The next morning he walked out to the fair grounds, seeking direction from time to time from the people whom he passed.
There were perhaps a hundred students in the paddock watching the exercises. Punky Williams wriggled his way among them; his little ears receptive, his mouth close shut. Presently the crowd yelled and he craned over the enclosure rail. At the top of the course Bunny paused. With an air of passive interest, Punky Williams took out a stop watch, then fixed his eyes upon the figure up the course. He saw an arm thrust above his head and the sunlight glinted on the metal of the starter's pistol. He caught the time as the report rang out. And as Bunny high-stepped across the tape he shut his watch with a click and wriggled back to the rim of the crowd, observed in the moment's clamor by no one save a single small boy in a very grimy shirt-waist.
As the bells in the tower of the court-house opposite the hotel rang out the hour of noon, he burst in upon the loafing Giddings, who, at his friend's most obvious excitement exclaimed:
"What th' devil's th' matter; you look as though you'd seen a ghost?"
"Well! I have!" the breathless Punky puffed. "Giddings," he cried, "I've seen him! I held the watch on him. It wasn't his real speed,—and he came over the tape grinning; but—he did it in 10 1-5!"
Giddings with an expression of complete disgust upon his smooth, thin face, sat down again.
"Punky, you give me a pain!" he exclaimed. "A pain! Great Scott, man; don't you think there's any difference between 10 1-5 seconds and 9 4-5? Well, you'd better wake up. There's an hour, man; an hour!"
He opened his newspaper, deliberately; found the sporting page and commenced to read.
As for Punky Williams, he lighted another cigar and flinging himself upon the bed, blew copious clouds of light blue smoke to the cracked and grimy ceiling at which, the while, he stared fixedly, thoughtfully.
IV