Roy Eliot Stokes

“ The production of the bills took all the fight out of Mortimer Gaffington. He ceased his struggling and sank limply into a chair which Dunk pushed forward for him.
There followed a moment of silence—a silence that neither Andy or Dunk ever forgot. The quadrangle thief moistened his dry lips once or twice and then said hoarsely:
“Well, what are you going to do about it?”
“That’s the question,” spoke Andy, wearily. “What are we going to do about it?”
“Are you going to deny it?” asked Dunk. “Before you answer, think what it means. An innocent man is under charges for these thefts.” ”

“ Candidates for the football team had been called for, and, as Andy had made good at Milton, he decided to try for at least a place on the freshman team.
So then, one crisp afternoon, in company with other candidates, all rather in fear and trembling, he hopped aboard a trolley to go out to Yale Field.
Dunk was with him, as were also Bob, Ted, and Thad, who likewise had hopes. There was talk and laughter, and admiring and envying glances were cast at the big men—those who had played on the varsity team last year. They were like the lords of creation. ”

“ Ho! ho! Dot’s a goot vun! A rarebit mitout der cheese! Ach! Dot is goot!” and the fat German waiter went off chuckling at the old joke.
“What’s the matter, Andy, you look as if you’d had bad news from your best girl?” asked Harry, clapping Andy on the shoulder. “Cheer up, the worst is yet to come.”
“You’re right there!” exclaimed Andy, heartily. “The worst is yet to come. I’m going to Yale——”
“Hurray! Rah! rah! That’s the stuff! But talk about the worst, I can’t see it. I wish I were in your rubbers.”
“And that dub Mortimer Gaffington is there, too,” went on Andy. “That’s the worst.” ”

“ There was no time to play more. Yale had won—somewhat by a fluke, it is true, but she had won nevertheless. Flukes count in football—fumbles sometimes make the game—for the other fellow.
“Oh, you Andy Blair!”
“It’s a touchdown!”
“Yale wins!”
“Yale! Yale! Yale!”
Some one started the “Boola” song, and it was roared out mightily. Then came the locomotive cheer.
Slowly Andy got up from behind the Harvard goal line. The other player who had tackled him, but too late, himself arose. His face was white and drawn, not from any physical pain, though the fall of himself and Andy had not been gentle. ”

“ The cheer leaders were trying to decide on something with which to celebrate the drawing of “first blood.”
The grandstands were a riot of waving yellow and black, while, on the other side, the blue banners dropped most disconsolately. But it was not for long.
“Come on, boys!” cried the plucky Yale captain. “That’s only one run. We only need three out and we’ll show ’em what we can do! Every man on the job! Lively! Play ball!”
Dunk received the horsehide from the second baseman, and began to wind up for his next delivery. ”

“ Our hero did not stop to think that he might have injured one of the varsity players so as to put him out of the game, and at a time when Yale needed all the good men she could muster. And Gaffington, in spite of his faults, was a good player.
There was a thud as Andy and Mortimer struck the earth—a thud that told of breaths being driven from their bodies. Then Andy saw the ball jarred from his opponent’s arms, and, in a flash he had let go and had rolled over on it. An instant later there was an animated pile of players on both lads, smothering their winded “Downs!” ”

“ If Dunk wanted to break off their friendship that was his affair, but he might have done it more quietly. Probably all in the room, save perhaps Mortimer Gaffington, realized this. As for that youth, he smiled insultingly at Andy and murmured to Dunk, who was now passing to another table:
“That’s the way to act. Be a sport!”
It was clear that if Andy dropped Dunk, Mortimer stood ready to take him up.
“Don’t mind him, old chap. Dunk isn’t just himself to-night,” murmured Thad in Andy’s ear. “He’ll see differently in the morning.” ”

“ But now the shadow of parting had cast itself upon them, and had tempered their buoyant spirits.
“Yes, boys, it will soon be good-bye to old Milton!” exclaimed Chet, with a sigh.
“I wonder if we’ll get anybody like Dr. Morrison at any of the colleges we go to?” spoke Ben.
“You can’t beat him—no matter where you go!” declared Andy. “He’s the best ever!”
“That’s right! He knows just how to take a fellow,” commented Tom. ”

“ Mortimer Gaffington, fixing an insolent and supercilious stare on Andy, said:
“Don’t mind him, Dunk. You’re not tied to him, remember. The little-brother-come-in-out-of-the-wet game doesn’t go at Yale. Every man stands on his own feet. Eh, Dunk?” ”

