after the crash of the glass there came silence. the boys were waiting for something to happen. they knew what always followed the breaking of a window on the few occasions when such a calamity had occurred.
“i—i didn’t mean to do that!” exclaimed teddy, sorrowfully.
“of course not!” agreed tommy, quickly.
mrs. tiptop looked out of the door at that moment.
“who did that, tommy?” she asked, gently.
“we did, mother. it was an accident. i made a home run, and teddy was throwing, to try and get me out. is it badly broken?”
“well, it couldn’t be much worse,” she replied, with a queer little smile. “but, then, i’m glad no one was hurt. you boys will have to be more careful, though. can’t you find some place to play that isn’t so close to the house?”
“we’re going to, as soon as we can get our nine made up,” answered tommy, eagerly, glad that his mother was not angry.
“say, we’ll pay for that window,” said teddy in a hoarse whisper. “we’ll chip in and——”
“no, you won’t!” exclaimed tommy, quickly. “mom won’t mind. something always happens when you move, anyhow, and i know she’ll be gladder of this than if a[pg 53] looking-glass was broken. you don’t want us to pay for that, do you, momsey?” he called.
“oh, no, of course not, dear,” she answered. “it couldn’t be helped. but please be more careful next time. i’m afraid i’ll have to ask you to go to the store now, tommy, and get something for supper,” she added.
“we’ll go with you!” put in joie, eagerly. “we don’t mind stopping the game. anyhow, i’m tired, and it’s still hot.”
“sure we’ll stop,” agreed teddy. “but i think we ought to pay for that window.”
“no,” said tommy, firmly. “mother knows what’s right.”
“say, she’s all right, your mother is!” exclaimed herbert kress. “i remember once we broke a window in mrs. delafield’s house, and i had to save up for two weeks to pay my share. and there was a circus coming to town, too. i didn’t go.”
“well, i guess we’ll have to look for some other place to play,” decided tommy. “do you fellows mind coming to the store with me? i don’t know much about the town yet.”
“sure we’ll come,” declared billie.
“glad of the chance,” added teddy.
“you had better stop at the glass-man’s, and ask him to come and put in a new window pane,” suggested mrs. tiptop, when she gave tommy the money to get some groceries. “it won’t matter much to-night, as it isn’t cold, and i can paste a paper over the broken pane.”
“i’ll do it when i come back,” offered tommy.
on the way to the store the boys talked excitedly of many things, from the accident that had happened on the[pg 54] moving wagon, and about which tommy told them, to the breaking of the window.
“we want about four more fellows to make up the nine,” said tommy. “can’t you ask them to come around to-morrow? we can meet at my house. i guess i won’t go to school until the first of next week, and that will give me time to get this ball nine in shape.”
“are you really going to have one?” asked herbert.
“certainly i am. all of us fellows here will be on it,” and tommy looked at his four new chums.
“i guess mortimer manchester would join,” said teddy.
“and frank bonder,” added billie.
“george pennington is a good player,” suggested teddy, “and i guess sammie sandlass will join.”
“he’s the boy with red hair that lives on parker street, isn’t he?” asked herbert.
“yes, and he’s got a new baseball.”
“then we want him,” decided tommy, quickly. “we’ll need a good ball, and we’ve got one bat, the one i just bought. it will take quite a while to get an outfit, but i guess we can do it.”
“where can we play, though?” asked joie grubb, doubtfully, as he puffed along with the others.
“what’s the matter with mr. bashford’s lot?” suddenly asked teddy. “it’s plenty big enough, and it’s good and level. i’m sure he’d let us use it if we asked him.”
“it’s too far out,” said billie.
“it only takes about ten minutes to get there, and we wouldn’t break any windows,” went on teddy.
“where is it?” asked tommy, and the others told him how to get to the lot by following the main street out to the old flour mill, and then turning down a country lane.
[pg 55]
“i’ll go look at it to-morrow,” decided our hero, “and i’ll ask mr. bashford if we can use it.”
“say, it takes you to do things!” exclaimed herbert.
