. When
John discovered this, he worked harder. Warde smiled. John ran second
for the Prize Poem. He had genuine feeling for Nature, but he lacked as
yet the technical ability to display it. A more practised versifier won
the prize; but John's taste for history and literature secured him the
Bourchier, not without a struggle which whetted to keenness every
faculty he possessed. More, to his delight, he realized that his
enthusiasm was contagious. Caesar entered eagerly into his friend's
competitions; struggle and strife appealed to the Irishman. He talked
over John's themes, read his verses, and predicted triumphs. Warde told
John that Caesar Desmond might have stuck in the First Fifth, had it not
been for this quickening of the clay. The days succeeded each other
swiftly and smoothly. Warde was seen to smile more than ever during this
term. Certain big fellows who opposed him were leaving or had already
left. Bohun, now Head of the House, was a sturdy, straightforward
monitor, not a famous athlete, but able to hold his own in any field of
endeavour. Just before the Christmas holidays, Warde discovered, to his
horror, that the drainage at the Manor was out of order. At great
expense a new and perfect system was laid down. At last Warde told
himself his house might be pronounced sanitary within and without.

When the summer term came, Desmond joined John in the Sixth Form. They
were entitled to single rooms, but they asked and obtained permission to
remain in No. 7. Desmond was invested with the right to fag, and the
right to "find." How blessed a privilege the right to find is, boys who
have enjoyed it will attest. The cosy meals in one's own room, the
pleasant talk, the sense of intimacy, the freedom from restraint. Custom
stales all good things, but how delicious they taste at first!

The privilege of fagging is not, however, unadulterated bliss. When
Warde said to Caesar, "Well, Desmond, how do you like ordering about your
slave?" Desmond replied, ruefully, "Well, sir, little Duff has broken my
inkstand, spilt the ink on our new carpet, and let Verney's bullfinch
escape. I think, on the whole, I'd as lief wait on myself."

Early in June it became plain that unless the unforeseen occurred,
Harrow would have a strong Eleven, and that Desmond would be a member of
it. John and Fluff were playing in the Sixth Form game; but John had no
chance of his Flannels, although he had improved in batting and bowling,
thanks to War