Thad Stevens led the batting list in the ninth; and some other heavy artillery followed close on his heels. Thad got first on a neat little hit. "Just" Smith advanced him a base with a sacrifice bunt. Then Horatio Juggins, who was seldom ever known to fail when it was up to him to do something, met one of those speedy shoots of Patterson on the end of his bat, and perched on second, while the winning tally came in. That closed the game, since Allandale had already had their turn at bat in the ninth. Juggins was the hero of the occasion, and that glorious hit of his would long place him on a pedestal in the estimation of the Scranton High scholars. Indeed, all sorts of dates would be reckoned back to "that time bully old Jug nearly knocked the cover off the ball, and handed us the championship on a silver plate." Scranton boys were more than satisfied with the success that had attended the baseball rivalry. They would be entitled to fly the pennant of victory for the next season, beginning with the fall session of school. Every student's heart must thrill more or less with honest pride as he looked back to the wonderful way in which, under such a leader as Hugh Morgan, the Scranton High spirit of outdoor sports, which had fallen to a lamentably low figure of late, had been boosted on high, so as to place the locals above every other town worth mentioning in the county. As yet, Hugh was sorry to learn, there did not seem to be much chance of a series of football games being arranged, because somehow that sport had never taken a firm hold upon the boys of the three towns. But encouraging signs gave promise that by another year some thing might be done along such lines. However, there was to be no lack of interesting events occurring in and around Scranton, as the fall came on. For some years now there had been a regular tournament of athletic sports, mostly along the line of running races, of which the boys of Scranton appeared to be especially fond. Mr. Saunders, in his capacity of teacher in the high school under Dr. Carmack, the principal, and also county supervisor, had opportunities to encourage this growing spirit among the pupils, which he did every chance he found. He featured the splendid training resulting from consistent work upon the cinder-path, and by degrees quite a lively interest was created in the idea of having a regular Marathon running race for all high-school boys, no matter where located. That this idea finally seized hold upon the good people of Scranton to such an extent that a splendid prize was offered for the successful competitor, may be guessed from the title of the succeeding story in this Series, which it is to be hoped every one reading this book will wish to secure immediately---_"The Chums of Scranton High on the Cinder-Path; or, The Mystery of the Haunted Quarry."_ THE END End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Chums of Scranton High Out for the Pennant, by Donald Ferguson