[1] Set at the fictional public school of Wrykyn, the novel tells of how two boys, O'Hara and Moriarty, tar and feather a statue of a local politician as a prank.

Schoolboy honour is at stake as Trevor and his friends conceal the loss of the gold bat until, through a stroke of luck, they find it.

The novel deals with events during that term, including inter-house rugby matches and the dastardly actions of a mysterious society called "the League".

They are not caught, but O'Hara realizes that during the escapade, he lost a tiny gold cricket bat he borrowed from his friend Trevor.

Trevor receives a letter warning him that the League does not wish Barry to play for the school rugby team.

Rand-Brown has the clearest motive for trying to get Barry out of the team, and dislikes Mill, but he could not have damaged Trevor's study since he was playing rugby at the time the incident occurred.

While searching with his friend Clowes, they find the missing gold bat in a drawer in the study of Ruthven, who admits that he was blackmailed by Rand-Brown to form the League with him.

Political protesters repeat the tarring and feathering of Briggs's statue, apparently inspired by O'Hara and Moriarty's initiative.

[1] Under the title By Order of the League!, the story was serialised in the magazine The Boys' Friend (UK) from January to February in 1923.

[3] It was included in The Gold Bat and Other Stories, a collection of three school novels by Wodehouse published by Penguin Books in March 1986.