most horribly sorry about this," he began, "and I will come back
straight from the Sceptre and see you. Be in at nine o'clock."

"You didn't shoot at those people, did you?" I asked.

"No; but well, you see, Dennison is better than I am at getting in for
a row, and I am better at getting out of it."

"He's a low-down hound," I asserted, and after promising to be in at
nine o'clock I seized my gown and went away. As I went into the hall I
met Collier, and during dinner I expressed my opinion of Dennison very
freely. There are times at Oxford when you regret most tremendously
that you have left school, and this was one of them.

"A fellow like that would be kicked at any decent school," I said.

"He was kicked at Charbury until he managed to become a sort of blood.
He played racquets very well," Collier added, as if by way of an excuse.

"Why do we put up with him?" I asked viciously, for I could see him
making Lambert and Webb shout with laughter at the table opposite me.

"I don't know," Collier answered, "I suppose it's his smile. What part
of a fowl do you think this is? it looks to me like the neck." He
turned it over several times and then called a servant. "Please take
this back, and say I have to be very careful what I eat. I keep a
list, and this isn't on it. I never saw that joint before," he added
to me, and lost all interest in Dennison. I thought it a pity that
Collier took so much trouble over what he ate; the sight of that
unusual joint made him quite silent and inattentive during the rest of
the meal.

I went to his rooms after dinner, as I felt sleepy, and he never did
anything on Sunday except sleep, eat, and go to chapel. His room was
full of tinted literature, but I never saw him read it, and I believe
he bought _The Sporting Times_ on Saturdays so that he could give it to
any man who attacked him with conversation on his day of rest. His
table was covered by a most miscellaneous dessert, and I asked him if
he expected a lot of men.

"Not a soul," he replied, and sank into a chair by the fire. "I have
this every Sunday night, because my people pay my common-room bill, and
I have to pay everything else out of my allowance. They told me to do
myself well, but after this term I expect they will see that this odd
sort of arrangement won't work. I can feed a regiment on almonds and
raisins without it costing me a sou. Help yourself to coffee, stick
the dish of anchovy toast down bet