CHAPTER V
"RUSTY"
Two busy days followed for Dick. Stanley was a great help, however,and getting settled into his stride was accomplished fairly easily.There was his adviser to see and his courses to arrange: he wasrequired to take seven courses, one of them elective. For the latterhe chose General History, not so much because he felt a hankeringfor such knowledge as the course afforded as because it entailed buttwo recitations a week. You see, he had to arrange so as not to havestudies interfere too much with football! However, there seemed nodanger of his not having enough school work, for, with History, hisgrand total was twenty-nine hours.
He passed his physical examination with flying colours and on Wednesdayset to work with the football candidates. Of these there was astartling number, he thought. The field that afternoon was so thicklysprinkled with fellows of all sizes, shapes and degrees of experiencethat there was scarcely room to move about. Dick found himself simplyone of many, doomed to go through with the usual routine of thebeginner. At first he felt somewhat impatient and even peeved, butpresently he decided to view the thing as a joke. They would very soonsee that he belonged in an advanced squad, he thought, and meanwhile itwouldn't do him any harm to practice the kindergarten stuff with therookies.
The coach didn't appear until Thursday, and when he came, Dick didn'taltogether approve of him. In the first place, Dick considered him tooold: he looked to be every day of thirty-four or five. In the secondplace, Coach Driscoll lacked the good-natured, free-and-easy mannerthat Dick's experience had associated with football instructors. Hewasn't bad looking, and he had very evidently kept himself in goodphysical trim, but, being so old, he would, Dick decided, be horriblybehind the times and out-of-date. "Tod" Driscoll was a Parkinsongraduate and a Yale man. At Yale, he had established an enviablereputation as a football player. He had been coaching at Parkinsonfor five years, Dick learned, and with success, for in that timethe Brown-and-White had thrice triumphed over the Blue of Kenwood.And he was popular in spite of the fact that he was a very strictdisciplinarian.
Dick found Captain Bob Peters more to his liking. Peters was a homely,tow-haired, snub-nosed chap built like a Greek athlete, with a smilingcountenance and a clear, creamy-brown skin against which his grey-blueeyes looked startlingly bright. He was cheerful and light-hearted andyet could be very intense and very earnest on occasions. He playedat right end on the team. Dick didn't have any dealings with CaptainPeters at this period, however, for a youth named Warden appearedto have control of his fortunes. Warden was a dark-complexioned,earnest fellow who never said an unnecessary word to the squad ofbeginners over whom he had been placed, and who worked very hard andconscientiously every minute. Dick thought he took himself and his dutya bit too seriously, but couldn't help liking and respecting him.
Dick was rather surprised at the extremely earnest and business-likeway in which football practice was conducted. There was so much systemand everyone was so serious! Even the manager and his hard-workingassistant appeared to have no thought in life beyond that of turningout a successful football team. Billy Goode, the trainer, alone seemedto be unaffected by the contagion of effort. Billy even found time fora laugh and a joke.
Naturally, Dick was especially interested in the quarter-backcandidates. He got one of the fellows to point out Gus Stone to him,and was relieved to find that Stone didn't look very wonderful. He wasrather short and perhaps a bit heavier than the position demanded,although doubtless a week of work would remove some of the weight.There was also Cardin, a slighter and younger boy who had playedthe position on the Second Team last year. And there were a dozenothers, Dick amongst them, who had declared their preference for thequarter-back job.
He saw Wallace Blashington now and then on the field or in thegymnasium, and Blash always spoke, but there was no further meetinguntil the following Saturday. By that time Dick had settled down intothe routine of school life, and had decided that he was going to likeParkinson immensely and Stanley Gard even more. Dick had grown ratherused to having other fellows wait on him, run his errands and makelife easy for him in general. He had never consciously asked suchservice, but had received it as a tribute to popularity. But he wasnot getting it now. If he had expected Stanley to wait on him--and hedidn't know whether he had or not, but probably had!--he was doomedto disappointment. Stanley was the best-hearted chap in the world, butif one of Dick's shoes had got away from him and taken up a temporaryabode under Stanley's bed, it was Dick who fished it out. Only once hadDick asked a service. Then, seated at his study desk, he had lightlysuggested that Stanley should hand him a book that was lying on theradiator top near the window. Stanley was seated in a chair somewhatnearer the radiator than Dick, but there was no sound of movement andafter a second Dick looked around inquiringly. Stanley was still seatedand there was a quizzical grin on his countenance. After a somewhatblank stare, Dick arose and got the book. As he sat down again he saidsarcastically: "Much obliged, Stan."
