CHAPTER II

THE BOYS OF OLD SCRANTON

The boy advancing toward the comrades perched on the campus fence was
bright of face, and with laughing eyes that made him hosts of friends.
Few had ever seen Hugh Morgan angry, though there was a report that on
a certain occasion he had stopped to give old Garry Owen the truckman a
piece of his mind, and threaten to have him arrested if he was ever
seen beating his poor horse when the animal was stalled with a load too
heavy for his strength. Yes, and although Garry was known to have a
fiery Irish tongue, he had been subdued by the arguments which Hugh
hurled at him, and meekly promised to go easy with his stinging whip
after that.

Hugh seemed to be a trimly built lad, who evidently believed in keeping
not only his mind but his body also well trained, since so much
depended on good health. He lived with his mother and smaller sister.
His father had been dead some years now, but apparently the widow had
plenty of means to afford them a good living. They resided in a nice
house and kept one servant.

Most of the boys of Scranton High thought Hugh a fine fellow, and
envied Thad Stevens the privilege of being his closest chum. A few,
however, had no use for Hugh, and among them were such fellows as Nick
Lang and Leon Disney. They pretended to dislike him because he had no
"nerve," which was only another method of saying that he absolutely
declined to be egged into a dispute, and had a wonderful way of cooling
off all would-be fighters who dared him to a fist test.