“No, not a bit; except that he had a bad headache the rest of the day, I believe. That did Tubby good, though, Tom. He was never nearly so fresh after that.”
“He needed it,” Tom grunted. “He wasn’t so bad when he roomed with you last Fall, Dan, but the year before he was an awful little fat beast. Your move, Gerald.”
[CHAPTER XXI]
DROWNED!
The next afternoon, Wednesday, baseball practice started off with a dash that secretly delighted Payson’s heart. Outwardly, however, he was as calm and untroubled as ever. Alf had confided Dan’s theory to Millener, but the captain had let it go no further, and the team still labored under the delusion that they were spiting the coach. At the batting net, fellows who were scarcely known to hit the ball safely, worked in a perfect frenzy of ambition and pounded the leather all around the field. This put Reid, the substitute pitcher, on his mettle, and a regular duel ensued between him and the eager batters.
Gerald and Harry Merrow, on their way to the boathouse, paused a while behind the net and watched proceedings. One by one the players faced Reid until he had made some sort of a hit; Millener, Colton, Loring, Condit, Danforth, Durfee, Richards, and so on down the list of first team men and substitutes. When Alf cracked out a long, low drive that would have been good for three bases in a game, Gerald howled with glee, and again, when Dan managed to send a hard, low one just over Reid’s head, Gerald shouted “Good for you, Dan!” and didn’t at all mind the amusement he created. When the players left the net and trotted over to the diamond, Gerald and Harry continued on their way to the river, discussing the nine and the chances of victory. Harry was pessimistic.
“Broadwood’s got a crackajack of a team this year,” he said. “Look at the way they licked Porter! And that fellow Herring, their best pitcher, is a wonder. I saw him pitch last year.”
“Is he better than Colton?” asked Gerald. Harry frowned and hesitated.
“Well, he’s as good. But he isn’t the all-round player that Colton is. Colton can bat, you know; he’s the best batter we’ve got.”