"Now what's wrong, Joe?" said Regan in surprise.
"Nothing," said Hungerford hastily, but almost immediately he stopped, and said in a jerky, worried way: "Say, here's the devil to pay, Dink. I suppose you ought to know about it. Damn the papers."
With his finger he indicated a space on the front page of the New York newspaper he was reading. Stover took it, reading it seriously. It was only a paragraph, but it rose from the page as though it were stamped in scarlet.
DINK STOVER'S LARK
ENDS SERIOUSLY.
Below followed in suggestive detail an account of the drive with friends "not exactly in recognized New Haven society," and the sudden seizure of Miss Fanny Le Roy, with an account of his drive back to the hospital.
"That's pretty bad," he said, frowning. "What do the others say?"
One paper had it that his presence of mind and prompt action had saved the girl's life. The third one hinted that the party had been rather gay, and said in a short sentence:
"It is said other students were with young Stover, who prefer not to incur any unnecessary notoriety."
"It looks ugly," said Stover grimly.
"Who was with you?" said Hungerford anxiously.