rank was
interested in the team, and it was said by those who watched him that he
seemed to have the making of a pitcher in him. He had sharp curves and
good control. If he had a head, they said, he was all right. But this
was something that could not be decided till he had been tried in a
game.

Another freshman by the name of Walter Gordon seemed certain to be the
regular pitcher of the team. He had a record, as he had shown, while
Merriwell would say nothing about what he had done in the way of
pitching.

The students had found it extremely difficult to find out much about
Merriwell, as he persistently avoided talking about himself. If he had
been one of the kind of fellows who go around and brag about themselves
and what they have done he would not have aroused so much interest; but
the very fact that he would not talk of himself made the students
curious to know something of his history.

In a vague sort of way it became known that although he lived in simple
style, like any freshman whose parents were not wealthy, he had a
fortune in his own right and had traveled extensively in various parts
of the world.

Frank's silence seemed to cast an air of mystery about him, and that air
of mystery made him all the more interesting, for the human mind is ever
curious to peer into anything that has the flavor of a secret.

The sophomores had been rushed by the freshmen, and they resolved to
retaliate in a similar manner. On Saturday afternoons the freshmen ball
team practiced, and Saturday was at hand. It would be an opportune time
to meet the youngsters and make it warm for them.

The affair was carefully planned, but wind of it reached the freshmen.
As a result, the youngsters prepared for what they knew must take place.
There could be no such thing as avoiding it, so when Saturday noon came
they dressed themselves in their old clothes and started for the park,
going out as much as possible in a body.

When the park was reached it was found that the sophomores were there
ahead of them. More than that, the sophs had closed and fastened the
gate, and they proposed to hold it. They taunted the freshmen, and told
them they would have to climb the fence if they hoped to get into the
park.

Then there was a consultation among the freshmen. "We'll have to make a
rush," was the universal decision.

Frank looked the ground over, and he decided that an ordinary rush would
not be successful, for that was the very thing t