we visn to deny in the j strongest terms. "We were on the inside in-side of the insurrection, so to speak, or at least we had some dope on the inside of the uprising, and we now explain the whole sad aftair. Our late printer's devil, whom we christened Sm-ka lexis P. Bender, better know n as Ma n -Who - La ys - Do w n -on -his -Job-and-Refuses-to-Ciet-up-Again, w a s an aged Apache of tlie Jacariila tribe, i He claimed to be the second cousin of j Henry Clay Geronimo, formerly a citizen j of prominence in these parts and well i known in Washington. Alter the late Socks had concealed about a pint of squirrel booze, the family resemblance became most striking. Late Wednesday, being thirsty. the aforesaid Wockaiexis P. Bender horned into the editorial sanctum and snared therefrom a half-gallon jug of St. John's Celebrated Spavin 'Jure, believing the same to be rye whisky. Citizens who saw our late employee throwing ha nd-springs nd-springs in tlie middle of Lafayette boulevard boule-vard placed the wrong construction upon his actions. The uprising w as a per-osnal per-osnal affair and entirely internal. The interment yesterday was private. We mourn our loss, yet it is not for tho late Sockalexis P Bender that we weep. The spirit of the second cousin of Mr. H. C. Geronimo is now at large in the sweet fields of Kden. His tepee is pitched on the other side of Jordan. The smoke of his campfire salutes a peaceful peace-ful sky. According to the lament ed Moore, the soul of Sockalexis P. Bender is now "Sleeping in light, like the green birds that dwell In "Eden's radiant fields of asphodel!" No, we do not weep for Sockalexis P. Bender. We weep for tlie quart of spavin cure which ho carried with him into the Great Silence. Pop Frisbee read these items with a corrugated brow. ..."Huh!" he snorted. "Some bush-league newspaper man trying to be funny." Then he opened the paper to expose the inside sheets, and his opinion of the San Miguel Messenger suffered a sudden change. The entire inside section of the . paper two full sheets was devoted to ! sporting news, and the thing which caught p Pop Frisbee's eye and caused it to bulge . slightly was the column of box scores and l the "Official Standing of the Independent Independ-ent Northern New Mexico League." "Suffering snakes !" grunted the scout. "I never knew they had a league in , northern New Mexico! Outlaws, of course!" There it was, under his very eyes the '. percentage column of the league with i four clubs in the order named: . W. L. P.C. I Apaches 39 22 .639 Boston Terriers ? 24 . 5S6 San Miguel Sidewinders. . . .29 '11 .nlS Johnson's Coyotes 14 43 .2-16 . "They've been playing all season. Sat- urdays and Sundavs!" thought Frisbee. . "Well! Well! Well! I wonder if I know any of those players!" . A Remarkable Box Score. ! He cast his eye down the line of the box scores. There was not a professional name that he had ever heard before. Tlie San Miguel Sidewinders had a Mexican lineup, judging by the names Ortiz. Gon- ' zales, Martinez, Yaldez. Morales. Garcia. , Gomez, Vigil and Meegan. The last name jarred slightly. Evidently the Sidewinders Sidewind-ers had an Irish pitcher. The Apache team contained such warlike war-like souls as "Running Wolf," "Singing ; Mule," "Paw Dog," "Howling Henry," "Hungry Coyote," "Bald Hornet," "Footloose "Foot-loose Pete," "Sweet Kvening Breeze" and ; "Aztec Antonio." the pitcher. "Well, what d'ye think of that?" mused the scout. "A regular Indian team, and holy Moses, how those boys can hit!" Indeed, the box score of the game be- tween the Apaches and the Boston Ter- (-ww- V.., w!;., Top rolled into Ih;1 that night. .r f,.., iM ,r.v., jmU t,cond .-,"-.VVavv Martin ''"! ' :V'1''. ,:, V . v the seout "-"-x rn 'k" . 5 i-tlu- very n,efeanr ;i,.,r ,,, ,HK, I " M:ir. ..--e.P-r '." ,:0",1,, ' ;:,- ;., nn.l then, I'XTZ S'roolnX -neUly paeKea his -'Pri- mo lot n i iifi-r the same buneh. he inoi.n Io hi-' ';'Tf. "Well, if l'e beats e. hell Krae.v I,,-- been iralm. rxMnn A nu'ln M'eat on a U A. k- ' . k kKukj'lv,, in Alatnosa in tm.o io b, ak , ..f,,.r v..ioh he cinbarked on a l i..r towluaus train fur the J't B lover'th. rurnbres 1'l.fS w.lh Chainl d U ' L,m von.t. The tram uc-avM'tbat uc-avM'tbat a n,Kht a. the Ch una houc is noe.-t.-arv. ami the folloning 1VP ,-h,nl,-.l into the buekboard o. Mn 1 -uel The driver was a .Mexican, w o !of an adobe town, and the drivei, voth n grunt of relief, flopped to the ground and ! made signs tor Pop to descend. I " mistake, " thought Frisoee. Bne-ball Bne-ball in a dump like this? Not in a thousand thou-sand years! Hey, boy, what's the name of this pluce".'" V lat, pock-marked young Mexican emerged from Parks' General ei-elmn-dise Emporium in time to answoi the question. 