"He may, and then again he may not; you can't be sure of it. If you'd only spent your time with me, I would have been willing to act as second string pitcher, and you would not have been crowded out. You put your foot in it, all right, old man." "I suppose I did. But let's not talk about it. You weren't at school to-day." "No." "How did that happen?" "Working." "Working? How careless! I didn't know you ever did such a thing." "Well," said Roy slowly, "this was a case of necessity, you see." "Oh, you needed the money, eh?" "No; it wasn't that, though I earned a dollar and a quarter helping shingle John Holbrook's barn. You see--my mother, she--she lost some money recently." "Lost it?" "Yes; lost it, or--or something," Roy replied stumblingly. "It wasn't much, but it was all she had. She'd saved up a little at a time to buy material for a new dress." "How did she happen to lul-lose it?" "I can't tell. She doesn't quite know herself. She put it in a drawer in the house, and when she went to look for it, it was gone." "That sounds like a robbery instead of a loss." "But it couldn't be a robbery," protested Hooker quickly and earnestly. "Nobody would come into the house and take money out of that drawer--nobody around here. You never hear of such a thing happening around this town. Perhaps mother mislaid it somewhere. Anyhow, it's gone, and I'm going to try to earn enough to replace it." "Well, say, Hooker," exclaimed Phil, "you're all right! I didn't suppose you'd stoop to work, even under such circumstances. Do you know, lots of times we're liable to misjudge some one until something happens to show us just the sort of a person he is." "Yes; I suppose that's right," said Roy. But he did not look Phil in the eyes. CHAPTER XV. PLAIN TALK FROM ELIOT. "How's your cold, Phil?" It was Eliot who asked the question, and Springer, pausing with one foot on the academy steps, replied: "Oh, it's some bub-better, I think." "Glad to hear it," said Roger, slipping his arm through Springer's. "Come on, let's walk over yonder to the fence. I want to have a little chin with you. It will be ten minutes yet before school begins." Together they walked to the fence at the back of the yard, pausing beneath one of the tall old trees which was putting forth tender green leaves. Leaning against the fence, the captain of the nine faced his companion. "As a rule," he began, "you've been a great enthusiast over baseball, and I didn't think you'd let a slight cold keep you away from practice. Exercise is one of the best remedies for a cold, if a person takes care of himself when he's through exercising." "I know that," said Phil, poking his toe into an ant's nest and declining to meet Roger's steady, level gaze; "but, really, I--I was feeling pretty rotten, you know, and I didn't have mum-much heart for practice."