Page:Baseball Joe on the School Nine.djvu/52

 "None of" Joe exclaimed quickly. "I'm not an insurgent. I play with the regulars or not at all. They'd be saying all sorts of things against me if you and I tried to start an opposition team."

"That's so. Still it mightn't be a bad idea, under the circumstances, to have another team, if it wasn't for what the school would say."

"What do you mean?"

"Why, Excelsior got dumped in the inter-scholastic league last season. They play for the blue banner you know—a sort of prize trophy—and it was won by Morningside Academy, which now holds it. That's why I say it might be a good thing to have some more ginger in the team here. I know you could put it in, after the way you pitched on the Silver Stars when they licked the Resolutes."

"Well, it can't be done I'm afraid," Joe rejoined. "There can only be one first team in a school, and I don't want to disrupt things or play second fiddle. If I can't get on the nine I'll have to stay off, that's all. But it's going to be mighty tough to sit still and watch the other fellows play, and all the while just itching to get hold of the ball—mighty tough," and Joe gazed abstractedly about the room.