another part of the state, who could be secured for the same salary.
Eager to begin his house-cleaning and mark some definite progress, West
hurled his bolt from the blue. About the middle of December he
dispatched a letter to the doomed man notifying him that his services
would not be required after the Christmas recess.

Instead of accepting his dismissal in a quiet and gentlemanly way, and
making of himself a glad thank-offering on the altar of scholarship,
Professor Young had the poor taste to create an uproar. After satisfying
himself in a stirring personal interview that the president's letter was
final, he departed in a fury, and brought suit against the college and
Charles Gardiner West personally for his year's salary. He insisted that
he had been engaged for the full college year. To the court he
represented that he was a married man with six children, and absolutely
dependent upon his position for his livelihood.

Professor Young happened to be very unpopular with both his colleagues
and the students, and probably all felt that it was a case of good
riddance, particularly as West's new man rode rapidly into general
popularity. These facts hampered the Winterites on the board, but
nevertheless they made the most of the incident, affecting to believe
that Young had been harshly treated. The issue, they intimated, was one
of the classes against the masses. The _Chronicle_, the penny evening
paper which found it profitable business to stand for the under-dog and
"the masses," scareheaded a jaundiced account of the affair, built up
around an impassioned statement from Professor Young. The same issue
carried an editorial entitled, "The Kid Glove College." West laughed at
the editorial, but he was a sensitive man to criticism and the sarcastic
gibes wounded him. When the attorneys for the college advised a
settlement out of court by paying the obstreperous Young three hundred
dollars in cash, James Winter was outspoken in his remarks. A resolution
restraining the president from making any changes in the faculty,
without the previous consent and approval of the board, was defeated,
after warm discussion, by the margin of seven votes to five.

"By the Lord, gentlemen," said Mr. Fyne, indignantly, "if you cannot put
any confidence in the discretion of your president, you'd better get one
whose discretion you can put confidence in."

"That's just what I say," rejoined James E. Winter, with instant
significance.

O