"Let"s take your grips!"
"Cateye"ll be here in a minute!"
"Tackled any hogs lately?"
"Here! Here! You fellahs lay off! I can handle these bags myself!"
The new arrival jerked at his suitcases to pull them free from hands which reached for them. "Let go or I"ll ...!"
"But, Judd ...!" protested Benz, surprised, "We only mean to ...!"
"None of your tricks now!" warned the fellow Bob had sent, "I"ve heard of you college guys. You"re not going to haze me. I"m looking for Mr.
Jack Frey ..."
"We"re all friends of his!" insisted Benz, "Here, let me introduce us.
Reading, left to right, is Potts, Curns, Pole, Neil ... Hold on, Judd!
Where you going?"
Evidencing no interest in meeting the bunch, the new arrival had been anxiously searching the station platform for signs of anyone who might be looking for him. He now moved toward the small waiting room which served as an excuse for a depot as this junction stop was not often used by the railroad.
"Listen, Judd!" Benz blocked the way. "You"re not going to pull that high hat stuff around here. We"ve come to meet you out of respect for Bob and we..."
"You let me through!" demanded the new arrival, prodding Benz with his suitcases.
"And what if I don"t?" Benz wanted to know, "You haven"t been around much, have you? "Bout time you were learning a few things!"
"You gonna let me through or not?"
There was fire in the new arrival"s eye. He wasn"t in the mood to be kidded. This stepping off the train into a college atmosphere and being met by a bunch of hoodlums who wanted to slap him on the back and take his grips away from him and rush him off with a lot of "hurrahs"
didn"t set well. Judd Billings was homesick for one thing; he"d been warned to have nothing to do with strangers, for another; and his natural backwardness in meeting people only added to his quite unaccountable att.i.tude of reserve and resistance. Jack Frey was the one person Judd was prepared to meet. If later Jack should vouch for these fellows, all well and good. Until then he intended to keep them at arm"s length.
"See here, Judd!" spoke up Potts, "You"re acting like a rube!"
"I"ll say he is!" seconded Benz, "Try to befriend him and..."
Giving Benz his shoulder, the new arrival, with a sudden, unexpected shove sent Bartlett"s veteran football man sprawling.
"Oh ho!" cried Pole, "So the party"s getting rough!"
Regaining his feet, Benz approached Judd angrily.
"Put down those suitcases!" he demanded, "I want to take a crack at you."
The new arrival attempted to edge out of the group surrounding him.
"Leave me be," he said, "I don"t want to be hurting anybody!"
This brought a chorus of defiant laughter.
"I dare you to put those suitcases down!" challenged Benz.
Judd hesitated, looking about him warily. The train had gone on and most of the pa.s.sengers had departed with their friends. In the distance a figure was advancing on the run.
"I tell you fellahs, I ..."
"So you"re afraid, eh?"
The new arrival stiffened at this, his fingers twitched, and he fastened upon Benz a coldly penetrating look. Judd"s fear of physical contact was no more. The suitcases dropped to the cinder platform and hands went to hips.
"I reckon I can"t stop you, if you"re hankering for a fight," came the words with a drawl.
Somehow this clumsy broad-shouldered figure took on an appearance of power as he seemed to forget himself, which bred respect.
"Go easy, Benz!" warned Neil, sizing Judd up, "No use starting trouble."
"I"m not starting it," retorted Benz, "I"m finishing it."
With that the ringleader of the ill-treated reception committee swung a vicious right hook to the new arrival"s jaw. Judd"s left arm flashed up to block the blow. At the same moment Judd took a quick step forward and brought his right fist into play. It caught Benz almost on the point of the chin and spun him about in a circle.
"Say, the rube can fight!" exclaimed Potts, surprised. "Boy, he"s sure different from his brother!"
"Here, fellows! What"s the big idea?"
The figure of Cateye hurled itself between as Benz, reeling, staggered back toward Judd, bent on retaliating.
"Let me at him!" pleaded Benz, furiously, "I"ll show him he can"t get away with this stuff. So Bob sent him, eh? What a lemon!"
Cateye sized up the situation quickly.
"My name"s Frey," he explained to Judd who was standing by quietly, hands again on hips, "Bob asked me to meet you, I"m sorry to be late.
What seems to be the matter?"
"These fellahs wouldn"t let me alone, that"s all," said Judd, simply.
"We come to meet him and he gives us the cold shoulder," declared Curns, "Afraid we"re going to make off with his precious suitcases or smash his straw hat or throw dust in his eyes!"
"We college guys are bad eggs and no mistake!" put in Neil, sarcastically.
"My mother told me not to have anything to do with strange people,"
added Pole.
"Will you please tell Mr. Billings, for his own enlightenment, that he"s among civilized people?" requested Potts, icily.
"These fellows are all right," Cateye a.s.sured, as Judd gazed about him doubtfully, "They didn"t mean anything. They"re all good friends of Bob"s. They just wanted to show you a good time. You probably took them too seriously. Come on, Judd, we"ll take your things to my room."
Relieved, the new arrival stooped and picked up his suitcases. His face wore a sheepish look but he offered no apology for his conduct.
Rather he seemed anxious to get away from the bunch.
"A--am I goin" to bunk with you?" he asked of Cateye.