Page:Baseball Joe on the School Nine.djvu/53

 "I wish I could help you, old man, but I can't," said Tom. "I suppose this clash with Hiram had to come but I do wish it had held off until after the season opened. Once you were on the nine you could show the fellows what stuff you had in your pitching arm, and then Hiram and Luke could do their worst, but they couldn't get you off the team."

"That's nice of you to say, but I don't know about it," remarked Joe. "Well, I'm about done studying. I wish"

But he did not finish the sentence, for there came a knock on the door—a pre-arranged signal in a certain code of raps, showing that one of their classmates stood without.

"Wait a minute," called Tom, as he went to open the door.

His quick view through the crack showed the smiling faces of Teeter and Peaches, and there was an audible sigh of relief from Joe's room-mate. For Tom had fallen behind in his studies of late, and had been warned that any infractions of the rules might mean his suspension for a week or two.

"Gee, you took long enough to open the door," complained Teeter, "especially considering what we have with us."