Produced by Jim Ludwig
THE HIGH SCHOOL FRESHMEN
or
Dick & Co.'s First Year Pranks and Sports
By H. Irving Hancock
CHAPTERS
I. "The High School Sneak"
II. Dick & Co. After the School Board's Scalps
III. Not So Much of a Freshman
IV. Captain of the Hounds
V. The "Muckers" and the "Gentleman"
VI. Fred Offers to Solve the Locker Mystery
VII. Dick's Turn to Get a Jolt
VIII. Only a "Suspended" Freshman Now
IX. Laura Bentley is Wide Awake
X. Tip Scammon Talks—-But Not Enough
XI. The Welcome With a Big "W"
XII. Dick & Co. Give Football a New Boost
XIII. "The Oath of the Dub"
XIV. On the Gridiron with Cobber Second
XV. Gridley Faces Disaster
XVI. The Fake Kick, Two Ways
XVII. Dick's "Find" Makes Gridley Shiver
XVIII. Fred Slides into the Freeze
XIX. Dick & Co. Show Some Team Work
XX. Out for That Toboggan
XXI. Thanks Served with Hate
XXII. The Only Freshman at the Senior Ball
XXIII. The Nitroglycerine Mystery Speaks Up
XXIV. The Capture of the Bank Robbers
XXV. Conclusion
"I say you did!" cried Fred Ripley, hotly. Dick Prescott's cheeksturned a dull red as he replied, quietly, after swallowing a chokyfeeling in his throat:
"I have already told you that I did not do it."
"Then who did do the contemptible thing?" insisted Ripley, sneeringly.
Fully forty boys, representing all the different classes at theGridley High School, stood looking on at this altercation in theschool grounds. Half a dozen of the girls, too, hovered in thebackground, interested, or curious, though not venturing too closeto what might turn out to be a fight in hot blood.
"If I knew," rejoined Dick, in that same quiet voice, in whichone older in the world's ways might have detected the danger-signal,"I wouldn't tell you."
"Bah!" jeered Fred Ripley, hotly.
"Perhaps you mean that you don't believe me?" said Prescott inquiringly.
"I don't!" laughed Ripley, shortly, bitterly.
"Oh!"
A world of meaning surged up in that exclamation. It was as thoughbright, energetic, honest Dick Prescott had been struck a blowthat he could not resent. This, indeed, was the fact.
"See here, Ripley——-" burst, indignantly, from Dick Prescott'slips, as his face went white and then glowed a deeper red thanbefore.
"Well, kid?" sneered Ripley.
"If I didn't have a hand—-the right hand, at that—-that is toocrippled, today, I'd pound your words down your mouth."
"Oh, your hand?" retorted Ripley, confidently. "The yarn aboutthat hand is another lie."
Dick's injured right hand came out of the jacket pocket in whichit had rested. With his left hand he flung down his cap.
"I'll fight—-you—-anyway!" Prescott announced, slowly.
There were a few faint cheers, though some of the older High Schoolboys looked serious. Fair play was an honored tradition in Gridley.
Ripley, however, had thrown down his cap at once, hurling hisstrapped-up school books aside at the same time.
"Wait a moment," commanded Frank Thompson, stepping forward.He was a member of the firs