CHAPTER XI
JOE HOPES AND FEARS
Around the Morningside diamond marched the singing, cheering and yellinglads. The Blue Banner fluttered in the Spring breeze, and not a studentin the crowd but either hoped it would stay in the possession of thepresent owners, or would come to his school, the desires varyingaccording to the allegiance of the wisher.
AROUND THE MORNINGSIDE DIAMOND MARCHED THE SINGING,CHEERING AND YELLING LADS.]
It was a gala occasion for the town of Morningside, this Blue Bannerparade, and the people turned out in great numbers to watch the lads.Throngs came from neighboring towns and villages, and some even from adistant city, for the boys could always be depended on to make theoccasion enjoyable.
The Excelsior Hall crowd did some new "stunts." Under the leadership ofLuke and Hiram they rendered some odd songs and yells, and then, as theypassed around the public square, Hiram executed his main surprise. Theleader of Excelsior, none other than Luke Fodick, had been carrying apole, on the top of which was a canvas bundle. It was tied about withstrings in such a manner that, by pulling on one cord the wrapping wouldfall off, as when a statue is unveiled. To all questions as to what wason the pole under the canvas Luke and Hiram returned only evasivereplies.
But on reaching the public square, when the cheering was at its height,Luke pulled the string. At once there floated from the staff an "effigy"of the Blue Banner. It was made of blue calico and worked on it instrands of yellow rope were the words:
WE'LL HAVE THE REAL BANNER THIS YEAR!
Surmounting the odd trophy was a stuffed eagle, rather the worsefor being moth-eaten, and worn "to a frazzle," as Tom said. But itmade a hit, and the yells of laughter bore evidence of how the crowdappreciated it.
"Guess we've made good all right," said Hiram to his crony. "There'snothing else like it in the parade."
"That's right," answered Luke. "Oh, it takes us to do things."
"And sometimes _not_ do them," murmured Teeter. "We ought to have thereal banner."
"Maybe we will," spoke Joe.
The other schools had their own specialties in singing, cutting queercapers, or in cheers, and made hits in their own way. Around the squaremarched the lads, and then, with a final chorus, rendered by all thestudents, the parade was over. Back to Morningside Academy they went,and sat down to what the papers described later as a "sumptuous repast;a feast of reason and a flow of soul."
Jolly good fellowship prevailed at the board. Speeches were made, toastsresponded to, and baseball talk flowed on all sides. Hiram and Lukemade remarks, as did the managers and captains of the other nines.Predictions were freely expressed as to who would have the banner thenext year, and then came more singing, more cheering and more yelling.
The dinner broke up finally, and then the various managers and captainsgot together to arrange the Interscholastic League schedule of games.
"Well, it was all right; wasn't it?" asked Tom of Joe, when they were ontheir way back to Excelsior Hall.
"Fine and dandy," was the answer. "They're a nice lot of fellows--all of'em."
"Quite some class to those Trinity School lads," remarked Tom. "It's aswell place--a lot of millionaires' sons go there I understand."
"Yes, but I hobnobbed with some of 'em, and they weren't a bit uppish.Right good fellows, I thought."
"Oh, yes, all millionaire lads aren't cads though money sometimes makesa chap that way. Trinity must be quite a school."
"I guess it is, but Excelsior is good enough for me. We're in with adandy crowd of fellows, though, and that makes it nice if you've got toplay a lot of games with 'em. Nothing like class when it comes to sport.We ought to have some corking good games this Summer."
"I only wish you and I were more in it," went on Tom.
"Wait until we see about the scrub," suggested him chum. "I'm notworrying as much as I was at first."
But, though Joe thus lightly passed over the matter, deep down in hisheart there was a great longing. To him baseball meant more than to theaverage player. From the time when he had seen his first game, as alittle chap, our hero had fairly lived, eaten and slept in an atmosphereof the diamond. He had organized a team of lads when he was scarcelynine years old, and played those little chaps in a sort of improvisedcircuit.
Then, as he grew, and developed, and found that he could pitch, theworld seemed to hold something worth while for Joe Matson. "BaseballJoe," he had been dubbed, when as a small chap he shouldered his bat andstarted off across the lots to a game, and "Baseball Joe" he was yet.
How he longed to be on the regular nine, even in the outfield, none buthimself knew. And when he dreamed of the possibility that he might sometime occupy the pitching mound--well, he had to stop short, for he foundhimself indulging in a too high flight of fancy.
"Get back to earth, Joe," he told himself. "If you want to pitch forExcelsior you've got to do a heap of waiting, and you are pretty good atthat game."
And so Joe had hopes and fears--hopes that his dream might come true,and fears lest the enmity of Hiram and Luke would keep him one of the"scrubbiest of the scrubs."
He was tired after the excitement of the parade, and so was Tom, butthey were not too weary to accept an invitation to gather in the room ofTeeter and Peaches that night for a surreptitious lunch of gingersnaps, cheese and bottled soda water, which had been smuggled in. And,as before, the lads took the same precautions with the fake books andthe tubes, hose and bottles. But they were not disturbed.
"Well, we'll have to get busy next week," remarked Teeter as he slowlysipped his glass.
"How so?" asked Joe.
"Hard practice against the scrub starts Monday."
"Who's captain of the scrub; did you hear?" asked Peaches eagerly.
"Yes, Ward Gerard--a nice fellow, too."
"That's the stuff!" cried Peaches. "Now there's a chance for you, Joe.Ward's room is on this corridor. I'm going to see him."
"You'll be caught," warned Teeter.
"Caught nothing!" retorted his chum. "It's so late none of the profs. ormonitors will think a fellow will dare go out. Ward isn't an earlysleeper, and I'm going to see him and ask him to let Joe pitch on thescrub before some one else gets the place. I'll be back in a fewminutes, fellows. Don't eat up all the grub," and with that Peachesslipped noiselessly from the room.