"You have no license to talk--your team didn't do wonders," he retorted. "If----" "Yes, it did! Yes, it did! Sandow held them to no score until he was carried from the field," shouted several of the boys. But Bart only grew more angry at these emphatic contradictions. "I don't care what you say or think," he flared. "If that Fred Markham plays on the Baxter baseball team, I won't, and I'm the only decent pitcher in the school." This defiance threatened to bring the rival factions to blows. But Hal was equal to the occasion. "I am captain of this team, Montgomery," he declared when he had produced a semblance of order. "I want you to understand that, first, last and all the time. As captain, I shall play the players I want--not the ones you want." "Humph!" "If Fred Markham wants to try for second base, he can have all the show in the world, and if he makes good, he'll play the bag in----" "Then I won't pitch," snarled Bart. At this second defiance, Hal was silent a moment. "Who's throwing the school _now_?" he flashed. "You seem to think you're running this team, but you're not. You'll either report for practice at the grounds this afternoon at three o'clock, or you'll not pitch a single ball for Baxter this season. Now leave the gymnasium, so I can enroll the rest of the candidates." "And if I don't?" "I'll put you out!" retorted the captain, stepping down from the chair on which he had been standing and forcing his way through the excited throng of students. CHAPTER XVII THE PITCHING FIND Instinctively Bart's intimates gathered about him, while Sandow and the other boys, who had no liking for the rich bully, rallied around Hal. Noting that the captain had the support of an overwhelming majority of the students, Taffy seized Bart's arm. "Don't make a fool of yourself," he counseled. "Hal's entirely within his right as captain. If you don't go peacefully, he won't let you play this year. Don't let your personal enmity lay you open to the charge of throwing Baxter." But, despite this sound advice, the rich bully refused to obey, glowering at the approaching captain with sullen defiance. Hal, however, was still master of himself, and when he was within a yard of Bart, he stopped, and looked him straight in the eye. "I'll give you one more chance," he said with cold deliberation. "Leave the gymnasium immediately and report at three, or you'll not play on my team." Realizing that the captain was in deadly earnest, Taffy, Lefty and several of the Firsts seized the bully and forced him up the stairs. Fiercely Bart struggled to get free, but his friends were determined to save him from himself, and continued to carry him along. Just as he reached the top step, however, the bully made a desperate stand. "You may think you can dictate to me," he shouted. "But I'll show you, Hal Church, you can't. I won't report at the grounds."