Page:Stanwood Pier--Harding of St Timothys.djvu/187

Rh round just then, and I did n't say a word, and we neither of us ever mentioned it again. I knew that time about Clark,—just as all you fellows have known to-night about Rupert Ormsby,—that it was n't because he'd missed the glory of making the touchdown that he felt badly, but because he'd been shut out from doing the work and being useful. And I consider that an honorable sort of regret, with nothing small or mean or envious in it. And when you hear a fellow like Rupert Ormsby crying himself down for selfishness and pettiness, why, clap him the way you've done to-night—and don't believe him."

They all laughed and clapped at this—except Rupert. And he sat blushing and feeling a good deal better than a few moments before, when he had foreseen a disastrous comparison with Clark Harding. Philip Ward continued:— "When Mr. Eldredge told me I'd be expected to make a speech to-night, I thought perhaps the best thing I could do would be to talk on how to act when you go to college—