Measuring the performance of public services principles and practice 1st Edition Michael Pidd
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- 5. Measuring the performance of public services principles and practice 1st Edition Michael Pidd Digital Instant Download Author(s): Michael Pidd ISBN(s): 9781107004658, 1107004659 Edition: 1 File Details: PDF, 3.44 MB Year: 2012 Language: english
- 6. Measuring the Performance of Public Services Measuring the performance of public agencies and programmes is essential, as it helps ensure that citizens enjoy high quality services and enables governments to ensure that taxpayers receive value for money. As such, good performance measure- ment is a crucial component of improvement and planning, monitoring and control, comparison and benchmarking and also ensures democratic accountability. his book shows how the principles, uses and practice of performance measurement for public services difer from those in for-proit organisations, being based on the need to add public value rather than proit. It describes methods and approaches for meas- uring performance through time, for constructing and using scorecards, composite indicators, the use of league tables and rankings and argues that data-envelopment analysis is a useful tool when thinking about performance. his demonstrates the importance of allowing for the multidimensional nature of performance, as well as the need to base measurement on a sound technical footing. Michael Pidd is Professor of Management Science and Head of the Management Science Department at Lancaster University Management School. He is a research fellow of the UK’s Advanced Institute of Management Research and has served as the President of the Operational Research Society. His technical work in computer simulation has been recognised by awards and accolades in the UK and the USA. His current work focuses on improvement in healthcare delivery.
- 8. Measuring the Performance of Public Services Principles and Practice Michael Pidd Lancaster University Management School
- 9. cambridge university press Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, São Paulo, Delhi, Tokyo, Mexico City Cambridge University Press he Edinburgh Building, Cambridge CB2 8RU, UK Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York www.cambridge.org Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9781107004658 © Michael Pidd 2012 his publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press. First published 2012 Printed in the United Kingdom at the University Press, Cambridge A catalogue record for this publication is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication data Pidd, Michael. Measuring the performance of public services : principles and practice / Michael Pidd. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-107-00465-8 (hardback) 1. Public administration–Management. 2. Public administration–Management–Evaluation. 3. Public administration–Evaluation. I. Title. JF1351.P53 2012 352.3′75–dc23 2011041130 ISBN 978-1-107-00465-8 Hardback Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for external or third-party Internet websites referred to in this publication, and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.
- 10. For Hannah, still young but already performing well.
- 11. Contents List of igures page ix List of tables xi Preface xiii Part I Principles of performance measurement 1 1 Measuring public sector performance 3 2 Why measure, what to measure and what can go wrong 27 Part II Different uses for performance measurement 55 3 Measurement for improvement and planning 57 4 Measurement for monitoring and control: performance management 81 5 Measurement for comparison 109 6 Measurement for accountability 137 Part III Practical methods for performance measurement 165 7 Measuring performance through time 167 8 Scorecards and multidimensional indicators 194 9 Composite indicators 222
- 12. Contents viii 10 League tables and ranking 247 11 Data envelopment analysis 270 References 300 Index 312
- 13. Figures 1.1 he strategic triangle of public value theory page 12 1.2 A simple input:output transformation theory 16 1.3 Elements of a system 20 1.4 CATWOE in sot systems methodology 23 2.1 Poister’s four elements of performance system measurements 33 2.2 Hourly calls received, police control room 37 2.3 Compass or GPS? 45 3.1 A simpliied view of planning 59 3.2 he second-generation Kaplan and Norton balanced scorecard 63 3.3 ED inluence diagram 71 3.4 A spectrum of model use 75 4.1 he cybernetic control monitor 84 4.2 A modiied version of Wilson’s typologies of bureaucracies 87 4.3 Noordegraaf and Abma’s measurement cycle 94 4.4 Canonical and non-canonical practices 95 4.5 Grid-group theory 96 4.6 hermostatic control 101 5.1 Benchmarking approaches 114 5.2 Single- and double-loop learning 117 5.3 Camp’s ive phases of benchmarking 119 5.4 Analysis of variance of OBTJ variance 127 5.5 he concept of a production function 129 5.6 Police forces eicient frontier 132 5.7 Calculating relative eiciency of Grizedale 133 6.1 A role of information intermediaries 162 7.1 Time series with a change in level 171 7.2 Linear trend by regression 173 7.3 Excel regression output 174 7.4 Moving averages 176 7.5 Exponentially weighted moving averages 179
- 14. List of figures x 7.6 Holt’s method 181 7.7 A simple control chart 183 7.8 Areas under a normal distribution curve 186 7.9 An example of an XmR chart 187 7.10 Adding warning lines to an X chart 189 8.1 he second-generation Kaplan and Norton balanced scorecard 197 8.2 A generic strategic map (based on Kaplan and Norton, 2004, p. 31) 201 8.3 he EFQM Excellence Model® 2010 and weightings 203 8.4 Facets of the performance prism 205 8.5 A power:interest grid 206 8.6 A generic public sector framework (based on Kaplan and Norton, 2001, p. 136) 210 8.7 Moullin’s public sector scorecard 211 8.8 A balanced scorecard for the Welsh NHS in 2005: strategic objectives and critical success factors 213 8.9 he four quadrants of the University of Edinburgh scorecard, 2007/8 214 8.10 A simpliied model of memory and cognition 217 9.1 Linear weights 235 10.1 Season-long performance of top and bottom teams 250 10.2 Performance of three mid-table teams 251 10.3 QS World University Rankings, 2010 versus 2009 253 10.4 Conidence intervals for CVA scores 265 10.5 Conidence intervals for predicted CVA scores 266 11.1 he LDC LP problem 285 11.2 Constant versus variable returns to scale 290 11.3 Typical presentation of relative eiciencies 297
