Todd's sunburned face grew so red, as his mother unconsciously stumbled upon the motto that he had chosen, that he turned a somersault on the kitchen floor to hide his embarrassment. He need not have been so confused, for she was always saying such things.
"'I stopped and read it through twice'"[ToList]
Sales were not always so good as they were the first hot morning. Many a day Todd wandered all over the little town, stopping at every door, only to be met by a disappointing "no." Many a time, when the hot pavements burned his bare feet and he was tired and discouraged, he longed for the wheel which he hoped would some day be his; and every evening, on his way home, he stopped to look in at Stark Brothers' window, to feast his eyes on that bicycle inside.
One evening, as he stood looking in, Chicky Wiggins slipped up and slapped him on the back in his friendly way. "Hullo, Todd," he called, "admiring my wheel, are you? I'm letting it stay in there awhile to accommodate Stark Brothers, but the truth is I've been thinking seriously of having to take it out. The company sends me on such long errands that I seem to be getting more walking than the doctor prescribed. It doesn't agree with me."
"You mean my wheel," laughed Todd. "I'll lend it to you sometimes, Chicky, my son, if you'll promise to be good."
"I say, Todd," said Chicky, giving him a quizzical glance, "I'd give a doughnut to know what motto you and Ab chose."
Todd grinned. "You won't have much longer to wait," he said. "Time is nearly up, and we'll know our fate in another ten days."
The last week in August, the three men whom the boys had selected to decide their case met in Judge Parker's office.