Part 10 (1/2)
”Humph! So that is your game, eh? Trying to blacken other boys'
characters!” sneered Aaron Poole. ”Well, it won't work with me, for I know you too well, Dave Porter. Don't I know where you came from--the Crumville poorhouse? I guess I can trust my son to pick out the right kind of friends. You are jealous of him, because those other boys won't go with the like of you! Don't talk to me! Only----” And Aaron Poole raised his forefinger again. ”Remember my warning, when you get to Oak Hall!” And then he strode away, his thin lips tightly drawn, and his sharp chin held high in the air.
”Well, wouldn't that make you groan!” was Ben's comment, after the man had disappeared. ”Dave, you had your trouble for your pains.”
”I don't care, Ben--I just felt I had to tell him. It's a shame to let Nat cotton to fellows like Jasniff and Merwell. They will drag him down as sure as fate.”
”I believe you there. But if Nat's father won't listen--why, I'd drop the matter. Besides, you must remember that those fellows are going to another school, situated quite some distance from Oak Hall. Nat won't see them, excepting on special occasions.”
”He can meet them whenever he goes to Rockville--the town I mean--and Jasniff and Merwell will get him to drink and smoke, and maybe gamble, and worse. Nat is easily led at times.”
”Yes, I know that.” Ben drew a long breath. ”Well, let's drop the subject, Dave. We have our own battles to fight.” And then the boys separated, each to finish the preparations for his departure.
CHAPTER VII
ON THE WAY TO OAK HALL
Swiftly the hours rolled away until it was time for Dave to bid his family and his friends good-by and leave for Oak Hall. The evening before his departure he took a walk with Jessie, to the end of the Wadsworth garden, but what was said between the pair was never known to anybody but themselves. When they came back he was holding her hand, and both of them looked as if they understood each other perfectly and were correspondingly happy.
All of the girls, as well as Dave's father, went to the depot to see him off, and there they met Ben and some of his folks. Then the train came in, and the youths climbed on board, dress-suit cases in hand. The girls waved their handkerchiefs.
”Have a good time!” cried Belle, gayly.
”Take good care of yourself, Dave!” added Jessie.
”Don't forget to write,” supplemented Laura.
”We'll do everything you want us to do!” shouted Dave, with a smile, and then he and Ben waved their caps from the car window as the train rolled forward, and Crumville was left behind.
”Well, we are off at last,” observed Ben, as he and Dave settled back in the seat for the run to the Junction, where they would have to change cars for Oakdale, the town nearest to the school. ”And I am not sorry, are you?”
”Not at all, Ben. When it comes time to go to Oak Hall I am always glad to go and meet the other fellows; when the term is over I am equally glad to get home and see the folks. It is like the seasons--at the end of the summer I am glad winter is coming, and at the end of winter I am just as pleased that summer is at hand.”
”It's the change, I suppose.” Ben stretched out and drew his knees high up in front of him. ”My, but when you come to look at it, what changes have taken place at Oak Hall since we first went there! Don't you remember what a bully Gus Plum used to be, and how Chip Macklin used to toady to him! Now Plum has reformed completely, and Chip is as manly a little chap as any of 'em.”
”It's a pity that Nat Poole can't take a leaf from Gus's notebook and reform, too,” answered Dave.
”Maybe he will--after he sees the error of his ways. But, Dave, what of athletics this season? Are you going in for them?”
”I am--but not too strongly, Ben. I want to get all the education I can.”
”Want to get through and leave Oak Hall?”
”I don't want to be a schoolboy all my life. I want to get out in the world and make something of myself.”
”What are you going to become after you leave school?”
”I don't know yet. I was talking it over with father and my uncle, but I haven't reached any decision.”
At the Junction the boys had to wait about half an hour for the train to Oakdale. Dave suggested that they walk over to a candy store and have some soda water.