n he has been.'

'How kind of you to care about it!' said he, and his eyes spoke his
gratitude for the frank interest she had taken in his fortunes.

'Of course I care,' said Mabel, looking down as she spoke. 'I can't
bear to see anyone I like and respect--as I do poor Uncle
Anthony--persist in misjudging _anybody_ like that.'

Mark had hoped more from the beginning of this speech than the
conclusion quite bore out, but it was delightful to hear her talking
something more than society nothings to him. However, that was ended
for the present by the sudden irruption of the spoony young man into
the conversation; he had come out very shattered from a desperate
intellectual conflict with the young lady from Girton, to whom he had
ventured on a remark which, as he made it, had seemed to him likely to
turn out brilliant. 'You know,' he had announced solemnly, 'opinions
may differ, but in these things I must say I don't think the
exception's _always_ the rule--eh? don't you find that?' And his
neighbour replied that she thought he had hit upon a profound
philosophical truth, and then spoilt it by laughing. After which the
young man, thinking internally 'it _sounded_ all right, wonder if it
was such bosh as she seems to think,' had fled to Mabel for sanctuary
and plunged into an account of his University disasters.

'I should have floored my "General" all right, you know,' he said,
'only I went in for too much poetry.'

'Poetry?' echoed Mabel, with a slight involuntary accent of surprise.

'Rhymes, you know, not regular poetry!'

'But, Mr. Pidgely, I don't quite see; why can't you floor generals
with rhymes which are not regular poetry? Are they so particular in
the army?'

'It isn't an army exam.; it's at Cambridge; and the rhymes are all the
chief tips done into poetry--like "Paley" rhymes, y' know. Paley
rhymes give you, for instance, all the miracles or all the parables
right off in about four lines of gibberish, and you learn the
gibberish and then you're all right. I got through my Little-go that
way, but I couldn't the General. Fact is, my coach gave me too _many_
rhymes!'

'And couldn't you recollect the--the tips without rhymes?'

'Couldn't remember _with_ 'em,' he said. 'I could have corked down the
verses all right enough, but the beggars won't take them. I forgot
what they were all about, so I had to show up blank papers. And I'd
stayed up all one Long too!'

'Working?' asked Mabel, with some sympathy.