When all our platitudes are ignored or forgotten it is still true that youth is the seed-sowing time, and what a man sows, as well as the measure of his sowing, determines the character and the abundance of the harvest he will reap. We do well, then, to strive at least to scatter the seed at the time when the seed can be sown. The soils may vary, the seed is the same. I trust that the interest, the pride, the sorrow, and pleasure which the writer has felt, as he has followed the courses of these boys, may in a degree, at least, be shared by his readers, and also may not be entirely without their effects in inspiring a desire to profit by their examples. Elizabeth, N. J. EVERETT T. TOMLINSON. *CONTENTS* CHAPTER I. Waiting II. Ward Hill’s Decision III. Mr. Crane’s Examination IV. A Call for Help V. A Warning VI. The Beginning of the Struggle VII. The Troubles are Increased VIII. Perplexity IX. An Interview with Jack X. The Scene in Ripley’s Room XI. Jack Hobart’s Project XII. Mr. Crane’s Words XIII. A Faithful Friend XIV. Ward Humbles Himself XV. Outside Lessons XVI. The Beginning of the Great Game XVII. The End of the Great Game XVIII. A Puzzling Question XIX. Jack’s Sermon XX. Down West Hill XXI. The Arrow and the Swallow XXII. The Mishap of the Arrow XXIII. The Investigation XXIV. Unexpected Visitors XXV. Jack Hobart’s Proposition XXVI. Conclusion *WARD HILL THE SENIOR* *CHAPTER I* *WAITING* The little station at Rockford was the scene of the customary bustle and stir which appear in most country villages just before the arrival of the "afternoon train." The village idlers were assembled for the little break which came in the dull routine of the day. The shrill whistle of the approaching locomotive always brought a slight thrill in the hearts of these stolid watchers, as if something in the stir of the great region beyond their horizon was coming, if but for a moment; and when the train departed, so long as the cloud of smoke and dust remained behind it, it served to quicken the dull minds by the suggestions of the possibilities that lay in that unknown world so far away.