Bert laughed. “I know I’ll like ’em, Tommy, if you say so. But Doris is a swell girl. I like her a lot. And we’ll be going off to school together, and I sort of want to get acquainted.”
Tommy shrugged. “Sisters can be a pain in the neck, sometimes,” he said.
“So can brothers,” Bert answered. “I know. I’ve got hundreds of ’em.”
Tommy laughed. “Doris is a good kid. I’m really glad you like her. Maybe I was just scared you were going to be ... mushy, or something, about her.”
Bert threw back his head and laughed heartily.
“All the time guys think they have to get sentimental about girls. Boy, a fellow with three sisters knows better!” Tommy cried. “Catch me ever getting moony about a girl!”
“Well, we’ll see,” Bert said. “In two or three years you may change your mind.”
The family was out on the front porch when Tommy and Bert arrived. Mrs. Craig had brought out a tray with lemonade and cookies, and everyone was enjoying refreshments in the heat of the late summer afternoon.
“Enter the victor and the vanquished,” Mr. Craig said, as the two boys came up on the porch. “I hear it was a good game.”
“One of the toughest we ever played, sir,” Bert said.