Temple preached the
Valedictory Sermon. Then the diplomas were presented, and, save for the
senior class exercises in the school hall in the afternoon, Class Day
was over, and Joel March's school days were past. Joel was graduated at
the head of the class, an honor man once more; and Outfield West,
greatly to every one's amazement, not excepting his own, was also on the
honor list. Cooke passed at last, and later confided to West that he
didn't know what he'd do now that they wouldn't let him stay longer at
Hillton; he was certain he would feel terribly homesick at Harwell. West
playfully suggested that he stay at Hillton and take an advanced course,
and Cooke seemed quite in the notion until he found that he would be
obliged to make the acquaintance of both Livy and Horace.
A lad can not stay two years at a school without becoming deeply
attached to it, and both Joel and West took their departures from
Hillton feeling very melancholy as the wooded hill, crowned by the
sun-lit tower, faded from sight. West went directly to his home,
although Joel had tried to persuade him to visit at Marchdale for a few
weeks. In July Joel received a letter from Outfield asking him to visit
him in Iowa, and, at the solicitation of his parents, he decided to
accept the invitation. The West was terra incognita to Joel, and he
found much to interest and puzzle him. The methods of farming were so
different from those to which he had been accustomed that he spent the
first week of his stay in trying to revolutionize them, much to the
amusement of both Outfield and his father.
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