“I’m afraid I went into you pretty hard,” he said. “Awfully sorry. About all I was thinking of was beating out that ball!”
“It wasn’t any fault of yours, sir,” Sam assured him. “Somehow in trying to get the ball on you I gave my leg a twist. I--I’m sorry we couldn’t both win that game.”
“That’s all right. The Chief has promised to take us down to call on you fellows next summer. Then look out for us!”
“We’ll be mighty glad to see you,” said Mr. Gifford. “I’m afraid we can’t treat you as handsomely as you have us, Mr. Collins, but we’ll do our best; even to beating you again, if possible!”
“We’ll see about that,” Mr. Williams laughed. “You chaps certainly played a good game, though, and you deserved to win. Mr. Craig, you’d better stay right here with us until that knee’s all right. We’ll look after you finely.”
“I heard the Chief say that Mr. York had invited Mr. Craig down to his place,” said Mr. Collins. “You’d better go, Mr. Craig. He’s got a mighty comfortable house down there and I guess he’d be able to give you rather a better bed than we can.”
“Why, I--I guess I’d just as lief stay here,” murmured Sam, “if you don’t mind having me. I’m hoping, though, that I’ll be all right to-morrow.”
“Well, if you’re not we’ll be glad to have you stay here as long as you care to. I’ll see that you have some supper sent over. And if there’s anything else you can think of--How about having a doctor look at that knee, Mr. Gifford? There’s one a couple of miles from here and I can get him on the ’phone in a minute.”
“What do you say, Sam?” asked Mr. Gifford. Sam shook his head decisively.
“No, indeed, thanks! It’s quite all right now. And I don’t think you need to send my supper here. I guess I can hobble over to the dining-hall without trouble.”
“Better not try it,” said Mr. Collins. “Rest up to-night and you’ll feel better for it to-morrow.”
So Sam made the best of it where he was. The knee ached dully, but didn’t worry him much as long as he kept it quiet. Mr. Williams loaded him with magazines and papers and for an hour and more he lay there and read and listened to the sounds that came from outside. Now and then one of the boys would tiptoe in to express embarrassed regrets. He heard the cheers that were exchanged when Greenwood started back to camp, and, later, the sound of voices as The Wigwam boys trooped past to supper. Steve appeared a few minutes after that with a well-laden tray, and, when he had changed the bandage on the injured knee, helped Sam into a sitting position and placed the tray before him. Sam discovered that his appetite was excellent and that the supper, generous as it was, was none too much to satisfy it.