
A group of seventeen‑year‑olds rolls into a seaside boarding school, trading lazy summer memories for the grind of classes and the promise of something bigger on the horizon. Frank, Arnold and their friends banter about exams, the looming “hardest year” and the ever‑present threat of a mishap on the train, their personalities sketched with a blend of good‑natured sarcasm and quiet ambition. The opening captures the restless energy of teens on the cusp of adulthood, hinting at rivalries that will shape their days.
Soon the focus shifts to the school’s football program, where the boys’ eagerness to prove themselves collides with the realities of teamwork, coaching advice, and the pressure of earning a spot on the field. As they navigate practice, locker‑room talk, and the inevitable clashes between first‑team hopefuls and the underdogs, the story promises a lively portrait of friendship, competition, and the search for identity in a world where every play counts.
Language
en
Duration
~6 hours (351K characters)
Series
Yardley Hall #8.
Publisher of text edition
Project Gutenberg
Credits
Donald Cummings and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net
Release date
2020-11-26
Rights
Public domain in the USA.

1870–1944
Best known for lively school and college stories, this prolific American writer helped shape early 20th-century boys’ fiction with tales of sports, friendship, and campus life. He also wrote under the name Oliver Horn and left behind a large body of popular juvenile novels.
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