nnuation in order to win cups and caps and enjoy a serene life
before disappearing into the dingy office of an uncle or the rough and
tumble of a planter's existence. In the days of the amiable cleric the
Upper Fourth had been to them Nirvana.

To such a form came Finney, clever, inexperienced, nervous: not even
his physique was imposing. He liked and encouraged the clever little
boys and made fruitless efforts to bully the ink-stained loafers; he
also determined to assault the fortress of the Olympians and to make
the great ones work; but he broke his soul upon a rock. When he
adjured them to do a little work they smiled in toleration. When he
suggested a change in the quantity or quality of their preparation he
was politely informed that Mr Foss never expected so much. He then
lost his temper, remarked savagely that he wouldn't be bound by the
idiosyncrasies of Mr Foss, and dealt out impositions. A schoolmaster
cannot afford to lose his temper unless he has complete self-confidence
and the will never to retract. Finney had not been gifted with a
forceful personality, and the weak man in a temper is a most pitiable
sight. The impositions meant the declaration of war and in that war
Finney was beaten all along the line.

To begin with, however, he relied on his hours with the Upper Sixth for
spiritual comfort, but his own experiences at school should have warned
him that even Upper Sixths are human. It was his duty to read
classical authors with them at a great pace and without attention to
detail in order to give the competitors for university scholarships a
wider knowledge of the ancient literature. When he came to read
Tacitus with them he soon discovered that they were quite capable of
amusing themselves. Having learned that journalese translations
annoyed him, they racked their brains and searched the halfpenny press
for new phrases. Finney shuddered and protested: next he whined and
finally lost his temper. This display was gratifying to the Upper
Sixth, who had just spent two tedious hours listening to Foskett on
Greek dialects. Besides, there is always satisfaction in luring fish
to one's bait.

Martin loathed and dreaded these hours. Not only did his recent
experiences as a prefect compel him to sympathise with the impotent
wielder of authority, but he had been attracted by Finney from the
first. Finney worked in earnest and without pose or pretension, a fact
which set him, in Martin's estima