“Yes, but don’t expect it,” remarked Jelly, despondently. “Just look at the way they treated me last year!” A howl of laughter arose, and Jelly viewed his table-companions indignantly. “That’s all right, you fellows, but I did as well as Ward did. He didn’t get through me very often, I can tell you! You know he didn’t.” “You did great work, Jelly,” said Rob, soothingly. “They ought to have kept you on the second. I have an idea that the reason Hop dropped you was only because he was afraid that sometime you’d fall on the ball and squash the air out of it.” “Oh, you run along,” growled Jelly. “I’m going to try again this year, anyway, and I’m going to make the second for keeps.” “Why don’t you go out and be the ball?” asked Wright, pleasantly. Jelly pushed back his chair and walked disgustedly away, and his departure was the signal for a general exodus. Rob’s progress was often interrupted, and Evan had to shake hands with many more new acquaintances, most of whom, as there were a great many new-comers wandering around the corridors that night, shook hands with him in a perfunctory way, muttered that they were glad to know him, and paid him no further attention. But Evan didn’t mind. Although this was his first experience of boarding-school, he held no romantic notions of such places and so was not disappointed because so far nothing romantic had happened. He drew out of the way and waited for Rob to get through talking, thinking to himself that it would be nice to have as many acquaintances as his new room-mate had, and making up his mind that some day the fellows of Riverport School should be as glad to talk to him as they now were to Rob Langton. While he stood there waiting, Frank Hopkins passed, talking to the tall youth of whom Evan had asked his way that afternoon. If they saw him they made no sign. Presently Rob parted from the last of his acquaintances and, followed by Evan, reached the door. “Sorry to keep you waiting,” he apologized. “Some of those chaps, though, I wanted to be nice to――for a reason. I’ll tell you why some day soon. Now let’s cut across to First House and call on Mrs. Crow.” CHAPTER IV MALCOLM WARNE