tness of Grantly Ffolliot's parting words.

Could such a foolish youth be trusted to mean what he said? or was it
only the surface courtesy that seemed to come so easily to the
"classes" Eloquent still regarded with mistrust and suspicion?

He longed to test Grantly Ffolliot.

An opportunity came sooner than he expected. Parliament did not meet
till the end of the month, and although he went to London a good deal
on varied business, he kept on the little house in his native town,
wrote liberal cheques for all the charities, opened a Baptist bazaar,
and generally did his duty according to his lights and the instructions
of his agent.

In the third week of January he was asked to "kick off" at a "soccer"
match to be held in Marlehouse. This was rather an event, as two
important teams from a distance were for some reason or other to play
there. The Marlehouse folk played "Rugger" as a rule, but this match
was regarded in the light of a curiosity; people would come in from
miles round, and hordes of mechanics would flock over from Garchester,
the county town. It was considered quite a big sporting event, and his
agent informed Eloquent that a great honour had been done him.

Eloquent appeared duly impressed and accepted the invitation.

Then it occurred to him that never in his life had he seen a football
match of any kind.

Games were not compulsory at the Grammar School, and Eloquent had no
natural inclination to play them. When a little boy he had generally
gone for a walk with his father or his aunt on a half-holiday. As he
grew older he either attended extra classes at the science school or
read for himself notable books bearing upon the political history of
the last fifty years. Games had no place in his scheme of existence.
His father, most certainly, had never played games and had no desire
that Eloquent should do so; as for going to watch other people play
them--such a proceeding would have been dismissed by the elder Mr
Gallup as "foolhardy nonsense." Serious-minded men had no time for
such frivolity.

Nevertheless it became increasingly evident to Eloquent that a large
number of his constituents--whether they actually took part in what he
persisted in calling "these pastimes" or not--were very keenly
interested in watching others do so, and Eloquent was consumed by
anxiety as to how he was to discover what it was he was expected to do.

There were plenty of his political supporters who were not