“It’s a shame we can’t use him.”
“Oh, I don’t know. He might not prove so much in real fast company.”
At this the fellow who had expressed regret because the varsity was not permitted to use Dick proceeded to straighten up and assert his belief that the freshman was just about the hottest thing in the way of a twirler that had been seen at Yale since the days of his famous brother.
“Mark what I say,” said this chap, shaking a finger in the air, “that boy is a wizard. I’ve watched him pitch, and I know what I’m talking about. He has some kinks up his sleeve that no one ever saw before.”
“Can he throw the double shoot?” laughed a sarcastic chap with a cigarette. “You know Frank Merriwell had the reputation of pitching such a ball. Why, there are fellows right here in college who really believe he could throw a ball that would curve two ways.”
“Of course you don’t believe anything of that kind?”
“Do I look like an idiot? I admit that Merriwell had some kind of a deceptive twist, but common sense will tell any one that the double shoot is a rank impossibility.”
“There was a time,” said the other, “that common sense seemed to tell every one that any kind of a curve was an impossibility. Even at the present time there are lots of curves and shoots that cannot be explained by the wisest seers. Who can give an acceptable theory of the erratic actions of the spit ball? Sometimes it curves slowly, sometimes it doesn’t curve at all, and sometimes it breaks at a sharp angle.”
“What’s Billings doing with Merriwell?” inquired a curious chap. “He’s taken him over to the bench. They’re talking with Leyden.”
Leyden was the head coach. It happened that Billings was simply introducing Dick to the man.