"It—it's going to muss the practice if you tease Bobbie," Don said slowly. "He'll be edging away from you, not knowing what moment you'll twig him, and it will spoil the work. You can't give him a good fireman's lift if he's hanging back."
"What are you doing," Tim demanded, "asking me to let up on him or telling me?"
"I'm asking you," Don said slowly.
"Oh! Well, that's all right." Tim's grin grew broader. "I won't bother him."
All the way home Don was haunted by that grin. He knew what it meant. Tim thought he had started back to lay down the law and had wilted. Tim thought he was afraid.
Don swallowed a lump in his throat. There was no use in trying to disguise the truth. Deep in his heart he didn't know whether he was or not.
CHAPTER III
TIM STANDS BY
It was a very quiet Don who sat down to supper that night. He had the uncomfortable conviction that he had blundered. Having started to see Bobbie past trouble, he should have seen him past with quiet firmness. It had been a mistake to try to bargain.
Regrets, though, would do him no good. What was past was past. It was the future that troubled him the most.