Barry Locke, half-back

"Barry Locke, half-back" by Ralph Henry Barbour is a school sports novel written in the early 20th century. It follows Barry Locke, a new boy at Broadmoor School, as he navigates housing mishaps, shifting friendships, and the pull between football, baseball, and school cliques; key figures include his status‑minded friend Clyde Allen, the wry and grounded Crawford “Peaches” Jones, and sensitive violinist Alonzo “Zo” Fessenden. The opening of the book traces Barry’s arrival in the Connecticut village of Wessex, where a promised dorm room falls through and he instead boards with kindly Mrs. Lyle, meeting her daughter Betty, the quirky specimen-collector Toby Nott, and the affable Peaches Jones. Barry registers, samples campus life, buys a sturdy second‑hand desk, and endures Clyde’s attempts to steer him toward “the right sort” of friends and clubs while discouraging baseball and Jones. On “Pup Night” he intervenes when Third Class boys try to drag the panicked Fourth Class Zo Fessenden to the pond, scuffling with Rusty Waterman until Peaches steps in, and the three begin a quiet friendship. These chapters establish Barry’s daily routine, early football Saturdays, and the warm porch camaraderie at the Lyles, while hinting at the social divides Barry must choose his way through.