d himself by the thought that the pleasure and glory, the
real play, was all to come as a reward. Worry Arthurs drove them
relentlessly. Nothing suited him; not a player knew how to hold a
bat, to stand at the plate, to slide right, or to block a ground ball.

"Don't hit with your left hand on top--unless you're left-handed.
Don't grip the end of the bat. There! Hold steady now, step out and
into the ball, and swing clean and level. If you're afraid of bein'
hit by the ball, get out of here!"

It was plain to Ken that not the least of Arthurs' troubles was the
incessant gibing of the students on the platform. There was always a
crowd watching the practice, noisy, scornful, abusive. They would never
recover from the shock of having that seasoned champion varsity barred
out of athletics. Every once in a while one of them would yell out:
"Wait, Worry! oh! Worry, wait till the old varsity plays your yanigans!"
And every time the coach's face would burn. But he had ceased to talk
back to the students. Besides, the athletic directors were always
present. They mingled with the candidates and talked baseball to them
and talked to Arthurs. Some of them might have played ball once, but
they did not talk like it. Their advice and interference served only
to make the coach's task harder.

Another Monday found only twenty players in the squad. That day Arthurs
tried out catchers, pitchers, and infielders. He had them all throwing,
running, fielding, working like Trojans. They would jump at his yell,
dive after the ball, fall over it, throw it anywhere but in the right
direction, run wild, and fight among themselves. The ever-flowing
ridicule from the audience was anything but a stimulus. So much of
it coming from the varsity and their adherents kept continually in the
minds of the candidates their lack of skill, their unworthiness to
represent the great university in such a popular sport as baseball. So
that even if there were latent ability in any of the candidates no one
but the coach could see it. And often he could not conceal his disgust
and hopelessness.

"Battin' practice!" he ordered, sharply. "Two hits and a bunt to-day.
Get a start on the bunt and dig for first. Hustle now!"

He placed one player to pitch to the hitters, another to catch, and as
soon as the hitters had their turn they took to fielding. Two turns for
each at bat left the coach more than dissatisfied.

"You're all afraid of the ball," he yelled. "This