Page:Stanwood Pier--Harding of St Timothys.djvu/265

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HARDING OF ST. TIMOTHY'S
233

by a series of misfortunes had been obliged to leave in the middle of the year with all his school ambitions unattained, all his promised achievements unfulfilled. Yet he had left behind so dear a name that when, still an invalid, he was able to revisit the school, he found bestowed upon him the highest honor for that brief period that the school could give. I am glad to be among boys who do not forget true worth; and I am glad to stand beside the boy whose worth they have not forgotten."

Then from the stand, from up and down the track, upon which people had crowded in their eagerness to hear and see, came a great outburst of applause, during which Rupert stood looking at the ground, while the President's hand rested lightly on his shoulder. When at last the cheering ceased, the President continued:—

"But this is not all of the story that the rector told me. There was another boy who had been elected to this honorable office. And it was his unselfish thought,—a thought none the less unselfish because it was prompted by