Baseball -- Juvenile fiction; College students -- Juvenile fiction
"My home isn't more than a mile from here," he said, "and I have
recently bought a large seven-passenger automobile. You could all pack
into that without much trouble, and there is a fine macadam road leading
from within a few blocks of my house to the town for which you are
bound. But there," and his face clouded over, "I forgot. I discharged my
chauffeur the other day, and I have not had time as yet to engage
another. I don't know whom I could get to drive the car. I can't do it
on account of my broken arm."
"Shucks, that's too bad," said Reddy, in a disappointed tone, "that
would be just the thing, if we only had someone to run it. That's what I
call tough luck. I guess there's no game for us to-day, boys, unless we
think of something else."
But here Bert spoke up. "If Mr. Clarke wouldn't be afraid to trust the
car to me," he said, "I know how to drive, and I can promise we will
take the best care of it. I know that car fore and aft, from radiator to
taillight."
"Why, certainly, go as far as you like," said Mr. Clarke, heartily. "If
you are sure you can handle it I will be only too glad to let you have
it. Nothing I can do will repay a thousandth part of what I owe you
boys."
"You're sure you're capable of handling a car, are you, Wilson?"
inquired the trainer, with a searching look. "I don't want to take a
chance on getting mixed up in any more wrecks to-day. The one we've had
already will satisfy me for some time to come."
"Watch me," was all Bert said, but Dick and Tom both chimed in
indignantly, "I guess you don't know whom we have with us," said Tom,
"why, Bert has forgotten more about automobiles than I ever knew, and
I'm no slouch at that game."
"That's right," confirmed Dick. "Bert's some demon chauffeur, Reddy.
Believe me, we'll have to move some, too, if we expect to get to D----
in time for the game. Why!" he exclaimed, glancing at his watch, "it's
after one now, and we're due to be at the grounds at 2:30. How far is
it, Mr. Clarke, from your house to D----?"
Mr. Clarke calculated a moment, and then said, "Why, I guess it must be
from fifty to fifty-five miles. You'll have to burn up the road to get
there in anything like time," he said, and glanced quizzically at Bert.
"That's easy," returned the latter, "a car like yours ought to be
capable of seventy miles an hour in a pinch."
Mr. Clarke nodded his head. "More than that," he said, "but be careful
how you try any stunts like seventy miles an hour. I don't care about
the car, but I don't want the old college to be without a baseball team
owing to an automobile smashup."
"Never fear," said Bert, confidently. "You may be sure I will take no
unnecessary chances. I don't feel as though I wanted to die yet awhile."
"All right," said Mr. Clarke, and proceeded to give them directions on
the shortest way to reach his home. When he had finished, Reddy sang
out, "All right, boys, let's get a move on. Double quick now! We haven't
a minute to lose."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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