“Kid gave most——” began Bert. But Kid interrupted.
“We worked hard and saved our money,” said Kid. “And it’s nobody’s business who gave most, Bert. We all gave.”
“Well, it’s dandy, Kid. I never saw a handsomer one. Where’d you get it?”
“New York. Small designed it, though, didn’t you, Small?”
Small nodded in embarrassment. Ben told him he was a smart kid.
“And now what we’ve got to do,” continued Ben resolutely, “is to work hard and win it! Practice begins at three-thirty sharp this afternoon. Every fellow put rubbers on, for the ground’s sopping wet. And every fellow come out. No excuses accepted to-day!”
But Ben needn’t have feared for a full attendance, for the Junior Four Trophy had awakened an earnest enthusiasm in house and day pupils alike and at the appointed time every fellow in school was on the field.
There were two diamonds and so both teams were able to practice at once, and, save that the outfielders were forced to intermingle, there was plenty of room for each. With only twenty-four candidates to pick from, Mt. Pleasant Academy was handicapped when it came to contesting with other schools and so only a few outside games were scheduled each year. The big game was played just before graduation day with Maplewood School, which had only a few more pupils than Mt. Pleasant but which usually managed to win. There were, besides, games with the neighboring high school teams in June. But the early season was sacred to intrascholastic contests in which day students and house students fought for supremacy. When all was said the games between House and Day aroused more interest than the contests with outside nines. When the question of the school championship had been settled then the best players of House and Day forgot their recent rivalry and combined to form the school team.
Of course with twelve players only neither House nor Day could put two full teams on the diamond, but they managed to get along pretty well in spite of that fact. One year Day Team had played a game with Whittier High School and House had protested. The ruling was then made that neither team was to take part in any contest outside the series. As a consequence, when House and Day met for the first game each nine was decidedly green and inexperienced, but that fact only added to the interest and suspense.