- 15. Tables 1.1 Performance measures, inputs, activities, outputs, service quality and outcomes page 25 2.1 A consolidated view of reasons for measuring performance 31 2.2 RAE 2008 research output quality categories 40 2.3 Some diferent types of measure 42 4.1 Hofstede (1981) types of control 91 5.1 OBTJ statistics for ive Local Criminal Justice Boards 125 5.2 OBTJ rates per 1,000 population 125 5.3 Percentage of OBTJ in each crime category 126 5.4 Input and output variables for comparing schools 130 5.5 Performance data for the six imaginary police forces 131 5.6 Performance ratios/oicer for the six imaginary police forces 132 5.7 Input and output variables in hanassoulis (1995) 134 6.1 An extract from a product comparison table 145 6.2 An example of a Fraser Institute report on school performance 148 6.3 Report card showing mortality rate ater hip replacement at a Canadian hospital 150 6.4 When to use tables and when to use graphs 153 7.1 Time series and simple moving averages 177 7.2 Simple exponential smoothing 179 7.3 Holt’s method with α = 0.2, β = 0.3 181 7.4 c values for EWMA charts with ARL = 370 191 9.1 RAE 2008, the Nossex quality proile for computing 226 9.2 RAE 2008, the Nossex overall proile for computing 226 9.3 Changes in relative rankings due to diferent weights 228 9.4 Computing weights 234 10.1 Characteristics used in contextual value added calculations 257
- 16. List of tables xii 11.1 Inputs and outputs used by Jacobs et al. (2009) 274 11.2 he four models used by Jacobs et al. (2009) 275 11.3 Basic data for the two beneits oices 277 11.4 Technical and scale eiciencies for the two beneits oices 278 11.5 Allocative eiciency for three larger oices 280
- 17. Preface How can people be conident that they receive high quality public services in return for their taxes? How can service providers compare their performance with others and encourage a culture of continuous improvement? How can governments be sure that public services are efective, eicient and equitably provided? hese are big questions and there is nothing that will guarantee high quality public services; people who claim otherwise are peddling snake oil. hese questions are important whether public services are centrally man- aged and inanced, or subject to local control. Whichever way public services are provided, some form of performance measurement is inevitable and, done properly, can be extremely valuable. Performance measurement per se is neither good nor bad. It can be done well or poorly. It can provide useful information and support innovation and development, or it can become part of heavy-handed central control that stiles development. In this book I argue that performance measurement is a vital part of any systematic attempt to continually improve public services. It is certainly not the only part, but without it, how can any stakeholders have a reasonable idea of how well these services are provided? It is a mistake to assume that measurement is only appropriate to particular forms of public management. Many have argued that it is a core element of what has become known as the New Public Management (NPM). However, many public bodies attempted to measure aspects of their performance long before the ideas of NPM appeared. How can agencies know how well they are doing unless they attempt to ind out and do so in a systematic way? Some people only associate performance measurement with performance management or with auditing. Performance measurement as part of perform- ance management is oten criticised as rigid central control, complete with tick boxes and targets, based on a lack of trust between service providers and their funders. Performance measurement as auditing is oten regarded as an extension to accounting, with its emphasis on the past. However, it is a real mistake to cast performance measurement in only these two roles. I think
- 18. Preface xiv that they are only two of the reasons why sensitive attempts to measure per- formance are important. here is much more to performance measurement than auditing the past or heavy-handed performance management. I regard the latter as particularly inappropriate in many circumstances and discuss why I think this. Readers may or may not agree with me on this, but I hope that this book will stimulate discussion and lead to improved and appropri- ate performance measurement for the full range of reasons presented in its chapters. I intend this book to be valuable to practicing public managers and civil servants and to students studying public administration, management and leadership. I have organised its chapters into three parts. Part I, principles of performance measurement: composed of Chapters 1 and 2, addresses the question ‘Why measure performance?’. It presents a gen- eral case for performance measurement, whatever the political climate, and suggests several reasons for this measurement. PartII,diferentusesforperformancemeasurement:composedofChapters 3–6, addresses the question ‘What to measure?’, given the diferent reasons for this measurement. Its chapters explore some of the problems to be faced when attempting performance measurement for the major reasons discussed in Part I. Part III, practical methods for performance measurement: composed of Chapters 7–11, addresses the question ‘How to measure?’. his is the most detailed section and contains some technical content. It further discusses problems to be faced, but also suggests solutions. I have been part of the Management Science Department at Lancaster University Management School for many years. hose who know the depart- ment and its history will not be surprised that I use Peter Checkland’s sot systems methodology to provide some structure to the discussion, especially in Part II. In these chapters I view the diferent reasons for performance measurement through its lenses. Readers familiar with ideas of management science and operational research will also not be surprised that I regard per- formance indicators as simple models of performance, with all the advan- tages and drawbacks inherent in such models. his management science focus, combining insights from operational research and systems theory, does not mean that I ignore the political dimensions; rather that I use ideas from systems theory and my own views of modelling to help understand these dimensions. No book of this size could possibly discuss everything that is important when measuring the performance of public services and so I have been very
- 19. Preface xv selective. his book had its genesis while I was a Research Fellow in the UK’s Advanced Institute of Management Research. his period gave me much to think about, but I did not have the time to write a book like this. I started work on it while on sabbatical leave at Victoria University, Wellington, New Zealand, where my hosts were very generous with their time. I have dis- cussed performance measurement with many people and am grateful for insights provided, probably unknowingly, by Edd Berry, Gwyn Bevan, Frank Blackler, Jonathan Boston, George Boyne, Joyce Brown, Robert Dyson, Derek Gill, Jean Hartley, Maria Katsorchi-Hayes, Linda Hendry, Richard Norman, Andy Neely, Tony O’Connor, Peter C. Smith, Emmanuel hanassoulis, Barbara Townley, Alec Whitehouse, Dave Worthington and many others. As ever, the mistakes and omissions are all mine.
