Carl stopped to rest and look on.
“What’s going on here?” he asked of a boy who was sitting on the fence.
“It’s a meeting of the athletic association,” said the boy.
“What are they doing?”
“They try for prizes in jumping, vaulting, archery and so on.”
This interested Carl, who excelled in all manly exercises.
“I suppose I may stay and look on?” he said, inquiringly.
“Why, of course. Jump over the fence and I’ll go round with you.”
It seemed pleasant to Carl to associate once more with boys of his own age. Thrown unexpectedly upon his own resources, he had almost forgotten that he was a boy. Face to face with a cold and unsympathizing world, he seemed to himself twenty-five at least.
“Those who wish to compete for the archery prize will come forward,” announced Robert Gardiner, a young man of nineteen, who, as Carl learned, was the president of the association. “You all understand the conditions. The entry fee to competitors is ten cents. The prize to the most successful archer is one dollar.”