THE BULLY SNEERS
“Well, you ought to get out a patent on this,” remarked Joe, when they resumed the eating of the pie and the drinking of the pop, following the withdrawal of the professor.
“You sure had,” agreed Tom. “Let Joe give you some points. His father has taken out several patents.”
“Oh, I guess we’ll make it free for all—any fellow is welcome to the idea,” replied Teeter. “So your dad’s an inventor, eh, Matson?”
“Yes, harvester machinery—his latest was a corn reaper and binder, and he nearly lost it,” and Joe briefly told how Isaac Benjamin and Rufus Holdney had nearly ruined his father, as related in detail in “Baseball Joe of the Silver Stars.”
“Ever hear anything more of those fellows?” asked Tom, following the recital of the schemes of the plotters.
“No, they seem to have disappeared,” answered Joe. “They cleared out after dad won his case in the courts. But he’s on the watch for them, he told me. His business isn’t all settled yet, and there is some danger. But I guess Benjamin or Holdney won’t bother him, though some other rascals may.”
“Anything more to eat?” asked Peaches, during the pause that followed.
“Say, what are you, a human refrigerator?” demanded Teeter. “I couldn’t carry any more pie if I tried.”
“It’ll be our treat next time,” observed Joe. “Why didn’t George Bland come with you?”