strange that he
should break through the rule. But here his peculiar views of charity
came into play. Short's father had been his own chum at school, and his
friend at college, but had failed to reap any substantial benefits from
his education. He had been a scholar in his way, but his way had not been
the way of other scholars, and when he had gone up for honours he had got
a bad third in classics. He would not enter the church, he could not
enter the law, he had no interest whatever, and he found himself
naturally thrust into the profession of literature. For a time he had
nearly starved; then he had met with some success and had, of course,
married without hesitation; after this he had had more misfortunes. His
wife had died leaving him an only son, whom in course of time he had sent
to school. But school was too expensive and he had reluctantly taken the
boy home again. It was in a fit of despair that he wrote to his old
friend Augustin Ambrose, asking his advice. The Reverend Augustin
considered the matter with the assistance of his wife, and being
charitable souls, they determined that they must help Short to educate
his son. Accordingly the vicar of Billingsfield wrote to his old friend
to say that if he could manage to pay a small sum for the lad's board,
he, the vicar, would complete the boy's education, so that he might at
least have a chance in the world. Short accepted the offer with boundless
gratitude and had hitherto not failed to pay the vicar the small sum
agreed upon. The result of all this was that Mr. Ambrose had grown very
fond of John, and John had derived great advantage from his position. He
possessed precisely what his father had lacked, namely a strong bent in
one direction, and there was no doubt that he would distinguish himself
if he had a chance. That chance the vicar had determined to give him. He
had made up his mind that his old friend's son should go to college and
show what he was able to do. It was not an easy thing to manage, but the
vicar had friends in Cambridge and John had brains; moreover the vicar
and John were both very obstinate people and had both determined upon the
same plan, so that there was a strong probability of their succeeding.

John Short was eighteen years of age, neither particularly good-looking
nor by any means the reverse. He had what bankers commonly call a lucky
face; that is to say he had a certain very prepossessing look of honesty
in his blue eyes, and a c