Chapter 26

�VALE�

Allan and Pete sat on the steps of McLean Hall. The yard was a fairyland of glowing lanterns and moving colors. Near at hand, in a bough-screened stand, the band was playing. Above their heads the old elms of Erskine rustled their leaves and whispered among themselves, comparing, perhaps, this class-day with the many that had gone before. On the gravel paths matrons and maids, in light gowns, accompanied by robed seniors or dress-suited undergraduates, passed and repassed. The scene was as fair a one as ever Allan had witnessed, while even Pete was forced to grudging admiration.

�You�ll come out in August, then,� Pete was saying.

�Yes,� answered Allan, �and don�t you be afraid I won�t turn up, for this is the biggest excursion I ever took. So far I�ve never been farther away from home than this, and Colorado seems like the other side of the world.�

Pete smiled in the half-light.

�Hope you�ll like us, Allan. We may seem rather a rough and unpolished lot at first, but we�re not so bad when you cotton to our way of life.�

�Of course I�ll like you,� said Allan, vehemently. �If it wasn�t for you and your father, Pete, where�d we be now?�

�Where you are, I guess,� laughed Pete. �Let me tell you something, Allan. When you get out to Blackwater, don�t you go to speaking pieces at the old man, and thanking him; that�s a line of talk he can�t stand.�

�But I�ve got to thank him,� objected Allan.

�No you haven�t; your mother�s done that already in her letter. Besides, there isn�t anything to make a fuss about. I gave the tip to dad, and he bought up enough stock in the Gold Beetle to get control. Then he called a meeting, voted to go ahead with the mine, and—did it. And he found a whole bunch of ore, just as I knew he would. He don�t need any thanks. Why, ginger, the old mine will make him richer than it will you folks!�

�Well, then, I�ll thank you again,� said Allan.

�If you do, I�ll punch you! Look, there�s Rindgely with his folks. Nice-looking woman, that mother of his. Say, maybe I ain�t glad I didn�t have to show that confession of him!�

�So�m I,� said Allan, heartily. �It would have been a shame to prevent him from graduating. After all, I don�t suppose he realized what he was doing.�

�Well, I don�t know about that,� answered Pete. �Anyhow, I�m glad we caught on to him in time. And it was all Two Spot�s doing, too; did you ever think of that? If she hadn�t rolled that ball of paper to my feet I�d never have seen that chap�s name and asked about him. It was that that put me onto the game. I remembered Tommy�s telling about Rindgely and the St. Thomas Club. By the way, it�s time those fellows showed up.�

�Tommy and Hal? They�re always late. Have you heard Tommy�s voice? He cheered so hard at the ball game this afternoon that he can�t talk above a whisper. Hal�s trying to induce him to sing with the glee club.�

�There�s Hooker and Long. What sort of a captain do you suppose Long will make?�

�First rate, I should think. The fellows like him and he�s a hard-working, earnest sort of a fellow.�

�Well, just as long as they didn�t light on Monroe,� said Pete. �That man will be the death of me, he puts on so many airs. Next fall, when I get back, I�m going to start right in and learn how to throw the hammer, and keep at it until I can beat him at that, too.�

�You�ll be busy at football,� suggested Allan.

�Football? Oh—well, maybe; football isn�t a bad game, after all. But— Here they are. O Tommy! Tommy Sweet!�

Tommy and Hal, attracted by Pete�s bellow, turned and joined them.

�Thought we�d never get here,� said Tommy, hoarsely. �Hal got mixed up with an ice-cream freezer and ate six saucerfuls before I could drag him away.�

�That�s so,� Hal confessed. �That�s the trouble with breaking training; things taste so good and it�s so jolly nice to be able to eat all you want to. I expect to be fine and sick to-night.�

�You have every right to,� said Allan. �When a little old freshman gets taken onto the varsity and makes a home run in the ninth inning, just when it�s needed, and lets in three men——�

�Oh, shut up! And come on up to the room and eat. We can hear the music finely from the windows. I�ve got some nice cold ginger ale up there, and Mr. and Mrs. Guild ought to be along about now. Come on.�

�Well, I never took much of a shine to ginger ale,� said Pete, drawing his big form erect; �the fizzy stuff always goes up my nose. But I�ll have some, for it sure is hot to-night.�

�We�ll drink Tommy�s health,� said Hal, as they moved across the turf under the swaying lanterns, �and we�ll get him to sing us �A Health to King Charles� in his nice new voice.�

�Toast yourselves,� growled Tommy, hoarsely.

�We will!� cried Allan. �We�ll toast ourselves, and we�ll drink to next year, when we�ll all be jolly sophomores—except you, Tommy dear, who�ll be a disgustingly serious and dignified junior.�

Laughing, they crossed the yard, under the glow of the lanterns, and passed out of sight into the shadows of Elm Street. Against the front of College Hall appeared in sputtering purple flames the word

�VALE.�

THE END.