11 was indeed San Miguel. Pop stood in the whitish dust between his Miitcases, and felt in an inner pocket. His brain staggered between douut and certainty, and ho clung desperately to a printed word, as men have dono since newspapers were invented. "-migo," said Pop. pointing to the hcadingof the paper which he held in his hands, "where will I find the sporting editor of -this great religious daily? The Mexican appeared troubled, and began to roll a cigarette. 'Quicn sabe!" ho said. "Meegan is his name," said i-op. "Johnnv Meegan." 'h!' said the vouth, with smile. He pointed toward a large adobe hou.se which stood on a slight rise of ground on the ouiskirty of the village. As Pop waded through dust to his shoe top, he cursed the San Miguel Messenger Mes-senger venomously, and regretted that he had not asked a question or two along I the wav, even at the expense or marking the trail for all the Davy Martins to follow. fol-low. ,,, A- league in a country like this? Bah. The fronL door of the adobe house was open, and, as no attention was paid to his knock. Pop Frisbee stepped inside. In, the middle of a large room, two men were 1 seated on opposite sides of a table a negro and an Indian. A white man, little lit-tle more than a skeleton, sat at a small table with a pencil in his fingers and a pad of paper before him. It was Fred Parks. Not one of the queer trio looked up as Pop entered the room, and the two men at the large table were deeply engrossed en-grossed in some game which they were playing. A Game in Full Swing:. There was a click, a whirring son no which ceased suddenly, and the white man said: "That was a strike, Jeff. Tou offered at it-" , . Pop Frisbee was about to speak, but this remark jolted the conversation out of him. "A strike!" He "offered at it!" What nonsense was this? Once more the Indian bent over his end of the board. Mis blue-black hair tumbled down over his crimson blanket, and he squinted hard at a trigger which should release a round white pellet the Size of a small marble. At the opposite angle of the board, the negro crouched in an expectant attitude. "Come on, Antonio!" he coaxed. "Get 'em oveh! Get 'em oveh!" The Indian jerked smartly at a string, the trigger fell, and the round pellet shot forward. The negro made an abrupt motion mo-tion with his wrist, there was a click, and the pellet went flying back until it was stopped by the railing about the board. The thin man arose, and examined the spot where the ball etruck. "A two-base hit!" he exclaimed. "That scores the man on second. Who is that Hayes or Tilden?" The Indian picked up a small counter which had been lying on the board, turned it over, and spoko in excellent English. "Neither one. This is Cleveland. You'll have to be more careful with that score, Parks. You'll .get it all balled up again." The negro crowed. "1 been a-layin' for that curve ball of yours for three innings." he said. "Stick tt over here again, and watch what I'll At the opposite angle of tlae board the negro crouched in an expectant attitude. N luilf of tho blame upon his own sec-re-live methods; a little frankness, a few judicious questions, might have saved the day and ruined this story. Bo patient, for the story begins begins be-gins with Johnny Meegan sitting in front of an adobe house in the hamlet of San Miguel, county of Rio Arriba, state of New Mexico. The Exiles. In most of the little towns of New Mexico, far away from the main lines of tlie niiiroad, there are men from east of the Mississippi. Some of them live in that high, dry atmosphere because they tind tho fag end of lite sweet to them. There are others who. a.s they say, have "taken it in time." These expect to get well and return some day to God's country. That phrase is as old a.s the Garden of Eden, and it was invented when Adam louked back over his shoulder and caught the flash of the sword at the boundaries. God's country is never the kind in which one lives, but the land to which one cannot can-not return. Thus to Johnny Meegtin, "God's country" meant Chicago; to Billy Kilbourne it meant Boston; to Fred Park's it meant Shaniokin. Pa., and to Jefferson Davis Johnson "God's country" meant Baltimore. The Chicago sporting writers gave Johnny Meegan a fareweill banquet and a loving cup to take with him when he want away, and they drank his health .with a choke in their throats, for they did not epect to see him again. Sentence had been pronounced upon him by a specialist of international reputation