of the teacher’s merciless ridicule.  One day, when in fact he had spent an additional hour in the preparation of his lesson in Greek, though the results he had achieved left him still troubled as he thought of the recitation, he had been called upon to translate and make comments upon a portion of the lesson of the day.  He could feel as well as see, or at least he fancied that he saw, the drawing down of Splinter’s lips that presaged an outburst of sarcasm.  Will had been permitted to go through his task without interruption and then the professor had said dryly, “That will do, Mr. Phelps.  That is what one might term ‘making Greek’ of it.  It certainly is justice neither to the Greek nor to the English.”  A partly suppressed titter had run through the class at the biting words, and with face flushed scarlet Will Phelps had resumed his seat, feeling that in all the world there could not be found another man so thoroughly despicable as Splinter.  And his feeling of dislike had increased with the passing days.  He had come not only to detest the man, but the Greek as well.  If he could have followed his own desire he would have abandoned the subject at once and substituted something in its place, but Will understood fully his father’s desire for him to become proficient in that department and how useless it would be for him to write home for the desired permission.  In sheer desperation he began to devote additional time to his study of Greek, until he felt that he was almost neglecting certain other studies in his course that in themselves were far more enjoyable.  But his progress under Splinter seemed to be in no wise advanced, and soon Will was cherishing a feeling that was something between a hopeless rage and an ungovernable detestation.

One break had occurred, however, in that both he and Foster had joined one of the Greek letter fraternities—­the Phi Alpha.  Both freshmen were now taking their meals at the fraternity house and in the good fellowship and the presence of his fellow-members he found a measure of relief from the homesickness that was troubling him and his difficulties with the detested professor of Greek.  It was also a source of some comfort to him to learn that his own feeling for Splinter was one that was commonly held by all the students who had been under him; but though his misery may have loved the company, his problem still remained his own and appeared to be as far from solution as ever.

Not long after Will and Foster had joined the Phi Alpha fraternity, Peter John had dropped into their room one evening and quickly discovered the neat little badge or pin that each boy wore on his vest directly over his heart.

“Hello!” exclaimed Peter John; “you’ve joined the Phi Alpha, have you?”

“Yes,” replied Will quietly, striving then to change the topic of conversation, for the subject was one not to be cheapened by ordinary remarks.

“It’s about the best in college, isn’t it?” persisted Peter John.