He stripped off his damp underclothes and hung them up to dry, after which he took a towel from a drawer in the dressing-case and started for the bath-room, which he was able to reach with almost a single step from his door.
The water in the tub was cool, almost cold, but he plunged in without hesitation. The bath was followed by an energetic rub-down with the rough towel, bringing a glow to his entire body and giving him a feeling of warmth, freshness and vigor. A mirror showed him a handsomely-formed lad, like the figure of a youthful athlete cut from pink marble.
Don returned to his room and dressed, thinking all the while of his father’s words, which had impressed him deeply.
“It’s all right to talk about obeying one’s commander,” he said to himself, “but Renwood is not my commander. Sterndale is manager and captain of the eleven. Now, if it had been Sterndale——”
He paused, assailed by the thought that, under aggravating circumstances of a similar nature, he might have rebelled against Sterndale. Besides that, in a certain sense, Renwood was his superior on the eleven, having been accepted as the regular coach of the team.
“Oh, of course I’m all to blame!” he half snarled, as he plunged into a fresh shirt. “Everybody will say so, even my own father.”
But he softened again, realizing that, even though his father must have come to understand the truth from the conversation overheard outside his window, he had not uttered a single word of open reproach.
“At least,” whispered the boy, softly, “he is my friend, and I must try hard to please him. He has done enough for me, so that I must do what I can for him.”
How few boys feel this way toward their fathers! The fact that Don Scott could think such a thing at such a time proved his heart was right, for all of his headstrong disposition and violent temper.
In his soul Don knew he had been hasty in his actions, though he tried to convince himself that he had done nothing wrong. However, esteeming his father as he did, he felt that it was his duty to make a sacrifice, even though it might be necessary to humble himself to a certain extent in order to do so.