“To-day’s the day!” exclaimed Harry Harding joyfully, as he came within hailing distance of Teddy Burke, who, as usual, had arrived first at the corner on which the two boys had met every morning since they had begun their work in Martin Brothers’ Department Store.

“What day?” demanded Teddy Burke, with a purposely blank expression. “To-day’s nothin’ but Thursday.”

“You know very well what day I mean,” smiled Harry. “To-day is the day we go to school.”

“Don’t you s’pose I know it?” grumbled Teddy. “What made you tell me about it? I was trying to forget it.”

Harry laughed. “Oh, forget you’ve a grudge against school. Maybe it won’t be so bad as you think.”

“Cheer up. The worst is yet to come,” grinned Teddy.

“Exactly; only the worst may turn out to be the best. You never can tell.”

“No, you can’t. That’s right. If I’d known that this store had a school I’d have beat it out of here pretty quick,” retorted Teddy.

“I believe you told me that yesterday, and the day before that, which was our first day in the store,” reminded Harry, his eyes twinkling.

Teddy made no reply. They had by this time reached the men’s entrance to the store and the red-haired boy’s eyes roved about, taking in everything from the row of time-keepers seated behind their high desks to a dilapidated glove that someone had dropped on the floor.

Although the boys entered the store at the men’s door, they did not report to the time-keepers at the men’s desk whose business it was to record the male employees’ time, from the moment of their arrival until they stepped out into the street when their day’s work was done. The entire force of boys was obliged to report each day in the assembly room on the second floor to a time-keeper there. It was in the assembly room that they received a critical looking over before going to their departments or to school. Here they lined up for a general inspection, which included neatness of dress, clean hands and faces, and freshly shined shoes. Dark blue or black clothing was preferred, but not exacted, although the boys were not allowed to wear light-colored suits or shoes, or brightly colored ties.

Any untidiness in personal appearance meant a black mark on the report card which each boy carried. Having been given their cards on the day they entered the store, Teddy and Harry had had ample time to look them over. They had found that the little squares on them were made by the divisions ruled off after the words untidiness, discourtesy, tardiness, carelessness, absence, lying, inattention, loud talking, bad language, low average in school, deportment in school. These words were printed in regular order down the card, while the space after them was used for the little ruled squares, each one just large enough to hold a blank mark. These demerits could be given by either the teacher or the aisle manager of the boy who transgressed. Once a month these cards passed into the hands of Mr. Marsh’s assistant for a general inspection and averaging. As Mr. Marsh had already explained, ten demerits in one month meant a most uncomfortable session in Mr. Keene’s office, when the superintendent decided whether the offender should be dropped from the store, while a lesser number was recorded against him and held for future reference. A boy who month after month had received from five to eight demerits was also quite likely to find himself without a position.

So far, Harry’s and Teddy’s cards remained as clean as when Mr. Marsh had handed them to the lads. Harry’s had remained so because he had doggedly determined to make no mistakes or call down upon his head the displeasure of the crabbed aisle man, Mr. Barton. Teddy’s card had stayed clean by sheer good luck. If Mr. Duffield had spied him calmly wearing his stewpan crown, it is safe to say that there would have been at least one black mark on his card. Fortunately, Mr. Seymour was far too busy a man to bother about report cards. To be sure, he had threatened to report Teddy to Mr. Keene. Then he had gone on his way and forgotten all about it. So Teddy had escaped a demerit on his first day in the store.

Inspection was hardly over when one of the two young men who had charge of the assembly room, and whose duty it was to conduct the inspection, called, “Company A, fall in for school.”

“That’s us,” whispered Harry to Teddy, who stood next to him in the line. “Mr. Marsh said we’d be in Company A.”

Teddy nodded disconsolately, as he took his place beside Harry in the rapidly forming line. He felt that the shades of his old prison were about to close around him again. The very thought of school made him unhappy. He wondered if his teacher would be as old and as cranky as Miss Alton. He supposed she would be, and his mischievous, freckled face looked decidedly solemn as he marched along beside his chum.

Out of the assembly room, up a flight of stairs, through several departments and straight past Mr. Marsh’s desk went the long line of boys. It was the same line Harry and Teddy had watched when first they had come to Mr. Keene’s office. Harry gave a little shiver of sheer pride as his eyes wandered to the bench where he and Teddy had sat and viewed the long procession, of which they were now a part. It was wonderful to think that they had so quickly found places in the work-a-day world. Now it remained to them to go ever onward and upward to prosperity and success.

His rapt reflections were disturbed by a sharp nudge in the ribs.

“Look who’s here,” muttered Teddy.

“Where? Who?” asked Harry in a whisper.

“The elephant; old Fatty Felix. There he is, waddling along ahead of us,” murmured Ted in guarded tones. “Wouldn’t that make you sick, though. Hope he isn’t in my class.” Teddy’s voice rose higher as his disgust grew greater.

