"Oh, I forgot you didn't know. Well, it's the Tonoka Lake League. You see, our college, Boxer Hall and Fairview Institute have a triangular league for the championship. But we haven't won it in so long that the memory of man runneth not to the contrary, as the legal documents have it. Last year we had a good chance to be second, but Langridge got a glass arm in the final game and we were dumped. That's why I say we need a new pitcher, and I'm glad you're going to try for it." "Maybe I'll do worse." "Well, Langridge sure does deliver a good ball," said Sid slowly; "the only trouble is that he----" He stopped suddenly and seemed embarrassed. "Well?" asked Tom questioningly. "Maybe you'll find it out for yourself," concluded Sid Henderson. "There's the supper gong. Come on. There'll be hot work after a bit." Puzzling somewhat over the answer his chum had made to the question regarding Langridge and wondering what it was he might find out for himself, Tom followed Sid to the dining hall, where throngs of students were already gathered. There was something in the air that told of mischief to come. The sophomores, who dined together, maintained a very grave and decorous air, utterly out of keeping with their usual mood. There was silence instead of talk and laughter at their table. "They're almost as dignified as the seniors," remarked Phil Clinton to Tom as he took a seat next to him. "It means trouble. Look out." "Oh, we're looking out," replied Tom. Few lingered over the meal, and, going back to their room, Sid and Tom took their best clothes and hid them in a closet at the end of the long corridor. It was a closet used for the storage of odds and ends. "There, I don't believe they'll find them there," spoke Sid. "Now we're ready for them." On their way back to their apartment they heard some one preceding them down the long hall. "Who's that?" asked Sid. "I don't know," replied Tom. "Let's take a look. Maybe it was some one spying on us." They hastened their steps and saw some one hurry around a corner. "Did you see him?" asked Tom. "Yes," answered Sid slowly. "Was it a soph?" "It was Langridge," came the hesitating answer. "I wonder what he was doing up here?" inquired Tom. "I wonder too," added his chum. There was a rush of feet in the hall below and the sound of voices in protest. "Here they come!" cried Sid. "The hazers! Come on!" And he slid into the room, followed by Tom. They slammed the portal shut and bolted it. The noise below increased, and there was the sound of breaking doors. "Do they smash in?" asked Tom, to whom a college life was a new experience. "Sure, if you don't open." "Going to open?" "I am not. Let 'em break in. They'll have to pay for the damage."