“ He knew that he must put up with insults, if need be, from Mortimer; for he realized that, in a way, class distinction at Yale is strong in its unwritten laws, and he wanted to do as the others did. It takes much nerve to vary from the customs and traditions of any country or place, more especially a big college. And Andy knew his turn would come.
He also knew that it was all done in good-natured fun, and really with the best intentions. For a first-year man is very likely to become what his name indicates—fresh—and there is need of toning down. ”

“ The day of the ball game came, as all days do—if you wait long enough. There was a good crowd on the benches and in the grandstand when Andy and his mates came out for practice. Of course it was not like a varsity championship contest, but the Princeton nine had brought along some “rooters” and there were songs and cheers from the rival colleges.
“Play ball!” called the umpire, and Andy took his place behind the rubber, while Dunk went to the mound. The two chums felt not a little nervous, for this was their first real college contest, and the result meant much for them. ”

“ Joyous was the crowd of Yale players as they trooped off the field. The freshmen had opened their season well by defeating Princeton, and the wearers of the orange and black gave their victors a hearty cheer, which was repaid in kind.
“It’s good to be on the winning side,” exulted Andy, as he walked along with Dunk.
“It sure is, old man.”
Someone touched Andy on the shoulder. He looked around to see Ikey holding out a package. One in the other hand was offered to Dunk.
“The socks,” spoke the student salesman, simply.
“Say, give us time to get into our clothes!” demanded Andy. ”

“ Think of it!”
“What about your commission?” asked Thad, with a grin.
“A mere nothing—I must live, you know,” and Ikey shrugged his shoulders. “Do you want it, Dunk? Why don’t you fellows pick out something? You’ll wait until they’re gone and be kicking yourselves. They’re dirt cheap—bargains every one. Look at that vawse!” and he held up another to view in the pencil of light from the flash torch.
“It would do for crackers, I suppose,” said Andy, doubtfully.
“Crackers!” gasped Ikey. “Tell him what it is for, Hashmi. I haven’t the heart,” and he pretended to weep. ”

“ Blair, generously. “I’m not given to throwing money away, Andy, my boy, and a college education isn’t a cheap thing, no matter how you look at it. But it’s worth all it costs, I believe, and I want you to have the best.
“If you can get more into the real life of Yale by having a room in Wright Hall, or in any of the college dormitories, why do so. There’s something in being right on the ground, so to speak. You can absorb so much more.”
“Good for you, Dad!” cried Andy. “You’re a real sport. ”

“ You ought to be ashamed of yourself. Using a whip! Why don’t you take some one your size, and use your hands if you have to. You’re a coward!”
“That’s right!” chimed in Chet Anderson.
“It’s a blooming shame—that’s what it is!” protested Tom Hatfield. “Let’s make a rough-house of him, fellows!”
“What’s that?” cried the farmer. “You threaten me, do you? Get out of my barnyard before I treat you as I did him! Get out, do you hear!”13
“No!” exclaimed Andy. “We don’t go until you promise to leave him alone,” and he nodded at the shrinking youth.
“Say, I’ll show you!” blustered the big farmer. ”

“ You learn to appreciate a fellow for what he is really worth—not because his dad can write a check in any number of figures, and not turn a hair. It’s worth that counts at Yale, and not cash.”261
“You’re right there, Andy. I think I’ve learned that, too. Take some of the fellows here—we needn’t mention any names—their popularity, such as it is, depends on how much they can spend, or how many spreads they can give in the course of the year. And the worst of it is, that their popularity would go out like a candle in a tornado, once they lost their money.”
“Exactly,” agreed Dunk. ”

“ After the football game, the quarrel of Dunk and Andy, and their reconciliation, brought about so effectively by Ikey Stein, little of moment happened except the varsity football games, which Andy followed with devoted interest, hoping that by the next term he would be chosen for a place on the team.
The students settled down to hard work, with the closing of the outdoor sporting season, and there were days of hard study. Yale is no place for weak students, and Andy soon found that he must “toe the mark” in more senses than one. ”

“ Now I’m going to say a few words.
“Boys, Yale is bigger than any of us—better than any of us. We’ve got to consider the honor of Yale above everything else.”
Andy and Dunk nodded. Mortimer sat with his face buried in his hands.
“Now then,” went on Conklin, “for the honor of Yale, and not to save the reputation of anybody, we must hush up this scandal. It must go no farther than this room. Gaffington, are you willing to leave Yale?” ”

