's way,--just like a puppy, as you say. Mr. Cosden--"

"I'm afraid Mr. Cosden doesn't remember his own boyhood as well as you
remember yours," Merry interrupted. "How much more he would enjoy
himself if he had a bump of humor, wouldn't he?"

"Connie? Why, I never noticed that he lacked humor. Of course Connie is
very intense; he goes at his business as if it were the only thing in
life, and when it comes to play it's the same way. Now that you speak
about it, I don't know that I have noticed much sense of humor in him.
Perhaps that's why we pull together so well."

"I'm glad you asked me to go with you this afternoon," Merry continued.
"Mother has told me something about Mr. Hamlen, and I feel terribly
sorry for him. He was so miserably unhappy the other evening. She says
he has one of the most wonderful places she ever saw."

"He has; but I believe you will be even more interested in studying the
man than his frame. The morning I spent with him stands out as an event
in my life. You heard us discussing college the other evening; well,
Hamlen is the product of the one great fault in the life at Harvard when
we were there."

"For Phil's sake, I hope all the faults are overcome by now."

Huntington smiled. His face was one which smiled easily, adding to the
charm of his low, well-modulated voice.

"Most of the faults have been eradicated," he replied, "but weaknesses
will always exist. Perhaps I should have called this a weakness. To-day
it is partially remedied, and I believe that the new freshman
dormitories are going to be a large insurance clause against it."

"I don't believe I understand--"

"Nor can you until I cease speaking in enigmas," laughed Huntington. "I
once went to a lecture William James gave on Pragmatism, and all I took
away as a reward for my hour of careful listening was that 'nothing is
the only resultant of the one thing which isn't.' I upbraided him for it
when next we met, and he explained that the prerogative of a philosopher
is that he can retreat behind meaningless expressions and still be
considered wise. I am no philosopher, so it is cowardly of me to try to
take similar advantage of you. Hamlen is a college-made recluse, and
there is no denying the fact that at Harvard there has been less effort
made by the students to find out the personal characteristics of their
classmates than at any of the other colleges. Each fellow has had to
show them forth himself, and it had to be done his