Whether it was Arthur’s intention to throw the ball, or whether he was merely pretending to do so, Teddy never knew. He saw the ball hurtling toward him. Instinctively, he put up his hands to receive it, but it merely grazed the tips of his fingers and went sailing over the balcony rail.
The two boys stared at each other in silent horror.
“We’d better get out of here,” advised Arthur.
“I guess we had. Do you s’pose that——” Teddy tittered softly in spite of his consternation—“it hit anyone?”
“I donno. Hope not. Come on, let’s beat it!”
Teddy scuttled up the half flight of stairs to the upholstery department, most uneasy in mind. Suppose somebody had been hit? It would surely be a surprise. It would probably hurt, too. Then there was the ball itself. It ought to be put back in the department. Teddy delivered the note to the buyer of the upholstery and departed with all speed for the first floor.
When he arrived upon the spot where he decided the ball was likely to have landed, his expression of dismay deepened. A small group of salespersons and customers had surrounded a tall man with a pained expression, who held one hand to his head, while in the other hand he held a globular object which Teddy had no difficulty in identifying. The man rubbed his head ruefully, then as his hand descended, Teddy saw that there was no hair on the top of that head, only a pink, angry, glistening surface with a large bump rising on the middle of it.
“Whew!” breathed Teddy. “That certainly must have hurt him.” Turning, he walked quickly away. But after he was safely back in his department the memory of that maltreated bald head would not leave him. To be sure, it had been an accident, but if he and Arthur had been attending strictly to business it wouldn’t have happened. Now, how was the ball to be put back where it belonged? If he went forward to the group and frankly admitted his part in the affair, it would in all probability mean dismissal from the store for him. Teddy decided to ask Harry’s advice on the subject before committing himself. Although he had not known Harry long, he had come to lean upon his judgment.
It was a sober-faced little boy who wended his way slowly back to department 40.
“What’s the matter, Teddy?” hailed Sam Hickson as he saw the red-haired boy coming toward him, wearing an expression of deep dejection.