“‘I’m five, I am,’ says Tommy.
“‘Five years old! Well,’ ruminated the doctor, stopping at the gate as though he contemplated coming in, ‘what had I better do to a boy that’s got a birthday?’
“And Tommy speaks right up promptly: ‘You can’t! I’m sitting on it!’”
They had a lot of fun on the boat; but when the basketball team of Central High got into their gymnasium suits in the Lumberport High School dressing-room, they came down to serious thoughts again.
“We really must beat these girls,” said Laura, Mrs. Case being out of the room. “It’s all right to talk about being ‘good losers’ and all that. But we don’t want to be either good, or bad, losers all the time. We’ve lost enough in the past. It’s up to us to put Lumberport on the shelf!”
“Hear! hear!” cried Bobby. “That’s the talk.”
“We have usually been able to handle Lumberport at basketball,” continued Laura. “Let’s not make this an exception to a good rule.”
Even Roberta felt the inspiration of coming success before the game. The team had been practicing faithfully and there was no real reason why every member of it should not make a good showing. Mrs. Case encouraged them as they went on to the court, and the Central High crowd lined out the “yell” to greet them. There was a big audience, for the Lumberport school had a good field and the parents of the girls engaged were enthusiastic over basketball.
The ball was tossed up and Laura shot it over to Lily. Lily was a pretty sure player when she was not excited. It was safe to trust her during the first of any game. She now passed it quickly according to her captain’s signal, and to the right girl. The girls of Central High kept the ball in play for a couple of minutes, and entirely away from their opponents. Then Nellie got it for a good throw and—pop! the ball went into the basket.
“First goal—hurrah!” yelled the boys from Central High.