“Oh! only that he seems to go fairly wild when he gets in the lake,” was the reply. “Eddie Grant says he really believes Asa can stay under water longer than any fellow he ever knew. And did you see him dive off that high tree stump overhanging the edge of the deep hole? He turned a complete somersault in the air, and struck the water as clean as a knife. Mr. Rowland complimented him on his feat, though he also cautioned Asa to be careful not to overdo it.”
“Yes, Asa is improving right along,” confessed Dick. At the same time he could not help wondering deep down in his mind whether the strange boy could be as successful in overcoming his one terrible fault as he seemed to be in regaining his health. For somehow Dick could not quite forget about the shadowy figure that had vanished from his sight on the preceding night, not far from the tent where he knew Asa had been quartered.
“I never thought he had it in him,” admitted Peg; “but I’m ready to say Asa is beginning to pick up considerably, and show the stuff he’s made of.”
It was kind of Peg to say that, for, truth to tell, as Dick well knew, the other had had good reasons in the past for looking on the lonely boy with anything but friendly feelings. But then Peg could never hold anything against another who showed signs of being sorry for faults. Peg believed in giving every one a second, yes, even a third, chance to make amends.
After finishing his dressing and coming outside again, Dick looked toward the tent which Mr. Holwell occupied. He knew the minister must be dressing, for he had seen him peer out once. Perhaps he was shaving, for he had laughingly said on the previous night that he hoped they did not have any iron-bound rules in the camp prohibiting brushing the hair, or using a razor during the whole stay, such as he had heard was the case with some outing parties.
Just then Dan came along, and stopped to exchange a few words with Dick.
“To-morrow being Sunday, I expect we’ll be pretty quiet up here,” he observed; “so we ought to do all we can to-day. The fellows who go fishing will have to try to get a double quantity, if we think to have a course dinner to-morrow. I’m one of the six selected by Mr. Bartlett to go over to that farm we heard about. If we can buy a few chickens or ducks or anything in that line, don’t you think we’d better go prepared to dicker?”
“Not a bad scheme, Dan,” Dick told him. “And don’t forget that while there are just twenty-one of us all told, besides Mr. Holwell, Mr. Bartlett and our physical director, we’ve got the storage capacity of twice that number.”
“Oh! we’ll take on all the supplies we can stagger under, make up your mind to that, Dick. But here comes Mr. Holwell straight this way, and, tell me, doesn’t he look kind of queer? I wonder if anything could have happened to him in the night.”
Dick almost held his breath as the minister hurriedly drew near them.