into the Union to read the papers, or write a letter to
my brother, or do anything to pass the time. I stood in the hall for
some minutes looking at, but not reading, the telegrams; I was trying
to remember whether it was my turn to write to my brother or his to
write to me, and two or three men who found me planted in front of the
telegrams shoved me a little, so I moved away and met a man whom I knew.

"Halloa, Marten," he said, "I've just seen the pluckiest thing; that
man Ward, you know him, fairly saved a girl's life. She fell out of a
punt on the Cher, a pretty girl too. Ward's a lucky brute, you ought
to have been there."

"I've heard all about it," I answered.

"But it only happened an hour ago."

"Ward told me, he didn't think much of it."

"Well, you should have seen him, I tell you he did it splendidly; I
always thought he was a friend of yours, but you don't look very keen.
However, it's something to talk about," he said, as he strolled off to
find some one who would suit him better than I did.

I drifted from the hall to one of the smoking-rooms, where I sat down
next to a big, bearded man, who was wearing a most extraordinary wide
pair of trousers, and who looked as if he would discourage the attempts
of any one who wanted to talk. He looked at me over the top of _The
Times_, and having had the courage to sit next to him, I felt that if
he would only look at other men as he did at me I should get all the
protection I required. I read in the aimless way which makes me turn
the paper over frequently in the futile hope of finding something
interesting, and I could not help knowing that my neighbour's eyes were
far oftener on me than on _The Times_. But I had no intention of
leaving him, for we were members of a defensive alliance, though he
knew nothing about it; two or three men I knew walked through the room
and left me alone; I was, I thought, in an almost impregnable position
and I closed my eyes, but before I had passed from the stage of
wondering whether I should snore if I went to sleep, I felt a touch on
my arm, and found Learoyd standing by me.

"Go away," I said sleepily, "I am very tired."

He leant over my chair and began to whisper; his back unfortunately was
turned to my ally, or I think I could have stopped him.

"Do you know," he began, "that your sister has been nearly drowned in
the Cher, and Ward jumped in after her? Everybody says he saved her
life and will get a medal."