“Pinning inoffensive beetles to cigar-boxes, I suppose. He’s been having a rough time at school lately. Some one let out about the care and feeding of frogs and Toby’s getting frightfully ragged. Toby says Mill did it, but Mill declares he didn’t.” “Of course you don’t know who it was,” observed Betty, demurely. “Well, if you think it was me, you’re wrong,” said Barry, grinning. “When I tried to tell a fellow he said he’d already heard it!” Betty laughed and Barry’s grin turned to a frown. “I wish Peaches would come,” he said plaintively. “I want to talk to him about something.” “You and he are pretty good friends, aren’t you?” said Betty. “I’m awfully glad. It’s funny, too, for he’s been here with us two years and he was never chummy with any of the boys before.” “He says I amuse him.” Barry turned from watching the road in the direction of school and asked: “Why is it Peaches doesn’t have more friends, Betty? I mean fellows he goes about with. He knows every one, it seems, but he doesn’t seem to want to have much to do with any one.” “I don’t really know, Barry. The first year he was here he started to go around with two or three fellows in his class. You know them, I guess: Ellingham and Prentiss.” “I know Ellingham,” said Barry. “They call him ‘Goof.’ That the one?” “Yes. And Prentiss is a tall boy with a lot of color in his cheeks, who dresses a lot. Then there was another――he wasn’t in Peaches’ class, when I think of it――named Shafter. They all belonged to the rich crowd in school, you know. Well, Peaches went with them for maybe a month or two and then all of a sudden he stopped. I never knew what happened, only Davy said something to Peaches about it one day and Peaches said, ‘Oh, they got my goat!’ Since then he’s sort of kept to himself, although all the boys seem to like him a lot, and he always gets more applause when he goes to bat in the ball games than any one else on the team!” “Funny for him to get in with the wealthy crowd,” mused Barry. “Maybe they found he wasn’t――well, one of them, you know, and dropped him.” “I guess he wasn’t one of them,” assented Betty, “because he’s so much of a――a gentleman. Of course the others had lots of money, too, but they――oh, I don’t know――they weren’t a bit like Peaches.” “What I meant was that the others probably dropped Peaches because he wasn’t rich enough for them. That is, his folks weren’t. I guess there are quite a few snobs here.” “But, gracious!” said Betty; “they weren’t any of them as wealthy as Peaches! Why, they couldn’t be! At least, it doesn’t seem as if they could.” Barry stared. “I don’t get you. Are you trying to tell me that――that Peaches’ folks are well off? wealthy?” “Well, gracious! aren’t they? I don’t know very much about it myself, Barry, but Father said once that he guessed Harrington Jones was one of the four or five richest men in the country. Anyhow, he must be richer than――”