“No, I don’t think so,” was the polite and uninterested response. But Bert wasn’t to be silenced.
“Well, you know Billy’s about twenty or twenty-one. He went to Bursley for about a hundred years before he came here. They got tired of trying to teach him anything and so he left there and showed up here. At least—well, that’s one reason. The other reason is that we needed a good half back, and Billy was open to inducements.”
Hansel’s eyes came away from his book and he began to show signs of interest.
“What sort of inducements?” he asked.
“Oh, the usual, you know; tuition paid by popular subscription and a nice comfortable place as waiter in dining hall, where he doesn’t have to do much and gets his meals free.”
“Oh,” said Hansel thoughtfully.
“It isn’t supposed to be known, of course, but I guess it is. I guess folks don’t make the mistake of thinking Billy is here to improve his mind. He’s a good chap, but his mind will never trouble him—that way! And of course the only reason they let him stay at Bursley so long was just because he was one of the best players on any school team and they needed his assistance. Well, as I was saying, the story goes that some one said to Billy one day—and, by the way, he’s been in the second class ever since he came here, and that’s a year this fall—some one said to him: ‘Say, Billy, how are you getting on with your studies?’ ‘Oh,’ said Billy, ‘pretty fair.’ ‘That’s good. Find it easy going, do you?’ ‘Well, I don’t know about that,’ says Billy. ‘The field’s pretty rough in places.’”
“Hm,” said Hansel. He didn’t even smile, and Bert regarded him disgustedly. Bert thought that a pretty funny yarn.
“Look here,” demanded the other after a moment of silence, “do you mean to tell me that that fellow is here just to play football and that the school is paying his expenses?”
“That’s about it,” answered Bert in surprise. “Why?”