CHAPTER III
FIRST IMPRESSIONS
Archer came in from French next morning feeling depressed. Mr. Alsop had caught him on an unmastered point in the lesson, and had then made him the subject of pleasantries which, though they seemed to the teacher merely casual examples of his innate cleverness, cut the sensitive boy to the quick. Of course the boy was foolish to be sensitive; one of the incidental advantages of the Seaton system is that while it may develop in the pupil a precocious sharpness and suspiciousness, it also accustoms him to hard knocks. Sam, however, could not avoid the impression that he was paying the penalty for Mr. Alsop’s defeat of the evening before. As he felt himself innocent of wrong-doing, his pride and his sense of justice were both offended.
He closed the door behind him and let the catch down; to keep the door locked seemed the easiest way to avoid trouble. As he turned, he was startled to see in the doorway of the second bedroom a coatless lad gazing at him with critical chilliness.
“Scared of burglars, or is some one after you?” asked the stranger, scornfully.
“Neither!” retorted Archer. “Who are you?”
“Peck! I suppose you’re the fellow this wise faculty has seen fit to tie me up with.”
“I’m Archer,” said Sam, curtly, resenting the contempt latent in Duncan Peck’s words.
“That’s a pretty name. It’ll look well on a card on the door. What’s your other name? Reginald?”
“No—Sam.”