The gold bat - P. G. Wodehouse

Set at the fictional public school of Wrykyn, this novella tells of how two boys, O'Hara and Moriarty, tar and feather a statue of a local politician as a prank. They get away with it, but O'Hara had borrowed a tiny gold cricket bat belonging to Trevor, the captain of the cricket team. After the prank, the boys discover that the trinket is missing. 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".