on't. They don't give that. 'A' is the highest mark they give.
But I think I got everything right. How did you answer that question
about what Christian tenet the Greeks believed in?" he added, glancing
at the copy of the questions which he held in his hands.

"How did _you_ answer it, Peter John?" inquired Foster quickly.

"I answered it that they believed in the immorality of the soul."

"In the _what?_" demanded Foster soberly.

"In the immorality of the soul."

"You meant immortality of the soul, didn't you?"

"Y-e-s, I suppose I did," assented Peter John somewhat ruefully. "But
old Splinter will understand," he added quickly. "Splinter will know I
just left out a 't', and he won't count that against me."

"No, a little thing like a 't' doesn't count for much, not any more than
a decimal point. It doesn't make any difference whether a decimal point
is placed before or after a figure, you know. It's only a little thing
anyway."

"Yes," assented Peter John, failing to perceive what Foster was saying.
"Then there was one other question that was dead easy," he added.

"Which one was that?"

"The one about the animals."

"Let me see, what was that question?" said Foster thoughtfully.

"Why, don't you remember? It was 'Name six animals that were common
among the Greeks'."

"Oh, yes; I recall it now; but I don't think I had it right. I could
think of but four."

"Pooh! Easiest question of the whole lot."

"What was the answer?"

"Easy! Dead easy! I just said, 'Six dogs'."

The laughter that rang out in the room might have been heard across the
campus; but Peter John was only slightly ruffled, and said:

"Oh, well, you fellows may laugh if you want to, but you'll find out
when you see my marks."

"They'll put you in Splinter's place as soon as you graduate," suggested
Foster when at last he regained control of himself.

"I wish they would," responded Will heartily.

"Splinter" was the term by which the Winthrop boys were accustomed to
speak of Professor Hanson, who was in charge of their Greek work. The
title did not appear in the college catalog, it was true; but it was the
only one by which he was known among the irreverent students. He was an
elderly man, whose sensitive nature had suffered for many years from the
inadequate preparation of successive classes, until at last not only
were his teeth on edge, but his entire disposition as well. He had
become somewhat soured and sarcastic in his deal