On Your Mark! A Story of College Life and Athletics Page 18

  CHAPTER XVII

  ALLAN LEAVES THE CLUB TABLE

  March winds are freakish, prankish things, and the wind in the face ofwhich Allan crossed the yard one morning a fortnight or so after theindoor meeting was no exception. He was on his way from Grace Hall tothe Chemical Laboratory for a ten o'clock, and at the corner of thechapel he passed a couple of fellows whom a casual glance showed him hedid not know. But that he was not a stranger to one of them was soonproven. The wind, scurrying around the corner of the chapel, tossed himthe following fragment of conversation with startling distinctness:

  "Who's that fellow, Steve?"

  "Ware, a freshie; he runs, or tries to. He was in the mile and twomiles at Boston week before last and didn't do a thing in either ofthem. Guess the Athletic Association will take his job away now. Theyjust employed him to keep him in college, I guess. This thing of givingfellows work just because----"

  The words ended as suddenly as they had begun, so far as Allan wasconcerned, and he strode on to the laboratory. But his cheeks wereburning and his heart was filled with wrath. For the first time herealized that his employment by the E. A. A. had a suspicious look, tosay the least, while it was even probable that what the fellow he hadoverheard thought was really true. He was angry at the unknown youthfor saying what he had, angry with Stearns for placing him in such aquestionable position, and angry at Professor Nast for countenancingit. He wondered whether all the fellows he knew or who knew himbelieved as did the fellow he had passed, that he was knowinglyallowing the Athletic Association to present him with money he was notearning.

  The blood dyed his face again, and he marveled at his blindness.Why had he not seen from the first that Stearns had secured him theplace in the office merely to ensure his stay at college and hisparticipation in the dual meet with Robinson? And hadn't he more thanhalf suspected all along? But no, he was guiltless of that charge.Credulous and blind he had been, but not dishonest. And dishonest hewould not be now. He passed a miserable, impatient half-hour, and whenit was over hurried to the office of the Athletic Association and foundProfessor Nast at his desk.

  The professor was a mild-mannered little man, rather nervous andseemingly indecisive, but he was executively capable and had much soundcommon sense. He viewed Allan's arrival with mild curiosity, noddedsilently, and turned back to his work. But Allan didn't allow him tocontinue it.

  "How much am I worth here, sir, if you please?" he demanded,unceremoniously. The chairman looked somewhat startled and disconcerted.

  "Why--er--that is a difficult question to answer, Mr. Ware. But ifyou--ah--consider that you are not being paid enough, I shall be gladto consider the matter of increased remuneration if you will make outan application in writing, stating----"

  "Well, is my work here worth a dollar an hour, sir?"

  "Eh? A dollar an hour? I--er-- But I think you are receiving thatamount, are you not?"

  "Yes, sir; and that's what the trouble is."

  "Trouble? Suppose you explain what you mean."

  "Well, I--" He hesitated for words an instant and then threw politenessto the winds. "You've made me do what isn't honest, you and Stearns,"he charged, angrily. "You offered me the work here just to keep me incollege, so I could run at your old meet, and you gave me a dollaran hour for work that any one would do for half that money. Oh,I know it's lots my fault," he went on, silencing the professor'sremonstrances. "I ought to have guessed it, but I didn't. I didn'tthink a thing about it until to-day I overheard a fellow say in plainwords that I was taking money I wasn't earning. That's a nice thing tohave fellows say about you, isn't it? And I dare say the whole collegethinks just as he does, and--and----"

  "Hold up a minute," said the professor, finally making himself heard."You're accusing Mr. Stearns and me of pretty hard things. Let's talkthis over quietly. Sit down, please."

  Allan obeyed. The professor swung around in his chair until he facedhim, clasped his hands over his vest, and gravely studied Allan's angrycountenance.

  "I'm not sure that you--ah--have any right to come here and chargeme--or Mr. Stearns--with unfair dealings. But I will accord you theright, Mr. Ware, for I see that there has been a mistake made. It was,however, a mistake and nothing more, I assure you. Neither Mr. Stearnsnor I had any intention of deceiving you. Allow me to finish, please,"he added, as Allan made an impatient movement.

