The Rambler Club's ball nine

"You're right, Earl. But it will take more than running to beat the Stars and Goose Hill fellows, to say nothing of Rockville Academy. That crowd over there certainly has a cork...

A tall, thin man, who, although somewhat elderly, seemed to walk with all the alertness of youth, was directing his course toward the players. He wore a long, faded, dusty-looki...

Not far from the high school, at the end of a long row of houses, stood an unpretentious two-story frame building painted white. Big black letters almost covering the width of t...

Since their return in the preceding fall Bob Somers and his crowd had certainly stirred things up at the Kingswood High. Of course, for many years, the school had been represent...

"Of course he will," said Tom, who was bubbling over with glee. "Honest, Bob, I can hardly wait for the umpire to call 'Play ball!' Aren't we going to pulverize Nat Wingate's cr...

"Oh, I think I can play the game all right--even if I didn't make good while Nat was captain. But there's going to be an awful big crowd on that field, Bob; the whole town seems...

These two words, uttered in a loud, authoritative tone, sent a sort of electric thrill through the impatient audience, which was only waiting for the first opportunity to expend...

The sting of defeat lasted for some time with the students of the Kingswood High. The friends of the Stars crowed loudly over their victory; and Tom Clifton, whose boasting prev...

If there had been any guide-book of the prosperous town of Kingswood undoubtedly Mr. Rupert Barry's mansion would have received a prominent mention in its pages. Stone steps zig...

"Sure! Which way?" Then Wilkins' manner abruptly changed; a serious expression flitted into his brown eyes. "Say, Bob, what was it all about? Why'd you go to Mr. Barry's?" His h...

Bob Somers was delighted to see Captain Bunderley and his nephew. The two visitors were entertained at the Somers home on several occasions, and soon became familiar figures in...

As soon as he placed the receiver to his ear the gruff voice of Tom Clifton began coming over the wire. And there was a note of pent-up excitement in it which instantly caught t...

This is the entry Benny Wilkins jotted down in his note-book at the close of the "Hopes'" game with Engleton. Four boys had actually seen him writing it, and perhaps a hundred o...

Sam Randall, president of the athletic association and member of the Rambler Club, seated at his desk in a room which adjoined the gymnasium, gazed squarely into his visitor's f...

"Well, it must go against the grain to see one of your old chums on the opposition line-up. Honestly, Somers, don't you think"--Earl hesitated again--"that you'd better--well--r...

"The fourth straight," said Aleck Parks. "The 'Hopes' are mowing 'em down as easily as a scythe cuts grass. How's that for playing, Luke Phelps? Wasn't yesterday's game a peach?...

That night, Tom Clifton, a sadly-disturbed boy, paced the floor of his room. Mental pictures of the events of the afternoon constantly passed in a disordered array before his mind.

"As you know, professor, the inter-scholastic series begins next Saturday. Rockville Academy will send its team over here to play the first game of the season. If the regulars m...

"Oh, it really is dreadfully awful, Somers!" cried Benny Wilkins. "And everybody thinking, yesterday, that that Brown chap was squelched." He seized Bob by the arm. "Come along....

"Hi, hi, fellows!" he gasped. "Hi, hi! No use for you to play any more. I've got the awfulest news. Don't throw that ball, Dave Brandon; it's no use, I tell you. 'Four ten P. M....

"We'll certainly need all our nerve, fellows," remarked "Jack Frost," as the squad left the gymnasium. "I think we're in plenty good enough shape to beat those chaps; I'm not wo...

The field was in an uproar. The gleeful supporters of the "Hopes," at this new turn in affairs, roared their approval. And through all the turmoil and confusion the "outlaws" wh...

It was hard to realize that the lot only fifteen minutes before had been the scene of the greatest confusion. The spectators were now as orderly as active, wide-awake lads could...

Several weeks later the baseball season was in full blast. The "Rambler Club's ball nine" didn't always win in the inter-scholastic series; but they had so many victories to the...