Produced by Donald Cummings and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) [Illustration: THE GAME WON--PHIL, AMID A RIOT OF CHEERS, KEPT ON TO SECOND] THE RIVAL PITCHERS A Story of College Baseball BY LESTER CHADWICK AUTHOR OF "A QUARTER-BACK'S PLUCK," ETC. ILLUSTRATED NEW YORK CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY BOOKS BY LESTER CHADWICK THE COLLEGE SPORTS SERIES 12mo. Illustrated THE RIVAL PITCHERS A Story of College Baseball A QUARTER-BACK'S PLUCK A Story of College Football (Other volumes in preparation) CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY NEW YORK Copyright, 1910, by CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY THE RIVAL PITCHERS Printed in U. S. A. CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I THE OLD BELL CLAPPER 1 II A GOOD THROW 19 III A BASEBALL MEETING 27 IV THE HAZING 42 V A SCRUB GAME 51 VI THE POLE RUSH 62 VII TOM HOLDS HIS OWN 69 VIII AT PRACTICE 77 IX A GAME WITH BOXER HALL 86 X A COIL OF WIRE 93 XI AN ELECTRIC SHOCK 104 XII TOM DOESN'T TELL 112 XIII A GIRL AND A GAME 120 XIV TOM'S CURVES 132 XV A SOPHOMORE TRICK 139 XVI TOM MAKES A DISCOVERY 147 XVII AN EXPOSTULATION 152 XVIII SOME "OLD GRADS" 160 XIX TOM IN COLD WATER 168 XX A GAME OF ANOTHER SORT 176 XXI ON THE GRILL 185 XXII DARK DAYS 192 XXIII AT THE DANCE 200 XXIV DRESS SUITS COME HIGH 208 XXV TOM IN A GAME 216 XXVI THE FRESHMAN DINNER 227 XXVII TOM IS KIDNAPPED 234 XXVIII THE ESCAPE 240 XXIX ANTICIPATIONS 247 XXX A GREAT GAME 255 XXXI LANGRIDGE APPEALS 272 XXXII THE FINAL CONTEST 281 XXXIII VICTORY 293 THE RIVAL PITCHERS CHAPTER I THE OLD BELL CLAPPER Down the green campus they strolled, a motley group of sturdy freshmen, talking excitedly. In their midst was a tall, good-looking lad, who seemed to be the center of discussion. Yet, in spite of the fact that the others appeared to be deferring something to him, he regarded them with rather an amused and cynical smile on his face. He paused to brush an invisible bit of dust from his well-fitting clothes. "Well, aren't we going to make a try for it to-night?" asked one youth, whose hat was decorated with a silk band, yellow and maroon in color. "My uncle, who used to be a football coach here, says the freshmen always used to get it the first week of the term. My uncle----"