e Bertie and Billy, nor were they smiling.
They were solemnly eating up together a box of handsome strawberries and
sucking the juice from their reddened thumbs.

"Rather mean not to make him wait and have some of these after his hard
work on us," said Bertie. "I'd forgotten about them--"

"He ran out before you could remember, anyway," said Billy.

"Wasn't he absurd about his old notes? "Bertie went on, a new strawberry
in his mouth. "We don't need them, though. With to-morrow we'll get this
course down cold."

"Yes, to-morrow," sighed Billy. "It's awful to think of another day of
this kind."

"Horrible," assented Bertie.

"He knows a lot. He's extraordinary," said Billy.

"Yes, he is. He can talk the actual words of the notes. Probably
he could teach the course himself. I don't suppose he buys any
strawberries, even when they get ripe and cheap here. What's the matter
with you?"

Billy had broken suddenly into merriment. "I don't believe Oscar owns a
bath," he explained.

"By Jove! so his notes will burn in spite of everything!" And both of
the tennis boys shrieked foolishly.

Then Billy began taking his clothes off, strewing them in the
window-seat, or anywhere that they happened to drop; and Bertie, after
hitting another cork or two out of the window with the tennis racket,
departed to his own room on another floor and left Billy to immediate
and deep slumber. This was broken for a few moments when Billy's
room-mate returned happy from an excursion which had begun in the
morning.

The room-mate sat on Billy's feet until that gentleman showed
consciousness.

"I've done it, said the room-mate, then.

"The hell you have!"

"You couldn't do it."

"The hell I couldn't!"

"Great dinner."

"The hell it was!"

"Soft-shell crabs, broiled live lobster, salmon, grass-plover,
dough-birds, rum omelette. Bet you five dollars you can't find it."

"Take you. Got to bed." And Billy fell again into deep, immediate
slumber.

The room-mate went out into the sitting room, and noting the signs there
of the hard work which had gone on during his absence, was glad that he
did not take Philosophy 4. He was soon asleep also.

IV

Billy got up early. As he plunged into his cold bath he envied his
room-mate, who could remain at rest indefinitely, while his own hard lot
was hurrying him to prayers and breakfast and Oscar's inexorable notes.
He sighed once more as he looked at the beauty of the new mor