James Barnes

“ Miss Hollingsworth was finding a great deal out about her new acquaintance. She had been given by nature the strange gift of being able to draw out the best from people,—to make them interested and interesting.
Hart was telling something of the life in a new town, of the emigrant farmers, their ignorance and suffering. From that he had come to speak of his early youth.
He had grown away from any awkwardness and no man ever forgets a conversation of this kind, or a woman who has once eased the awkwardness of new surroundings. ”

“ The college had not gone crazy as might, at first, have appeared; nor was it a prearranged émeute, or an open rebellion. It was merely the greeting accorded to the Yale Game Day, and the undergraduate pulse was high and feverish. Steam was at top pressure; and this was a preliminary blow-off, as it were, for the sake of health. No one is late for breakfast on this morning, be it put on record.
At the same early hour Newton Wilberforce Hart awoke in a room in a hotel on Fifth Avenue. He looked across at the other bed and saw that Minton, the half-back, was fast asleep, doubled up like a ball. ”

“ On the way up from Princeton Junction as the engine coughed and choked along the marvellous grade, and slid with a grasp about the next-to-impossible curves, Simeon Tolker Congreve, aged eighteen, gazed up and down the car and heartily wished that his mother had not insisted upon accompanying him.
"It makes one feel so awful young," Simeon was thinking. "It's more like going to boarding school than college." ”

“ Heaphy's room was a small one not far from Hart's in Edwards Hall. In a rash moment when visited by a sophomoric press gang, Mr. Heaphy had forcibly stated that he had come to college "for a purpose." As he always walked in quick, short steps, as if the purpose was only a few feet in advance and rapidly receding, the sobriquet had stuck to him.
"That was a pretty young lady," said Hart, interrupting Heaphy's opinions on the morning's lecture in chemistry,—"the tall one I mean."
"I don't get on very well with ladies," returned Heaphy. "I never know what to say to them. Do you envy people?" ”

“ Never in his life had the young deputy sheriff seen so many well dressed people together. There was a chatter and hum of conversation that was confounding; people bowed and nodded to one another, and the young men who were acting as ushers stopped and spoke to many of the girls. Every one appeared to expect a good time. There was nothing of the sitting-in-judgment that Hart had noticed in the audiences of the few entertainments he had attended. ”

“ After the good-byes, when they were once on the train, Hart turned and laid a hand on his friend's knee.
"See here," he observed earnestly, "I've been going over everything, and have concluded to go back West [he did not say 'home'] next week."
To his surprise, Bliss's answer was a burst of angry remonstrance.
"You can't do it," he said, "and leave us in the lurch that way! There's no one to play right guard, you know it well! and the college wouldn't stand it. If you're going to be an idiot, and prove yourself a non-compos by destroying your life, wait until after the Yale game anyhow." ”

“ Hart dove for the ball as it came bounding toward him, and fell on it. A short distance away a Yale man did the same thing, and rolled over and over, and got to his feet Yale-fashion, somehow. The full-backs were making practice drop-kicks and punts, and the crowd was howling indiscriminately. Young men with badges and walking-sticks appeared on the edges of the field. But soon there came a silence, then the flash of a coin, and Princeton won the toss, taking the westward goal with the wind behind them, and giving Yale the ball. ”

“ The encore was not printed, but Hart caught the words:
"Through the four long years of college,
'Midst the scenes we loved so well,
Where the mystic charm to knowledge
We vainly seek to spell."
"Mystic charm to knowledge" touched a chord in Mr. Hart's bosom. What would he not give to have the advantages that these young men evidently seemed to appreciate. A desire to learn more about it all came to his mind. But the Glee Club had left the stage, and the men with the banjos were coming on. They each dragged forward a chair from the back of the scenery and seated themselves. ”

“ The proclamation began in the same way as did their own:
"To whom it may concern: Whereas——"
Then on went the little party down the road once more.
"And born without mark, we all see in the dark,
Like owls in a gooseberry tree,"
hummed Mr. Golatly, as they climbed a fence and went across the meadow.
"Hush! " said the ex-deputy, suddenly; "Don't you hear voices?" They listened. Sure enough. Some one was talking, and the sound came from up in the air, above their heads. Before them loomed the great shape of the iron tower.
"They are at work now," said Congreve, in an excited whisper. ”

