But if the students had been amazed by the newcomer's temerity in mounting the steps, they were dumfounded by his reply, as he bowed gravely: "I am glad to meet you all. My name is James Appleby Bronson. I have passed my examinations to the Second Form." An instant the students on the top step gazed from their new member to one another, then Soda arose, and, with a mocking wave of his hand, bowed low and commanded: "Second Formers, rise and salute your fellow member, Mr. James Appleby Bronson, called Clothespin for short." As though moved by a spring, the twenty-two members of the Second Form stood up and chorused: "Welcome, Clothespin." "Then I can sit with you?" asked the newcomer, looking toward Soda. "You can sit on the top step, there by the railing," replied the leader, pointing to a place at the opposite side of the porch. "There are a few formalities to be settled before you can be really one of us." Relieved that his torture was over for the moment, yet wondering what the "formalities" could be, Bronson started to take the seat by the rail, when the lad called Taffy exclaimed: "Where are your credentials?" "Credentials?" repeated the new student in surprise. "Yes, your credentials. Didn't the Head give you a card?" "Why, no. Mr. Vining said all I need do was to meet my instructors and enroll in the classes." "It was very wrong in the Head to misinform you," began Taffy in mock solemnity, when he was interrupted by a voice shouting: "Here comes Bart Montgomery!" Instantly cries of welcome greeted the announcement, and in the confusion Bronson was forgotten. Glancing at the boy whose arrival had spared him further badgering, Bronson saw a tall, lithe fellow, with dark-hued, handsome face. "Who is Montgomery?" he asked of the boy next him. "What, you coming to Baxter and don't know Bart Montgomery?" returned the other. "Don't let anybody else hear you say so. He made the hit that won over Landon School last spring--the first time in four years. He's the best baseball and football player at Baxter, that's who Bart Montgomery is." "No, he isn't, either," interposed another boy. "Who's better?" demanded Bart's champion. "Fred Markham." "Don't you believe him, Clothespin!" "Well, I don't know about his athletic standing, but I do know I don't like Mr. Montgomery's eyes," rejoined the latter; "he can't look you in the face." This dispute had passed unnoticed in the welcoming of Bart. As he took his seat in the center of the Second Form students, Lefty exclaimed: "Now we're all back." "Not yet," returned Buttons. "Who's missing?" "Fred Markham." "Oh, he'll not be back," sneered Bart Montgomery. "Why?" chorused several of the boys, while all the others gathered closer. "You know his father failed, don't you?" demanded Bart. "Sure," said Buttons, "but how does that affect Fred?" "He can win the Second Form Scholarship in Science--that'll give him cash enough, if he's short of money," protested another.