Mike is leaving his private school to go to Wrykyn. His sisters hope that he will get into the school team his first year, although his brother Bob and Saunders, the pro, are sceptical. On the train down to Wrykyn, Mike is joined by a stranger; seeing the boy get off the train without his bag, Mike throws it out onto the platform, but the boy returns at the next stop. It turns out that the stranger is Firby-Smith, head of Wain's house, which Mike is to join.