for a few moments tommy tiptop just stood there, staring at the moving man. the moving man looked into the dinner pail again, as if possibly there might be something hidden in it which he had not at first seen. tommy peered over and also looked into the pail.
“it isn’t any use,” said the moving man with a sigh. “there isn’t a thing here—not a thing.”
“then we haven’t anything to eat, have we?” asked tommy, faintly.
“no,” answered the man sadly, as he rattled the two cups in the pail. “that is, unless you can chew tin. i know i can’t,” he added, with a sigh.
“me either,” went on tommy. then he looked off across the fields toward a large, white farmhouse. next he looked at the horses standing comfortably in the shade, eating their oats from the bags that hung on their heads.
“i wish——” began tommy, and then the moving man interrupted him by saying:
“i do myself, young man. i wish i was a horse, for they are getting over being hungry, and i am getting hungrier all the while. is that what you were going to say?”
“well, i was,” admitted tommy, slowly. “i was just going to say that, and then i happened to think of something else to say.”
[pg 34]
“what?” inquired the moving man. “has it got anything to do with something to eat?”
“yes,” said tommy, slowly, “it has. i was thinking that perhaps if i went over to that house,” and he pointed to a white one across the fields, “i might ask for something to eat. then you could be looking for the nut to fasten the wheel on, or you could go to the blacksmith shop—that is, after i brought you back something to eat.”
“the very thing!” exclaimed the man. “i wonder i didn’t think of that myself.”
“i could take the empty pail, and the cups,” went on the boy, “and if they had milk, i could bring some of that with me. i could tell them i wasn’t a tramp, you know, and, if they didn’t believe me, i could point to this wagon, and tell them it had some of my father’s things in it. then i guess they’d give me some food. anyhow, i can pay for it!” he added quickly, “for i have a quarter my mother gave me the other day.”
“oh, i guess they won’t want pay,” said the moving man. “country folks aren’t generally that way. and i’m sure they wouldn’t take you for a tramp, even if they didn’t see my moving wagon.”
and that was very true, for tommy was a very nice appearing boy, and now, though he did not have on his best suit, and though his clothes were a trifle dusty from having carried out chairs and other articles, still he looked very different from a tramp.
“i think it would be a good plan for you to go to the farmhouse,” went on the moving man, after thinking over the matter. “please tell them that you have a man friend, who is very hungry, or otherwise they might give you only enough for two boys, you see, and i can eat more than a boy can.”
[pg 35]
tommy was sure this was true, for the moving man was big and strong, and he felt that if the man’s appetite was anything like his own, it must be very good.
“i’ll be sure to tell them that,” said the baseball-loving boy, and then he started off across the fields with the empty dinner pail and the cups.
“i’ll be looking back along the road for the nut of the wheel until you get back,” the moving man called after him, and tommy waved his hand to show that he understood.
it did not take him long to get to the farmhouse. he did not quite know whether to go to the front or the back door, and he had about made up his mind that, as he was begging for food, the back door would be the better place.
“besides, it’s nearer the kitchen,” thought tommy.
and then he happened to see a side door, and he decided that perhaps that would be better. he was just going up the steps when a dog, that he had not seen before, ran around the corner of the house, barking loudly.
now, tommy knew something about dogs, for he had once had one of his own, though it was only a puppy. and he remembered that his mother had often said to him that if a dog should come at him the best plan was to stand still, and not run, for in that case the dog would certainly run after him.
so tommy boldly stood his ground, and then the dog, which had continued to bark all the while, stood still and looked at him.
“good boy!” called tommy, at the same time snapping his fingers. “good old boy! what’s the matter now, eh? you don’t look as if you would bite!”
then the dog began to wag its tail, and tommy knew there was no more danger, for the animal was sniffing in a[pg 36] friendly fashion at the boy’s legs. he knocked on the door, and it was opened by a pleasant-faced lady.
“oh!” she exclaimed at the sight of tommy. “did the dog bother you? towser, behave yourself! i don’t believe i want to buy anything to-day,” she went on, looking from the dog to tommy.
“if you please, i’m not selling anything,” answered our hero. “i came to ask if i could have something to eat for the moving man and myself. he is very hungry and so am i, and, if you please, i was to specially remind you that he was a man, and i’m a boy.”
he held out the empty pail.
“bless and save us!” exclaimed the lady. “what in the world are you talking about, and who is the moving man?”
“oh, i forgot to answer your other question,” said tommy. “no, ma’am, the dog didn’t bother me. he made friends. but the moving man is over there, where you can see the wagon,” and he pointed to it. “the horses are eating their dinner, but we haven’t any, for the man picked up the wrong pail by mistake when he came to move us this morning. we’re going to live in riverdale, and the wheel came off our wagon.” and then tommy told all about the accident, how his bat had been broken, and how he hoped to start a baseball nine.
“aren’t you too young to play ball?” asked the lady.
“i’m ten, going on to eleven,” proudly answered tommy, “and i’ve been playing ball for nearly two years now. i’m going to be the captain,” and then, thinking perhaps the lady might have forgotten about the food, he gently rattled the dinner pail.
“oh!” she exclaimed with a laugh, “you want something to eat. come in.”
talking while she got out food from the cupboard, and[pg 37] asking questions about himself and his family, the lady soon had a nice lunch ready for tommy to take back with him.
“i think the moving man will have enough, even for his big appetite,” she said, “and i will put some milk in the top part of the pail. you can use the cups from which to drink. and, if you can’t find the nut to hold the wheel on, perhaps there might be one in the barn that could be used. i know what it is to have your goods delayed, and your mamma will be worried if you don’t soon get to the new house. tell the moving man to look in our barn for a wheel nut.”
