"What reason have you for thinking anything of the sort?"
"Every reason. The regular Yale stroke cannot be improved upon. That is beyond question."
Hartwick smiled wearily.
"That's what I call conceit," he said. "You don't know whether it can be improved upon or not."
There was an outburst of protests by the boys, who believed, as almost every Yale man believes, that Yale methods are correct and cannot be improved upon. Hartwick was regarded as disloyal, and all felt like giving it to him hot.
"A longer body swing is certain to make a difficult recovery," said Browning. "That is plain enough."
"Not if the men are worked right and put in proper form," declared Hartwick. "I have been told that the English long stroke and recovery is very graceful and easy, and that it does not wear on a man like the American stroke."
"By Jawve! I think that's right, don't yer know," said Paulding.
"What you think doesn't count," muttered Tad Horner.
"With such a stroke and swing the men are bound to recover on their toes," asserted Browning.