The kindly bookmaker stared.
"Why, laddie, you ought to be jumping glad to have your chums know of this victory," he said. "But you don't seem happy at all."
"Oh, I'm all right, thanks. Don't worry about me," Dick hastened to say.
The bookie adjusted his hat and drew on his gloves with care.
"Well, chin-chin, sonny—I am hopping it now," he said. "Many thanks for a jolly afternoon! I like you. I'm no fair-weather friend. Remember what I said to you in the train—hail me if you're ever in a hole, and I'll do my little best to dig you out. Keep on bathing your eye till bedtime. Warm water will fetch the plaster off in the morning. You'll feel better then than Clodhopper Juddy, I'll wager a crown!"
CHAPTER XV
The Cloud with the Silver Lining
Loving Foxenby with all his heart, as one who had been far happier there than at home, Dick Forge had always hitherto come back to it in joyful expectation of pleasant days in store.
As its captain he had striven hard, particularly on the athletic side, to keep it well in the picture, and there was evidence of his zeal in the hall, where the County Schools' cricket-shield now hung. Moreover, he had steered the Socker team into the final of the football cup, and there was still a chance of winning that and bringing off the double event.
Never had a winter term started with greater possibilities, yet Dick entered upon it with leaden feet and downcast spirits. It appeared to him that, unless something approaching a miracle happened in less than a fortnight, a storm would burst over his head that he would be unable to weather. He would have to pack up stealthily and go.