FE was such a slightly built little chap, and so pale of face that
1 instead of picking him out as an easy mark for their harm-
less tortures, the Sophs actually let him severely alone.
Whether this was due to any special goodness of heart among
these second year men, or whether it was because of the sad,
plaintive look in " Little Whittlesey's " eyes, I cannot say; but the
fact remains that he passed his first month unmolested by any of
those mysterious midnight seances. Indeed, he seemed only a
child, both in manner and in look, and it was this native simplicity
of his which made him the butt of many practical jokes. These,
however, he always took in good part, seemingly enjoying a joke
against himself, 'if it pleased the perpetrators. Indeed, before the
end of his first term his naivete had passed into a sort of college
byword, and to be declared " as easy as Whittlesey " was to be
pronounced the very acme of gullibility. Yet, in spite of it all,
Whittlesey pursued the even tenor of his way without mani
festing the slightest degree of annoyance or desire for retaliation.
At the opening of the winter term Whittlesey suddenly' as
tounded the college world by appearing as a contestant for a posi
tion on the basket ball team. Everyone laughed at him when he
presented himself at the first practice game, and some few—those
few who are always ready to make a jest of another who shows
his college spirit (because they 'possess not the slightest atom
themselves)—jeered him on account of his . size.' But before a
week had passed they began to regard him in an entirely different
light. Everyone marveled at the way in which this little fellow
handled himself. They wondered at his endurance and his
energy bordering on recklessness. And finally, everyone in col
lege looked up, or rather down, since he was so small of stature, to
him as one sure of his position on the team.
At last, only four days before the first scheduled game it was
passed from mouth to mouth that the team lead been chosen. That
afternoon Whittlesey had two hours of carpentry scheduled, and it
was while he was laboriously working away at a dove-tail joint
that one of his classmates dropped him the message that the team
DRAWN FROM LIFE.