“Guilty,” said Ned.
“Well then,” concluded Tom.
“You’d better not spring that stuff up at the cottage,” said Ned.
“No? Why not? You’re just as good a friend of mine as—as—”
“Fairgreaves?”
“As anybody,” said Tom coloring. “I’ve learned more from you than you could ever learn from me, that’s sure. And look at your war record—Reims, Verdun, the Marne—Why, I haven’t even got a wound.”
“I’m sorry,” said Whalen.
“No, but that’s just your darned sarcastic way,” said Tom. “You don’t give anybody a chance to praise you or like you. Look at the way you came down here with the legitt just as if you were a tenderfoot and just did everything I suggested without letting me know that you know all about the woods and everything. It just makes me feel like a fool when I think how I told you things. And you ten years older than I am and a regular A-1 scout!”
“Terrible,” said Whalen.
“It just makes me feel like a fool,” said Tom.