"I think they wanted to quit," Bobbie went on, "but Tim jawed them—you know—and they went along."
Don could find no comfort in that, either. The inning was over. It was Little Falls' turn to go to bat. He took a few steps toward the diamond, and paused.
"Come on, Don," called Ted.
He turned back. "Wait here with your bike," he said quickly. "Have you a wrench? Raise the seat."
There was no use pretending that he did not care. And his duty, he thought, was clear. He could ride after Tim and overtake him before he had gone very far. What sort of patrol leader would he be to let two of his scouts break faith with the Scoutmaster and not fight to the very last to bring them back? For it was breaking faith. Mr. Wall had not dreamed that they would do anything like this.
He was on fire now for the game to end. In his eagerness he began to pitch wildly. The first batter got a base on balls.
Ted walked down to him. "Steady, there; you're pitching too fast."
Don saw that if he gave bases on balls he would prolong the struggle.
Though it was torture for him to go slow, he fought his desire to hurry.
But it was impossible to lose himself in the game. The edges of his skill
were blunted. Little Falls began to hit freely again.
Two runs came over the plate before the third player was out. The score was now 5 to 2.
"Arm tired?" asked Ted.