Page:Dave Porter at Oak Hall.djvu/102

86 the sly, and buy milk and fruit, and such things. Now those sales are all lost to him."

The stage was rattling on at a lively rate. Occasionally it would pass other turnouts, and then the boys would give wild cheers and cat-calls, and would now and then get a cheer in return.

"There is the river," said Roger, presently. "It makes a turn here, under yonder oaks and willows, and then passes behind the Hall. You can't see much in the dark. I wish it was lighter. The first view of the academy from this road is an imposing one. For myself, I think Oak Hall is one of the prettiest school buildings I have ever seen."

In a few minutes the stage turned a corner, and they came to a broad campus, lined on either side with a low hedge of boxwood. At each corner of this campus was a heavy clump of giant oaks, and there were two great oaks on either side of the broad gateway. Close at hand hung a big lamp, and other lamps lined the driveway leading to the school building.

Oak Hall was a modern structure, of brick and stone, built in the shape of a broad cross. The hallways ran directly through the building, from north to south and east to west. The structure fronted south, and the classrooms were on that side and also on the east and west. On the north were the dining hall and the kitchen and also