Chapter I: Foreword

I am taking this occasion to thank all of my readers, boys and girls alike, who have been so kind as to write to me. Sometimes your letters have gone unanswered for a long time, I fear; and it is possible that now and then, entirely by accident, one has been lost sight of entirely. If so I am both sorry and apologetic, for your letters are always a real pleasure to me, whether, as is so surprisingly often the case, they are filled with praise for my stories, or, as is sometimes the case, they call me to account for mistakes made. Your criticisms, always just, are perhaps better merited than your praise, and are quite as well appreciated. My thanks and my compliments, then, to all my correspondents for their kindly expressions, and my thanks and compliments to all my readers for their kind allegiance.

Very truly yours,
RALPH HENRY BARBOUR.

“Journey’s End,”
Manchester, Mass.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE
I THE MASS-MEETING 1
II TOWNE PLAYS A JOKE 10
III KENDALL MAKES A CALL 25
IV FIRST PRACTICE 41
V KENDALL LEARNS OF A PLOT 56
VI AND FOILS IT 71
VII CIRCUMSTANTIAL EVIDENCE 80
VIII THE FIRST GAME 97
IX NEW ACQUAINTANCES 108
X NED TOOKER 120
XI THE MYSTERIOUS KICKER 127
XII NED USES TACT 147
XIII GOLF WITH BROADWOOD 160
XIV DAN IS OUT OF SORTS 175
XV NED EARNS A QUARTER 194
XVI A DISSERTATION ON MUSHROOMS 205
XVII UNDER THE MANAGEMENT OF MR. TOOKER 217
XVIII YARDLEY VISITS NORDHAM 231
XIX CHEERS AND SONGS 244
XX DAN IS KIDNAPPED 256
XXI AT THE “WASHINGTON’S HEAD” 269
XXII KENDALL EXPLAINS 278
XXIII THE MORNING OF THE GAME 289
XXIV KENDALL MEETS AN OLD FRIEND 296
XXV “CHANGE SIGNALS!” 305
XXVI KENDALL MAKES THE FIRST 321

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

FACING
PAGE

“But the ball went true, straight up and up, over the
crossbar” _Frontispiece_

“An odd-looking figure in a pair of old gray trousers” 42

“At the pole stood a boy with upraised arm” 74

“‘I think I can win the match if you make it worth my
while’” 166

CHANGE SIGNALS