Harry Rattleton was numb with dismay.
“Manager and captain!” he gasped. “Gracious!”
Bart Hodge was palpitating with satisfaction.
“Manager and captain!” he cried. “Hurrah!”
On the outskirts of the crowd that had gathered so swiftly about the new captain was Walter Gordan, eating his heart out with envy.
“Oh, it’s just his infernal luck!” Walter whimpered. “Hear the fools cheer for him! It’s all they know!”
“Let them cheer now,” Pink Pooler muttered in Gordan’s ear. “The cheering will turn to groans after a few ball games have been played.”
“I don’t know,” said Forrest, who had caught Pink’s words. “He has been shrewd enough to get himself appointed manager, as well as captain. There is no telling what he may do with the team.”
“It’s too late for him to make it a winner,” said Pooler, with satisfaction. “It takes time to build up a winning nine.”
Frank’s friends crowded about him, shaking his hand and congratulating him, with a few exceptions. Some of his friends were not enthusiastic over his appointment. Harry Rattleton was one of them. A few others thought the same as Harry about it.