- 21. Part I Principles of performance measurement
- 23. 1 Measuring public sector performance Introduction Before considering how the performance of public services should be meas- ured, it is important to step back a little and think about some of the issues underpinning this measurement. We irst need to consider a very basic ques- tion: why do we measure anything? I started writing this chapter during a visit to New Zealand and, strange though it may seem, the garage walls of the house I rented for my stay hint at part of the answer. One wall has a series of pencil lines drawn at diferent heights, each accompanied by a date and a name. he names are those of the children who grew up in the house, whom I’ve never met. he lines record their heights as they grew from small children towards their teenage years. heir height is one element of the progress that the children made as they grew through childhood. he marks on the wall form a simple measurement system to show how the children developed. Consider another mundane example: the weight of babies is routinely monitored during their irst months of life. Mothers are oten given a card on which the weights are recorded, and many families retain these cards as mementoes long ater they are needed for their original purpose. he weigh- ing and recording enables doctors, nurses and other advisors to see whether the baby is gaining weight as she should. hough knowing the actual weight of a baby at a point in time is important, there is another reason for keeping this record. his is that it enables parents and medical staf to see the trend in weight since the child’s birth because, just as adults have diferent body shapes and weights, so do babies. If this trend gives cause for concern, the baby may need special care, or the parents may need advice and support in appropriate ways to feed the child. hat is, the weight record forms the basis for assessing progress and for deciding whether intervention is needed. On an equally mundane level, it is interesting to watch serious runners as they set of on a training run. Many, if not most, will note the time or press a timing button on their watches. his allows them to monitor their progress
- 24. Measuring public sector performance 4 during the run and also to record, at the end of it, their performance in terms of the time taken to complete the run. hey may be doing this to gain brag- ging rights over their friends, or as part of a training diary in which they record their progress and the degree to which their performance is improv- ing. Proper performance measurement enables them to do this. Most of us routinely measure performance in our daily lives and oten do so without thinking about it. We measure the time it takes to get to work, our weight, whether that piece of furniture will it where we’d like it to be and we use thermometers to record room temperatures or body temperatures. All of this we regard as completely uncontroversial, perhaps not realising the efort that went into developing standardised measures for these parts of our daily lives. his reliance on numbers for measurement is a taken-for-granted fea- ture of contemporary life that is, apparently, not part of life in some cultures. According to an MIT team, the language spoken by the Amazonian Pirahã tribe of hunter gatherers has no words for numbers, but only the concepts some, few and many (Frank et al., 2008). It seems that these basic ideas are adequate for the normal lives of these people who, despite having no suitable words, are able to match sets containing large numbers of objects as long as they are visible. hat is, despite having no suitable vocabulary, the Pirahã can recognise equality and can thus categorise groups of objects by size. Even without words, it seems that humans can roughly distinguish between quantities, which is the basis of measurement. However, we should also note that estimating quantities beyond small values is not something that comes naturally to us – see Alex’s Adventures in Numberland (Bellos, 2010) for an entertaining and illuminating discussion of this. It seems that, without some form of measurement system, we are likely to estimate quantities very badly. his book carries the title Measuring the Performance of Public Services and such measurement is obviously much more complicated and, oten, more controversial than the personal measurements discussed above. However, the need for measurement is pretty much the same; we want to see how much progress is being made and we wish to know whether intervention is needed. Performance measurement and performance indicators have been used in public services for many years. Jowett and Rothwell (1988, p. 6) includes a fascinating table listing signiicant events in the introduction and use of per- formance measurement in healthcare, reaching back to the year 1732. he book Reinventing government (Osborne and Gaebler, 1992) played a major role in encouraging public bodies to enthusiastically attempt to measure their performance, especially in the USA. Its main argument is summarised in its own bullet point summary, which includes:
- 25. Different views of public management 5 If you don’t measure results, you can’t tell success from failure. • If you can’t see success, you can’t reward it. • If you can’t reward success, you’re probably rewarding failure. • If you can’t see success, you can’t learn from it. • If you can’t recognise failure, you can’t correct it. • If you can demonstrate results, you can win public support. • hat is, measurement helps a public body to plan its services better, to pro- vide better services for users, to go on improving them and to increase its support from the public. BillYake,amanagementanalystwithFairfaxCounty,Virginia,intheUSA, stresses the importance of a clear customer, or user, focus when planning any performance measurement (Yake, 2005). his means that those planning and using performance measures in service planning and improvement need to be clear about who the customers and users are, what key quality char- acteristics they value and what standards they expect. hese characteristics and standards might include timeliness, accuracy, long term beneit, easy access and so on. Once they are established it is then important to consider if and how these can be measured, so that plans can be laid and progress monitored. Sometimes this measurement can only be done properly at high cost and it is important to consider whether the beneits outweigh the costs. However, a little creativity in data collection and analysis can oten get round these problems. In the rest of this irst chapter, we explore some basic ideas underpin- ning performance measurement in public services. We briely consider the importance of performance measurement within diferent views of public management. We then take a simple view of such measurement using the idea of input:output systems and extend this by introducing the ideas of sot systems methodology that are used in later chapters and provide a much broader view of such measurement. Finally, we consider desirable aspects of performance measurement and, indeed, of public service provision, usually summarised as the Es. Different views of public management and administration It is oten assumed that performance measurement is a feature of particular approaches to public management and administration, but this is altogether too simple a view. When considering how and why performance measure- ment might be important in the provision of public services, it is helpful to
- 26. Discovering Diverse Content Through Random Scribd Documents
- 27. “Howdy, Joe!” shouted Clancy. “You’re looking as husky as a keg of nails.” The other’s swarthy face parted in a genial smile; but, true to his taciturn disposition, he had nothing to say in reply. “Think we’re going to win, Joe?” queried Ballard, by way of testing the catcher’s confidence. The other ducked his head emphatically. “That’s right, Joe,” grinned Clancy, “I wouldn’t talk if it’s painful. If you’d only learn the deaf-and-dumb alphabet you could express yourself with your hands. I believe you’d be a fluent talker if you’d use your fingers.” The catcher continued to grin expansively, but could not be coaxed into doing any talking. Merriwell had been watching Clancy and Ballard with sharp eyes while they were concerning themselves with the backstop. An expression of humorous relief crossed his face, and he reached out, caught the newcomer by the arm, and drew him to one end of the veranda. From the motions the two indulged in, Clancy and Ballard could see that they were going over the signals. “I don’t see the use of that,” grunted Clancy. “Joe had ’em down pat yesterday afternoon, and it’s a cinch he wouldn’t forget ’em this quick.” “Nothing like being sure,” said Ballard. For nearly half an hour, Merriwell and the catcher continued to go through their signals and to converse in low tones. At the end of that time, Mr. Bradlaugh came along in his car to take the lads to the grounds.
