Oh, cut it out, Gene, said the dark-haired fellow. Run along, Rowland, and find your room.
Better get a job as a scarecrow, sneered the boy addressed as Gene. Say, those clothes must have cost you as much as six dollars, eh? If youd had another dollar you might have got them big enough.
Theyre all right for me, responded Ira calmly. And the coat slips off right easy.
What do you mean by that? demanded Gene, jumping to his feet.
Oh, forget it, Gene! begged one of the fellows. Let him alone.
But Gene pushed his way past the boys detaining arm and thrust an angry countenance in front of Ira. What do you mean, eh? he repeated.
What do you take it that I mean? asked Ira, viewing the other undismayedly with half-closed grey eyes.
For answer, Gene Goodloe brought his right hand up quickly from his side. The boy with dark hair stepped forward to interfere, but he was too late. Ira sprang nimbly to the right and ducked, avoiding Genes blow, and at the same time shot his own right fist around. It was only a half-arm jab, but there was enough behind it when it landed on Genes chin to send him staggering back into the arms of one of the others and to temporarily deprive him of all desire for battle. He stared at his assailant in a dazed and almost reproachful way as they lowered him to the turf, and then he closed his eyes wearily.
Thats a bad place to hit a fellow! grumbled the dark-haired fellow, regarding Ira uncertainly. Youd better get out of here before someone comes.
Maybe he will want to go on, suggested Ira mildly.
Huh! Maybe he will, but not for awhile! Billy Wells, duck inside and get some water, will you? You, Rowland, or whatever your name is, you get along. If the faculty sees this theyll make trouble for you. I know he made the first swipe, but that wouldnt help you much.
All right, said Ira. Whats his name?
Goodloe. Why?
Ill let him know where he can find me. Just tell him, will you?
CHAPTER II
A CHANCE ACQUAINTANCE
Not what youd call a very good beginning, thought Ira, ruefully, as, followed by the somewhat puzzled looks of the group in front of the gymnasium, he made his way across the campus. It was his fault, though. There wasnt any call for me to stand around idle and get jabbed in the nose. Just the same, it would have been better if Id gone on about my business instead of trying to get a rise out of them. Guess what you need to do, son, is keep your hands in your pockets and your mouth shut!
For the following hour he was very busy. Mrs. Anstruther regretfully informed him that all her rooms were engaged, and the same announcement awaited him at Bakers. It was at the latter house that the mysterious symbols were satisfactorily explained. R, he was told, meant that the house offered rooms only, while R & B stood for room and board. Ira mentally called himself an idiot for not having guessed as much. At a little past one he gave up the search long enough to perch himself at a counter in a lunch-room on School Street. A sign over the doorway held the inscription The Eggery, and, judging from the fact that fully half the patrons in sight were boys of ages from fourteen to twenty, it was the favourite resort for hungry Parkinsonians. There were many small tables at the back, but all were occupied, and Ira finally found an empty stool in front of the long counter. The school colours, brown and white, were lavishly displayed, and there were many framed photographs of school teams and numerous unframed posters on the walls. These, however, interested Ira less than the neat sign which proclaimed the restaurants offerings, for he had eaten his breakfast on alighting from the Portland train in Boston, and that had been quite early, and he was now extremely hungry in spite of the warmth of the day.
While the electric fans overhead spun dizzily and the clatter of crockery and the babel of a hundred voices made a cheerful pandemonium, he thoughtfully contemplated the signs. One thing he knew he was going to have, and that was iced tea, but beyond that he was open-minded. Corn-beef hash sounded too warm. The same was true of roast beef and lamb stew with dumplings. Eggs didnt sound appealing, although they were offered in more styles than he had ever heard of. He was still undecided when a voice said: Try the cold ham and potato salad. It isnt bad.
Ira looked around to find the boy with whom he had collided at the door of the Administration Building sitting beside him.
All right, said Ira. I guess I will. It looks good.
Its too hot to eat today, went on his neighbour, but you sort of get the habit. This iced coffee is the best thing Ive found. Do you like it?
I never tried it. I thought Id have some iced tea.
No one can blame you. I saw you over at Ad, didnt I?
Ad?
Administration. Whats your class?
Third.
Mine, too. Heres Alphonse. Tell him what youre risking.
Alphonse proved to be a sandy-haired waiter who grinned at the speaker as he ran a towel over the counter. Sure, take a chance, he said cheerfully. Whats it going to be, sir?
