n it was hardly creditable. A long paper
on the _OEdipus Tyrannus_ was finished in under an hour. But Gordon
had ceased to care for academic distinctions. As he closed the door of
the big school, and went out into the cloisters, he realised that a
certain stage of his journey was over and done with for ever.

By lunch-time all signs of rain had cleared off, and the sun shone down
on an absolutely sodden ground. Runs would be very hard to get. A lead
of thirty-seven meant a lot on such a wicket. An atmosphere of nervous
expectation overhung the House. Everyone was glad when the meal was
over.

The match began directly after lunch. There would be very likely some
difficulty in finishing the game that day. Collins and Foster went in
first. Gordon had asked to be kept back till later. The start was dull.
Foster was taking no risks, and Collins seemed unable to time the ball
at all, which was luckily always off the wicket. Ten went up after
quarter of an hour's play.

And then Foster, reaching out to play forward, slipped on the wet grass
and was stumped. Three balls later Bradford was caught and bowled. It
was Gordon's turn to go in. Nearly everything depended on him. If he
failed, the whole side would probably collapse. The tail had done
miracles in the first innings; but it could not be expected to do the
same again.

Gordon took guard nervously. He resolved to play himself in carefully,
but he never could resist the temptation to have a "go." The first ball
was well up, just outside the off stump. Gordon stepped across and let
fly. He had forgotten how slow the pitch was. The ball hung; he was much
too soon; the ball sailed straight up into the air! Point and
cover-point both ran for it. "Crampin!" yelled out Whitaker. Neither
heard; they crashed into one another; the ball fell with a dull thud.
The House gave a gasp of relief.

It was a costly mistake. For when once he got his eye in, Gordon was
very hard to get out. And, moreover, he was one of the few people who
could get runs quickly on a really wet wicket, for the simple reason
that nearly all his shots went into the air; and so he did not find the
sodden ground making off drives which should have resulted in fours only
realise singles.

That afternoon Gordon found the bowling perfectly simple. At the other
end wickets fell slowly, but he himself was scoring fast. A hard shot
over cover-point sent up his individual fifty, and two overs later he
drove a lengt