t.

"Strike three!" called the umpire's steady voice. "Side out."

Then Ted, in sheer exasperation, did hurl his bat a score of feet
away.

"Bang!" came in a volley of Central voices.

"Ow-ow-ow!" wailed the other half of Old Dut's boys while the
North Grammars joined in.

"Go it, you boobs!" muttered Ted, shaking his fist at the spectators.

"Hurrah!" cheered Spoff Henderson from the subs' bench. "We know
how to stop Ted Teall's mouth now!"

Teall happened to hear the remark.

"Oh, you fellows are a lot of boobies!" sputtered Ted wrathfully.

"Anyway," Toby Ross leered back at him, "we're not so young that
we yell when we hit a ball by mistake."

In the fourth and fifth innings the Central Grammars, though they
booked some base hits, did not succeed in getting any runs through.
However, they succeeded in preventing Teall's nine from scoring,
which kept the score still at one to nothing. In the first half
of the sixth Harry Hazelton was brought home from third by a good
one by Dan. Then the side went out. In this inning Teall again
had a chance at bat. Before batting he stalked over to where
a lot of his schoolfellows were grouped and muttered:

"Don't you fellows shoot any funny remarks in this inning. Keep
quiet."

"Huh!" shot out one of the boys. "What's the matter with you, Ted?"

"No matter. But I don't want any funny line of talk steered over
to the Centrals to-day."

"Seems to me you've changed a lot, Ted," grinned one of his classmates.
"Yesterday afternoon you put us up to a lot of funny things to
holler to-day."

"Forget 'em," ordered Ted.

"Dick Prescott certainly stabbed you with that torpedo," grinned
another South. "Ted, your nerve is gone for to-day."

"Don't get too funny with me, or I'll see you after the game,"
threatened Teall, as he stalked away, for he was now on deck,
and due to go next to bat.

The second man for the Souths struck out.

"Teall at bat!" called the score-keeper.

Hi Martin and a lot of the North Grammar boys had come to the
field late. Hi didn't like to see the score two to nothing in
favor of the Centrals. He would have preferred to have the Souths
win.

"Let's get Prescott rattled?" whispered Martin.

"I don't believe you can do it," replied Bill Rodgers. "Prescott
is a mighty cool one."

"Yes, we can," insisted Hi. "I'll tell you what to boiler just
the instant that Teall picks up the stick and Prescott starts
to twist the ball."

Ted, all unsus