Page:Baseball Joe on the School Nine.djvu/93

Rh of hero. Chief among them, of course, was Luke Fodick, and perhaps next in line stood Charlie Borden, who had replaced Peaches at first.

"It's a rotten, mean shame!" burst out Teeter as he came over to where Tom, Joe and Peaches were standing. "I'm not going to stand for it, either!"

"Well, what can you do?" asked the practical Peaches. "They have it on us good and proper. There's the rule."

"Well, I don't like it, but I'm going to stay here just the same," snapped Tom.

"And so am I," added Joe frankly. "There's no use saying I don't care, for I do. I'd like to get on the team. But if I can't—why I'll root for 'em, that's all."

"Maybe you'll be picked as one of the subs," was what Charlie Borden said. "We always have lots of them to make up the scrub nine. But frankly, Matson, I don't think you'll pitch. Frank Brown is going to make good, and if he doesn't Larry Akers will."

He turned to join some of his own particular crowd, and with them continued the discussion of the unexpected turn given to the athletic meeting. Hiram and Luke were surrounded by a throng of their cronies, and from time to time there