ch to sit down and
that he seemed to have found it first. The girls giggled again and the
men swore; it was a most commonplace scene. I went back across the
lawn and was just going to join Foster, when I heard a tremendous burst
of laughter from the room above ours. There was only one man who could
laugh like that and he was Jack Ward. At that moment I wished him
anywhere, for I guessed quite rightly that he had driven over to
Sampford with some men whose luncheon would not consist of cold beef
and beer.

I hoped to goodness we should get away without Foster seeing them, so I
began to eat without saying anything, except that there was a most vile
noise up-stairs. I need not have troubled to say so much since Foster
was not deaf. I ate my luncheon hurriedly and gulped down my beer so
fast that something went wrong with my wind-pipe. To the accompaniment
of my coughs and peals of laughter from the room above, Fred sat eating
with a comical expression of misery upon his face.

"Rowdy brutes," he said, and pointed to the ceiling.

I tried to answer, but failed.

"I should think they will get kicked out in a minute," he continued.
"Aren't you going to have any pickles?"

"The room's so horribly stuffy," I managed to say; "I vote we go when
you are ready."

"We've only just come. I haven't nearly done yet, and I am going to
have a smoke when I've finished."

I resigned myself to the situation and seized the pickles; there was
only one left and that was an onion. The noise increased and a huge
piece of bread fell on the lawn in front of our window.

"Bloods always throw bread at each other, don't they?" he asked.

"I don't suppose they are any worse than anybody else," I answered;
"there is not much harm in a bread pellet."

"That thing out there is half a loaf," he returned, "and at any rate
they make a fairly bad row," which were statements I could not deny.

We heard a man go heavily up-stairs and knock at the door. He was
received with clamorous approval, but after a little conversation the
noise ceased and there was a most refreshing calm. I had hopes that
nothing more was going to happen, so I sat down by the fire and lit a
cigarette. For ten minutes Fred and I were not interrupted, but I had
already recognized the voices of Bunny Langham and Dennison, and I
might have guessed that there was not likely to be much peace. Our
windows were wide open, and presently I began to hear a kind of choked