Then he looked around curiously.
"If the Centrals are here yet, why don't they come out of the
crowd and receive us?" inquired Martin rather pompously. His
insinuation that Dick's fellows might be mixed with the crowd was a
slur on the Central boys not possessing uniforms.
"Our fellows are not here yet, but they will be soon, you bet,"
called back a Central boy. "It's only twenty minutes past four."
"Spread out, men, and practice," directed Hi Martin.
"Yah! yah!" jeered a Central boy. "Get all the practice you
can---you'll need it."
"These ragamuffins are pretty full of brag," observed Hi scornfully
to one of his lieutenants.
"They're just the kind of fellows that always do brag," returned
the player addressed. "Their brag will all be gone within a half
an hour. You'll see."
"Yes," agreed Hi thoughtfully. "If we can't trim this crowd to-day,
then they're some wonders at ball. They don't have any idea how
long we've been training in order to give them this trimming."
Some of Hi's players had already spread out over the field, and
were doing some rapid passing. Certainly Hi's fielders promised
well, from the little glimpse of their skill that was now had.
Then one of their best batsmen took up the willow, driving a few
long, swift fielders.
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