“I do not drink,” explained Merry. “Of course, if you insist, I’ll take a plain seltzer, or something of that sort, with you.”
“You can take a cigar,” said Robinson.
“I’d have to give it away if I did.”
“You don’t mean to say that you do not smoke?”
“I never have.”
“Well, well! It would be better for most ball-players if they followed your example. Drinking has ruined lots of promising young fellows. I’ve seen fast young players go steadily down-hill from no apparent cause, but investigation has revealed that they were drinking right along. They fancied they could do it because they knew some old stagers who did, and they were careful not to take enough to become intoxicated. Often they would have a drink before a game. Then it seemed, when they got warmed up, that the stuff went to their heads and muddled them somehow so they could not do their best. I’ve warned many of them in vain. They would insist that they did not take enough to hurt them, and so they kept on till they were released.”
“But some men who drink are fast players,” broke in Wilder. “I know more than one.”
“Yes, that may be,” nodded Robinson; “but they would be still faster if they took nothing at all.”
“Exactly my belief,” asserted Frank. “And no man can have good wind if he smokes persistently.”