Page:Stanwood Pier--Harding of St Timothys.djvu/176

148 longer than the other, were placed together in the form of a T. At the top of the T sat Mr. Eldredge, with Rupert Ormsby on his right hand and Philip Ward on his left. At the intersection of the T, and in the middle and at the foot of the long table, were placed great bowls of red carnations, and beside every boy's plate was a carnation for his buttonhole and a miniature football tied with a bow of red ribbon. The first thing that the boys did upon sitting down was to pin on these decorations. They were more restrained in their behavior than they usually were at meal-time. A glow of cheerfulness rather than a demonstrative spirit of triumph seemed to prevail.

Harry, sitting between Joe Herrick and Fatty Myers, was assailed by nervousness. The audience that he was to address seemed much more imposing than he had expected, and he suddenly became afraid that he would forget his speech.

So he took out the manuscript and surreptitiously tried to study it, holding it in the folds of his napkin; but both Herrick and