<h2><SPAN name="CHAPTER_II">CHAPTER II. <br/><span class="cheaderfont">IN THE CRICKET-FIELD.</span></SPAN></h2>
<p>The thrashing of Bully Rakes gave Edgar Foster
a hold over the affections of his schoolfellows, and
he never lost it. In twelve months he became captain
of the eleven, and led them to victory on many
occasions. Edgar worked hard, both at lessons and
play. He found it much easier to study when his
body was in good order, and his athletic exercises
helped to make his school tasks the easier. He
could not be called a brilliant scholar by any means,
but he was endowed with an amount of perseverance
that generally pulled him through.</p>
<p>‘It’s got to be done, and I’ll do it,’ Edgar thought
to himself when pondering over a difficult task, and
he generally succeeded.</p>
<p>The Redbank lads took a defeat from their great
opponents, the eleven of Fairfield College, with a
very bad grace. Not that they allowed their successful<span class="pagenum">[20]</span>
opponents to see their chagrin, they were too
manly for that, but they felt the defeat keenly.</p>
<p>Edgar Foster determined to win the return match
if possible. He had taken great care to select his
eleven, and felt confident of success. He was the
more eager to win because his father was coming to
Redbank to watch the game. Dr. Hook too was
anxious his boys should regain their lost laurels, and
he encouraged Edgar by his kindly advice.</p>
<p>It so happened that Raymond Rakes, despite his
many bad qualities, was a very fair cricketer. He
had not been chosen to play in the first match
against Fairfield, and he put his being left out of
the team down to Edgar’s animosity.</p>
<p>Edgar Foster, however, was not actuated by any
such motive. He thought Rakes hardly good enough,
and therefore did not select him. Since this match
Rakes had shown such good form that Edgar decided
to include him in the eleven for the return match.</p>
<p>Bully Rakes was much surprised when Edgar
asked him to play. He said he would think over
the matter, and complained about not being chosen
in the first match.</p>
<p>‘You had not shown good enough form then,’
said Edgar; ‘you have come on wonderfully since,
and therefore I ask you to play. It is for the honour
of the school we are playing this time, so you ought
to have no hesitation.’</p>
<p>‘Then I’ll play,’ said Rakes, in his usual surly
manner.</p>
<p><span class="pagenum">[21]</span></p>
<p>‘And I hope you will make a good score,’ said
Edgar.</p>
<p>As the captain of the Redbank eleven walked
away, Rakes looked after him with no friendly eyes.
He had never forgotten the humiliating defeat he
sustained when Edgar first came to the school. No
opportunity had yet occurred of paying off the grudge
he owed Edgar on that account.</p>
<p>‘He’s set his heart on winning this match,’ muttered
Rakes to himself; ‘he’d have left me out again
if he could. I’ve a good mind to spoil his plans.
What does it matter whether we win or lose the
match? I don’t care much which way it goes, and
I’d like to see Foster taken down a peg or two.
I’ll wait and see how our side shapes. I may be
able to carry out a plan of my own.’</p>
<p>Had Edgar Foster doubted Rakes, he would not
have asked him to play; but he could not understand
any lad throwing away a chance of victory
merely to spite the captain of the team. Such conduct
Edgar would not have suspected even in Raymond
Rakes.</p>
<p>‘So you’ve asked Rakes to play?’ said Will
Brown, who had become a stanch friend of Edgar’s
ever since the fight with Bully Rakes.</p>
<p>‘Yes,’ said Edgar. ‘He’s not a bad bat at all;
he’s a fair field, and will do to put on for a change
bowler. We must win the match. I’m awfully
anxious about it. My father will be here, and
there’s sure to be a big crowd of people. We<span class="pagenum">[22]</span>
have a good team, and I’m pretty confident this
time.’</p>
<p>‘All the same, I should not have played Rakes,’
said Will Brown.</p>
<p>‘Why?’ asked Edgar.</p>
<p>‘Because I don’t trust him. He’s never forgiven
you for licking him, and if he gets half a chance
he’ll throw us over in the match, just to spite you,’
said Will.</p>
<p>Edgar looked at his schoolmate in surprise. He
could not believe in any lad doing such a thing.</p>
<p>‘He’ll never do that,’ said Edgar. ‘Even if it is
as you say, and he still bears me a grudge, he would
