Tom flared up. He could see that it was done intentionally. His face flushed.
“What do you mean?” he asked quickly.
“Whatever you like to think,” was the reply of the student whom Tom had first noticed.
“Well, I think I don’t like it,” retorted Tom quickly.
“You’ll have to get used to it then; won’t he, Nick?” and the lad who had done the shoving appealed to his companion, with a sneering laugh.
“That’s what he will, Sam.”
“I won’t then!” exclaimed Tom, “and the sooner you realize that the better.”
“Oh ho! So that’s the kind of talk, eh?” sneered the one called Sam. “What’s your name, Fresh?”
“Fairfield – Tom Fairfield – Fresh!” retorted Tom, for he could see by the other’s cap that he, too, was a first year lad.
“Well mine’s Heller – Sam Heller, Capital ‘S’ and capital ‘H,’ and don’t forget it. This must be the fellow who’s got my room, Nick,” he added.
“Probably,” replied Sam Heller’s crony, who was Nick Johnson. “Yes, that was the name the monitor mentioned, come to think of it.”
“How have I your room?” asked Tom.
“Because you have. I had the room last year, and I told ’em to save it for me this term. But you came along and snatched it up, so – ”
“I took it because it was assigned to me,” spoke Tom, and from the other’s talk he understood that the lad was a Freshman who had not passed, and who, in consequence, was obliged to spend another year in the same grade. Perhaps this made him bitter.
“Well, you’ve got my room,” grumbled Sam, “and I’m going to get square with somebody.”
“You can get square with me, if you like,” said Tom quietly, “though I told you I had nothing to do with it. One thing, though, if you do any more shoving I’ll shove back, and it won’t be a gentle shove, either.”
“Is that a threat?” growled Sam.
“You can take it so if you like.”
“I will, and if you don’t look out – ”
What Sam was going to say he did not finish, for, at that moment, the monitor in charge of Opus Manor came to the door, and the two who had sought to pick a quarrel with Tom slouched off across the campus.
“New student here?” asked the monitor, who did not seem to remember Tom.
“Yes. I’m Fairfield.”
“Oh yes, I recall you now. Come, and I’ll introduce you to my wife. She’s matron here. Blackford is my name.”
“I remember it,” spoke Tom, who had met the monitor when down for his examinations.
As the two were about to enter the building Tom saw his new friend, Reddy Burke, hurrying along, beckoning to him to wait.
He halted a moment, and the Junior ran up the steps.
“I just saw you talking here to a couple of students,” began the athlete, “and as I passed them just now I heard Sam Heller say he was going to get even with you. What happened?”
Tom told him and Reddy whistled.
“Why, what’s up?” asked our hero.
“Nothing, if you don’t mind it, only you’ve made an enemy right off the bat. That Heller is one of the few undesirables here. His crony, Nick Johnson, is another. Heller is down on you all right, though it isn’t your fault.”
“I don’t mind in the least,” spoke Tom.
“He’s one of the scrappers,” went on Reddy. “Look out!”
“I can take care of myself,” replied Tom. “Thanks, just the same,” and, as he followed Monitor Blackford into the dormitory, he realized that he had made an enemy and a friend in the same day.
CHAPTER V
TOM FINDS A CHUM
“This is the room assigned to you,” said the monitor, pausing in a long corridor, after he had introduced Tom to Mrs. Blackford. “It is one of the best in the Manor, though I don’t quite understand why you picked out a double apartment.”
“Is it a double one?” asked Tom in some surprise. “I did not know it. As I was requested in the circular I received, I indicated the section of the building where I would like to be, and this room was assigned to me. I supposed it was a single one.”
“No, it is intended for two students, and I suppose it was assigned to you by mistake. I’m sorry, as it is too late to change now, since all the reservations are taken, and – ”
“Oh, I don’t want to change!” exclaimed Tom quickly, as he entered the apartment shown him by the monitor. He saw that there were two beds in it, and that it was large and airy. “I’ll keep this,” our hero added. “It’s fine.”
“Have you a chum who might like to share it with you?” asked Blackford. “The expense may – ”
“Oh, I don’t mind that part of it,” said Tom. “My father knew how much it was to cost, and he did not object. I haven’t a friend yet – that is, a Freshman friend – but I may find one.”
“There is one, a Sam Heller, who had this room last term,” went on the monitor. “He would doubtless be very glad to come in with you.”
“I’m afraid not,” replied Tom with a smile. “He and I had a little difference of opinion just now, and – ”
“Very well,” interrupted Mr. Blackford. “You needn’t explain. Suit yourself about the room. It is yours for the term.” He knew better than to enter into a talk about the disagreements of the students. There were other troubles to occupy him.
Left to himself, Tom sat down and looked about the room that was to be his for the Freshman year. It had a good view of the campus and buildings, and he liked it very much.
“Though I should be glad if I had a good chum to come in with me,” reflected the new student. “I may get in with somebody, though. It’s rather lonesome to have two beds in one room, but I can sleep half the night in one, and half the night in the other I suppose,” he ended, with a smile.
Tom was unpacking his belongings from his valise when the expressman arrived with his trunk, and a little later the matron knocked at the door to ask if our hero found himself at home.
“Yes, thank you,” replied Tom, accepting the clean towels she brought. He had begun to hang up his clothes.
“I do hope you get a nice young man in with you,” suggested Mrs. Blackford. “One who won’t be cutting up, and doing all sorts of mischievous pranks.”
Tom proceeded with getting his room to rights as she left him, and a little later, finding that it wanted an hour yet to twelve o’clock, our hero
