“Still, you might have kept in practice, Burtis,” responded Mr. Dana with a slight frown. “Why didn’t you?”
“I did practice a good deal. I used to come down here in the mornings between recitations for a while.”
“That sounds more like the boy I used to know,” said the other approvingly. “You used to have as much stick-at-it as any lad I ever met. Did you get so you could do your forty yards all right?”
“Yes, sir, and forty-five lots of times. I tried dropping goals a good deal, though. I did seven out of ten from the thirty-five yard line one day.”
“That was from placement, of course. But even then it—”
“Oh, no, sir, that was drop-kicking. I’ve made placements from the forty, and once from the forty-three.”
“What! Look here, Burtis, did anyone see you do it?”
“Why, no, sir. I was alone.”
“And you mean to say that you can go out there and make a place-kick from, say, the thirty-five yards without trouble?”
Kendall looked doubtful. Mr. Dana’s earnestness made him feel uneasy. “Why—why, I don’t know, sir. I could do it, but I haven’t kicked lately. I guess it would soon come back to me.”