“Can’t run at all, you think?”
“Run! Great Cæsar’s Ghost, how could any fellow run with a knee like that? He’ll be lucky if he’s able to catch two weeks from now, I guess.”
“Catch!” said Guy bitterly. “Confound his catching! If he hadn’t insisted on doing that he wouldn’t have been hurt. It’s a nice outlook for the Track Team, isn’t it? We’ve got about as much chance to win Saturday as we have of going skating!”
The coach nodded. “That’s right,” he agreed. “Lanny was good for thirteen points anyway. Well, I don’t know. Only thing we can do now is make the best showing possible and——”
“We’re not beaten yet,” said Harry Partridge. “Kirke’s nearly as fast as Lanny in the sprints, isn’t he?”
“Nearly, yes,” replied Skeet. “But that’s not good enough. Springdale’s got fellows nearly as fast, too. For that matter, that youngster Hull has been doing some fast work. We may win a first in one of the sprints; I’m not saying we can’t. It’s the hurdles that worry me most. Lanny was down for both and he’d have run them both if we’d needed him. With Lanny out we’ve got only Beaton here and Peyton. I’m not throwing off on you, Beaton, but you’ll have to dig to beat out Springdale’s best man.”
“I know,” answered the manager, “but, look here, Skeet, if we can win one first in the sprints and get, say, six points out of the hurdles——”
“Oh, don’t be an ass, Arthur,” interrupted Guy crossly. “You can figure until you get writer’s cramp, but that doesn’t alter the fact that we’re dished. As Skeet says, the only thing we can do is to make Springdale work hard for the meet. It’s perfectly rotten luck!”
There was another brief silence. Then Toby Sears asked: “How did Lanny get hurt, anyway? I didn’t see it. I was so excited——”
“Blocked off that runner of theirs at the plate. Someone hit a fierce liner at Haley and he knocked it down and it rolled over toward third base line. When he got it it was too late to peg to first and he chucked it to Lanny about a half-second before the runner got there. Lanny dropped to the plate and the runner slid feet-first into him and his spikes ripped right across Lanny’s knee. It was a mighty pretty piece of blocking, but he ought never to have taken such a chance.” And Partridge shook his head dismally.