CHAPTER XXIV
MOLLY INSISTS
As he leaped from the hayrack, Bunny glanced apprehensively toward thediamond. It was a little after three, he knew, and he was afraid thegame had already begun. Even with the substitutes, Lakeville might beholding her own; but he guessed shrewdly that Buck and Barrett andSheffield and the others would be pretty glad to see the remainingmembers of the regular nine.
But something was clearly wrong. The Belden players were batting andfielding fungoes and grounders, with not a single Lakeville fellow insight. Even the Lakeville bench was empty. And now, for the first time,he became aware that no spontaneous cheer had greeted the arrival ofthe Scouts. The scattering applause had come from the Belden fans; itwas no more than polite interest in their appearance at this eleventhhour. Yes, something was decidedly wrong.
The patter of running feet and the flutter of swishing skirts spun himaround 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 blockedthe track. And, oh, Bunny, they want to forfeit the game, and a meanold 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 endof the season, and everybody thinks you are afraid to play for thechampionship--afraid, Bunny! But you aren't, are you? And there arenine 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 theirpresence righted the universe.
"Yes, we 're here," Bunny admitted. "An hour or so ago, we didn't thinkthere was a chance of making it, either. You see, we were talking toa 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, butthat he guessed he must be a Boy Scout at heart, because he tried tolive up to all the laws of the organization. And then, all at once, heremembered something, and slapped his knee, and said, 'Boys, I haven'tdone my good turn to-day, and I've just thought of a way. My farmtractor needs overhauling by the agency in Belden. I'll hitch it up toa hayrack and haul you all there.' So he did."
"Wasn't that splendid!" said Molly, clapping her hands. "And justthink, there are exactly nine of you boys--enough for a baseball team!"
"Nine of us, yes," agreed Bunny, "but only three of the regularLakeville team, not counting Bi and myself, who are pitchers. Too manysubstitutes, Molly. Still--" He paused doubtfully.
"Play them!" urged the girl. "Beat them! I just know you can do it--youScouts!"
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., wewould 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 wellsay Nap was merely better than nobody. "Only--well, at the start of theseason, there were just two fellows in school who didn't try for theteam--Bonfire Cree and Prissy Prissler. I'd have to play them in rightand left fields."
"But Bonfire can bat," Molly declared loyally. "Don't you remember thathome run he knocked the first day of school?"
"It was an accident; he says so himself. You saw him fan on threestraight balls at your picnic afterward."
"He can bat," Molly insisted stubbornly. "I just know he can, if hereally 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 notbe expected to understand the difficulties such a patched-up team mustencounter. But she believed in the Scouts; she had faith in them. Afterall, however the game might go, they could not afford to sacrificeMolly's friendship. And they might--just _might_--win!
"We'll play," he told her quietly. "Now, where's the Belden captain? Iwonder if he will allow us to practice for a few minutes."
The blue-eyed, freckle-faced leader of the home team came quicklyat Molly's call. "How are you, Payton?" he said, shaking hands withthe Lakeville captain. "Practice? Sure; as long as you like. Gotany uniforms or bats or gloves or balls? H'm! We can fix you up oneverything except uniforms, but--"
"Never mind them," Bunny interrupted. "We've walked and ridden fortymiles or so in these clothes we're wearing, and I guess we can playbaseball in them. Hi, fellows!"
The practice was disquieting. The infield might have been reasonablyair-tight except for the leak at third base. On that difficult cornerof the diamond, Substitute S. S. Zane speedily proved that stoppingsizzling grounders demanded more skill than he possessed. Out in thefield, Substitute Nap Meeker missed and snared flies for an averageof about .500, Substitute Bonfire Cree eventually managed to catchone soaring fungo hit, and Substitute Prissy Prissler divided hisbusy moments between muffing every ball that touched his hands andmisjudging all the rest.
The fans jeered openly. On the bench, the watchful Belden players triedhonestly to hide the pleased grins that kept curling their mouths.Their blue-eyed, freckle-faced captain strode out to where Bunny waswarming 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 hewere rehearsing some speech. "And don't be too sure," he flung overhis shoulder at the Belden captain, "that you are going to win thatchampionship, either. You have to beat us first."
Boy Scouts of Lakeville High Page 25