“Look at that boy!” exclaimed more than one. “It can’t be he is going to play!”
But when Merry’s team trotted out onto the field to practise, Dick went to short. It was not long before it became almost generally known that the boy was Frank’s brother, which caused the spectators to watch him with great interest.
It happened that the very first ball batted to Dick went through him, and that gave the spectators the impression that he could not fill his position.
“Merriwell is foolish to put him in there,” said more than one. “He has another man.”
The tenth man was Carker, who was to sit on the bench.
In practise Frank’s team did not show up quite as well as the professionals, though Merry tried to impart some of his restless energy to them and fill them with life and spirit.
Rattleton was somewhat oppressed by the magnitude of the task before them, which Frank had discovered. Merry knew it would be a bad thing if the others got to feeling that they were outclassed.
When they came in from practise the positions of both teams had been given to the scorers thus:
| Merries. | Athletics. |
| Ready, 3d b. | Hayward, 1st b. |
| Carson, rf. | McGlinkey, rf. |
| Hodge, c. | Waldron, 2d b. |
| Browning, 1st b. | Bowers, c. |
| Gamp, cf. | Webster, lf. |
| Swiftwing, lf. | Joiler, ss. |
| F. Merriwell, p. | Maloney, cf. |
| Rattleton, 2d b. | Flobert, 3d b. |
| D. Merriwell, ss. | Nesbitt, p. |