ter and better.

Tom argued with him gently, and turned the matter round on all
sides, putting the most hopeful face upon it; and, in the end,
talked first himself and then Harry into the belief that it was
the best thing that could have happened to him, and more likely
than any other course of action to bring everything right between
him and all the folk at Englebourn.

So they got into the train at Steventon in pretty good heart,
with his fare paid, and half-a-sovereign in his pocket, more and
more impressed in his mind with what a wonderful thing it was to
be "a schollard."

The two friends rode back to Oxford at a good pace. They had both
of them quite enough to think about, and were not in the humour
for talk, had place and time served, so that scarce a word passed
between them till they had left their horses at the livery
stables, and were walking through the silent streets, a few
minutes before midnight. Then East broke silence.

"I can't make out how you do it. I'd give half-a-year's pay to
get the way of it."

"The way of what? What an you talking about?"

"Why, your way of shutting your eyes, and going in blind."

"Well, that's a queer wish for a fighting man," said Tom,
laughing. "We always thought a rusher no good at school, and that
the thing to learn was, to go in with your own eyes open, and
shut up other people's."

"Ah but we hadn't cut our eye-teeth then. I look at these things
from a professional point of view. My business is to get fellows
to shut their eyes tight, and I begin to think you can't do it as
it should be done, without shutting your own first."

"I don't take."

"Why, look at the way you talked your convict--I beg your
pardon--your unfortunate friend--into enlisting tonight. You
talked as if you believed every word you were saying to him."

"So I did."

"Well, I should like to have you for a recruiting sergeant, if
you could only drop that radical bosh. If I had had to do it,
instead of enlisting, he would have gone straight off and hung
himself in the stable."

"I'm glad you didn't try your hand at it then."

"Look again at me. Do you think anyone but such a--well I don't
want to say anything uncivil--a headlong dog like you could have
got me into such a business as to-day's? Now I want to be able to
get other fellows to make just such fools of themselves as I've
made of myself to-day. How do you do it?"

"I don't know, unless it is that I can't help always looking