“Say, we ought to get a hammer, knock out some of these nails and save ’em,” proposed Tommy. “We’ll need all the nails we can get to put up the back-stop.”
“That’s a good idea,” declared Joie Grubb. “I’ll ask Mr. Fillmore for the hammer.”
One was supplied, and many nails were pulled out, being carefully saved to be straightened and used again. Box after box was taken, some large and some small. A number of the boys had hand wagons, and on these they piled the boxes. It made quite a procession when they were ready to start for the ball field, as there were eight or ten boys and nearly half a dozen carts.
“Say, what’s going on?” asked Mr. Wentworth, the hardware merchant, who had a store next to the florist’s. “Are those boys going to have an election bonfire?”
“They’re going to make a baseball back-stop,” explained Mr. Fillmore. “That’s a plucky chap at the head of the nine—Tommy Tiptop.” And he related how our hero had gone on the errand for him and had had the idea about using the old packing cases.
“Say, that’s the kind of boys I like!” exclaimed the hardware man. “Boys who do things. If they want any nails for their back-stop, just you tell ’em I’ll supply all they need for nothing. They’ve got pluck to start a small nine, and I’d like to see ’em play some time. The big team here is so professional, and they depend so much on the pitcher, that it’s no fun watching them play sometimes.”
“That’s right,” agreed Mr. Fillmore. “Some day you and I will go and see these small chaps play an old-fashioned game of ball, without much regard for the rules—the same kind of a game you and I played when we were youngsters.”
“Oh, but the game is different now,” said the hardware man. “You’ll find that these small chaps know almost as much about the rules as their bigger brothers. But that Tommy Tiptop has certainly started things moving around here. I like that kind of a boy.”
Spring was turning into summer, and it was fine baseball weather, the boys thought, as they turned into the field which they had made into a fairly good diamond and where they intended to start their back-stop.
They had already played several practice games, and they did very well. Everyone said Tommy made a fine captain.