"Don't lose your nerve.

It wasn't anything." "Just a fresh idiot's attempt to be funny!" growled Teall, his face now red with mortification.
"Laugh, Ted, confound you!" urged Tom Reade.

"Laugh! Don't be a grouch." "What you need, Teall," teased Dave Darrin, "is some nerve tonic.
You ought not to let yourself get into such bad shape that you almost faint when you hit the ball." For once Ted Teall's ready tongue went back on him.

He could think of nothing to say that would not make him look still more ridiculous.
"I guess he'll be good, for one game at least," grimaced Dick as he turned to his teammates..