mine
there; but just about the time of my visit to R----d I fell in with
another boy, called Harkness, who, for some reason of his own, desired
my closer acquaintance and got as much of it as I was able to give to
anybody, and a good deal more than he deserved or I was the better of.
He, too, was a day-boy, whose people lived in a suburb of the town
which lay upon my road. We scraped acquaintance by occasionally
travelling together so much of the way as he had to traverse; from
this point onward all the advances were his. I had no liking for him,
and, in fact, some of his customs shocked me. But he was older than I,
very friendly, and very interesting. He evidently liked me; he asked
me to tea with him; he used to wait for me, going and returning. I had
no means of refusing his acquaintance, and did not; but I got no good
out of him.

As he was older, so he was much more competent. Not so much vicious as
curious and enterprising, he knew a great many things which I only
guessed at, and could do much--or said that he could--which I only
dreamed about. He put a good deal of heart into my instruction, and
left me finally with my lesson learned. I never saw nor heard of him
after I left the school. We did not correspond, and he left no mark
upon me of any kind. The lesson learned, I used the knowledge
certainly; but it did not take me into the region which he knew best.
His grove of philosophy was close to the school, in K---- Park, which
is a fine enclosure of forest trees, glades, brake-fern and deer.
Here, in complete solitude, for we never saw a soul, my sentimental
education was begun by this self-appointed professor. As I remember,
he was a good-looking lad enough, with a round and merry face, high
colour, bright eyes, a moist and laughing mouth. Had he known the way
in he would have been at home in the Garden of Priapus, where perhaps
he is now. He was hardy in address, a ready speaker, rather eloquent
upon the theme that he loved, and I dare say he may have been as
fortunate as he said, or very nearly. Certainly what he had to tell me
of love and women opened my understanding. I believe that I envied him
his ease of attainment more than what he said he had attained. I might
have been stimulated by his adventures to be adventurous on my own
account, but I never was, neither at that time nor at any other. I am
quite certain that never in my life have I gone forth conquering and
to conquer in affairs of the heart. You