after the star baseball reporter had coughed all winter. "There is a chance," said the specialist! "Try New Mexico or Arizona." "Never let it be said that I quit while there was a chance." said Johnny Meegan. "I'm on my way, doc." So the boys gave him a loving cup, and drank from it to his very good health and his speedy return. Johnny Meegan, Senior, Sen-ior, who owned a few banks in Indiana, 1 opened his cheek book wide, and we begin to untangle this story with Jonhhy Meegan Mee-gan planted in an unknown hamlet of a queer, dry country, with seven white men for companions four of them were worthless worth-less from any standpoint you choose to take and the balance of the population Mexicans and .Apaches from the Jacariila reservation. The Apaches were nice, qmet Indians, not aL all like the sainted Geronimo. They would do almost anything any-thing for a drink of whisky. Johnny had seen the local specialist at Albuquerque, who had given him hope and gootl advice. Open air had betn recommended, rec-ommended, and Johnny had made a long, rambling trip with a mustang and a pack horse. San Miguel bad been at the end of that journey. That was because of Billy Kilbourne. Billy was existing in San Miguel with more comfort than lie bad been able to find elsewhere. Billy was only 25, but be had lived his life in a tremendous hurry, and crowded so many things into it that it had been New Mexico or heaven, and Billy took no chances. He mourned for Boston and the Maine 1 woods, and nearly wept with joy at meeting someone who could give him an expert opinion upon the probable strength of the Boston Nationals. Kil-bourne's Kil-bourne's people were quite wealthy, and he had turned an adobe house into a very comfortable affair. The furniture had been bought in Denver and freighted from Chania at the foot of the Cutnbres pass. The interior was decorated with gaudy Indian blankets, baskets and bead-work. bead-work. "You'll stay here with me fot a while," said Billy. "Nothing happens by chance, you know. You wore sent here to cheer me up. Just Mink of a regular big league i thing on me. T'm as game as you are. And as much of a damn fool," he added softly. Pop Frisbee had several good friends among the newspaper men, and wienevei he. was in Chicago he made it a point tc drop in on Charlie Hough. Charlie was an old timer, and had a record whicl: reached back to the days of the Brotherhood. Brother-hood. Pop had known him for nearb twenty years. The big league pennant races were drawing to a close when Pop dropped intc Chicago on his way west. While he did not mention the fact, he was headed for Albuquerque. By slow stages he intended to reach the principal city of New Mexico Mexi-co in time for the great annual basebai! tournament which takes place in the fali after the close of the big league season. This tournament is the great at tract iot: of the slate fair, and the cities of the southwest often hire the best pitchers ir the country to represent them in the annual an-nual struggle for glory and the thousand-dollar thousand-dollar purse. Pop Frisbee never missec. that -Albuquerque tournament, for there he knew he would find the flower of the southwestern diamonds. Charlie Hough was glad to see Pop, and chatted with him for several minutes. Then he was called to the managing editor's edi-tor's office, and left Pop alone beside the roll-top desk. A pile of papers lay upon the top oi the desk, and Pop ran through them, glancing at the sporting pages. Halt way down the pile he came upon a stranger the San Miguel Messenger. It was a queer-looking sheet, and when Pop saw that ,it was published in San Miguel, Ric Arriba county, New Mexico, he slipped it into his pocket. There might be some news of tlie coming tournament. That night at his hotel Pop remembered remem-bered the Messenger, and drew it forth. It was not much of a newspaper, as ii contained - only four small sheets, and under the title line appeared a peculiar motto: "Vim, - vinegar and vitriol; frijoles not regarded as legal tender." Pop glanced at the front page. Leading Lead-ing the paper was an amazing news item: "We regret that we must once more call public attention to the habits of our esteemed fellow townsman, Senor Juan de la Cruz. Juan was over at Tony's again last night, bathing his vitais in liquid tumult. After he was pretty thoroughly, potted, he proceeded up Tin Can Boulevard Boule-vard until he reached his bungalow, where he was greeted by the . charming and popular Senora de la Cruz, the beautiful 1 and talented society matron and leader of t San Miguel's Four Hundred. In the excess ex-cess of his