“Of course not, but if you’re football captain and there are two fellows who play about the same sort of game, and one is a particular friend and the other isn’t, and——”
“Here we go,” interrupted Dud as the conductor’s warning reached them through the open window.
“Good work! That’s what I meant, you see. Bert will naturally favor Nick. No reason why he shouldn’t. Besides, Nick was quarter last year and he was a peach, too. Bet you we have a corking team this fall, Dud. Look at the fellows we’ve got left over! Nick and Bert and Hobo and Musgrave——”
“Look!” exclaimed Dud in a low voice, nudging his companion. The train had begun to move. Following the direction of Dud’s gaze, Jimmy’s eyes fell on the form of the boy he had accosted in the station. The latter was coming leisurely down the car aisle, looking on each side for a seat. But the weather was warm and the passengers who were so fortunate as to be sitting alone were loathe to share their accommodations. The newcomer, however, displayed neither concern nor embarrassment. Something about him said very plainly that if he didn’t take this seat or that it was only because he chose not to, and not because he was intimidated by scowls or chilly glances.
“Maybe,” began Dud, looking about the car, “we’d ought to turn this over, Jimmy.”
But before Jimmy had time to answer the boy had paused in his progress along the aisle and was smiling genially down on them.
He was, first of all, an undeniably good-looking youth. Even Jimmy was forced to acknowledge that, although he did it grudgingly. In age he appeared to be about sixteen, but he was tall for his years and big in a well-proportioned way. He had brown hair that was neither light nor dark, and eyebrows and lashes several shades paler. His face was rather long and terminated in a surprisingly square chin. His brown eyes were deeply set and looked out very directly from either side of a straight nose. The mouth was a trifle too wide, perhaps, but there was a pleasant curve to it, and at either end hovered two small vertical clefts that were like elongated dimples. Face, neck and hands were deeply tanned. For the rest, he was square-shouldered, narrow-waisted and deep-chested, and there was an ease and freedom in his carriage and movements that went well with the careless, self-confident look of him.
“Hello, fellows!” he said. “Mind if I sit here?” Whereupon, and without waiting for reply, he lifted Jimmy’s suitcase to the rack above, piled his own bag on top of Dud’s and settled himself opposite the latter. “Warm, isn’t it?” he observed, removing his soft straw hat and putting it atop his bag. As he did so his gaze traveled from Jimmy’s hat to Dud’s, and: “Belong to the same Order, don’t you?” he said affably. “Is it hard to get in?”
“School colors,” answered Dud stiffly.
“Oh! Thought maybe you were Grand Potentates of the High and Mighty Order of Kangaroos or something.”