“I only wish we could have had Larry here to-night,” said Joe, regretfully. “I’ll bet he’d have enjoyed it first rate. But I suppose there’ll be plenty of other times.”
“I wish Mr. Brandon were going to be stationed in Clintonia all the time,” said Bob. “He’s been 131 such a good friend to us that I’ll feel mighty bad if he has to go away again.”
They all felt the same way, and said so.
“But there’s no use crossing that bridge until we come to it,” said Joe, philosophically. “As long as he’s covering this territory, he’ll make his headquarters in Clintonia, that’s pretty certain.”
The next day the boys met as they had planned, immediately after school was out, and headed directly for the hospital and their convalescent friend. What with jokes and laughter the distance seemed short enough. Needless to say, Larry was overjoyed to see them.
“I certainly look forward to having you fellows visit me,” he said. “You’re as welcome as letters from home. I get pretty blue sitting around here by my lonesome all day.”
“How do you feel to-day?” asked Bob. “Do you feel well enough to go after a soft job next Saturday?”
“I never did feel so sick that I couldn’t go after a job that was guaranteed to be soft,” grinned Larry.
“All right, then,” laughed Bob. “Be ready to go next Saturday afternoon. We’ll call for you in Doctor Dale’s automobile. He’s promised to take the whole bunch of us to the broadcasting station.” 132
“Pretty soft,” said Larry. “How do you fellows come to rate an automobile?”