THE DIPLOMACY OF OSGOOD.
Shultz sullenly watched his teammates giving the losers a complimentary
cheer; he could not take his cue from Osgood and join with the slightest
pretense of rejoicing in this cheering. And when the happy players
gathered up their trappings and started for the adjacent academy, where
in the basement gymnasium the Wyndhamites had given them a room in which
to change their clothes, Shultz trailed along behind, listening with
persistent bitterness to the chattering fellows who were still rejoicing
over the result.
“Oh, Craney!” cried Cooper, as he playfully banged Sile with an open
hand. “That measly little tap of yours in the last round was certainly a
soporific wallop.”
“Here, yeou better let Sleuth slaughter the language that fashion,”
grinned Crane. “Soporific! What’s it mean, anyhaow?”
“Why, soothing, sleep-producing; it’s what a prize-fighter hands his
antagonist when he gives him a two-ton jolt on the point of the jaw. It
put Wyndham down and out, all right.”
“Oh, that didn’t end the game by a long shot. If old Texas hadn’t
pitched some in the last half——”
“Great centipedes!” interrupted Grant. “If you fellows hadn’t given me
Big League support they’d corralled the game after all. The way you
raked down Cohen’s drive was sure some playing. And that little turn by
Piper plugged their promising start right handsomely.”
“I was frightened when Hooker let Foxhall’s grounder get through him,”
declared Ned Osgood; “but Sleuth was right on the job. It was a splendid
victory.”
Jack Nelson shot the speaker a quizzical glance, but said nothing.
In the gymnasium they continued to discuss the game while peeling off
their soiled uniforms and getting into the heavy clothes which would be
so necessary to their comfort on the long homeward drive; and, unable to
keep still, Shultz cut in with an occasional sarcastic remark. For a
time no one seemed to notice him, but suddenly Grant, unable to hold
himself longer in restraint, turned on the disgruntled fellow.
“Quit your beefing,” he exclaimed. “Why don’t you try to follow Osgood’s
trail and make a pretense of being decent, whether you feel that way or
not?”
The blood which suffused Shultz’s face turned it almost purple, and he
glared at the Texan as if he longed to seize the fellow by the throat
and smash his head against the wall.
“I’ve got a right to open my mouth,” he snarled, “and I propose to say
what I please, regardless of any common, cow-punching——”
They would have been at it in a twinkling had not Nelson promptly leaped
between them.
“Stop, Grant! Hold up!” he cried, seizing the pitcher, whose face was
beginning to take on that awesome and terrible look which indicated that
his fiery temper was mastering him. “Don’t start a scrap. It will be
bad—bad business.”
“I certainly won’t allow anybody to shoot off his mouth at me that
fashion,” said Rodney, his voice vibrant with the passion he could
scarcely restrain. “He’s been sneering and hollering like the sorehead
he is, and it’s sure getting too much for me.”
“It’s my affair, if it’s anybody’s,” asserted the captain. “I’m the
one’s he’s sore on.”
“And only for a lucky piece of work by Piper, you’d lost the game by
putting Hooker in Osgood’s place,” said Shultz. “Just because he
disagreed with you about sacrificing when he got the kind of a ball he
knew he ought to hit out, you show your authority by benching him.
Sacrificing in such a game, with one man down and a good hitter at bat,
would be laughed at by——”
“That will do for you,” Nelson cut him short. “No man on the team can
talk to me this way, much less a new player like you. If you and Osgood
came to Oakdale with the idea that you’re going to run the nine or ruin
it, you may as well get that out of your noddles right away.”
By this time Osgood had his friend by the arm.
“Cool down, Charley,” he advised in his most pacifying manner. “You’re
giving a wrong impression by letting yourself get excited. I’m sure we
were both just as eager to help win that game as any one. In fact, I
will assert that it was my eagerness which led me to try for a hit when
Leach put the ball over just where I like ’em best. It’s true it seemed
to me we’d be weakening ourselves by a sacrifice with one man down, but
still, I meant to follow instructions when I went to the plate. It was
only when I saw that ball coming across the pan so nicely that I forgot
everything and tried to land on it for a safe drive. Even though in that
moment I was led to forget instructions, I must insist that my heart was
right. I’ve played the game ever since I was old enough to toss a
ten-cent ball, and I learned something of its fine points at Hadden
Hall. I’m not blaming Captain Nelson if his ideas and mine are not fully
in accord, for baseball down here in this country can scarcely be as
advanced as it is——”
At this point Nelson suddenly threw back his head and laughed, although
perhaps it was not a laugh of simple amusement.
