But when at last he fell asleep, on that first night of the opening term, he found himself at home again, lying on the sofa, with his father by his side. And his father bent over and said something to him. What the words were, he knew not, nor yet the meaning; but he felt a strange, deep sadness creep over him, and then his father’s face faded away from his sight, and he was left alone.
CHAPTER XI.
STANLEY CAMPBELL.
“Are you going to be busy this afternoon, Campbell?” asked Lieutenant Wilde, as they came out from dinner one Saturday noon.
“Nothing special,” answered Stanley. “Is there anything I can do for you?”
“I wondered whether you would be willing to go over to the laboratory, and help me get ready for one or two experiments that I want to show the class Monday morning. Don’t come, if you’ve anything else on hand.”
“I haven’t a thing,” said Stanley eagerly. “Really, I’d like no better fun.”
“Well, I’m going over at half-past two. Will you be over there? Or come to my room for me, if you like. I have a letter to write first.” And Irving Wilde turned away to go to his room, while Stanley joined a group of cadets who were standing in the hall, to discuss their plans for making the best of a stormy Saturday afternoon.
Punctually at half-past two o’clock, Stanley and Lieutenant Wilde were walking across the grounds to the recitation hall. It was a dreary, raw day, with a heavy rain beating down, splashing on the paved walks and soaking the earth until little dark gray pools of snow and water lay here and there, while an occasional patch of brown, dead grass came up through its white covering. But if it was cold and dismal outside, the little laboratory was warm and comfortable enough to make up for it, and Stanley gave his favorite inarticulate grunt of content as he hung up his dripping cap and overcoat beside Lieutenant Wilde’s. It was no hardship for him to have to help Lieutenant Wilde that day. The two were excellent friends, and the lieutenant had often admitted to himself that he found no one of the cadets more companionable than this silent, slow boy of fourteen. Though Stanley might lack the brilliancy of Max or Leon, and had to work far longer at his lessons than many another boy, yet he never stopped until he understood his subject to its foundations, and knowledge so thoroughly gained was never lost. No skimming over the top of things, no hasty cramming would satisfy Stanley Campbell. He must and would know his subject through and through, before it could make any lasting impression on his mind. No matter, then, that when any test came, he was found to lead his class. Such boys as Stanley go far towards making the solid men who are much more the real leaders of the nation, than the brilliant talkers and thinkers that float lightly along on the surface of events but, like all other driftwood, lodge and stick fast when they come to a rock in their passage. And moreover, silent and unresponsive as Stanley was generally thought to be, Lieutenant Wilde and his intimate boy friends knew him better. True, the lad could not talk easily, partly from shyness, partly from utter inability to rattle off the random nonsense which was the delight of the other boys; but, under all his outward reserve, he kept up a strong interest in the conversation, and his face would grow merry or soften by turns, and often he would give the speaker a quick glance of understanding at some little point, too slight to catch the notice of his companions. But however silent he might be in general, he was always at his ease with Lieutenant Wilde who saw and appreciated the real fineness of his mind, and predicted a broad and honorable future for the lad.
“I haven’t so very much to do, after all; only a few sulphur experiments,” remarked Lieutenant Wilde, with a laugh, as he began setting out an array of flasks and beakers and rubber and glass tubes, on the long, broad desk which ran across one side of the room. “I’m afraid, if the truth were told, Campbell, I wanted your company more than I did your help, this afternoon. Still, you may light the gas there, if you will.”