CHAPTER II.
HARRY GETS INTO DIFFICULTY.
"Gracious, Harry, that's the time you did it!"
"Old Stovepipe's hat is ruined forever!"
"I'll bet he's madder than a nest of hornets!"
So the talk ran on, as Harry cast away the bat and hurried down into the field. In the meantime Mr. Montgomery Jadell had scrambled up and was bending down looking for his spectacles, which had fallen off.
"Here are your glasses, sir," said the boy who was playing centerfield, as he picked them up and handed them over.
"You—you young rascals!" gasped the school principal. "What do you mean by attacking me in this—this atrocious fashion?"
"Oh, Mr. Jadell, I didn't mean to hit you!" called out Harry, as he came up.
"Ah! so it was you who threw the ball at me, eh?" And the teacher glared savagely at the boy.
"I didn't throw it. I was at the bat and when I hit the ball it flew in this direction."
"Humph! it amounts to the same thing." Mr. Montgomery Jadell felt of his somewhat bald head. "Whe—where's my hat?"
"Here it is, sir," answered the fielder, and picked up the battered headgear.
"What!" The principal gazed at the hat in consternation. "The—the—yes, the top is knocked out! Oh, you young villain! How dare you do such a thing!"
"I hadn't the slightest intention of hitting you or the hat, Mr. Jadell."
"Ha! don't tell me! I know better! Do you know, sir, that that hat cost me six dollars?" The school principal was rather a close man and six dollars meant much to him.
"Well, I suppose I'll have to get you another," answered Harry ruefully. He wondered where he was to obtain the money.
"You will certainly have to do that, young man. But that is not all. Do you think I am going to allow you to attack me in this fashion? No, indeed!"
"As I said before, it was an accident. I——"
"Nonsense! I know better, Westmore. You are angry at me because I made you stay in yesterday and the day before, and I presume in your way you thought you'd get square."
"No, sir, I——"
"Don't contradict me, young man, don't contradict me! I know! You shall pay for the hat; and I'll settle the rest of the matter in school to-morrow!" And thus speaking, Mr. Montgomery Jadell stalked from the field, leaving the whole crowd of boys staring after him in wonder.
"Isn't he a peach, though?" came softly from Link. "He's the meekest man I ever met."
"I guess I've put my foot into it," groaned Harry. "Ten chances to one he'll tell father I did it on purpose."
"Well, we can prove that you didn't," put in Fred.
"He had a right to watch out fer himself, when he was crossin' the field," came from Teddy Dugan. "He knew he might be hit."
"That's a fact," said Bart. "Strictly speaking, it was his business to keep off the field."
A number of the village folks, including several men, had gathered around to watch the game and all agreed that Bart was right.
"This green is a playground," said one of the men. "The schoolmaster should have kept away from it."
The game was resumed and although Harry had lost much of his interest, he managed to play his position creditably and when the five innings were finished the score stood 11 to 12 in favor of Fred's side. Fred himself had made two of the runs and Harry had made three. By this time it was dark, and the boys lost no time in scattering for their homes.
"We'll certainly have to organize a regular baseball club," said Fred to Link, "and the sooner the better."
"Well, I'm in for it," answered Link. "I'll tell you where we can have our clubroom! On the top floor of my father's carpenter shop. We might have had our quarters up there last winter only it was too cold. But it will make a dandy place during the summer."
"That's worth remembering, Link. Let us tell the other fellows, when we get together again."
As Joe and Harry hurried homeward they talked over the affair of the ruined silk hat.
"How much money have you saved up, Harry?" asked his brother.
"A dollar and fifty cents."
"I've got the same. That makes three dollars. I don't think the hat cost more than that. Besides, it was old."
"He said it cost six dollars."
"Oh, bother! Well, if it did, you'll have to ask father for the rest of the money—or mother."
"I'd like to know if he went down to the store and told father," went on Harry, uneasily.
"Oh, I guess not."