Some of the cold ham and potato salad and a glass of iced tea, replied Ira. Got any lemon?
I dont know. Ill see, was the sober response. We did have one last week. Then, applying his mouth to a tube: One-cold-ham-potato-salad! he called. Ice-tea-with-lemon!
Do you eat here regularly? asked Ira of his neighbour.
Dear, no! I eat in hall, but they dont start until supper tonight. Lots of the fellows dont come until afternoon, you see. Them as does has to eat where they can, and this is as good a joint as any. How do you like the place, as far as youve got?
All right. I havent seen much of it, though. Ive been tramping around looking for a room most of the time.
Any luck?
Ira shook his head. There was one at he refreshed his memory by glancing at the slip at Parents, but it was pretty small and awfully hot.
Keep away from that dive, advised the other. Youd freeze to death in Winter there. Besides, we come to school to get away from them.
To get away from
Parents, chuckled the other. Asterisk. See footnote. Joke intended. Have you tried Maggys?
No. I dont think its on my list.
Lets see. Yes, here it is: D. A. Magoon, 200 Main Street.
Oh! I thought you said
Maggys? Yes, they call her that for short. Shes got some good rooms, but you have to more than half furnish them. About all Maggy gives you is a carpet and a bed. If you like Ill go around there with you when youre through.
Why, thanks, thats very kind, but I dont want to trouble you.
You dont. I havent a thing to do until the boat comes in.
Boat? ejaculated Ira.
Figure of speech, meaning that the afternoon stretches before me devoid of of Say, what do I call you?
Rowlands my name.
Mines Johnston. Theres a t in it to make it harder to say. Heres your grub. Guess Ill have a piece of pie, Jimmy.
What kind? asked the waiter as he slid Iras repast before him.
Why the airs? You know youve only got apple.
Jimmy grinned. Got you this time, Johnston! Theres cream and cocoanut, too.
Make it cream, Jimmy, and tell the Pie Specialist downstairs to let his hand slip a little.
Make it cream, Jimmy, and tell the Pie Specialist downstairs to let his hand slip a little.
Do they give board at this place you spoke of? asked Ira when he had sampled his dinner.
No, they dont. You can eat in hall, though, or you can get your meals around. There are four or five places like this and a lot of boarding houses. The way I did my first year was live at the restaurants and quick-lunch joints for the first term and then, when I was sick to death of them, go to a regular boarding house. Smiths is pretty fair. A lot of fellows eat there.
They give you pretty good meals at the school dining hall, dont they?
Y-yes, but they charge for them. Johnston shot a swift, appraising glance over Ira. If you can stand six dollars a week, all right. Some fellows cant. Jimmy presented his slice of pie at that moment and Johnston observed it gloomily. That fellows got perfect control, hasnt he, Jimmy?
Oh, they cut the pies with a machine, replied the waiter airily. Want some more coffee?
Walk around! Think Im a millionaire? Make it a glass of water instead. Then, addressing Ira again: What are you going in for? he asked.
Going in where?
My fault! I mean what are you going to do with your spare time? Football? Tennis? Golf? Whats your line?
Oh! I dont know. Ive never played anything except a little baseball. I guess I wont try any of those things yet.
You look as though youd make a football player, said Johnston. If you dont intend to try it youd better keep out of sight. If Driscoll sees you he will get you sure.
Is he the captain? asked Ira.
Coach. Ever played it?
Football? No. Ira shook his head. I never thought Id care to. I saw a game once at Lewiston.
Wheres that?
Maine. I live in Cheney Falls.
No one can blame you. Hows the grub?
Fine, thanks. Who is Goodloe?
Gene Goodloe? Track Team captain. Know him?
Not very well. I I sort of met him awhile back.
Youll like him, I guess. Most of us do. Hes a corking runner. Good fellow to know, Rowland. Better cultivate him. Meet all the fellows you can, old man. The more the merrier. You cant know too many at school, especially if youre a new boy. I had a perfectly miserable time of it here my first year. I was horribly shy, you see. Yes, I got over it! He laughed as he caught Iras quick glance of surprise. Had to. I used to get red clear around to the back of my face if anyone spoke to me. The second year I realised that it wouldnt do and I made up my mind to get cured. How do you think I did it? I got up one morning and went out and spoke to every fellow I met, whether Id ever seen him before or not. It nearly killed me at first and I got all sorts of snubs and funny looks, but it cured me. Now I Id slap Jud himself on the back if it would do me any good.