“That has been your pose ever since you came to Oakdale,” he said. “Your
pity for us poor, ignorant countrymen is wholly appreciated, Osgood. It
may be that we’re very shortsighted in failing to perceive the splendid
opportunity we have for learning something about real baseball from you
and Shultz, but it seems that you might find a more delicate and less
egotistical method of opening our sleepy eyes.”
For a single breathless moment it seemed that Osgood was on the verge of
permitting this sarcasm to lead him into a touch of temper, at least;
but he was crafty and far too clever not to realize that such a thing
would be likely to put him at a disadvantage in the eyes of some members
of the team whom he had reasons to think were inclined to sympathize
with him.
“I didn’t come to Oakdale to teach baseball or anything else,” he
asserted. “I think I’ve stated before this that Oakdale Academy was a
school of my mother’s choice, not mine, and mothers who are fearful of
the temptations which their sons may encounter in large and really
efficient schools sometimes have peculiar ideas.”
“Fathers, too,” put in Shultz, with a curl of his red lips. “My old man
was determined that I should get my preparatory education far from the
evil influences of the really wide-awake world, and so he buried me in a
forsaken graveyard.”
“Too bad abaout yeou poor fellers,” Sile Crane could not refrain from
observing.
“I enjoy baseball,” Osgood hastily went on. “I love the game. I was glad
when it seemed assured that I’d have a chance to play on the academy
nine. However, I scarcely fancied it would be considered a fault or a
detriment that I happened to know something about the game as it’s
played to-day not only in big schools and colleges, but in big leagues.
I’ve never missed an opportunity of seeing a Big League game and trying
to wise up on the methods of the players. I’d like to see Oakdale win
out this season, and my interest in our success is so great that if I
thought for a moment I would produce discord and disaffection on the
team I’d voluntarily withdraw.”
This assertion was made with an air of earnestness and sincerity, but
the fellow had spoken craftily, with the design of spiking Nelson’s
guns, being certain that the captain suspected him of the very purpose
which he so ardently disclaimed. Shultz, who knew his friend’s secret
motives better than any one else, really found it difficult to suppress
a grin, while inwardly he was telling himself that Osgood certainly was
a “slick duck.” Why, Nelson was not only flanked, but his line of
defense was cut off completely!
In a vague way the captain seemed to feel something of this, but still
his quick perception told him that to a large extent Osgood had created
a favorable impression, which would only be increased were his motives
doubted.
“Well, that’s all right,” said Jack, a bit bluffly. “That’s all we can
ask of any chap. You’ve both shown that you can play baseball, and if
you show a willingness to respect the wishes of your captain that should
be sufficient. We want players loyal to the team and to the school.”
Right here Shultz made another break. “The school!” he laughed. “We’ll
be loyal to the team all right if we’re given a show, but you must know
that the school is almost a joke. It’s taught by a dead one, with a lot
of decayed back numbers as directors. Right here at Wyndham they have
got a professor who’s alive and who takes interest in some things
besides books. Old Prof. Richardson has outlived his usefulness as a
teacher. He’s let the times pass on and leave him about thirty years
behind. Who ever saw him at a baseball game, or any similar sport? The
Wyndham prof was out here to-day watching the go, and he seemed as
interested as any one. When Professor Richardson gets through with the
day’s session he toddles home to dressing-gown, slippers and tea. How a
school with such a head can stand as well in athletics as Oakdale does
certainly gets me.”
“It’s true,” admitted Nelson, “that Professor Richardson has never taken
any real genuine interest in outdoor sports, but he’s a good principal
and does his work well in the class room. His health isn’t always the
best. Everyone who knows him well respects him, at least, and I’m sorry
to hear you say what you have, Shultz.”
“I’ve simply stated a fact. Some day Oakdale will wake up to it, too,
and the old man will lose his job. Some day before long you’ll see a
younger, more up-to-date principal filling his shoes. It will be a
mighty good thing if that time comes soon.”
“Let’s not discuss that,” interposed Osgood. “Whether Professor
Richardson is efficient or not has nothing to do with the matter that
threatened to produce a disturbance and some hard feelings on the team.
That business is all settled now, and I think we understand that we’re a
nine united and anxious to do our best to win the championship. Come,
fellows, let’s forget it all. I’m going to.”
This magnanimity had its effect, and, as they completed dressing for the
jaunt home, the boys were again chattering and jesting, as if no
threatening cloud had risen.