Page:The Rival Pitchers.djvu/132

122 "Yes, they might do that," added Fenton. "My uncle says"

The boys all stopped and looked at him. No one spoke a word. Fenton squirmed under their unflinching gaze.

"Well—well," he began hesitatingly, "he ought to know, for he was a coach here"

"Yes, and you're a regular trolley car, with an automatic gong that rings up the same thing every time," exclaimed Langridge. "They wouldn't dare keep us out of athletics for such a little joke as that. Why, the whole student body would be up in arms. The ball team would go to pieces, and we'd lose the championship. They wouldn't dare."

"Glad you think so," remarked Holly Cross calmly. "But I can see us giving a good imitation of a lot of fellows in trouble. Maybe we—that is, whoever strung those wires, for I don't know who it was—maybe we went a little too far. If I'd have known what was up, I'd have made a kick."

"Oh, is that so?" sneered Langridge. But he did not admit his part in the prank and he let Tom suffer for him, for that afternoon it was announced that Tom was to be suspended for two weeks and Kerr for three. Every other member of the freshman class was barred from leaving the college grounds for a week.

There arose a mighty protest over this, for there was a game scheduled with Fairview Institute at