"Rah, rah, rah! Rah, rah, rah! Rah, rah, rah! Porter!"
Roy felt a little warming tingle in the region of his heart. Then he was swinging his bat back, for Rollins had undoubled and shot the ball forward. Chub staggered back out of its way.
"Ball!" droned the umpire.
Then came what was seemingly a straight delivery and Roy swung at it. But it went down so suddenly when a few feet from the plate that his bat traveled several inches above it and threw Roy off his balance. Hammond jeered and laughed.
"Don't try to slug, Roy!" called Chub. "Easy does it!"
And so it proved. Rollins sent a "teaser," one of his puzzling slow ones, but Roy had the good fortune to guess it before it reached the plate. He met it with an easy swing and made for first. Third baseman smothered it as it arose from the ground for the first bound and threw swiftly. But Roy was like a streak when it came to running bases, and this fact, coupled with the fact that first baseman had to step wide of the bag to get the throw, made him safe. Chub raced over to coach and seized the moment while the pitcher was returning to his box to whisper instructions.
"Don't wait for a hit; steal on the first ball."
Cole appeared at the plate and Chub retreated to the coacher's box and knelt on the ground.
"Not too far," he counselled anxiously. "Watch out! Wait for the hit. Charlie'll send you down."
Rollins looked over at him, but didn't throw. The new player was plainly timid and wouldn't give much trouble. So he turned his attention to Cole. Roy pranced nervously about on his toes a scant yard from base while the pitcher doubled himself into a knot. Then, as the arm began to drop swiftly, Roy leaped forward and shot for second.