once!" and, walking down the aisle he threw a folded paper on the table at which the professor sat.
"Shall this resignation be accepted?" asked the chairman, amid a rather tense silence.
"Yes!" came so quickly and with such volume that there was no doubt about the sentiment of the crowd. Perhaps Hiram had hoped that he would be asked to reconsider it, but if so he was disappointed. He walked back to where Luke sat. He leaned over the captain and said something in a whisper.
"I'm not going to," replied Luke, loudly enough for all in the room to hear.
"Go on!" ordered the bully. "If you don't, I'll—" and then his voice sank to a whisper again.
"All right," assented Luke, and walking forward as his crony had done, he, too, tossed a paper on the table. "There's my resignation as captain and a member of the Excelsior baseball nine!" he exclaimed.
There was a gasp of surprise from the crowd. Hiram and Luke both out! It was rather unexpected, but Tom and his friends felt elated. Now they would have a chance to play. It looked like the dawn of a brighter day for Excelsior Hall.
