Mr. Connover said nothing particularly new nor inspiring. He dwelt rather strongly on the fact that the candidates were due for a fortnight or so of somewhat drudging drill and suggested that any who wanted to withdraw had best do so before the squad reassembled. “If,” proceeded the coach, “I find you here to-morrow I shall expect you to stick for the duration. Last year we were fortunate enough to get outdoors on the twentieth of March. This year it may be later, or earlier. There’s no way of telling. But it’s safe to say that you’ve got a good three weeks of indoor work ahead of you, and any of you who can’t stomach that had better quit to-day.” Mr. Connover was not a large man, nor was he particularly impressive in any way as viewed this afternoon. He had donned an old suit of blue serge and a pair of stained white sneakers. “Steve” in charge of a physics class and “Steve” speaking to a bunch of baseball candidates were different persons. With the single exception of “Lovey” McKnight, chemistry instructor, Mr. Connover was the youngest member of the faculty, being twenty-nine. He had coached the baseball teams for two years before this and had turned out at least average good teams. The fact that only one of them had managed to secure the best two out of three games with Wolcott was no reflection on the coach. “We have arranged a schedule for this spring that is two games longer than last year’s,” Mr. Connover was saying now. “It’s a mighty good schedule, and Manager Longwell and his assistants deserve praise for working it up.” There was a faint, repressed cheer, and “Bi” Longwell, hugging a large pad of paper to him on a bench, grinned. “We’re down to meet some good teams, fellows, and we’ve simply got to play real ball right from the start if we’re to make a decent showing by the end of the season. Of course, it’s the Wolcott series we’re after, but we aren’t going to throw any games away before we get to the big ones. I’d like to see this spring a Wyndham team that will take three-fourths of its games. We’ve got twenty-two scheduled. Probably four at least won’t be played, because of weather conditions. I want this team to end the season with fourteen victories, and if it doesn’t I’m going to be disappointed in it.