when donald peck greeted the elder moon next morning, there was considerable coolness in the reply; clarence's suspicions had revived over night. later in the day duncan got hold of reggie, and succeeded in extracting from him the confidence that clarence still nourished the absurd idea that the pecks might have stacked the room themselves.
"it's all rot, of course," said the lad, looking trustingly up into duncan's face. "i know you wouldn't do a thing like that, and so does he, but he's so wild about it he can't think straight. i told him that if you were the ones you wouldn't have come around as you did, and helped us out."
duncan glanced away and felt uncomfortable.
"i hate to have him act so," went on the boy; "it seems so much worse since you were so good[pg 44] about it. he'll get over it in a day or two. i hope you won't mind."
duncan answered cordially that he shouldn't, and, putting an abrupt end to the conversation, went home to upbraid his brother for getting both into the scrape. donald jeered at his scruples, averred that it was all for the moons' real good, and charged him with entering into the scheme without raising objections, and then crawling. duncan flung back this charge with indignation, and a high-pitched, virulent, and illogical argument followed, wherein all the disastrous enterprises in which the pair had ever engaged were reconsidered and the blame properly apportioned. this scene of mutual recrimination ended only when the inhabitants of the room above fell to thumping on the floor and emitting catcalls and dog yelps; and payner, who happened to be passing, actually had the effrontery to knock at the door to inquire if any one was hurt.
the instant effect of this last interruption was to divert the angry feelings of the brothers from their former course and combine them against payner. he was the cause of all the trouble;[pg 45] without him and his outrageous interference, the moons would never have had a suspicion. he should be punished; his room should be ripped up, and ripped up thoroughly. the discussion of a plan reinfused in the twins the old spirit of unity and harmony.
but payner was not so easily caught as the heedless moons. the twins obtained a schedule of his recitations and laboratory hours, which they agreed afforded the only safe occasions to work. at some of these hours they were themselves employed; at others, when they tried his door, it proved to be securely locked.
once, indeed, during a laboratory period, they found the door ajar, and pushing it open went boldly in to make the most of their opportunity. donald was in the van, his eyes eagerly sweeping the walls of the room in search of material suited to his purpose. duncan, close behind him, glanced over the table, and perceived a bristly head of hair just appearing above the table edge. before they could draw back, the bristling scalp rose higher, and two savage little eyes looked straight into donald's face. it was payner himself, who had[pg 46] been sent back from the laboratory for the note-book which he had neglected to bring with him.
donald sprang back speechless. duncan came forward pulling out his watch.
"well?" said payner. he was not given to long speeches, but he could put much vigor into short ones.
"have you the right time about you?" duncan asked with a certain degree of composure. "we saw your door open and thought we'd come in."
"so i see," remarked payner. "he"—jerking his head toward donald—"seemed rather surprised to find me in."
"it's enough to surprise any one to have a fellow pop up like a jack-in-the-box from behind a table!"
"jack-in-the-box!" repeated payner, angrily.
"well, anything you like," said duncan, smiling. "did you say you had the right time?"
"no, i haven't; my time is always wrong."
"thanks," returned duncan; "then we won't trouble you any longer. come on, don, let's try owen."
[pg 47]
the brothers turned to go. "the next time you come you'd better knock first," shouted payner. "it'll save your nerves!"
"we'll try to remember," said donald, who had regained his composure. it was his only part in the interview.
the brothers crept back to their room and there chuckled mightily over their escape. payner listened to see whether they really did visit owen, and then locking his door carefully, walked over to the laboratory, far more disturbed by the problem of the pecks' presence in his room than by any difficulty which an experiment in physics might offer. and payner did not shine in physics.
after this payner's door was always locked, and, mischievous as the twins were, they had no heart for breaking and entering. weeks flew by; christmas came, bringing the long recess. owen and carle both returned to terryville for the holidays, the latter especially elated. he had got his scholarship. his work in the classroom had flagged a little toward the end of the term, as the seductive influence of popularity made itself felt, but his honest efforts in the first two months[pg 48] had given him a good margin, as well as impressed his teachers. he knew a lot of fellows, was already patronized by a certain conspicuous set, and enjoyed, as far as it was possible to anticipate the credit of great deeds as yet unperformed, the glory of being the master pitcher who was to win the hillbury game. it was possible, of course, that these anticipations might prove unwarranted; that carle's glory, like the great kuropatkin's military reputation before the battles of laioyang and mukden, might not survive the actual test. but at least he had every prospect of being the school pitcher, and this was in itself a definite honor.