“No talking in the line, young man,” came the sharp command. Company A was rapidly dividing itself into three sections. They had reached the southern end of the building, which faced on a small side street. This end had been reserved for the school rooms. There were three of them in a row, each being the size of an ordinary class-room, and seating comfortably twenty-five boys. There were rarely that number to a room, however, as each of the three companies comprised not more than fifty boys, except at the holiday season. But during those busy days, school was not in session.

Both boys glanced sharply about at the sound of the voice. A short, severe-looking woman with small blue eyes and a sallow complexion stared fixed reproval upon them. Teddy’s heart sank. She was even worse than Miss Alton, he decided.

“Where do you boys belong? Why haven’t I seen you before? How long have you been in the store?” came the sharp questions.

“We were taken on last Tuesday, and we were told to come to school to-day. This boy is in Department 40, and I am at Exchange Desk Number 10.” Harry spoke in pleasant, respectful tones.

“Where are your school slips?”

“We haven’t any. We——”

“Go and get them.”

“Where shall we go for them?”

“To Mr. Marsh, of course. It’s very evident you boys were not paying attention to what he said to you when you were taken on the store messenger force. Look out, or you each will get a demerit for inattention.”

Both boys were decidedly embarrassed. Harry’s pale face was red with confusion. Teddy colored hotly under his freckles. His black eyes became two belligerent sparks.

“Shall we go to Mr. Marsh now?” asked Harry quietly.

“Yes, and return at once. Don’t play along the way. Bring them to me. I shall be in that room.” She pointed to the door on the right.

“B-r-rr!” shivered Teddy, once their backs were fairly turned to the woman. “I wonder who she is.”

“I suppose she’s the principal,” returned Harry.

“She makes me tired. How were we to know about school slips? It’s Mr. Marsh’s fault for not telling us. Why didn’t you tell her that he didn’t say anything about ’em?” demanded Teddy.

“Because I didn’t like to begin that way. I’d rather take the blame than lay it upon him. I’d hate to tell tales of anyone who has been so nice to us as he has.”

“I guess it wouldn’t hurt him. He’s a match for this old girl.”

“Teddy Burke!” Harry’s voice carried a note of sternness. “Do you think it’s nice to call a lady an ‘old girl?’ Suppose someone called your mother that. You’d be pretty angry, I guess.”

“Nobody could call my mother that,” flung back Teddy. “She’s young and nice, and not a bit like that old crank of a principal. I’m going to call her the Dragoness.”

“Well, I don’t suppose your mother is that sort,” conceded Harry. Then in spite of his reproving words, he could not repress a faint giggle. Teddy’s disrespectful appellations were so funny.

Teddy echoed the giggle and racked his brain for something else to say about the principal. But before he had thought of anything, they had arrived at Mr. Marsh’s desk, at which he sat, writing busily.

The boys paused beside him. He did not look up for a moment. Teddy gave a little impatient wriggle. The pleasant young man raised his eyes and viewed the lads with a slight frown.

“You mustn’t come to me at this hour, boys,” he reproved. “That is, unless you were sent here on an errand.”

“The principal of the school sent us down to you, sir,” began Harry. “We did not know we were obliged to have school slips.”

Mr. Marsh’s face had grown a trifle stern at Harry’s first words. Was it possible that he had been mistaken in these boys? Had they transgressed so soon? With the last sentence, however, his expression changed.

“Of course you didn’t know. That was my fault. I should have told you. Did you tell Miss Pierce that I forgot to give them to you?”

“No, sir,” returned Teddy. “The Drag——”

“We did not think it necessary to tell her, sir.” Harry interrupted Teddy just in time. The red-haired boy turned scarlet as a poppy and meekly subsided.

Mr. Marsh studied Harry’s clear, honest face for an instant. Moved by a sudden impulse he reached forth his hand to Harry. “Thank you, my boy,” he said. “My shoulders are broad enough to bear just censure. Still I appreciate your kindly spirit. Let me tell you something, boys. Occasions often arise when it is only fair and right for a boy to shield himself, even at the expense of someone else, provided that someone else is to blame. But the boy who can fight his own battles without drawing others into them is worthy of praise. Just remember that. Here are your school slips. If you feel that you wish to consult me about your affairs, I am always ready to hear whatever you may wish to say to me, between five and half-past five o’clock every afternoon.”

“Thank you, sir.” This from both boys as they turned to go.

“Hm-m,” sniffed Teddy as they started away from Mr. Marsh’s desk. “He didn’t shake hands with me.”

“I was surprised,” admitted Harry.

“Te-he,” snickered Teddy. “I came pretty near calling that old principal ‘Dragoness’ right out. I’d’a said it, if you hadn’t begun to talk so quick.”

“Yes, I know it.” Harry could not repress a smile. “I don’t suppose it will do the least bit of good for me to tell you again not to give people funny names.”

“Huh!” exploded Teddy, again. “It don’t hurt ’em any. They can’t hear ’em.”

