"I tell you it is impossible. Do you suppose I'm going back there where all the fellows are laughing at me? Why, they're talking of throwing me out of the club! More than that, I can't take another cent of your money. If I had known how you were earning your living I would never have entered the university at all." "Oh, my boy, do you doubt me? Do you believe what they say against me?" This brought him face to face with the whole problem. "Of course I don't believe that you cheat--purposely--but I do think you are abnormal. You can't expect me to believe that a voice can come out of the air like that. It's impossible! It's against all reason, and yet--" At this moment another knock, a gentler signal, sounded at the door, and the youth, relieved by the interruption, flared out at the unknown intruder. "Go away," he shouted. "No, no; these are friends," his mother asserted, and rose to let them in. Victor caught her by the arm. "What are you going to do?" "Open the door. It is one of my dearest friends." "You must not give a sitting. I won't have it." The knock was repeated and she hurried away, leaving the boy confused, angry, and helpless. She returned, accompanied by two women. The first of them was a diminutive, gray-haired lady, with a frank and smiling face, whose dress proclaimed a prosperous and happy station in life. Her companion was a tall young girl, whose spring suit, quiet in color and exquisitely tailored, became her notably. The youth thought, "What a stylish girl!" And the sight of her calmed him instantly. "Victor," said his mother, and her tone was one of relief, "these are my dearest friends, Mrs. Joyce and Leonora Wood, her niece." Victor bowed without speaking, for the heart of battle was still in him. Mrs. Joyce cried out: "What a fine, big fellow! I didn't expect such a stalwart son." "Please be seated," said Mrs. Ollnee. "My son has just arrived. He saw that dreadful article in the paper and came to defend me." "That was fine of you," exclaimed Mrs. Joyce to Victor. "That same article brought us. I would have been here before only we don't take the _Star_, and I did not see the article until about an hour ago." Mrs. Ollnee took up her explanation. "But, Louise, Victor says he will not go back to college." Mrs. Joyce was quick to apprehend the situation. "I suppose that outrageous article made it appear necessary for you to defend both your mother and yourself," she said, searchingly. Victor was not disposed to gloze matters in the least. "It made a fool of me," he responded, bitterly. "It made it impossible for me to look my friends in the face. How could I convince them that I was not sharing in the profits of my mother's business? I told them I didn't know where my allowance came from, but of course no one believed me. I know now, and I despise the whole business. I've come down here to take my mother out of it."