CHAPTER XI.
NED NOON MAKES AN OFFER.
What Danny had said to Frank set the latter to thinking. Up to that time he had not been aware that any of his friends were kicking because of his being chummy with Hodge.
Had Merriwell been a sophomore and Hodge a freshman the situation would have been altered materially, for sophomores and freshmen are natural enemies, and it is regarded as a crime for a soph to be chummy with a fresh.
On the other hand, there is more or less friendliness between juniors and freshmen. Juniors do everything they can to encourage freshmen in their struggle against the sophomores, even going so far as to marshal them for their rushes and give them points to be observed in their struggles with the sophomores.
It is true that there seldom seems to be any further bond of sympathy between freshmen and juniors than the dislike of both for sophomores. The discomfiture and downfall of the freshmen arouses nothing like pity on the part of the juniors; more often it causes the latter to openly express contempt.
At first, the apparent friendliness of the juniors leads the unsophisticated freshmen to think the third year men really like them, and have sympathy for them; but it does not take long for the freshies to discover their mistake—it does not take long for them to find out they are a thing quite apart from the juniors in every conceivable manner except their mutual dislike for sophomores.
Still, it sometimes happens that a junior and a freshman may become chums, while such friendliness between a freshman and a sophomore would be regarded as a disgrace to the latter.
Frank had an independent way; he did not seem to care for traditions or precedent. He had shown that all along, but never so strongly as since becoming a junior. Almost his first act was to show friendliness toward a freshman bully, after conquering the latter in a fair struggle. This brought forth a howl from those who believed the only proper thing for him to do was to treat the bully with scorn and contempt after downing him.
But Frank kept calmly on his way, doing what he believed was right, regardless of anything that was said.