of "soreheads" contained a few young men who were really absolutely
necessary to the success of the Gridley High School football eleven,
the strife threatened to put Gridley in the back row as far as
football went.

But Dick, with his characteristic vigor, went after the "soreheads"
in the columns of "The Blade." He covered them with ridicule
and scorn so that the citizens of the town began to take a hand
in the matter as soon as their public pride was aroused.

The "soreheads" were driven, then, to apply for places in the
football squad. Only those most needed, however, had been admitted,
and the rest had retired in sullen admission of defeat.

Two of the latter, Bayliss and Bert Dodge, carried matters so
far, however, that they were actually forced out of the High School
and left Gridley to go to a preparatory school elsewhere.

The hostile attempts of young Ripley, of Dodge, Drayne and others
to injure Dick & Co. have been fully related in the four volumes
of the "_High School Boys' Vacation Series_." This series deals
with the good times enjoyed by Dick & Co. during their first
three summers as high school boys. These stories are replete
with summer athletics, and a host of exciting adventures. The
four volumes of this Vacation Series are published under the titles:
"_The High School Boys' Canoe Club_," "_The High School Boys in
Summer Camp_," "_The High School Boys Fishing Trip_" and "_The
High School Boys' Training Hike_."

This present year no "sorehead" movement had been attempted.