“Hello, Frank!” he cried in jolly tones, holding out his hand. “I hear you just won a big game.”
“Oh, hello, Dad!” Frank cried, his face lighting up with surprised pleasure, in strange contrast to the former looks that disfigured it. “Say, I wish you could have been here. It was great! We’ve tied Kenwell now. When’d you arrive?”
“Just a little while ago. I had a blowout and it delayed me, otherwise I’d have been here, as I wrote you.”
The two linked arms and walked away, showing mutual affection more like two brothers or chums than any other relationship.
“That’s Frank’s stepfather,” said Bart. “They surely are fond of each other.”
“Frank would do anything for him, so I’ve heard him say,” remarked Bill. “But there’s no use trying to get Frank to do anything about Jerry and his chums.”
“No, I guess not,” agreed Ted.
Frank and his stepfather, walking toward college, saw three lads approaching them. It was Ned, Bob and Jerry, and just now Frank would have preferred not to encounter them.
Frank made as if to turn to one side, but his stepfather, taking a second look at our heroes, exclaimed: