giggle so much and aren't funny at all. I think he is very funny. He
says such queer things about the trees and plants in the woods. He
twists their names around so they mean something else. Like the
dog-wood, bark, you know. Mother, what is hazing?"

"It is the kind of thing the college boys do to those in a lower class;
they play tricks on them which sometimes are really very cruel."

"Do you mean they really hurt them?"

"Sometimes they hurt them very much. I knew of one young man who was
forced into a pond of water on an icy day in the fall, and who nearly
died of pneumonia in consequence of the cold he took from having to be
in his wet clothes so long."

"Do you think they will do anything like that to Cousin Ben?"

"I certainly hope not, though no doubt there will be some tricks played
on him as he is a Freshman."

Edna knew what a Freshman was but the matter of hazing was quite new to
her and troubled her very much. Cousin Ben had gone out alone to the
woods. Perhaps this very moment someone was lying in wait for him.

Hastily setting away the doll and trunk she ran downstairs, put on her
coat and hat and started up the road toward the woods nearest. She had
no exact plan in her mind, but she knew Cousin Ben had probably gone to
see one of his classmates who lived just beyond this piece of woods. The
college was on the outskirts of the city and the dormitories were within
easy walking distance, so that one was liable to see a group of college
boys at almost any time. Edna trotted along hoping to overtake her
cousin. She did not believe anyone would attack him unless he were
alone, and she meant to keep him company on his return walk. Just as she
reached the edge of the woods she came upon a group of Sophomores
standing a short distance away and she heard one say. "We'll nab him as
he comes out, boys."

Who could they mean but Cousin Ben? She walked slowly that she might, if
possible, hear more.

"You're sure he came this way?" she heard another say.

"Sure," was the reply. "We saw him go in Abercrombie's gate."

That settled it in Edna's mind, for it was Will Abercrombie whose house
Cousin Ben most frequented. She hesitated a moment, wondering what path
her cousin would take, and then she remembered that the short cut was
through the woods; it was much longer by the road. It was already
getting rather late and it looked grim and gloomy in the woods, but
there was nothing to do but face any danger and