Perhaps their new friendliness was hastened by the newspaper prominence of Bert Elgin. Few men can view unmoved the sudden elevation to fame of a comrade, especially when they feel that this elevation has not been especially merited. Newspapers began to drift in from all the big cities, in which Elgin was heralded as “Brennan’s New Find,” “A Second Matty,” “By Far the Most Promising Recruit of the Season,” and so on. Then followed pictures of the new pitcher in every variety of pose; his style was dissected and analyzed; his progress was noted; for, having launched this boom, the reporters felt under the necessity of pushing it along. All of these things were not calculated to soothe the spirits of the other cubs, whose existence was noted by scant sentences scattered thinly throughout the sporting columns. They looked askance on Elgin, and the latter, not bearing up well under prosperity, gave them plenty to criticize. He developed an irritatingly jaunty air, which was flaunted at all times. He grew very familiar with most of the newspaper men, and when on the slab gave decided evidence of mannerisms, which tried the patience and aroused the ire of his fellow players. Unfortunately for them, his ability to pitch increased rather than lessened, so that their sarcastic utterances rather lost point. A man can make all sorts of a fool of himself off the slab, he may even go through ridiculous posings and posturings while winding up, but when his work is as uniformly good as Bert Elgin’s was, criticism is usually superfluous. The days passed swiftly, with the most of the squad showing an increase in efficiency. They were hitting better, running faster, and throwing more accurately. The regulars were rapidly perfecting their teamwork, and the cubs beginning to learn the importance of something more than the rudiments of “inside” baseball. Some of them took to it like ducks to water, and absorbed intricate secret signals and caught on to the theory of certain movements as if they had been brought up on nothing else from their cradles. These were the men who would push forward to the front ranks. The slower-brained recruits were doomed. Lefty Locke enjoyed that week more than any similar space of time he could remember. Baseball as a science had always interested him tremendously. He had spent a great deal of time studying out different plays and the reasons for them, but up to now these mental exercises had been generally limited to the more obvious sort, though he did not realize that at the time. He knew it, however, the moment the Hornets began to pick up and show what they could do when they were in trim; and, though the discovery was something of a blow to his self-esteem, it only goaded him to constant effort and increased mental agility to keep up the pace.