Off came the knot of ribbon and Jimmy handed it over to Frank.
“I don’t want it back,” he declared. “Keep it, won’t you, sir?”
Frank put him down.
“Yes,” he said, “I’ll keep it; but how can I pay you for it? If there is anything——”
“I don’t want pay; but I’d like to have something to remember you by—anything you’ll give me.”
Frank pinned Jimmy’s ribbon to his breast, while Jimmy looked on with mist-dimmed eyes, feeling so proud that it did not seem that there was room enough in his breast for his swelling heart.
Then Merry felt in his pockets for something. He paused and thought a moment. All at once it came to him, and he quickly found a small ribbon badge, having crossed batsticks at the top, a bit of blue with a white Y upon it, and a silver baseball dangling at the bottom.
How Jimmy’s eyes danced when he saw that! He almost shouted for joy. Then came the apprehension that Frank did not really and truly mean to give it to him, and his heart stood still in anxious dread.
“Will that do?” Merry asked.
“Will it?” gasped Jimmy. “Will it do! Just ask me! Oh, say! I’ll keep it just as long as I live!”