At last came the time when Dave and Roger were to go in for the examination which meant so much to them. They had worked hard, and Mr. Ramsdell had assisted them in every way possible; yet both were rather doubtful over the outcome of the affair.
“It isn’t going to be like the examinations at Oak Hall,” said our hero. “Mr. Ramsdell admitted that it would be stiff from the word go.”
“I know that,” answered the senator’s son. “It seems that several years ago they were a little lax, and, as a consequence, some fellows slipped through that had no right to pass. Now they have jacked the examiners up, so that the test is likely to be fierce.”
“Oh, Dave! what are you going to do if you don’t pass?” cried Jessie, when he was ready to leave home.
“If I don’t pass now, Jessie, I’ll simply go at my studies again and keep at them until I do pass,” he answered.
The examination which was held in the city was divided into two parts, one taking place from ten to twelve in the morning, and the other from two to five in the afternoon. There were about thirty students present, and as far as possible each was separated from any friends he might have on hand, so that Dave sat on one side of the hall in which the examination occurred and the senator’s son sat on the other.
“Well, how did you make out?” questioned Roger of Dave, when the two went out for their midday lunch.
“I don’t know exactly, Roger,” was the reply. “I think, however, that I answered at least seventy per cent, of the questions correctly. How about yourself?”
“Well, I’m hoping that I got seventy per cent. 178 of them right,” returned the senator’s son. “But maybe I didn’t get above fifty or sixty per cent.”