athlete. For the latter his scorn was unmitigated,
and he could not endure Association football with its paid players. He
also loathed the betting element that defiled the Soccer game.

This letter was his last contribution to _The Alleynian_. Its
strictures are far too sweeping; it has the dogmatism and the note of
certitude to which youth is prone. But it is animated by a fine
spirit. Very characteristic is the emphasis placed in it on the ideas
of duty and unselfishness. The passion for sacrifice was in his
blood.

CHAPTER VII

TASTES AND HOBBIES

_Variety's the very spice of life._
COWPER: "THE TASK."

Many of our son's vacations were spent in Llanelly, South Wales,
where his mother's and my own kindred dwell. Llanelly is not a
beautiful town--industrial centres seldom are--but Paul loved every
aspect of it--the busy works, the spacious bay with its great
stretches of sandy beach, the green and hilly hinterland, dotted
with snug farmhouses and cheerful-looking cottages. Accompanied by
his cousin Tom, for whom he had an intense affection, and under the
guidance of his uncle, Mr. Edwin Morgan, a consulting engineer of
high repute, he visited in process of time every industrial
establishment in the neighbourhood--steel works, foundries,
engineering shops and tinplate works. His insatiable curiosity, his
desire to know the reason for everything, his alert interest in all
the processes of manufacture, were noted with smiling admiration by
managers and workmen. His last visit to Llanelly was in the summer
of 1914. We joined him there in the third week of August. Clear in
recollection is an incident that took place during our stay there.
One sunny afternoon we were out in Carmarthen Bay in a little
tug-boat and hailed a large four-masted vessel that had dropped
anchor and was awaiting a pilot. She had just arrived from Archangel
with timber. Her crew, athirst for news about the War, were most
grateful for a bundle of newspapers. Paul thrilled at this meeting
at sea with a vessel that had come direct from Russia, and he
followed with fascinated interest the conversation between the
tugboatmen and the crew of the barque. Little did any of us think
then that the War was destined to claim Paul's life!

Celtic on his mother's side and mine, he was proud of the fact that he
sprang from an "old and haughty nation, proud in arms." On many of his
school books he wrote in