Stanley chuckled. "Dick, you've been sort of spoiled, haven't you?" hesaid.
"Spoiled? What do you mean? Just because I asked you----"
"You're one of those fellows who expect others to do things for 'em,and get away with it. Wish I knew the secret. But it isn't good foryou, Dick. You must learn to run your own errands, and whitewash yourown fences. Any time you break a leg, I'll fetch and carry for you, butwhile you're able to get about--nothing doing! In fact, seeing thatI'm an older resident of this place, I'm not certain you shouldn't befagging for me!"
"Oh, go to the dickens," muttered Dick. "You make me tired." Then,after a moment, he added: "Maybe that was cheeky, Stan. I'm sorry.Guess I've had it too easy."
"That's all right, son. It's just as well to know where we stand,though. Any other little thing I can do for you?"
"Yes, you can close your silly mouth," was the answer.
By Saturday Dick felt almost like an old boy. His courses promised tobe only mildly difficult, and the instructors seemed a very decent lot,notably "Old Addicks" who knew so much of ancient languages that helooked like an elderly, benignant Greek philosopher, and Mr. McCreedy,who taught mathematics. Through Stanley he met a great many of thefellows, and he picked up a few acquaintances himself. Of these latter,one was "Rusty" Crozier. He was a Fourth Class fellow who preferredto live in the town, and occupied two comfortable rooms in a house onMaple Street, just below the school. He was a jolly, light-hearted chapwith a perpetual smile and hair of that peculiar shade of red thatwe associate with rusted iron: hence his nick-name. Dick met him inclassroom. "Rusty" borrowed Dick's fountain pen for a minute. Afterclass they came together in the corridor and walked a little way alongThe Front. That began it. When Dick asked Stanley if he knew Crozier,Stanley nodded.
"Everyone knows Rusty," he said. "But if you want to tread the straightand narrow, Dick, keep away from him."
"What do you mean? Isn't he--all right?"
"Oh, yes, Rusty's all right. That is, there's nothing vicious abouthim. In fact, he's a very decent, very clean fellow. But he's giftedwith a talent for discovering trouble. And a talent for squirming outof it! If he wasn't he'd have left Parkinson long ago. I'd say thatRusty's trouble was an over-developed sense of humor."
"I rather liked him," mused Dick.
"You would. So do I. Everyone likes Rusty. But wise guys say him naywhen he suggests one of his innocent amusements. It was Rusty whoclosed traffic on Main Street in the middle of a busy Saturday one daylast year, only faculty doesn't know it."
"Did what?" asked Dick.
"He borrowed two carpenter's horses and a sign and placed 'em acrossthe middle of Main Street, near School, about one o'clock one daylast spring. He found the sign somewhere, I don't know where. It said'Street Closed by Order of Selectmen.' Then he went over and stood inWiley's drug store and watched the fun. It was almost an hour beforethey discovered that it was a hoax. The paper was full of it, and theselectmen made an awful rumpus, but everyone else thought it was apretty good joke."
&
nbsp; "And he wasn't found out!"
"No. At least a score of people must have seen him set the barrierup, but no two of them agreed as to what he looked like. Some said hewas a labourer in blue overalls, and others said he was a tall manwith whiskers, and so on. That's just one of Rusty's innocent ways ofamusing himself."
"But doesn't he ever get caught?" asked Dick incredulously.
"Oh, yes, heaps of times, but he always manages somehow to show that hewas actuated by good intentions or that circumstances worked againsthim. Like the time he dropped the parlour match heads all over thefloor in Room G and every time anyone put his foot down, one of thethings went _pop_! He showed Jud the hole in his pocket where thethings had fallen out. If it hadn't been for the hole, he claimed, itwouldn't have happened. He got off with a month's probation, I think."
Dick laughed. "He must be a cut-up! Well, I'll keep away from him whenhe feels frolicsome."
"Trouble is," said Stanley, "you never can tell when Rusty is going tospring something." He smiled and then chuckled. "Three or four of uswalked over to Princeville two years ago to the circus. It was one ofthose little one-ring affairs, you know, with a mangey camel, and amoth-eaten lion and a troop of trained dogs. It was rather fun. Rustywas one of us, and he was as quiet as a mouse until near the end. Thenhe began flicking peanuts at the ring master. We tried to stop him, buthe wouldn't quit. Every time the ring master turned his back, Rustywould land a peanut on him, and the crowd got to laughing and gave itaway. So they hustled us all out, and we didn't see the performingdogs. Has he asked you over to his room at Spooner's?"