But Joe was mistaken; Mr. Montgomery Jadell had lost no time in making his way to the flour and feed establishment run by Horace Westmore. He had found Harry's father busy over the books.
"How do you do, Mr. Jadell," had been Mr. Westmore's pleasant greeting. "What can I do for you?"
"Please to look at that hat, Mr. Westmore!" And the article was slammed down on the counter.
"Dear me! You've had quite an accident."
"Accident?" snorted the school principal. "No accident at all, sir. Your boy Harry did that, sir."
"Harry?"
"That is what I said, sir."
"How did he come to do it?"
"It was done deliberately, with a baseball, just because I kept him after school yesterday and the day before."
At this answer Horace Westmore's face grew stern. He thought much of his sons, but he expected them to behave themselves.
"You are sure of this, Mr. Jadell?"
"I am, sir—positive."
"I am sorry to hear of this. I will question Harry as soon as I go home."
"He has got to buy a new hat," continued the teacher.
"I will see that he does so—if it was his fault, as you say."
"Aren't you willing to take my word for it, Mr. Westmore?" fumed Montgomery Jadell.
"I'd like to hear what my son has to say. You are sure it was not an accident?"
"I am—and he must get me a new hat very soon!" grumbled the school principal, and stalked out of the store exactly as he had stalked off of the ball field. He was very set in his ways and never willing to listen to another person's side of a story.
When Joe and Harry returned home they had several chores to do, and having finished these they washed up for supper. They had scarcely finished when their father entered.
"Harry, Mr. Jadell has told me a pretty bad story about you," said Mr. Westmore. "What have you to say for yourself?"
"It was purely an accident, father," was the youth's reply, and told of the affair exactly as it had occurred.
"You are sure that you did not intend to hit him?"
"I did not."
"He was in very bad humor over it."
"He is always in a bad humor lately," put in Joe.
"Why did he keep you in yesterday and the day before, Harry?"
"Because I talked to Link Darrow once and because I dropped the big dictionary on the floor. The reason I spoke to Link was because he had my history and couldn't study without the book. I tried to explain to Mr. Jadell, but he wouldn't listen."
"Hum!" Mr. Westmore mused for a moment. "You seem to have gotten into hot water all around. You'll have to get the teacher another silk hat."
"I'll do it."
"Have you got the money?"
"I've got some, and Joe is going to lend me some," answered Harry, evasively. He did not wish to ask his parent for a loan just then.
"Very well; you settle with the teacher and I'll say no more," said Mr. Westmore, and sat down to the supper table. He thought that by letting Harry pay for the damage done he would be teaching the boy a valuable lesson.
"You got off rather easy after all," remarked Joe, when the meal was over, and he and his brother had gone out into the yard. "But you've got to settle with the teacher next, and raise the money for the hat. Where are you going to get that other three dollars?"
"Oh, I'll raise it somehow," answered Harry. "But if Old Stovepipe tries to make an example of me to-morrow I'm not going to stand for it, I can tell you that!"
"Why don't you go down to Mr. Carew's store and find out just how much such a silk hat is worth."
"I'll do it."
Joe had some work to do for his mother, so Harry went on his errand alone. Mr. Carew's establishment was of the department store variety, with one part devoted to shoes, another to hats, and another to general furnishings.
"So you want to find out the price of a silk hat?" said the storekeeper. "Want it for yourself, I suppose," and he laughed at his little joke.
"No, Mr. Carew, I want one for Mr. Jadell. I spoilt his to-day and I want to get him another like it."
"Oh, yes, my clerk was telling me about that. Well, I reckon I can fix you up."
"What is such a hat worth?"
"Well, the regular price was six dollars, but as it was a bit out of style I let Mr. Jadell have it for five."
"Can you get me another like it?"
"To be sure. I've got the mate right in my case now—same style, size and all."
"Then please keep it for me until I come for it."
"When will you come?"
"To-morrow, if I can, or else the day after."
"Very well, I'll keep the hat for you," answered the storekeeper.