Ralph Henry Barbour

“ And then, suddenly, like a bolt from the blue, came a sharp crack of the bat and Jordan was racing to first! And the dirty, white sphere was a gray streak against the green turf, the second baseman was rolling over and over after an unsuccessful attempt to stop the ball, and the rightfielder was scurrying in for it! And Jordan was rounding first now and flying like a rabbit for second! Fielder got the ball and threw, but the throw was hurried and shortstop had to step a couple of paces off base to catch it, and before he could tag the runner the latter was safe. ”

“ Of course all the patrons of The Ark were not commercial travelers. Prosperous looking gentlemen inclined toward stoutness were taken to the paper mill or the cotton mill; hurried, worried-looking men were whirled over to the railroad shops; and now and then a lady traveler stepped with evident misgiving into the car and was whisked to some residence on The Hill. And so, by the middle of August, the Benton and Morris Transportation had just about all the business it could handle during the day, while in the evenings it grew to be the exception when The Ark was not out on the road with a party. ”

“ From somewhere around a corner came the tinkle of a piano and, further up the street, Mr. Canton’s setter puppy was barking ferociously at the moon. But for these sounds, each of which seemed a part of the summer night, all was silence, the silence of a stifling August [204] evening when not a leaf stirs and even the moonlight seems hot. Willard ran a finger around inside the low collar he wore and assumed the rôle of treasurer.
“I tell you right now, Tom,” he began, “you’re going to be surprised, awfully surprised.”
“I am, eh?” asked Tom uneasily. “All right. I can stand it. Go ahead.” ”

“ Tom scowled. “We make that much in two months,” he said.
“Not clear, you don’t,” was the reply. “Not after paying for gasoline and repairs and all. But supposing you do, Benton, how long is it going to keep up? When you’re paying another fellow to run your bus for you how much are you going to make? Besides, I’ve been thinking it might be a good plan to put on an automobile myself. They say they’re considerably cheaper than horses.”
“I dare say there’d be room for both of us,” replied Willard smoothly. “I don’t think we care to sell out, Mr. Connors.” ”

“ Jerry and Spider were concocting marvelous beverages on the back porch with the aid of much ice, a bowl of sugar, three lemons and a bottle of vanilla flavoring extract. Tom and Willard sampled the concoction, and, from motives of diplomacy, voted it fine. Then, resolutely declining second helpings, they unfolded their story, and Jerry was instantly filled with wild enthusiasm. ”

“ Why shouldn’t we carry trunks as well as people, Tom? As it is now, even if we get a passenger he has to have Connors bring his trunk up for him. We might as well do that as Connors. And, besides, there’s lots of money to be made hauling stuff from the freight house to the shops. If we get ahead by the end of the summer we could very easily buy a light truck; you can get one for about twelve hundred.”
“Twelve hundred!” Tom stared at Willard as though he suspected his friend of having lost his senses. ”

“ Changing gears was a noisy operation with Tom and he had a way of swinging around corners without releasing his clutch or using his brake that was more spectacular than scientific. Willard, on the other hand, could go from low to second and through to high without the occupant of the back seat suspecting it, could keep the speed even without apparent effort and was a much saner chap at the corners. He never, however, quite got over his awe of the car and the engine remained to him a wonderful mystery to the end. ”

“ But Tom shook his head.
“That’s where the express wagons back up,” he said. “They’d be mad and put me out. I guess we’ll have to leave her here, Will.”
“They ought to have more platform,” replied Willard. “This is a punk old station, anyway. Look here, Tom, we ought to have a sign or something on the car to let folks know that it’s public. We didn’t think of that.”
“I guess there are lots of things we haven’t thought of,” sighed Tom as he stopped the engine. “You fellows will have to get out when the train comes in. Then, if I don’t catch anyone, you can get back again.” ”

“ You watch him, fellows. He’s a wonder. Used to pitch for Waterbury, Doyle did. Of course, he wasn’t a first-string man, but he was pretty good. I saw him pitch five innings once against New Haven and there wasn’t a hit made off him. If he hadn’t passed four men there wouldn’t have been a score!”
“Well, if he passes four men to-day it will help a lot,” said Tom with a laugh. “Why didn’t he stick to baseball, Jimmy?”
“Oh, he got married and had to earn money. So he went into the mill. He hasn’t played ball for a couple of years, I guess, but I don’t suppose he’s forgotten how.” ”

