ood in awe of him, that they thought he was a genius. Some of
them were built out of pretty common clay, but they felt the almost
unearthly purity of the boy they had made a brother; and the hardest of
them, the crudest, silently elected himself the guardian of that purity.

CHAPTER XIX

Hugh found real happiness in Norry Parker's companionship, and such men
as Burbank and Winsor were giving him a more robust but no less pleasant
friendship. They were earnest youths, eager and alive, curious about the
world, reading, discussing all sorts of topics vigorously, and yet far
more of the earth earthy than Parker, who was so mystical and dreamy
that constant association with him would have been something of a
strain.

For a time life seemed to settle down into a pleasant groove of studies
that took not too much time, movies, concerts, an occasional play by the
Dramatic Society, perhaps a slumming party to a dance in Hastings
Saturday nights, bull sessions, long talks with Henley in his office or
at his home, running on the track, and some reading.

For a week or two life was lifted out of the groove by a professor's
daughter. Burbank introduced Hugh to her, and at first he was attracted
by her calm dignity. He called three times and then gave her up in
despair. Her dignity hid an utterly blank mind. She was as uninteresting
as her father, and he had the reputation, well deserved, of being the
dullest lecturer on the campus.

Only one event disturbed the pleasant calm of Hugh's life after his
argument with Tucker. He did not attend Prom because he knew no girl
whom he cared to ask; he failed again to make his letter and took his
failure philosophically; and he received a note from Janet Harton
telling him that she was engaged to "the most wonderful man in the
world"--and he didn't give a hoot if she was.

Just after Easter vacation the Nu Deltas gave their annual house dance.
Hugh looked forward to it with considerable pleasure. True, he was not
"dragging a woman," but several of the brothers were going "stag"; so he
felt completely at ease.

The freshmen were put to work cleaning the house, the curtains were sent
to the laundry, bedroom closets and dresser drawers were emptied of
anything the girls might find too interesting, and an enormously
expensive orchestra was imported from New York. Finally a number of
young alumni, the four patronesses, and the girls appeared.

Getting dressed for the dance was a rea