Page:Dave Porter at Oak Hall.djvu/66

52 "It's a wonder his father will allow it."

"Somebody told me he was going to send Nat to a boarding school—some strict place where he would have to toe the chalk mark. It's what that high-flyer needs."

"Perhaps; but if he gets into a wild set, it may make him wilder than ever."

"That is true."

"I am going to a boarding school soon," continued Dave. "It's a fine institution in Massachusetts called Oak Hall."

"You're in luck. I suppose Mr. Wadsworth is sending you."

"Yes."

"He's the most public-spirited man in Crumville. He pays fine wages, and all his employees think the world of him. He has furnished them with a free reading room, and a gymnasium, and lots of other things. I wish we had more men like him," added the postmaster's assistant.

"Where is Mr. Poole going to send Nat?"

"I don't know. They had several places in mind, I believe."

After that the days flew by swiftly. Dave applied himself to his studies, and a week before the time came to depart for Oak Hall, Caspar Potts announced to Mr. Wadsworth that the youth was fully competent to enter the next to the highest class at the academy.