rain too hard, the baseball training work was to take place on
the field.

Coach Luce now stepped out of the little building in which were
the team dressing rooms. As he went across the diamond he was
followed by lusty cheers from High School boys up on the spectators'
seats. The girls clapped their hands, or waved handkerchiefs.
A few already carried the gold and crimson banners of Gridley.
Besides the High School young people, there were a few hundred
older people, who had come out to see what the youngsters were
doing.

For this was the day on which the pitchers were to be tried out.
Ripley was known to be the favorite in all the guessing. In
fact, there wasn't any guessing. Some, however, believed that
Dick, and possibly Dave, might be chosen as the relief pitchers.

Dick himself looked mighty solemn, as he stood by, apparently
seeing but little of what was going on. Beside him stood Dave.
The other four chums were not far off.

Another wild howl went up from the High School contingent when
two more men were seen to leave the dressing room building and
walk out toward Coach Luce. These were two members of the Athletic
Committee, former students at Gridley High School. These two
were to aid the coach in choosing the men for the school team.
They would also name the members of the school's second team.

"Now, we'll try you out on pitching, if you're ready," announced
Mr. Luce, turning to a member of the junior class. The young