ed to an informal club of young men who called themselves,
facetiously, the Hodiernals. _Vixi hodie_! The motto, suggested by some
one or other after a fifth tumbler of whisky punch, might bear more than
a single interpretation. Harvey Munden, the one member of this genial
brotherhood who lived by the sweat of his brow, proposed as a more
suitable title, Les Faineants; that, however, was judged pedantic,
not to say offensive. For these sons of the Day would not confess to
indolence; each deemed himself, after his own fashion, a pioneer in art,
letters, civilisation. They had money of their own, or were supported by
some one who could afford that privilege; most of them had, ostensibly,
some profession in view; for the present, they contented themselves with
living, and the weaker brethren read in their hodiernity an obligation
to be 'up to date.'

Tarrant professed himself critical of To-day, apprehensive of To-morrow;
he cast a backward eye. None the less, his avowed principle was to
savour the passing hour. When night grew mellow, and the god of whisky
inspired his soul, he shone in a lyrical egoism which had but slight
correspondence with the sincerities of his solitude. His view of
woman--the Hodiernals talked much of woman--differed considerably from
his thoughts of the individual women with whom he associated; protesting
oriental sympathies, he nourished in truth the chivalry appropriate to
his years and to his education, and imaged an ideal of female excellence
whereof the prime features were moral and intellectual.

He had no money of his own. What could be saved for him from
his father's squandered estate--the will established him sole
inheritor--went in the costs of a liberal education, his grandmother
giving him assurance that he should not go forth into the world
penniless. This promise Mrs. Tarrant had kept, though not exactly in the
manner her grandson desired. Instead of making him a fixed allowance,
the old lady supplied him with funds at uncertain intervals; with the
unpleasant result that it was sometimes necessary for him to call to her
mind his dependent condition. The cheques he received varied greatly in
amount,--from handsome remittances of a hundred pounds or so, down to
minim gifts which made the young man feel uncomfortable when he received
them. Still, he was provided for, and it could not be long before this
dependency came to an end.

He believed in his own abilities. Should it ever be nee