ver they could get a
chance. As a result Evan was kept in hot water the most of the time, but
he persisted in claiming that the freshmen were bound to give them a
surprise.

One evening a jolly party gathered in Browning and Hartwick's rooms.
Cigarettes were passed around, and soon the smoke was thick enough to
cut with a knife.

"How are the eggs down where you are taking your meals now, Horner?"
asked Puss Parker.

"Oh, they are birds!" chirped little Tad, who was perched on the back of
a chair, with his cap on the side of his head.

This produced a general laugh, and Parker said:

"Speaking of birds makes me think that riches hath wings. I dropped
seventy-five in that little game last night."

Punch Swallows groaned in a heartrending way.

"That's nothing," he said, dolefully. "I lost a hundred and ten last
week, and I've been broke ever since. Wired home for money, but the gov
didn't respond. After that game all I could think of was two pairs,
three of a kind, bobtail flushes, and so on. I made a dead flunk at
recitations for two days. The evening after I lost my roll I was to
attend a swell affair up on Temple Street. I was in a rocky condition,
and I took something to brace me up, for I knew there would be pretty
girls there, and I wouldn't have missed it for anything. The memory of
that horrible game was still with me, and whenever my mind wandered I
was thinking of jack pots and kindred things. Well, I went to the party,
and there were plenty of queens there, but I didn't seem to enjoy
myself, for some reason. I fancied it possible they might smell my
breath, and that worried me. I thought I would go off by myself, and so
I wandered into a little room where I imagined I would be alone, but
hanged if I didn't run into the hostess and a stack of ladies. Then,
with my mind confused, I made a fool of myself. 'Er--er--excuse me,' I
stammered; 'what room is this?' 'This is the anteroom, sir,' replied the
hostess. 'What's the limit?' says I, as I fumbled in my pocket. Then I
took a tumble to myself and chased out in a hurry. I saw the girls
staring after me as if they thought me crazy. It was awful."

"Oh, well, you mustn't mind the loss of a few dollars," said Andy Emery.
"A man can make a fortune in this country picking up chips--if he puts
them on the right card."

"Put a little perfumery on that before you use it again, Emery,"
grinned Tad Horner. "It's got whiskers."

"I think Swallows all right, but