"Yes," said Dick, suspiciously. "Is there any trick in that?"
"Oh, no," answered Stanley, smilingly. "He has very jolly quarters. Ifyou like we'll go over together some evening."
"All right. Only I don't like that catfish grin of yours. I supposehe has a trick staircase that folds up and lets you down in a heap orsomething?"
"No. Rusty's fun is pretty harmless. We'll wander over there tonight ifyou like."
"Well, but I'm going to keep my eyes open just the same," Dick laughed"You're too anxious to go along, Stan!"
That afternoon Dick found a letter in the rack downstairs. It borethe Warne postmark, and was addressed to him in a very dashing hand:"Richard C. Bates, Esq., Sohmer Hall, Parkinson School, Town."Wondering, Dick opened the envelope. Within was an oblong of pasteboardpunched with three holes of varying sizes. In one of the holes was anancient looking cent so badly corroded that it was hard to read thelettering. Dick's thoughts naturally fell on Rusty Crozier, althoughwhat the joke meant, he couldn't make out. But he smiled and droppedthe coin in a waistcoat pocket, and presently forgot about it.Returning from football practice at five, however, he found anothermissive awaiting him. The envelope was different and the writingdifferent, but there was just such another coin-card within and inthe card was a second penny. This one was bright enough, but it hadbeen badly bent. Dick, puzzled, added the second coin to the first,resolved to find out the meaning of the prank that evening.
He and Stanley went across the campus and down Maple Street abouteight. Spooner's was a large, square house standing almost flush withthe sidewalk. Like many of the residences thereabouts, its upper floorswere tenanted by students unable or disinclined to secure rooms on thecampus. Stanley pulled open a squeaky screen door and entered. At thefoot of the staircase, he paused and lifted his voice.
"Oh, Rusty!" he shouted. "Rusty-y-y!"
Somewhere above a door opened and a voice answered.
"A-a-ay! Come up!"
Stanley led the way again up two flights, and then to a door at thefront of the house. Oddly enough, it was closed tightly, which fact,since it had been opened a moment before, struck Dick as peculiar.Stanley knocked and a voice called "Come in!" Somehow Stanley managedto get behind Dick, and it was Dick who turned the knob and pressedthe door inward. The next instant he was precipitated into a glare oflight. The knob had jerked itself out of his hand, and something--hesupposed at the moment the something to have been Stanley--hadbanged against his heels and pushed him violently into the room. Hestopped to find himself asprawl over an armchair with a placard bearingthe word WELCOME a few inches from his nose.
"Good evening," said Rusty amiably from across the room.
_"Good evening," said Rusty amiably_]
"Hello," gasped Dick. Then he looked back at the door for Stanley.Stanley was not there. But at the instant the door opened again andStanley appeared. He was grinning broadly, but Dick was too muchinterested in the door to see it. The door was not opening like anydoor Dick had ever seen. In the first place it was turning on pivotsat top and bottom, half of it coming in, and half of it going out, sothat the aperture for entrance was scarcely wider than Stanley. In thesecond place, Stanley was holding hard to that knob and being fairlydragged through, for above the sill and below the lintel was a coiledspring that, so soon as the knob was turned, swung the door swiftly onits axis from left to right. Dick stared in surprise.
"Just a little idea of my own, Bates," said Rusty, coming forward andremoving the placard from the back of the chair to a place on the wall."Have a chair."
Dick looked from the proffered chair to Rusty and then to Stanley andshook his head. "No, thanks," he muttered. "I'll stand!"
However, Stanley assured him on oath that the chair was quite safe andwouldn't double up under him and he consented to try it, although notwithout anxiety. But he was up again a moment later, demanding to beshown the working of the amazing door.
"Quite simple," laughed Rusty. "First I unlock it, thus. Then I standclear of it. Then the unsuspecting visitor outside turns the knob."He turned it from the inside, stepping quickly out of the way, andthe door leaped open, swung once around and stopped as the latchsnapped again into its socket. "That's all there is to it. I place thecushioned chair here to receive the caller and place the 'Welcome' signwhere he will be sure to see it. Most all the fellows know about itnow, though, and I have to rely on newcomers like you, Bates, for a bitof fun." He locked the portal again.
