“I ain’t goin’ to start anythin’, I said,” broke in the lanky youth doggedly. “And I won’t. But I ain’t goin’ to let trouble hit me over the ear, you bet. I’ll be jest as meek as a lamb until they try dirty work on me, only I want to be ready.”
Frank nodded. After all, he did not greatly blame McCarthy for distrusting the caliber of Squint Fletcher, or, for that matter, the rest of the Carsonville club. He did not believe in fighting fire with fire, but he saw that it would be useless to try argument with Dan McCarthy.
So he let the matter drop, confident that the lanky third baseman would not be the first to start any “dirty work.” The general sentiment of the Clippings was that the Clippers would not stop at anything to win, but that the umpiring would be fair.
“I want you to help me out, Clan,” said Frank, as he walked along beside his old chum. “These chaps are just aching for a good chance to start a scrap with the other team. They’ve all promised me that they’d go slow during the game, but I want you to get after ’em during practice.”
“In what way, Chip?”
“By showing them how necessary it is that they keep their heads. That’s our only hope. If our boys get rattled, the Clippers will walk away with us. Impress on them, Clan, that, no matter what provocation they get, they have to keep quiet while the game is on. What happens later doesn’t concern me.”
Clancy grinned. “All right. Count on me, Chip.”
Upon reaching the practice grounds, Merry at once sent the men to their positions. He took the bat, and for half an hour gave the entire team a driving practice work-out. The new white balls seemed, oddly enough, to put new heart into his team.
It showed them that Frank and Clancy meant business. It was a little thing, but it is just such little things that count tremendously. The red-haired chap covered first like a demon, scooping up everything that came his way. His example fired the others.
As Billy had foretold, the Clippings seemed like a different set of players. They went after the ball with a vim. Spaulding, Chub, and McCarthy tackled anything, and managed to smother the stiffest ones Frank drove at them.