It was Hawley who again received him in his arms, and once more the young giant endeavored to console his defeated classmate, for as such Will looked upon himself, in spite of the fact that he had come in third, and therefore had scored a point in each race.  But as Hawley perceived that his friend was in no mood to listen, he wisely refrained from speaking, and both stood near the track watching the contestants in the various events that were not yet run off.  Too proud to acknowledge his disappointment in his defeat by departing from the field, and yet too sore in his mind to arouse much enthusiasm, he waited till the games were ended and it was known that the sophomores had won by a score of sixty-four and a half to forty-eight and a half.  Then he quietly sought the dressing room, and as soon as he had donned his garments went at once to his own room.

It was a relief to find that not even Foster was there, and as he seated himself in his easy-chair and gazed out at the brilliantly clad hills with the purple haze that rested over them all, for a time a feeling of utter and complete depression swept over him.  Was this the fulfillment of the dreams he had cherished of the happiness of his college life?  Already warned by Splinter that his work in Greek was so poor that he was in danger of being dropped from the class, the keen disappointment of his father apparent though his words had been few, the grief in his home and the peril to himself were all now visible to the heart-sick young freshman.  And now to lose in the two track events had added a weight that to Will seemed to be almost crushing.  He had pictured to himself how he would lightly turn away his poor work in the classroom by explaining that he could not hope to win in everything, and that athletics had always been his strong point anyway.  But now even that was taken away and his failure was almost equally apparent in both.

He could see Peter John coming up the walk, receiving the congratulations of the classmates he met and giving his “pump-handle” handshake to those who were willing to receive it.  It was maddening and almost more than Will thought he could bear.  It was a mistake that he had ever come to college anyway, he bitterly assured himself.  He was not well prepared in spite of the fact that he had worked hard for a part of his final year in the preparatory school.  Greek?  He detested the subject.  Even his father came in for a share of blame, for if he had not insisted upon his taking it Will never would have entered Splinter’s room.  He might have taken German under “Dutchy,” or English under Professor Jones, as many of his classmates were doing, and every one declared that the work there was a “snap.”