Evening star., 1936-07-26

occupied. Mr.. Long took his
L paper out on the front porch. but
Buddy caught glimpse of his pale
face behind the opened sheets, and he
saw he was not reading.
Whats on your mind, Dad?" the
boy inquired.
Mr.. Long started. and slowly folded
the paper. After moment he said:
There's a rumor down at the plant
that a couple of men in our depart
ment are going to be let out. Mr..
Hemstead was in conference all day
with Mr.. Gates, the chief engineer,
and some man from Chicago. Every
body seems to think a couple Of en-
gineers will be discharged, and Won
dering just who they'll be-" ...
Buddy grinned. We'll, guess you
won't be one of them" he said. Mr..
Henlstead would hardly fire yeu after
just giving you raise
Mr.. Longs face clouded. 81 hear
the man from Chicago, whose name
is Trumbull, is some sort of efficiency
expert. Maybe he'll have something
to say about employing men because
of their sons base ball playing. If so,
III probably get the gate
MR.. LONGS voice was bitter, and
AA Buddy quickly changed the sub
ject. But by the next day the rumors
had percolated down to the shipping
department from the main Office, and
the situation was discussed freely.
"Well," said Mike Patrick, the big,
good-natured Irishman who was Bud
dy's boss, Il guess your dad has Moth
ing to worry about, young fellow. AS
long as you play ball for the Hem
stead Hawks, he'll have job
Jaw, rats" said Buddy, his blue eyes
flashing angrily. Everybody around
here seems to think my father holds
his job only because of me. He had
the job before I started to play ball.
didn't he? I guess he's as good as
any of the other men in that depart
ment, and maybe betterl"
''Oh, sure, sure!" said Mike quickly.
Don't be gettin' sore, now. only
meant that your ball playing will be
sort of an ace in the hole for your
dad, if the ak starts falling in his
department"
Buddy thought a lot about the Sit
uation later that day, while his hands
were busy Grating one of the washing
machines that the company manufac-
tured. Suppose that couple of men
in his fathers department were fired.
and Mr.. Long was convinced that he
had held his job not through his own
ability, but because of Buddy? How
would his father feel about that?
Buddy shook his head soberly. The
trouble with his father was that he
was too modest - not aggressive
enough. Buddy knew that he was we'll
trained in his profession, that he had
good ideas, and that he worked hard
on his job.
OFTEN the boy would see him at
night, sketching on bits of paper
or poring over blue prints, trying to
work out some improvement in one
of the machine connpany's products.
But he didn't have any too much con-
fidence in himself, and If he once be-
came convinced that he was getting
by only because of Buddy's ability, it
might have very bad effect on him.
That was the situation when the
Hawks played their next game, on the
following Saturday afternoon. Their
opponents were a team representing
dairy in an adjacent town, known
as the Sanitary Seals, and the Seals
stood second in the Intercity League.
Big Pete started on the mound for
the Hawks, but the Seals found him
and he was replaced by Nick Jenners
in the fifth. Meanwhile the Seals
pitcher had held the Hawks to three
hits and single run.
When Buddy came to bat in the
sixth inning there was one man on
base and two out. He had gone hit
less in his first two trips to the plate,
but this time he connected for a clean
double, scoring the man on first. A
moment later the next man up for
the Hawks got a single, and Buddy
scored from second on close play at
the plate.
AS HE picked himself up and
brushed the dirt from his uniform
he heard the stands cheering him.
Then as he returned to the bench,
Big Pete reached over and laid hand
on his knee.
IT was glad to see you get that hit,
Buddy" Big Pete said. 1T may do
you lot of good"
Buddy looked inquiringly at the
ex-big Lacquer, but Big Pete said
nothing more. However, he rolled the
4