ion Hilda's mother again."

"We can't possibly stay, can we, Hilda? We have our viva to-morrow."

"Viva!"

"Voce," said Lalage. "You must know what that means. The kind of exam
you don't write."

I got viva into its natural connection with voce and grasped at Lalage's
meaning.

"Part of the Jun. Soph. Ord.?" I said.

"Of course," said Lalage. "What else could it be?"

"In that case I mustn't keep you. You'll be wanting to look up your
astronomy. But you must allow me to parcel up the rest of the cakes for
you. I should like you to have them and you're sure to be hungry again
before bedtime."

"Won't you want them yourself?"

"No, I won't. And even if I did I wouldn't eat them. It would hardly be
fair to Mr. Titherington. He's doing his best for me and he'll naturally
expect me to keep as fit as possible."

"Very well," said Lalage, "rather than to leave them here to rot or be
eaten by mice we'll take them. Hilda, pack them up in that biscuit tin
and take care that the creamy ones don't get squashed."

Hilda tried to pack them up, but the biscuit tin would not hold them
all. We had not finished the wafers which it originally contained. I
rang for the waiter and made him bring us a cardboard box. We laid the
cakes in it very tenderly. We tied on the lid with string and then made
a loop in the string for Hilda's hand. It was she who carried both the
box and the biscuit tin.

"Good-bye," said Lalage. "We'll meet again on the twenty-first."

It was not until after they were gone that I understood why we should
meet again on the twenty-first. That was the day of my first meeting in
East Connor, and Lalage had promised to speak at it. I felt very uneasy.
It was utterly impossible to guess at what might happen when Lalage
appeared in the constituency. I sat down and wrote a letter to Canon
Beresford. I did not expect him to do anything, but it relieved my
mind to write. After all, it was his business, not mine, to look after
Lalage. Three days later I got an answer from him, which said:

"I shall not be at all surprised, if Lalage turns out to be a good
platform speaker. She has, I understand, had a good deal of practice
in some college debating society and has acquired a certain fluency of
utterance. She always had something to say, even as a child. I wish I
could run up to County Down and hear her, but it is a long journey and
the weather is miserably cold. The Archdeacon told me yesterday that you
meant to