Page:Baseball Joe on the School Nine.djvu/144

132 looked over the crowd. As far as he could see it was composed in the main of lads who were only probationary members of the school society—lads without voting power.

Neither Hiram nor Luke was present, and Joe could not see any of their particular crowd. He was mistaken in thinking that Hiram had no friends there, however, for no sooner had Teeter asked the last question than Jake Weston arose and asked in rather sneering tones:

"Do you call this giving a fellow a square deal?"

"What do you mean?" inquired Teeter. The room was quiet enough now.

"I mean just this," went on the lad who was perhaps the closest of all on the nine to Hiram save Luke. "I mean that Hiram Shell isn't here to defend himself, and you're saying all sorts of mean things against him."

"We intend to have him here—if he'll come," spoke Teeter significantly. "Luke, too. We want them to hear what we say about them."

"You're trying to disrupt the team!" yelled Jake, who had lost his temper.

"I am not! I'm trying to do anything to better the team. We ought to have won that game to-day, and you know it."