There was, naturally, much talk of the game and much criticism of various plays, as there always was, and Jimmy, as a participant, was listened to with respect if not with entire credence. At the training table, across the hall, there were no signs of depression, if one could judge by the talk and laughter. In fact, the whole school was looking back on the afternoon’s contest as something very much like a lucky victory. And perhaps it was. At all events, a comparison of the scores showed that Lawrence had made more hits and fewer errors and that the renowned Mr. Fairway had behaved more creditably than the four Grafton pitchers judged together.
When Dud and Jimmy left the dining-hall they ran into Nick Blake and Bert Winslow in the corridor. Dud had determined to avoid any such meeting, but fortune ruled otherwise.
“Hello, James T.,” greeted Nick. “How’s Tris Speaker Junior tonight? Hello, Dud Baker.”
“My arms are a trifle lame,” responded Jimmy. “When a fellow makes all the hits in a game——”
“Hah!” ejaculated Nick mirthlessly. “Again, hah! You make me laugh, Jimmy. He’s a regular funny fellow, isn’t he, Dud? How are you feeling, by the way? Say, that was some twirling you did in the seventh, my lad!”
“How about the tenth?” asked Dud, smiling wanly.
“Well, no harm done, you know,” said Nick cheerfully. “They all get theirs sooner or later, and I dare say if you’d stayed in you’d have pulled yourself out all right.”
“If we hadn’t needed the game so much,” observed Bert, “he’d have stayed in, I guess. I was hoping Guy would let him. It’s a bully good thing for a pitcher to have to dig his way out, Baker. Gives him confidence, you know. If I was captain of a team and a pitcher got in a hole I’d just let him stay right there and crawl out of it. Just let him have to do it, and if he’s the least bit of good, he will. My notion is that if a pitcher thinks he’s going to be relieved any time he goes bad, he’s going bad too plaguey often! That sound like sense to you, Jimmy?”
“I haven’t heard a word that sounded like sense since I got here,” answered Jimmy gravely. “If someone would suggest something to do more exciting than hearing Lit and Forum jabber over some subject like: ‘Resolved: That Marcus T. Cicero was faster on the bases than his brother Quint,’ or ‘That the Penguin is mightier than the Swordfish’!”