The Cash Boy
A REVELATION A group of boys was assembled in an open field to the west of the public schoolhouse in the town of Crawford. Most of them held hats in their hands, while two, stationed sixty feet distant from each other, were "having catch." Tom Pinkerton, son of Deacon Pinkerton, had just returned from Brooklyn, and while there had witnessed a match game between two professional clubs. On his return he proposed that the boys of Crawford should establish a club, to be known as the Excelsior Club of Crawford, to play among themselves, and on suitable occasions to challenge clubs belonging to other villages. This proposal was received with instant approval. "I move that Tom Pinkerton address the meeting," said one boy. "Second the motion," said another. As there was no chairman, James Briggs was appointed to that position, and put the motion, which was unanimously carried.
But the young fellow still hesitated. To take a strange, fair girl in
his arms--such a thing he had never done--but he must do so now. He put
his strong arms under her and lifted her as he would a child, and
carried her into the next room, where he laid his burden on the sofa.
The cool air had its effect, and she opened her eyes and smiled into the
faces that were bent over her.
"Lie still, my dear," said Mrs. Ames. "You have been hurt more than you
think."
"Did I faint?--yes, I must have--but I'm not hurt." She tried to rise,
but with a moan she sank back on the pillow which Nina had brought.
"I'll go for the doctor," said Rupert, and off he went. When he and
Doctor Chase came in an hour later, the girl was again sitting at the
table with Mrs. Ames and Nina.
"I met with a slight accident down the road," she explained to the
doctor. "I wasn't quite killed, you see, but these good people are
trying to finish me with their kindness;" and she laughed merrily.
Her name was Miss Wilton. She was a school teacher, and was on her way
to answer an advertisement of the Dry Bench trustees for a teacher. She
hoped the doctor would pronounce her all right that she might continue
her journey, as she understood it was not far.
A REVELATION A group of boys was assembled in an open field to the west of the public schoolhouse in the town of Crawford. Most of them held hats in their hands, while two, stationed sixty feet distant from each other, were "having catch." Tom Pinkerton, son of Deacon Pinkerton, had just returned from Brooklyn, and while there had witnessed a match game between two professional clubs. On his return he proposed that the boys of Crawford should establish a club, to be known as the Excelsior Club of Crawford, to play among themselves, and on suitable occasions to challenge clubs belonging to other villages. This proposal was received with instant approval. "I move that Tom Pinkerton address the meeting," said one boy. "Second the motion," said another. As there was no chairman, James Briggs was appointed to that position, and put the motion, which was unanimously carried.