glimpse of what
Olympus was like.

Gordon went down and saw him off by the five-forty-five.

"My word! I envy you, Mansell," he said.

"I shouldn't. I often wish I was back again in the House. All those old
days with Claremont and Trundle, the footer; and all that. We had a
darned fine time. Make the most of it while you've got it."

As Gordon walked back alone, he had the unpleasant feeling that the best
was over, that the days of ragging, of footer, of Claremont, of Trundle
had gone beyond recall. The friends of his first term, Hunter, Lovelace,
Mansell, they had all gone, scattered to the winds. He alone remained,
and with a sudden pain he wondered whether he had not outlived his day,
whether, like Tithonus, he was not taking more than he had been meant to
take. But then, as he walked through the small gateway, and majestically
wandered up the Chief's drive, he reflected that, even if his splendour
was a lonely one, without the laughter and comradeship he could have
wished for, yet it was none the less a splendour. He must hold on. As
Mansell had said, he must make the best of it while he had it.

A small boy came up nervously.

"Please, Caruthers, may I have leave off games for a week? I have had a
bad foot."

"Did Matron say so?"

"Oh yes."

"All right, then."

He walked up the stairs to his study, smiling to himself. What had he
been fretting himself about? He had his power. He had the things he had
wanted.

"_Is it not brave to be a king?_
_Is it not passing brave to be a king_
_And ride in triumph through Persepolis?_"

Marlowe had been right, Marlowe with the pagan soul that loved material
things, glitter and splendour, crowns and roses, red lips and gleaming
arms.

"_A god is not so glorious as a king ..._
_To ask and have, command and be obeyed._"

And there was no doubt he was a king. He must make the best of his
kingdom while he held it.

CHAPTER II: SETTING STARS

The same atmosphere of monotonous depression that overhung football soon
began to affect the military side of school life as well. At first there
had been the spur of novelty. The substitution of platoon drill for the
old company routine and the frequent field days led to keenness. But
even the most energetic get weary of doing exactly the same thing three
times a week. There are only three different formations in platoon
drill, which anyone can learn in half-an-hour; and the days were long
past