"I'm afraid he'll be taught some things that are not in the course of
study."

"Do him good," remarked Foster, as he turned once more to his work.

The following day was Saturday, and in the afternoon there were no
recitations. Will had promised Mott that he would go for a long walk
with him, and promptly after luncheon the sophomore appeared. For some
reason which Will could not explain, Mott appeared to have taken a
decided fancy to him, and had paid him many special attentions. There
was little about him that was attractive to Will, but somehow he found
it difficult to avoid him. He certainly was a well dressed handsome
young fellow, and was prominent in college chiefly because of his
success in athletics, for already he had the reputation of being one of
the swiftest runners in college. But in the college vernacular he was
commonly referred to as a "sport," a term for which Will instinctively
had little liking, and less for the young man himself. However, he had
found it difficult to avoid him, and somewhat reluctantly he had
consented to take the long walk to a distant village with him on the day
to which reference has been made.

For a time after the two young men had departed from Winthrop, and had
made their way up the road that led along the steep hillside, the
exhilaration of the bracing air and the superb view had made Will keenly
alive to the beauties of the surrounding region. A soft halo covered the
summits of the lofty hills, and the quiet of the valley was almost as
impressive as the framework of the mountains. Mott too had been
exceedingly pleasant in all that he had said, and Will was almost
beginning to feel that he had misjudged his companion, and that his
reputation was worse than the fellow himself.

They had now left the hillside road and were once more in the valley and
not far from the village they were seeking.

"I hear you're quite a fair sprinter," suggested Mott, as they
proceeded.

"I do a little," assented Will, laughing lightly as he spoke.

"Where did you run?"

"On the high school team."

"What high school?"

"Sterling."

"Run against the other schools in the league?"

"Yes," replied Will, wondering how it was that Mott happened to know of
the existence of the league.

"How did you come out?"

"Oh, I happened to win. There wasn't very much to run against, you see."

"What time did you make?"

"Ten, two."

"Going to run here?"

"Going to try to."

"I find t