"Because——"
"Because you thought I'd done it and was trying to shield me. I know. Then you said that in the stories the hero saves someone from drowning and the football captain puts him into the big game and he wins it by a wonderful run the length of the field."
"That's right, isn't it? All the school stories have it like that, don't they?"
"I know."
"The funny thing is that it happened like that to us, Steve, or pretty nearly. I don't mean that I—I actually saved you from drowning, but——"
"You sure did, though!"
"Anyway, it was something like that, wasn't it? And then you went and won the game in the last minute of play, just as they do in the stories."
"I didn't make any run the length of the field," denied Steve. "All I did was catch the ball and go ten yards with it. Nothing wonderful about that."
"Still, it's all pretty much like the story-writers tell it, after all, eh? That's what struck me as funny."