“You might forget yourself as you did to-day,” reminded Harry. “How would you like it if someone called you——” Harry eyed Teddy speculatively—“a red-head.”

“Well, it’s the truth, isn’t it?” demanded Teddy. “I wouldn’t care what folks called me,” he added with a fine air of indifference, “if they didn’t call me too early in the morning.”

“Just wait until someone calls you a name and see,” Harry predicted.

By this time the boys had reached the school rooms and conversation between them ceased. Entering the room Miss Pierce had designated, they tendered their slips to the principal, who stood talking to a fair-haired young woman. There were perhaps eighteen boys seated at the desks.

“Which of you is Harry Harding?” she asked, examining the slips, then fixing her pale-blue eyes on the two boys.

“I am he, ma’am,” returned Harry.

“Where did you go to school? What grade were you in? How old are you?” came the rapid questions.

Harry answered them in turn.

“I shall put you in Section I of Company A. If you cannot keep up with the class, you will be demoted.” Then she put Teddy through the same brief catechism, assigning him also to Section I, which was the room on the left.

Obeying her brusque command, “Come with me, boys,” the two lads followed her out of the door and into the left-hand class-room. Their eyes turned involuntarily toward their new teacher. She stood with her back toward them, facing her class. At the sound of the opening door, she turned her head. Teddy drew a long breath of relief. This teacher might be cross, but at least she was pretty. She had big, brown eyes and soft, fluffy, brown hair, and as she nodded good morning to Miss Pierce, her smile disclosed white, even teeth, while two deep dimples appeared in her cheeks.

“Here are two new boys, Miss Leonard.” Miss Pierce indicated Teddy and Harry with a gesture which implied that they were of small consequence. Then she marched majestically out of the room, leaving the newcomers to their fate.

That fate promised to be a happy one. If Miss Leonard were nice as well as pretty, school might be endurable, was Teddy’s thought, while Harry’s eyes sparkled with delight. He was sure Miss Leonard liked boys. He was even surer when he heard her say, “Boys, we are glad to welcome you to our section. We have just two vacant seats. I think they must have been waiting for you. I will put your names on my register; then you can take your places.”

Stepping over to her desk, she beckoned the two boys to her side and wrote their names on the register. Then she conducted them down the center aisle between the rows of desks to two empty seats, the last two on the last of the four rows of seats, each row of which contained six seats.

“Faces front,” reminded Miss Leonard, gently, as pair after pair of curious eyes were directed toward these latest arrivals. “After classes you may stop and speak to the new members of our school-room family. All ready for your writing lesson, boys. Take out copy books. Remember, we are going to work quickly and quietly.” She walked to the front of the room and faced her class.

Miss Leonard did not raise her voice above an ordinary conversational tone, yet her class obeyed her at once, with the exception of a stout, cross-faced boy who occupied the seat directly across from Teddy in the next section. He was glaring at Teddy as though about to pounce upon him, then as Teddy’s eyes happened to rest on him, he screwed his fat face into a most hideous contortion.

Teddy leaned forward and touched Harry on the shoulder. “Well, if here isn’t the elephant,” he said in a loud whisper. “Dear old Fatty Felix.”

Unluckily, the fat boy’s ears were sharp. He heard the whispered words “elephant” and “Fatty Felix.” His broad face grew very red; then he raised his hand. Before Miss Leonard could ascertain the cause of the upraised hand, he fairly shouted out, “Teacher, he,” pointing a pudgy, accusing forefinger at Teddy, “called me ‘elephant’ an’ ‘Fatty Felix,’ an’ Tuesday he knocked my tray out of my hand in the lunch room and spilled my dinner. He did it apurpose. He wasn’t goin’ to pay for it, neither.”

A tense, little figure, crowned with a mop of red hair launched itself straight at the now maliciously-grinning fat boy. Another second and Teddy’s closed fists would have landed on his tormentor’s body with all the force which an angry little boy can put into blows. Someone caught him and set him down hard in his seat. He raised astonished eyes to Harry’s stern face. “You crazy boy,” hissed Harry. “Now you are in for it!”

“He can’t say I wasn’t goin’ to pay for his old lunch without gettin’ punched,” sputtered Teddy, wriggling from Harry’s grasp.

“Boys, what does this mean?” Miss Leonard’s dimples were not in evidence. She looked uncompromisingly stern, and her eyes sparkled angrily. “Tell me, at once.” The other occupants of the class set up an excited buzzing.

“Silence!” Miss Leonard’s voice rang out with subduing effect. “Now,” turning to the fat boy, “what have you to say for yourself, sir?”

The boy began a loud arraignment of Teddy’s misdeeds.

Miss Leonard’s face expressed an astonishment which changed to lively displeasure, as the boy again blared forth his accusation of Teddy’s refusal to pay for the damage he had caused to his luncheon.

“He is not telling the truth, Miss Leonard,” broke in a quiet voice.

Unable to endure hearing Teddy maligned in this wholesale fashion, Harry Harding had come to his rescue.