est."

And the two passed down the stone steps to the shady level campus and on
to the town beyond it.

"You are hard on snakes, Burleigh," Dr. Fenneben said as he welcomed the
country boy into his study. "A bull snake is a harmless creature, and he
is the farmer's friend."

"Let him stay on the farm then. I hate him. He's no friend of mine," Vic
replied.

He was overflowing the chair recently graced by Professor Burgess and
clutching his derby as if it might escape and leave him bareheaded
forever. His face had a dogged expression and his glance was stern. Yet
his direct words and the deep richness of his voice put him outside of
the class of commonplace beginners.

"Are you fond of killing things?" the Dean asked.

The ruddy color deepened in Vic Burleigh's brown cheek, but the
steadfast gaze of his eyes and the firm lines of his mouth told the
head of Sunrise something of what he would find in the sturdy young
Jayhawker.

"Sometimes," came the blunt answer. "I've always lived on a Kansas
claim. Unless you know what that means you might not understand--how
hard a life"--Vic stopped abruptly and squeezed the rim of his derby.

"Never mind. We take only face value here. Fine view from that window,"
and Lloyd Fenneben's genial smile began to win the heart of the country
boy as most young hearts were won to him.

Burleigh leaned toward the window, forgetful of the chair arms he had
striven to subdue, the late afternoon sunlight falling on his brown face
and glinting in his auburn hair.

"It's as pretty as paradise," he said, simply. "There's nothing like our
Kansas prairies."

"You come from the plains out west, I hear. How long do you plan to stay
here, Burleigh?" Dr. Fenneben asked.

"Four years if I can make it go. I've got a little schooling and I know
how to herd cattle. I need more than this, if I am only a country boy."

"Who pays for your schooling, yourself, or your father?" Fenneben
queried.

"I have no father nor mother now."

"You are willing to work four years to get a diploma from Sunrise? It is
hard work; all the harder if you have not had much schooling before it."

"I'm willing to work, and I'd like to have the diploma for it," Vic
answered.

"Burleigh, did you notice the letter S carved in the stone above the
door?"

"Yes, sir; I suppose it stands for Sunrise?"

"It does. But with the years it will take on new meanings for you.
When you have learned all these meanings you will b