john north unlocked the door and threw it open. the study was in semi-darkness and filled with the accumulated heat and fust of the summer. ghostlike objects took shape before him and resolved themselves into chairs and couches and tables draped with sheets or, as in the case of the low book-shelves, hidden beneath yellowing folds of newspapers. the windows were closed and the shades drawn. at the side casements the afternoon sunlight made hot, buff oblongs on the curtains.
he crossed the room impatiently, overturning on the way a waste-basket and sending its contents—old books, battered golf-balls, brass curtain-rings, a broken meerschaum pipe, crumpled letters and invitations dating back to class day—rolling over the rug and beneath the big table. with mutterings of disgust he sent the front windows crashing upward, letting in a rush of fresher air, moist from[4] the newly sprinkled pavement below. at the side casements, however, he drew down the shades again, for dunster street was as full of heat and glare as an arizona ca?on.
laying aside coat and vest, he stretched his arms luxuriously, and, thrusting big, brown hands into trousers pockets, looked disconsolately from a window. cambridge was sweltering. although it was late september summer had returned in the night, unexpected and unwelcome, and had wrapped the city in a smothering blanket of heat and humidity. the square was a broad desert of arid, shimmering, sun-smitten pavement that radiated heat like the bed-plate of a furnace. the trees across the way looked wilted, dusty and discouraged. the yard, which he could glimpse here and there around the corners of the buildings, appeared cool and inviting, but instead of bringing comfort, only increased his longing for the breezy adirondack lake which he had left the day before. the cumbersome crimson cars buzzed to and fro with much clanging of bell and gong, interspersed with impatient shrillings from the whistle of the starter in front of the waiting station. from the outbound cars men with suit cases slid dejectedly to the[5] pavement and wandered away toward all points of the compass, seeking their rooms. college would begin again on the morrow.
john’s thoughts went back to the day three years before when from this very window he had watched, as he was watching now, the scene beneath. then he had been filled with the keenest interest, even excitement; had been impatient for the morrow and the real commencement of his college life. his mind had been charged with thoughts of the great things he was going to do. well, that had been three years ago, he reflected; to-day his thoughts were somewhat soberer. in the three years he had seen many illusions fade and had stored by a certain amount of practical common sense. as for the great things, some few of them had come to pass; unfortunately, seen in retrospect they were shrunken out of all similitude to the glorious subjects of his early dreams.
it must not be thought, however, that disillusionment had soured him. at twenty-four, given a sane mind and a healthy body, one can bear with equanimity more disenchantment than had fallen to the lot of john north. and john, being the possessor of twenty-four years, sanity and health,[6] dismissed memories of the olden visions with a sigh, shrugged his very broad shoulders and looked about for a pipe.
it was necessary to uncover most of the furniture before the pipe was found. and then he remembered that his tobacco pouch was in his kit-bag, that his kit-bag was outside the door, and that the door was twenty feet away. so after a moment of hesitation he stuck the empty pipe between his teeth and returned to his contemplation of the world outside.
“i wish davy would come,” he muttered.
a tall youth in a torn straw hat encircled by a faded orange-and-black ribbon came out of the hardware store beneath and started hurriedly across the square. john leaned out over the sill.
“ay-y-y-y, larry!” he called.
the other turned and retraced his steps.
“hello, johnnie! when’d you get back?”
“half-hour ago. come up.”
“can’t.” laurence baker removed the straw hat and, holding it by its broken rim, fanned his perspiring face. “i’m frightfully busy. my kid brother’s come up from exeter and i’m helping him fix his room; he’s got a joint in thayer. i’ve been[7] running errands for the little brute all day. it’s carpet tacks this time, and a roll of picture wire.” he held up his purchases wearily for the other’s inspection. john grinned.
“poor old larry!” he said, sympathetically. “you’ll have to settle down now and behave yourself; younger brothers, especially freshies, are the very deuce for looking after you.”
“you talk as though you had slathers of ’em,” retorted larry.
“no, thank heaven, i’m no one’s guardian. but i know what’s in store for you, poor devil! by the way, i’ve got a couple of seats for the hollis street to-night; will you?”
larry shook his head disconsolately.
“wish i could, but—er—i promised chester i’d take him to call on some folks in town.” john grinned again.
“well, don’t let me interfere with your duties, larry,” he said, shaking his head gravely.
“shut up! has davy got back?”
“no; the beggar wrote me that he was coming to-day, but he hasn’t shown up. i daresay he’s fallen asleep and gone on to watertown or waverly, or some other of those places you read about.”
