took them together; and for that reason there were few. They left Miss Morris's academy at the same time, and entered an upper class of the Public School, where they sat side by side—until their teachers separated them for reasons of discipline. And though there was no girlish sentimentality in their friendship, they were David and Jonathan for years.
Their gradual separation began in the High School "forms," because Don's father—being a lawyer—wished him to study classics in preparation for the University and the profession of law, and Conroy's father, a wealthy wholesaler, made him take the "commercial course" in preparation for a business career. They were then fifteen years of age and sixteen, Conroy being the older; and as yet in the great drama of life that was being played around them, they had taken no part. Don's mother was an invalid, and her little daughter Mary had first claim on her affection; his father was a busy man; and Frankie had companions of his own age. When Don was not with Conroy, he was alone with his dog.
But Conroy had a family of brothers and sisters, and a mother and a father who liked to keep their children together in the house. Don was shy with them, and he had an awkwardness of temperament that prevented him from joining heartily in the little parties of young folk that were so common in his uncle's home. His solitary walks with "Dexter" became more frequent—when the pressure of Frankie's rivalry in his studies did not keep him home; for Frankie had left Miss Morris's Select Academy with
