CHAPTER XXIII
THE LITTLE CAPTAIN'S STORY
DAVID Brewster rose to his feet.
"If your ankle is all right now," he suggested hurriedly, "I had better go."
"Why?" asked Madge innocently.
"I have some work to do," returned David.
"The same work that you do every afternoon?"
David bowed his head. "Yes," he replied. "See here, Miss Morton, there isn't any reason why I shouldn't tell you what I do when off by myself every afternoon. I don't want you to think that I am always up to some dishonest kind of business." David flushed hotly. "I am only studying when I hide off here in the woods. You see, I have always had to work awfully hard; I never have had much time for schooling. But I don't want the other fellows to get too far ahead of me, for I am going to college some day, even if I am a grown man, when my chance comes."
"Good for you, David!" cried Madge, clapping her hands softly. "Of course you will go to college if you have set your mind upon going. I don't believe you are the kind of boy that gives up. You'll do most anything you want to do some day."
David's face flushed under Madge's enthusiasm. "Oh, no, I won't," he answered miserably. "There are some things a fellow can't live down."