spent any more than Ralph?"

"No; not so much, for I will tell you in confidence that he has been
playing pool and cards for money, of course without the knowledge of the
principal. I know also that this last term, besides spending his pocket
money he ran up bills, which his father had to pay, to the amount of
fifty dollars or more."

"How did your uncle like it?"

"I don't know. Ralph and his father had a private interview, but he got
the money. I believe his mother took his part."

"Why don't you ask your uncle just how you stand?"

"I have thought of it. If I am to inherit a fortune I should like to
know it. If I have my own way to make I want to know that also, so that
I can begin to prepare for it."

"Would you feel bad if you found out that you were a poor boy--like me,
for instance?"

"I suppose I should just at first, but I should try to make the best of
it in the end."

"Well, I hope you won't have occasion to buckle down to hard work. When
do you go back to school?"

"The next term begins next Monday."

"And it is now Wednesday. You will be able to see the circus at any
rate. It is to arrive to-night."

"Suppose we go round to the lot to-morrow morning. We can see them
putting up the tents."

"All right! I'll meet you at nine o'clock."

They were about to separate when another boy, of about the same age and
size, came up.

"It's time for dinner, Kit," he said; "mother'll be angry if you are
late."

"Very well! I'll go home with you. Good morning, Dan."

"Good morning, Kit. Good morning, Ralph."

Ralph mumbled out "Morning," but did not deign to look at Dan.

"I wonder you associate with that boy, Kit," he said.

"Why?" inquired Kit, rather defiantly.

"Because he's only a farm laborer."

"Does that hurt him?"

"I don't care to associate with such a low class."

"Daniel Webster worked on a farm when he was a boy."

"Dan Clark isn't a Webster."

"We don't know what he will turn out to be."

"I don't consider him fit for me to associate with," said Ralph. "It may
be different in your case."

"Why should it be different in my case?" asked Kit, suspiciously.

"Oh, no offense at all, but your circumstances and social position are
likely to be different from mine."

"Are they? That's just what I should like to find out."

"My father says so, and as you are under his guardianship he ought to
know."

"Yes, he ought to know, but he has never told me."

"He has told me, but I a