“Yes,” said Barclay. “And you’re from Yale, I understand.”
“That’s right,” replied Joe. “How’s the tiger?”
“Fine,” returned Barclay. “How’s the bulldog?”
They laughed and sat down together. The ice was broken and they were soon talking like old friends. The traditional rivalries of their two colleges gave them an endless number of things to talk about. Joe found him very congenial and intelligent, and Barclay on his part was delighted to find himself on a friendly footing with a college man, who had broken into the big league and “made good.” He had been feeling rather shaky and forlorn, as is the usual custom of “rookies,” and Joe, remembering his own experience, did his best to help him shake off that feeling. So chummy did they become that Joe proposed that they room together during their stay in the training camp. Barclay jumped eagerly at the chance and on a word to the manager the matter was so arranged.
In due time the train rolled into Marlin Springs and the pilgrims disembarked, glad to stretch their legs after the long journey. A big crowd of citizens and officials of the town were on hand to give them a boisterous greeting, and the village band struck up a triumphal march as the band of athletes moved on to the hotel. They made a splendid picture of physical manhood. After the long winter they were eager for the fray. They were like so many greyhounds straining at the leash.
“Look pretty good, don’t they?” remarked McRae to Hughson. “But it isn’t a circumstance to the way they’ll look when I get through with their training and have them ready to take the field.”
[CHAPTER XIX]
DRIVING THEM HARD
The next morning dawned soft and balmy. The air was full of the fragrance of flowers and musical with the singing of birds. To Joe who two days before had been in a region of snow and ice where winter still reigned supreme, it almost seemed as though he had been carried by the carpet of Solomon to some different clime and country.