torturing his captain's peace of mind. He would contrive
to be seen just as he was on the point of taking the first bite; then he
would reluctantly lay the tidbit down.

"It's a hard life, this being a near athlete," he grumbled. "Sitting at
a table with a lot of uncongenial pups like you fellows.--Mr. Upton,
Blake's kicking me; make him quit, sir.--Not allowed to eat half the
things the rest of you do, and not allowed either to get any of the
training-table grub. Well, I never did think of self, so I can endure it
better than most."

The others jeered. But Westby, however he might complain, was faithful
at practice and accepted good-naturedly his position upon the second
eleven, and the hard battering to which every one on the second eleven
was subjected.

The day when he got round Morrill, the first eleven's left end, and
scored a touchdown--the only one which in that week of practice the
second eleven scored--brought him so much applause that he began really
to think there might be a chance of his ousting Dennison from the
regular position. When that notion entered his head he ceased to be
facetious about the training; he became suddenly as serious as
Collingwood himself. But in spite of that, he remained Dennison's
substitute.

The Saturday set for the game with the Harvard Freshmen was an Indian
Summer day. In the early morning mist wreathed the low meadows and the
edges of the pond; it seemed later to dissipate itself through all the
windless air in haze. The distant hills were blue and faint, the elms in
the soft sunlight that filtered down had a more golden glow.

"Great day," was the salutation that one heard everywhere; "great day
for the game."

Now and then in his morning classes Irving's thoughts would wander,
there would be a gentle rush of excitement in his veins. He would turn
his mind firmly back to his work; he did not do any less well that day
because his heart was singing happily.

In three hours more--in two--in one--he was going to see Lawrence again; he
wondered if he would find his brother much changed. Only two months had
passed since they had parted; yet in that time how remote Lawrence had
grown in Irving's eyes from the Lawrence of the Ohio farm!

The bell announcing the noon recess rang; Irving dismissed his last
class. He hurried down the stairs almost as madly as the Fourth Formers
themselves; the train on which the Harvard Freshmen were coming was due
ten minutes before; alread