better without the cramming, or else standing
by, cap in hand, and shouting, 'Oh young men of large fortune and
great connexions! You future dispensers of the good things of
this Realm, come to our colleges and all shall be made pleasant!'
and the shout is taken up by undergraduates, and tradesmen, and
horse-dealers, and cricket-cads, and dog-fanciers 'Come to us,
and us, and us, and we will be your toadies!' Let them; let them
toady and cringe to their precious idols, till they bring this
noble old place down about their ears. Down it will come, down it
must come, for down it ought to come, if it can find nothing
better to worship than rank, money, and intellect. But to live in
the place and love it too, and to see all this going on, and
groan and writhe under it, and not be able-"

At this point in his speech Hardy came to the turning-point in
his march at the farther end of the room, just opposite his
crockery cupboard; but, instead of turning as usual, he paused,
let go the hold on his left elbow, poised himself for a moment to
get a purchase, and then dashed his right fist full against one
of the panels. Crash went the slight deal boards, as if struck
with a sledge-hammer, and crash went glass and crockery behind.
Tom jumped to his feet, in doubt whether an assault on him would
not follow, but the fit was over, and Hardy looked round at him
with a rueful and deprecating face. For a moment Tom tried to
look solemn and heroic, as befitted the occasion; but somehow,
the sudden contrast flashed upon him, and sent him off, before he
could think about it, into a roar of laughter, ending in a
violent fit of coughing; for in his excitement he had swallowed a
mouthful of smoke. Hardy, after holding out for a moment, gave in
to the humour of the thing, and the appealing look passed into a
smile, and the smile into a laugh, as he turned towards his
damaged cupboard, and began opening it carefully in a legitimate
manner.

"I say, old fellow," said Tom, coming up, "I should think you
must find it an expensive amusement. Do you often walk into your
cupboard like that?"

"You see, Brown, I am naturally a man of a very quick temper."

"So it seems" said Tom; "but doesn't it hurt your knuckles? I
should have something softer put up for me if I were you; your
bolster, with a velvet cap on it, or a doctor of divinity's gown,
now."

"You be hanged," said Hardy, as he disengaged the last splinter,
and gently opened the ill-use