“I don’t know about playing,” answered Harriet laughingly. “We will agree to volley the balls back and forth.”
“You’re fooling me!” shouted George. “You said ‘volley.’ No one but a tennis player would know about that word. Hurrah! Put up the net, fellows. We’ll see about this.”
“Please do not deceive yourself,” begged Harriet. “We have told you the simple truth. We do not play. I knew the word and what it means, having heard Miss Elting use it. But we will put up the net just the same and have ever and ever so much fun. I’ll tell you what, George. You teach us how to play. Miss Elting will play with you. She can play.”
“Indifferently,” answered the guardian. “I fear I should cut but a sorry figure with such experts as the Tramp Club, especially such an expert as Mr. Baker.”
“Expert! Ho-ho! Ha-ha!” chuckled Sam. “Wait till you see him play! Oh, yes, he’s the original and unconquerable champion of the Granite State. Get busy, fellows. Don’t stand about like a lot of wooden Indians waiting to be placed on your pedestals. There aren’t any pedestals here. If there were, you wouldn’t occupy them, not while there are ladies present.”
“Where shall we place the net?” asked Hazel.
“Over yonder,” answered George. “You must level off the ground first, boys.” He was full of new interest now. “Wait. I’ll trim down the bushes, then some of you get to work and dig them up—dig up the roots, I mean. It’s not exactly an ideal place for a court.”
The boys fell to with a will, the girls getting to work assisting them in clearing the ground in preparation for a tennis court. Nearly an hour was occupied with this work, with the result that a fairly level and smooth court had been constructed, George having paced off the measurements so that they were almost accurate. It would not do for the girls to learn on a court that was either too large or too small, for this would have an effect on their playing when they came to play on a real court.
While the others were setting the net, George with a stick was busily engaged in marking out the base line and other lines of the court. All this was of interest to the Meadow-Brook Girls because they did not understand the purpose of it. They had no idea what the lines were for nor why they should be there at all. But Harriet early began asking questions, and by the time the markings were down she had some inkling as to their uses.
“Chalk is used to mark the lines ordinarily,” explained George. “Having no chalk, we fall back on a sharp stick. The lines aren’t very plain, but plain enough, I guess, for all we shall require of them. I reckon we’ll have time to volley a few times before night,” he added, consulting the skies. “I know you girls are going to give us the surprise of our young lives.”