“I suppose you told them about—what I did,” he said.
“No.” Arthur shook his head. “Your name isn’t mentioned in this letter.” There was a minute of silence, save for Harry’s subdued sniffles. Then,
“I suppose you’ll tell every one, though; all the other fellows.”
“Perhaps,” was the answer. A longer silence this time.
“I wish—you wouldn’t,” said Harry at last in a low voice.
Arthur raised his brows as he stuck a stamp on the envelope.
“I—I’d do most anything if you wouldn’t, Arthur.”
“You might have thought of that before,” replied Arthur, dryly. “I’m not making any bargains with you.” He put on his hat to take the letter to the box in front of Oxford. “You’d better pick up those books,” he said as he went out.
After the letter was mailed he considered going down to the field and looking on at practise or paying a visit to the tennis courts. But he hardly felt like mingling with his fellows yet, and so in the end he returned to his room, hoping that Harry would take himself away for awhile. But that youth was just where he had left him and a glance at his face showed that he had been crying again. The stamp albums still lay sprawled upon the floor. Arthur frowned. He was thoroughly angry with Harry—or he had been—but he wasn’t hard-hearted, and the sight of the younger boy’s tears was having its effect.
“Look here, Harry,” he said, “you and I have got to keep on together here for a good month yet, and we’d better make the best of it. Crying isn’t going to do any good. You did a mighty dirty trick and there’s no use in my saying that it doesn’t matter. After awhile I’ll get used to it, I guess, but not quite yet. I know you were pretty mad when you did it; I’m willing to believe that you wouldn’t have done it if you’d taken time to think it out; and perhaps it was my fault in a way. Anyhow, what’s done is done, and now it’s up to us to try and get along as decently as we can for the rest of the term. We won’t say anything more about it. And I won’t tell any one. The only fellow who knows is Gerald Pennimore, and he won’t say anything if I ask him not to. Wash your face and put those books away.”