owen had not fared as well. he had worked faithfully, had won fair rank, had made a few good friends; his teachers spoke of him as steady but slow. he had developed no striking qualities to impress his boy acquaintances; he was not witty like rogers, nor literary like ware, nor a wonderful scholar like salter, nor a football hero like laughlin or lindsay, nor a track athlete with a record like strong, nor a musician like truslow, nor clever with a pencil like fox, nor a ladies'[pg 49] man like richmond, nor even a jolly idiot like kleinschmidt. to be a candidate for the nine, with the possibility of becoming substitute catcher if luck served, was not in itself and at this early day a sufficient ground for distinction. so rob had few successes to report to his family on his return. mr. owen was satisfied that the boy had honestly endeavored to do his duty in school, and follow the principles laid down in the parental code. in the father's eyes the discouraging outlook for baseball was rather a cause for congratulation. mrs. owen was wholly pleased to have her son at home again, and to find him a little bigger and a little stronger and a little more manly than before, but just as fond of his home as ever, and just as interested in all that concerned it. except for two things, rob himself was completely happy. one was the disappointment about baseball, which he could not forget; the other, the constant reminder of his inferiority to carle. when carle confessed on the train, with a certain imposing air of one whose honors were burdensome, that he had been asked to join the omega-omicron fraternity, rob was smitten hard with jealousy,[pg 50] but he threw off this feeling in an instant and spoke eagerly.
"that's an honor, isn't it! are you going to join?"
"i haven't decided yet," replied carle, negligently.
"aren't they rather a rich set?" asked rob, as he ran over the list of several who were reputed to be members. he had picked up a good deal of information during his first term about many things which did not immediately concern him.
"most of 'em have money, but they don't insist that every one else should."
"i should think that it would be hard all the same," returned rob, thoughtfully. "you see, there'll be a lot of things these fellows do that you can't afford. you won't want to refuse if you're with them, and you can't stand the pace they set. that makes it awkward for you."
"oh, they make a way for a fellow who hasn't much," carle replied. "you see they like to get in fellows that are well known, specially the athletic men. it's to their interest to sacrifice something, if they want the important fellows."
[pg 51]
"i'm thinking of you, not of the fraternity," said owen, resisting another attack of jealousy. it grated on him to hear carle speak so confidently of his assured athletic position. "it'll be harder for you to study and keep your place in the class, if you're going with those fellows all the time; and then there'll be a temptation to spend more than you can afford."
at this argument, which was certainly worthy of consideration, carle's face clouded and he burst out savagely: "it's mighty mean to be always kept tied down to figuring on pennies, and have to slave to get a scholarship, when other fellows who haven't anything to make them popular can throw money around and loaf, and float along on the top wave. it isn't right!"
rob looked at him in surprise. "you don't have to spend money to be popular. there's laughlin; he hasn't a cent that he doesn't earn, and fellows like poole and lindsay and cutting don't make any show of money if they have it. and who thinks anything of bowers with all his dough?"
"they have all they need, at least," returned[pg 52] carle, "and i haven't. laughlin's different, but there aren't many like him. all i say is that it's mighty tough to send a fellow to school, and not give him money enough to keep him there decently."
rob listened without knowing what reply to make. he recalled the eagerness with which ned had forced his plan upon his parents, his declaration that he would not let himself be a burden to them, and his promise to be content with what they could afford to give him, and rely upon himself for all other needs. why should he speak as if he had been sent to school against his will and there neglected, when he had besought his parents to let him go at his own risk? and why should he complain at all when he had apparently had complete success, earned a scholarship, and had such prospects of an important place in school life?
ned's successes were soon known in terryville. mr. carle repeated often and proudly the tale of his son's high rank in his school, and of the great popularity which he enjoyed among his school-fellows. ned added the information that he[pg 53] should probably do the bulk of the pitching on the school nine; he was to begin pitching practice with the regular school catcher after the holidays. when people questioned rob concerning these statements, as many did, he readily confirmed them; when they asked him further, as some did, why he had not succeeded as well, and why he wasn't "good enough to catch carle," he laughingly declared his inferiority. when he was safe from observation, however, and the questions returned to him, he had no heart to laugh. the fact that he was "outclassed," as ned calmly explained it, or better that he had been quietly put aside on the assumption that he wasn't the equal of borland, while carle was taken at his own highest valuation and given in advance the honors of achievement—this was indeed an unpleasant subject for reflection. but rob, though lacking the worldly experience which might have taught him that in the general sifting and settling of life, undeserved elevation usually leads to deserved humiliation, still was fortunate in possessing a modest self-esteem and reasonably good sense. that he envied carle's rapid rise cannot be denied;[pg 54] but that he in any way wished his friend ill on account of it, or would have liked to pull carle down that the difference between them should be less manifest,—this feeling, i am pleased to say, was wholly absent from his mind. rob owen was no cad.
yard
a corner of the yard.
