g been so happy; and whether they
talked of mathematics or of collars, Taffy could not help observing
how from time to time his father's and mother's eyes would meet and
say, as plainly as words, "We have done rightly." "Yes, we have done
rightly."

And the wonder of it remained next morning, when he awoke to a
changed world and took down his books with a new purpose.
Already his box had been carried into old Mrs. Venning's room, and
his mother and grandmother were busy, the one packing and repacking,
the other making a new and important suggestion every minute.

He was to go up alone, and to lodge in Trinity College, where an old
friend of Mr. Raymond's, a resident fellow just then abroad and
spending his Long Vacation in the Tyrol, had placed his own room at
the boy's service.

To see Oxford--to be lodging in college! He had to hug his mother in
the midst of her packing.

"You will be going by the Great Western," she said. "You won't be
seeing Honiton on your way."

When the great morning came, Mr. Raymond travelled with him in the
van to Truro, to see him off. Humility went upstairs to her mother's
room, and the two women prayed together--

"They also serve who only stand and wait."

CHAPTER XIX.

OXFORD.

"Know you her secret none can utter?
Hers of the Book, the tripled Crown?"

"Eight o'clock, sir!"

Taffy heard the voice speaking above a noise which his dreams
confused with the rattle of yesterday's journey. He was still in the
train, rushing through the rich levels of Somersetshire. He saw the
broad horizon, the cattle at pasture, the bridges and flagged pools
flying past the window--and sat up rubbing his eyes. Blenkiron, the
scout, stood between him and the morning sunshine emptying a can of
water into the tub beside his bed.

Blenkiron wore a white waistcoat and a tie of orange and blue, the
colours of the College Servants' Cricket Club. These were signs of
the Long Vacation. For the rest his presence would have become an
archdeacon; and he guided Taffy's choice of a breakfast with an air
which suggested the hand of iron beneath the glove of velvet.

"And begging your pardon, sir, but will you be lunching in?"

Taffy would consult Mr. Blenkiron's convenience.

"The fact is, sir, we've arranged to play Teddy `All this afternoon
at Cowley, and the drag starts at one-thirty sharp."

"Then I'll get my lunch out of college," said Taffy, wondering who
Teddy Hal