Markwith had proved to be not nearly so good as in the preceding year. He still possessed marvelous speed and his curves were breaking well, but he lacked endurance. Part of this was due, perhaps, to his winter on the vaudeville stage, with its irregular hours and feverish atmosphere, and part also to the wonderful record of nineteen straight the season before. Perhaps the great strain had sapped his stamina. Whatever the cause, he could not be relied on for a full nine inning game. For six innings, he would pitch with all his old time skill and power. Then would come a bad inning and--bang! to an accompaniment of base hits, the game would go up in smoke.