A young April wind , as fresh and sweet as if it had been blowing over the fields of memory instead of through dingy streets , was purring in the tree-tops and whipping the loose tendrils of the ivy network which covered the front of the main building . It was a wind that sang of many things , but what it sang to each listener was only what was in that listener 's heart . To the college students who had just been capped and diplomad by `` Old Charlie , '' the grave president of Queenslea , in the presence of an admiring throng of parents and sisters , sweethearts and friends , it sang , perchance , of glad hope and shining success and high achievement . It sang of the dreams of youth that may never be quite fulfilled , but are well worth the dreaming for all that . God help the man who has never known such dreams -- who , as he leaves his alma mater , is not already rich in aerial castles , the proprietor of many a spacious estate in Spain . He has missed his birthright . The crowd streamed out of the entrance hall and scattered over the campus , fraying off into the many streets beyond . Eric Marshall and David Baker walked away together . The former had graduated in Arts that day at the head of his class ; the latter had come to see the graduation , nearly bursting with pride in Eric 's success . Between these two was an old and tried and enduring friendship , although David was ten years older than Eric , as the mere tale of years goes , and a hundred years older in knowledge of the struggles and difficulties of life which age a man far more quickly and effectually than the passing of time . Physically the two men bore no resemblance to one another , although they were second cousins . Eric Marshall , tall , broad-shouldered , sinewy , walking with a free , easy stride , which was somehow suggestive of reserve strength and power , was one of those men regarding whom less-favoured mortals are tempted seriously to wonder why all the gifts of fortune should be showered on one individual . He was not only clever and good to look upon , but he possessed that indefinable charm of personality which is quite independent of physical beauty or mental ability . He had steady , grayish-blue eyes , dark chestnut hair with a glint of gold in its waves when the sunlight struck it , and a chin that gave the world assurance of a chin . He was a rich man 's son , with a clean young manhood behind him and splendid prospects before him . He was considered a practical sort of fellow , utterly guiltless of romantic dreams and visions of any sort . `` I am afraid Eric Marshall will never do one quixotic thing , '' said a Queenslea professor , who had a habit of uttering rather mysterious epigrams , `` but if he ever does it will supply the one thing lacking in him . '' David Baker was a short , stocky fellow with an ugly , irregular , charming face ; his eyes were brown and keen and secretive ; his mouth had a comical twist which became sarcastic , or teasing , or winning , as he willed . His voice was generally as soft and musical as a woman 's ; but some few who had seen David Baker righteously angry and heard the tones which then issued from his lips were in no hurry to have the experience repeated . He was a doctor -- a specialist in troubles of the throat and voice -- and he was beginning to have a national reputation .
He was on the staff XXXXX the Queenslea Medical College and it was whispered that before long he would be called to fill an important vacancy at McGill .
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