“Why, I have done nothing as yet but talk,” answered the professor, smiling. “Wait a few days, and we’ll see what can be done. However it may turn out, don’t be discouraged. Make the best of it, work hard and you need not be despondent.” Once more shaking us warmly by the hand, he bade us good morning, and returned to his library, while we hastened over to the college to make preparations for our change of quarters. CHAPTER XVI SERVING OUR TERM The next morning found us settled in our temporary lodgings at the house in which my eating club was located. We had secured a double room on the second floor, and had transferred our necessary effects there at the earliest moment. This had been an especially severe trial for Ray, who was compelled to relinquish the comforts and luxury of the beautiful apartments which he loved so well. It was useless, however, to brood over lost privileges, for we found our condition much better than we had expected. We wrote home, as Professor Fuller had suggested, and received in reply letters that showed us that our parents were in sympathy with us, and were not inclined to judge us severely. Ray’s father informed him that he had also written to Dr. Drayton concerning the matter. When the news became generally known it created a great flood of feeling among the students, and we were the objects of sympathetic attention on every hand. No fear that the fellows would fail to appreciate our sacrifice. We were fairly lionized. Not only did the students come in one after another, personally, to condole with us, and to offer their services should we need anything, but we received a formal vote of thanks from the baseball association for what they were pleased to term our “patriotic spirit.” We received so much attention, in fact, that for the first two or three days we feared that we would never have a moment to ourselves to keep up our studies. We found no difficulty in making arrangements for securing the notes of the college lectures. Tony Larcom, who wrote a very fair shorthand, promised to copy out his notes and lend them to me, while Ray made a similar arrangement with a member of his class. Mr. Dikes showed himself more than willing to help us, so we set apart certain evenings of the week when he would come to our room and tutor us in the various subjects which our classes were pursuing. In order that we might secure the necessary leisure we were compelled to make a rule of being at home to nobody during certain hours; for we would otherwise have been fairly overrun with visitors. One of our most interesting visits occurred on the first evening we spent in our new quarters.