“ The Count sat on the hostess's left, next to Miss Hollingsworth, and Raymond Danforth was at the head of the table.
Mrs. Trevellian had a great admiration for good-looking men, in spite of her experience with one who was more renowned for his good looks than for anything else, and Hart's appearance had rather impressed her the first time she had seen him, and, now, as she turned to speak to him, she caught such a far-away expression on his face, that she rather studied it before she spoke to interrupt his thoughts. "Scarcely handsome," she said to herself, "but powerful." ”

“ The most of these fellows are not so old as you and I, and look at things very differently. You've got to put up with some of it—there's a lot else that will make amends. After what happened to-night you'll never be bothered again. But you must not be above things at the first, whether you like them or not. You will have to enter in somehow and have them over with."
"I don't exactly understand you," said Hart.
"Well, just for instance," said Franklin, "there are things that freshmen are expected to do. Why, Heaven knows, but they've always been done. They steal the clapper out of the bell. ”

“ Danforth," said Mrs. Carter, "and know more about the subject than you think we do."
"All women know more than most men think they do," said the little German, who very often said rather clever things, as if by accident—really he was no fool.
"It is nonsense to suppose that women don't take interest in such matters," put in Mrs. Trevellian. "Somebody, I have forgotten who, persuaded me to sign a paper begging somebody, or some legislature, or something, to allow us women a chance to vote. I think we should. Don't you, Madge?" this to Miss Hollingsworth. ”

“ As he came up he saw that Congreve was talking to her.
"Here he is now," said Congreve. "Oh, Pop!"
Hart had become quite used to his nickname.
"I was reciting Golatly's poem about your struggle with Matt."
"You don't know what a hero you are made out to be," said Miss Bliss, looking up at Hart with a laugh.
"Well, I don't feel like one," Hart answered awkwardly. "It's very hot this evening."
"Yes, it is," said Miss Bliss.
"Floor is very good."
Miss Bliss appeared astonished. Somehow the smile of interest was fading away.
"The music is very good too." ”

“ The window seat was packed with young men who appeared to be very much at home. It was ten o'clock at night.
Three or four uncomfortable-looking figures sat about in chairs. A roar of laughter broke out and even the uncomfortable figures joined in.
The occasion of the merriment, Terence Golatly, emerged from the bedroom. He was in charge of a pudding faced individual who wore an orange-and-black Tam O'Shanter.
"As Master of Ceremonies, gentlemen, I beg to introduce this promising little boy who will talk of politics in his native city, Newark," said the fat sophomore. ”

“ Newton caught a glimpse of some people seated against the railing, but before he had crossed the road, a tall girl arose and hastened down the steps; he met her on the walk.
"I recognized you as you came from the Inn, Mr. Hart," said Madge Hollingsworth. "To-day is no day for sitting still; let's take a little stroll and I can tell you what I didn't get a chance to tell you last night." ”

“ If there was one thing that Hart was disturbed about in his mind, there was another upon which he had reached a satisfactory conclusion. It was that he had completely changed his mind about college, and that if he had only nothing to worry over, he could live from day to day as happy a man as ever breathed. ”

“ There's something worriting you (Heaphy had inherited the word from his father) . I've seen your face in recitation. Do you think playing football is interfering with your studies?"
Hart was shuffling uneasily.
"Not a bit," he said; "I wouldn't let either of them interfere with the other."
"Then," said Heaphy, with his face lighting up, "I know what it is. You see, you see,—it costs money to go to college, and sometimes it isn't aisy to get it." ”

“ He felt as if he had received a blow a blow that he could not return; yet no rage at being robbed grew within him.
The cheering and shouts waxed louder, but Hart did not hear them. So complex were his feelings that a thought uppermost one moment would be pushed out by another the next; the blood went in surges through his veins; a pain came through his temples. To a healthy man in this condition physical movement is an absolute necessity. The body strives to restore an equilibrium; the nerves are tense; to remain inactive long is agony. ”