“ Painting certainly makes your arm ache.”
“You bet it does. Who is going to pitch this afternoon, Will?”
“Chester, they say. I suppose there’s no use being captain if you can’t do what you want, but we’d stand a heap better show of winning if he’d let Billy Younger pitch. Chester hasn’t a thing but a fast ball and a sort of a slow drop that only works about once in ten times.”
“Billy’s the best pitcher we’ve had since I can remember,” said Tom. “I’m glad we’ll have him again next year.” Tom gave a final pat with his brush, dropped it into the paint pot and sighed. “That’s all done. ”

“ Benton considered a minute. “It sounds all right, son,” he answered at last. “It all comes to this. If you need more money to enlarge your business you’ve got to pay for it. Brennan will want a third of the business, as I understand it. Now the question is whether that’s paying too much for the sum of seven hundred dollars.”
“But we’re getting more than the money, sir,” said Willard. “We’re getting Jimmy. He knows all about automobiles, can run them and repair them, and is just about the best fellow we could get to go in with us. Don’t you think so, Tom?” ”

“ So Tom told what little he knew of the car’s history, and Willard listened thoughtfully. “Well, I’ll tell you what I’d do, Tom,” he said finally. “If there was any chance of getting it, I’d find someone who knows about automobiles, and have him look it over. Then, if it wouldn’t cost too much to put it in shape, I’d offer Saunders a hundred and twenty-five for it. Tell him you’ll pay him, say, fifty dollars down, and so much a week. As for painting it, why, I don’t see why you couldn’t do that yourself. It isn’t hard to paint. ”

“ Washington Street to Willard’s house. One of Connors’ hacks rolled by on the way to the hotel and Willard, looking after it, shook his head pityingly.
“There won’t be much for them to do, Tom, when we get The Ark moving, eh?” Willard had dubbed the automobile The Ark in a facetious moment, and, although Tom had protested, the name had stuck. Tom smiled.
“What I’m afraid of,” he replied, “is that Connors will go and put on an automobile himself. He could, you know.”
“Maybe he could, but he won’t. Livery men hate the things like poison. I wonder if he will try to make trouble for us, Tom.” ”

“ But this was no time to consider comfort, and, once in the Fountain Road, Tom pulled the throttle wide open, and, with the searchlights boring a dim yellow path into the gloom of early evening, [299] The Ark bounced and lurched onward at break-neck speed.
“What do you suppose we’re making?” gasped Willard once, above the hum of the engine and the spatter of the exhaust. He was holding on to the arm of the seat to keep from bumping against his companion.
“Thirty, anyway; thirty-five, I hope,” answered Tom, clinging to the wheel. “It’s the best she can do, whatever it is,” he added grimly. ”

“ To-day the car caught the bulk of the arrivals, while a few walked and some eight or ten piled into Connors’ vehicles. Only The Ark failed to get its share.
“I guess the trouble is,” said Willard when the station had settled down to quiet again, “that they can’t see the auto.”
“That isn’t it,” replied Tom. “They’re so used to giving their luggage and their checks to Connors’ drivers that they can’t get it into their heads that there might be someone else around. If there was only some way to advertise!”
“Advertising costs money. ”

“ WILLARD ENCOUNTERS A FRIEND Two days later, Willard, armed with his petition, made the trip to Providence. He had secured fifty-five signatures without difficulty, and as they stood for the prominent and influential citizens of Audelsville both he and Tom felt comfortably certain of success. Willard had offered to let Tom make the journey, but Tom had pointed out that if he did they would lose a day with the car. “Maybe it wouldn’t make much difference,” he added gloomily, “but I guess I’d better stay here and attend to business. We need all the money we can get.” ”

“ There was still another year of schooling ahead, however, and Tom, who needed clothes pretty badly nowadays, owing to an unfortunate but quite natural proclivity for outgrowing his garments, didn’t see why it was necessary to complete his education before beginning to earn money. And if he owned that automobile—Tom sighed as he pushed open the gate and went up the short path to the house.
The pantry didn’t offer much in the way of variety to-day, but Tom selected four doughnuts and a banana, and went out to the porch. There he seated himself on the top step, and set to with a good appetite. ”

“ Perhaps, though, when I tell him that you’re going in with me, and think it’s all right, he may change his mind.”
“You keep at him,” laughed Willard. “Of course, there won’t be much in it for us for a while, because we’ll have to pay Saunders. But we ought to get our money back, in time, at least. Then, if the thing works well, we’ll find someone to run the car while you’re in school in the winter. Why, maybe we’ll get so rich that we’ll be able to buy a real motor ’bus, Tom!” ”

“ So Tuesday afternoon, when The Ark had delivered its last passenger from the 1:57 and 2:06 trains, it was driven to Oak Street, and, with a loud tooting of the horn, rolled through the first of the two wide doors into the garage. It was quite a triumphal entry and the boys regretted that Jimmy was not there to witness it. The pit was a thing of the past, its former location indicated by a [273] six-foot wide strip of new planking that gleamed across the floor like a path of sunlight. ”

