“Does that mean that the fight’s all out of you?” Larry asked. “Golly, I’d fight if I didn’t have just sense enough left to know that I’m down and out. I’ve taken the count, all right.” “Let’s see if you have. What would you do if you had a chance to stay here and live it down, Dick?” “What would I do? I’d black the shoes of the fellow who could tell me how it could be done. But it can’t be done. I’m fired, I tell you.” “Wait a minute,” Larry put in. “Supposing the faculty could be persuaded to reconsider. Whereabouts would that leave you?” Dick gave a wry little laugh. “It would leave me wondering where I was going to get the next meal. Didn’t you hear me say that I’m broke, and head over ears in debt besides?” “How much are you in debt?” Dick named a figure which wasn’t so crushingly big, though it doubtless seemed as big as the National debt to a fellow with only a few silver coins left in his pocket. Larry made a swift mental calculation. Without intending to be especially economical, he had lived well within the amount set apart for his first-year expenses, and he still had a comfortable balance in the college bank; in fact, there was something more than enough to pay Dick’s legitimate debts. But there were three months of the semester left, with board and lodging for two to be provided for. “Supposing you didn’t have to quit and run for it, Dick,” he suggested, “would you stay on in the Omegs?” “No; I’ve disgraced the fellows good and plenty, and the least I can do now is to get out.” “I’ve just been thinking,” Larry went on, unconsciously using a phrase that he’d copyrighted the summer before on the railroad job in the Timanyoni Mountains. “I’ve money enough in the bank to pull you out of the hole, but there’ll be nothing left to live on.” “Oh, good gorry, Larry――do you think I’d let you do a thing like that?” Dick burst out. “Besides, can’t you get it into your head that I’m fired, canned, sent home in disgrace?” “Oh, yes; I’m remembering all that. But I’m still thinking. You said this thing would break your father’s heart, and we mustn’t lose sight of that. Here’s what comes next. Gorman, in Prac. Mechanics, has lost his assistant, and two weeks ago I was offered the job. So far as I know, the chance is still open. With that, I could earn enough money to――”