t Satan said," asked Dick Trent, "about rather reigning in
hell than serving in heaven? I'd rather be a boob on the 'Varsity than
king of the scrubs."

"O, well," laughed Morley, "if you want to put yourself on a level with
Satan, there's no one to prevent you. As for me, I'm a little particular
about _my_ company;" and with this Parthian shot he rejoined his
exulting mates.

It was a disgruntled group of athletes that plunged into the tank and
stood beneath the shower. And when it came to the rubdown, Reddy and
his helpers seemed to take a fiendish delight in picking out the sore
spots and getting even for the day's poor showing. But such vigorous
health and splendid condition as theirs could not be long a prey to
gloom, and when, refreshed and glowing, they wended their way to the
training table, they were inclined to take a more cheerful view of life.
They ate like famished wolves, and when they had made away with
everything in sight, even the promised raking from "Bull" Hendricks had
lost some of its terrors.

"O, well," remarked Tom, "while there's life there's hope. We won't be
shot at sunrise, anyway, even if we deserve to be."

"No," assented Dick, yielding to his irrepressible habit of quotation:

"Somewhere 'tis always morning, and above
The wakening continents from shore to shore,
Somewhere the birds are singing evermore."

"The only bird you'll hear to-morrow," said practical Bert Wilson, "will
be a crow. Poe's raven won't have a thing on Hendricks when he starts
croaking."

One would have had to go far to find a finer group of young fellows than
this trio, as they sauntered over the campus to the college buildings.
They were tall, well-knit and muscular, and no one, looking at them,
would "despair of the Republic," as long as she produced such sons.
Outdoor life, clean living and vigorous exercise had left their stamp on
face and frame. They were immensely popular in the college, leaders in
fun and frolic, and in the very front rank as athletes. Each had won the
right to wear the college jersey with the coveted "initial," proving
that on hard fought fields they had brought glory to their Alma Mater.

This was preeminently the case in college baseball. Tom at third and
Dick at first had starred in their positions, while Bert in the
pitcher's box with his masterly "fadeaway" had cinched the pennant,
after a heartbreaking struggle with the "Greys" and "Maroons," their