"Is he kind?" asked Bandy Robinson.
"Oh, he has a sunny disposition," a.s.sured Jack, smiling.
"A sunny disposition," chirped Griswold, from the top of the table, upon which he had climbed so that he might be out of the way. "By that I presume that you mean he will make it hot for any other dog he may tackle."
"Hold on, Danny, old man!" cried Jack, reprovingly. "Haven"t I treated you right?"
"Not lately, but if you"ve got any beer in the coop you can."
"That gives me a pain!" cried Robinson.
"You must have been eating window gla.s.s," chuckled Griswold. "That"s how you happen to feel the pane."
"You ramed little bunt--I mean you blamed little runt!" exclaimed Rattleton, catching Danny by the neck. "If you keep up this reckless punning you"ll receive a check some day."
"I hope so," was the instant retort. "I"m broke, and I sent to the governor for one to-day."
"Let him alone, Harry," advised Merriwell, laughing. "You simply make him worse by talking to him."
"That"s the only thing I have against Griswold," declared Jack. "He will pun in the most reckless manner at all times. Some of his jokes are not what they are cracked up to be."
"Like the eggs we used to get down at Mrs. Harrington"s when we were freshmen," grinned Griswold.
"Even the vilest sinner may repent and be forgiven," came solemnly from Dismal Jones. "There"s a faint ray of hope for Griswold."
"But it"s mighty dim," declared Robinson.
Once more attention was given to Jack"s dog, and Diamond pointed out the animal"s fine features.
"When are dogs at their best?" asked Halliday, seriously.
"In winter," Griswold instantly put in. "There are no flies on them then."
"Smother him!" howled Robinson, wildly.
"Smother time," cackled Danny, as he slipped off the table and dodged around a chair to get out of reach.
Halliday caught up a pair of scissors and pretended to sharpen them, looking at Griswold as if he meant to shed his gore.
"What are you going to do?" asked Danny. "Going into the scissors-grinding business? It"s great when things are dull."
It was plain that Danny could not be suppressed, and so the boys tried to ignore him. Prince was admired some more, and then Halliday picked up a banjo, put it in tune, and sang a song.
"Your voice is somewhat off color to-night, old man," observed Robinson, "and I think you skipped a bar."
"You don"t know him," cried Griswold, instantly. "I was out with him last night and he didn"t skip any."
Then almost every other fellow in the room grabbed up something and threw it at Danny, who could do nothing but shield his face and take the pelting he received.
"Diamond is a dog crank, and Merriwell is a horse crank," said Robinson. "By the way, I hear you think of racing your horse this spring, Merriwell?"
"Who told you that?" asked Frank.
"Who told me? Oh, I don"t know. Is it a secret? I think I have heard several fellows speak of it."
"Oh, I don"t know as it is a secret," said Frank. "I may try him in some small country race, if I get a good opportunity; but I am not likely to have much of a chance, between baseball, rowing, and my studies. I"m kept pretty busy."
"The only wonder to me is that you get time to study at all," declared Halliday. "I never before saw a fellow who could carry on so many things at the same time and make successes of them all."
"I hear two more men have been dropped a cla.s.s," said Diamond.
"That"s right," sighed Jones. "Dorman and Street have departed hence.
May peace go with them."
"Poor old Easy!" exclaimed Robinson. "He was a fine fellow, but he was altogether too easy. He wouldn"t skin, and he couldn"t keep up with the push."
"There are some other fellows who are bound to go sooner or later,"
observed Rattleton. "I can name several."
"Both Harris and Ditson are bound to get it in the neck," said Griswold.
"They are skinners of the worst kind."
"That"s right," agreed Halliday. "Ditson is an expert at it. He spends more time and ingenuity in concocting schemes to fool the examining tutor or professor than it would take to learn his subjects ten times over."
"Sure"s you"re born!" exclaimed Jones. "Why, he has his finger nails, cuffs, and the palms of his hands covered with writing and diagrams every time he knows he is to be called up, and in this way he always succeeds in making a clean rush."
"Harris knows something about photography," said Halliday, "and he is continually making minute pictures of diagrams and writing, which he arranges on little tabs, which he can hold in his palm. He seldom flunks, but he"ll trip some time."
"Hanged if I can see why fellows should work so hard to fool tutors or professors when they might learn all that was required of them without half the trouble," cried Harry.
"That is easy enough to explain," smiled Merriwell. "Harris is a natural gambler. He delights in excitement and danger, and he actually enjoys taking such desperate ventures."
"Well, there is something in that," laughed Rattleton. "I never regarded it that way before. I"ll be fanged if there isn"t hascination in it--no, I"ll be hanged if there isn"t fascination in it!"
"It"s too bad this matter was mentioned, fellows," said Merriwell, with pretended seriousness. "I regret it very much."
"Why?" asked Robinson, curiously.
"Notice how excited Rattleton has become over it? He"s not quite such a sport as Harris, but he had rather take chances on anything than eat, and it"s ten to one he"ll be skinning within a week."
"Sometimes a fellow has to skin," declared Griswold.
"Did you ever, Danny?" asked Diamond.
"Did I? Well! I have a patent scheme of my own."
"What is it?" asked Rattleton, eagerly.