“i will,” promised tommy, and thanked her for her kindness. and, after he had gotten back to the wagon, and he and his new friend had eaten the fine lunch which the lady had put in the pail, that is exactly what the moving man did. he found in the barn a nut that just fitted the wheel axle, and it is a good thing that he did, for it is very doubtful if he could have gotten the one that was lost. he also got a thing called a “jack” from the barn, for he had to have this to lift up the wagon, so the wheel could be slipped on the axle.
“there, i guess we’re ready to go on now,” said the man as he tightened the nut. “we’ve only lost about an hour.”
off they started, and tommy was very glad, for he was afraid that his mother would worry. and, had he only known it, mrs. tiptop was very much alarmed when, after she and her husband and daughter had arrived at the new house, and had waited for some time, tommy did not come. the other wagon-load of goods got there, and the driver of it said he had not seen the vehicle on which tommy had started to ride to riverdale; that is, not since it had started.
“oh, i’m sure some accident has happened!” exclaimed mrs. tiptop. “oh, this is dreadful!”
[pg 38]
“don’t worry,” advised her husband. “that was a very heavy load of goods, and perhaps the horses had to go slowly up the hills. if it doesn’t come soon, i’ll get a carriage and drive back along the road. but i’m sure it will come. now we must see to getting the things put into the house from the wagon that is here.”
and it wasn’t very long after that before the delayed wagon, with tommy up on the high seat, came rumbling along, and there was no further need of worrying.
“what in the world happened?” called mrs. tiptop, and tommy told her everything, even to how he had made friends with the barking dog.
“but i’m sorry about my bat,” he added. “i may want to play ball this afternoon, and i haven’t a bat!”
“i guess you won’t have much chance to play ball this afternoon,” replied his father with a laugh. “but here, tommy, is a quarter. you can go buy a new bat, and don’t get lost, for you don’t know the streets of this town yet.”
“a quarter bat! that’s fine!” exclaimed the lad. “the one that got run over was only a fifteen-cent one. say, now i will have a good ball team!” and he hurried off to find a store where baseball goods were kept.
it was when he was going along the street, swinging the bat around in the air, and wondering how far he could knock a ball with it, that tommy saw two boys, of about his own age, walking slowly ahead of him.
“i wonder who they are?” he mused. “i’d like to know them. maybe they play ball. school must be out,” he added, as he saw some books slung in a strap across the shoulder of one boy. “i’m going to speak to them,” tommy went on. “i’ll get to know them in school, anyhow, and i might as well begin now.”
[pg 39]
so he hurried along, until he had caught up to the boys, and then he exclaimed:
“say, do you play ball?”
“play ball?” repeated the taller of the two, looking curiously at tommy. “who are you, anyhow?”
“oh, i’m a new boy. i’ve just moved here. i want to get up a ball nine. my name is tommy tiptop. i just got this new bat. my old one was run over by the moving wagon. don’t you fellows want to be on my nine?”
“your nine?” asked the other boy, who had very black and snapping eyes. “since when have you had a nine?”
“i’m just getting up one,” went on tommy. “i thought maybe you would like to join. do you belong to one now?”
“no, neither of us do,” put in the boy who had spoken first. “my name is teddy bunker,” he added in more friendly tones.
“and mine is billie ruggler,” said his companion. “let’s see the bat.”
tommy handed it over, and both his newly made acquaintances tested it, tapping it on the pavement and swinging it in the air.
“it’s a good one, all right,” was billie’s opinion.
“a dandy!” agreed teddy.
“it cost a quarter,” spoke tommy, proudly. “say, now, will you join a nine if i get one up? i’m sure i can.”
“why, yes, i’d like to belong,” answered teddy, slowly.
“so would i,” came from billie. “i can’t play very good, though.”
“oh, we’ll have to have practice,” agreed tommy. “and maybe the fellows from millton, where we moved from, will come over and play us some day.”
[pg 40]
“where can we play?” asked billie. “there’s only one ball field in town, and the big fellows use that. they never allow us on it.”
“oh, we’ll have a diamond of our own,” declared tommy. “we can fix up some vacant lot. anything will do for a start. i guess some man will let us play in his lot, and maybe we can get enough money for a back-stop and uniforms. that would be dandy!”
“where’d we get the money?” asked teddy.
“earn it,” came quickly from tommy. “cut grass, run errands, and things like that. we can do it! say, do you know any other fellows we can get to join the nine? we need six more.”
“yes, i guess we can find some,” answered teddy, and then, as another lad came suddenly around the corner of the street—a lad taller and stronger than either of the three—billie interrupted by calling:
“look out, here comes jakie norton!”
before tommy could ask who jakie was, and why his two companions seemed to be afraid of the newcomer, for they certainly acted as though they disliked him, jakie strode up to him and roughly took the bat out of his hands.
“let’s see that,” spoke the tall lad in rather surly tones. “humph! a new one, eh?” and he tapped it sharply on the pavement. “say, what does a little chap like you want of a bat like this? it’s too good! guess i’ll take it,” and then, tucking the new bat under his arm, jakie hurried off.
“say, that’s mean!” exclaimed teddy in a low voice.
“he’s always doing things like that,” added billie. “once he took all my marbles.”
tommy was so surprised for a moment that he did not know what to do. he thought it was only a joke, and that jakie would soon return with the bat and laugh with them. [pg 43]but the big boy seemed to have no such intention. then tommy started after him.
“where are you going?” asked teddy.
“i’m going to get my bat!”
“don’t interfere with jakie,” advised billie. “he’s real mean, and he’s a bad fighter. better let him go.”
“let him go? with my new bat? not much!” exclaimed tommy. “i’m going to take it away from him.” and he set off on the run, while his two new friends looked after him with wonder, fear and admiration on their faces.
