“Well, of course, that was some time ago; when I was a mere lad of twelve. Just the same we weren’t so rotten. We had a pitcher who could strike out fellows weighing twenty pounds less than he did!” “What’s weight got to do with it?” asked Clif, puzzled. “I’m just telling you.” Tom chuckled. “We used to call him ‘Skel’; short for Skeleton, you know. He was about ten years old, I guess, and when he came on the field you couldn’t tell for sure whether he was walking forwards or backwards. He was the same all round. And round is just the word, too!” “And what did you play on the ‘Morristown Giants’?” “Wrong. We were the ‘Red Sox.’ I played catcher sometimes, and sometimes I played third base and sometimes――” “You picked up bats. I know. Well, all that’s mighty interesting, Tom, but I can’t just see it helping you much in the present crisis. Of course you might tell it to Steve, but he’s sort of hard-boiled and――” “No, sir,” interrupted Tom determinedly, “I won’t attempt to influence him. I propose to win the honor of playing second base by working up from the ranks, like the rest of you.” “Very high-minded,” said Clif approvingly. “And, speaking of ranks, I’ll bet you’ll be ranker than any.” “Say, joking aside, Clif, we _have_ got rather a cheek to try for that team and hope to get anywhere. I didn’t see more than five or six other third class fellows there.” “Glad you acknowledge it. Still, it isn’t going to do us any harm to make a stab at it. We might cop something. You, anyway. You’ve played more than I have.” “Well, heck, nothing venture, you know. Cheer up, old timer. You never can tell. One of us may be saving the day yet with a timely clout. Speaking of timely clouts, when I captained the old Red Sox――” “Brakes!” said Clif rudely. CHAPTER IV MR. BINGHAM ENTERTAINS Well, that first fortnight of work for the baseball candidates _was_ a good deal like drudgery. As Tom said, it wasn’t so hard, but it was blamed monotonous. Led by Coach Connover, or sometimes by Captain Leland, they went through a daily program of calisthenics that seemed designed to acquaint them with the possession of muscles they had never before even suspected. The ordinary setting-up exercises, amended to suit the coach’s notions, began the session. After that they swung clubs――at first in imminent danger from each other――and went through strange exercises with dumb-bells, the latter to limber up wrist and forearm muscles. Toward the latter part of the fortnight the day’s program ended with instructions on holding and swinging the bat, but it was not until the beginning of the third week that they abandoned the gymnasium floor and moved into the cage.