“ But it did not seem so, when the first inning ended with no score for Yale. Princeton’s pitcher was proving his power, and he was well supported. Man after man—some of them Yale’s best hitters—went down before his arm.
The situation looked desperate. In spite of the frantic cheering of the Yale freshmen, it seemed as if her players could not take the necessary brace.
“Fellows, come here!” yelled the captain, when it came time for Andy and his chums to take the field after a vain attempt to score. “We’ve got to do something. Dunk, I want you to strike out a couple of men for a change!” ”

“ They were a mass of bills which the young man evidently had for collection.
“Stung!” murmured Andy. “But he sure did look like a Yale senior.” He was yet to learn that college men are not so different from ordinary mortals as certain sensational writers would have had him believe.
There was the usual bustle and rush of alighting passengers. Now indeed Andy was sure that a crowd of students had come up on the train with him for, once out of the cars their exuberance manifested itself.73
There were greetings galore from one to another. Renewals of past acquaintance came from every side. ”

“ There are matters to which one must shut one’s eyes. And Dr. Morrison, from contact with many boys, was wise in his day and generation.
For he knew it would be only honest, clean fun; and what matter if there was much noise and shouting? What matter if the fire blazed high? The boys never so far forgot themselves as to endanger the school buildings by their beacon, which was kindled well out on the big campus.
What if numerous rules were cracked or broken? It only happened once a year. And what if ginger pop and sandwiches were surreptitiously introduced into the dormitories? ”

“ The detective laughed.
“I thought you’d have some such yarn as that,” he said. “They all do. I guess you’ll have to come with me. I’m sorry,” he went on in a more gentle tone. “I’m only doing my duty. I’ve been working on the quadrangle case for some time, and I think I’ve landed my man. But it isn’t as much fun as you might think. I’ll only say that I believe I have the goods on you, and I’ll warn you that anything you say now may be used against you. So you’d better keep still. Come along.”
“Must I go?” asked Link again of Andy.
“I’m afraid so. But I’ll have you out on bail as soon as I can. ”

“ They had to fight back the tears from their eyes. Never before had they taken part in such a grim tragedy—never again did they want to.
“You—you admit all the quadrangle thefts?” faltered Andy.
“Every one,” was the low answer. “I took Carr’s book and silver cup—I hid them in the closet that day you fellows caught me. I took Pulter’s book, too. I was desperate—I’d take anything. I just had to have the money. I took the money Len thought he lost that night in the campus. Well, this is the end.”
“Yes, it’s the end,” said Dunk, softly, “but not for us. We’ve got to think of Yale.” ”

“ Someone came along the hall.
“What are you fellows up to?” asked a gay voice. “Trying to break up housekeeping?”
“It’s Gaffington!” murmured Andy.
“Come on in!” invited Dunk.
“You fellows come on out!” retorted the newcomer. “There’s a peach of a show at130 Poli’s. Let’s take it in and have supper at Burke’s afterward.”
Dunk got up.
“Hanged if I don’t!” he said, with a defiant look at Andy.
“That’s the stuff! Be a sport!” challenged Mortimer. “Coming along, Blair?”
“No.”
Mortimer laughed.
“Go down among the dead ones!” he cried. “Come on, Dunk, we’ll make a night of it!” ”

“ Dunk and Mortimer walked down the hall. Andy was a little anxious as to what might develop, but he need have had no fears. Dunk returned presently, looking rather grave.
“Did he want you to go to his blow-out?” asked Andy, with the privilege of a roommate.
“Yes, but I’m not going. He wanted some money. Said he was dead broke.”
“And yet he’s going to blow in a lot. Did you give it to him?”252
“What else could I do? When a fellow’s down and out that’s just the time he needs help.”
“That’s right,” agreed Andy, thinking of Link. “But did Mortimer say anything about his father’s losses?” ”

“ But Andy’s my friend, too; ain’t you, Andy?”
“I hope so, Dunk,” Andy replied, gravely.
Somebody interrupted with a song, and there was much laughter. Mortimer alone seemed to be the sinister influence at work, and he hovered near Dunk as if to counteract the good intentions of Andy.
“Here you are, waiter!” cried Dunk. “Everybody have something—ginger ale, soda water, pop, anything they like. Cigars, too.” He pulled out a bill—a yellow-back—and Andy saw Mortimer take it from his shaking fingers.
“Don’t be so foolish!” exclaimed the sophomore. “You don’t want to spend all that. ”