Mr. Sefton took the message from Horace Hibbs and smoothed it upon his knee. "H'm! No time mentioned; no name of the place where they are stranded. But they will know at the Belden station. I will get in touch with the team by telephone; then we will see what can be done." And with a final admonition not to worry, he was gone.
With troubled eyes, Molly Sefton and Horace Hibbs followed his course across the park. Once, near the ball players on the diamond, he seemed to hesitate, as if to offer them some explanation; then, with a shrug of his shoulders, he marched on without stopping. Again, near home plate, he turned his head at the call of the pompous man who meant to award the pennant to Belden. Even from where they sat, the girl and the Scout Master could see Mr. Sefton smile and nod confidently. He believed the Lakeville team would yet arrive safely, and he meant to make the important person believe it, too.
"Good old Dad!" beamed Molly. She squirmed sideways on her seat. "Talk to me, Horace Hibbs. Tell me the team will come. Tell me it will be here in time. It must, you know; it just must!"
"Of course," said Horace Hibbs simply, "it will come." There was something so earnest in the boyish way he said it, and in the plausible reasons he gave later for expecting the missing team, that Molly felt her courage warming again. The twin worried lines from the top of her nose to the middle of her forehead ironed out; the corners of her mouth quirked into the forerunner of an honest smile.
In the meantime, though, the minutes had been ticking away. It was a quarter of three now. Up and down the stands, impatient fans, who could not understand why the Lakeville nine did not take the field for practice, were shuffling their feet uneasily, and calling, "Play ball! Play ball!"
The messenger came a second time. He knew now where to find Horace Hibbs, and he was holding out the scribbled paper before either Molly or the Scout Master saw him. It read:
We are leaving to walk around wreck to Elkana, where conductor tells us they may start another train for Belden, to take place of one held up by blocked track.—Leland.
"Wait!" Molly called to the boy as he was turning away. "Where did you get this?"
"Long-distance telephone to the grand-stand over there."
Molly dismissed him with a wave of her hand. "Then Dad won't know where to reach the team," she said, puckering her mouth as she thought rapidly. "You must find him here at the station, Horace Hibbs, and tell him to call up Elkana. Run along. Don't waste a minute. If they are really coming, I will keep this game from starting till they get here."