It would not be hard. Baldwin was a fair ball player. The team needed a stronger shortstop, and Baldwin, he thought, could be trained to play that position well. No one would object, excepting perhaps little Wares—Wares was a poor batter, although clever and fast in defense. It might be a good move.
Larry was approaching the campus, still fighting the battle in his own mind. As he entered the wide avenue, bordered with eucalyptus trees, he looked far up the arcade of gentle swaying trees to the gray tower on the main building, now lighted by the rising moon. He stood a moment awed by the solemn quietness. As he gazed toward the mass of gray buildings he again felt the spirit of the college stir within him. No, if Baldwin played on the team, he would earn his place. The good of the school; the honor of Cascade in baseball had been entrusted to him, and he would not compromise it to gain—even Helen Baldwin.
Having made the decision, Larry Kirkland walked rapidly through the darkened campus, paused an instant to yell a greeting at Mike, the Professor of Lawnology, who attended to the lawns and watched for predatory students, and so to his rooms. He had won his hardest battle.
CHAPTER XXII
A Game and an Ally Won
On the evening before the game with St. Mary’s, the first of the “big” games of the college year, the baseball squad of Cascade College, numbering nineteen men, with Manager Clark presiding, met to discuss plans for the battle.
The preliminary games had been played, and the Cascade team was playing more steadily and brilliantly than ever before. Captain Kirkland had shifted the lineup several times, in order to try out the men and there was much discussion among the students as to how the team would line up for the initial struggle of the year against an important club. The meeting had proceeded quietly for some time when Clark called upon Captain Kirkland to outline the battle plans.
“Fellows,” said Larry, “I have thought this out the best I can and I hope that no one will take it to heart if not selected for this game. I think it best that Arksall start the game for us, with Katsura ready to relieve him if he needs it. That will give us more hitting strength. I have placed Wares at short, and myself at third”—He paused and a murmur arose from the place where several of the veterans of the team were sitting.
“The rest will play in their regular positions excepting Jacobs”——
The murmur from the veterans arose to exclamations of surprise. Harry Baldwin and Jacobs were off the team.
“I knew we wouldn’t get a fair deal,” said Baldwin, so that every one in the room could hear. Larry quickly accepted the challenge.