- 28. “All aboard, my lads!” he shouted. As they piled into the car, Frank noticed that Mr. Bradlaugh was eying the catcher with a strange, dubious expression. For a moment Frank experienced a thrill of dismay, but he was reassured the next moment when Mr. Bradlaugh remarked: “Joe will show them to-day what a real high-class fellow behind the bat can do in helping to win a game. I hear that you’re more than pleased with your catcher, Merriwell?” “I am,” Frank answered, with emphasis. When the car reached the grounds, grand stand and bleachers were crowded. Automobiles were lined up beyond the stand, and every point that commanded a good view of the diamond was filled. Gold Hill was well represented, and more than half of the grand stand was occupied by stanch supporters of the rival team. Gold Hill and Ophir did a lot of friendly joshing back and forth, and the yells and cheers rang in Frank’s ears as he got out of the car and hurried to the dressing room in the gym. All the rest of the men who were to play with the Ophir team, or to sit on the benches as substitutes, were clad in their uniforms, and were waiting for Frank and those with him to arrive. They were greeted warmly, and Blunt slapped the backstop on the shoulder as he passed him with his dingy old suit case. “We’re expecting great things of you, you old greaser wonder!” exclaimed the cowboy. “That’s what, Joe!” seconded Handy. “And you’re not going to disappoint us,” added Reckless. “I know that just as well as I know that I’m alive.”
- 29. The catcher’s reply was a wide smile, but not a word. As he passed on and vanished into the dressing room, Merriwell also smiled—but it was a smile of another sort. While Merry was getting into his baseball togs, a din of frenzied cheering was borne to him from the grand stand and bleachers. He knew, from the mere volume of sound, that the Gold Hill team had appeared from their dressing rooms under the grand stand, and had scattered over the diamond to warm up. A few moments later, Merry stepped out among his players, gathered them around him, and calmly scrutinized their flushed and eager faces. “We’ve had two days of practice, fellows,” said he, “and we’re going up against a team that has been in harness for weeks. But don’t let that bother you. It’s the spirit you put into your work that counts. Be on your toes every minute. Come on!” He flung open the gym door, bounded through it, and started at a trot toward the ball field. The backstop was at his side, and close at his heels trailed Clancy and Ballard. After them came the rest of the team. A broadside of cheers went up from the spectators. Gradually the volume of sound separated into staccato notes and pauses, and clear and high rolled the chant, “Merry, Merry, good old Merry!” Frank flushed. He wondered what that crowd would think if it knew what “good old Merry” had up his sleeve? Off to one side, Darrel and Bleeker were working out. Both waved their hands in friendly greeting to Merriwell, as he and his swarthy- faced catcher began their preliminary practice. While passing the balls to his companion, Merry was taking note of the work of the Gold Hillers. It was snappy, and quick, and true,
- 30. and the way the horsehide flashed around and across the diamond was enough to make the Ophirites wonder a bit how that game was going to come out. Darrel called in his men, and Frank sent the Ophir players into the field. Then began an exhibition which was not calculated to inspire much confidence in the Ophir partisans. Blunt muffed a throw from the home plate, Spink juggled a fly that had been lifted right into his hands, and Brad and Handy crashed together in trying to smother a low drive, and caused a ridiculous flurry between third base and second. Everybody seemed bent on showing just what a poor performer he could be, on occasion, and there were more jeers than cheers while Ophir was warming up. Frank was thankful to have the comedy of errors cut short by the umpire, who had produced the little pasteboard box and was shaking the new ball out of it. The backstop was getting into his chest protector and turning his cap, preparatory to putting on the mask. Another moment, and Frank was in the pitcher’s box and the umpire had tossed him the white sphere. “Play ball!” came the command.
- 32. CHAPTER XXXIII. POOR SUPPORT. Frank was perfectly cool and composed, and never more thoroughly master of himself than when he stepped into the box. He knew that fate had played him up prominently while he had been in that part of the country, and that what fate had failed to do the florid imaginations of a good many people had been quick to accomplish. Many of the spectators, no doubt, expected to find in young Merriwell a pitcher who was half a wizard and half a magician. Frank realized that onlookers of this class were due for a severe disappointment. He was glad of it, for he had no patience with the wild stories about him which had been flying over that section of the country. Bleeker was the first man to toe the plate for the Gold Hillers. Clancy, from first, had to do all the ragging, for the backstop remained as silent as usual. “Now for the first victim, Chip. This is Bleek. You know Bleek? Well, he’s going to look pretty bleak when you get through with him. Start the circus!” “Don’t be hard on your old friends, Chip,” grinned Bleeker. There was an air of jaunty confidence about Bleeker which suggested three-baggers and home runs. Frank believed that this was a good place to take a reef in Bleek’s aspirations.
- 33. He led off with a jump ball, and the speed behind it made the spectators jerk themselves together wonderingly. The sphere spanked into the backstop’s mitt with a report like that of a rifle. Somewhere on its erratic course Bleek had taken a swat at the deceptive object. “Strike!” shouted the umpire. A chorus of jeers went up from around the diamond. Bleek, hardly realizing what had happened, stood looking foolishly at the end of his bat. “Wake up, old man!” warned Darrel from the bench. “Mind your eye, and don’t reach for the wide ones.” From the way Merry started the next ball it looked like it was going to be another lightning express, but when it crossed the plate it was jogging along like a slow freight. Bleek, expecting something speedy, smashed at the sphere before it was within a yard of him. “Strike two!” barked the umpire. A roar of laughter floated out over the field from the Ophirites in the grand stand and on the bleachers. “What’s the use?” yelled some one. “He can’t see ’em!” “Pound it on the nose the next time, Bleek!” begged a Gold Hiller. “Kill it! Kill it!” “Baste it out!” Bleeker nerved himself for a supreme attempt, but in vain. Merry handed him an inshoot which found the hole in his bat, and he tramped to the benches with a flush of chagrin.
- 34. “Merry’s certainly all to the mustard,” he grunted, as he dropped down among his teammates. “He’s got some fancy capers that will fool the best of ’em. If Hotch connects with the ball it will be an accident.” “Watch Merriwell, fellows,” urged Darrel. “See how he does it, then maybe you’ll be ready for him when you go in for your own stickwork.” Obedient to orders, the Gold Hill players studied Merry and tried to get “wise” to his curves. But, just as they thought they had discovered something, they saw something else that proved the supposed discovery wasn’t any discovery at all. Hotchkiss, second baseman for the Gold Hillers, was the next man up. He was a left-handed batter, and Frank, who could pitch equally well with either hand, fell back on his left wing. “Jumpin’ tarantulers!” boomed a cowboy. “Watch him, will ye? He’s usin’ his south paw!” The first was a lightninglike bender, which coaxed a strike out of Hotch. “That’s the way to start ’em, Chip!” cried Brad. “One, two, three— that’s the style.” “Darn it, Chip,” cried Hotch, “why don’t you gi’ me a chance? Ain’t you a friend o’ mine?” The catcher signaled for a wide one, but Hotch was making good use of his eyes, and allowed it to pass. The third cut a corner of the plate. Hotch fouled it back of third base, and had the second strike called on him.
