Kendall had news for Ned that evening when the latter called on him, but owing to the fact that Harold Towne was in the room he couldn’t confide it for a time. Harold entertained a large respect and admiration for Ned Tooker, and whenever he was on hand on the occasions of Ned’s visits he always set out to make himself agreeable. Harold’s notion of being agreeable was to monopolize most of the conversation, carefully selecting subjects which he believed Ned to be interested in and rattling away on them with an assurance that was at once irritating and amusing. Ned detested Kendall’s roommate heartily, but managed to be polite no matter how much Harold’s chatter annoyed him. To-night Harold quite surpassed himself, playing the rôle of host from the moment of Ned’s appearance. “Hello, Tooker!” Harold cried. “Awfully glad to see you. Kendall, pull that chair around for Tooker. Throw your cap anywhere; this is Liberty Hall.” “Much obliged, but I’ll sit here. Well, how are things with you, Curt?” “Oh, he’s been grinding at his books all the afternoon,” said Harold. “I tell him he’s after a scholarship.” “Very commendable ambition,” said Ned soberly. “I tried it myself once and came within one of getting a Burrows. I wrote home about it and my dad wrote back that he guessed that was about as near as I’d ever get to making fifty dollars. Such ingratitude was naturally discouraging and I never tried again.” Harold laughed uproariously and Ned observed him in grave surprise. “I made a quarter to-day, though,” he went on. “Walked over to Lloyd for dinner and held a man’s auto for him and he gave me a quarter. Here it is. Looks all right, doesn’t it?” He passed it to Kendall. “Seems to be real money,” laughed Kendall. “What do you mean by saying you held a man’s auto? Looked after it for him?” “Yes, held it by the bit. It was rather nervous, you see; tried to jump out of the shafts every time a leaf rustled.” “Oh, it was a horse?” said Harold. “No, an automobile! a dark bay with coppery points. It was very good-looking, too. Very deep in the radiator, and had an arched neck and fine quarters. This is one of them.” “You’re crazy, Ned,” laughed Kendall. “_Was it a horse or was it an automobile?_” “Oh, I don’t know, but I got a quarter. And all I did was hold its head, bring a pail of water for it and polish the brass. My, but it’s easy to earn money if you know how! Want to play some golf to-morrow?” “Yes, I’d love to, if you care to bother with me,” answered Kendall. “But I would like to know about that horsomobile.” “I’ve told you everything,” answered Ned with dignity. “If you doubt my story, why, here’s the quarter.” “What were you doing at Lloyd?” asked Harold. “That’s ten or twelve miles, isn’t it?” “It’s quite a jaunt. I was looking for mushrooms,” answered Ned calmly. “Mushrooms? What for?” “Oh, I collect them. Haven’t you ever seen my fungi? You must come over some time and let me show them to you.”