“ Then at the end of the month we—we’ll strike a balance and see where we stand. Then we’ll know how much we can afford to offer Jimmy. I don’t believe he makes much more than twenty a week, Will.”
“Neither do we—yet,” replied Willard dryly. “I guess we will, though. Father was saying the other evening that there’s a heap more travel in winter than there is in summer. So if we can make, say, twenty-five a week now we ought to make more in the winter, Tom.”
“Sure. Well, I guess it’s almost supper time. Will you come over this evening and see Jimmy fix the car?” ”

“ Didn’t you know that?”
“No, sir,” answered Willard.
“Well, it’s so. Now, I’ve received a protest against you and you’ll have to stop it. You’re interfering with traffic. Main Street is a pretty busy thoroughfare and it won’t do to have vehicles stopping by the hour there.”
“But we don’t stay there by the hour,” denied Tom indignantly. “We take the car there only about a quarter of an hour before train time——”
“That’s all right. You hadn’t any permit, had you?”
“No, sir. We didn’t know——”
“You should have known. Ignorance of the law is no excuse, boys. You’ll have to keep moving after this.” ”

“ Catcher walked down the alley a few steps before he tossed the ball back. Pitcher nodded, hitched at his belt, rubbed a hand in the earth, and poised himself again. The catcher gave his signal, the ball sped to the plate, catcher caught it and almost with one movement sent it streaking to second. Jordan was a good fifteen feet away at the instant. ”

“ JIMMY MAKES A PROPOSITION “We were wondering, Jimmy,” said Tom, “if you knew of a fellow we could get to run the car for us this winter. You see, it’s getting pretty near time for school to open, and when I’m at school the only train I’ll be able to meet is the 6:05; except, of course, on Saturdays. And Willard’s going away to college pretty soon, you know. So we’ve either got to find someone to drive the car or give up the business.” ”

“ There goes Chester to warm up. Who’s he pitching to, Tom?”
“Poor, isn’t it? What’s the matter with letting Billy pitch?”
Jerry winked meaningly. “Ches wants some glory. They’ll bat him out of the box in three innings; you see if they don’t.”
“Hope they do,” said Spider Wells, blinking almost [61] vindicatively. “Chester’s all the time trying to do things he can’t.”
“He can play third base,” said Willard. “I wish he’d stay there. I suppose Tucker will play third. Look at the bunch of girls in the grand stand, will you!” ”

“ The Providence News published a half-column story on Tuesday about the enterprise, a story which, evidently built on the article in the Audelsville paper, took frightful liberties with the truth. According to the News Tom and Willard had not only assembled the car but had actually turned out or cast most of the parts! The News even declared that the engine was built on a new and startling principle and promised to revolutionize the future construction of gas engines! Tom was a veritable wizard of mechanics and Willard an electrician of remarkable genius. ”

“ Cook, centerfielder, while not as dependable as Ness, was a fair batter, and this time he did his duty, banging a hot liner at shortstop which that youth stopped but could not field in time to prevent another score. With men on first and second Chester Madden fell a victim to the pitcher’s wiles and sent an arching fly into centerfielder’s hands, and the inning was over.
In their half of the eighth the Providence players squeezed in another tally, although Billy added one more strike-out to his growing score. High School started badly, Jordan and Jones each being thrown out at first. ”

“ If he meant to do that he wouldn’t bother with buying us out, I guess.”
“I suppose,” said Willard after a moment’s thought, “that a thousand is a pretty good offer. I wonder if we’d do better to take it.”
“I wouldn’t take it from him if it was two thousand!” declared Tom vindictively. “Anybody who’s done the mean things he’s done——”
“He said he didn’t put Johnny Green up to that, and I sort of believe him, Tom.”
“Maybe he didn’t,” grumbled the other, “but he fixed it so we couldn’t get a stand on Main Street, didn’t he? Well, that’s enough. If he wants to make trouble, let him! ”

“ Bill has his living to make and his family to look after. He needs the money, boys. And—and I guess you don’t—much, eh? It’s a sort of a lark with you, d’ye see?”
“It isn’t a lark at all,” replied Tom warmly. “It’s business. We’re in it to make money, and we’ve just as much right to make money as Mr. Connors has. Of course if you say we can’t stop outside your hotel and bid for passengers, that’s all right, but it doesn’t seem quite fair to me, sir.”
“It’s fair enough, Tom,” said Willard soothingly, “if Mr. Meechin has an agreement with Connors. ”