“You are to remain here to-night, Mr. Disbrow,” replied the guardian. “Two of the boys have gone to their camp to bring a tent for you. We shall make you as comfortable as possible, but it will not be exactly home comforts, you know.”
“I am used to roughing it. I’ve played tennis pretty much all over the world and have had to put up with some pretty rough quarters. I’m jolly well satisfied with a tent and a pair of clean blankets. This supper, let me tell you, I enjoyed more than anything I’ve had since I left England. I shall have to be careful or I’ll put on too much flesh in the two or three weeks I am up here. By the way, what is the physical condition of the young ladies, Miss Elting!”
“I do not see how it could be better,” answered the guardian. “They practically live out-of-doors a good part of the year. I should say that their endurance is as great as it is possible to find in a woman, if that is what you mean.”
He nodded reflectively.
“I judged as much from the little I have seen of them. I trust you to see to it that they do not overdo nor ‘go stale’ before the date set for the match. An ambitious person is quite likely to try to do too much. He pays for it bitterly in many cases. But we shall see after a day or so. To-morrow morning I wish to see the young ladies play. You naturally will play in doubles at the tournament, so that is the way I shall have you play to-morrow. Until then I can say nothing definite as to what we shall do. How are their strokes, George?”
“Awkward,” answered the captain frankly.
“That is the fault of their teacher. You haven’t taught them properly.”
“I did the best I could,” replied George bitterly, “but it did not seem to me to be of much use. I am no tennis sharp, anyway.”
“I’ll not have you depreciating yourself that way, Captain,” declared Miss Elting warmly. “He has done nobly by us,” she added to Mr. Disbrow.
“Yes, it isn’t his fault that we have made so little progress,” agreed Harriet.