[8]
“wouldn’t be a bit surprised,” laughed the other. “when’s the table going to start?”
“oh, monday, i guess. i’m going around there for dinner to-night. coming?”
“don’t think so. we’ll probably eat in town. can’t you come along?”
“maybe; if davy doesn’t show up meanwhile.”
“all right; meet us at the touraine at seven. if you’re not there by a quarter after——”
“don’t wait. it’ll mean that davy has woke up in time to get back here. so long, larry.”
the other waved the package in his hand, replaced his hat and hurried across the street, finally disappearing around the corner of gray’s. john looked after him with a broad smile.
“fancy larry in the r?le of mentor to the young! well——”
he stretched his arms over his head again, turned and surveyed the room. recollecting his bag, he went to the door for it and returning caught sight of several letters on the floor. he gathered them up and went back to the window. two of them proved to be circulars, one was a bill, a third was a note from the head football coach asking john to call on him, and the fourth bore the inscription,
[9]
“return after five days to corliss & groom, washington, d. c.”
john’s face betrayed curiosity as he opened this. leaning against the casement he read it through. curiosity gave place to surprise, surprise to alarm, alarm to consternation. he sucked hard at the empty pipe, stared blankly into the street and reread the letter. the writer was an old friend of his father and, to a lesser degree, of himself; a harvard graduate of some twenty years ago, and now a successful lawyer in washington. the portions of the letter responsible for john’s changes of expression were these:
“... and so i felt certain that in promising your services to the extent indicated i was not overstepping the bounds of friendship. the family were deeply grateful; in fact, i am not sure that at the last mrs. ryerson would have consented to allow phillip to go to cambridge had it not been for the promise i made in your behalf. do not imagine that the boy is deficient in sense; but, naturally enough, his mother hated to have him leave her for so long just at present. the father died in january last. phillip has always manifested ability to get his share of things; he does not, i think, err on the[10] side of timidity; in fact, such slight troubles as have molested him thus far have been due to a certain inherited love of daring. his father, my lifelong friend, was the embodiment of honour and fearlessness; but his courage, unfortunately, was of the reckless sort, and was, indirectly at least, accountable for his death. the quarrel, as i have said, was of a most trifling nature and should never have become subject for a duel. but phillip—the present phil’s father, you understand—was but thirty at the time and as finicky of his honour as a crusader. the wound which he received never entirely healed and last winter brought on the illness which caused his death.
“... but i will write no more of the boy’s character. were you a virginian i should simply say ‘he is a loudoun county ryerson,’ and you would understand. however, you will see for yourself, for i am accepting it as settled that you will look him up and be of such service as you can if only for our friendship’s sake. i fear the boy will have rather a hard row to hoe at first. he has always had everything in reason that he has desired, though i believe his demands have never been exorbitant. it was a surprise to the family when[11] the condition of affairs was revealed after phillip’s death. i, however, who was in his confidence, knew all along how things were going. he was never overfond of the humdrum, stay-at-home life of the planter, and the mystery is how he managed to keep possession of his property as long as he did. elaine is a fine place of some sixteen hundred acres, and there is no doubt but that after the bulk of it is disposed of the family will be in very comfortable circumstances.
“mrs. ryerson has been in poor health for many years, and she is naturally averse to selling any of the estate while she lives. margaret, however, who possesses far more practicality than a ryerson has any right to, has taken the conduct of affairs into her own hands, and i have instructions to sell elaine at the first opportunity. the residence and home farm—about one hundred acres in all—are exempted. the fact that the place is to be disposed of is being kept from phil, so you had best not mention it. he has been told only enough of the true state of affairs to prevent him from running into extravagances. it is the desire of his mother and sister that he shall not be hampered by monetary troubles more than absolutely necessary....
[12]
“... i have written at greater length than was perhaps necessary. but i want you to take an interest in the boy. i have a feeling that you will be of great service to him. i imagine that college life is much what it was twenty years ago, and my own experience tells me that the friendship of an older and more thoughtful man is of immense value to a freshman....
“... phillip is careless, perhaps high-spirited, and after the free and unconstrained life he has led at home, college life will, i fear, seem narrow and irksome. every youngster must have his fling, but there are different ways of flinging. and it’s there that you can be of use to phil and make me your debtor. he’s a good deal like a two-year-old turned out to pasture where the fences aren’t strong; it’s dollars to dimes he’ll try to break through into the next field. but a mild hand on the halter now and then may save him a broken shank or a bad wire-cut. and, by the way, john, if he should get damaged over the fences i’m the one to inform, not the family.