"Well, but--but suppose you want to go out?" asked Dick.
"I go out the other door." Rusty indicated the adjoining bedroom. "Infact," he added with a twinkle, "I seldom use this entrance myself. Ikeep it locked until I am expecting a distinguished visitor."
"Still, I don't see how you knew I was with Stan," Dick objected.
"You'll have to ask Stan about that," laughed Rusty.
"I told him," explained Stanley, grinning.
"Oh! Then that's why you were so anxious to come with me." Dick fixedhis room-mate with an accusing eye. "All right. I'll get even with you,old son, if it takes my last--if it takes my last two pennies!" Helooked quickly at Rusty, but there was nothing to show that the latterhad grasped the allusion. "Maybe," continued Dick, "you'd like to seethem." He fished the two cents from his pocket and held them forth.Stanley viewed them interestedly and so did Rusty.
"What's the idea?" asked the former. "Do you mean that you're down tothose? Stony broke, Dick?"
Rusty's innocent, uncomprehending expression remained and Dick began tothink his suspicions wrong. "No, those are just--just pocket-pieces,"he answered flatly.
"Wouldn't be very useful to you in a pinch," observed his host. "Well,find seats, fellows. Hope you didn't mind the reception, Bates. But Iguess you didn't. You look like a fellow who can take a joke."
"No, I didn't mind," said Dick. "Guess I was too surprised to mind!" Helooked about the room. "This is pretty comfortable, Crozier."
"Not bad. I've had these rooms ever since my first year. Got twonice windows in front and one on the side there, and two more in thebedroom. Mrs. Spooner is a corking old soul, and doesn't mind a bit ofnoise now and then."
Stanley chuckled, and when Dick looked across inquiringly he explained."Mrs. Spooner's as deaf as a haddock, Dick. If she wasn't she couldn'tlive in the same house with Rusty!"
"Run away! I'm not noisy. Sometimes my guests are, but I do all I canto rest
rain them. Haynes gives me more trouble than Mrs. S. He has theroom under this on the floor below, Bates, and insists on studying atthe times I feel playful. There are four other fellows in the house andyou couldn't pry any of us loose. You chaps can have your dormitoryrooms. I don't want them, thanks."
"Do you take your meals here?" Dick inquired.
"No, Mrs. S. doesn't give meals. She used to, but that was before mytime. I eat around. Usually at 'The Eggery.' Sometimes at Thacher's.Stan says you're out for the football team. Going to make it all right?"
"I don't know, I'm sure. I'm going to try to. Do you--are you----"
"No, I'm not athletic, Bates. My favourite sport is mumblepeg. Besides,my studies prevent. Oh, shut up, Stan! Let me make a good impression onBates, can't you? What time is it, anyway? Look here, let's go to themovies. What do you say?"
"Not for me," answered Stanley. "I've got to beat it back and do somework tonight. Besides, the last time----"
"Oh, that!" laughed Rusty. "Wasn't it silly? Such a fuss about solittle, eh?"
"Oh, yes, very little!" Stanley turned to Dick. "He and Blash stretcheda rope across the aisle and tied it to the arms of the seats ahead ofthem. Being fairly dark, some confusion ensued!"
"During which, if I remember correctly, you and Joe and Blash sneakedout. Just shows what a guilty conscience will do, Bates. I remained,secure in my innocence, and saw the show through."
"Yes, you rotter!" said Stan indignantly. "You put the blame on us, andevery time I go there now the doorman looks at me unkindly."
"Well, you were out of the way and I wasn't. Besides, I wanted to seethe rest of the picture."
"Rusty, if you got your deserts," said Stanley, feelingly, "you'd beshot at sunrise. Well, I must beat it. Coming along, Dick?"
Dick went, in spite of Rusty's pleas. They left by way of the bedroomand Dick watched the hall door very, very carefully. It proved to be aperfectly normal door, however. Rusty told Dick to call again and heldconversation with them over the banister until they had reached thestreet door, while from a second floor room came howls of "Shut up,Rusty! Shu-u-ut u-u-up!"
"It's only Haynes," called Rusty reassuringly. "Don't mind the poorfish. Come again, fellows! Good night!"
In the letter rack in Sohmer was another envelope addressed to Dick andwithin was a third penny.