"It was an accident; he says so himself. You saw him fan on three straight balls at your picnic afterward."
"He can bat," Molly insisted stubbornly. "I just know he can, if he really has to. And Prissler will do his best to help you win. Besides, Bunny, there's that mean old man who wants to give Belden the pennant, and all those fans who will think you are afraid to play."
Bunny smiled at her. She was only a girl, of course, and she could not be expected to understand the difficulties such a patched-up team must encounter. But she believed in the Scouts; she had faith in them. After all, however the game might go, they could not afford to sacrifice Molly's friendship. And they might—just might—win!
"We'll play," he told her quietly. "Now, where's the Belden captain? I wonder if he will allow us to practice for a few minutes."
The blue-eyed, freckle-faced leader of the home team came quickly at Molly's call. "How are you, Payton?" he said, shaking hands with the Lakeville captain. "Practice? Sure; as long as you like. Got any uniforms or bats or gloves or balls? H'm! We can fix you up on everything except uniforms, but—"
"Never mind them," Bunny interrupted. "We've walked and ridden forty miles or so in these clothes we're wearing, and I guess we can play baseball in them. Hi, fellows!"
The practice was disquieting. The infield might have been reasonably air-tight except for the leak at third base. On that difficult corner of the diamond, Substitute S. S. Zane speedily proved that stopping sizzling grounders demanded more skill than he possessed. Out in the field, Substitute Nap Meeker missed and snared flies for an average of about .500, Substitute Bonfire Cree eventually managed to catch one soaring fungo hit, and Substitute Prissy Prissler divided his busy moments between muffing every ball that touched his hands and misjudging all the rest.
The fans jeered openly. On the bench, the watchful Belden players tried honestly to hide the pleased grins that kept curling their mouths. Their blue-eyed, freckle-faced captain strode out to where Bunny was warming up by pitching to Bi.
"If your team needs more time for practice," he offered generously, "don't be afraid to ask for it."
Bunny plumped a singing inshoot into Bi's big pad before he answered.