d, with a kind of sickly sarcastic smile
which meant that he had scored off me pretty badly.

"Row?" I asked.

"Was the Subby furious?"

"I have been lunching with him," I answered; "I hope your lunch was not
spoilt by waiting for me to come out."

They did not know what to say to this, so Dennison went on smiling and
Lambert stroked his upper lip with one finger.

"You were nicely scored off," Dennison said at last.

"I had a jolly good lunch," I replied.

"Dennison doesn't make a bad Subby, and I imitate his writing pretty
well," Lambert said.

"The Subby himself must decide that, when he finds out who was ass
enough to buy a beard like his."

This reduced them to silence again, until Lambert said that he did not
see how anybody could find out.

"The Subby is much more wide-awake than you think. I wouldn't care to
be in Dennison's place, he has just done the one thing which dons can't
stand. However, the Subby is a rare good sort, and I shouldn't wonder
if he let the thing drop, especially as it is the end of term," I said.

"You looked fairly sick this morning," Dennison remarked, but he was
more vicious and less smiling than he had been at the beginning.

"You took me in all right," I acknowledged, "and I hope you won't hear
any more about it."

"What did you tell the Subby?" he asked.

"Not much," and if he was fool enough to think that there was any
chance of the Subby trying to find out anything, I thought I had better
leave him to his doubts, so I went round to my rooms, and having got a
straw-hat, I started off to see Fred; and fortunately I found him at
Oriel trying to make his cricket-bag hold more things than it was meant
to hold. He did not look particularly pleased to see me, but I have
never yet met a man who can pack and be in a good temper at the same
time.

"Where are you off to?" I asked, for there were still some days before
the end of the term.

"I am going to Brighton to-night with Henderson."

"How did you manage to get leave?"

"We have both been seedy, and Rushden wanted us to go before we play
Surrey again. In my last three innings I've made seven runs, and I
should think Rushden begins to wish he had never given me my blue. I
don't feel as if I should ever make another run."

"Your dons must be good sorts," I said.

"They're all right," he answered, and he sat down in a chair by the
window and looked so unlike himself that I knelt down on the floor and
took ever