alcoholic exuberation. the ebulition of his spirits. Senor de la Cruz settled a right haymaker upon the. delicate deli-cate smaller of his queen consort. Senora de la Cruz did not quit under punishment. She immediately retaliated by bifring her lord and master between the eyes with a copper kettle. Senor de la Cruz took baseball writer dropping :n out of the j clouds- It's too good to be true! Xow, , how is this young Hawley going to do ; in the outfield".' And why did they tie the can to Homer Kennedy?" So Johnny Meegan stayed on at San Miguel, filling his lungs with the clean, dry air, and his stomach with the excellent ex-cellent nourisnment furnished by Jefferson Jeffer-son Davis Johnson, who once had been Kiibourne's valet, but, through love, was now his cook. The "Hotel Tourraine." Besides Kilbourne and Meegan. there was Fred Parks, a wandering printer, who had reached the end of his earthly pilgrimage at San Miguel- Parks has a small general supply store, and managed to make a living, mainly through the large orders which Kilbourne gave him. There was also Antonio, a young Jacariila, Jaca-riila, who had been to Carlisle and sometimes some-times liked to remember that he had played center field with the fastest ball team that that school ever produced. Antonio An-tonio was interesting. He took Kilbourne and Meegan on long rides through the reservation, and Kilbourne pretended that he was making a collection of Indian In-dian blankets. It gave him a slender interest in-terest in life. One evening Meegan, Kilbourne and Parks were sitting in front of the "Hotel Touraine." as Kilbourne persisted in naming his house. He said it' had a homelike sound. They had exhausted Seven-up, cinch and dominoes, and Meegan Mee-gan had been recounting some of his newspaper experiences. "Gosh!" said Johnny, "I wish we had a paper here:" Kilbourne laughed until he coughed. "Man alive"' he panted. ""What for?' "Why. just for the fun of getting it out"' said Johnny. "Think of the things we could put into it! No copy desk to 'get by.' no city editor to howl. "Why, we could 'kid' the whole southwest:" "It wouldn't pay." said Parks solemnly, solemn-ly, whereupon both young men hooted at him. "Oh. laugh if you want to," said he. "A fellow tried ir once. He must have been nutty. He died. I found his whole pihnt put away in the back room of the store when I bought out Moreno. The Mexicans took the works for a small debt an old 'arinv' press, some t; pe, ink " "Where is that stuff now?" demanded Kilbourne. "Oh, it's down there yet," said Parks easily. "L never bothered with it. and there ain't anv market for junk closer than Dnrango." Kilbourne looked at Meegan, and together to-gether they looiiea at Parks. "Right here, cn this very spot." said Kilbourne impressively, "we found, create, cre-ate, institute, oi ganize and incorporate the San Miguel Messenger. I speak to be owner and publisher because a:i any owner ever has to do is furnish the money. That lets him out." Pop Uncovers a Lead. "Me for the editorial department:" said Meegan. "And I'll show these folks around here what a real sporting page looks like, believe me!" "T'-at being the case." said Parks so'.emn'.y, "I'll print it. Tou ain't got a) itcis jjiuvcu ii. j lie mi uutuiini was thickly sprinkled with twos and threes, and in the summary the list of extra base hits was a long one. .A ztec Antonio An-tonio was credited with two home runs and a double; Singing Mule had two doubles and a triple; Footloose Pete, with four hits out of four times up. had a home run, a triple and two singles, and Bald Hornet had two triples. Then came the crowning surprise the name which appeared at the beginning begin-ning of the story of the games. There it was, just as Pop Frisbee had seen it a thousand times in days gone by in ten -point Gothic "John Meegan, Jr." "Johnny Meegan!" said Pop. "So that's where he went! And he's working on a rotten little paper like this! Too bad! Well, there's one boy who knows a ball player when he sees one. What does he have to say?" John Meegan, Junior, had a great deal to say. His account of the game between be-tween the Apaches and the Boston Terriers Ter-riers left no vague shadow of doubt in Pop Frisbee's mind. From the instant his eyes alighted on the "standing of the , league," he had felt the inclination to make a trip over Into Rio Arriba county, wherever that should prove to be, and take a look at this unknown collection of ballplayers. "When he ran his eye down the figures which represented the ; terrific hitting ability of the Apaches, the inclination grew stronger, but when he , read