want to learn it."

"All right, I must teach you."

"We could get up a four in this house," said Lovell. "We three and the
Caterpillar. He plays, I know. The Colonel is one of the cracks at the
Turf. It would be an awful lark. A mild gamble: small points--eh? A bob
a hundred. What do you say, Caesar?"

Desmond hesitated. Bridge had not yet reached its delirious stage. But
Desmond had seen it played, had heard his father praise it as the most
fascinating of card-games, and had determined to learn it at the first
convenient opportunity. None the less Warde's words still echoed in his
ear.

"I think we ought to give Warde a chance," he said.

"You don't mean to say you were taken in by him?" said Lovell,
contemptuously.

Desmond burst into enthusiastic praise of Warde and his methods. Lovell
shrugged his shoulders and walked out of the room, nodding to Scaife,
but ignoring Desmond.

"You must go canny with Lovell," said Scaife. "He's the fellow who ought
to give you your 'fez' after the first house-game."

"Never mind that. You won't play bridge, Demon, will you?"

"Why not?" said Scaife. "Where's the harm? Your governor plays----"

"Yes; but----"

"You're afraid of getting sacked?"

"I'm not."

"All right; I'll take that back. You're not a funk, Caesar, but you're so
easily humbugged. Warde caught you with his 'pi jaw' and a glass of
gooseberry."

"The champagne was all right, wasn't it?"

"Oh, ho! So you do mean to stand in with Warde against Lovell and me?
Thanks for being so candid. Now I'll be candid with you. I like Lovell.
There's no nonsense about him. He don't put on frills because he's in
the Sixth, and he don't mean to take to their sneaking, spying ways.
He's just as anxious as Warde to see the Manor cock-house at footer and
cricket, and I'm as keen as he is; but we stop there. The Balliol
Scholarship may go hang. And as for sympathy and fellowship and pulling
together between masters and boys, I never did believe in it, and never
shall. My hand is against the masters, so long as they interfere with
anything I want to do. I like bridge, and I mean to play it. And I'll
take jolly good care that I'm not nailed. That's part of the fun, as the
drinking used to be. I chucked that because it wasn't good enough; but
bridge is ripping, and, take my word for it, you'll be keener than I
when you begin."

"Perhaps. But I'm not going to begin here."

"Right--oh!"

Scaife turned aside, whistling, bu