“Matter enough!” answered Walter, in a hollow voice. “My money is lost, and I've got to leave college!”
CHAPTER V
WALTER TAKES MATTERS PHILOSOPHICALLY
Walter's announcement, recorded at the close of the preceding chapter, fell like a thunderbolt on his room-mate.
“You have lost your money?” repeated Gates, in a tone of incredulity. “You don't mean it!”
“Read that letter, Gates,” said Walter, pushing it over to his chum.
The letter was, of course, from Doctor Mack, and ran thus:
“DEAR WALTER: Your letter asking for an extra check for one hundred dollars came to hand three or four days since. I have delayed answering for two reasons. I am satisfied that you are spending more money than is necessary, and, moreover, I have shrunk from communicating to you some unpleasant intelligence. Upon me have devolved the investment and management of your property, and while I have tried to be cautious, there have been losses which I regret. In one case three-fourths of an investment has been lost. Of course, you didn't know this, or you would have been less free in your expenditures.
“I am not prepared to tell you how you stand. I think it will be prudent for you to leave college at the end of this term, and for a year to seek some employment. During that time I will do what I can to settle matters on a better footing, and perhaps at the end of that time you will be able to return to your studies. You are so young—I think you must be younger than the majority of your classmates—that you can afford to lose the time.