“I suppose you consider yourself one?”

“Oh, I can’t tell about that.  But supposing I am; by the time I become a soph some of the newness will have worn off.”

“I am not particularly impressed with any freshman who seems to think so much of sophomores.  You ought to stay with them all the time.”

“Oh, I don’t know.  They have treated me rather well, and I have found the most of them easy people.”

“They seem to have found some freshman easy fruit.  Somebody has been blowing to them about our crew.”

“I know it,” was Ditson’s surprising confession, “and that’s why I dropped in here.  I wanted to tell Merriwell about it.”

Jones gasped for breath.  He was too surprised to speak for some minutes.

Ditson took out a package of cigarettes, offering them first to Harry, who shook his head.

“What?” cried Roll, amazed.  “You won’t smoke?”

“No.”

“What’s that mean?”

“I have left off,” said Harry, with an effort.

“Left off?  Oh, say! that’s too good!  You leave off!”

A bit of color came to Rattleton’s face, and he gave Ditson a look that was not exactly pleasant; but Roll was too occupied with his merriment to observe it.

Frank was studying Ditson.  He watched the fellow’s every movement and expression.

Roll knew it was useless to offer cigarettes to Merriwell or Jones, so he selected one from the package, kneaded it daintily, pulled a little tobacco from the ends, moistened the paper with his lips, and then lighted it with a wax match.

“Say, Harry, old man, I pity you,” he said, with a taunting laugh, looking at Harry.  “I’ve tried it.  It’s no use.  You’ll break over before two days are up—­yes, before one day is up.  It’s no use.”

Rattleton bit his lips.

“Why, you are dying for a whiff now!” chuckled Ditson.  “I know you are.  I got along a whole day, but it was a day of the most intense torture.”

“There may be others with more stamina than you, Ditson,” snapped Rattleton.  “Just because you couldn’t leave off a bad habit, it’s no sign that nobody can.”

“Oh, I suppose not.  But what’s the use?  Don’t get hot, old man.  You ought to know my way by this time.”

“I do.”

“What is it that you came to tell me?” asked Frank.

“Eh?  Oh, about the sophs.  Those fellows seem to know more about our crew than I do.”

“What do they know?”

“Why, they know our men are using English oars, have adopted a new stroke, and have done several other things.  Now, those are matters on which I was not informed myself.”

“How do you know the sophs know so much?”

“I’ve just come from Morey’s.  Went in there with Cressy.  Fine fellow, he is.  While I was in there Browning and his crowd wandered in.  They were drinking ale and discussing the race.  I heard what they were saying.  Couldn’t help hearing, you know.  They were talking about our crew and the new methods you had introduced.  It was mighty interesting to me, as I didn’t know about those new methods myself.”