“This fellow Underhill, in your section; you had a racket with him after the foot-ball game with Rockford Poly, didn’t you?”
“Not much of a racket. He was standing, with a bunch of his own kind, on the gym. steps as I came from the showers, and was busy black-listing the coach for having put me in: said it was a disgrace to Sheddon to use a ‘mucker’ on the ’Varsity, and then chucked in some things about my home folks that I don’t take from anybody.”
“Did you hit him?”
“No; I tried it, but the others got between. Then I guess I did a fool thing. Underhill’s father is the head of a firm of railroad contractors. A couple of years back this firm had a job on our home railroad, and it did so much crooked work that the contract had to be cancelled. Dick told me about this one day when Underhill had gone out of his way to cold-shoulder me.”
“And you slammed that in Undy’s face?”
Larry nodded. “I was hot, and didn’t have any better sense.”
Little Purdick wriggled uneasily in his chair.
“It’s snitching, in a way, I suppose, but I’ve got to tell you, Donnie. Underhill and his bunch eat at the restaurant, pretty often. They talk before me just as if I wasn’t there—as I guess they would before any ‘menial.’ Underhill’s got it in for you. I overheard him tell the other fellows of his crowd that he was going to make Sheddon too hot to hold you; he said the university wasn’t big enough to hold you and him at the same time.”
“That was just bunk,” said Larry contemptuously.
“I don’t know,” Purdick returned slowly. “He’s got all the money there is in the world; and a spender always gets a crowd around him—of the kind that’ll do his dirty work for him.”