- 35. The next signal called for a drop. Frank started it pretty high, and Hotch grinned and shook his head. Then he looked dazed when the umpire called him out. “Rotten!” grunted Hotch, throwing himself down beside Bleeker. “That last ball was over my shoulders.” “You’re wrong, Hotch,” answered Bleek. “It was lower than that. Now, El,” he shouted, as the captain of the team went to bat, “lace it out. For the love of Mike, show Merriwell we’re alive.” Darrel just managed to do that. He connected with the second one over, and Merry smothered it without leaving his tracks. The Ophirites began to whoop and howl. Their boys were making good, and they jubilated as only miners and cowboys can. The first man to face Ellis Darrel for Ophir was the backstop. He stepped into the batter’s box with a smile, and cheerfully rapped out the first one over. A fellow named Dart, who played shortstop for the Gold Hillers, cuffed it down and snapped it to first. The ball beat the catcher by a yard. “Tough luck, Joe,” commiserated Clancy, himself stepping to the plate. “Now,” he called, “put one over, Darrel, and I’ll show you what I can do.” Darrel had good control and plenty of speed. Clancy decided to let the first ball pass, and then listened while the umpire called a strike on him. “Don’t go to sleep, Red,” laughed Bleeker. “Just getting waked up for the next one,” chuckled Clancy. “Here she is.”
- 36. Clancy sawed the air, and spank went the ball in Bleek’s mitt. “Not waked up yet?” jeered Bleek. “Well, well! How long are you going to wait?” “I guess I’ve waited long enough,” said Clancy, and his bat met the next one on the nose. It sailed over Darrel’s head, was muffed by Hotchkiss at second, then picked up and sent to first like a streak of greased lightning. It looked, from where Merriwell sat, as though Clancy had beat it out. But the umpire decided otherwise, and the crestfallen Clancy jogged away to the bench. Merriwell was next. “Be easy with this one, El,” suggested Bleeker. “It would be a feather in my cap if I could fan him,” laughed Darrel. “That’s been done a good many times, Curly,” Merriwell grinned. The first ball was a strike. It looked a little wide to Frank, and he did not reach for it. The second ball was a wide one, and so was the third. The fourth ball was just about where Frank wanted it, and he smashed it for a couple of bases. “Whoop!” roared Barzy Blunt; “we’re off, we’re off! Three tallies, pards! I’ll not be satisfied with anything less than three runs this inning.” Ballard was the next one up. Merriwell stole third, and he’d have got home if Ballard had given him a chance. But Ballard fouled once back of the home plate, and then struck out.
- 37. “That’s awful, Chip,” groaned Ballard, passing the pitcher’s box on his way to center field. “Never mind, Pink,” answered Frank. “We’re hitting Curly, and next time we’re at bat I believe we’ll do something.” Lenaway, left fielder for the Gold Hillers, was the next man to confront Merry. “Remember what you did before, Chip!” called Clancy. “Don’t try to hog the whole game yourself. Start a man this way and give me a chance to limber up. Start something, old man.” Lenaway swung at the second ball. He must have caught it on the handle, for it dropped in front of the plate and rolled briskly down toward Clancy, just inside the path. “It’s mine, Chip!” yelped Clancy, and darted at the rolling sphere. The red-headed chap booted the ball, and by the time he had laid hold of it, Lenaway was roosting comfortably on first. Frank had run to cover the base. He now went back to the mound, wondering what in the deuce had got into Clancy. “Wow!” cried Lenaway. “You can handle a paddle, Red, a heap easier than you can field a grounder.” “Don’t talk to me,” grunted Clancy, in a spasm of self-reproach, “I’m sore enough.” “Well, return the ball so I can take a lead.” “There it goes,” and Clancy tossed the sphere to Merry. “Now, then,” shouted Darrel, coming down to the coaching line back of first, “nobody down, fellows! On your toes, everybody.
- 38. Ginger up, and we’ll make a showing. Go down toward second, Len —go on! I’m here to keep you out of danger.” Dart, the shortstop, picked up a bat and stepped to the plate. Merry got him for three balls and two strikes, and then Dart lined one out toward Brad. It was an easy one, but Brad’s fingers were all thumbs, and the ball went through him like a sieve. The fielder raced in and picked up the ball, whipping it over to second just an instant too late. Dart reached the bag, and Blunt, apparently, forgot that Lenaway was on third. “The ball, Barzy!” cried Merriwell. Sudden realization of the fact that the man on third had taken a dangerous lead toward home startled Blunt. He threw to the plate instead of to Merry, and he threw wild. While the catcher was chasing the ball Lenaway got across the first score, and Dart went to third. There was much glorying in the Gold Hill section of the grand stand. No one out, one run, and a man on third! Certainly the prospects were gratifying. Mingo, the Mexican first baseman, followed Dart to bat. Merry struck him out, and then expeditiously fanned Rylman, the third baseman. Doolittle, right fielder, belied his name, and hoisted a fly to Spink in left field. Spink played beanbag, with it, dropped it, picked it up, then dropped it again. During the farce, Dart darted home and Doolittle gained second. Stark, center fielder, fanned, and Doolittle died on third. But ragged support had given the Gold Hillers two runs. The swarthy- faced backstop pulled a long face and Merriwell walked to the bench, trying to figure out the errors in the first half of the second. They were so many that he had to give it up.
