Page:Baseball Joe on the School Nine.djvu/92

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CHAPTER X


THE BANNER PARADE


Instantly following Hiram's words a hub-bub burst out In the gymnasium. Everyone seemed to be talking at once, and the crowd of boys split up into two factions.

There were those who were with Joe and Tom in their contention, and who thought that they had not been given a fair opportunity. Among these were, of course, the lads who had not hitherto belonged to the athletic committee, and who had been induced by Tom to put in their applications.

On the other side were what might be called the "conservatives," those who, while not exactly favoring Hiram and his high-handed methods, preferred to take the easiest way and let the old order of things prevail.

Then, too, was a smaller crowd of distinct "Shellites" as Peaches dubbed them—friends and close cronies of the manager who sided with him in all things and looked upon him as a sort

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