[CHAPTER XIX]
ANTHONY TELLS A SECRET
“I wish I’d never taken the captaincy,” said Joe Perkins.
“Oh, rot! What’s the good of talking that way?” asked Tracy Gilberth. “The nine’s coming along all right. What if Artmouth did rub it into us? We had an off day; every team’s liable to have them. Look at last year.”
“I know,” answered Joe, “we had plenty of them then, and see what happened! We lost to Robinson, seven to nothing; we scarcely made a hit! If I thought—if I thought we were going to lose this year, I’d—I’d cut and run; honest, Tracy, I would!”
“That’d be a nice thing to do, wouldn’t it?” asked the other disgustedly. “Fellows would be proud of you, wouldn’t they?”
“It would be better than losing again,” muttered Joe.
“Oh, get out, Joe! Brace up; you’re off your feed, that’s what’s the matter with you. I heard ‘Baldy’ telling Hanson yesterday that you were going stale. He didn’t mean me to hear it; but I couldn’t very well help it. That’s why you’re out here with me in my ‘bubble’ instead of taking batting practise this morning.”
“Oh, I know all that. A trainer doesn’t send a fellow out for rides on Saturday mornings unless he’s gone stale or has something else the matter. I suppose I am out of sorts, Tracy. And I guess I’d rather stay and take a licking like a little man than run away, but—” He stopped and scowled ahead of him at the dusty road. Then, “It’s all well enough to talk about ‘honorable defeat,’ and all that, but it’s mighty hard to lose your big game when you’re captain and have worked hard and put your whole heart into it.”