- 40. CHAPTER XXXIV. WORSE—AND MORE OF IT. Colonel Hawtrey was flying around the Gold Hill section of the stand, now and then rising in his seat to cheer or to hand a little good-natured raillery to his friend, Mr. Bradlaugh. “Thought you had some ball players over here, Bradlaugh,” he shouted, while runs were crossing the pan for Gold Hill. “So did I,” laughed the general manager. “The game’s young yet, colonel. Wait till we’re a little farther along.” “You fielders have got to take a brace,” Merry was saying to some of his teammates. “Clancy, I’m surprised at you! Brad, I wonder how your father enjoyed that play of yours? Now, then, all get together and do something.” Brad, who was first at bat, tried hard to retrieve himself. Perhaps he tried too hard, for overanxiety is worse than not being anxious enough. Yet, be that as it may, his little pop-up was bagged neatly by Dart, and Brad turned from the path to first and made for the bench. Then Blunt tried for a hit, but Darrel was pitching great ball, and nothing happened. Handy followed, and managed to get to first but Spink spoiled all his chances by getting a grounder to Rylman and being thrown out at first. Bleeker was up again in the first half of the third. Frank had made up his mind, by then, that he and the backstop would have to do most of the work, and he was pitching ball that made the fans open
- 41. their eyes. He did not allow a man to reach first, but struck them out as fast as they came to the plate. In this round, which added a goose egg to the Gold Hill score, Ellis Darrel was included. Reckless, in the last half of the third, aroused Ophir hopes by dropping the ball into left field. Lenaway made a grand effort to get under it, but it slipped over the ends of his fingers. “Now, Joe,” begged Blunt, as the catcher picked out his bat, “bring Reckless in, and come in yourself.” The backstop smiled genially, and proceeded to sacrifice Reckless to second. He almost got to first on the bunt, but was called out by the umpire. “Now, do your prettiest, Clan,” urged Merry. “You’ll never have a better chance to do something.” “Watch me, that’s all,” grinned the red-headed chap. “Here’s where I make up for some of my errors.” Then an awful thing happened. Clancy hit a long fly. The coacher thought the fielder couldn’t possibly get it, and started Reckless to third. But the fielder, making a magnificent running catch, took the ball in out of the wet and whipped it to second. That was all; and the best chance Ophir had yet had to score was lost. The Gold Hillers began to sing, and some of the more demonstrative marched in a procession around the grand stand, using their megaphones to “rub it into” the Ophirites. The score remained two to nothing. By magnificent work, Merriwell and his swarthy backstop continued adding ciphers to the Gold Hill score, but they were not able to get any runs for themselves.
- 42. “Something’s bound to happen yet, colonel,” said Mr. Bradlaugh, in the second half of the eighth. “I shouldn’t wonder if the balloon would go up about here.” “The score would have been twenty to nothing,” declared Colonel Hawtrey, “if Merriwell and that Mexican catcher hadn’t stood like a wall between our boys and first. By Jove! I never saw steadier or more clear-headed work, and right in the face of the worst support I ever heard of. You can thank your battery, Bradlaugh, for getting off easy this afternoon.” “Perhaps,” answered the general manager hopefully, “we’ll be able to thank our battery for more than that.” “I can admire your grit, anyhow,” laughed Hawtrey, “even if I can’t applaud your judgment. You are right about one thing, though, Bradlaugh: A game is never finished until the last man is out.” The Gold Hillers, who had hoped to roll up a big score, were now contenting themselves with merely holding their opponents. Two runs would be enough. They would win one of the hardest games ever contested on the Ophir diamond. “We’ve got to have three tallies, fellows,” was the word Frank was circulating among his men. “All together, now! We’ve fooled with these Gold Hill chaps long enough.” Frank was cheerful, even sanguine. Even when Darrel fanned the first three men to come to bat, Merriwell continued to cheer up his discouraged teammates. “We’re going to win,” said he confidently. “I’ve got a hunch to that effect.” “Pretty soon it will be too late to start,” returned Blunt gloomily.
- 43. “It’s never too late to start, Barzy, so long as the under dog has a chance to bat.” “Well, we’ve only got one more chance.” “That will be enough—providing we improve it.” During the first half of the ninth, Gold Hill came within a hair’s breadth of getting another run. A throw to the plate, relayed to Merriwell and passed to the backstop, who made a marvelous catch and tagged out the runner, was all that prevented the score from coming in. “Who made that throw from deep center?” shouted Colonel Hawtrey, rising in his seat. “Ballard, Merriwell’s chum,” some one replied. “Bravo, Ballard!” cheered the colonel. “Now you’re playing ball! And you Mexican boy, down there!” The Ophir catcher, with a queer movement, turned and looked up at the colonel. “That was fine, do you hear?” went on the colonel enthusiastically. “I must shake hands with you for that.” The backstop turned on his heel and walked to the benches with bowed head. “It’s about over, Bradlaugh,” said the colonel, lifting his voice high in order to be heard through the buzz of conversation that surrounded him. “So far as results are concerned, we could just as well leave now.” “Don’t be in a rush,” answered Mr. Bradlaugh. “I still think something is going to happen that will turn the tide in our favor.”
- 44. “Hope springs perennial in the breast of the baseball fan,” laughed Hawtrey. “Merriwell gets to bat in the last half. He’ll do something.” “How do you figure that?” demanded Hawtrey. “Spink is first up, then Reckless, then Mexican Joe, then Clancy. Merriwell comes after that. What chance has Merriwell got to do any stickwork? Three will fan before his turn at the plate—Darrel will look out for that.” “Maybe Darrel will slip up in his calculations,” said the general manager doggedly. With his hands thrust deep into his pockets, Mr. Bradlaugh sat in growing hopelessness while Spink and Reckless fanned. It looked as though it was all over. Many of the Gold Hillers in the automobiles began to toot their horns triumphantly, and to prepare to leave. Those in the grand stand and on the bleachers were already congratulating each other. With two out, the swarthy backstop was leading the forlorn hope. What could he accomplish, in the face of defeat that seemed absolutely certain? There was nothing about the catcher, as he picked up his club and stepped to the plate, which suggested that he was either nervous or discouraged. He was there to do his best, and thoughts of failure did not seem to bother him in the least. No one, not even the Ophirites, had much to say to the backstop. It seemed, to almost every one except Merriwell and the catcher, as though the game was irretrievably lost. Merry and the catcher, however, were still hoping against hope. Darrel, perhaps too confident of victory, allowed a ball to cross the plate just about where the catcher wanted it. With a crack that
- 45. sounded like the report of a rifle he lifted the horsehide far out between left and center. The smack of bat against ball at once claimed the attention of the crowd. Those who were on the point of leaving stood in their tracks and faced around to follow proceedings on the diamond. “It’s only a flurry,” the Gold Hillers said to each other. “There are two out, and not a ghost of a chance for Ophir tying the score. They’re dying hard, though.” Stark, in center field, managed to pick up the ball and to fling it in. He was so quick with it that the catcher was prevented from making a try for third. Clancy was the next batter. His flagging hopes had been revived. After him came Merriwell. If Clancy could only make good use of the swatstick, a whole chain of gorgeous possibilities would flash through the murky skies that encompassed Ophir. “Keep your nerve, Clan,” called Merry. “Remember, it’s all up to you. Lace it out, old chap. Not that way,” he added, with a laugh, as the nervous Clancy swung at the sphere and missed. Clancy ground his teeth, and into his wildly beating heart there entered the determination to do or die. Again Darrel sent the ball at him. The bat moved a little in his hands, but did not come down. “He had a notion!” some one yelled, as the umpire called a ball. “Coax him again, Darrel. He can’t get a hit!” Once more Darrel “wound up,” and let the ball go. This time, to the dismay of the Ophirites, Clancy cracked it out. It sped hotly past
- 46. the pitcher, and was finally scooped up by short. The complexion of affairs had changed. The backstop was on third, and Clancy was hugging first. Handy went down to the coaching line. Merriwell, a smile on his face, stepped to the plate. “All I want is a good one, Curly,” said he, “and we’ll sew up the game right here.” A wild commotion broke out among the spectators. Those who had started to leave sat down again, and some who had left crowded back into the grand stand. Was it possible, every onlooker was asking himself, that Ophir could snatch victory from the jaws of defeat in such a spectacular manner? Merriwell was at the bat. Here was the point that aroused the wildest fears of Gold Hill, and the fondest hopes of Ophir.
