"Yes, I'll be jest abaout the same as busted."
"Divvil a bit av it!" cried Barney Mulloy. "Gallup is me owld side parthner. Av he loses, Oi'll divvy wid him."
"But he mustn't lose," said Frank. "Philanthropists in Wellsburg are endeavoring to raise money to found a hospital for consumptives. There's an ideal location some ten miles from Wellsburg. If you win, Gallup, would you donate your winnings to the hospital fund?"
"Yeou bet I will!" cried Ephraim eagerly. "I'll give 'em every cent of it!"
"That's good," nodded Frank. "Now, boys, we're going into this game to win it. If we ever played ball in our lives, we're going to play it to-day. I think and hope this experience will teach Gallup the folly of betting. I shall use all the skill I possess in the game, and I want you boys to back me up. We can't lose! We won't lose!"
Although his words were spoken in a quiet tone, they aroused something in every listener that stirred his blood and caused it to leap in his veins.
"That's right! that's right!" they cried. "We'll win to-day!"
"Come on," said Merry, "we'll go out now."
As he marched onto the field, with his friends and comrades following at his heels, the great crowd rose and uttered a roar of welcome.
"Batting practice, fellows," said Frank. And they went at it at once.