se I ought to consider
myself lucky, he might have sent me down."

"It knocks all your fun on the head," he said, "being in by nine
o'clock every night is average rot."

"It won't matter to me, I am going to settle down and read for a first
in Mods," and I turned into the common room and picked up _The
Sportsman_. There were no other men in the room, and Ward stood in
front of the fire and kept looking at me as if he wanted to say
something and could not manage to begin. I read the names of the
'Varsity XV. chosen to play that afternoon against Richmond, and saw
that Foster was still among them.

"Fred Foster's going to get his blue," I said.

"Who the deuce wants to get a blue?" Ward replied.

"Well, it's better than getting into rows, anyway," I retorted.

"You seem to have taken this thing very quietly," he said, "don't you
see that your being dropped on is a most wretched swindle. Lambert and
Webb are only gated for three weeks."

"It doesn't make a tuppenny-ha'penny bit of difference to me what has
happened to them. If they had been gated for two years it wouldn't
give me any satisfaction."

"But they had been mixing all kinds of drink."

"And the Subby thinks I had," I said.

"But you hadn't."

"No, but that doesn't make any difference. The Subby may be a fair
ass, but I caught hold of him, and I must be a bigger fool than he is.
It's the last time I ever try to rescue a don."

Two senior men, Bagshaw and Crane came into the room and overheard my
last remark, so I had to tell them the whole thing over again. Both of
them laughed tremendously, but Crane, who was captain of the college
cricket eleven, and President of the Mohocks, which was the
inappropriate name of the St. Cuthbert's wine club, seemed to be more
amused at the solemn way I told the story, while Bagshaw said he would
have given anything to have seen the Subby rushing down-stairs. They
laughed loudly, and as soon as I could escape I went back to my rooms,
leaving Jack Ward to talk to them.

For once I wanted to be by myself, but there was no shaking off Ward
that morning, and he turned up again in about ten minutes and said that
he had told his scout to bring his lunch round to my rooms. I had
struggled nobly with breakfast, but I hated the suggestion of more food
and told him he had better go and eat somewhere else. My head ached
abominably, and I wanted to sit by the fire and go to sleep. Ward,
however, decided that I want