“ It was growing a bit lighter and they could discern faint streaks in the eastern sky, when suddenly Freshman Simeon Tolker Congreve started as he smoothed out the last poster.
"Fellows!" he exclaimed, "they are all printed in green; they're the sophomores'! Those were our 'procs' we tore up! Great Peter! Aren't we Lulus!"
"Where 's that red-headed, stuttering rascal?" said Golatly.
"I don't know," said Hart, from the top of a fence. "He was here a minute ago."
Then he laughed, but he was the only one who viewed matters in a comical light.
"We are a pack of fools," said Golatly, seriously. ”

“ There was a deal of dampness in the air, and so dark was it that they could hardly see the path before them as they walked across the campus.
"When we get over to 'Gentle' Hart's, we will divide our forces," said freshman Betts. "Always divide your forces, you know, for strategy's sake."
They entered the hallway at Edwards and stole carefully down to the room that had the legend in green paint, "Cave canum!" upon the panels. Congreve knocked softly with the back of his finger nails and they were admitted. ”

“ It is not a remarkable fact that if a man does not know how to spend his income, there are plenty willing to teach him, and Heaphy could have held court and driven tandem, if he had so willed it, but the role of Aladdin held no attraction for him. He had no desire to stroke the lamp or to command the genii. But to return to the room in Edwards and leave this long digression. Looking up at his cheap little clock, Heaphy perceived that he had just time to run over to his eating club, if he did not wish to go supperless to the reception. ”

“ A big farm wagon towed by two plunging grays, their legs brown with mud, trundled and rumbled noisily through the heavy ruts and stopped at Van Clees & Jackson's platform. A young man in a yellow "slicker," with a beard growing up to his eyes, tied the reins to the seat and jumped out. After an admonitory curse at the tired horses, he flung open the door and stamped into the store. ”

“ There was something in her face that resembled Hollingsworth, but in the resemblance a great deal of the pride and the look of rather sneering superiority had been eliminated. Little Miss Bliss, who was walking beside her, was a pretty girl, with that prettiness that is most attractive in the days of early womanhood, and that is prone to change as the spirits are dashed by years or trouble. ”

“ Trevellian touched her lightly on the cheek.
"Late, as usual," she said laughing. Then she turned to Danforth who had stepped ahead of Hart. "I had half a mind not to ask you, Ray," she laughed. "You never call upon your relatives."
"A most cruel speech," Danforth said, taking her hand and kissing it, an act that became his appearance very well.
"Oh, Mr. Hart, I am so glad you could come," went on Mrs. Trevellian, extending her disengaged hand and shaking his warmly. "I want to present you to Miss Hollingsworth."
"Mr. Hart and I are old friends," said a voice with a musical diapason. ”

“ When the junior had left, Hart leaned back and rattled his pencil against his teeth and fell into what Terence Golatly might have called a "trance."
It was a fine night. The windows of the college rooms were open. The tinkle of a banjo and a snatch of a song occasionally wafted out on the air. Young men stopped before the buildings and hulloed up at the buildings. ”

“ There were many things, however, that the young man with a purpose did not bring into his reasoning. His life had been a most peculiar one, to explain which takes us back to his early youth. It had been spent in luxury. He had been born in a house with a large French mansard roof, and there were any number of beautiful cast-iron statues in the front yard before it—Dianas, Newfoundland dogs, and stags, not forgetting a spurty little fountain with a slimy green cherub.
It was a remarkable fact that Patrick Corse Heaphy's father had had one large regret when his son was born. ”

“ They sat down upon the edge of a rock, and Miss Hollingsworth asked him something about a statement that he had made in his little speech at the dinner.
What a grand pleasure it was thus to talk to her. All feeling of constraint left him, and to talk to a woman who is really interested and appreciates, is one of the greatest delights that a man can have on earth, especially if it gives him an excuse to look into her eyes, and to hear her voice replying to his. ”

“ THE YOUNG MAN WITH A PURPOSE.
Besides slamming the door, Mr. Heaphy had carefully locked it. Then he had opened the lid of his trunk and took out some neatly folded clothes. It was a dress suit, ready-made, but cut in the latest fashion. It had never before adorned Mr. Heaphy's person, except upon the occasion when he had tried it on. Why he possessed it, or why he possessed many other things, which did not show or to which he never referred, would have been a mystery. But Heaphy was something of a mystery himself, which may be sufficient excuse for an explanation later. ”