boy--he was only
twenty, Ursula--put his head down on my shoulder and sobbed like a child.
If only Giles could have seen him then!'

'Do you know what passed between them?'

'Yes; I heard a little from both of them. Some of Eric's bills had been
opened accidentally by Giles. Etta had told Giles that they were his,
and he had called Eric to account. And then it seems that Eric's affairs
were mixed up with another young man's, Edgar Brown, a very wild young
fellow, with whom Giles had forbidden Eric to associate. They had been
school-fellows, and Giles knew his father, Dr. Brown, and disliked him
much; and it seems that Eric had promised to break with him, and had not
kept his promise; and when Giles called him mean and dishonourable, Eric
had forgotten himself, and struck Giles.

'"It is all over between us, I tell you, Gladys," the poor boy kept
saying. "Giles says he shall take me away from Oxford, and I am to be put
in an attorney's office: he declares I shall ruin him. I cannot stop here
to be tormented and bullied, and I will never go near old Armstrong: why,
the life would be worse than a convict's. I shall just go and enlist, and
then there is a chance of getting rid of this miserable life." But I did
not take much notice of this speech, for I knew Eric had no wish to enter
the army; and certainly he would never do such a rash thing as enlist: he
always declared he would as soon be a shoeblack. What does that look
mean, Ursula?' for I was glancing uneasily at the door. Was it my fancy,
or did I really hear the faint rustle of a dress on the tessellated
pavement of the hall? In another moment Gladys understood, and her voice
dropped into a whisper.

'Come closer to me. I mean to tell you all in spite of them. I will be as
quick as I can, or Giles will be here.

'I never saw Eric in such a state as he was that day. He seemed nearly
beside himself: nothing I could say seemed to give him any comfort. He
shut himself up in his room and refused to eat. He would not admit me for
a long time, but when he at last opened the door I saw that his table was
strewn with papers, and a letter directed to Giles lay beside them.

'We sat down and had a long talk. He told me that he had got into more
difficulties than even Giles suspected. He had been led away by Edgar
Brown. I brought him all the money I had, which was little enough, and
promised him my next quarter's allowance. I remember he spoke again of
enlisting, and sai