“i am sorry to learn that your father’s health remains poor. i had a letter from him in july, i think, written at guernsey. i had hoped that his[13] travels would benefit him. it must be very hard on your mother. my kindest regards to both when next you write. pray remember that the latchstring is always outside when you get within striking distance of washington. my wife asks to be remembered to you, and says that the south room, with the view that you liked so much, is still vacant and always at your service. let me hear from you in answer to this tiresome letter, and meanwhile accept my thanks for what i have pledged you to do.
“gratefully yours,
“george herman corliss.”
after the second reading john let fall the letter and stared perplexedly out across the square. gradually a smile crept over his face, and finally he chuckled ruefully.
“great scott!” he muttered. “and i was horseing larry about his kid brother! why, hang it, his job is a sinecure compared with mine. if a brother doesn’t behave himself all you have to do is to break his silly little head. but here am i saddled with the responsibility of an absolute stranger, a chap whose name i never even heard until to-day! i can’t punch his nose if he misbehaves;[14] he would probably resent it, coming from an entire stranger; all i can do is to politely request him to be good. and meanwhile his family and corliss will be quite satisfied that the precious youth is being gently but firmly conducted along the path of virtue and sobriety and won’t give a thought to the difficulties of the situation.
“and if—what’s the young idiot’s name?—if phillip should blow up massachusetts with a cannon-cracker some dark night, or assault a proctor, my reputation’s blasted. i shall lose my position and be held up to disgrace forevermore. i’m not certain that the virginia legislature wouldn’t pass a law making the mention of my name a misdemeanor. and corliss would tell mrs. corliss that he was disappointed in me—confound his cheek! and margaret—i wonder, now, what margaret’s like? corliss says she’s practical. that’s not promising. nothing is more irritating than a practical woman. but maybe she isn’t. anyhow, i’d be sorry to displease margaret. and so i suppose i’ll have to take over the commission.”
he crossed the room to his bag and filled his pipe from a leather pouch. when it was drawing well he drew a chair up to the window and settled himself[15] in it, his heels on the sill. the tobacco brought comfort.
“i wish davy was here. he’s the finest person to consult when you’re in difficulties that i know. he simply smiles in his fatuous way or else scowls weirdly under the impression that he’s looking wise, and goes to sleep. and you’ve unburdened your mind and haven’t reburdened it with a lot of advice that you wouldn’t think of following. and the present quandary will tickle davy into a month’s slumber! well, let’s face it. am i or am i not to become the guardian angel of mr. phillip scott ryerson, of elaine, melville court house, county of loudoun, state of virginia?” he tossed the letter from him. “why, confound it, i haven’t any choice! corliss pledges me first and asks my consent afterward! ‘we have apple pie; what kind of pie’ll you have?’ heaven protect us from the claims of friendship!”
“but old george must be pretty well worked up over the matter to write all that rot. you’d think it was his own son he is begging me to care for! and of course i’ve got to do it. he knew i would. he’s a good old idiot, is grovel, and i suppose if he’d asked me to wheel little phillip up and down[16] the avenue every day in a perambulator i’d have wired him back ‘whatever you say,’ and done it.”
“seriously, though, my boy, it’s no light job they’ve got you into. from what corliss says—or, rather, from what he doesn’t say—it is pretty evident that little phillip is a holy terror. he is undoubtedly thoroughly spoiled, and comes here with the sole intention of, as corliss so delicately puts it, breaking through into the next field. old george is getting frightfully horsey, by the way! and i am to follow him about, smiling fatuously like an indulgent parent, murmuring ‘now don’t do that, phillip!’ or ‘no, no, dear; mind uncle john!’”
he looked at his watch and found it was nearly four o’clock. with a sudden determination to hunt up his charge and learn the worst at once, he drew himself regretfully from the chair and rescued the letter from the floor. donning his jacket, he slipped letter and tobacco pouch into his pocket.
“i’ll get this dive fixed up and dusted before dinner if i can find any one about,” he murmured. “it looks like a morgue.”
the sound of heavy footsteps in the corridor brought a grin to his face. rushing to the door, he threw himself violently into the arms of a large[17] and perspiring man. a suit case crashed to the floor.
“oh, davy!” he sobbed, “i’m so glad you’ve come! i’ve wanted you so, davy, i’ve wanted you so! hold me tighter, davy; they’ve gone and made me a foster-mother!”
