Why, the cheering was getting nearer! The game must be over then! And――and Yardley surely had won, else why should they cheer so? The fellows were marching back from the rink. He could hear quite plainly now, catch each word of the old familiar cheer: “_Rah, rah, rah! Rah, rah, rah! Rah, rah, rah! Yardley! Yardley! Yardley!_” They were at the gymnasium probably. Yes, they were cheering the players! He heard the long-drawn “_Crumbie-e-e!_” “We _must_ have won!” he cried, sitting up suddenly in bed. “We must have!” Footsteps pounded the stairs and hurried along the corridor and Toby’s heart raced. Eager voices sounded in the corridor, came nearer! There was a knock on the door and Toby, trying to say “Come in!” couldn’t. But it didn’t matter for the door swung open at once and in came Arnold and Frank, still in hockey togs, red-cheeked, bright-eyed, bringing a breath of the frosty outdoors with them. It was Arnold who spoke first, Arnold falling to his knees beside the bed and throwing one arm across Toby’s body. “We won, chum!” he cried. “Four to two! It was great! And old Frank played a wonderful game――” “Not as good as Toby would have,” interpolated Frank with conviction from the foot of the bed. “And Loring told me to tell you,” continued Arnold breathlessly, unheeding of interruption, “that you’re to get your hockey letters, T. Tucker!” Arnold paused then and his face sobered. Finally, in lower tones he said: “Frank’s told me, Toby, and I don’t blame you for thinking what you did. He doesn’t either. And I’m sorry, awfully sorry, that I――I acted the way I did, and called you――what I did. You believe me, don’t you?” Toby only nodded. He wanted to speak but――well, a nod was easier! Arnold’s hand found his on the coverlid and grasped it tightly. “I wanted to make up long ago, Toby,” he whispered, “but――but I was just a plain, rotten brute.” Toby shook his head vehemently, but Arnold wouldn’t have it. “Yes, I was, chum! A regular brute. Frank told me so a dozen times. But――but it’s all right now, isn’t it?” “Yes,” answered Toby happily. “It’s _all right_!” From the direction of the gymnasium came another long cheer: “_Rah, rah, rah! Rah, rah, rah! Rah, rah, rah! Tucker!_” Toby, hearing, smiled contentedly. “I guess,” he murmured, “most everything comes out all right if you’ll just let it!” THE END BY RALPH HENRY BARBOUR _Hilton Series_ The Half Back The young hero of this story is carried through preparatory school and the freshman year at Harvard. The story closes with an account of a Yale-Harvard game. For the Honor of the School The excitement of a cross country run, training for track athletics, with a glimpse of football are all to be found in this school story. The hero is both an athlete and a scholar. Captain of the Crew