he bitterly assured himself. He was not
well prepared in spite of the fact that he had worked hard for a part of
his final year in the preparatory school. Greek? He detested the
subject. Even his father came in for a share of blame, for if he had
not insisted upon his taking it Will never would have entered Splinter's
room. He might have taken German under "Dutchy," or English under
Professor Jones, as many of his classmates were doing, and every one
declared that the work there was a "snap."

It was not long before Will Phelps was in a state of mind wherein he was
convinced that he was being badly treated and had more to contend
against than any other man in his class. His naturally impulsive
disposition seldom found any middle ground on which he was permitted to
stand. His father had one time laughingly declared that the comparative
degree had been entirely left out of Will's make-up and that things were
usually of the superlative. "Worst," "best," "poorest," "finest" were
adjectives most commonly to be found in his vocabulary, and between the
two extremes a great gulf appeared to be fixed. He had also declared
that he looked for Will to occupy no middle ground. He would either be a
pronouncedly successful man or an equally pronounced failure, a very
good man or a man who would be a villain. And Will had laughingly
accepted the verdict, being well assured that he knew, if it must be one
of the two, which it would of necessity be. All things had gone well
with him from the time of his earliest recollections. His home had been
one of comfort and even of elegance, any reasonable desire had never
been denied, he had always been a leading spirit among the pupils of the
high school, and that he was too, a young fellow who was graceful in his
appearance, well dressed, and confident of his own position, doubtless
Will Phelps was aware, although he did not give expression to the fact
in such terms.

And now the "superlative degree" had certainly displayed itself, Will
thought in his wretchedness, only it had manifested itself in the
extreme which he never had before believed to be possible with him. He
listened to the shouts and laughter of the students passing along the
street below and every fresh outburst only served to deepen his own
feeling of depression. Not any of the enthusiasm was for him.

He was roused from his bitter reflection by the opening of the door into
his room, but he did not look up, as he was convinced