afraid it's too late," said Hardy; "I cut myself off from
everything of the sort two years ago, and I'm beginning to think
I was a fool for my pains."

Nothing more was said on the subject at the time, but Tom went
away in great spirits at having drawn this confession out of
Hardy--the more so, perhaps, because he flattered himself that he
had something to say to the change in his friend.

CHAPTER X

SUMMER TERM

How many spots in life are there which will bear comparison with
the beginning of our second term at the University? So far as
external circumstances are concerned, it seems hard to know what
a man could find to ask for at that period of his life, if a
fairy godmother were to alight in his rooms and offer him the
usual three wishes. The sailor who had asked for "all the grog in
the world," and "all the baccy in the world," was indeed driven
to "a little more baccy" as his third requisition; but, at any
rate his two first requisitions were to some extent grounded on
what he held to be substantial wants; he felt himself actually
limited in the matters of grog and tobacco. The condition which
Jack would have been in as a wisher, if he had been started on
his quest with the assurance that his utmost desires in the
direction of alcohol and narcotic were already provided for, and
must be left out of the question, is the only one affording a
pretty exact parallel to the case we are considering. In our
second term we are no longer freshmen, and begin to feel
ourselves at home, while both "smalls" and "greats" are
sufficiently distant to be altogether ignored if we are that way
inclined, or to be looked forward to with confidence that the
game is in our own hands if we are reading men. Our financial
position--unless we have exercised rare ingenuity in involving
ourselves--is all that heart can desire; we have ample allowances
paid in quarterly to the University bankers without thought or
trouble of ours, and our credit is at its zenith. It is a part of
our recognized duty to repay the hospitality we have received as
freshmen; and all men will be sure to come to our first parties
to see how we do the thing; it will be our own faults if we do
not keep them in future. We have not had time to injure our
characters to any material extent with the authorities of our own
college, or of the University. Our spirits are never likely to be
higher, or our digestions better. These and many other comforts
and advantages