MOLLY INSISTS
As he leaped from the hayrack, Bunny glanced apprehensively toward the
diamond. It was a little after three, he knew, and he was afraid the
game had already begun. Even with the substitutes, Lakeville might be
holding her own; but he guessed shrewdly that Buck and Barrett and
Sheffield and the others would be pretty glad to see the remaining
members of the regular nine.
But something was clearly wrong. The Belden players were batting and
fielding fungoes and grounders, with not a single Lakeville fellow in
sight. Even the Lakeville bench was empty. And now, for the first time,
he became aware that no spontaneous cheer had greeted the arrival of
the Scouts. The scattering applause had come from the Belden fans; it
was no more than polite interest in their appearance at this eleventh
hour. Yes, something was decidedly wrong.
The patter of running feet and the flutter of swishing skirts spun him
around as abruptly as if some drillmaster had commanded, "About face!"
"Hello, Molly!" he said to the flushed girl who stood before him.
"Where are the other players?"
"They aren't coming," cried Molly Sefton breathlessly. "A wreck blocked
the track. And, oh, Bunny, they want to forfeit the game, and a mean
old man is going to make a speech and award the pennant to Belden,
and they can't postpone it till some other day because it's the end
of the season, and everybody thinks you are afraid to play for the
championship--afraid, Bunny! But you aren't, are you? And there are
nine of you boys here now, and--"
Bunny stopped her with a bewildered gesture. "Just a moment, Molly.
Let's understand all this." And he began to ply her with questions,
till the whole story was told. At its end, he nodded dubiously.
"And now you're here, at last," the girl said triumphantly, as if their
presence righted the universe.
"Yes, we 're here," Bunny admitted. "An hour or so ago, we didn't think
there was a chance of making it, either. You see, we were talking to
a farmer who didn't own an automobile and whose horses were all out.
He said that he didn't belong to any patrol, so far as he knew, but
that he guessed he must be a Boy Scout at heart, because he tried to
live up to all the laws of the organization. And then, all at once, he
remembered something, and slapped his knee, and said, 'Boys, I haven't
done my good turn to-day, and I've just thought of a way. My farm
tractor needs overhauling by the agency in Belden. I'll hitch it up to
a hayrack and haul you all there.' So he did."
"Wasn't that splendid!" said Molly, clapping her hands. "And just
think, there are exactly nine of you boys--enough for a baseball team!"
"Nine of us, yes," agreed Bunny, "but only three of the regular
Lakeville team, not counting Bi and myself, who are pitchers. Too many
substitutes, Molly. Still--" He paused doubtfully.
"Play them!" urged the girl. "Beat them! I just know you can do it--you
Scouts!"
Bunny considered. "I might use Bi behind the bat," he said, weakening,
"and I could pitch. With Roundy and Jump and Specs and--and S. S., we
would have a fairly good infield. Nap might do for center field, too."
He felt this was stretching the facts a bit, but he couldn't very well
say Nap was merely better than nobody. "Only--well, at the start of the
season, there were just two fellows in school who didn't try for the
team--Bonfire Cree and Prissy Prissler. I'd have to play them in right
and left fields."
"But Bonfire can bat," Molly declared loyally. "Don't you remember that
home run he knocked the first day of school?"
"It was an accident; he says so himself. You saw him fan on three
straight balls at your picnic afterward."
"He can bat," Molly insisted stubbornly. "I just know he can, if he
really has to. And Prissler will do his best to help you win. Besides,
Bunny, there's that mean old man who wants to give Belden the pennant,
and all those fans who will think you are afraid to play."
Bunny smiled at her. She was only a girl, of course, and she could not
be expected to understand the difficulties such a patched-up team must
encounter. But she believed in the Scouts; she had faith in them. After
all, however the game might go, they could not afford to sacrifice
Molly's friendship. And they might--just _might_--win!
"We'll play," he told her quietly. "Now, where's the Belden captain? I
wonder if he will allow us to practice for a few minutes."
The blue-eyed, freckle-faced leader of the home team came quickly
at Molly's call. "How are you, Payton?" he said, shaking hands with
the Lakeville captain. "Practice? Sure; as long as you like. Got
any uniforms or bats or gloves or balls? H'm! We can fix you up on
everything except uniforms, but--"
"Never mind them," Bunny interrupted. "We've walked and ridden forty
miles or so in these clothes we're wearing, and I guess we can play
baseball in them. Hi, fellows!"
The practice was disquieting. The infield might have been reasonably
air-tight except for the leak at third base. On that difficult corner
of the diamond, Substitute S. S. Zane speedily proved that stopping
sizzling grounders demanded more skill than he possessed. Out in the
field, Substitute Nap Meeker missed and snared flies for an average
of about .500, Substitute Bonfire Cree eventually managed to catch
one soaring fungo hit, and Substitute Prissy Prissler divided his
busy moments between muffing every ball that touched his hands and
misjudging all the rest.
The fans jeered openly. On the bench, the watchful Belden players tried
honestly to hide the pleased grins that kept curling their mouths.
Their blue-eyed, freckle-faced captain strode out to where Bunny was
warming up by pitching to Bi.
"If your team needs more time for practice," he offered generously,
"don't be afraid to ask for it."
Bunny plumped a singing inshoot into Bi's big pad before he answered.
"Thank you," he said. "We are ready to start the game any time now."
He watched a black-garbed man walk past, muttering to himself as if he
were rehearsing some speech. "And don't be too sure," he flung over
his shoulder at the Belden captain, "that you are going to win that
championship, either. You have to beat us first."