We should get on better . '' '' You would if Mabel was n't in your class and always ahead of you , '' observed Ed , whose friend was a fine scholar , and he very proud of the fact . `` Look here , if you fellows keep interrupting , I wo n't sit down for half an hour , '' said Joe , well knowing that eloquence was not his gift , but bound to have his say out . Deep silence reigned , for that threat quelled the most impatient member , and Joe prosed on , using all the arguments he had ever heard , and paying off several old scores by sly hits of a personal nature , as older orators often do . `` It is clear to my mind that boys would get on better without any girls fooling round . As for their being as smart as we are , it is all nonsense , for some of 'em cry over their lessons every day , or go home with headaches , or get mad and scold all recess , because something ` is n't fair . ' No , sir ; girls ai n't meant to know much , and they ca n't . Wise folks say so and I believe 'em . Have n't got any sisters myself , and I do n't want any , for they do n't seem to amount to much , according to those who do have 'em . '' Groans from Gus and Ed greeted the closing remarks of the ungallant Joe , who sat down , feeling that he had made somebody squirm . Up jumped Grif , the delight of whose life was practical jokes , which amiable weakness made him the terror of the girls , though they had no other fault to find with the merry lad . `` Mr. Chairman , the ground I take is this : girls have not the strength to go to college with us . They could n't row a race , go on a lark , or take care of themselves , as we do . They are all well enough at home , and I like them at parties , but for real fun and go I would n't give a cent for them , '' began Grif , whose views of a collegiate life were confined to the enjoyments rather than the studies of that festive period . `` I have tried them , and they ca n't stand anything . They scream if you tell them there is a mouse in the room , and run if they see a big dog . I just put a cockroach in Molly 's desk one day , and when she opened it she jumped as if she was shot . '' So did the gentlemen of the club , for at that moment half-a-dozen fire-crackers exploded under the chair Grif had left , and flew wildly about the room . Order was with difficulty restored , the mischievous party summarily chastised and commanded to hold his tongue , under penalty of ejectment from the room if he spoke again . Firmly grasping that red and unruly member , Grif composed himself to listen , with his nose in the air and his eyes shining like black beads .
XXXXX was always the peace-maker , and now , when he rose with his engaging smile , his voice fell like oil upon the troubled waters , and his bright face was full of the becoming bashfulness which afflicts youths of seventeen when touching upon such subjects of newly acquired interest as girls and their pleasant but perplexing ways .
Ed Grif Gus Joe Molly day ejectment enjoyments hour left