Thursday noon
They must have the key to find that ball , and the boys trudged back to meet Sam just going home from the Pentzes ' . But Sam refused to ask for the key again , He did n't want to bother his father so soon , and he did n't want the bother himself . He had his new `` Cæsar '' lesson to study ; to-morrow , after school , he and Jonas would look round at the house , and find some way to recover the ball , for even the stern and studious Sam knew the value of a ball . So Thursday noon the boys all hurried up to the Wilson house , -- Sam , Jonas , and all . They examined it on every side . They came back to the hole where the ball was lost . `` There 's the cold-air box , '' said Jonas .