“I say just what I have said before,” answered Harriet slowly and with emphasis. “I have gone into this not for the sake of giving up, but with the purpose to go through with it. We owe it to the boys who have done so much for us to keep going until the end. That is what I propose to do unless I am forbidden by Miss Elting or by my parents.”
“But you can’t win,” cried George. “You know you can’t.”
“What will you do if I win?”
“I’ll take off my hat to you, even though I get a sunstroke doing it,” returned George, his face relaxing into a broad smile.
“You shall have the chance, for I am going to play and I am going to win. The team is going to win. That is what I mean when I say I am going to do it. Of course, I do not expect to do it alone. I know we are going to win a place. I feel it. I can’t tell you just why, but I do, so you had better prepare to protect yourself from sunstroke. If there are any trees where the tournament is to be held, by all means engage a place under one.”
“They don’t have trees near tennis courts. Trees throw shadows that sometimes make the players nervous or cause them to misjudge their distances. No, I’ll have to take my medicine and I will.”
“Hark!” Jane held up a hand for silence.
“What is it?” asked Sam, with a half startled look in his eyes.
“I heard some one speak. It may have been out in the road, though.”
“One couldn’t hear as far as that. Besides, I am sure I heard a call,” declared Harriet.