Yet none of them was at all intimate with him . He had no chums , as the other boys had . He boarded alone , `` dug '' persistently , and took no part in the social life of the college . Roger Brooks came nearest to being his friend of any , yet even Roger knew very little about him . Elliott had never before said so much about his personal affairs as in the speech just recorded . `` I 'm poor -- woefully poor , '' went on Elliott gaily . His success seemed to have thawed his reserve for the time being . `` I had just enough money to bring me through the Fresh and Soph years by dint of careful management . Now I 'm stone broke , and the hope of the Fraser was all that stood between me and the dismal certainty of having to teach next year , dropping out of my class and coming back in two or three years ' time , a complete , rusty stranger again . Whew ! I made faces over the prospect . '' `` No wonder , '' commented Roger . `` The class would have been sorry if you had had to drop out , Campbell . We want to keep all our stars with us to make a shining coruscation at the finish . Besides , you know we all like you for yourself . It would have been an everlasting shame if that little cad of a McLean had won out . Nobody likes him . '' `` Oh , I had no fear of him , '' answered Elliott . `` I do n't see what induced him to go in , anyhow . He must have known he 'd no chance .
But I was afraid of Stone -- he 's a born dabster XXXXX mathematics , you know , and I only hold my own in them by hard digging . ''
Besides about as at between if in of on over