But the examinations were over at last, and he found that he had won the second honor in his class.
It was a proud moment for him when he was informed that the salutatory oration would be expected from him, while many of his classmates rejoiced with him.
“He has earned it, if anybody ever earned anything,” his friend Rogers observed when the honors were awarded; “he is a splendid fellow, and I am downright glad for him.”
Philip Wentworth just managed to pull through, and probably would have been perfectly satisfied with the knowledge that he would receive his degree had not all his old hatred been aroused and his jealousy stirred upon learning of Clifford’s achievement, and the interest which the whole class was manifesting in him.
CHAPTER XVII.
THE SQUIRE RECEIVES A SHOCK.
Maria Kimberly was made very proud and happy one morning upon Squire Talford’s return from the post-office by the reception of the long-promised invitation to attend the commencement exercises at Harvard.
With a beaming face she read it through several times, handling it with great care lest she should mar the satin-smooth paper by a single wrinkle or blemish.
Then with an air of pride, as if some great personal honor had been conferred upon her—as, indeed, she felt there had been—she carried it to the squire, who was in his customary seat upon the veranda reading his morning paper.
“There!” she exclaimed triumphantly, “I always knew that boy’d come out at the top of the heap!”