“When did you get it?” questioned Miss Elting.
“It came the day before yesterday,” Dill informed her. “We’ve been looking for it for more than a week—we could hardly wait till it got here. When it came, we hustled right over to Meadow-Brook, where we learned that you were out here.”
“But—but you didn’t carry it all the way from Meadow-Brook here, did you?” demanded Jane.
“No, we didn’t tote it,” answered Sam. “We got a farmer who was on his way out here to carry it in his wagon. We carried it up from the road, about a mile. That was far enough. We are very sorry we had all our trouble for nothing.”
“We’re not sorry!” roared George. “We aren’t sorry for anything we do for the Meadow-Brook Girls. The fellow who says that isn’t a Tramp by a long shot.”
“I—I didn’t mean it just that way,” apologized Sam. “You know what I meant.”
Harriet, who had been watching the faces of the boys and listening to what was said, had already come to a certain conclusion regarding the thoughtfulness of the boys. She put that conclusion into words a few moments later.
“You mean that you boys bought this outfit, net, balls, racquets and all? Is that it?”
“We certainly did,” cried Sam.
“Will you keep quiet?” demanded George angrily. “You ramble on and tell everything you know almost before you are asked. We got that outfit, ladies, because we wanted it and for no other reason. We thought, seeing you were going to play in the tournament at Newtown, that you might like to practise while you were out here. That’s all there is to it. Don’t pay any attention to what Sam says; he isn’t always responsible.”