"At the top of the present announcement stood Knollys's name with percentage of eighty-six. The second name on the list was that of J. S. Wright, with eighty-three to his credit.
"'Wright's pulling up! Five more points will put him ahead!' was the remark of one man who had been figuring on his pad.
"Wright, a sharp-featured, sandy-haired fellow in the centre of the group, nodded his approval of this calculation. At the same moment, a slim youth of barely middle height, with laughing gray eyes and crisply-waving hair, ran up and peered eagerly through the throng of his comrades. Having deciphered his standing, he was turning away as abruptly as he had come, when some one said,--
"'You'd better look out, Knollys! Wright is after you with a sharp stick!'
"'I don't doubt Jack can beat me if he tries!' responded Knollys.
"'Hold on a minute, Bert; I want to talk to you a bit!' exclaimed a tall Junior by the name of Will Allison, extricating himself quickly from the crowd.
"'Next hour, old man!' cried Knollys, darting away. 'I've got to catch Dawson in the laboratory, right off, and can't wait a second!'
"Allison, who was Knollys's most intimate friend, crossed the hall, and joined a Senior who was lounging in a window overlooking the terrace.
"'It's my firm belief, Jones,' said he discontentedly, 'that that cad, Jack Wright, is going to play Bert false!'
"'How so, pray?' inquired the Senior, in a tone of very moderate interest.
"'Why, by going into the special exam., of course!' replied Allison.
"'And why _shouldn't_ he, as well as Knollys, go into the special examination?' asked Jones.
"'Oh, I thought every one knew about that!' exclaimed Allison somewhat impatiently. 'But it's this way, since you inquire. Wright took the scholarship for our class last year--the Second Year Greek, you know. Well, Knollys was way ahead on the average of the terminals, and would have had a walk-over. As every man in the class knows, he can wipe out all the rest of us in classics without half trying. But Wright went to him, and made a poor mouth about being so hard up that he'd have to leave college if he didn't get the scholarship. Bert has none too much cash himself; but in his generous way he agreed not to go in for the special exam. So Wright, of course, got the scholarship. In return he promised Knollys that he would not go in for the Junior Latin the following year. This suited Bert very well, as he wanted to put his hard work on his readings for the science medal. Under these circumstances, you see, he has been taking it rather easy in the Latin; and I have reason to believe that Wright has been working extra hard at it. Mark my words, he'll go in at the last moment and catch Bert napping. But there's not another man in college that I would suspect of such a caddish trick.'