there were not a few theatre
fans, and I had nothing in common with them. The "dormouse," however,
used to come up and say her parts for my benefit, and that of
occasional friends, and was so modest and winsome, and her earnings so
invaluable to the family, that I entirely altered my opinion. Then and
there I came to the conclusion that the drama was an essential part of
art, and that those who were trying to elevate and cleanse it, like
Sir Henry Irving, whose son I had met at Marlborough, must have the
support of a public who demanded clean plays and good conditions both
in front and behind the screen. When I came to London my father had
asked me not to go to anything but Shakespearian or equally
well-recognized plays until I was twenty-one. Only once did I enter a
music hall and I had plenty to satisfy me in a very few minutes.
Vaudevilles are better than in those days. The censor does good work,
but it is still the demand which creates the supply, and whatever
improvement has occurred has been largely due to the taste of the
patrons. Medical students need all the open air they can get in order
to keep body and soul fit, and our contempt for the theatre fan was
justifiable.

My new lodgings being close to Victoria Park afforded the opportunity
for training if one were unconventional. To practise throwing the
sixteen-pound hammer requires rough ground and plenty of space, and as
I was scheduled for that at the inter-hospital sports, it was
necessary to work when not too many disinterested parties were around.
Even an East-Ender's skull is not hammer-proof, as I had seen when a
poor woman was brought into hospital with five circular holes in her
head, the result of blows inflicted by her husband with a hammer. The
only excuse which the ruffian offered for the murder was that she had
forgotten to wake him, he had been late, and lost his job.

A number of the boys in my class were learning to swim. There was only
one bathing lake and once the waters were troubled we drew the line at
going in to give lessons. So we used to meet at the gate at the hour
of opening in the morning, and thus be going back before most folks
were moving. Nor did we always wait for the park keeper, but often
scaled the gates and so obtained an even more exclusive dip. Many an
evening we would also "flannel," and train round and round the park,
or Hackney Common, to improve one's wind before some big event. For
diet at that time I used oatmeal,