- 48. CHAPTER XXXV. WON IN THE NINTH. Nerves, everywhere around the ball field, were drawn to breaking tension. On Merriwell alone depended the fortunes of the day for Ophir. It was the last half of the ninth inning. There were two out and two on bases. A hit by Merriwell would certainly bring in the catcher, and, if the hit happened to be a two-bagger, a couple of scores might be put across the pan. This is as far as the wildest dreams of the Ophirites allowed them to go. Ellis Darrel was keyed up to the highest pitch of achievement. If he could strike out Merriwell—something which he had not been able to do so far—the danger point would be safely passed. He made up his mind that he would fan him. It was something which Darrel hated to do. There was no one whom Darrel thought more of, or to whom he owed a greater obligation, than Frank Merriwell, junior. With face a little white and eyes gleaming restlessly Darrel shot a ball across the plate. It was not the sort of a ball Merry wanted, so he let it pass. A discontented murmuring came from the wild-eyed Ophirites as the umpire called the strike. There was silence in the crowded grand stand, over the bleachers, and among the automobiles. All eyes were fixed, as by a weird fascination, on the trampled ball field, holding the players steadily
- 49. under gaze, and keeping nervous track of the base runners and of the lithe, slender figure holding the bat. Darrel let fly with another ball. It was wide. The third one delivered was also too far off to count. But the next one—— Merriwell, with a terrific swing, met it squarely. With a smack that could be heard for half a mile in the quiet air, the bat started the ball skyward. Wild cheers broke from the crowd, and the hardest cheering was done by Colonel Hawtrey. What did he care how that magnificent hit might benefit Ophir at the expense of Gold Hill? He had just witnessed the finest example of pluck in the face of overwhelming discouragement which it had ever been his lot to observe. “Go it, Merriwell!” shouted the old colonel, hopping up and down and thrashing his arms in the air. “See how many bases you can tear off before the ball comes in.” “There’s the greaser, spilling over the home plate!” howled a delirious voice. “And here comes Clancy! Hoop-a-la! Watch him go. That red head looks like a comet.” Blunt was standing up on the players’ bench, roaring at the top of his voice. What he said, however, was lost in the general hubbub. While Clancy was covering the ground as though it burned his feet, the fielders were scrambling to get the ball. Farther and farther out they went, clear down into the distant oval of the cinder track. Clancy came home—the score was tied. Still the ball was not coming back.
- 50. “Come in, Merry!” howled a hundred frantic voices. “Come in! You’ve knocked out a home run!” This was really the case. The voices of the coachers were drowned in Merriwell’s ears, and he had to keep track of the ball himself. He was disposed to play safe. In the face of the general yell for him to get in the winning tally, however, he plunged for home with all the speed that was in him. By then the ball was coming, and those who had shouted for Merry to finish his circle of the bases were beginning to feel sorry that their ardor had carried them away. The ball was relayed from second by a beautiful throw. Bleeker nabbed it and reached for Merry. But, at that moment, Merry’s feet were on the plate. “Safe!” bellowed the umpire. That was the signal for bedlam to be turned loose. There was still a chance for Ballard to bat, but the game was won, and what was the use of prolonging the agony? Spectators scrambled into the field and a rush was made for the panting and dusty Merriwell. Those who could not get near Merry rushed at Clancy, and those who failed to reach Clancy made a set at the swarthy backstop. It was remembered that honors were due equally to the three lads who had brought in the runs. It was the catcher who had started the batting rally, and had he not got a hit there would have been no chance for Clancy and Merriwell. Colonel Hawtrey was one of those who had failed to come close to Merry and Clancy and had turned to the backstop. “My boy,” said he, his voice a-thrill with excitement, “you started a bit of the finest and most sportsmanlike work I have ever seen pulled off on a ball ground. I wish to congratulate you, and——”
- 51. The colonel paused. The streams of sweat, which were pouring down the backstop’s face, were leaving little gutters of white in the swarthy hue of his cheeks. “You’re not a Mexican!” exclaimed the colonel. “No,” agreed the youth, standing his ground. “I never said I was a Mexican, colonel.” “That voice!” gasped Hawtrey, recoiling. “That——” He suddenly ceased speaking. His face hardened and his eyes became two glowing points of white-hot steel. “I know you!” went on the colonel savagely. “You couldn’t get into the game by fair means, and so you disguised yourself, smearing your face with some kind of stain to make you look like a Mexican. You double-dealing scoundrel! You——” Just at this point Darrel stepped to the front and thrust an arm affectionately through that of his half brother. “Don’t blame Jode for it, colonel,” said Darrel. “I’m the one who engineered the scheme.” “And I’m the one who helped you,” said Merry, moving up on Lenning’s other side. Colonel Hawtrey passed a dazed hand across his forehead. “Do you mean to say, Ellis,” he muttered, “that you—you admit having deceived me?” “I admit persuading Jode to fix himself up as Mexican Joe,” answered Darrel. “It was his only chance to get into the game, you see. He had to come in as Merriwell’s substitute, although posing at the same time as Mexican Joe.”
