“I went out, after fixing my fire so I could easy enough get back, if nothing grabbed me. He kept calling, and soon I came on him, trying his best to limp along. You see, he’d gone and sprained his ankle pretty badly, and couldn’t bear to put that foot on the ground.
“That stirred me, I tell you, fellows. I tried to remember everything I’d ever been told about sprains, and what was best to do for them. Come to look and I found that it was a bad injury, with his ankle a heap swollen; and, say, I bet you it hurt like everything; all of which was especially bad for him, because, well for a good reason.
“I made him lean on me, and step by step managed to get the poor chap over to my fire, where I stowed him on some branches I’d gone and gathered and dried out with the heat. Then I took off his shoe, and bathed his ankle with cold water from a little creek that was running bank-full close by.
“He said he felt a lot better afterwards, but kept groaning every once in a while, I didn’t know just why, except that he knew he’d probably not be able to walk decent for weeks again. That makes some difference to a fellow, I happen to know, because I’ve had a sprained ankle myself, and had to stay out of school for three whole weeks, using a cane afterwards.”
“Huh! that was a terrible time for you, Perk,” grunted Wee Willie, “and ever so many fellows saying they envied you the chance. But keep right along telling the details. Was he a dark-faced, wiry-looking chap; and could he talk like a house afire?”
“Not my visitor, Wee Willie. I hope now you don’t think I entertained that wild man, like you did?” Perk protested.
“Hardly possible,” said Elmer, “for he went away in the opposite direction to this; and besides, couldn’t have been at our fire until midnight, and then bobbed up away off here at the same time.”
“Just so,” continued Perk, sagaciously; and then went on to tell how he had arranged things for the comfort of his caller.
Elmer already “smelled a rat.” He began to see which way the wind was blowing, and could now understand why Perk had been casting so many queer glances in the direction of Amos. There was a reason, and a good one for this; and Elmer was now in a fair position to read between the lines as it were.
“Now I know,” broke in Wee Willie after a bit, “why you broke that cake of chocolate in two, and ate only half of it; you mean the rest for this fellow you’ve taken under your wing, eh, Perk?”