"I—I was walking," stammered the other boy. His eyes searched Dave's face. "You—were you watching me?" he asked, lamely.
"Not exactly."
"But you saw me—er——"
"I saw you, Shadow, I couldn't help it. It was nothing for you to be ashamed of, though."
"I—I—oh, I can't tell you!" and Hamilton's face took on a look of keen misery.
"Shadow, you are in some deep trouble, I know it," came bluntly from Dave. "Don't you want to tell me about it? I'll do what I can for you. We've been chums ever since I came here and I hate to see you so downcast."
"It wouldn't do any good—you couldn't help me."
"Are you sure of that? Sometimes an outsider looks at a thing in a different light than that person himself. Of course, I don't want to pry into your secrets, if you don't want me to."
Shadow Hamilton bit his lip and hesitated.
"If I tell you something, will you promise to keep it to yourself?"