never be such a cad as to throw the school over in
order to annoy me.’</p>
<p>‘I hope he won’t, for your sake,’ said Will; ‘but
all the same, I have my doubts.’</p>
<p>Will Brown’s words made Edgar feel uneasy for
a time, but he soon forgot them. It was universally
agreed that a better eleven could not have been
chosen to meet Fairfield College. Masters were not
to play; it was to be purely a boys’ match.</p>
<p>Early and late Edgar was at the cricket nets
watching the practice and debating how he should
send his team in to bat. For such a young lad, he
had keen powers of observation, and he made a
pretty accurate calculation as to the pluck and nerve
of each boy. Edgar’s father arrived the day before
the match, and saw the final practice.</p>
<p>‘You have a real good team,’ he said to his son,<span class="pagenum">[23]</span>
‘and ought to win. Remember, a good deal depends
upon the captain.’</p>
<p>‘I’m not likely to forget that,’ said Edgar. ‘You
have often told me a good captain wins many a game
at cricket.’</p>
<p>Robert Foster was proud of his son, and naturally
felt anxious to see him successful.</p>
<p>‘How’s my lad doing?’ he had said to the head-master.</p>
<p>‘Well—very well,’ said Dr. Hook. ‘He is not a
brilliant scholar, but he will get on in the world. He
is like his father in one respect. He is about the
best cricketer and all-round athlete we have in the
school.’</p>
<p>Robert Foster’s eyes brightened, and he said:</p>
<p>‘I’m glad of that. I’m not a rich man, and my
lad will have to fight his own battles. He has a
great inclination to go abroad, and I don’t know that
it will not be a good thing for him. His sister will
be able to keep me from feeling lonely.’</p>
<p>Dr. Hook looked at Robert Foster with his kindly
eyes, and replied:</p>
<p>‘Travel expands the mind. If a lad has plenty of
ballast, he will take no harm in any part of the
world. Your son is a lad of mettle, and you need
have no fear about his future. If I am a judge of
character, I should say Edgar Foster is a lad who
will surmount difficulties and dangers, and he is
bound to be a leader of men.’</p>
<p>Robert Foster was proud of the way in which the<span class="pagenum">[24]</span>
head-master spoke of his son. How little do thoughtless
schoolboys know the pleasure a father feels in
hearing praise bestowed upon his child, or of the
pang he feels when the son he loves strays from the
right path. Robert Foster loved his son devotedly,
although he made very little demonstration of his
affection, and Edgar thoroughly understood and
appreciated the manly qualities of his father.</p>
<p>The eventful day arrived, and a glorious day it
was. The sun shone brightly, and there was a slight
cool breeze. Redbank cricket ground was charmingly
situated. The pavilion was small, but there were
several large trees growing at the back which afforded
ample shade. The ground was level and well-kept,
and the pitch had much care bestowed upon it. It
was a great day at Redbank when this return match
with Fairfield College was to be played. Flushed
with the triumph of their previous victory, the Fairfield
lads were eager for the fray, and had invited
many friends to come and witness their further
triumph. The captain of the Fairfield eleven, Harold
Simpson, was almost as popular at Fairfield as
Edgar Foster was at Redbank. The two captains
had a mutual liking for each other, although each
one was determined to beat the other in the great
game they were about to play.</p>
<p>Edgar Foster lost the toss, and, as the ground was
in such good order, Harold Simpson elected to send
his men in first.</p>
<p>‘They are a strong batting team,’ said Edgar to<span class="pagenum">[25]</span>
his father. ‘It will take us some time to get rid of
them.’</p>
<p>‘It is a one-day match, so you must do your level
best to get them out quickly,’ said his father.</p>
<p>As the boys filed on to the field they were cheered
by their comrades and the Redbank supporters, who
had mustered in strong force.</p>
<p>Edgar Foster came in for a special share of applause,
and he felt his pulses tingle and his heart beat high
with hope as he bounded over the springy turf towards
the wickets.</p>
<p>The two Fairfield batsmen were wildly cheered by
their mates, and Harold Simpson decided on this
occasion to go in first.</p>
<p>Will Brown and Sayers junior were put on to
bowl.</p>
<p>An anxious moment is that during which the first
ball in a match is delivered. The bowler goes back
from the wicket, measuring his men; for a second or
two he hesitates and looks round, then he glances at
the batsman, sees all is ready, and prepares for the
delivery. As he takes his run to the wicket the
spectators hold their breath. Will this first ball be
fatal? A sigh of relief goes round as the batsman
plays it well forward.</p>
<p>Harold Simpson failed to score in Brown’s first
over. Sayers junior then took the ball, and his first
delivery made the bails fly, much to the delight of
the Redbank boys, who shouted and cheered vociferously.</p>
<p><span class="pagenum">[26]</span></p>
<p>Edgar Foster felt they had commenced well, and
was anxious for the good-fortune to continue. The
Fairfield boys were determined bats, and a long stand
took place before the second batsman was got rid of.</p>
<p>Harold Simpson still kept his wicket up, and runs
came freely. At the fall of the fifth wicket Fairfield
had put a hundred runs on, of which the captain had
made forty.</p>
<p>Edgar Foster went on to bowl. He was not such
a good bowler as Rakes, who thought he ought to
have been tried before, and looked sullen.</p>
<p>In his first over Harold Simpson skied a ball to
Raymond Rakes. It was an easy catch, but Rakes
missed it, and so clumsily that the boys jeered at
him.</p>
<p>Will Brown, who had been watching him, thought:</p>
<p>‘He dropped that on purpose, because Edgar
bowled it.’</p>
<p>Nothing daunted at this stroke of bad luck, Edgar
sent another similar ball down. Harold Simpson
hesitated for a moment as to what he should do with
it; then he struck out, and, strange to say, the ball
went to Rakes again.</p>
<p>It was not such an easy catch as the former one,
but, still, there ought to have been very little difficulty
in a good fielder securing it. Rakes fumbled it badly,
and again missed the catch.</p>
<p>Edgar Foster could not help thinking of what Will
Brown had said to him. He was very much annoyed,
and at the conclusion of his over said to Rakes:</p>
<p><span class="pagenum">[27]</span></p>
<p>‘Those were two easy catches to miss; they may
cost us the match.’</p>
<p>‘They were not as easy as they looked,’ said Rakes.
‘You don’t suppose I dropped them on purpose, do
you?’</p>
<p>‘I should be very sorry to think that,’ said Edgar;
‘but be more careful next time.’</p>
<p>At last Will Brown secured Harold Simpson’s
wicket, and the others followed rapidly, the innings
closing for a hundred and thirty-four, a good score in
a one-day school match.</p>
<p>‘What do you think of it, Edgar?’ asked his father.
‘Shall you be able to wipe that off?’</p>
<p>‘I think so,’ replied Edgar. ‘We should have had
a much easier task had Rakes held those two catches
off my bowling.’</p>
<p>‘He made an awful mess of them,’ said Robert
Foster. ‘How he dropped the first puzzles me; he
had it fairly in his hands.’</p>
<p>‘Look here, Edgar!’ said Will Brown. ‘It’s no use
mincing matters. I’m sure Rakes missed those
catches purposely. When are you going to send
him in?’</p>
<p>‘About seventh,’ said Edgar.</p>
<p>‘Put him in last,’ said Will.</p>
<p>‘That would only make matters worse,’ said Edgar;
‘he would know I doubted him, and act accordingly.
He shall go in sixth wicket down. It will
give him a chance of making up for missing those
catches.’</p>
<p><span class="pagenum">[28]</span></p>
<p>‘As you wish,’ said Will. ‘Mind, if you are in with
him, he does not run you out.’</p>
<p>‘No fear of that,’ said Edgar, laughing.</p>
<p>And he crossed over to speak to Raymond Rakes.</p>
<p>‘You go in sixth wicket down,’ he said.</p>
<p>‘All right,’ replied Rakes, ‘that will suit me.’</p>
<p>‘We’ve not been very good friends,’ said Edgar,
‘but you know it is not my fault. We want to win
this match, and it may be that your batting will turn
the scale in our favour at a critical point of the game.
I shall rely upon you to do your best for the honour
of the school. You missed two very easy catches;
try and make up for it by playing your best when
you go in to bat.’</p>
<p>‘I always do,’ said Rakes sulkily, and walked
away.</p>
<p>Edgar Foster felt rather sorry he had included
Raymond Rakes in the Redbank eleven.</p>
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