Chapter 12 - Page 2

know in my own case that I very often find myself--ah--skimping, so to speak; I mean going over a thing without really getting the--ah--the meat out of it. I'm almost certain that if you really settled your mind on this, Edwards, that you'd get along very well with it. Suppose now that you give twice as much time to it to-night as you usually do. If some other study must suffer, why, let it be your French and I will let you by to-morrow if you aren't well prepared. And--ah--I wish when you've been over this you'd come down and let me--ah--go over it with you lightly. I think--I think that would be an excellent idea, Edwards."

"Oh, I'll try it," grumbled Steve, "but it isn't any use. And look at what I've got to translate for him!"

"Yes, yes, I see. Well--ah--bring your book down after awhile and we'll see what can be done. How are you getting on, Hall?"

"Pretty well, sir. I find it a bit stiff, too, but maybe after awhile I'll get the hang of it."

"That's the way to talk!" exclaimed the instructor approvingly. "That--ah--that is the right attitude, Hall. Make up your mind that it will come and it will come. We all have our--our problems, and the only way to do is to--ah--face them and ride straight at them. So often, when we reach them, we find them--ah--we find them so very much more trivial than we had supposed. They're like--like hills seen from a distance that look terrifically steep. When we--ah--reach them we find them easy grades after all. You see what I mean? Yes, yes. Well, I shall expect you in my study later, Edwards. I want you--both of you, that is--to realise that I am very eager to be of assistance at any time. Possibly I can't help very much,--but--ah--I am most willing, boys."

"Silly chump," growled Steve when the door had closed behind Mr. Daley. "I wish--ah--he'd--ah--mind his own--ah--business!"

But Tom didn't smile. "I think the chap means to be awfully decent, Steve," he said thoughtfully. "The trouble is, I guess, he's scared to death of the fellows. You can see that in class."

"He's a regular granny," replied Steve. "Wish he had this stuff to do. I guess he wouldn't be so light and airy about it!"

"You'll go down and let him help you, though, won't you?" asked Tom anxiously.

"Oh, I suppose so. He can do the whole thing if he wants to. Where is my dictionary?"

With Mr. Daley's help, freely offered and grudgingly accepted, Steve weathered that crisis. And secretly he was grateful to the Hall Master, though he still pretended to believe and possibly did half believe that the latter was a sort of mollycoddle. Tom told him indignantly once that since Mr. Daley had been so awfully decent to him he ought to stop poking fun at him. To which Steve cheerfully made answer that even a