"Oh, I don't think so."
"Yes, you have. It would be different, if I was at home, but here, everyone seems to follow Dutton's lead, and turns a cold shoulder to me."
"Maybe you'll have more acquaintances next term."
"I doubt it. I wish I could get in with the fellows. They'll be making up the football eleven, soon, and I'd like a chance to play."
"Do you play?"
"I did at home. I was right half-back. But I don't s'pose I'll have any show here."
"I tell you what you might do," said Paul, after a pause. "Why don't you give a spread?"
"A spread?"
"Yes, a feast, you know. You can get permission to have it in one of the rooms, and you can invite a lot of the fellows. Several of the new fellows have done that, and some of them got proposed for membership in the Sacred Pig society."
This was one of the exclusive secret organizations of the academy, and Dick, as well as many others, wished to join. But one had to be invited to apply for membership, and only those students on whom the seal of approval was set by the older cadets had this honor.