y emotion by the expression upon their faces it was impossible for the
sophomores to perceive whether or not the canes had been discovered.

There was no question about their opinions, however, when later in the
day it was apparent that the sophomore class was possessed of a feeling
of intense excitement. Parties were sent forth in various directions,
and there was the keenest interest manifest in the entire college. Will
and Foster, however, were too wise to relate their experiences to any
except to the three or four leaders of their class; and when night fell,
by a circuitous route, and then only after a half-dozen parties had been
sent out in other directions to mislead any of their rivals who might be
watching their movements, they proceeded to the bridge, secured the
canes, and bringing them safely back to the college under the protecting
shelter of the darkness, distributed them among the members of the
class.

Great was the elation of the freshmen when on the following morning they
formed in a body near the gymnasium just before the hour of morning
prayers in the chapel and then marched to the service every one carrying
in his hands one of the coveted sticks.

The discomfited sophomores endured in silence the gibes of the students,
and the exultant freshmen received the applause that greeted their
success with an air that it is to be feared only served to increase the
chagrin of their rivals. And Will Phelps and Foster were at once, and by
a common though unspoken assent, awarded a place among the leaders of
their class for their success.

Of the parade that took place that day Will Phelps did not tire of
talking for many a week. The assembled crowd of students, townspeople,
and visitors, the long line of freshmen in the parade and their
grotesque appearance, the stirring music of a brass band at the head of
the line, the march to the lower campus where the huge bonfire was
kindled, the weird songs and dancing as in dual lines the two lower
classes with joined hands leaped and danced about the blazing fire, and
then the final consignment to the flames of the huge wooden hatchet that
had been carried in the parade, were all incidents that duly impressed
him. And when at last the fires burned low and the final song was sung,
and it was declared that the hatchet was buried forever and all feelings
of animosity between the lower classmen were at an end, the boys
returned to their rooms feeling that a well-earned v