He had never been in a pawnshop in his life and he was nervous.
Besides, his time was getting short. He rushed out of the station
and asked the first person he met (it was Crossley, although in his
excitement Hal couldn’t have told whether the man was black or white)
where there was a pawnshop. Crossley didn’t answer, because Hal hadn’t
stopped for an answer and Crossley himself was hurrying. He was already
talking to the policeman on the corner. The policeman told Hal there
was a pawnshop in the other end of town, but that most of the students
who had to raise money that way went to Boston. Hal started out to the
pawnshop the policeman told him about, but when he got there he found
it closed.
By the time Hal got back to the station it was five minutes of three.
He had decided to go into Boston and try to raise the money there on
the watch; then he would go right on home from here. He checked his
trunk, and just then the train drew into the station and he got aboard.
Meantime Hans had arrived back at the house thirty minutes before he
was expected. He straightened things around in his room, put his books
away and after a minute or two found Hal’s note. The note just said
that he had bad news from home, his father was sick, and they couldn’t
send him his allowance. He was going. He was sorry he couldn’t see Hans
again, but he was discouraged and said he would write. Would Hans tell
Hughie the circumstances, etc.? He was leaving Boston on the afternoon
train.
Hans knew the train left at three. He pulled out his watch and saw it
was fifteen minutes of three. It took sixteen minutes to get to the
station on the car. The train might be on time.
The note hadn’t sounded quite right to Hans. Hal ought not leave the
University without first registering out at the office of the college.
He thought there might be something else. Above all he didn’t want
Hal to go to California without seeing him again. He was very fond of
his chum. He thought of these things as he was gliding down the front
steps. To catch that train he would have to beat the car. That meant to
do it on foot.
Hans started to run. Every block put behind him was like a stolen base
to him. By running every block he managed to catch the last car of the
train just as she pulled out. There he stopped long enough to catch his
breath for he knew they couldn’t get off now since it was an express to
Boston without stop.
[Illustration: Every block was like a stolen base to Hans.]
Hans walked into the car. His first glance showed him a blue hat and
suit that looked like Hal’s, and as he came up to the seat he was just
about to slap him on the back with a “Hello! Hal!” when he saw the
fellow had on blue glasses. He stopped, then saw that the face wasn’t
Hal’s and went on through the train, glad that he hadn’t slapped a
stranger’s back in his best college style.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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