“But supposing he doesn’t want to go there?”
“Oh, yes, indeed! Go ahead and rave, poor youth! Only, after a while, kindly make an effort and talk sense!”
“Well, why shouldn’t those fellows take that room? It’s a good one, and it isn’t nearly as far from school as the one they’re in now. Besides, it’s cheap.”
“It’s three dollars, and I’ll bet they haven’t been paying more than two where they are.”
“But if Sanger’s folks are well off, there’s no reason why he shouldn’t be willing to pay three, is there?”
“No, only maybe he’d rather not,” Harry answered dryly. “If what I’ve heard of Johnny Sanger is true, he’d much rather save that dollar than spend it. So it seems likely that what he will do when he gets turned out of his present quarters is to hunt around the town until he finds something nice and cheap.”
“All right, but suppose he can’t find anything?”
“What’s the good of supposing that? Aren’t there lots of rooms to be had?”
“I don’t believe so; at least, not at this time of year. You know there aren’t many more rooms in the fall than will accommodate the fellows who want to live in town. I heard Spring talking about it when I first came here. He said that if the school kept on growing, they’d either have to build a new dormitory or put up some more boarding houses in the village. He was going to write an editorial about it in _The Record_, but I guess he never did.”
“Spring’s always going to ‘touch things up editorially,’” laughed Harry, “but he generally changes his mind. He’s got such a busy mind, Spring has!”
“Well, anyhow, I guess what he said was about so. And I’ll bet there aren’t half a dozen rooms in town for rent now; and what there are are pretty bum.”
“I don’t know. Maybe because the fellows didn’t know about it. Last year the house was closed up, you know. Besides, lots and lots of fellows rent their rooms in the spring for the next year.”
“All right. Then you think that Sanger will have to take Mrs. Freer’s room because it will be the only decent one left, eh?”
“Then where do you come in? And what have I got to do?”
“We’ve got to make sure that it is the best one left.”
“You’ll have to talk in words of one syllable,” sighed Harry hopelessly, “and illustrate copiously with diagrams. Tell me frankly what the dickens it is you propose to do. Anything short of highway robbery that doesn’t require a larger capital than two dollars, you may count me in on.”