“oh, i like to keep busy,” declared tommy; and then the lads talked more baseball, until they reached the grocery. on the way they passed the now empty moving vans which had brought the tiptop goods to town. the man on the one on which tommy had ridden waved his hand to the lad, and the man with the big feet, who was on the other wagon, shouted:
“it’s all right, youngster. i didn’t step on anybody to-day, and i’m mighty glad of it, ’cause when i do step i generally squashes something. good-by!”
“good-by,” answered tommy, with a laugh.
the household arrangements were rather upset for the tiptops that night, as they always are the first day of a moving. but mrs. tiptop managed to get a good supper, and all went to bed early. tommy was delighted with his room in the attic, and he fell asleep thinking of how he could decorate it, and have a boys’ club meet there.
“will you need me, mother?” he asked the next morning. “can i help you settle?”
“no; you might as well run out and play,” she answered. “i might step on you if you were around,” she added, with a laugh, as she imitated the voice of the moving man with the big feet. “nellie will help me,” she added, “and i have a scrub-woman coming in. where are you going?”
“to see mr. bashford, and ask him if we can use his lot for the ball nine.”
“well, don’t be late for dinner. your papa comes home at twelve. he said he’d see about sending you to school on monday. you had better stop at that glass-man’s on your[pg 56] way, and tell him to please be sure and send somebody to fix the broken window to-day.”
“i will, and after this there won’t be any danger. we are going to play a good ways off from houses.”
“perhaps you can’t get the lot.”
“oh, i think i can.”
it did not take tommy long to get to the bashford meadow.
“say, that will be fine!” he exclaimed to himself. “if we can only get money enough to put up a back-stop, and buy some more bats and balls, we’ll have a dandy baseball nine. guess i’ll go over in the field and see where would be a good place for home plate. mr. bashford won’t mind, i think,” for he had not yet seen the owner of the lot.
tommy was pacing about in the big field, trying to decide which would be the best way to lay out the diamond, when he heard a scream behind him—a scream in a girl’s shrill voice.
turning quickly, he saw a big black bull, that had evidently leaped over the fence of an adjoining field, rushing toward a small girl wearing a red dress. she stood still, close to the fence.
“he’ll horn her, sure!” gasped tommy, as the girl screamed again. the bull let out a bellow of rage and came on faster than before.
“i’ve got to do something!” decided tommy, quickly. then he saw where there were several loose rails of the fence. he ran over, grabbed up one of the lightest of the sticks, and then raced to get between the bull and the little girl. she was too frightened to run, and stood there, crying and screaming, awaiting the rush of the maddened animal, who was snorting and bellowing, made frenzied by the sight of the scarlet cloth of her dress.
[pg 57]
[pg 59]
“run! run!” cried tommy. “don’t stand there! run and crawl under the fence!”
the girl did not seem to hear, or else she did not dare move. tommy raced on, scarcely knowing what he was going to do.
a moment later he was in front of the girl, and was bravely facing the bull that, with a snort of rage, had stood still, to eye the new foe that had so suddenly appeared before him.
“run and get under the fence!” cried tommy again. “i’ll stop him from hurting you.”
he held the fence rail in readiness.
“oh! oh!” gasped the girl. “i’m—i’m so afraid. you—you——”
“never mind me!” interrupted tommy. “run, i tell you! run! crawl under the fence!”
the girl turned and raced for safety. in a moment she was in the other field. then, as though angered at losing a chance to toss the creature who wore the red dress, the animal came on for tommy. the lad hardly knew what to do, for he realized that, even with the stick, he could not hope to stop the rush of the brute.
then, from somewhere behind him, tommy heard a man’s hoarse voice crying:
“look out, youngster! that’s a mad bull! run for your life! throw that stick at him and run! you can get to the fence first. run!”
tommy did not turn to see who was speaking to him. the bull was now very close, and, taking the advice of the man, tommy threw the stick with all his force.
he was just turning to run, when he noticed that the fence rail had gone right between the front legs of the bull, and an instant later, as the animal suddenly rushed forward,[pg 60] it tripped and fell heavily, the long stick completely upsetting it.
heels over head went the maddened animal, rolling toward the boy, but tommy did not stay longer. with a jump he made for the fence, and he reached it, crawling under before the bull could regain its feet and take after him.