  "It has been the custom here, of recent years, to give employment inthis office to men who have needed the work, and preference has beengiven to athletes. If they have been paid more for their labor thanthat labor was really worth--and I am ready to grant that they usuallyhave--the money with which they were paid has always come out of thegeneral athletic fund and not from the college. I am not--ah--preparedto defend this custom; on the contrary, sir, I think it a very bad one,and I for one should be glad to see it discontinued. In your case,now, Mr. Stearns came and saw me and told me you needed employment.The place was vacant and I offered it to you at the terms which havealways been paid. You are not earning one dollar an hour, Mr. Ware,and if you feel that you have been deceived by us, I am very sorry. Nodeception was intended on my part, and I am sure Mr. Stearns believedthat you--er--understood the situation."

  "I didn't, though," answered Allan, somewhat conciliated by the other'smanner. "I didn't dream of it. I--I did think the work was rather easyconsidering the pay, but I thought maybe it would get harder, andthat--that I could make up. If I had known the truth, I wouldn't havehad anything to do with the work."

  "I am sorry, but, as I have said, there was no intent at deception.I offer you my apologies, and I am sure Mr. Stearns will be quite asregretful as I am. If there is anything I can do to better matters, Ishall be delighted to do it, Mr. Ware."

  "Yes, sir, there is. I'd like to keep on with the work until I havesquared myself."

  "You mean you want to work without wages?"

  Allan nodded. The professor considered the matter for a while insilence. Then--

  "If you insist," he said, "we will make that arrangement. But thereis another method that may answer fully as well. Are you averse tocontinuing the work at--er--a just remuneration?"

  "N-no, I suppose not," Allan replied. "I need the work, and if you'llpay me only what it's worth I'd like to go ahead with it."

  "I'm glad to hear you say so, for you have been very conscientious,Mr. Ware, and your services in the office have become valuable tome. I should dislike to make a change. Supposing, then, you continueat--ah--fifty cents an hour? Would that be satisfactory?"

  "Is it worth that much?" asked Allan, bluntly.

  "Yes, it honestly is; it is worth quite that. Well, and in regardto--ah--let us say arrears; I am working on the compilation of a ratherdifficult lot of statistics which are to be incorporated into myreport. You could assist me vastly with that matter and could work,say, an hour three evenings a week. In that way, it seems to me, youcould very shortly 'square' yourself, as you term it, and could, tosome extent, choose your own time for doing so. What do you--ah--think?"

  Allan considered the matter. It sounded rather easy, and since anhour ago he had grown to view easy tasks with suspicion. But he couldfind no ground for objection, and in the end he accepted the proposalgratefully and stammered a somewhat lame apology for his hastydiscourtesy. The Chairman of the Athletic Committee waved it politelyaside.

  "We will consider it settled, then," he said. "This afternoon we willdecide on the hours for the extra work. I'm glad you brought thismatter up, Mr. Ware, for I think the time has come to do away with apernicious custom. Good morning."

  On his way to his next recitation Allan reflected somewhat ruefullythat under the new arrangement there was one thing which had been lostsight of, and that was a public vindication. As long as he continuedto work in the office fellows would continue to think he was receivingmoney not earned. To be sure, he had the consolation of a clearconscience, but it was hard to have the fellows he knew and whoserespect he craved think badly of him.

  But there
Allan was mistaken, for the story got out in shortorder--Tommy saw to that!--and it wasn't long before he heard anaccount of the matter, in which he figured as a model of indignantvirtue and a galley-slave to conscience, from a fellow whom he knewvery slightly. After that he had no doubts about public vindication.

  It was not a difficult matter to find three hours in the evening eachweek for the new labor, and he found it, since he had a fondness formathematics, far more interesting than the daily letter-writing andclerical work. But five dollars a week wasn't ten, and so, despitethe protests of Pete and all the other members of the club table, heleft the hospitality of Mrs. Pearson's and went back to the collegedining-hall, where he could, by careful management, make his monthlybill ridiculously small. Pete commanded and implored to be allowed to"fix things up" so that Allan need not leave the table; he almost wept;but Allan was obdurate. Pete even threatened to "let the table go hang"and return with Allan to Commons, but was finally dissuaded when Allanpointed out that in all probability he (Allan) would very shortly betaken onto the training-table of the track squad.

  So Pete accepted the inevitable and draped Allan's chair with somedozen yards of black crepe, and allowed none to occupy it for a weekof mourning. But Allan wasn't a stranger to the table, for everySaturday night he returned there as Pete's guest and sat in his oldseat and was made much of by the crowd.