“Take it easy, Irv,” he said, as Renworth picked out a bat and advanced to the plate. “All we want is a nice single.”
Then he hurried down to the coaching line at first.
Renworth was not a particularly strong batter. He was apt to lose his head and misjudge the balls, and, in spite of his determination to make a clean single or at least a bunt, he had two strikes called on him almost before he knew it. Then he popped a high fly over toward centre field, and, but for an error on the part of Glathe, he would have been done for. Luckily the big German muffed the ball, and Renworth cantered across the initial sack, while Buckhart reached third.
“Now, Buck, it’s up to you,” Gardiner cried. “You know what to do. Say, Tucker, come out and coach, will you? I’m up next.”
As Garland came to the plate, Dick kept his eyes fixed on the burly pitcher. He was very curious to learn the reason for that momentary sidelong glance which he gave almost before every delivery. He thought he had solved the problem, but he was not quite sure. There it was again! A swift, glinting flash of his dark eyes, and then he pitched.
“Strike one!” called the umpire.
“I thought that was it,” murmured the Yale man with much satisfaction. “He’s getting his signals from Fairchilds. That’s pretty clever.”
Since his attention had been attracted to the pitcher’s odd trick of hesitating almost imperceptibly before he delivered the ball Merriwell had been looking about for the reason. Soon he saw that the mine owner never left his position a little back of the base line some twenty feet to the left of the plate. He noticed, moreover, that Fairchilds was strangely silent while his own team was in the field, whereas, with them at the bat, he took to advising, coaching, and encouraging.
Dick, therefore, came to the conclusion that his first impression of the burly miner had been correct. It was not his brain which was doing such good work, but that of Orren Fairchilds. The mine owner had been able to teach the man curves and speed and good control, but he could not teach him judgment. Instead, he had done the next best thing, and by means of a clever system of signals, he himself practically did the thinking and directed every move made by the burly giant in the box.
At first, Renworth was inclined to stick much too close to the base to suit the vivacious Tucker.