At Lovell's Grounds
On the way home Ben met James Watson.
"How are you, James?" he said. "What have you been doing this morning?"
James gaped.
"The fact is," he said, "I have only just got up and had my breakfast."
"I don't see how you can lie abed so late."
"Oh, I can do it just as easy. I guess I was born sleepy."
"You look so," retorted Bed, with a laugh.
"What have you been doing?" inquired James lazily.
"I've been about in search of a place."
"You have!" said James, with sudden interest. "Did you find any?"
"Yes, I found three."
"What!" exclaimed James, in surprise.
"I was offered three places."
"Which did you take?"
"I didn't take any; I didn't like them."
"You are too particular, Ben. Just tell me where they are; I'll accept
one."
"All right!" said Ben. "I'll give you all the information you require.
The first is a dry-goods store."
"I'd like to be in a dry-goods store. What's the pay?"
"Fifty cents a week for the first year."
"Faugh!" ejaculated James, disgusted. "What's the second place?"
"Experiment clerk at the druggist's."
"Good pay?"
"I don't know."
"What are the duties?"
"To taste all the medicines, to make sure there's no poison in them.
The druggist offered me a pill, to begin with, about as large as my
head."
"I wouldn't take it for a hundred dollars a week. What's the third?"
"In a cigar store. The pay is three dollars a week."
"That's better than nothing. Where is it? I guess I'll take it."
"I don't think you'll like the duties," said Ben, laughing.
"I wouldn't mind selling cigars."
"That isn't what you're wanted for. You are to be painted red, and
stand outside as an Indian."
"That's the worst yet. I don't wonder you didn't take any of those
chances. What are you going to do this afternoon?"
"Try and find some more places."
"Leave that till tomorrow. You know there's going to be a big picnic
at Lovell's Grounds, with all sorts of athletic sports. There are prizes
for wrestling, jumping, and so on."
"I would like it well enough, but I can't afford to go."
"There'll be nothing to pay. Father subscribed for two tickets, so I've
got a spare one. Come, will you go?"
"Yes, I will, and thank you."
"Then come round to the house as soon as you've got through dinner."
"All right! I'll come."
"I suppose you haven't found a place?" said Mrs. Bradford when Ben
entered.
"Not yet."
"I don't know what's going to become of us if you don't," said Aunt
Jane mournfully.
"Don't get discouraged so quick, aunt. I've only been looking round
one forenoon. Besides, I've been offered a place, and declined it."
"Declined it! What could you have been thinking of?"
Ben then told his aunt of the place at the druggist's. He thought he
would not mention the others.
"If you'd taken it, we might have got our medicine cheaper," said
Aunt Jane, who did not comprehend a joke, and understood the
offer literally.
"I should have got mine for nothing," said Ben, laughing, "and more
than I wanted, too."
"What pay would you get?"
"I didn't ask. The first pill the druggist offered me was too much for
me. So I respectfully declined the position."
"Pills are excellent for the constitution," said Mrs. Bradford, in a
rather reproachful tone. "I never could get you to take them,
Benjamin. Some day you'll lose your life, perhaps, because you are
so set against them."
"I can't say I hanker after them, aunt," said Ben good humoredly.
"However, you see, I might have had a place, so you mustn't get
discouraged so quick."
"Will you stay at home this afternoon, Ben?" asked little Tony.
"I can't Tony; I have an engagement with James Watson. Aunt Jane,
if I am late to supper, don't be frightened."
Ben found James ready and waiting. They set out at once.
Lovell's Grounds were situated a mile and a half away; they
comprised several acres, sloping down to a pond, which was
provided with pleasure boats. The grounds were frequently
hired by parties from neighboring towns, having been fitted up
especially for the enjoyment of a crowd. To-day they were
engaged by a young people's association, and the program
included, among other things, some athletic sports.
The grounds were pretty well filled when the two boys arrived. In
fact, the performance had already commenced.
"You're just in time for the fun, boys," said George Herman, a
mutual acquaintance, coming up to meet them.
"Why, what's up George?"
"There is to be a fat man's race of two hundred yards, for a prize of
five dollars."
"Who are going to enter?"
"Tom Hayden, the landlord of the Milltown House, and Jim
Morrison, the tailor. One weighs two hundred and fifty, the other
two hundred and forty-three."
"Good!" laughed Ben. "That will be fun. Where do they start from?"
"There! Don't you see that chalk-mark? And there come the men."
There was a level track laid out, extending two hundred yards, which
was used for such occasions, and this was one of the attractive
features of Lovell's Grounds.
The two men advanced to the starting-line, each accoutered for the
race. They had divested themselves of their coats, and stood in
shirt-sleeves, breathing hard already, in anticipation of the race.
Their bulky forms appeared to great advantage, and excited
considerable amusement. Tom Hayden, who was rather the heavier
of the two, had encircled his waist with a leather strap, which
confined it almost as closely as a young lady's waist. This was by
advice of Frank Jones, a young fellow noted as a runner.
"I don't think I can stand it, Frank," said Hayden, gasping for breath.
"Oh, yes, you can, Mr. Hayden. You'll see how it will help you."
"I can hardly breathe. You've got it too tight."
Frank Jones loosened it a little, and then turned to Morrison.
"Won't you have a girdle, too, Mr. Morrison?" he asked.
"Not much. I don't want to be suffocated before I start. Have you
made your will, Hayden?"
"Not yet, I will make it after I have won the prize."
"Are you ready, gentlemen?" asked Frank Jones, who officiated as
starter.
"As ready as I ever expect to be," answered Hayden, trying to draw a
long breath, and failing.
"Then, start at the word three. One! Two! Three!"
Amid shouts of applause, the two fat men started. It cannot be said
they started like arrows from the bow, but they certainly exerted
themselves uncommonly. Their faces grew red with the efforts they
made, and their colossal legs hurried over the ground as fast as could
reasonably be expected.
"I could beat them easily," said James Watson.
"Of course you could. Just wait till you've got as much to carry.
Look! there's Morrison down!"
It was true. Somehow one of Morrison's legs entangled with the
other, and he tumbled and rolled over and over.
"Go in and win, Hayden!" shouted fifty voices to his gasping competitor.
About seventy-five yards remained to be traversed. It look as if
Hayden could win the race with opposition. But he was quite out of
breath. He pressed both hands on his stomach, stopped, and
deliberately sat down on the track.
"Don't give it up!" yelled the crowd. "Keep on, and the prize is
yours!"
"I can't," gasped Hayden, "and I wouldn't for five times the prize. I
don't want it."
So the prize was not awarded, but the crowd had their fun, and the
two fat competitors sat down together to rest under a tree. They did
not recover from their efforts for at least an hour.
"Is there to be a boys' race?" asked Ben.
"Yes, the boys' race is next in order. You'd better enter."
"I will," said Ben. "What's the prize?"
"Five dollars."
Ben's eyes sparkled.
"If I could only win it," he thought, "it would be equal to a week's
pay at the factory."