“Won’t I? Wait and see. You know I am manager, as well as captain. I considered everything before I told the directors what I would do. They wanted me to be captain, while they retained the management of the nine. I said ‘Nit!’ I told them that, if I became captain, I must be manager also, and that I must have absolute and thorough control of the team. I must have the authority to do just as I pleased, with nobody to forbid me.”
“Good for you!” cried Hodge, while Rattleton brightened up and showed great interest.
“It staggered them at first,” smiled Frank. “They thought I had a crust. They tried to induce me to agree to their terms, but I would not. Then they had a fight among themselves, for some were against giving me so much rope. I waited quietly till the smoke of battle cleared away, and then I found they were ready to accept my terms. So I am manager, as well as captain, and I am going to run things just as I please. If I make a fizzle of it, no one else will be to blame.”
“That’s the stuff!” exclaimed the enthusiastic Hodge.
Harry shook his head, but said nothing.
Frank saw the movement, and quickly asked:
“What’s the matter, Rattles? Come, come! You are off your trolley. Everything is all right.”
“I’m afraid everything is all wrong,” said Rattleton, gravely; “but I warned you, and you went into it with your eyes open.”
“Yes, but I went in on my own terms. I’ll make an overturning in the nine.”
“It’s too late for that.”