"Couldn't I!" muttered Jack, strangely annoyed, for there was something indescribably irritating about the manner in which the red-headed catcher had sneered those words.
This irritation grew when Sanger warped over two zig-zags, and Nelson missed them both. Copley made no further remark, but his husky chucklings over the batter's failures, sent the blood to Nelson's head and assisted him in finally misjudging a high one on the inside corner.
"You're out!" pronounced the umpire.
"That's the pitching, cap!" laughed Larkins. "They had their fun with you last year; now it's your turn."
Berlin Barker, regarded as an excellent batsman, was almost as easy for Sanger. True, Barker did foul the ball once, but that was the only time he touched it, and he likewise returned to the bench in a much disturbed frame of mind.
"Mr. Umpire," called Eliot, "will you keep that catcher from talking to the batters?"
"Go on!" growled Copley. "Who's talking to them? I can talk to the pitcher if I choose, and I've got a right to have a little conversation with myself."
"Don't pay any attention to him, Springer," warned Roger; "that's his trick."
Phil also missed the first ball delivered by Sanger.
"This fellow thinks he can pitch," cried Copley. "He's had a dream."