TOMMY GIVES A SHOW
“Are you much hurt, Jakie? How did it happen? Is your head cut?”
Tommy asked these questions of the lad, who lay so still and quiet on
the grass at the side of the roadway. He tried to lift Jakie’s head,
but it fell back, very limp at the neck.
“I—I guess he’s badly hurt,” murmured Tommy, and then he heard
someone running toward him. It was a man, from a nearby farmhouse.
“Say, you did the right thing!” the man exclaimed. “I saw you turn
that horse. Who is he?” and he pointed to Jakie.
Tommy told the name, also giving his own.
At that moment Jakie opened his eyes. Then he caught sight of Tommy.
“Did—did you stop that horse?” he asked, slowly.
Tommy nodded. Somehow, he was more glad at having done Jakie a good
turn than he would have been had he taken revenge on him for some of
the mean things the bully had done to him.
“Indeed, he did stop it!” exclaimed the farmer. “It was as plucky a
thing as I ever saw. Then, before the animal had a chance to drag you
along farther, he cut the lines. It was done good and proper, and you
can thank your lucky stars that you aren’t hurt any worse than you
are.”
“I want to thank him,” said Jakie, suddenly holding out his hand to
Tommy. “Say,” he went on, awkwardly, “will you—I mean I’m sorry for
what I did to you—I didn’t mean——”
“Do you think you can go home?” asked Tommy, of the lad who had been
his enemy.
“If you can’t I’ll hitch up and drive you in,” promised the farmer.
“Oh, I’m all right,” insisted Jakie. “Just a little dizzy. I can
walk.”
“I’ll go with you,” volunteered Tommy.
For a while, as they walked along, there was an awkward silence
between the boys. They did not know what to say to each other. Jakie
wanted to tell Tommy how he regretted being so mean, and Tommy did
not want to make his new friend feel badly by letting him do it.
“Do you think you can manage to walk home?” asked Tommy, at length,
to start some talk.
“Oh, yes. Say, how is your ball nine coming on?”
“Pretty good. We play every Saturday, and sometimes in the middle of
the week. Have you seen our diamond?”
“Yes, and it’s pretty good for kids—I mean for boys like you to fix
up,” and Jakie corrected himself quickly. “It’s a good back-stop you
have.”
“Yes, Old Johnny Green helped us make it.”
“Humph! He’s the man who saved you from the water wheel. Say, I’m
real sorry about that. Sam and I never dreamed you were on it, and——”
“Oh, I know,” interrupted Tommy, quickly. “Don’t worry about that.
I—can’t we—that is, can’t we be friends?” he asked. “I—er—that is——”
“Say, will you?” asked Jakie, eagerly. “I would like to be friends
with you. It was all my fault, and——”
“It was partly mine, too,” went on Tommy. “I—I guess I shouldn’t have
got so mad that time you took my bat.”
“Honestly, that was only a joke,” explained Jakie. “I saw you were a
new boy in town, and I wanted to have some fun with you.”
“Then it’s all right,” answered the young captain. “Come to our games
sometimes,” he invited. “Of course, we’re not very good players, but
we have lots of fun.”
“Sure I’ll come. Say, you’ve got quite a nine, I think. Have all the
lads got uniforms?”
“No, and I wish they did have. We have some challenges from a lot of
uniformed teams, and our boys don’t look good next to the fellows
with suits on. But we haven’t the money yet, and some of the lads
can’t raise the cash themselves. We’re going to have a show soon, and
try to make some money.”
“Are you? Say, that’s a good way.”
The boys walked on in silence for some little distance farther, and
though Jakie was very lame and stiff, and had a number of bruises,
his heavy clothing, and the fact that the road was covered with a
layer of soft dust, had saved him from a serious injury.
“I’m going to stop at Mr. Armstrong’s on my way home,” he said, after
a while, “and ask if the horse got back all right. He might think it
was my fault.”
The horse was back in his stable when Tommy and Jakie reached the
Armstrong farmhouse, and Mr. Armstrong, very much worried by the
return of the steed alone, and by the cut ends of the line, was about
to start off in search of Jakie.
As Tommy and his new friend were proceeding on toward their homes,
the larger lad turned suddenly to his companion, and asked:
“Say, wouldn’t you fellows like to take my moving-picture magic
lantern for your show?”
“Say! I just guess we would!” cried Tommy, in delight. “But it’s a
big machine, isn’t it? It might get damaged.”
“I’ll take a chance,” replied Jakie, good-naturedly. “I’ll run it for
you myself, if you’ll let me. I’d like to do you some favor for what
you did for me to-day.”
“Thanks,” answered Tommy. “It would be fine if you’d run the lantern.
I’ve been wondering if we could get up anything good enough to charge
ten cents admission for, and the lantern will be just the thing.”
“I’ve got some good funny views,” went on Jakie.
“Then come over to my house to-night,” invited Tommy, “and we’ll talk
about it. Some of the other boys are going to be there.”
And from then on, for a week or more, the activities of Tommy were
equally divided between baseball and the coming show. In fact, he
gave more time to the show, which seemed as if it was going to be
a good one—that is, if enough of the boys were left to make up an
audience.
Finally, the afternoon of the performance came. It was on a Saturday,
when there was no ball game, and the show was to be given again in
the evening.
I haven’t the space to tell you all about it, but I will say that it
was a great success. Tommy, as a clown, created much laughter, and
when the boys did a scene from a dentist’s office, behind a sheet,
with a light so arranged as to make shadow pictures, the audience
laughed again and again.
The moving-picture machine, operated by Jakie, more than came up to
expectations, for some really good views were shown. The performance
came to a close by a grand finale in which “the full strength of the
company” was used, to quote from the pencil-printed handbills.
The show was given again at night, when a larger crowd came,
including a number of men and women, who had been teased into it by
their boys and girls, who had been to the afternoon performance.
“Well, how did we make out?” asked Teddy of Tommy that night, when
the last act had been given.
“Pretty well, I guess,” answered the young captain, as he counted
over the money. “Here’s a nickel with a hole in!” he exclaimed. “I
wonder who passed that on us?”
“Oh, never mind,” said Teddy. “We can get four cents for it almost
anywhere. How much did we make?”
“Five dollars and fourteen cents,” announced Tommy, after adding up
some figures on a piece of paper. “It would have been five-fifteen
only for that plugged nickel.”
“Then we can all have uniforms!” exclaimed Frank Bonder, who was one
of the lads who could not afford a suit. He had worked hard for the
show, however, and had sold seventy-five cents’ worth of tickets.
“Sure we’ll have the uniforms,” decided Tommy. “It was great, and
that moving-picture machine was best of all. We’re much obliged to
you, Jakie.”
“Oh, that’s all right. I’m going to get some new views, and I’ll help
you out next time you have a show.”
“That’s fine!” exclaimed the lads in a chorus, and Jakie felt his
heart warmly glowing. It was nice, he thought, to have so many new
friends.