"I'm mighty glad to see you again," he said lamely.

"I told Sammy that I had seen you, but she has forgotten." "Oh, no, I haven't," replied the girl.

"You said that you saw him in the field as you passed the first day you came, but that you were in such a hurry you didn't stop." At this Ollie forced a loud laugh, and remarked that he was in something of a hurry that day.

He hoped that in the girl's confusion the point might be overlooked.
But the mountaineer was not to be sidetracked so easily.

Ollie's poor attempt only showed more clearly that he had purposely refrained from telling Sammy of the might when Young Matt had interfered to save his life.