Jud? asked Ira.
Otherwise Doctor Judson Lane, principal of this here school. All through? Going to have desert? No? Come along then. Theres your check. Might as well pay it if youve got the money. They have a nasty way of going out on the street after you and bringing you back if you get absent-minded.
They slid off their stools and made their way to the cashiers desk, Johnston hailing many acquaintances on the way and once pausing in response to the invitation of one. Ira had an uncomfortable suspicion that he was the subject of the short, whispered dialogue that ensued. Its probably these clothes, he thought. They are different from other fellows. Ill have to get some new ones, I guess.
Outside, Johnston chatted merrily as he conducted his companion around the corner of Main Street and finally brought up before a three-story house set close to the sidewalk. It showed evidences of past grandeur, but the buff paint was peeling away from the narrow porch and stores had been built close to it on either side. The first floor was occupied by a tailors establishment on the right and by the agency of a spring-water company on the left. Johnston gaily pointed out the convenience of having your trousers pressed on the premises as they waited in the hallway. Presently, in response to the tinkling of a faraway bell, footsteps creaked on the stairs and a tall and angular woman came into sight.
Good afternoon and everything, greeted Johnston. You dont remember me, Mrs. Magoon, but we were very dear friends once. I used to come here to call on Dan Phillips a couple of years ago.
I remember you very well, was the reply in a dry voice. Youre the young man that broke the newel post one time when you was sliding down the
My fault! I see you do remember me, after all. I feared you didnt. Now
It wasnt ever paid for, either, although you said time and again
Youre perfectly right, maam. It just somehow slipped my memory. Im glad you mentioned it. Everybody ought to pay his just debts, I should think. Ive brought you a lodger, Mrs. Magoon. This is Mr. Rowland, Mr. Thomas Chesterfield Rowland, of Cheerup Falls, Maine, a very personal friend of mine. He was about to take a room over on Linden Street, but I prevailed on him to come to you. I told him that you had just the room for him. You have, havent you? Johnston beamed ingratiatingly.
Well, I dunno, said Mrs. Magoon, folding her hands in a blue checked apron and looking doubtfully from one boy to the other. Everythings pretty well taken now. There was a young man in here not ten minutes ago to look at the only room Ive got left. I dunno will he be back, though. He said he would, but they always say that. If youd care to look at it, sir
He would, declared Johnston. He would indeed. After you, Rowland. One flight and turn to your left.
Two flights and turn to your right, if you please, corrected the landlady. All the second floor rooms are taken. She toiled upstairs at their heels and directed the way to a large, scantily furnished room at the back of the house. Its a nice, cheerful room, she said pantingly. Two good windows and a fine view. Theres a washstand goes in here yet.
The fine view consisted of several backyards, the roof of a shed and a high board fence in the immediate foreground, but beyond the fence lay the trim, green lawn of a residence on Washington Avenue, while, by stretching his neck a little, Ira could see a few gravestones in the cemetery around the corner of the next-door building. Just now the foliage hid the school, but Mrs. Magoon predicted that in the Winter he would have a fine view of it. There were two big windows on the back of the room, a sizable closet, a fireplace with a dingy, white-marble mantel and a rusted grate and a few oddments of furniture all much the worse for wear. Ira tested the bed and shuddered inwardly. It was like a board. There was a green plush rocking-chair, a battered walnut table with an ink-stained top, a bureau of similar material and condition, two straight-backed chairs and an ornate black walnut bookcase with one glass door missing. A faded, brown ingrain carpet covered the centre of the floor, the wide expanse of boards surrounding it having at some far distant time been painted slate-grey.
Johnston expatiated warmly, even with enthusiasm, on the rooms attractions. Hows that for a fireplace, old man? he asked. Its real, mind you. No stage fireplace, with a red lantern in it, but the genuine thing. Lots of room here, too. Must be twenty feet each way, eh? Of course, youll need a few more things. A window seat would help. And another easy-chair, maybe. Then, with the family portraits on the walls and a fire crackling cheerily what ho! Blow, wintry winds! What care we? Or words to that general effect. You say theres a washstand, too, Mrs. Magoon? Fine! Imagine a washstand over there in the corner, Rowland. Sort of sort of finishes it off, eh? Useful little affairs, washstands. No home should be How about the bathroom, Mrs. Magoon? Adjacent or thereabouts, I presume?