s of an ivory saint. The paper was over: and before the
discussion was started somebody rose and drew back the dull green
curtains sown with golden fleur-de-lys. Moonbeams came slanting in and
with them the freshness of the May night: more richly blue gathered the
tobacco smoke: more magical became the room, and more perfectly the
decorative expression of all Oxford stood for. One by one the members of
the Chandos Society rose up to comment on the paper, mocking and
earnest, affected and sincere, always clever, sometimes humorous,
sometimes truly wise with an apologetic wisdom that was the more
delightful.

Michael came to the conclusion that he liked Balliol, that most unjustly
had he heard its atmosphere stigmatized as priggish. He made up his mind
to examine more closely at leisure this atmosphere, so that from it he
might extract the quintessential spirit. Walking with Hazlewood to the
lodge, he asked him if the men he had met in his room would stand as
representatives of the college.

"Yes, I should think so," said Hazlewood. "Why, are you making
exhaustive researches into the social aspects of Oxford life? It takes
an American to do that really well, you know."

"But what is the essential Balliol?" Michael demanded.

"Who could say so easily? Perhaps it's the same sort of spirit, slightly
filtered down through modern conditions, as you found in Elizabethan
England."

Michael asked for a little more elaboration.

"Well, take a man connected with the legislative class, directly by
birth and indirectly by opportunities, give him at least enough taste
not to be ashamed of poetry, give him also enough energy not to be
ashamed of football or cricket, and add a profound satisfaction with
Oxford in general and Balliol in particular, and there you are."

"Will that description serve for yourself?" Michael asked.

"For me? Oh, great scott, no! I'm utterly deficient in proconsular
ambitions."

They had reached the lodge by now, and Michael left his new friend after
promising very soon to come to lunch and pursue further his acquaintance
with Balliol.

When Michael got back to college, Avery was hard at work with Wedderburn
drawing up the preliminary circular of The Oxford Looking-Glass. Both
the promoters insisted that Michael should listen to their announcement
before he told them anything about himself or his day.

_"The Oxford Looking-Glass" Avery began, "is intended to reflect
contemporary undergraduate tho