treated him, with distinguished courtesy
and favour; but that evening, when John was fagging in Lawrence's room,
the great man said abruptly--

"I saw you walking with Lovell senior this afternoon."

John explained. Lawrence frowned.

"Oh, you've been celebrating, have you? Thanksgiving service at the
Creameries. Now, look here, Verney, I've met your uncle, and he asked
me to keep an eye on you. Because of that I made you my fag--you, a
green hand, when I had the pick of the House."

"It was awfully good of you," said John, warmly.

"We'll sink that. I'm five years older than you, and I know every
blessed--and _cursed_"--he spoke with great emphasis--"thing that goes
on in this house. I know, for instance, that dust was thrown, and very
cleverly thrown, into Rutford's eyes, and you helped to throw it.
Don't speak! You didn't quite know what you were up to. Well, it's
lucky for Lovell and Co. that one innocent kid was mixed up in that
affair. But it's been rather unlucky for you. I'd sooner see you
kicked about a bit by those fellows than petted. I'm sorry--sorry, do
you hear?--the whole lot were not sacked. And now you can hook it.
I've said enough, perhaps too much, but I believe I can trust you."

After this John showed his gratitude by painstaking attention to
fagging. Lawrence became aware of faithful service: that his toast was
always done to a turn, that his daily paper was warmed, as John had
seen the butler at home warm the _Times_, that his pens were changed,
his blotting-paper renewed, and so forth. In John's eyes, Lawrence
occupied a position near the apex of the world's pyramid of great men.

[1] _kraipale_ is translated by Liddell and Scott as "the result of a
debauch."

[Transcriber's note: "kraipale" was transliterated from the Greek
characters kappa, rho, alpha, iota, pi, alpha (with soft-breathing
mark), lambda, eta.]

CHAPTER IV

TORPIDS

"Again we rush across the slush,
A pack of breathless faces,
And charge and fall, and see the ball
Fly whizzing through the bases."

The remainder of the term slipped away without further accident or
incident. Apart from the preparation of work, John saw little of
Scaife or Egerton. The Fifth nodded to him in a friendly fashion when
he passed them in the street, and, greater kindness on their part, left
him alone. Possibly, Lawrence had said a word to Lovell. Such leisure
as John enjoyed (a new boy at Harro