ht of face, and with laughing eyes that made him hosts of friends.
Few had ever seen Hugh Morgan angry, though there was a report that on
a certain occasion he had stopped to give old Garry Owen the truckman a
piece of his mind, and threaten to have him arrested if he was ever
seen beating his poor horse when the animal was stalled with a load too
heavy for his strength. Yes, and although Garry was known to have a
fiery Irish tongue, he had been subdued by the arguments which Hugh
hurled at him, and meekly promised to go easy with his stinging whip
after that.

Hugh seemed to be a trimly built lad, who evidently believed in keeping
not only his mind but his body also well trained, since so much
depended on good health. He lived with his mother and smaller sister.
His father had been dead some years now, but apparently the widow had
plenty of means to afford them a good living. They resided in a nice
house and kept one servant.

Most of the boys of Scranton High thought Hugh a fine fellow, and
envied Thad Stevens the privilege of being his closest chum. A few,
however, had no use for Hugh, and among them were such fellows as Nick
Lang and Leon Disney. They pretended to dislike him because he had no
"nerve," which was only another method of saying that he absolutely
declined to be egged into a dispute, and had a wonderful way of cooling
off all would-be fighters who dared him to a fist test.

Those who knew Hugh best felt certain there must be some good and valid
reason for his action in this respect. He had taken none of them into
his confidence, however, and they could only surmise what it might be.
The general consensus of opinion was that possibly at some time in his
younger years, Hugh may have shown signs of an ungovernable temper, and
his wise mother had made him solemnly promise never to allow himself to
be drawn into a fight unless it was to protect some one weaker than
himself who was being rudely treated by a bully.

He nodded his head as he drew near the group, for by now the eager boys
had left their lofty perch, and gathered in an excited bunch to learn
what was in the wind.

"News, fellows!" exclaimed the latest addition to the group, "great
news for the Scranton lovers of baseball!"

"Then the committee have finished making out their programme, and mebbe
even decided on the lucky candidates who'll have a chance to show what
they've got in them to put the school on the map this year?"

"A pret