“He wants to invite me to go walking, I guess,” the boy said aloud.
“Give him your card, maybe he wants to fight a duel with you,” some young wag shouted.
“You’re not going to hurt him, are you, Wandering Willie?” called another.
“Oh, no,” said Wilfred, blushing a little.
“Edgar Coleman,” laughed the boy.
“How long do you expect to be here?” Wilfred asked.
“Longer than you will, you can bet.”
“Thanks,” said Wilfred, and moved along to his own seat.
Many had finished breakfast and departed when Wilfred took his seat, and as he did so the two or three Ravens who still lingered contrived to finish quickly and were soon gone. So he ate his breakfast quite alone (so far as his comrades were concerned) and before he had finished there was not another boy in the room, except those who were doing penance for trifling rule violations by clearing the tables.