- 52. “Why did you want him in the game?” demanded the colonel. “We wanted to see him do some good work and win back your friendship and that of a few of the lads who have turned against him.” “Perhaps he has succeeded,” said the colonel coldly, “but it is a case of double-dealing which I will not countenance.” Hawtrey, elbowing the crowd aside, started toward the clubhouse. “I say, colonel!” called Mr. Bradlaugh. “I’m going to town, Bradlaugh,” said the colonel, without looking back. “If you want to see me, it will have to be at the Ophir House.” “Don’t fret, boys,” said Mr. Bradlaugh to Merry, Lenning, and Darrel. “He’ll feel better after a while. I’ll see what I can do with him.” With that Mr. Bradlaugh hurried after his irate friend.
- 54. CHAPTER XXXVI. THE PLOT THAT FAILED. “You can see what’s happened, Darrel,” said Lenning, turning with a weary air to his half brother. “The colonel is down on me worse than ever; and he’s down on you, too.” Merry, Darrel, and Lenning were surrounded by a crowd about equally composed of Gold Hill and Ophir players. The revelation that had stripped the mask from the supposed Mexican Joe, leaving in his place the friendless Jode Lenning, had come as a stunning surprise. “I’d like to know something about this, Chip,” said Ballard. “It strikes me that you haven’t been square with us.” “He was as square as he could be, Pink,” answered Darrel. “After the plot was hatched he couldn’t very well give it away, could he?” “Where the deuce is Mexican Joe?” asked Clancy. “I got a note from Burke last evening,” Merriwell exclaimed, “which informed me that Joe had been called suddenly back to the bedside of his sick relative. That put me strictly up against it, till Darrel blew in and suggested that Lenning be substituted for Mexican Joe, but without telling any one the difference.” “I had a hard time getting Jode’s consent,” said Darrel, “but finally, more to please Chip and me than anything else, he agreed. I secured that stain for him in town, and Burke got him some clothes that looked enough like the greaser’s to pass muster. He was a pretty close imitation of the real thing, eh, fellows?” Darrel laughed, slapping his half brother heartily on the back.
- 55. “I should say so!” exclaimed Clancy. “Why, we had the real Mexican with us for a couple of days, and yet I couldn’t see any difference between the two.” “Nor I,” said Ballard. “Lenning was a dead ringer for Mexican Joe.” “What was the plot aimed at, Chip?” asked Blunt. “It was aimed at you fellows and the colonel. We thought Lenning would make such a good record in the game that he would win the approval and good will of the colonel and the boys from Gold Hill and Ophir. But,” Merry finished regretfully, “I guess we made a miss of it, and that the plot failed.” “Not much it didn’t fail—that is, not entirely,” Blunt resumed. “Lenning has shown himself a good deal of a man, by jumping into this thing like he did, and I for one feel as though I had made a blamed fool of myself.” He turned to Lenning. “Will you shake hands,” he asked. A gratified smile wreathed itself about Lenning’s lips. “You bet I will, Blunt!” he exclaimed. “The plot certainly worked out all right if it gave me Barzy Blunt for a friend.” “Shucks!” grunted Blunt, deeply touched. “I reckon I acted like a coyote, t’other day, when I allowed I wouldn’t have you in this nine of Chip’s. I’m sorry I tuned up like I did.” “Just forget it, Blunt,” smiled Lenning. “I feel a good deal the same as Barzy does,” spoke up Handy. “If it hadn’t been for you, Lenning, dropping into our team as a substitute for the Mexican, I reckon we would have lost out. Will you shake with me?”
- 56. And, beginning right there, Jode Lenning held an impromptu reception. Reckless was next to grip his hand after Handy had released it; then came Clancy and Ballard, and every player that was left in both teams. “I guess you fellows didn’t fall down on that plot, after all,” laughed Clancy. “You made good on the diamond, Lenning, and that has shown a few of us what pesky idiots we were.” “I—I want you to understand, fellows,” said Lenning, his voice trembling and his eyes misty, “that I appreciate your show of confidence in me. I have turned over a new leaf, and I’m not particularly anxious to curry any favor with Colonel Hawtrey. I gave him cause to treat me as he did, and I don’t want him to think I’m sneaking around, trying to get him to take me back and help me. I wouldn’t go back if he offered to take me. I’m earning my way now, and I want to be independent.” “That’s the talk!” approved Barzy Blunt. “Come on over to the gym, fellows,” called Merry, “and let’s get under the showers. I think we’ll all feel better for a bath and a rubdown.” “It’s like going home, El,” Lenning whispered to Darrel, with a catch in his voice. Silently Darrel’s arm went around his half brother and tightened affectionately. The plot may have failed in so far as it concerned Colonel Hawtrey, but in other ways, equally far-reaching, it had been a success.
- 58. CHAPTER XXXVII. WOO SING AND THE PIG. “Suffering snakes!” exclaimed Barzy Blunt, coming to a halt in the trail, “what in blazes is that, fellows?” “It might be a steam calliope breaking out in high C,” grinned Owen Clancy, “only this part of Arizona runs more to cantaloupes than calliopes, so——” Billy Ballard groaned heavily. “Pa-ro-no-masia,” he said, clearly and distinctly. “Get that?” “No,” said young Merriwell decidedly, “I don’t get it, Pink, and I don’t want to. Sounds worse than the measles.” “I reckon I’ve had it,” remarked Blunt seriously. “If it’s catching, I know I have. When I was a kid I made it a rule to corral everything from mumps to meningitis. Can you have it twice?” “I’m vaccinated,” said Clancy, “so I guess it wouldn’t be fatal even if I did catch it. What are the symptoms, Pink?” “In your case, Red,” Ballard explained, “the symptoms are ‘cantaloupe’ and ‘calliope.’ Professor Phineas Borrodaile, who is long on polysyllables, explained the term to me.” “Well, come across. What sort of a silly-bull is this pa-ra-what- d’you-call-it?” “Slay him!” whispered Ballard weakly. “There are more symptoms.”
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