And again he drove a “daisy-clipper” toward Jack, though not directly at him. This time Ready scooped up the ball, turned like a flash, and made a fine throw to first.
“That’s the stuff!” declared Frank approvingly. “Now you are doing it handsomely.”
He kept the others at it in the same manner, never letting up on a man till he did his work right. He had studied the temperament of each individual man, and some he praised, while others he criticized, though both praise and criticism were of the kind to be most effective without harming the player.
Rattleton had not been playing ball for some time, and two failures to pick up hard grounders seemed to take the confidence out of him, for he muttered, loud enough for Carson to hear:
“I’m afraid my ball-playing is about over. I’m not in it any more. I feel like ficking myself over the kence—I mean, kicking myself over the fence.”
He had not intended that Frank should hear, but Merry’s keen ears caught the words. Immediately Frank divined that Rattleton had lost confidence, and he decided at once that it must be restored. Then he batted a comparatively easy one straight at the second-baseman, who managed to get it and send it to first.
“Why, you can’t help doing it right when you get into gear, Rattleton!” laughed Merriwell. “It’s just as natural for you as it is to talk backwards.”
Harry knew the ball had been easy to get, but these words seemed to indicate that Frank had confidence in him, and that served to restore his own confidence. In a few minutes he was working much better, and he soon went after the balls as if he felt sure of getting them.
“It isn’t necessary to take a double step to throw, Carson,” said Frank. “That’s a new trick with you. You don’t throw that way naturally. When you get a ball up clean, use the short-arm throw in sending it over to first, with a step just as the arm swings forward, putting the weight of your body into the throw. That gets the ball away from you without loss of time.”
Carson’s face was red, but he nodded, saying, good-naturedly: