U niversity of O regon M onthly
31
“Who did you see?” he asked, almost out of breath.
“You must have thought the faculty were after you,”
laughed Pierce Sarcastically.
3 The next morning the professor went to the university
earlier than usual to look over some examination papers..
As he entered the room he noticed the wide open window and
thC Unusual coolness of the room.
He felt that something unusual had happened. In the
course of ah hour thO students began to come in and take
their places.- Blake and Fietce, as well as most of the other
members of the class, were already at their seats, when Rich
ardson came in with his shoulders’Thrown back, head erect',
and a n . expression of confidence on his face. The plot orig
inated by him had been secretly and successfully carried
out. The trickery used to gain the anticipated victory did
not at all effect his .conscience, hardened by previous ex
periences.*- One of the worst problems .Standing between
him and graduation had been solved.
, The nine o’clock gong:sounded. Richardson had learned
the questions almost by heart and his answers the same way.
The professor looked around the room to-see if all were ready
and then wrote the Roman numeral “I” at the top pf the
blackboard.
Richardson, leaning forward, with well sharpened pencil
in hand, was ready to write the' answer before the question
was written. No Sooner did the first word appear than his
countenance changed.- It was not the word he expected to see
“Did we haye the wrong questions?” he thought to himSelf.
He leaned back and gave a sigh of despair that was almost
noticeable. In a few moments, his anxiety was greatly re
lieved, however, when he recognised the third question in
stead of the first; and, as the other questions appeared on the
blackboard, they proved to be the ones found the night
before with the order slightly changed.
, When the ten o’clock gong sounded, the professor reiter
ated the .signal, in a captain-like manner, “Ten o’clock and
all’s well.”
Richardson heard Blake snicker behind him, but did not