16 bit Ptr values

I am trying to pass a series of 16 bit values (SHORT) to what appears to be an 8 bit pointer (BYTE). I am getting the Ptr from TAudioSample.

Here is my code:

Local sample:TAudioSample = CreateAudioSample(44100, 44100, SF_STEREO16LE)
Local x:Int 
Local l_ch:Int
Local r_ch:Int
Local freq:Float = (440 * 2 * Pi) / 44100

For x = 0 To 22100
	l_ch = (x * 4)
	r_ch = (x * 4) + 2
	sample.samples[l_ch] = Short( (Sin(freq * x) * 32767) + 32767 )
	sample.samples[r_ch] = Short( (Sin(freq * x) * 32767) + 32767 )
	Print sample.samples[l_ch]
Next

Local sound:TSound = LoadSound(sample)
PlaySound sound
Delay 2000

From printing sample.samples[l_ch], and more importantly the audio that I am getting when listening to the sample, it is just putting a byte value in the Ptr array (quiet or loud, depending on if I specify Little Endian, or Big Endian).

How do I get a proper 16 bit value into memory?