rriage, and
he had a wife and three children, but from the appearance of the lady I
do not think that he was likely to give us his honest opinion.

I wrote to Jack Ward but did not get an answer, and when we got back to
Oxford I found that he had been staying with a mining magnate whose
name I could not pronounce. He had been gambling every night, I forget
how much he won in a week, but it is of no consequence as he lost all
of it and a lot more before he had finished. During this term he
became a complete blood, and was constantly dining at wine clubs or
with somebody like Bunny Langham. He joined the Mohocks, and men who
did not know him, and thought that our wine club made far too much
noise and was a nuisance to the college, said that he would get sent
down at the end of his first year for being ploughed in pass
Moderations. I, however, saw a good deal of him at odd times, and the
fact that he absolutely refused to have anything more to do with
Dennison than he could help delighted me. When Jack had no use for any
one he had a very expressive way of letting them know it, and Dennison
at last was so offended that he invaded my rooms one afternoon when I
was changing after footer and couldn't escape from him.

"You don't see much of Ward now, do you?" he began, as he placed
himself upon my bed.

"I see him every day," I answered.

"I can't understand why you care to do it."

"Well, I do care to do it; you are sitting on my socks, do you mind
getting up?"

"You ought to hear what most of the freshers are saying about the side
Ward is putting on, it isn't as if he had any good reason for sticking
on side."

"What do you think is a good reason for sticking on side?" I asked.

"Ward can't do anything; you are a blue already, and I shall probably
get my racquet blue, but of course that's got nothing to do with it."

"Then I shouldn't say anything about it," I answered, and putting on my
coat I went into my sitter.

"Don't be a fool," he said as he followed me, "you stick so
tremendously close to rotten old-fashioned ideas. I am not exactly
committing a crime in not liking a man whom you profess to like."

"I have never professed to like any one in my life if I didn't like
him," I returned, and instead of getting angry with me, he laughed and
sat down in my biggest arm-chair. It was not his habit to have two
quarrels going on at the same time, and when he wished to be amiable
you had to work hard before