The crowd about Larry and Peter dispersed. The boys had no desire to be caught aiding a fight the first night of school, since many of them had their fathers to reckon with and did not want to be expelled. As for Larry he felt that he had a just cause for a battle with Peter. The latter, however, did not stay to see the outcome of his challenge. As soon as there was an excuse he broke away from the encircling crowd and made for the open door. Perhaps he had too good a recollection of Larry’s sturdy fists the time they had met in the City Hall corridor. At any rate the fight was off for that night, though Larry determined he would pay Peter back the first chance he got. Into the different rooms the boys crowded. The teachers, with a skill born of long experience, soon separated them into classes. Larry was somewhat surprised, when, with a number of other boys, he had marched into a room, to see, seated in it, half a score of men. He then learned for the first time, that a number of grown persons, who had had no chance to study when they were young, attended the night schools. They were trying to learn more so as to get better positions. There were quite a few foreigners also, whose main object was to learn the English language. The teacher in Larry’s class put the boys through a rough and ready examination. To Larry’s delight he found he was able to answer with ease the test questions. This was because of his preliminary study with the professor. The teacher, seeing he was a bright boy and well grounded in the rudiments, passed him on to a higher class, where Larry settled down for the term. Thus began his first night at evening school, a strange experience for him. There was little studying done at the initial session. The boys were enrolled and then, after a short lecture by the teacher, who urged the lads to study, the class was given a lesson to prepare for the next night and then dismissed. Tired and aching from his experience, with somewhat of a feeling of anger against his old enemy Peter, and with his head filled with thoughts of the new life opening before him, Larry went home. He found his mother and Lucy still up, anxious to hear how he had made out. Larry related to them his experiences, telling of the gauntlet only as a game and making light of his hurts. “Aren’t they pretty rough boys, Larry?” asked his mother. “No rougher than many others,” replied Larry, bound to stick up for those with whom he was to associate. He studied some of his lessons that night. Then he took his spelling book with him to the office, thinking he would get a chance during the spare hours of the day, or at lunch time, to go over the exercises. CHAPTER XVI LARRY AT A STRIKE