It wasn’t necessary, however, for the detective to put any dents in Mr. Wright, for the next morning Mr. Cummings informed Tom that it was all arranged. “It wasn’t so easy to bring him around, Tom, but he came after awhile. I told him, among other things, that it would be good business. Said we sold a lot of things to the high school boys and that if you played ball with them and won games for them it would make us more popular than ever and we’d get more trade.” Mr. Cummings paused to chuckle reminiscently. “I sort of think that’s what did the business, son. After that he listened real patiently and finally gave in. So you’re to have three afternoons off every week this month and two next. You’d better see Mr. Talbot yourself and see what days he wants you. I guess Monday had better be one of them, for that’s usually rather a dull day with us. Then Wednesday and Saturday might do for the others.”
Tom thanked Mr. Cummings gratefully.
“Seems to me, though, it would be fairer if you were to take something off my wages until the baseball season’s over,” he urged. “I—I’d feel better about it.”
“Well, I suggested that to Horace, but he turned on me and nearly bit my head off. Said, so long as we didn’t have to get anyone in to take your place while you were out, he guessed we needn’t be so tarnation mean as all that! I guess we won’t quarrel about a dollar or so, Tom. After all, there is something in what I told Horace about getting more trade by letting you play with the team, and I guess we don’t stand to lose anything.”
Mr. Talbot suggested Thursdays instead of Wednesdays as one of the days, since the midweek games were played on Wednesdays and he believed Tom could learn more on a practice afternoon. So it was finally arranged that Tom was to report for practice on Monday and Thursday afternoons and for play on Saturdays until June. After that Thursdays and Saturdays were to suffice. Meanwhile Mr. George had talked with the coach and had agreed to go out to the field twice a week, and oftener if he could, and take the pitchers in hand. Tom couldn’t determine which seemed the most pleased, Mr. Talbot or Mr. George!
Tom’s first practice with the team took place the next Monday. He had supplied himself with a uniform and felt both proud and a trifle self-conscious as he walked onto the field in company with Sidney and Tommy Hughes. Nothing very exciting fell to his lot that day. For a half-hour he pitched to the batsmen in front of the net, and later sat on the bench and watched Pete Farrar and Toby Williams work in the box. Mr. Talbot instructed him to observe the fielding methods and watch particularly the conduct of the pitchers with men on bases. Tom soon saw that a pitcher had more to do than pitch. He had to handle balls in his own territory, cover first base on many occasions, and run up to the plate whenever a ball went past the catcher. He also learned things about holding the runners on bases, envying the dexterity with which Pete Farrar, who, like Tom, was a right-handed pitcher, whirled about to step from the box and peg the ball to first or second. Tom did not get into the practice game at all that afternoon, Mr. Talbot probably thinking that it would do him more good to look on from the bench. Captain Warner was friendly in a rather chilly way, but Pete Farrar quite evidently regarded him as an unwelcome interloper. The rest of the fellows, though, showed him that he was more than welcome. His advent had caused a sensation and practice was attended by nearly the entire school. Had they but known it, Cummings and Wright had already received a good many dollars’ worth of gratuitous advertisement!
On Thursday practice was harder and more prolonged than on any day thus far, perhaps owing to the fact that on the preceding day the team, with Pete Farrar pitching four disastrous innings and Toby Williams finishing the game, had gone down in overwhelming defeat before a nine composed of high school graduates led by Walter White. There was nearly an hour of batting practice, a good thirty minutes of fielding work, with Manager Arbuckle knocking fungoes to the outfield and Coach Talbot hitting balls to the basemen. Tom had his first practice in base-running that afternoon and discovered that he had a lot to learn. The first time he attempted a slide he landed a yard short of second and was easily out. Later the two teams played four innings, and Tom pitched again for the scrubs. Whether his previous exertions were responsible for his poor showing, I can’t say. But he got a severe drubbing that afternoon and went home surprised and discouraged.
“What could you expect?” asked Mr. George. “You were tired. Seems to me funny that Bat would let you pitch after having you run bases. Maybe, though, he meant to show you something you didn’t know, Tom.” Tom looked a question, and Mr. George added: “That you can’t do good work in the box if you’re not fresh and fit.”
Mr. George himself took hold of his part of the coaching the following afternoon. As it was a Friday, Tom was not on hand, but Mr. George told him about it when they met before dinner.