Starbright had resumed his seat. There was a look of bitterness on his handsome, boyish face, but the happy Virginian did not observe it. Frank, however, could read Dick’s thoughts, and he knew the freshman had told himself that the Inza matter could not turn out after the manner of the misunderstanding between Jack and Juliet. To Merry it seemed that this reconciliation between the Virginian and the English girl had happened at just the right time to serve as an object-lesson. Diamond had been foolishly jealous, had not trusted Juliet, and now he realized the full extent of his folly. “Boys!” cried Jack, “I’ll blow you to dinner to-night! Why, I want to do something to make others happy, I am so happy myself! Where’ll we go—Del’s?” Starbright shook his head. “I can’t go,” he said. “I’m in training, you know, and it won’t do.” “Training!” cried Diamond. “What, this early? Yes, I remember. But how happens it you are here?” Dick did not feel like making an explanation just then. “Business—er—business, you know,” he faltered. “Well, a square feed will do you good, now that you are away from the training-table. Oh, that training-table! It gives every man a great appetite.” But Starbright had no appetite. “We’ll let you blow us at another time, Jack,” smiled Frank. “I don’t feel like stuffing myself to-night.” “You never feel like stuffing yourself,” said the Virginian resentfully. “Ever since I can remember, you have been eating coarse bread, dodging pastry, eschewing pork and veal, and living like a dyspeptic.” “With the result that I am as little like a dyspeptic as a man can possibly be. I eat coarse bread because there is little nutriment in white bread—all the important food-elements having been removed with the bran. The man who bolts his food is digging his own grave.” “Hear, hear!” cried Diamond. “A lecture on diet by the great expert, Frank Merriwell! Look at him! Behold him! He is a perfect man, and all because he never ate improper food. Go thou and do likewise.” Frank laughed a little. “You are putting it pretty strong,” he said. “Merely eating the proper food will not make any man an athlete or give him perfect health. He must conform to other rules and regulations; he must take proper exercise, and he must not disregard the natural laws of health. A fellow who fancies he can indulge in excesses and retain his health is fooling himself in the worst way.” “My dear fellow,” smiled Jack, “down in my country we are hospitable. We fling open our doors and invite our friends. Tables are loaded with the fat of the land, and every guest is supposed to take hold and eat his fill. You would find yourself out of order down there, with your rules and regulations.”