The Argosy, Vol. XI, No. 21 — page 3: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

THE ARGOSY words, and without doing that he saw that the circumstances appeared to be against him. Dr. Hope, however, received him very kindly. ‘* Well, my boy,” he said, ‘‘ you have made an unfortu- nate beginning, but, as I happened to overhear what took place in the hall previous to your going up stairs, I know that you are the least to blame. I am very sorry it hap- pened,” and here a shadow crossed the doctor's face, the sig- nificance of which Brad could guess from what Perry Lan- don had told him, ‘‘ but I believe you conducted yourself as well as possible, under the circumstances. I would warn you, however, to be guarded in your manner toward Ivers in the future. He has a rather strong temper, and is apt to be hasty at times. I have already spoken to him very plainly as regards his share in the artair, and I do not think he will repeat it, but 1 must also ask you to be careful to avoid all trouble. Congenial fellowship is what we endeavor most of all to promote here. And now tell me how you left Mr. Parker. He is an old friend of mine, you know, and 1s one of our trustees.” And so the conversation turned to other topics, Dr. Hope leading Brad on to talk about himself, his past life, his future plans and kindred subjects, until, when the interview ended, the latter felt himself thoroughly at home; while, encouraged by the doctor's kind words of assurance, his doubts concerning himself had altogether disappeared, and he began to look forward to a season of student life with a genuine sense of pleasure. ‘It will soon be lunch hour—one o'clock 1s our time—and you wil] have a chance then to see all the boys and make acquaintances,” said Dr. Hope as Brad rose to yo. At this moment a loud and rough voice sounded in the hall immediately outside. ‘Is the doctor here? right in.” Brad had just time to note a slight change of expression on Dr. Hope's face, when the door burst open and, heralded by a column of tobacco smoke, a large gentleman in a riding suit, with heavy boots and whip, entered the room. Without removing his hat, he nodded familiarly to Dr. Hope and took his cigar from his mouth. ‘*Good morning, doctor,” he said in a harsh, unpleasant voice. ‘' I've come down to talk over that affair of Dick Barney's.” ‘* Very well, Mr. Ivers.” answered the doctor in his soft. gentle tones, that contrasted strangely with those of his visitor. ‘‘ Mr. Ivers, eh !’’ exclaimed Brad to himself; ‘so this is the owner of the Hosmer estate, and the father of that nice young man who wanted to fight me! Well, well, they are a pair, I guess, to judge by their looks.” *- Will you be seated ?’’ said Dr. Hope, courteously proffer- ing a charr. Mr. Ivers was about to take the chair, when his eyes for the first time rested upon Brad. “ Hullo! who is this?” he asked. ‘ Our new student, Bradley Mattoon,” answered Dr. Hope, in his pleasant tones. ‘*Humph !” exclaimed Mr. Ivers, as he gave Brad a long stare of disapproval. ‘‘ Where do you conie from, young man?” ‘From New York last,’ answered Brad. _ * Bradley was introduced to us by Mr. Raymond Parker,” explained Dr. Hope. A sudden fiush mantled Mr. Ivers’s almost colorless face, and his cold gray eyes flashed fora moment. He bit his lip and scowled angrily at Brad. All right ; never mind, I'll walk 323 ‘What! Do you come from Parker?” he exclaimed. ‘‘ Any relative of nis?” ‘‘ No,” said Dr. Hope before Brad could answer. °‘‘ Mr. Parker is an old friend of Bradley's, and learning that we had a vacancy heré, he sent him ont to me with a letter of introductipn. I think Bradley will do very well——" ‘‘ Haven't you a list of preferred names to select from to nll your vacancy ?" interrupted Mr. Ivers. ‘Oh, of course,” answered Dr. Hope somewhat more firmly, ‘* but I used my own judgment in preferring Brad- ley. I considered Mr. Parker's recommendation the best ground for preference.” ‘‘Humph! Well, Raymond Parker's is not the sort of recommendation I care for—still, that is not what I came to talk about. Let us get to business,” and Mr. Ivers seated himself. Brad immediately seized this opportunity to slip out. ‘* Phew !” he said to himself when at a safe distance from the library, ‘* what sort of a place have I struck anyhow? I seem to run up against trouble wherever I turn. Young Ivers was bad enough, but the old one seems, if anything, a bit worse—for all the world like a malignant old spider, and I suppose the estate is his web. Well, I hope Dr. Hope isn’t in it, that’s all —small show for him if he is.” At lunch Brad found himself seated beside Perry Landon at one of four tables that comfortably filled the bright, sunny dining room. He was then for the first time afforded an op- portunity of studying the faces of his various fellow students. The three other boys besides Perry Landon and himself who sat at his table impressed him very agreeably. They nodded pleasantly to him when he seated himself, and by their manner and conversation set him at ease almost imme- diately. One of them specially interested Brad—a small, slender, pale faced boy with spectacles, who looked about in a timid sort of way and seemed to be frightened when any- body spoke to him. He spoke seldom himself, and when he did it was in a meek little voice, scarcely audible above the hum of general conversation. . ‘“QOh, that's Rob Wilton,” whispered Perry Landon in answer to Brad’s inquiry. ‘‘ Wecall him the ‘ little domi- nie.” He is the son of a missionary and came here from India, where he was brought up. He is a little soft, and en- tirely too goody goody, I'm afraid, for this place. We can’t nelp laughing at him sometimes, though it 1sa perfect shame the way some of the fellows bully him, for he is a nice little chap in his way.” From a general glance around the room Brad rightly in- ferred that the boys represented excellent families, and, for the most part, families of wealth. ‘This latter seemed most evident in the case of the four young men seated at the next table to Brad’s. One of these Brad readily recognized as Brayton Arkell. The others were evidently particular friends of his. ‘Who are those fellows ?" asked Brad. ‘They are the swell set,” answered Perry with a slightly sarcastic accent. ‘* For some reason unknown to any one but themselves they think they are a little above the rest of us, so they hang together usually. We call them the ‘upper four,’ though there are really five, for Sidney Ivers goes with them all the time.” ‘ Are they all like him?” asked Brad, fearing that his list of acquaintances would become very limited. ‘Oh, no. They are all right. We don't mind their little airs. Clarence Bliss and Arthur Paton, the two sitting op- posite Arkell, are good enough in their way, while Euyene Clifford is about the most influential fellow here. He leads in nearly everything. Heis asmart student, the best all- round athlete in the academy, and has any number of small ECOMiclooOolkKS conn