nd Ted himself rested safely at second base.

In that inning the Souths piled up five runs. Thereafter the
game went badly for the North Grammars, for most of the players
lost their nerve. Hi, himself, proved unworthy to be captain,
he had so little head left for the game. The contest ended with
a score of nine to two in favor of the South Grammars.

"That will be about all for the Norths," remarked Ted, with a
cheerful grin, as be met Hi Martin at the close of the game.
"Your nine doesn't play any more, I believe."

"I'm glad we don't," choked Hi. "There's no satisfaction being
in a league in which the other teams are made up of rowdies."

"It is tough," mocked Ted. "Especially when the rowdies are the
only fellows who know how to play ball."

Hi stalked away in moody, but dignified silence. Yet, though
he could ignore the players and sympathizers of other nines, it
was not so easy to get away from the grilling of his own schoolmates.

"Huh!" remarked one North boy. "You told us, Martin, that you'd
prove to us the benefit of having a real captain for a nine.
Why didn't you?"

"Martin, you're all wind," growled another keenly disappointed
North. "You talked a lot about what you'd do with the nine---and
what have you done? Left us the boobies of the league. We're
the winners of the leather medal."

"Why didn't you play yourself, then?" snarled Hi.

"I wish I had. But we Norths were fooled by the talk you gave
us about how baseball really ought to be played and managed.
You're the school's mascot, you are, Hi Martin. Not!"

In the meantime Dick Prescott was being surrounded by anxious
Central Grammar boys.

"Dick," said one of them, while others listened eagerly, "you
beat the Norths. But you didn't give them any such drubbing as
the Souths did to-day. Are they a better nine than ours?"

"No," Prescott answered promptly.

"Yet they whipped the Norths worse than we did. Can we down
the Souths?"

"Yes," nodded Prescott.

"Why can we?"

"For the simplest reason in the world, Tolman. We've got to.
Isn't that a fine reason?"

"It sounds fine," remarked another boy doubtfully. "But can you
whip another crowd just because you want to?"

"If you want to badly enough," Dick smiled.

"Hm! I'll be surer about that when I see it done."

"It'll happen next Friday afternoon, if rain doesn't call the
game," Prescott promised.

"What do you say to that, Darrin?" demanded another Central boy.

"Just what D