what Johnny Mt-gan had to say ; about Aztec Antonio. Singing Mule, Foot-i Foot-i loose Pete and Bald Horn'et. the fate of I the Independent Northern Xew Mexican league was settled. Thus wrote Johnny S Meegan: i "Never has such a hitting team been gathered together in any league of the ' country. Kilbourne. who twirled for the Boston Terriers, had all his usual control, curves and change of pace. He mixed up his repetoire with all the skill at his command; but. man after man, the Apaches walked to tt.e plate and smashed the ball to the fence. If the Ttrriers fumbled at times, it was because the balls which were hit through the infield traveled at such tern fic speed that it was physically impossible to handle thein cleanly. On the other hand. Antonio, using his lightning speed at all times, he'd the Terriers Ter-riers helpless and all but hitless. Kiibourne's Kii-bourne's men were game and fought hard in tho face of an overwhelming defeat, but no pitcher seems able to stop the Indians In-dians when they bein to h't. A' detailed description of the game fol- I lowed, and there was also an account of 1 the game between the Sidewinders a nd ; Johnson's coyotes. Me&rran pitched for the Sidewinders, but Pop pyssed that trifling circumstance without notice. "Same name, 1 reckon," said he. Dodging Davy Martin. The thing which amazed Frisbee was that he cou'.d not find any mention of the Albuquerque tournament or an intimation inti-mation that any one of the four teams would take part in the great baseball carnival. "Seems to me those Apaches ought to be a great drawing card." reflected" Frisbee. Fris-bee. "If they could hit half chrt w-11 against first -class pitching, they'd win out hands down. Funny I never heard of that outfit before." 1- do to it! Pop Frisbee started to edge toward the door. "I've got into a private asylum," he thought. Just then there came a quick step on the hard -baked earth outside, and two young men burst into tlie room. A voice cried : "How's fhe game going, Tony? The Apaches eatin' 'em alive, as usual? Come on. you Singing Mule! That's the well! For Heaven's safe! Pop Frisbee!" And before Frisbee knew how it happened, hap-pened, there was Johnny Meegan, thin and brown and evidently as hard as a wire nail, pumping away at his right hand and trying to thump him on the back with his left. "Johnny," said the scout, "it's good to see you again good to see you looking so "well ! Your Chicago friends would never believe it was the same fellow ! Why you look fit to go ten rounds with a champion !" "Sure!" said Meegan. "It's the country coun-try dees it! A fine place to spend the summer if you say it quick. Oh. excuse me! Billy. I want you to meet Pop Frisbee, Fris-bee, one of my old friends. Pop. Mr. Kilbourne of Boston, and a grand fellow! That's right, get together! Now. then, what on earth are you doing in this Godforsaken God-forsaken country?" Pop produced his copy of the San Miguel 1 Messenger, and Meegan and Kilbourne exchanged quick glances as he opened it The game had stopped, and the Indian ' had fa'-ed about and was starine at Fris- bee. The negro had U -ft the table. Slowlv Slow-lv the scout laid his finger upon the "official "of-ficial league standing." "What am I doing here?" he repeated "That's what I expert you to tell me Johnny, what does this thing mean?" Meegan Sees Light. Meegan g'anced at the sheet. looked at Poo for a full two seconds in orde- to make sure that he was in earnest ad I t'ien. suddenly seizing Kilbourne bv th ' shoulders, he began to laugh as he had I not laughed in six months, vie cackled 1 until his breath was all gone, and Pop ) Frisoee, watching him. began to pers-ire i a.,out the temples. The light was breaking break-ing m on him at last. "Oh. y.VWl" panted the. sporting ed;to-of ed;to-of tne San Miguel Mpssph-pf "This u immr-nse: This is trie best" evr-r' t fn ! jot to tell ou that Pop here is" the scout ! for Tim Cfihill and the WanrW-rq and he s come down here-Lord! I'll die in a minut! he s come down here rimv , ' look oer our league: Our IPagu'" ' Then Kilbourne began to cacklp an.l he to boys clung to ea,h o er and laughed until poor Billy w,nt into a spasm of youg.-nne. hen ho could reaver tu(-wekTy. tu(-wekTy. bi"eath he Wot Frisbee "Vou oughtn't to make me laugh that Pnn l;e.r;a,Ued baU r me." ' Pop Fr-bee. whose sense of humor wi never hs strong point, clamored for fur tnor information. ur" "And this stuff." s;lid he, tappin- the P: Pf-r ar-nsmly, "is all bunk. I suppose Ihe'e a in t any Ir-ague here at all- an injustice. You are n o w m t h e ?,- ,J euco of the Independent .Northern New |