"I know it. You do not study."
"What's the use of boning all the time! I wasn't cut out for it."
"That's the only way to get ahead here."
"I don't care much about getting ahead. All I want is to pull through and graduate. Then I can go to college if I wish. These fellows who get the idea that they must dig, dig, dig here, just as they say they do at West Point, give me a pain. What is there to dig for? We're not working for commissions in the army."
"From your point of view, you put up a very good argument," admitted Frank; "but there's another side. It surely must be some satisfaction to graduate well up in your class, if not at the head. And then, the more a fellow learns here, the easier he will find the work after entering college."
"Work? Pshaw! There are not many fellows in colleges who are compelled to bone. I hate work! I thought you were the kind of a fellow who liked a little fun?"
"Well, you know I am. Haven't I always been in for sport?"
"But you're getting to be a regular plodder. You don't do a thing lately to keep your blood circulating."
"I am afraid you do too much that is contrary to rules, old man. For instance, where is it that you go so often nights, and stay till near morning?"
"I go out for a little sport," replied Bart, with a grim smile.