Page 8 - The Adventures of a Freshman

over the ledger again.

He knew that most of the town was talking and laughing about him because from the time he first announced
(with a somewhat superior air, perhaps) what he intended to do after leaving the High School, more than one
of them thought, and said, that it was a queer idea for Will Young to go to college when he did not want to be
a preacher or a professional man; not so very many boys went to college from that part of the country.

But Will did not worry about that very much. He did not have time. He was working every day in the bank
from eight o'clock in the morning until five or six in the evening--until nine or ten at night, sometimes, on the
first of the month--and was besides doing all the chores for Miss Wilkins, with whom he boarded. And that
was not all the work he did, either. Those who passed by Miss Wilkins's house late at night generally noticed
a light in the little third-story window long after all the other boarders' rooms were dark. And the nights he
was not studying in his room he was reciting at the minister's.

It is no easy thing to save money on $5 a week, and pay board and buy clothes and incidentals out of it
besides. That was the reason he did the chores for Miss Wilkins. He got his board for that, and he earned it.

Out of the first month's salary Will saved $10. Fifty per cent of earnings saved is not a bad proportion. Out of
the second month's earnings he saved $25.

That may sound impossible, but you see they had raised his salary to $10 a week as they promised to do as
soon as he had made himself worth it. Besides, Mr. Young was a director.

It was very slow and sometimes it seemed very discouraging, and he did not know how he could have
succeeded if it had not been for the Sunday afternoon talks with his mother, who was with him from the start
in the project; and for the minister, who used to say, "You seem to think a fellow must be a millionaire to go
to college."

The minister had a frank, friendly unstilted manner of talking, that made some of the older people shake their
heads and think him unclerical.

"Why, there are hundreds of fellows," the minister said, "paying their own way through every year, and if you
can't do it I'm mistaken in you. That is one reason," the minister explained, "though not the most important
one, why I advised you to go to a large college. There are so many more ways of earning money. There are
more eating-clubs to be managed (and all the manager has to do is collect a tableful of congenial fellows and
then he gets his own board free). There are more men that want tutoring at a large institution, and the price of
tutoring is better, too--(a man in my class in the seminary used to get $3 an hour); and there are more
newspapers to correspond for and shoe-stores and steam-laundries and railroads to act as agents for--why,
there are any number of ways to earn money if you only look out for them. And, as I told you before, the
college authorities will remit your tuition if you show that it is necessary and if," said the minister, smiling, "if
you can give testimonials of high moral character. All you have to do this year is to make enough to get
started on, and that's what you are rapidly doing."

One day after Will Young had been working in the bank for nearly a year his father burst into the kitchen.
"Mother," he shouted to his wife, almost excitedly, "what do you think? Will is going to resign from the bank!
I just now heard it in town."

"Yes," said Mrs. Young, gently, "I know."

"What does he mean by it! He has had his salary raised twice inside of a year. He'll be made assistant cashier