“It’s P. E.!” Shouted George.
CHAPTER XII
A GUEST WHO WAS WELCOME
“It is Mr. Disbrow!” gasped Hazel.
“And he didn’t sprain his ankle at all,” added Jane.
“He must have injured it, for he is walking with a crutch,” replied Miss Elting.
“Not a word, Disbrow. Come over here and sit down and fix your foot so it will be comfortable. You may tell us all about it later on. Sam, fix a seat there for P. E. Somebody put down his coat for P. E. to sit on.”
The newcomer was laughing.
“George, I’m not quite in swaddling clothes,” he said, “nor am I wholly an invalid. Please introduce me to your friends.”
George Baker flushed, for, in his joy at seeing Disbrow, he had neglected the formalities. He introduced the guest first to Miss Elting, then to the Meadow-Brook Girls and afterward to the boys of the Tramp Club. Harriet had already begun making coffee and was preparing a luncheon for the unexpected guest, who had had no supper as they afterward learned. He was given a place at the end of the table where he might stretch his injured foot. With all the girls and boys gathered about him watching each mouthful that the champion ate, Disbrow did full justice to the supper, for he was hungry. During the meal he explained that the doctors who had examined his ankle at the hospital had first pronounced it a serious sprain, after which they had revised their opinion, finding it merely a slight strain which, within a few days, would entirely disappear.