A man named Barton describes a story he claims no one knows about. He tells of when he was a freshman at Brinkley High. He wanted to join a sports team but was busy working at a drugstore after school. His peers would make fun of him and call him "Bottles Barton" because he had to wash bottles at work. Once, a bully was mocking him in front of a girl named Anna Louise Daniels, and Barton hits him. Their fight ended with the bully pulling Barton's nose as Anna Louise laughed. The next day, Anna Louise calls Barton "Rubbernose," immediately giving him a second humiliating nickname. The drugstore owner, old man Patch, was friendly to Barton, but his wife was bitter, constantly criticizing Barton's cleaning. Barton was paid very low for his work, but he had big aspirations of owning a modern drugstore when he was an adult and becoming wealthy. He disliked Anna Louise because she was the daughter of a doctor and acted pretentious. He became involved with the sport of high jumping after resolving to prove that he's nothing like Anna Louise thinks he is. On the day of the track meet, the students discussed how they would have to score well on the high jump and pole vault to win. They lamented that they haven't found a good jumper. As Barton entered the meet, the coach stopped and dismissed him, but Barton assured him he would win the high jump and pole vault for Brinkley. During the match, Barton waited until only one competitor remained during the pole's highest position at five foot nine, despite the coach advising against it. During his turn, Barton walked up to the pole and stood there, telling the puzzled judges he would jump without running. He successfully jumps over the bar with inches to spare, and the crowd was shocked and joyous. Barton then asked for the bar to be put at six feet to attempt to beat the five-foot-eleven state record. He jumps over it easily, as if he was floating. The students crowd Barton and suddenly acted as if they were always friends with him. The announcer of the track meet celebrates Barton's record-breaking performance. The drugstore owners approach Barton and offer to promote him to clerk, but Barton tells them he will work for the town's other pharmacy. When the pole vault competition commenced, Barton similarly waited until one competitor remained, with the bar at eleven feet. During his turn, Barton discards his pole and jumps over the eleven-foot bar after taking a short run. The judges were even more in shocked. Anna Louise begs Barton to forgive her, and he tells her never to call him Rubbernose again. After the game, a huge celebration took place on the school track. Several men waved papers at Barton to become a professional jumper for a thousand dollars a week. Barton repeats that he is writing about this experience so people will know about it.