. He turned over on his back. Still the bed swung up and down
sickeningly. Then he twisted over to his left side, and the bed
suddenly swung into rest, almost stable. In a few minutes he was sound
asleep.

He cut chapel and his two classes the next morning, one at nine and the
other at ten o'clock; in fact, it was nearly eleven when he awoke. His
head was splitting with pain, his tongue was furry, and his mouth tasted
like bilge-water. He made wry faces, passed his thick tongue around his
dry mouth--oh, so damnably dry!--and pressed the palms of his hands to
his pounding temples. He craved a drink of cold water, but he was afraid
to get out of bed. He felt pathetically weak and dizzy.

Norry walked into the room and stood quietly looking at him.

"Get me a drink, Norry, please," Hugh begged.

"I'm parched." He rolled over. "Ouch! God, how my head aches!"

Norry brought him the drink, but nothing less than three glasses even
began to satisfy Hugh. Then, still saying nothing, Norry put a cold
compress on Hugh's hot forehead.

"Thanks, Norry old man. That's awfully damn good of you."

Norry walked out of the room, and Hugh quickly fell into a light sleep.
An hour later he woke up, quite unaware of the fact that Norry had
changed the cold compress three times. The nap had refreshed him. He
still felt weak and faint; but his head no longer throbbed, and his
throat was less dry.

"Norry," he called feebly.

"Yes?" Norry stood in the doorway. "Feeling better?"

"Yes, some. Come sit down on the bed. I want to talk to you. But get me
another drink first, please. My mouth tastes like burnt rubber."

Norry gave him the drink and then sat down on the edge of the bed,
silently waiting.

"I'm awfully ashamed of myself, old man," Hugh began. "I--I don't know
what to say. I can't remember much what happened. I remember bringing
Cynthia up here and you coming in and then--well, I somehow can't
remember anything after that. What did you do?"

"I took Cynthia home and then came back and put you to bed." Norry gazed
at the floor and spoke softly.

"You took Cynthia home?"

"Of course."

Hugh stared at him in awe. "But if you'd been seen with her in the dorm,
you'd have been fired from college."

"Nobody saw us. It's all right."

Hugh wanted to cry. "Oh, Lord, Norry, you're white," he exclaimed. "The
whitest fellow that ever lived. You took that chance for me."

"That's all right." Norry was painfully embarrassed.