CHAPTER IV
PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT
Laurie folded Kewpie's sweater and placed
it on the ground a few yards from the
gymnasium wall. "There's your plate," he announced.
"See if you can put 'em over the
middle button, Kewpie."
Kewpie tightened his belt, thumped a worn baseball into a blackened glove, and rather ostentatiously dug a hole in the moist turf with his heel. Laurie grinned. Here on the south side of the building the sun shone warmly and the ground was fairly dry. Behind Laurie about four yards away, was a wire fence which, if Kewpie retained ordinary control of the ball, would make life easier for Ned, who sat in the embrasure of a basement window. Laurie pulled his mitten on and waited. Kewpie was at last satisfied with the hole he had dug and fitted his toe into it. Then he looked speculatively at the folded sweater and wrapped his fingers about the ball.
