credentials with him, and they were sufficient to satisfy everybody
that he was the real thing. Glad to meet somebody who knows about him.
With Sanger handing 'em up, and Cop doing the receiving, you can bet
Barville is going to take a fall out of Oakdale."

"I'd like to bet on it," said Herbert, with a touch of eagerness; "but
I don't suppose I could find anybody down around here with sporting
blood enough to risk any real money on the game. Say, do me a favor;
tell Newt Copley that Herbert Rackliff is here in this town. He'll
remember the fellow they called 'the plunger,' and 'the dead-game
sport.' Even if I don't play baseball, I've sometimes made a few easy
dollars betting on the games."

"And you'd bet against Oakdale?"

"Sure thing, if I felt certain she would lose."

"I'm afraid," grinned Roberts, "that neither you nor Hooker is very
loyal to his school."

"Loyal!" snarled Roy. "Why should we be?"

"When it comes to wagering money," observed Rackliff wisely, "the
fellow who bets on sympathy or loyalty is a chump. I always back my
judgment and try to use some common sense about it. I hope you don't
think for a fleeting moment that I contemplate finishing my preparatory
school education in this stagnant hole. Not for little Herbert. I'd
get paresis here in less than a year. I'm pretty sure the governor
simply chucked me down here for a term, as sort of a warning. I'll go
back for good when the term's over."

"Well, now if you fellows really want to see Oakdale surprised, and
enjoy the pleasure of witnessing Barville hand 'em a good trimming,
perhaps you won't say anything about our new catcher."

"Not a word," promised Hooker.

"Not a whisper," assured Rackliff. "And perhaps I'll catch a sucker or
two if I fish around for them. Really, the prospect is inviting, for
it seems to promise a break in the deadly monotony."

"Here come some of the fellows now," said Hooker, as two or three boys
were seen coming down Lake Street. "Practice is over. Let's sift
along, Rack. I don't care to see them. So long, Len. Good luck to
you."

"So long, fellows," said the boy from Barville, as they turned up Main
Street. "You'll have a chance to be happy Saturday. Bet all you can
on it, Rackliff, old fel."

CHAPTER V.

HOOKER'S MOTORCYCLE.

Thus began the friendship between Roy Hooker and Herbert Rackliff.
Henceforth they were seen together a great deal. They came out to
watch the nine pr