Winning His W | Page 2

At the hotel where they had been staying there were many other boys
who were in a predicament not unlike their own, but the very fact that
all were alike new to the life and its surroundings had made every one

somewhat diffident and the warm friendships and cordial relations that
soon were to be formed were as yet not begun.
Will Phelps and Foster Bennett, however, had been so completely taken
up with their own immediate tasks that they had little thought for other
things. At the time when this story opens their study room was ready
for callers, as Will expressed it, and the adjoining sleeping rooms were
in a fair way for occupancy. Indeed, the boys planned that very night to
sleep in the dormitory, and the experience was looked forward to as one
which they both would enjoy.
Will Phelps, a sturdy young fellow of eighteen, of medium height, with
strong body and a bright, keen expression in his dark eyes, had been the
most popular of all the boys in the high school from which he had
recently graduated. Not over-fond of study, he had somewhat neglected
his tasks until his final year, and though he had then begun to work
more seriously, his late effort had not entirely atoned for the neglect of
the preceding years. An only son and not rigidly trained in his home, he
had not formed the habits of study which his more serious-minded
room-mate, Foster Bennett, possessed. But almost every one who met
the young student was drawn to him by the fascination of his winning
ways, and realized at once the latent possibilities for good or ill that
were his. His success would depend much upon his surroundings, and
though Will was sublimely confident in his ability to meet and master
whatever opposed him, it nevertheless had been a source of deep
satisfaction to his father and mother that he was to room with his
classmate, Foster Bennett, for Foster was of a much more sedate
disposition than his friend. Taller than Will by three inches, as fond as
he of certain athletic sports, still Foster was one whom enthusiasm
never carried away nor impulse controlled. When people spoke of him
they often used the word "steady" to describe him. Not so quick nor so
brilliant as Will, he was not able to arouse the response which his
room-mate seldom failed to elicit, nor was his promise in certain ways
so great. Will might do brilliant things, but of Foster it was said that
'one always knew where to find him.' Naturally, the two boys in a
measure complemented each other, and their friendship was strong and
lasting.

Peter John Schenck--no one ever thought of referring to him by another
term than "Peter John"--the third member of the high-school class to
which reference has already been made, was a boy who every morning
had driven into the little city of Sterling from his country home, and in
his general appearance was decidedly unlike either of his classmates.
The influences of his home had been of a different character from those
which had surrounded his two friends. Not that the love for him had
been less, but certain elements of refinement had been lacking and his
familiarity with the ways of the world was much less. Besides, his
father had been in humbler circumstances, and Peter John was to room
in college in Leland Hall, one of the oldest of the dormitories, where
the room rent was much less than in Perry Hall and more in accord with
Peter John's pocket. In school he had been made the butt of many a
joke, but his fund of good nature had never rebelled and his persistence
was never broken. Tall, ungainly, his trousers seemed to be in a
perpetual effort to withdraw as far as possible from his boots, while his
hands and wrists apparently were continually striving to evade the
extremities of his coat sleeves. His face was freckled, not the ordinary
freckles produced by the heat of the sun, but huge splotches that in
color almost matched his auburn-tinted hair--at least his sister was
prone to declare that the color of his hair was "auburn," though his less
reverent schoolmates were accustomed to refer to him as a "brick-top."
But Peter John was undeterred by the guying of his mates, and when he
had first declared his intention to go to college his words had been
received as a joke. But it was soon discovered that in whatever light
they might be received by others, to Peter John himself they were the
expression of a fixed purpose; and so it came to pass that he too had
passed the entrance examinations and was duly enrolled as a member of
the