THE BULLY SNEERS
"Well, you ought to get out a patent on this," remarked Joe, when they
resumed the eating of the pie and the drinking of the pop, following the
withdrawal of the professor.
"You sure had," agreed Tom. "Let Joe give you some points. His father
has taken out several patents."
"Oh, I guess we'll make it free for all--any fellow is welcome to the
idea," replied Teeter. "So your dad's an inventor, eh, Matson?"
"Yes, harvester machinery--his latest was a corn reaper and binder, and
he nearly lost it," and Joe briefly told how Isaac Benjamin and Rufus
Holdney had nearly ruined his father, as related in detail in "Baseball
Joe of the Silver Stars."
"Ever hear anything more of those fellows?" asked Tom, following the
recital of the schemes of the plotters.
"No, they seem to have disappeared," answered Joe. "They cleared out
after dad won his case in the courts. But he's on the watch for them,
he told me. His business isn't all settled yet, and there is some
danger. But I guess Benjamin or Holdney won't bother him, though some
other rascals may."
"Anything more to eat?" asked Peaches, during the pause that followed.
"Say, what are you, a human refrigerator?" demanded Teeter. "I couldn't
carry any more pie if I tried."
"It'll be our treat next time," observed Joe. "Why didn't George Bland
come with you?"
"Had to bone on trigonometry, I guess," replied Peaches.
"Does he play on the team?" Joe wanted to know.
"Yes, we all do. George is short, I'm on third, and Teeter holds down
first sometimes. But you never can tell what Hiram is going to do. He
and Luke are always making shifts, and that's what lost us the Blue
Banner last season. The fellows would no more than get familiar with
their positions than Hiram would shift 'em. Oh, he runs things to suit
himself."
The hour of ten boomed out from the big school clock and the visitors
left.
"Spring fever!" exclaimed Joe one day, as he and Tom came from a physics
lecture.
"Yes, I've got it, too," admitted Tom. "It's in the air, and I'm glad
of it. What's that Shakespeare says about 'now is the winter of our
discontent?'"
"Oh, cheese it! Don't begin spouting poetry. Besides I'm not sure it
was Shakespeare, and I don't give a hang. All I know is that Spring is
coming, and soon they'll begin getting the diamond in shape."
"Precious lot of good that will do you--or me, either. Hiram is as down
on me as he is on you."
"I know it, and I was going to speak of that, Tom. There's no use in
your losing a chance to play on the nine just because I'm on the outs.
Why don't you cut loose from me? You can get another room, and maybe if
you do----"
"Hold on!" cried Tom quickly. "Do you want me to go, old man?" and he
looked sharply at Joe.
"Nonsense! Of course you know I don't."
"Then drop that kind of talk, unless you want a fight on your hands. You
and I stick together, Hiram Shell or no Hiram Shell--and Luke Fodick."
"Well, I didn't know," spoke Joe softly.
"Here, come on; let's have a catch," proposed Tom. "I've got an old ball
that we used in one of the Star games. Get over there and sting some in
to me. Wait until I get my glove on," and he adjusted his mitt.
"Jove! This is like old times!" exclaimed Joe, as he lovingly fingered
the horsehide--dirty and stained as it was from many a clouting and
drive into the tall grass and daisies. "I wish we could go and see a
game, even if we couldn't play."
"Same here," came from Tom, as he crouched to receive the ball his chum
was about to deliver. Joe wound up and sent in a "hot" one. It landed
squarely in Tom's glove for the first-baseman (a position he sometimes
had played on the Stars) was not a half bad catcher.
"How was that?" asked Joe.
"Pretty good. Not quite over the plate, but you can get 'em there. Let
'em come about so," and Tom indicated a stone that would serve for home.
"Watch this," requested Joe as he wound up again and let drive.
"A beaut!" cried Tom. "Give me some more that way, and you'll have the
man out."
"Say, what are you fellows doing?" demanded a voice, and the two chums
looked up to see Hiram Shell gazing at them with mingled expressions on
his fleshy face.
"Oh, having a little practice," replied Joe easily. The feeling between
himself and the bully had nearly worn off, and they were on speaking, if
not on friendly terms.
"Practice for what?" demanded Hiram.
"Well, the baseball season opens pretty soon," went on Joe, "and Tom and
I sort of felt the fever in our veins to-day. Want to have a catch?"
"No," half snarled Hiram. "Say, did you fellows play ball before you
came here?" he demanded.
"Sure," put in Tom. "Joe was one of the best pitchers on the Silver
Stars."
"The Silver Stars? Never heard of 'em!" sneered Hiram.
"Oh, it was only an amateur nine," Joe admitted modestly. "Tom here was
first baseman, and we had some good country games."
"Huh! Maybe you came _here_ to play baseball!" suggested Hiram with a
leer. "Seems to me I heard that you had some such notion."
"Well, I have," asserted Joe confidently. "I like the game, and I'd give
a good deal to get on the nine. So would Tom, I guess."
"First base is filled," snapped Hiram.
"How about pitcher," asked Tom eagerly, anxious to put in a good word
for his chum. "I hear you need a new pitcher."
"Oh, you did; eh?" exclaimed the bully with an unpleasant laugh. "Well,
you've got another 'hear' coming. Besides, if there wasn't another
pitcher in the country, you wouldn't get a chance, Matson!"
"No?" queried Joe easily.
"No, and a dozen times no! What, you pitch? Say, you may have been all
right on a sand-lots team, but there's some class to Excelsior Hall. We
don't want any dubs on our nine. You think you might pitch on _my_ team?
I guess nixy! We want some fellow who can deliver the goods."
"Joe can!" exclaimed Tom eagerly.
"Aw, forget it!" sneered Hiram. "Why, you'd be knocked out of the box
first inning with some of the teams we play. You pitch! Ha! Ha! That's
pretty rich. I'll have to tell the fellows about this!"
"I didn't ask you to let me pitch," said Joe quietly though an angry
spot burned in either cheek.
"No, and you'd better not!" snapped Hiram. "You pitch! Ha! Ha! It makes
me laugh," and with a sneering look at Joe the bully strode off,
chuckling unpleasantly.