“We don’t want that clumsy person bothering with us. He’s spoiled a couple of fine dresses and made a regular bothersome mess. Throw him out! Send him back to where he came from!”
But I had mistaken the temper of Evangelical University. Brock came down, and with great kindness patted me on the back and said, encouragingly,
“Don’t let a thing like that bother you, Priddy. I know how they crowd. Cheer up, old fellow.”
Then the student who had jolted the tray bent back and said,
“It was all my fault, Brock. He wasn’t to blame a bit. It was downright careless of me. I’m sorry.”
Then, after he had assisted me in bringing the hot water and other drinkables to the tables, Brock took pains to introduce me to the twenty young men and women, saying,
“Mr. Priddy, I hope, will see that you do not go hungry as much as you might!”
I walked on air after that; for the head waiter had called me, “Mr. Priddy!”
Chapter III. Thropper’s Puff
Tie. Sounds That Passed in the
Night. The Possible Advantages
of Speaking Tubes. The Scroll of
Divine History. The Meditations
of a Saint. How Thropper
Lost his Pious Reputation
SHORTLY after my return from the dining-hall, Thropper thundered into the room, in his impetuous way, jerked his arms out of his coat, tore at his collar and lifted up the lid of his tin-covered trunk with every evidence of excitement.