“--And as presiding officer I’ll rule it out of order.”
“Isn’t he haughty?” asked Chub admiringly.
“Go ahead and ’fess up,” said Roy. “I thought you two were up to something last month, but since then I’ve kind of forgotten all about it.”
“Then I suppose you haven’t thought out a scheme to get that thirty thousand?” asked Dick. Roy shook his head. “And how about you, Chub?”
“Me? Bless you, I’ve been too busy thinking up schemes how to hit Post’s in-shoots.”
“Well,” said Dick, “Harry and I have done the best we could. It didn’t seem advisable to ask the Doctor for the names of the graduates. To tell the truth, I was afraid he’d forbid us to go ahead with the scheme. So Harry and I have been prospecting around ourselves and we’ve managed to get hold of the names and addresses of fourteen men who have graduated from here. We’re not sure about all the addresses, but I guess we can reach them in time. Now what I propose to do is to send personal letters to each of them and tell them just what we want to do and ask them how much they’ll be willing to subscribe to set the ball rolling. We’ve fixed up a letter here and I’ll read it to you in a minute. Of course, we may not get a cent this way; it’s one of those forlorn hopes that Roy was talking about.”
“Why didn’t you tell me that time that a ‘forlorn hope’ was a ‘touch’?” asked Chub aggrievedly.
“To have the thing look right,” Dick continued, “we ought to have some stationery printed, I think; just ‘Ferry Hill School Improvement Society, Silver Cove, N. Y., Office of the Secretary and Treasurer’; something like that. What do you think?”
“Sounds like the real thing,” answered Roy.
“Sure,” added Chub. “If you wrote me a letter on that sort of paper I’d be so pleased I’d want to mortgage the house and send the money to you.”
“I think it would be perfectly dandy!” said Harry. “Let’s do it.”
“Moved and carried,” announced Chub. “Let’s hear the letter, Dick. I’ll bet if you wrote it it’s a corker!”
“We wrote it between us,” answered Dick. Harry tried her best not to look vain, but couldn’t smother the gratified smile that insisted on showing itself. “Here it is.” Dick opened the folded sheets of foolscap and began to read.
“‘Dear Sir: The Ferry Hill School Improvement Society has been recently formed for the purpose of advancing the interests of that institution of learning, and securing much-needed improvements, of which the most important is a new dormitory. The School has outgrown its present equipment, and increased accommodation for more students is imperative if the usefulness of the School is to be continued. As an alumnus--(“That’s great!” Chub commented softly.)--you will, we are sure, desire to aid your _alma mater_. (“Perfectly swell!” breathed Chub admiringly.) It is desired to raise the sum of Thirty Thousand Dollars for the construction of a dormitory building capable of holding twenty boys. What portion, if not the whole, of the necessary amount will you subscribe? Letters similar to this have been sent to fourteen of the School’s more prominent graduates and a liberal response is confidently looked for. You will confer a great favor by corresponding at your earliest convenient opportunity with Miss Harriet Emery, Secretary-Treasurer, Ferry Hill School, Silver Cove, N. Y. Trusting that you will be able to aid this most worthy cause, I remain respectfully and fraternally yours, RICHARD SOMES, _President_.’”