“No,” answered Harry, “good night!” And she dashed across the campus.
Roy and Chub stumbled back down the path. It was very dark there in the
grove, for there was neither moonlight nor starlight, and so it wasn’t
altogether awkwardness that sent Chub sprawling over a root.
“Hello!” cried Roy. “Are you hurt?”
“No,” Chub answered, picking himself up from the ground. “At least, not
much. I’ve gone and wrenched that old tendon again, the one I hurt last
year. Gee! Give me an arm down to the landing, Roy.”
“That’s too bad,” said Roy as they went on, Chub supporting himself on
the other’s shoulder. “It’s the tendon at the back of the ankle, isn’t
it?”
“Yes, but it will be all right to-morrow if I don’t use it. My, isn’t
it dark! and warm, too! Where’s the canoe? All right, I can get in.”
Back in camp Roy turned himself into a doctor and treated Chub’s
bruised ankle with cold water. Then he gave it a good rubbing and
finally did it up in wet bandages. It had swollen up considerably and
hurt half-way up the back of Chub’s leg. But it was nothing serious,
and he knew it, and so composed himself to sleep when Dick blew out
the light. But slumber didn’t come easily to him. His foot and leg
pained him considerably, and, besides, it was a warm, muggy night with
almost no air stirring and the interior of the tent was stifling. So
Chub lay awake, staring into the darkness, listening enviously to
the measured breathing of Dick and Roy, and all the time trying to
discover a comfortable position for the injured foot. The night was
very still save for the soft lapping of the water and the incessant
voices of the insects. To make matters worse the mosquitos were having
a gala night of it; the weather was just the sort they liked best.
Usually Chub wouldn’t have stayed awake for all the mosquitos in the
world, but to-night their buzzing got on his nerves badly. He stuck it
out for nearly two hours. Then he sat up in bed irritably, muttered
uncomplimentary remarks in the direction of Roy, who was snoring
softly, and suddenly felt as wide awake as he had ever felt in his life!
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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