The center fielder secured the ball and returned it to second, but Hinkley had made a safe single off the very first ball delivered.
Harvard roared, while the Yale crowd was silent.
A great mob of freshmen was up from New Haven to see the game and watch Merriwell's work, and some of them immediately expressed disappointment and dismay.
"Here is where Merriwell meets his Waterloo," said Sport Harris. "He'll be batted out before the game is fairly begun."
That was quite enough to arouse Rattleton, who heard the remark.
"I'll bet you ten dollars he isn't batted out at all,"' spluttered Harry, fiercely. "Here's my money, too!"
"Make it twenty-five and I will go you," drawled Harris.
"All right, I'll make it twenty-five."
The money was staked.
Derry, also a heavy hitter, was second on Harvard's list. Derry had a bat that was as long and as large as the regulations would permit, and as heavy as lead; yet, despite the weight of the stick, the strapping Vermonter handled it as if it were a feather.