“I don’t think it’s so bad,” said Kendall.
“You don’t—at first. It’s a peculiar picture, that one. I recall that I really liked it myself at first. Then it became a—a sort of nightmare. Well, never mind the picture. Tell me, what are you doing here, Burtis?”
“Doing here?” repeated Kendall puzzledly.
“Yes, what is your Great Object? Some of us, you know, come to study our way into college, some of us come to meet fellows who will be useful to us in later life, some of us come to play football or baseball and some of us—some few of us, Burtis,—come to Uplift and Better our Fellow Beings.”
“I guess I just came to learn things,” answered Kendall with a smile. “What did you come for?”
“To Uplift and Better,” responded Ned sadly. “It has been a hard task, however. Still, I have done some good, I have had my victories, Burtis. You should have known Teller Sanford before I took him in hand. It was pitiful, absolutely pitiful.”
“Why?” asked Kendall, not knowing whether the other was in jest or earnest.
“No sense of humor at all,” replied Ned confidentially. “Intense! Serious! Heavy! Oh, I don’t pretend that he is completely reclaimed yet, but there’s a big improvement. Everyone says so. It takes time.”
“Do you room with him?” asked Kendall.