ain. "After we warm up a little, we'll try some regular batting
and base running, using the old system of signals."

Hooker, who had a ball of his own, turned away, and found Fred Sage,
whose sole interest in the line of sports lay in football, and who,
therefore, had taken no part in baseball after making a decided failure
on one occasion when, the team being short, he had allowed himself to
be coaxed into a uniform.

"There's an extra mitt on the bench, Fred," said Roy. "If you'll catch
me, I'll work a few kinks out of my arm."

"Can't you find somebody else?" asked Sage reluctantly. "I came out to
look on."

"Oh, come ahead," urged Hooker. "Get your blood to circulating. Who
would ever think you were the quarter back of the great Oakdale eleven?
Here's the mitt, take it."

"Come over by the fence," requested Fred. "I'll let that do most of
the backstopping."

Over by the fence they went, and Hooker began limbering up, calling the
curves he would use before throwing them. He had them all; but, as
usual, he was wild as a hawk, and Sage would have been forced to do
some tall jumping and reaching had he attempted to catch the ball more
than half the time.

"You've got some great benders, Roy, if you could ever put them over,"
commented Fred.

"I can put them over when I want to," was the retort. "It's only a
chump pitcher who keeps the ball over the pan all the time."

Satisfied after a time, he decided to stop, not a little to the relief
and satisfaction of Sage. Eliot was just announcing that the team
would begin regular batting and base-running practice, and immediately
Roy asked the privilege of pitching.

"All right," agreed Roger, "but remember this is to be batting
practice, and not a work-out for pitchers. Start it off, Springer, and
run out your hit. You'll follow him. Grant. Come in from the field,
Stone and Tuttle. Let some of the youngsters chase the balls out
there. We've got to have four batters working."

Chub and Ben came trotting in as Springer took his place at the plate.
The captain requested two younger boys to back him up and return the
balls he chose to let pass, and then Hooker toed the slab, resolved to
show these fellows what he could do. He put all his speed into the
first ball pitched, a sharp shoot, which caught Springer on the hip, in
spite of Phil's effort to dodge it.

"Say, what are you tut-trying to do?" spluttered the batter, as he
hobbled in a circle aroun