t Sharpe toiled remorselessly on. He compared Biffen's house to
a water lily growing in a muddy pond, and again as a Phoenix risen from
the ashes; and he gave us, with circumstantial details, every round of the
footer housers, their two eleven caps, and the Perry Exhibition, and
darkly hinted at Acton's exclusion from the eleven.

He wound up his awful farrago in one glorious burst of solemn fury--

"And even Fate girds on her sword, and her right arm she stiffens,
As thunders to the icy pole the glorious name of Biffen's."

When Sharpe finally made his bow, according to the invariable custom,
every junior except a Biffenite imitated with rare fidelity the mixed
sensations of channel passengers after a stormy passage.

Sharpe, cheered to the echo by the Biffenites on the front row, went
proudly off.

The Dervishes were received with enthusiasm, and went through their
performance to the shouts of "Well wriggled, Java!" "Why don't you oil!"
"Do it again--orang-outang!" They amiably smiled acknowledgments as they
backed away.

Then I myself stepped on to the stage, prepared to judge the two-minutes'
rounds. Grim had whipped up sixteen fags, each willing to do battle for
the honour of his house. The rounds proceeded to the accompaniment of
ear-splitting encouragement, and I had the satisfaction of knowing that
not a solitary one of the defeated heroes thought he had really been
beaten on points.

No mistake about it, Biffen's had a fag who could sing. Thurston's "My
First Cigar" only lacked one thing--it should have lasted a little longer
to suit the audience.

"She called it an Intimidad,
It had spots of a yellowish hue,
She said the best brands always had,
And I firmly believed it was true."

A good number of the fellows knew "The Soldiers in the Park," and Brown
hammered it out in a good old breezy style.

As he was racing home, and the jolly chorus was crashing out from the
piano, one fag started "Oh, listen to the band!"

Instantly the whole school, juniors and seniors as well, joined in the
chorus, keeping time with their feet.

"Oh, listen to the band!
Who doesn't love to hark
To the shout of 'Here they come'
And the banging of the drum--
Oh, listen to the soldiers in the park."

When the dust had settled, every one acknowledged that Biffen's concert
was going with a bang. I am not going to bore you with a longer account of
Biffen's concert. Thurston sang "Alice,